2021 ACT Chess Championship - IM Junta Ikeda 7/7

 IM Junta Ikeda has won his 7th ACT Chess Championship, with a apt score of 7 wins from 7 games. Having entered the final day leading on 5/5, he defeated Miles Patterson in the morning round, before beating Wenlin Yin in the last round to score 100%. Fred Litchfield also finished the day with 2 wins, to reach 6/7 and outright second place. There was a 5 way tie for third, with Wenlin Yin, CM Hui Li, Harry Johnson, Sankeerten Badrinarayan, and Saffron Archer all on 5 points. Johnson, Badrinarayan and Archer also shared the Under 1900 prize, while Archer was the best scoring junior.

Jame Minogue scored 4.5 to win the Under 1500 prize while Louis Serfontein scored 3.5 to be the best Under 1200. With a near record field of 52 players the ACTCA was able to offer over $2000 in prizes. Also notable was the number of players earning their first FIDE ratings, including 6 year old Dev Raichura, and 86 year old Thomas Mautner. 

Full results from the event can be found at http://tournaments.streetchess.net/actchampionship2021/ along with a link to a replay of the top 4 boards from each round. The rest of the games will be available shortly (once the tournament arbiter types them in!)

2021 ACT Chess Championship Rds 4 & 5 (AKA not my best day as an arbiter)

 IM Junta Ikeda is now the outright leader of the 2021 ACT Chess Championship, with 5 wins from 5 games. He won an exciting game against 2nd seed Fred Litchfield in the 5th round, leaving him a point ahead of the pack.  The win was even more noteworthy as Ikeda played with the black pieces, due to a misunderstanding about the pairings. This started when Litchfield won his 4th round game against CM Hui Li after Li failed to appear before the forfeit time. Going into the 5th round Ikeda and Litchfield were the only players on 4 points, and knew they should play each other. However they assumed that Litchfield was to be white (based on their respective colour history), overlooking that defaulted games do not count for colour. Of course I failed to check the pairing, and it was well after the 10 move mark (up until when games can be restarted) that I realised what had happened. Even more bizarrely, defaulted games don't count as played games, so Litchfield is paired with CM Hui Li again, this time in round 6!

In the chasing pack on 4 are Litchfield, Li, Miles Patterson, WFM Alana Chibnall, Wenlin Yin, and Adrian de Noskowski. Safron Archer (3.5) is currently the best placed of the junior players, while Octogenarian Thomas Mautner is enjoying his comeback to competitive chess, with decent score of 3/5.

The final 2 rounds are tomorrow at 10am and 2:30pm and are being played at Campbell High School, Treloar Cres, Campbell, ACT.

2021 ACT Championship Rds 2&3

 The 2021 ACT Chess Championship is almost at the halfway point, with 4 players sharing the lead on 3/3. IM Junta Ikeda is still undefeated after beating Adian de Noskowsi and WFM Alana Chibnall, and he is joined by Fred Litchfield, CM Hui Li, and Malik Amer. Tomorrow mornings pairings see Ikeda play Amer, and Li play Litchfield. There is another group of players on 2.5/3, who are also looking to make a run tomorrow. Two of those players (Miles Patterson and Sankeerten Badrinarayan) played one the tournaments more interesting games, which you can see here.

The tournament has 2 more days to run, with rounds at 10am and 2:30pm on both days. If you are in Canberra you can drop in to spectate at Campbell High School, and if not,  you can follow it online at http://tournaments.streetchess.net/actchampionship2021/livegames/index.html

2021 ACT Chess Championship - Round 1

 The 2021 ACT Chess Championship has moved from it's traditional Canberra Day long weekend (in March), to the Reconciliation Day long weekend (in May). On the one hand this has seen a big increase in entries (52 players), but on the other, a few of the stronger players have had to give it a miss due to university exams.

With a large field, the chances of first round upsets was diminished, and in fact there were none in the first round. The top sees went 23-0, although Fred Litchfield had to work hard to overcome a determined James Minogue. Cam Cunningham was another who put up a good fight (against WFM Alana Chibnall), but his habitual time trouble once again caused problems.

The results from the first round, as well as a link to the live broadcast of the top 4 games, can be found at http://tournaments.streetchess.net/actchampionship2021/The tournament runs for another 3 days (finishing on Monday 31st May), with rounds at 10am and 2:30pm Canberra time.

Had the jab

 Today I received the first of my two Covid vaccine jabs. When I mentioned to someone this morning that I was doing this he was horrified, and asked me why I was doing this. "Because I'm not a f**king idiot" was my fairly direct reply. He then proceeded to tell me that after the injection, magnets would stick to my arm. In the service of science I have tested this claim. It is of course BS.

So 

• Had the injection
• Tested my arms with magnets
• Have had absolutely no ill effects
• Understand the difference between doctor's advice and advice from some guy watching you tube

GM v FM

 One common question asked is "What is the difference between a GM and an FM?" (in terms of skill level). Now there are lots of correct answers (fewer mistakes, deeper calculation etc), but as the following game demonstrates, knowing when to strike (and when to play h3!).

Novendra,Priasmoro (2502) - Atakhan,Abtin (2319) [C11]
Asian Hybrid Continental Chess Champions (6.14), 21.05.2021

On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at

 Opening a dedicated 'Chess Centre' is a bit of a risk, as without a large (paying) membership, generating enough income to keep it going can be a bit of a challenge. However, some enterprising lads in the Yorkshire town of Ilkley have taken a risk and opened The Chess Centre. It is a modest sized venue (fitting around 16 players inside) but from the look of the pictures (and a report by ChessExpress's intrepid correspondent Rupert Jones*) it seems to be a very stylish club. When visiting the old country, I do on occasion travel to that part of the UK, and when restrictions are lifted I am keen to drop in.

The news from Ilkley inspired me to look at what is on offer in Canberra, in terms of space and cost for a similar venture. The main challenge is in finding an affordable, but desirable location. The best I can find in my near vicinity is around 90sqm of space for $500 pw in Gungahlin, and something similar (but a little smaller) in the City (and zoning may be another issue). At that size around 40 people could fit in (based on 6sqm per 4 players), but whether that is enough to support such a centre is another question. Food and drink sales would help (if allowed), but even then, it looks more like a labour of love than a commercial success!

(*Rupert Jones also managed 6-0 in local cricket match, taking a hat trick along the way!)