2022 ACT Championship - Title shared between Sardana and Ikeda

 The 2022 ACT Chess Championship ended in a tie for 1st place, between the top two seeds, IM Rishi Sardana and IM Junta Ikeda. Unusually, the two winners did not actually play each other, instead getting to 6 points by beating other players.

The morning round saw previous leader Cameron McGowan lost to Fred Litchfield, which threw the tournament wide open. Going into the final round, there were 4 players on 5/6, with Sardana against Litchfield and Ikeda against McGowan. Sardana struck first, beating Litchfield after winning a piece in the middlegame, while Ikeda eventually triumphed after tactics went in his favour. Other results saw a 6 way tie for 3rd, involving most of the top seeds.

The final day saw a lot of interesting chess, with Michael Kethro winning a nice king an pawn ending in the final round. However the most outrageous finish of the tournament was probably in the game shown here

Press,Harry - Lo,Willis [C52]
2022 ACT Championship 30.05.2022

2022 ACT Championship - Rounds 4 and 5

 Cameron McGowan has continued his good start to the 2022 ACT Championship, winning both his games today to lead on 5/5. After beating top seed IM Rishi Sardana in a complicated game, he backed up to beat FM Michael Kethro in round 5. This puts him ahead of Sardana, IM Junta Ikeda, Fred Litchfield and CM Hui Li, who are all on 4 points. Kethro had a particularly tough day, playing 100 moves against Ikeda, the last 50 being a RvB ending (no pawns!), before starting his round 5 game on a short break. 

While McGowan leads the tournament, the destination of the championship title is less clear (as it is restricted to ACT residents). Ikeda has the easier start in the morning round, but is likely to face a difficult final round opponent. Sardana has to overcome the always solid Hui Li, while Litchfield is playing McGowan on the top board.

2022 ACT Championship - Rounds 2 and 3

 The 2nd day of the 2022 ACT Championship was a lot tougher for the top seeds, with not everyone escaping unscathed. 2nd seed Junta Ikeda drew his third round game with Willis Lo, while 4th seed Fred Litchfield had a similar result in round 2 against James Phan. 

On the other hand IM Rishi Sardana reached 3 from 3 with a win over Harry Press in the afternoon round, joined by Cameron McGowan and Michael Kethro. Kethro showed good technique to convert a rook and pawn ending against CM Hui Li, from a position he thought might have been drawn. 

With 8 players within half a point of each other at the top, it is too early to pick a likely winner. McGowan and Sardana are on the top board for tomorrows round, with Ikeda and Kethro on board 2. The winner of those games will likely be paired together in round 5, when the outcome of the tournament should become a lot clearer. 

2022 ACT Championship - Round 1

 The 2022 ACT Championship began this evening, with almost all games going to the ratings favourite. The only upset was a win by unrated Muhammad Yunus over veteran player Thomas Mautner. On the top boards, some players had to work a little harder to secure the point, but all eventually did so.

Tomorrow mornings second round will see some closer contests on all boards. The top seeds are likely to face experienced Canberra club stalwarts, while the middle group of players on half a point will be looking to kick start their campaign with a win.

The top 4 boards for this event are being broadcast live. You can find the link to the broadcast, as well as the tournament results and pairings at http://tournaments.streetchess.net/actchampionship2022/

2022 ACT Chess Championship

 The 2022 ACT Chess Championship begins tomorrow, and it is already looking to be the strongest (and maybe largest) edition in a number of years. The top seed is IM Rishi Sardana, who has moved back to the city of his birth, for work. IM Junta Ikeda is 2nd seed, ahead of a field of young challengers including Cameron McCowan, FM Michael Kethro, Fred Litchfield and Harry Press. The tournament has been bolstered by the entry of a number of players from NSW, who are eligible for the prize money, but not the championship title/

The tournament begins tomorrow evening at Campbell High School (next to the War Memorial). There is one round on Friday, with 2 rounds on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Full results can be seen at http://tournaments.streetchess.net/actchampionship2022/ and once I organise the links to the live coverage, you should be able to follow the top 4 boards live.

The half forgotten dreams of my youth

 Every now and then I dig up one of my more dubious openings from my youth. While the Schliemann in and of itself isn't that bad, there are some pretty dubious lines, especially now with chess engines ruining most gambits. I ventured the Mohring variation, which is known to be poor as long ago as the early 1980's, hoping my opponent might miss the best line. When he played 12 moves of theory I began to (a) regret my decision to choose this line and (b) try and remember what I used to know 35 years ago. Luckily he missed the the correct defensive move (13.d4!) and after that his position collapsed very quickly.

Cunningham,Cam - Press,Shaun [C63]
Belconnen Cup, 24.05.2022

2022 Asian Seniors Championship

 If you are turning 50 years old (or more) this year, then the 2022 Asian Seniors Championship may be of interest to you. It is being held from the 14th to the 22nd of October, in Auckland, New Zealand. It will be a 9 round swiss and apart from an enjoyable week of chess, title and title norms are on offer. I played in 2017 and I highly recommend this event to those who are able to take part.

Brief details are available at https://www.newzealandchess.co.nz/calendar.html