Won't somebody think of the adults

 The Eastlakes Gungahlin Chess Club began it's 2023 chess season this evening, with not 1 but 2 club events. In a throwback to the 1980's, the club start both a junior event (2023 Gungahlin Junior Championship) and a adult event (2023 Ramakrishna Memorial). The two tournaments are identical (7 rounds 60m+30s), but junior players have to play the junior event.

So how did it go? Quite well actually. Combined the 2 events had 41 players (22 in the Memorial, and 19 in the junior), which is about the same as last year in terms of entrants, and age split. One problem it did solve is that it reduced the number of 1st round mismatches, as almost all the games in the Memorial went past the 1 hour mark, although the junior events still saw must game finish in under 60 minutes.

It is worth noting that this will be the only time the club will split the events this year (back to combined swisses for later events), but as a format to start the year off, it certainly looks like it made most club members happy.

Last round dramas

 Last round games can do strange things to chess players. The final round of the 2023 Tata Steel tournament saw a dramatic change in the final standings, as did the last round of the 2023 Oceania Zonal. Often it is the player with the least to lose starts with the upper hand, and simply has to wait for the mistake. For the players in the 2023 Zonal, this is in fact what happened, resulting in not only a 6 way tie for 1st, but an IM title for FM Patrick Gong.

Solomon,Stephen - Zhao,Zong Yuan [C90]
2023 Oceania Zonal, 29.01.2023

Kuybokarov and Ryjanove win 3.6 Zonal events

 GM Temur Kuybokarov and WGM Julia Ryjanova have won the Open and Womens Zone 3.6 Championship. While Ryjanova won her event outright (8/9), Kuybokarov had to win a playoff against IM Gary Lane to claim the title.

Going into the final round GM Zong Yuan Zhao held a half point lead over the field, but IM Stephen Solomon threw the tournament wide open after beating Zhao. One the other results had come in, there was a 6 way tie for first, involving Kuybokarov, Lane, FM Patrick Gong, FM Yi Liu, Solomon, and IM James Morris (all on 7.5). The playoff was between the top 2 finishers on count back (Kuybokarov and Lane), which Kuybokarov won 2-0. FM Patrick Gong finished 3rd on tie-break, but as it was part of a tie for first, he received the IM title. Liu was unlucky in this regard, missing out on the title by a very narrow margin.

Ryjanova needed at least half a point to ensure 1st place but made sure of it by beating WFM Kristine Quek to finish half a point ahead of WGM Jilin Zhang. WFM Vyanla Punsalan finished 3rd on tie-break, to earn a WIM norm.

Apart from the winners, who qualified for the next World Cup, the remaining interest was in seeing who could earn various direct titles. It turns out quite a lot, although in a large number of cases, there will still be rating requirements that have to be met.

2023 Oceania Zonal - After round 6

 GM Zong Yuan Zhao is is outright first after round 6 of the 2023 Oceania Zonal, with 6 wins from 6 games. In today's only round he beat Rebo Fu, while GM Temur Kuybokarov and FM Patrick Gong drew. Kuybokarov and Gong share 2nd place on 5.5, while there is a large pack of players on 5/6. 

In the Women's event WGM Julia Ryjanova has also scored 6/6 and leads by 1.5 points. Sharing 2nd place are WGM Jilin Zhang, Luna Xu, and Om O'Carroll. Again there is a large group of players on 4 points hoping to catch Ryjanova.

Tomorrow there will be 2 rounds, starting at 10am. Board 1 sees Kuybokarov v Zhao, while FM Patrick Gong is up against IM Igor Bjelobrk. Gong is not only hoping for a win in this game, but is also on track for an IM norm, either by performance, or by placing in the tournaments top 3.

2023 Oceania Zonal - quick impressions

 I dropped in towards the end of the third day of the 2023 Oceania Zonal to get a quick overview of the event. Most of the games were completed by the time I arrived, so I am yet to get a sense of how large the event actually is.

The venue is quite nice, although the tournament is spread out across 4 rooms. All games being broadcast live are in one room, while the rest of the games are spread out. There is no specific analysis room, but players seem to be happy meeting in the foyer area. With so many players/rooms, the tournament has 5 or 6 arbiters who each have a room to supervise. There are alos a large number of volunteers, who handle things like bags and mobile phones.

As for the chess WGM Julia Ryjanova is the sole leader of the Women's Zonal. She has scored 5/5 and is a point ahead of Om O'Carroll and Jody Middleton. WGM Jilin Zhang  is off to a slow start (3.5), but has yet to play Ryjanova.

In the Open there are 4 players on 5/5. GM's Temur Kuybokarov and Zong Yuan Zhao have been joined by  FM Patrick Gong and Rebo Fu. Curiously 3 of the leaders are all from Western Australia, and all played in the recently completed Australian Open.

Tomorrow has a blitz event in the morning, with Round 6 starting in the afternoon. With 4 rounds to play, the field is starting to sort itself out, but it will take another round or 2 before a likely winner (or winners) will emerge.

Travel day for me

 Today is a travel day for me. Heading down to Melbourne in a couple of hours to catch the end of the 2023 Oceania Zonal  (and to hold at least one important meeting). By the time I touch down, four and a bit rounds should be completed, and a clearer picture of the eventual results should emerge.

2023 Oceania Zonal - Day 1

 The 2023 Oceania Zonal has started today, with big numbers in both events. So large in fact that to discuss standings and likely winners won't make sense until much later in the tournament. Instead I'd thought I'd pick one of the games from the top boards. 

Current Asian Seniors Champion IM Gary Lane plays both sides of the Ruy Lopez equally well (as I recently discovered). In this game he takes the Black pieces, and manages to destroy his opponents king side position before launching a winning attack. I suspect if the colours had been reversed, he probably would have won the same way, with the White pieces.

Ni,Lucas (1641) - Lane,Gary W (2343) [C60]
Oceania Zonal Open 2023 Melbourne, Australia (1.6), 23.01.2023