The following game combines a number of hilarious themes that I often feature on this blog.
(1) The French Defence gets a fearful hammering
(2) Grabbing the b pawn with your queen is once again bad
(3) Every now and then players who should know better (an IM in this case) still find a way of digging themselves further into trouble
GM Temur Kuybokarov has won the 2025 Oceania Zonal, with a final score of 8/9. After dropping his 4th round game, he finished with 5 straight wins, beating FM Chris Wallis in the final round. Tied for 2nd were IM Rishi Sardana, IM James Morris and FM Stirling Bayaca on 7/9. Both Sardana and Morris went through the event undefeated, as did IM Gary Lane (6/9), who curiously drew every game he started with the white pieces.
WGM Julia Ryjanova was the clear winner of the Women's Zonal, scoring 8.5/9. She only conceded a draw to WFM Shiyuan Shen, who finished 2nd on 8/9. In third place was WCM Chao Xin Cheng who scored 7/9.
Both events saw a number of players earn direct titles. A few have already earned their FM/WFM/CM/WCM titles (based on career ratings), while for others, the titles will be awarded based on achieving the minimum required rating.
As Chief Arbiter of the event, I found it a very enjoyable event. The chess was competitive throughout, including the final round, and a number of younger players showed a real step up in class. The venue (Huntingdale Golf Club) was fantastic, and the organising team from the Box Hill Chess Club (lead by Peter Tsai) did a brilliant job throughout.
Full results and links to tournament games can be found at https://sites.google.com/view/2025oceaniazonals/home
With one round left to play GM Temur Kybokarov holds a half point lead in the 2025 Oceania Zonal. Bouncing back after his round 4 loss, Kuybokarov has reeled off 4 straight wins, taking down FM Alphaeus And and FM Stirling Bayaca in todays rounds. In outright 2nd is Chris Wallis, who beat IM David Cannon in round 7 and drew with FM Luis Chan in round 8. Fittingly, Wallis and Kuybokarov will face each other in the final round, which begins at 10am Melbourne time, tomorrow.
In equal third are 6 players on 6/8. While 1st place is out of reach for this group, a 2nd or 3rd place finish is an IM norm for the non IM's in this group.
WGM Julia Ryjanova leads the Women Zonal on 7.5/8, half a point ahead of WFM Zhiyuan Shen. As both players have already met (drawing their game), the destination of the qualifying place for the World Cup will depend on their final round games. Ryjanova is playing Elaina Qiang, while Shen plays WCM Luna Xu.
While a few players have already scored enough points for direct titles, the last round will determine who else will earn them. Interestingly, the final round pairings see players in the open hoping to reach 6/9 (an FM title), up against players who already the this, or a higher title. So expect some fighting chess in the final round, which can be seen from 10:30am on Lichess.
At the end of the 4th day of the 2025 Oceania Zonal, the leading pack has thinned a little. The surprise leader is FM Stirling Bayaca, who is on 5.5/6. In the morning round he defeated GM Darryl Johansen and then FM Felix Xie (NZ) in round 6. He is being chased by IM James Morris, IM David Cannon, FM Chris Wallis and GM Temur Kuybokarov who are all on 5 points. Tomorrow mornings round sees Bayaca up against Morris in the board 1 clash.
In the Women's Zonal, WGM Julia Ryjanova and WCM Chai Xin Chen share the lead on 5.5/6. They play each other in tomorrows first round, with the winner being well placed to win the event. A draw between the 2 leaders will open to door for WFM Zhiyuan Shen to catch up, as she is in outright third on 5/6.
Round 7 and 8 will be played tomorrow, with round 9 starting at 10am on Wednesday. Although qualifying for the World Cup is the ultimate goal from both events, a chance to earn direct titles is also a motivation for the rest of the field. With 6/9 required for an FM/WFM title, and 4.5/9 for a CM/WCM some results may be affected by title considerations. For some this may lead to over cautious play (like being on the bubble in poker), but for others, a last minute run up the score table may be in order.
Day 3 of the 2025 Oceania Zonal started with a Blitz event. The 2025 Ocenia Blitz Championship was won by IM James Morris, scoring 8.5/9. FM Li Yiu finished 2nd on 7.5, and FM Luis Chan 3rd on 7.
Round 4 was in the afternoon and the surprise result was IM Davin Cannon beating top seed GM Temur Kuybokarov. A tactical miscalculation saw Cannon win an important pawn, and Kuybokarov could not generate enough counterplay as compensation. Cannon now shares the lead IM James Morris, who also reached 4/4 by beating FM Luis Chan. Tied for 3rd are a further 6 players on 3.5.
The lead in the Women's Zonal is also shared between 2 players, WGM Julia Ryjanova and Grace Yin. Yin, who started the tournament as 30th seed has had an impressive run of 4 straight wins, but will face Ryjanova in tomorrow mornings round.
The nest 2 days are both double round days, with the morning round starting at 10:00 am and the afternoon round beginning at 3:00 pm
After 3 rounds, 6 players are still on a perfect in the Open section of the 2025 Oceania Zonal. Top seed GM Temur Kuybokarov scored an easy win over Reyaansh Chakrabarty to maintain his perfect start. He was joined by IM James Morris, FM Felix Xie, IM David Cannon, FM Chris Wallis and FM Luis Chan, after they all scored round 3 wins. Another 13 players are on 2.5/3, so the likely winner(s) of the event are still some way from being known.
In the Women's Zonal, 5 players lead on 3/3. WGM Julia Ryjanova, Grace Yin, WFM Zhiyan Shen, WCM Jody Middleton and WCM Chao Xin Cheng have all had perfect starts to event, although tomorrows round may change that. Again there is a large group of players within one win of the leaders, so again, an eventual winner may take some rounds to emerge.
The first day of the 2025 Oceania Zonal saw 166 players turn up to the Huntingdale Gold Club in Melbourne, to determine the Oceania qualifiers for the 2025 World Cup. The Open section saw 117 players arrive for round 1 (curiously missing a group of New Zealand junior players who had taken advantage of the entry conditions to enter, but not play) with 49 players in the Women's section (who all turned up).
As the entry for the Open was restricted to players rated above 1900 (for Australian entries), the first round was tougher than previous Zonals. Although the top 5 seeds won their first games, IM's Lane and Solomon drew with their lower rated opponents, while IM Russell Dive lost to NSW player Ian Stalker. In the Women's event the upsets started as soon as board 3, and included a run of 6 boards (bd's 6 to 11) where Black won all the games.
Today is a double round day, with round 2 already underway. Important links are
