2013 Australian Open - Ikeda and Khenkin lead

At the halfway point of the 2013 Australian Open, FM Junta Ikeda and GM Igor Khenkin share the lead with 5.5/6. In round 5 ther drew a marathon 100 move game, and have won all their other games. Trailing by half a point is a group of 4 players, GM Zong Yuan Zhao, IM Max Illingworth, FM Bobby Cheng and WGM Irine Sukandar.
In todays round Ikeda defeated IM George Xie after finding a neat middlegame tactic. Khenkin did the same against IM Andrew Brown, when Brown overlooked a little combination which won a pawn. Zhao and Cheng had some interesting moments, before they agreed to a draw.
Tomorrow sees the all GM clash of Khenkin v Zhao on board 1, while Illingworth and Ikeda play on the second board.


Brown,Andrew (2261) - Ly,Moulthun (2417) [A00]
Australian Open (5.3), 06.01.2013

Modern day clock shennanigans

While chess is a pretty well regulated, there is still a level of trust between the players that makes each game run smoothly. Most of the time we don't even realise this, unless out opponent does something really weird. Over the years I have been queried about such topics as 'eating a full dinner at the board', 'clicking of pens', or 'my opponent is standing behind me', which fall under the heading of irritations, rather than changing the actual outcome of the game.
However I do occasionally hear of behaviour that does cross that line. Most recently I received a second hand report of an incident from the Zimbabwe Open. In a third round game, one player was ahead on time, and after playing his move, went for a stroll around the playing hall. When he returned 3 minutes later, he found that his opponent was claiming a win on time. He was somewhat surprised as he had more than 3 minutes on his clock when he left, and it was his opponent was short of time. Apparently his opponent had replied to his move, and then simply moved the clock to the other side of the board (reversing the displays). Despite protestations, the arbiter upheld the claim, and as a result the aggrieved player withdrew from the tournament.

(NB This somewhat reminiscent of the Reshevsky v Denker game from 1942, where Reshevsky lost on time, but the arbiter picked up the clock from behind, and after turning it around, decided it was a loss for Denker!)

Guo going great guns

Apart from the Australian Open, there are a number of Australian players in action in overseas events. Alek Safarian is currently playing Hastings, while IM John-Paul Wallace is playing in Groningen. Fedja Zulfic has travelled to Sweden to play in the Rilton Cup, but the performance of WIM Emma Guo  in the Basel Chess Festival is probably the best of them all. After 6 rounds she is on 3.5, but she is undefeated so far, scoring 1 win and 5 draws. Now while this may not sound that impressive, the lowest rated opponent she has faced was rated 2252, which is around 250 point above her current rating. Otherwise it has been mainly 2300's and 2400's she has been up against. The only downside to all this is that the tournament she is playing in is only a 7 round event, which means she is unable to score any title norms. However she will at least be leaving Switzerland with a a pile of extra rating points in her backpack.


Xheladini,Mahmut (2281) - Guo,Emma (2006) [C63]
Hilton Open 2013 Basel (3.26), 02.01.2013

Australian Open - Round 3

The top of the field is starting to shrink in the 2013 Australian Open, with only 10 players on 3/3. A couple of the top seeds fell back by half a point yesterday, while George Lester continued his good run, drawing with IM George Xie, after upsetting Tristan Boyd yesterday.
The game that excited the most interest from the online spectators was the Solomon - Chen game. White looked to have a crushing attack, although both players were following previous theory, all the way up to move 24. Predictions of a quick win for Solomon (including  my own) were off the mark, as Chen had a perfectly playable position, albeit one that required accurate defence. In fact the result of the game could have been reversed on move 34 if Chen had found 34. ... Qd6+ 35.Bf4 Qe6 trapping the rook on f5. Instead he played a similar, but inferior plan, but it wasn't until a few moves later that Solomon finally  broke down his defence to pick up the point.
Full crosstables, as well as games from the first 3 rounds, are available here.


Solomon,Stephen - Chen,Pengyu [C96]
Australian Open Sydney (3), 04.01.2013

I'm shocked I tell you, shocked!

Over the last few years I have made blog posts concerning the shortage of Arbiters for Australian events, and possible causes for this. A couple of example posts are here and here. So when FIDE released the list of Licensed FIDE Arbiters, I was somewhat surprised at the length of the Australian section. Under the new National Arbiter classification, there were 40 names listed. As a comparison, England only has 11 NA's, although to be fair, Denmark has about 80.
Of course the most obvious reason for the size of the list is that FIDE rated events require a NA (at a minimum) to be the Chief Arbiter. Also, there is no formal qualification method, so it is pretty simple to become one.
Given the sudden upsurge in the interest in arbiting, I hope to see 2 things. Firstly, everyone on the list goes through a formal training course, both to upgrade their qualifications to FIDE Arbiter, at a minimum, and secondly, every one on that list directs at least one FIDE rated event in 2013.

Australian Open - Day 1

The Australian Open started today, with 112 players in the main event. The top seeds made it through without too much difficulty, although Greg Canfell and Chris Wallis were upended by lower rated opponents.
I watched the live coverage of the top 4 boards this afternoon, with the Johansen v Deen-Cowell game being of particular interest. After 14 moves Queens and 2 sets of minor pieces had been exchanged, leading to a fairly typical Gruenfeld position, with White having space in the centre, but Black having the queenside pawn majority. I was keen to see how Johansen would play this position, but Black chose the wrong plan of f5 followed by a capture on e4, and his position quickly collapsed. So the lesson I witnessed was not one of positional expertise, but of a lower rated player blowing up his own position.
As an added bonus, the live coverage also has a chat box where people can comment on the games (and other topics). Today's discussions were particularly robust, although somewhat overshadowed by the tendency of posters to pass judgment on other posters. I'm not sure why this happens, especially as it rarely occurs in the live blogs I've run for events (eg Queenstown, Doeberl Cup). But then I have a tendency to let most things go, as I don't feel qualified to control the opinions of others, and maybe other posters pick up on this.
The tournament website has all the results and pairings, while the direct link to the live games is here, if you wish join in the online commentary.


Johansen,Darryl - Deen-Cowell,Nicholas [D85]
Australian Open Sydney, 02.01.2013

Looking ahead in 2013

Although it is a non-Olympiad year, there is plenty to look forward too in 2013. In the first half of the year the FIDE Candidates Tournament is going to be the stand out event. It takes place in London from mid March, and the winner goes on to play Viswanathan Anand in the World Championship in November.
There is also the FIDE World Cup in August, which is being hosted by Tromso in Norway. The next 4 tournaments in the Agon Grand Prix series are also taking place this year.
On the local scene, the 51st Doeberl Cup is being held in late March. This years event coincides with the Canberra Centenary, which means that there will also be plenty of activities away from the chessboard. The Sydney International Open is on straight after the Doeberl, providing a fortnight of strong chess and title opportunities, Fiji are hosting this years Oceania Zonal, with the winner qualifying for the World Cup.
For Canberra players, the first part of the year is now 'FIDE rating' season, with the ANU Masters, the ACT Championship, and the Doeberl Cup all providing opportunities for players to gain or improve their International ranking. And of course Street Chess is running every Saturday in Canberra City, providing a pleasant but competitive weekly fix of rapidplay.