2015 Dubbo Open - 21 & 22 March 2015

The 2015 Dubbo Open is fast approaching. This NSW Country event is always well organised and attracts a field ideal for the aspiring chess player who wants some good friendly competition without running the risk of being too outclassed.
Over the years the winners list has contained players like GM Zong Yuan Zhao, IM George Xie or IM Gary Lane, but on the same list are players like Bill Egan, Alana Chibnall or Don Keast. But the reason most players play is not for prizes and glory, but instead for 6 competitive games over a pleasant weekend in a nice country town.
The details for this years event are

• Venue: Dubbo RSL Club , Cnr Brisbane & Wingewarra St, Dubbo
• Dates: 21st and 22nd March 2015
• Rounds: Sat 1030, 1330, 1600, Sun 0930, 1200, 1430 
• Registration: Sat 0930
• Entry Fee: $45, $35 concession, $25 junior
• Prizes: $350 1st guaranteed, other prizes based on entries
• Rate of play: 60m+10s
• Arbiter: IA Shaun Press

The club also host a dinner of the Saturday night, followed by a 5 round handicap blitz event.
If you wish to play, you can enter on the day or visit the Dubbo Chess Club website for contact details

The shrinking chess column

It is a sad fact of life that most modern newspapers do not carry chess columns (at least in Australia). Those that do either syndicate their columns from another source, or squeeze it into the section left over after Sudoku's and Easy Crosswords are laid out.
One notable exception (up until now) has been the Canberra Times Chess Column, written by GM Ian Rogers. This, and the Bridge column, have been allocated a reasonable amount of space, which allowed both coverage of international events, as well as local news and tournament results. Unfortunately the paper has decided to change the layout of these columns, and has reduced them both in size and importance.
I fear that this is of course a precursor to eliminating the columns altogether. The long running Sydney Morning Herald chess column did not survive the death of Peter Parr, and the trend is to dispense with such 'niche' features altogether. In the case of the SMH, their stated reason was that not enough people complained about the columns absence, and so there was no need to keep it.
Hopefully this will not happen here in Canberra. If you are a regular reader of the column, you can register your concerns to the Canberra Times through their feedback page. If you do give them feedback, please make it relevant and respectful

2015 ANU Masters - Week 5

Victor Braguine continues to lead the 2015 ANU Masters, bouncing back after his loss last week. against Jeremy Reading he waited until Reading overextended himself while looking for an attack that wasn't there. Eventually Reading had too many pieces under attack and was forced to surrender material.
Fred Litchfield held on to second place, beating Alana Chibnall in an old fashioned Italian Opening. As in her first round game, Chibnall's position was not as bad as she thought, and she had drawing chances up until the last few moves. However she missed the best continuation and resigned when faced with a lost ending.
New ACT Champion Adrian De Noskowski had a clear advantage for a lot of the game against Harry Press. But Press was able to whip up counterplay despite being a pawn down, and after the exchange of most of the pieces, a drawn position was reached.
In the longest game of the night Miles Patterson and Andrey Bliznyuk drew after reaching a complicated ending.  With a Queen and 3 minor pieces each both sides were looking for a winning breakthrough but eventually the point was split.
With two rounds to play, Braguine leads with 4/5. Litchfield is second on 3.5 and Patterson third on 3.


De Noskowski, Adrian (1708) - Press,Harry (1965)
2015 ANU Masters Canberra AUS (5.1), 11.03.2015

Good eating = Good chess

The Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) featured chess in an article the other day, looking at the link between good health and good chess. A number of Australian players were quoted, including GM Zong Yuan Zhao and FM Manuel Weeks.
One player featured in the story was GM Gawain Jones, who is always a popular visitor to these shores. In an attempt to improve his result Jones had a change of diet, which meant dispensing with the familiar English cuisine of battered fish and beer. Apparently this was a successful move as under the new diet, his results improved.
Personally I am yet to see similar improvements for myself, having become a semi-regular bike rider (around 30 km's a week). However, as I tend to try and keep my games as short as possible, (either through finding some trick, or taking a draw), my improved stamina probably has yet to find the right moment to shine.
The article, titled "Grandmasters of bodies as well as minds" can be found here, at the ABC website.

(Thanks to Stuart Fancy for sending me the link)

2015 ACT Championship - Final day

After 7 hard fought rounds, Adrian De Noskowski is the 2015 ACT Champion, after beating Jeremy Reading in the final round of the tournament. Reading went into the final round on 5.5/6, after drawing with Alana Chibnall in the morning round, while De Noskowski had beaten Victor Braguine to reach 5/6.
The Reading v De Noskowski game started with an early draw offer from Reading, but De Noskowski declined it, knowing that only a win would deliver him the championship. At one stage Reading was a pawn to the good, but De Noskowski kept looking for counterplay. Reading tried to shut down De Noskowski's play with a temporary piece sacrifice, but this rebounded when De Noskowski set up a mating net. The win allowed De Noskowski to claim the title by half a point, and relegate Reading to second place.
Alana Chibnall finished in outright third after drawing both her day 4 games. She was worse for quite a while against Dillon Hathiramani but a fairly generous draw offer allowed he to finish on 5/7. Bill Egan had a good tournament, drawing with Harry Press in the final round and picking up a share of the Under 1700 prize. Along side him were Thomas Johnston and Joshua Lee, all on 4.5. Indis Danaswara was the best Under 1100 on 4/7 (including a win over De Noskowski in round 1), while Benjamin Woo was the Best Under 800 on the same score.
Final standings plus all the games from the tournament can be found here.


Reading,Jeremy (1960) - De Noskowski,Adrian (1851)
2015 ACT Championship Canberra, Australia (7.1), 09.03.2015

2015 ACT Championship - Day 3

With 2 rounds the play, Jeremy Reading leads the 2015 ACT Championship with 5/5. He started that day with a win over joint leader Harry Press, before beating CM Bill Egan in the afternoon round. A point behind Reading are Alana Chibnall and Adrian De Noskowski. Chibnall players Reading in round 6, while De Noskowski is up against Victor Barguine.
The Reading Press pairing resulted in an exciting game, with Press on the defensive for a lot of the game. However he held Reading at bay, and at one stage reached a nearly winning position. However he missed a strong knight fork, and allowed Reading to reach a win rook and pawn ending. The loss for Press had a knock on effect, as he then blundered his queen on move 8 against Adrian De Noskowski  in the 5th round to end the day on 3/5.
Chibnall had two reasonably quick wins, beating Tim Pearce and Brian Butler. Curiously Butler resigned after he decided the move he played was a blunder, thinking Chibnall was winning his queen. Turns out that he could have block that threat, but the move that Chibnall was going to play was in fact winning.
Going onto the final day Reading is the clear favourite to capture the title, but a loss the Chibnall would throw the tournament wide open. Even a draw would create chances for the chancing pack.
Results and games from the tournament can be found here.


Reading,Jeremy (1960) - Press,Harry (1898)
2015 ACT Championship Canberra, Australia (4.1), 08.03.2015

2015 ACT Championship - Day 2

Jeremy Reading and Harry Press share the lead in the ACT Championships, with 3/3 after today's 2 rounds. Reading had a very tough second round against Thomas Johnston, with the game reaching R+B v R after 70 moves. While the ending is usually drawn in theory, it is hard to defend in practice, and this is how it turned out. Reading had a more direct victory in the third round, beating James Satrapa with an attack on his king.
Press defeated Indis Danaswara in round 2, before beating Brian Butler in a hard fought third round game. Press and Reading will meet in tomorrow mornings round, with the winner well placed for overall victory.
A couple of other tournament favourites had a tough time in today's round. Tim Pearce beat Victor Braguine in round 2, but was in turn upset by Bill Egan in the third round. Despite losing to Press in the 2nd round, Danaswara bounced back to beat Thomas Johnston in the third round, while Saffron Archer scored a good win over Albert Winkelman.
Full tournament results can be found here (chess-results.com). You can also play through the games from the event by clicking the games link.