tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73891940230674007152024-03-06T00:07:14.663-08:00Melbourne Games CoachThe blog of a Melbourne games coach, covering primarily chess & poker.MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.comBlogger315125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-10791760718146181502015-12-13T01:51:00.000-08:002015-12-13T01:51:18.016-08:00Australasian Masters 2015With the move of <a href="http://boxhillchess.org.au/">Box Hill Chess Club</a> to new premises, the annual <a href="http://www.chessvictoria.org.au/site/victorianchess/2015-australasian-masters">Australasian Masters</a> has also moved venue, with <a href="http://www.melbournechessclub.org/">Melbourne Chess Club</a> playing host for 2015, with the event running from December 12-20. <br />
Once again organiser Leonid Sandler has managed to get two round robin norm events to occur - a GM norm event, featuring some of Australia's top talent, along with Grandmasters <a href="http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=11601388">Neiksans</a> of Latvia, <a href="http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=4143183">Papin</a> from Russia & local GM <a href="http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=3200035">Johansen</a>. The IM norm event has a much wider range of ages, with local IMs <a href="http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=3202437">Rujevic</a> & <a href="http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=4300726">Bjelobrk</a> being joined by Welsh IM <a href="http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=1800833">Richard Jones</a> in prevent those without the IM title from gaining a norm. <br />
Once again I am an arbiter for the event, as well as doing daily bulletins, all of which can be found on the <a href="http://www.chessvictoria.org.au/site/victorianchess/2015-australasian-masters">Australasian Masters website</a>. <br />
The first round saw a number of upsets & exciting chess, with the GMs scoring a total of 0.5/3 for the day! Most spectacular of the games was IM James Morris' sacrificial effort against Russian GM Vasily Papin, which you can see below. <br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="580" scrolling="no" src="http://www.chessvideos.tv/replayer-insert.php?id=104699" style="border: 1px solid black;" width="400"></iframe><br />
I'll attempt to update the blog (yes, its still alive) throughout the tournament, but at present I'm not sure how regularly I'll be able to do it. <br />
Also, I gave my pre-tournament tips in Bulletin 1 - Nieksans in the GM event & Jones or Bjelobrk in the IM event - safe picks I know, but at least for the IM event I think they will be on the mark. MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-57624428722598941772015-07-25T00:41:00.001-07:002015-07-25T12:27:36.591-07:00Guam International Open The Non-Chess PartI must say that the hospitality shown by those in Guam Chess has been nothing short of outstanding, in particular President Roger Orio & former President Leon Ryan, who have spent the last few days since the tournament finished showing me the sights of Guam. <br />
Below are a variety of photos & even a few video of attractions around the island! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimLNzv9tm7lDHQ2VcjYH83-o3SXxchrAbSZdnNTEacH52nPTuFDcxNhUHeq_9jq9yjtmoVbo2R0E77jK4gsPbUQpU7i52ZD5FlrjVm3W0R0xBLIXU9B5s7KgtfIOjJIIJtlll3QKJ5o4FV/s1600/IMG_1043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimLNzv9tm7lDHQ2VcjYH83-o3SXxchrAbSZdnNTEacH52nPTuFDcxNhUHeq_9jq9yjtmoVbo2R0E77jK4gsPbUQpU7i52ZD5FlrjVm3W0R0xBLIXU9B5s7KgtfIOjJIIJtlll3QKJ5o4FV/s320/IMG_1043.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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View across Agana Bay from the Latte of Freedom, which is a local monument at the Governor's complex</div>
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Another view across the bay<br />
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With Leon Ryan<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiybZ14FSYm9cnRoWxc0leruVztnlTcv786W-SzNHr8WgvPmqH2Li2KoRWPpRC5QBFgnlO5tZm_NCmh4pXWguD507g1jSX2ld-eAm97B2M55HGxQ2WiYk7PWg4ILrgm1JOFhLzeNmx0kue0/s1600/IMG_1057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiybZ14FSYm9cnRoWxc0leruVztnlTcv786W-SzNHr8WgvPmqH2Li2KoRWPpRC5QBFgnlO5tZm_NCmh4pXWguD507g1jSX2ld-eAm97B2M55HGxQ2WiYk7PWg4ILrgm1JOFhLzeNmx0kue0/s320/IMG_1057.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
With Roger Orio<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilPSZI42_RmvVrVFLC6Dsg_x4YnePHeltdizhEXGWqwlotfFTZEWZq2mvscsBoW8CsWvFk5rWJSNABOuUKFIYKK44EdGPWcpNtfQF14tcu9MQ5xgpMq9N63lVtr-4CJLBq3Z02N91JNk5x/s1600/IMG_1077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilPSZI42_RmvVrVFLC6Dsg_x4YnePHeltdizhEXGWqwlotfFTZEWZq2mvscsBoW8CsWvFk5rWJSNABOuUKFIYKK44EdGPWcpNtfQF14tcu9MQ5xgpMq9N63lVtr-4CJLBq3Z02N91JNk5x/s320/IMG_1077.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
Bit of history about the Latte of Freedom<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhROLSHhs654-HH5TPSoH6z8m445X9je3VKQpdFVbYPxetJv2FLtY7JLCM45aQvwsQKMJy4jWxzXVbiLdHAJFN8W7je0nHdwDfC5rk755chwUuIbgiKRXm2M5xsZYoPy9ojm56gmgPy0Zan/s1600/IMG_1078.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhROLSHhs654-HH5TPSoH6z8m445X9je3VKQpdFVbYPxetJv2FLtY7JLCM45aQvwsQKMJy4jWxzXVbiLdHAJFN8W7je0nHdwDfC5rk755chwUuIbgiKRXm2M5xsZYoPy9ojm56gmgPy0Zan/s320/IMG_1078.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
There is also a small museum next to the Latte - here are the photos of the elected Governors of Guam<br />
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Photos of appointed Governors of Guam<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTBCZSyqC-v79pXE3sCvBg8r_WXueCllqDLOeIDDRPQ53sLYKjR-l_Wq5_98Jvvu3Ja_HBlZkRLeI_Ce14E7iSV1ZBtd1WhrJTaoly_yLeDsZZa2-K74eUxr2i1RHZvBuwhHpsFi6-FjDX/s1600/IMG_1080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTBCZSyqC-v79pXE3sCvBg8r_WXueCllqDLOeIDDRPQ53sLYKjR-l_Wq5_98Jvvu3Ja_HBlZkRLeI_Ce14E7iSV1ZBtd1WhrJTaoly_yLeDsZZa2-K74eUxr2i1RHZvBuwhHpsFi6-FjDX/s320/IMG_1080.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
A traditional Chamorro hut, with the Latte stones as the foundational pillars for the structure<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT144pZYhDBke4ZPAjGfBCEMrLh3zBXysoOWGdpIANqAbsXb9I3Q-Z79hhXTSkH-UcQqfTT6F6ODAxMvx6WiKJNhCy06xLvWk55de5sNWFsc7BdL79MUOv4Fi9bQkeh29UBoSm4mmeuih6/s1600/IMG_1081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT144pZYhDBke4ZPAjGfBCEMrLh3zBXysoOWGdpIANqAbsXb9I3Q-Z79hhXTSkH-UcQqfTT6F6ODAxMvx6WiKJNhCy06xLvWk55de5sNWFsc7BdL79MUOv4Fi9bQkeh29UBoSm4mmeuih6/s320/IMG_1081.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Photo in the museum showing the Latte & statue of former Governor Ricky Bordallo & the Governor's complex<br />
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A traditional Chamorro boat<br />
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The Latte of Freedom<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjm5HFdbjjpNSBHKxgi_HcpXGC0_Eebm8jfquulEvYMcT-65QtA0uf6uJWzI59ImCzACQmVng_KuzqjPgaxuVSUFmC8jBVV8HNxj_NarhjuGSaDBVk1dwk4fG7EUpKuUDpcqo3a24E-BG8/s1600/IMG_1093.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjm5HFdbjjpNSBHKxgi_HcpXGC0_Eebm8jfquulEvYMcT-65QtA0uf6uJWzI59ImCzACQmVng_KuzqjPgaxuVSUFmC8jBVV8HNxj_NarhjuGSaDBVk1dwk4fG7EUpKuUDpcqo3a24E-BG8/s320/IMG_1093.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
View from inside the Latte<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0eGoG-TeqxE46r81mDgCdjTtfjKt8oR9uWy3hJiA7DNzNS7nVRxtFieIe2hdIvCFMluoo4UP0yhbnWA2nyL-1Uq2j5v5MdpJ6iUGK1xI206pBaYkaM3AyWiGFV_8ae5BsyoLybPIjBJOM/s1600/IMG_1094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0eGoG-TeqxE46r81mDgCdjTtfjKt8oR9uWy3hJiA7DNzNS7nVRxtFieIe2hdIvCFMluoo4UP0yhbnWA2nyL-1Uq2j5v5MdpJ6iUGK1xI206pBaYkaM3AyWiGFV_8ae5BsyoLybPIjBJOM/s320/IMG_1094.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Another view from the Latte<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfFaPzQFSgSGiBZZO6PNvZfT_c8ie7xScGGKDyaMWesUDt2VCcnlsyfhjudWemXEQyZfemZ1XvbSYiKwQGbGXRMguRFdqHsGozLWa4b4lgQF45rXqE5Re6Wt5nVrL7ug7mudT0xVgsk8-l/s1600/IMG_1095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfFaPzQFSgSGiBZZO6PNvZfT_c8ie7xScGGKDyaMWesUDt2VCcnlsyfhjudWemXEQyZfemZ1XvbSYiKwQGbGXRMguRFdqHsGozLWa4b4lgQF45rXqE5Re6Wt5nVrL7ug7mudT0xVgsk8-l/s320/IMG_1095.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Another view from the Latte<br />
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The Latte of Freedom from the base<br />
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We also drove around the Memorial Park at Asan Beach, where the American troops landed in 1944 to successfully take the island back from the Japanese. </div>
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The next stop was the Fish Eye Marine Park</div>
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Entrance to Fish Eye Marine Park<br />
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The long jetty out to the marine park<br />
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Some visitors were doing scuba diving while there<br />
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The Marine park is based around a bomb hole from WWI. This map shows different aspects neat the main part of the park. <br />
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Almost there ... <br />
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When you went down into the 'bomb hole', you were faced with a variety of windows, with various fish & coral just outside!<br />
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One window had a feeding station & a huge amount of colourful fish!<br />
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Another view from the feeding window<br />
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There was also a range of coral, with fish swimming in & around it. <br />
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More coral & fish<br />
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A bit of an explanation about the Feeding Station window<br />
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Another window was used to judge visibility - depending on how much you could see through the window<br />
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Another featured coral<br />
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Another window explaining the coral features<br />
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A diagram showing the structure at the end of the jetty that you walked down stairs into, where you could get fascinating views of the fish & coral! <br />
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Just outside the main part of the park, looking down at the side of the structure</div>
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I also took some short videos of the fish & coral at various windows - perhaps they give you a better idea of how fascinating the place is, rather than just a series of photos! </div>
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Next stop for the afternoon was Jeff's Pirate Cove for lunch, where I had Chicken <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelaguen">Kelaguen</a>, a traditional Chamorro dish. <br />
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The view from Jeff's Pirate Cove - another beautiful bay area on Guam! <br />
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Part of the seating area with mural<br />
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Following lunch, we continued on to Fort Soledad, which is near the bay where explorer Ferdinand Magellan landed in Guam in the 1500s. <br />
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Information about the view from Fort Soledad<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9T1XdccOgmwJRCi5oguLSbowy5Tfif9O6zoBm-pwudopsmv6gL6FTCiwTesNU0VMCMMA6ZJs98cXoZc-Do-eQUTZg_b3dWLR8JVPeiwGhi_vQ3lvE1wTFz1KBknxVUbQa3g4HLd8y7vvu/s1600/IMG_1172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9T1XdccOgmwJRCi5oguLSbowy5Tfif9O6zoBm-pwudopsmv6gL6FTCiwTesNU0VMCMMA6ZJs98cXoZc-Do-eQUTZg_b3dWLR8JVPeiwGhi_vQ3lvE1wTFz1KBknxVUbQa3g4HLd8y7vvu/s320/IMG_1172.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Information about the Fort itself<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6u8HX2BBnAdom98owRCWEeV655ClMFIOiPnyacxP27hKEg-KhMseOC8d3AaJyBNOlkKbGjUgwP8f2-Otazb24uXDasKuaHVbfAizda7J_Y5hdoX-1qez0rq5CdX9_5W_yIwcFJeCuNQ5J/s1600/IMG_1173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6u8HX2BBnAdom98owRCWEeV655ClMFIOiPnyacxP27hKEg-KhMseOC8d3AaJyBNOlkKbGjUgwP8f2-Otazb24uXDasKuaHVbfAizda7J_Y5hdoX-1qez0rq5CdX9_5W_yIwcFJeCuNQ5J/s320/IMG_1173.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
Part of the fort remains in tact<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRwy0KVZOt4SyF1O7GW4kY73BRDpzDT2BMDrmo_i5RfUG2yX9efjNGylXtC1tBM4KCMK0RHtYDRUkhq0YosidjeM8TL2ZYT4hM4i1-c0esAu-yB_hdYv_gHp-hevzGPvXMCb6k0uI-SFRJ/s1600/IMG_1174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRwy0KVZOt4SyF1O7GW4kY73BRDpzDT2BMDrmo_i5RfUG2yX9efjNGylXtC1tBM4KCMK0RHtYDRUkhq0YosidjeM8TL2ZYT4hM4i1-c0esAu-yB_hdYv_gHp-hevzGPvXMCb6k0uI-SFRJ/s320/IMG_1174.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Cannons have been placed in positions similar to where they would have been in the 1800s when the Fort was in operation. <br />
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The view from the Fort across Umatac Bay<br />
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One of the cannons at the fort<br />
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A view towards the centre of Guam, showing its mountainous inland terrain</div>
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The final stop on the trip around Guam was at the War in the Pacific National Historic Park, which was a moving tribute to the events during World War II</div>
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Entrance to the Memorial<br />
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Details of the terrain & battles waged in the area<br />
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The view today ... one can only imagine what it would have been like with thousands of troops in the middle of battle! <br />
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Inland fighting also occurred<br />
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The view today, with the rocky terrain proving hazardous at the best of times<br />
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Apra Harbour during the war<br />
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And the modern view of the area ... <br />
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There were a number of plates depicting events during the war at the memorial<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8-4yEYJpCp3_5WrOcSXTgoCrJ4Q7zhggLsG4H33-ImSezmmYVsirRZRTCmReo2XhdMn5dI7znIenVDXY6OJez5Oaxsd1ejP-kfN065aGpaEXwJZqHR5vYSC1HETX7QR8BVVhpmyqQaiPN/s1600/IMG_1194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8-4yEYJpCp3_5WrOcSXTgoCrJ4Q7zhggLsG4H33-ImSezmmYVsirRZRTCmReo2XhdMn5dI7znIenVDXY6OJez5Oaxsd1ejP-kfN065aGpaEXwJZqHR5vYSC1HETX7QR8BVVhpmyqQaiPN/s320/IMG_1194.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
A tribute to various naval ships that were involved in the conflict<br />
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More plates depicting events during the war<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcXV-RE8gOqwMRci9Mz_G-YsE7MaDD-ewMwB7pLt86ePiJnw6TqKxC02a_45AgwqaErpKGEFKuUjns6Lny0qqhwFwdTKXggkvaqSCxKehQV2GSVl5Z6Byr3e4vzUtOdHV_0A5wEtKzrzLx/s1600/IMG_1198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcXV-RE8gOqwMRci9Mz_G-YsE7MaDD-ewMwB7pLt86ePiJnw6TqKxC02a_45AgwqaErpKGEFKuUjns6Lny0qqhwFwdTKXggkvaqSCxKehQV2GSVl5Z6Byr3e4vzUtOdHV_0A5wEtKzrzLx/s320/IMG_1198.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
The second set of plates<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2o_g16CH3qomVrWDL7ZD1OUUqokN8raelZ0Sc_Pn8HiKIyMGwHvj2tuqQssQsQl2AoQSzbdKonvE1xVk22Sa0jBCyKtaysbzX4x0BahIyynPpAmGrk0_8nOqhvfqaQZ2AQ178EFeKho37/s1600/IMG_1199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2o_g16CH3qomVrWDL7ZD1OUUqokN8raelZ0Sc_Pn8HiKIyMGwHvj2tuqQssQsQl2AoQSzbdKonvE1xVk22Sa0jBCyKtaysbzX4x0BahIyynPpAmGrk0_8nOqhvfqaQZ2AQ178EFeKho37/s320/IMG_1199.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
Attack plate detail <br />
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Occupation plate detail <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvhm_lbJO4iGyyzK2hRUYvYTc7aEyfHG1aqtZEpkM4UKvcWUgY0Khvx-RpVhmE4vDx6cf2UW4HTMPYPeigdBaTOqUbrJlkwNLFKpFRH6B4kjA5tKiDms5FjwO4u1hAkGqOTZO4yY-T6dWE/s1600/IMG_1203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvhm_lbJO4iGyyzK2hRUYvYTc7aEyfHG1aqtZEpkM4UKvcWUgY0Khvx-RpVhmE4vDx6cf2UW4HTMPYPeigdBaTOqUbrJlkwNLFKpFRH6B4kjA5tKiDms5FjwO4u1hAkGqOTZO4yY-T6dWE/s320/IMG_1203.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
Liberation plate detail <br />
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The list of names of both locals & military that were killed or injured in the conflict is huge!<br />
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Spanning two large walls<br />
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And leaving quite an impression on visitors<br />
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An overall view of the inside of the memorial</div>
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Hopefully this is just my first trip to Guam - although I struggled with the heat & humidity, I had a great time! The chess tournament was excellent & the locals were friendly & accommodating & more than happy to go out of their way to ensure I had an enjoyable trip! </div>
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Thanks to everyone from Guam Echecs involved in the event - if you are ever travelling to Australia, get in touch & I hope I can go part of the way to returning the hospitality you showed me! </div>
MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-83668111124072257652015-07-24T02:06:00.000-07:002015-07-24T02:06:59.863-07:00Guam International Open Part ThreeNo major upsets at the top end of the tournament, with GMs Laylo & Torre sharing first place in the 2015 edition of the Guam International. Guam Champion, Efren Manuel beat everyone he played other than the two Grandmasters, to finish in outright third place. Peter Mafnas won the final game to finish against Malcolm MacFarland to secure outright fourth, while Olga Szekely & Ignatius Leong were the lucky ones who managed to avoid playing both Grandmasters & snuck into equal fifth place with 5/9. <br />
Full results as well as all games are available on <a href="http://chess-results.com/tnr180968.aspx?lan=1">Chess Results</a>. <br />
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GM Darwin Laylo<br />
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GM Eugene Torre<br />
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Promising young local Victor Wen<br />
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Another young local talent, Jed Caluag<br />
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Third place & best local, Efren Manuel<br />
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Fourth place, Peter Mafnas<br />
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Youngest player in the tournament, who finished strongly, Yanis Warnier from France - watch for that name in the future!<br />
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Fantastic trophies for the winners!<br />
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Guam Chess President Roger Orio, GM Darwin Laylo, GM Eugene Torre (winner on countback) & Guam Reef Hotel General Manager Yasuhiro Kotera at the presentation of prizes. <br />
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Top three placegetters in the tournament with their trophies! </div>
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Equal fifth, Olga Szekely<br />
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Equal fifth, FM Ignatius Leong<br />
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Equal seventh, Zoltan Szekely, Malcolm MacFarland, Jed Caluag, Rudolph Soriano & Roger Orio (Tito Cabunagan absent)<br />
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All players received a medal for their participation</div>
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Following the presentation, GM Torre gave a simultaneous exhibition over 16 boards! <br />
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He was able to concentrate in spite of the fantastic view just over his shoulder!<br />
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Final score: Torre 15.5 - simul opponents 0.5.</div>
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Rudy Soriano was the player who drew, when Torre gave him a draw at the end of the simul in the position above, which sees Torre with two knights, one bishop & two pawns against Soriano's two bishops & three pawns. </div>
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I also managed to record some video footage of the simul - notice how the dynamic changes as the simul progresses! </div>
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iuVncoQ97X8/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iuVncoQ97X8?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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Part 1, with all participants still in action</div>
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MxNYdst6p8I/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MxNYdst6p8I?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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Part 2, with some games finished & others well into the middlegame</div>
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/j89KAse_HIY/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/j89KAse_HIY?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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Part 3, the final stages, with only a few games left</div>
MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-11208450626281552422015-07-20T18:05:00.000-07:002015-07-20T18:06:30.307-07:00Guam International Open Part TwoJust past the midway point of the tournament & as expected, the tournament has turned into a race for third, with Grandmasters Laylo & Torre beating up any challengers, while their own game was a hard fought draw, where neither players held any big advantage during the game before finally ending in an opposite coloured bishop endgame. <br />
The complicating factor in the race for third is that apart from having to beat the other challengers, there is always the need for two players to face the grandmasters each round! At present (after round 6) there is a four-way tie for third place, with locals Peter Mafnas, Efren Manuel, Jed Caluag & Palau's Tito Cabunagan all on 4/6. Of these players, only Efren has faced both GMs, although Jed plays his second GM this morning, but there are also eight other players within a point of third place, so the race for third is still very much alive! <br />
I also played a few rounds, and only managed 1/2 after I blundered horribly against Danilo Briones, however Danilo still had to play well enough to finish off the position, so well done to him! <br />
Full results of the tournament, as well as all games, are available on <a href="http://chess-results.com/tnr180968.aspx?lan=1">Chess Results</a>. <br />
Away from the chess, there was a BBQ Street Party on Saturday, which saw plenty of locals & tourists gathered in Tumon, while today is the Liberation Day public holiday, so I expect fireworks & other festivities this evening. <br />
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Harmon McDonalds, whose second floor is the usual home of chess on Guam on Sundays. <br />
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Crowds pack the streets for the BBQ Street Party & line up for some of the barbequed food on offer!<br />
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Part of the festivities involved a cooking competition, though I'm not sure of the exact details. <br />
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If there was any doubt about where the party was happening ... <br />
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Local dancers close out festivities for the evening near the stage. <br />
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The trophy for the locals, with winners of various competitions around the island getting a name plate on the trophy, which is a carved from a piece of wood!</div>
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Start of round 3, with board 1 game between local Victor Wen & GM Darwin Laylo<br />
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Start of round 4, with board 1 game between GM Darwin Laylo & local CM Jonathan Molod<br />
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The other side of the playing hall in round 4, with the clash of juniors, Yanis Warnier from France against local Gefferson Batula, nearest the camera. <br />
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A crowd gathers for the conclusion of the Laylo-Molod game, while closer to camera Olga Szekely plays Efren Manuel & Jed Caluag plays GM Eugene Torre. </div>
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Arbiter's desk, with sponsor banners - my presence at the tournament was largely due to financial support from the Kasparov Chess Foundation Asia-Pacific!<br />
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Chess with a view ... play underway in round 7, with beautiful cliffs & ocean just out the window!<br />
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To finish, two interesting games from the tournament: <br />
Round 4 top board clash between GM Darwin Laylo & CM Jonathan Molod <br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="580" scrolling="no" src="http://www.chessvideos.tv/replayer-insert.php?id=102768" style="border: 1px solid black;" width="400"></iframe><br />
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Round 5, an almost brilliancy from the clash between FM Ignatius Leong & Tito Cabunagan<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="580" scrolling="no" src="http://www.chessvideos.tv/replayer-insert.php?id=102770" style="border: 1px solid black;" width="400"></iframe><br />MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-78649586127181129872015-07-17T19:49:00.000-07:002015-07-17T19:49:11.989-07:00Guam International OpenI'm currently on the Pacific island of Guam, where the 2015 Guam International Open is being held. I am here as the chief arbiter & potential fill-in player. There are 22 players in the event, most of whom are locals, although the event has been significantly enhanced by the presence of two Filipino Grandmasters, top seed Darwin Laylo & legend of Asian chess Eugene Torre! Other foreign players competing include FM Ignatius Leong from Singapore, who is head of the <a href="http://www.chessasiapacific.com/">Kasparov Chess Foundation Asia-Pacific</a> and former Secretary of <a href="http://www.fide.com/">FIDE</a>, Tito Cabunagan from Palau & eight year old Yanis Warnier from France. <br />
I arrived here a few days before the tournament started & the views of the water & coastline are fantastic, however the heat & humidity makes venturing out during the day quite difficult. I tried walking around the local shops near the middle of the day & returned to the hotel covered in sweat! I'm hoping once the tournament is finished that I will have some more time to look around the island, particularly at the various sites relating to World War II, which saw the country occupied by the Japanese for around three years. <br />
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Two Lovers Point, one of the may tourist attractions on the island of Guam<br />
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'Love Locks' are a feature at Two Lovers Point<br />
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Spectacular views of the coastline are the real attraction of the Point<br />
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Guam Reef Hotel, host of this year's tournament</div>
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The spectacular view from my room on the tenth floor<br />
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The afternoon before the tournament saw a press conference held at the hotel - I even get a mention on one of the banners for the tournament! <br />
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The press conference also saw a ceremonial first move between Eva, a young local girl & GM Torre. <br />
There was also an article written about the tournament in the local newspaper, the <a href="http://www.guampdn.com/story/sports/2015/07/17/guam-ready-international-chess-tournament/30282105/">Pacific Daily News</a><br />
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Round 1 of the tournament underway on the eighteenth floor of the hotel! <br />
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A sample of the spectacular views from the eighteenth floor! It might make it tough for the players to concentrate on the chess! </div>
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More spectacular views of the coastline from the playing venue<br />
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Magnificent clear blue water just outside the hotel!</div>
MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-78862497583732739392015-06-30T04:43:00.000-07:002015-06-30T04:43:21.966-07:002015 Victorian Chess ChampionshipsThe 2015 Victorian Chess Championships have been run & won, with International Master James Morris prevailing, scoring an impressive 8.5/11, going through the tournament undefeated. Second place was shared between GM Darryl Johansen & FM Chris Wallis on 8/11, with Darryl also going through the event undefeated, while Chris managed to win the most games of any player throughout the tournament. <br />
I was once again arbiter for the event & the event was once again played with a friendly atmosphere, with very few hassles. The main issue with the tournament at present has to do with the 'maximum one postponement per player' rule & how this is to be managed/enforced. As the arbiter for the event, I was fairly liberal with this 'rule' & the players for the most part did not seem too bothered by it. However the related issue for the tournament has to do with the format & venue(s) used. At present, the tournament is played as a 12-player round robin, with the tournament being run over a two month period, with the playing days/venues shared amongst the three largest chess clubs, Melbourne, Box Hill & Noble Park. This means that players effectively need three potentials days of the week free to play in the event, as well as being able to travel to a number of parts of Melbourne. This is a discouragement for some players & means that the tournament is not as strong as it potentially could be. <br />
In terms of alternatives, the previous incarnation of the Victorian Championships, largely supervised by Gary Wastell, saw players nominate suitable times & venues from around 18 possible options & a playing schedule was drawn up that suited all players. This solved some problems, but often meant that you did not know where you were in the event, as players were on differing schedules, with many players being multiple games ahead or behind other players. <br />
Interstate, the options seem to take on one of two standard formats - either weekly at a standard venue (as is done in NSW & SA), or sometimes over a week (Qld) or a weekend (Tas). The obvious differences between both are the length of time required for the weekly format, while the week/weekend format does not allow for the depth of preparation for games that the weekly format allows. <br />
Personally I think whatever attracts the strongest field would be the best, but what that is in the Victorian context is something that I don't know. <br />
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Although he only placed second, as arbiter I felt that some of the most entertaining & interesting games were played by Chris Wallis - here is a sample of two of his wins from the event. <br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="580" scrolling="no" src="http://www.chessvideos.tv/replayer-insert.php?id=102490" style="border: 1px solid black;" width="400"></iframe><br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="580" scrolling="no" src="http://www.chessvideos.tv/replayer-insert.php?id=102491" style="border: 1px solid black;" width="400"></iframe><br />MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-89053269190244221392015-06-11T04:32:00.001-07:002015-06-11T05:17:13.238-07:00More Rules of ChessAlthough it seems like a very tedious subject, the rules of chess have once again become an issue in 'club-land', where the rules of chess are often claimed to be known, but it seems in practice very rarely are. <br />
The latest drama has come about as a result of <a href="http://www.melbournechessclub.org/">Melbourne Chess Club</a> starting a regular Tuesday night blitz chess tournament. <a href="http://checkmateendsthegame.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/tuesday-night-blitz-mcc-controversy.html">Paul Cavezza</a> has written a little about the issues on his blog, but it once again highlights the issue that chess players simply don't know the rules. <br />
The first issue was regarding flag fall & 'sufficient mating material'. In the instance on Tuesday, a player had numerous pieces against a king & knight & lost on time. The arbiter on the night (apparently Paul) ruled the game a draw. He based this on something he found online regarding USCF rules, as well as standard practice on various online chess servers such as ICC, Playchess, etc. <br />
Unfortunately this is simply incorrect as far as the correct FIDE rules are concerned. <br />
However, before I get to the specific rule regarding flag fall, I should point out the Introduction to the <a href="https://www.fide.com/fide/handbook.html?id=9&view=category">FIDE Code of Ethics</a><br />
<strong>1. Introduction</strong><br />
<em>1.1
The game and concept of chess is based on the assumption that everyone involved / concerned observe existing rules and regulations and attaches the greatest importance to fair play and good sportsmanship</em><br />
This then leads into the rules regarding flag fall ... <br />
<strong>6.8</strong> <em>A flag is considered to have fallen when the arbiter observes the fact or when either player has made a valid claim to that effect.</em> <br />
<strong>6.9 </strong><em>Except where one of Articles 5.1.a, 5.1.b, 5.2.a, 5.2.b, 5.2.c applies, if a player does not complete the prescribed number of moves in the allotted time, the game is lost by that<strong><u> </u></strong>player. However, the game is drawn if the position is such that the opponent cannot checkmate the player’s king by any possible series of legal moves.</em><br />
Clearly there was no doubt that a player's flag had fallen. The issue was then about 6.9, but notice that it is only a draw if checkmate is not possible by <strong>ANY POSSIBLE</strong> series of legal moves - they do not have to be reasonable moves, simply legal moves. This means that in the vast majority of cases it is possible to create a checkmate with a lone knight & king. <br />
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Checkmate with King & Knight v King & Bishop<br />
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Checkmate with King & Knight v King & Rook</div>
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Checkmate with King & Knight v King & Knight</div>
In short, the player with the king & knight against the army of pieces that ran out of time should have been awarded the win. <br />
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The second issue was perhaps more surprising, as it was in relation to the 'touch-move' rule. <br />
The relevant sections of the laws of chess are as follows: <br />
<strong>4.3</strong> <em>Except as provided in Article 4.2, if the player having the move touches on the chessboard,<strong> </strong>with the intention of moving or capturing: </em><br />
<em>a. one or more of his own pieces, he must move the first piece touched that can be moved </em><br />
<strong>4.7</strong> <em>When, as a legal move or part of a legal move, a piece has been released on a square, it cannot be moved to another square on this move</em><br />
In the game in question, a player apparently moved a knight to a square, released the piece, decided it was not a good move & then moved it to another square. <br />
This is clearly against the laws of chess! <br />
Apparently the player in question was under the impression that the usual touch-move rule (of which he was aware) did not apply in Blitz chess! <br />
Although there are some rules that do not apply in Blitz chess (these are briefly covered in the Appendix A & B of the Laws of chess, regarding Rapidplay & Blitz), the touch move rule is most definitely one that <strong>DOES</strong> apply! <br />
Of course the most famous incident related to the touch-move rule was from Linares in 1994, when Garry Kasparov (playing against Judit Polgar) apparently released a knight (which he had picked up from d7) on c5, but realised it was a mistake & changed the move to Nf8. There is a brief mention of it on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheating_in_chess#Touch-move_rule">Wikipedia</a>, however it seems that the TV footage (which apparently clearly captured the incident) has not made it to the internet. <br />
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In my regular work for <a href="http://www.northernstarchess.com/">Northern Star Chess</a>, I often run tournaments where one of the pre-tournament announcements involves repeating the touch-move rule to the players (many of whom are playing in one of their first organised chess tournament). <br />
My explanation is essentially as follows: <strong>'If you touch a piece, you must move it; Once you let go of a piece it has to stay on that square'</strong><br />
The kids happily accept this simplified explanation & any incidents are fairly easy to deal with, with most kids normally accepting the 'warning' option if there is any doubt about whether someone let go of a piece or not. Adults on the other hand ... jaded by life experiences, seem far less willing to 'budge' from whatever their initial reaction is to the situation. <br />
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To my mind, the simple option is to be fair & reasonable in all circumstances ... and if in doubt, look up the actual rules (well worth knowing) before creating a commotion!MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-12228862002333878342015-04-17T05:28:00.001-07:002015-04-17T05:29:16.976-07:00Know the rules!When I attended the <a href="http://melbournegamescoach.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/fide-arbiters-seminar-exam.html">FIDE Arbiter's seminar</a> back in 2011, I did so with the intention of better knowing the rules of chess. As things transpired, it turned into the start of fairly regular arbiting work, including the <a href="http://melbournegamescoach.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/the-olympiad-summary-being-arbiter-at.html">Chess Olympiad in Norway</a> last year, as well as the <a href="http://melbournegamescoach.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/australian-open-day-1.html">2013 Australian Open</a> & <a href="http://melbournegamescoach.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/2014-australian-championship-day-1.html">2014 Australian Championships</a>. <br />
The thing that still surprises me is how many players simply don't know the rules! <br />
The most high profile of these was super-GM Wesley So, who was <a href="http://en.chessbase.com/post/us-champ-r9-forfeit">forfeited in round 9</a> of the recent US Championships for taking notes at the board! Although these notes were not chess analysis (as I have seen some newcomers to chess do on occasion), but rather motivational notes, such as 'Use your time'. These are also against the<a href="http://www.fide.com/fide/handbook.html?id=171&view=article"> rules of chess</a>. <br />
The particular rule in question is 8.1 b: <br />
<strong>Article 8: The recording of the moves</strong><br />
<em>8.1 b. The scoresheet shall be used only for recording the moves, the times of the clocks, offers of a draw, matters relating to a claim and other relevant data.</em> <br />
So had been warned about taking notes in both rounds 2 & 3, so the tournament arbiter Tony Rich was well within his rights to call the game in round 9 lost for So when he once again took notes at the board. <br />
The other thing that surprises me about this is the reaction of former world champion Garry Kasparov, who it seems also <a href="http://www.chess-news.ru/en/node/18625">does not know the rules</a>. <br />
The other reason for writing this post about the rules is an incident that occurred in the final round of the recently completed <a href="http://www.melbournechessclub.org/events/2015/mcc-club-championships">Melbourne Chess Club Championship</a>. The results of the tournament, convincingly won by IM James Morris, can be found on <a href="http://www.chesschat.org/showthread.php?15737-2015-MCC-Club-Championship&p=394003&viewfull=1#post394003">ChessChat</a>. <br />
The incident in question involved the board 2 clash between Carl Gorka & Hoai Nam Nguyen. Carl <a href="http://gorkachc.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/mcc-champion.html">blogged about the incident</a> which involved an incorrect draw claim. <br />
The rule in question this time is 9.2: <br />
<strong>Article 9: The drawn game</strong><br />
<em>9.2 The game is drawn, upon a correct claim by a player having the move, when the same position for at least the third time (not necessarily by a repetition of moves): </em><br />
<em>a. is about to appear, if he first writes his move, which cannot be changed, on his scoresheet and declares to the arbiter his intention to make this move, or </em><br />
<em>b. has just appeared, and the player claiming the draw has the move.</em> <br />
In the game in question, although there was in fact a triple repetition of the position, on the third occasion that the position occurred, Carl played the move Ke2 on the board & then claimed the draw, rather than following the correct procedure outlined above, which would involve writing the move Ke2 on his scoresheet & then stopping the clock & calling the arbiter. Unfortunately for Carl, after I denied his draw claim, Hoai then went on to win the game, which gave him a share of second place (if the game had been drawn, then Carl would have shared second place). <br />
Again, it surprised me that Carl did not know the correct procedure for claiming a draw, as he is an experienced player, having played for a number of years both in Australia as well as his native England. <br />
The same sort of thing also occurred recently in the NRL, with a number of Bulldogs players rather unfairly accosting the referee for making a correct decision late in their game against South Sydney. <br />
You can see referee Gerard Sutton explaining his decision <a href="http://www.9jumpin.com.au/show/nrlfootyshow/videos/4162566385001/">on the Footy Show.</a> <br />
In short ... if you're going to play a game or sport, make sure you know the rules! MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-80214920592904456292015-04-07T01:12:00.000-07:002015-04-07T01:12:03.486-07:00Doeberl Cup Day 5The final round of the Doeberl Cup saw me paired as black against Andrey Bliznyuk. I was expecting an English or something similar, but found myself in a Two Knights Defence. Andrey chose the passive but solid 4. d3 & this allowed me to get a promising position from the opening. After exchanging queens, we reached a position where we had two rooks, a knight & opposite coloured bishops. My centre appeared strong, but was vulnerable. In trying to hold the position, I went astray with 26... Ne7, which gave Andrey an initiative that he did not let go of until I finally resigned. The issue I had in the position was what to do with the knight - although I found a good square for it on g6 to help hold my weak e5 pawn, my pieces were tied down to its defence, which allowed Andrey to create a passed pawn on the queenside, which proved too difficult to stop (helped by my inaccurate play). <br />
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Overall a result of 3.5/9 was a little disappointing, particularly when you consider that it was in fact 2.5/8 from games I played. Apart from the first round, all my opponents were what I would consider beatable if I played well, however unfortunately I played fairly poorly for the vast majority of the tournament, or at least in parts of most of my games. I had chances in quite a few games, but could not capitalise on these, which was the disappointing part of the tournament. <br />
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I suppose the good to come out of the tournament was that it has got me thinking about the blog again, so hopefully I will continue to keep it updated in coming months. I still have the photos from the Museum to upload & update the Day 3 blog. I'll also post something about the Master Classes by GMs Ganguly & Van Wely that I attended before the tournament, as well as various chess-related events I have been involved in recently. MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-79961909444491681562015-04-05T15:35:00.000-07:002015-04-05T15:35:33.297-07:00Doeberl Cup Day 4In the morning round I was paired against Victor Braguine & once again I found myself in an original position fairly early which saw the centre blocked. Ultimately I had a pawn break with g4 which could not be stopped & this was the start of a kingside attack & pressure that I was able to keep up for the entire game. Victor's counter-attack never really got going & although I don't think I played the attack accurately, it was a winning attack & I eventually finished the game off. <br />
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In the afternoon round I played Jonas Muller & he played the Euwe variation against my Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. He played an early c5, which is one of the most challenging lines & achieved a promising position. I realised that if I simply allowed Jonas to consolidate his development he would win the game easily, so I played some speculative moves on the kingside, finally sacrificing a knight to open up Jonas' king. The sacrifice was unsound, but luckily for me, Jonas went astray in his defensive efforts & allowed me to win back my sacrificed piece, finally going into an equal queen ending with three pawns each, where we agreed to a draw. Ultimately a stolen half-point, so I suppose I'll take it! <br />
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MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-70231217088109788302015-04-04T16:10:00.002-07:002015-04-04T16:10:44.072-07:00Doeberl Cup Day 3In the morning round I was against Miodrag Milojevic, however he must have got his round times mixed up & didn't turn up for the game, meaning I had a win on forfeit. This left me with a very long time to 'kill', so I decided to be a tourist for the morning & visited the National Museum of Australia, which was just down the road from the playing venue. I'll update later with some photos. <br />
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The afternoon round saw me paired against Barak Atzmon-Simon & played a highly original game after playing a Sniper as black. Barak had me on the back foot for most of the game & I only seemed to have a chance to hold the game in the rook endgame. I'm not sure if I played it accurately or not, but I always seemed to be one move behind the position I needed to hold a draw & Barak was eventually able to convert the position into a win. <br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="580" scrolling="no" src="http://www.chessvideos.tv/replayer-insert.php?id=100960" style="border: 1px solid black;" width="400"></iframe><br />MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-24626963522562061642015-04-03T14:50:00.000-07:002015-04-03T14:50:12.941-07:00Doeberl Cup Day 2So I made it on the scoreboard today, however it was not in the most convincing fashion & I now find myself on 1/4 after two draws. <br />
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In round 3 I was white against Michael D'Arcy & he played the Lemberger Counter Gambit (3... e5) against my Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. This is the most challenging continuation & gave black an edge out of the opening, although he let it slip with Qe7 & c5, which game me a small plus. A number of exchanges happened & I won a pawn, but rather than risk complications in a rook & bishop endgame, I decided to go into the opposite coloured bishop endgame, which in spite of my efforts, was simply drawn. <br />
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In round 4 I was paired against Nicholas Deen-Cowell & avoided going into the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit proper & managed to get a position akin to an Advance French, where I was able to exchange the dark squared bishops, which should have given me a slight positional edge. Although Nicholas tried to get some play on the queenside, it should not have amounted to anything much, but I was unable to find something on the other side that was effective. Eventually some exchanges occurred on the queenside & I blundered, allowing black an advantage, although thankfully for me after Rb8 (rather than the immediate Bxb1) I would have been in serious trouble. As it happened, I found myself in an endgame with two knights against a rook & bishop, with an extra pawn to somewhat compensate for the disadvantage. This soon turned into a rook v knight endgame & I was able to hold the position & eventually exchange most of the pawns before we agreed a draw. <br />
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Although my rating is slowly heading south, it seems as though it has not gone quite far enough to allow me to enter the Major (my ACF rating is still just over 2000, although my FIDE is now unfortunately in the high 1900s), so once again I am playing in the Premier. <br />
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This year sees another change in venue, with <a href="http://unihouse.anu.edu.au/">University House at ANU</a> playing host to the tournament this year. Its an older building which looks nice & has some interesting artworks on the walls, however it is still a step down from the Hellenic Club where the event was held up until a few years ago. <br />
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Round one saw me paired as black against 2014's giant killer Mu Ke & I played a Sniper in Benko Gambit fashion, however I simply didn't get enough play on the queenside & was slowly outplayed before missing a tactic that finished off the game. <br />
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I was one of the lucky ones who managed to not only still be in the bottom half of the score group, but also managed to get my second black in a row, this time against fellow Melbournian Pano Skiotis. This time I tried to head for a Czech Benoni, but Pano played 4. dxe6 & tried to create a bind on the d6 square early on in the game. I managed to untangle myself & was better after 17... Qf6, however I could not find a way to bring home the point & drifted trying to maintain an advantage rather than trading into a better endgame. Ultimately I missed a tactic that allowed Pano to take the initiative & I defended inaccurately, and found myself on the wrong end of a mating attack, even though I had a forced checkmate ready to play myself. <br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="580" scrolling="no" src="http://www.chessvideos.tv/replayer-insert.php?id=100931" style="border: 1px solid black;" width="400"></iframe><br />MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-65520784275325026022015-01-26T22:16:00.001-08:002015-01-26T22:16:38.308-08:00Australian Junior - Day 9A little late, but the <a href="http://www.ajcc.org.au/">Australian Juniors</a> wrapped up in Canberra a few days ago. Most of the titles ended up going to the mid-tournament favourites, with only one title (the under 12s) going to a playoff. <br />
The 2015 Australian Junior Champions are as follows: <br />
Under 18 Open - Yi Liu (Qld) <br />
Under 18 Girls - Kristine Quek (NSW) <br />
Under 16 Open - Patrick Gong (WA) <br />
Under 16 Girls - Denise Lim (Vic) <br />
Under 14 Open - Haran Salasan (Vic) <br />
Under 14 Girls - Cassandra Lim (Vic) <br />
Under 12 Open - Jason Wang (Qld) <br />
Under 12 Girls - Jody Middleton (Vic) <br />
Under 10 Open - Christopher Lim (Vic) <br />
Under 10 Girls - Jennifer Zhang (NSW) <br />
Under 8 Open - Atlas Ballieu (Vic) <br />
Under 8 Girls - Ellie Choemuku-Huang (Vic) <br />
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Jason Wang won the under 12 title in a playoff against Matthew Clarke (NSW) 3-2 after they split two 15-minute games & then two 5-minute games before Wang won as black in a 5 v 4 Armageddon match. <br />
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Two things that came from the tournament - it seems as though the playoff system, at least for the main titles, is not so popular, with the idea of shared titles being preferred. I think this is in part due to the results of the <a href="http://www.newzealandchess.co.nz/NZChamp122/index.html">New Zealand Open Championships</a>, which saw no less than 10 players tying for first (amongst those eligible for the title - the title winners in fact finished -10th in the event) & sharing the title, as well as the pressure on those in the playoff & the disappointment of those who lose (an example of this happened with Matthew Clarke commenting mid-way through the playoff that he was struggling to cope with the pressure). The playoffs for the blitz titles on the other hand seemed to be very exciting & had big crowds watching, though the issue there is whether the playoffs should be played immediately after the event, or as they were in the event, at the conclusion of the tournament itself. <br />
The second point has to do with draw offers & etiquette. Firstly on draws - the correct procedure for offering a draw is to make a move, offer the draw & then press the clock. A typical draw offer might be something like 'Would you like a draw?', 'I offer you a draw?', 'Draw?' or similar. There were multiple times when I saw players offer a draw (whether correctly or incorrectly) & extend their hand across the middle of the board, with the 'expectation' that their opponent would shake their hand. Not only is this distracting & not allowed, but it is bad etiquette, as you should allow your opponent to consider the draw offer without the 'pressure' of a hand in their face. Another related etiquette issue has to do with the offering of draws in terms of timing in a position. Not quite as big of a problem as the 'hand-in-face' draw offer, but I did see a few players offer draws multiple times in an endgame. When I was learning to play chess, I was taught that once you offered a draw once (and it was declined), it was impolite to offer another one until something had changed substantially about the position (for example, in an endgame with rook & 4 pawns each, I would not offer another draw until the material had changed - to for example rook & 2 pawns each - or something had happened to make the position 'more drawn' than when the draw was first offered (eg: pawns could no longer move). <br />
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Overall I think the current format of the juniors has plenty to offer for the younger age groups, with the under 10s, 12s & 14s attracting good numbers. The older age groups, however seemed to still be lacking in attracting the very cream of the crop of current juniors. The girls events are also somewhat concerning, however it seems that the numbers for 2015 were good according to those who have been involved in junior chess for some time, although I still think they could be improved on. <br />
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Sorting out the trophies & medals before the presentations ... 'give us a smile Kerry' <br />
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Under 18 Open Blitz winners (3rd Pengyu Chen, 2nd Fred Litchfield, 1st Yi Liu)<br />
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Under 18 Open Championship winners (3rd Michael Kethro, 2nd Pengyu Chen, 1st Yi Liu)<br />
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Under 18 Girls Blitz winners (3rd Joanne Mason, 2nd Zoe Harrison, 1st Zhi Lin Guo) <br />
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Under 18 Girls Championship winners (3rd Alanna Chew Lee, 2nd Zoe Harrison, 1st Kristine Quek) <br />
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It looks likely that the 2016 Juniors will be in Adelaide. The SACA team are keen & have plenty of experienced organisers there to make it another memorable Australian Juniors. MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-5834435395955188002015-01-24T09:24:00.003-08:002015-01-24T09:24:53.285-08:00Australian Junior - Day 8The penultimate day of the <a href="http://www.ajcc.org.au/">Australian Junior</a> for 2015 saw Yi Liu clinch the under 18 open title after yet another victory. Congratulations Yi! His challenge for tomorrow is to try to win his game, as this will apparently push his live FIDE rating past the 2300 mark & he will be able to claim the FIDE Master title - not a bad incentive to go for a final round win after having the title already won! <br />
The other divisions are all still undecided, which should make for an exciting final round! <br />
The under 18 & 16 girls event has been lead from the start of the event by Kristine Quek, however she lost her round 7 game to Zhi Lin Guo, which saw her lead over Denise Lim narrowed to just half a point. Kristine is still the favourite to win the event however, as she has played all of the leading players in the event & is paired against Amy Nicholson (currently on 1/7) in the final round. <br />
The under 16 open event has turned into a race in two, with Patrick Gong maintaining his slim half point lead over Tom Maguire since round 5, when Gong won their individual clash. As with the girls event, both players have played a number of their nearest rivals, so both are favourites to win their final round games, but favouritism does not guarantee an outcome. <br />
The under 14 open event has seen Haran Salasan leading the event from the start, however top seed Ray Yang has followed him closely, winning all his games after being beaten by Haran in round three. Haran plays Guowen Zhang in the final round in his quest for the title. <br />
The under 14 & 12 girls event sees Cassandra Lim a point clear of her nearest rival Jody Middleton, however she still needs at least a draw in her final round game against Helen Tong to secure the title. <br />
The under 12 open is the real lottery out of the remaining titles, with three players tied for the lead on 6.5/8 - Matthew Clarke, Jason Wang & Brendan Zou, while Ryan Lane & Michael Ostapenko are just half a point further behind on 6/8. The final round pairings see Wang playing Zou & Clarke playing Lane, while Ostapenko can only hope to tie for first at best & plays Kayson Wang. <br />
Playoffs for some of the Blitz titles were also played, with the Lim family taking the honours, with Cassandra Lim beating Jody Middleton for the under 12 girls title 2-0, while younger brother Christopher Lim beat Ruicheng Wang 2-0 to take the under 10 open blitz championship. Chris has also beaten Ruicheng in a playoff for the under 10 Open title earlier in the week ... and as if they had not played each other already, they are paired again in the final round of the under 12 open event! <br />
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Strange position of the day comes from the game between Clarise Koh & Zoe Harrison from round 7 of the under 18 & 16 girls event. <br />
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I'm not sure of the exact positions of the kings, but think the diagram was pretty accurate - it's not often you see tripled c-pawns in a game! The game eventually finished in a draw - Zoey tried a central pawn break to make some progress, but this allowed Clarise's knight & rook to get active & the players eventually agreed to a draw. <br />
The winning plan has to involve exploiting the weaknesses in white's pawn structure, so maybe a plan of Bb6-e8 to attack the a4 pawn (after the black king moves), combined with a Rf4-f2 move & a possible return to b6 for the bishop or a king march towards the d-pawn could have been enough for Zoe to win the position. MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-36433150130750837342015-01-23T13:44:00.000-08:002015-01-23T13:44:54.935-08:00Australian Junior - Day 7Day 7 of the <a href="http://www.ajcc.org.au/">Australian Juniors</a> was very different for the different tournaments because of the heat - the room with the under 18 open, under 16 open, under 14 open & under 12 & 14 girls was air conditioned, so the players only had to deal with their opponents in the usual manner. The other hall where I was stationed for the day, with the under 12 open & the under 16 & 18 girls was a battle against both the heat, as well as one's opponent. More than any other day, I had a number of parents ask me to take a cup of water or a drink bottle to their child's table, as in spite of a number of fans, it was still at least 5 degrees hotter than the other room. <br />
In the under 16 & 18 Girls event, Kristine Quek leads with 4.5/5, half a point ahead of Denise Lim, with Joanne Mason a further half point behind. There are still a few tough opponents for the leaders to play, but at this stage I would expect the winner to be out of Kristine & Denise. <br />
In the under 12 open event, four players are tied for the lead on 5/6, Kayson Wang, Ryan Lane, Matthew Clarke & Brendan Zou. However with so many draws on the top boards so far in the tournament, there are still 19 players within a point of the lead! <br />
In the other room, Yi Liu continues to dominate the under 18 open field. Cassandra Lim is doing a similar thing to the under 12 & 14 girls field. The under 16 open sees Patrick Gong continue to lead, although Tom Maguire remains half a point behind him, while in the under 14 open, Haran Salasan is a somewhat surprising leader of the event with 5.5/6, but there are plenty of players close behind him looking to take his place. <br />
Full results for all events are available on the <a href="http://www.ajcc.org.au/results">Results Page</a>. <br />
<a href="http://www.cgs.act.edu.au/">Canberra Grammar</a>, which is playing host to the Australian Juniors this year, has quite a history of famous names that have attended the school at various times, from a variety of walks of life. One item of note is the Dux of the School honour board, which sees the name E.G. Whitlam no less than three times, in 1932, 1933 & 1934! I'm assuming that the school in its early years may have only gone to 'fourth form' (year 10) & then expanded to cover the HSC or equivalent when Whitlam was in his final two years of schooling. <br />
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Other famous, or infamous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canberra_Grammar_School#Notable_alumni">alumni of the school</a> include <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerry_Packer">Kerry Packer</a>, 1961 Dux <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Eastman">David Eastman</a> who was convicted (and recently pardoned) for the murder of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Winchester">Colin Winchester</a>, as well as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Chan">Jackie Chan</a> (apparently briefly). MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-46215272736331957042015-01-22T12:47:00.000-08:002015-01-24T03:24:29.567-08:00Australian Junior - Day 6Day 6 of the <span id="goog_791434086"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/">Australian Juniors</a> <span id="goog_791434087"></span>saw an unusual appearance between rounds, with a fire alarm going off shortly before the second round was due to start. In terms of the chess, with the remaining events now just past or almost at the halfway stage, the potential title winners are starting to appear near the top of the standings. <br />
With this in mind, the under 18 title looks to be firmly in the grasp of Queenslander Yi Lui, who is on 5.5/6, a point clear of his nearest rivals, Pengyu Chen & Michael Kethro & has played all of the top contenders already. <br />
The under 16s is a closer affair, with Western Australia's Patrick Gong leading, also on 5.5/6, however Tom Maguire is only half a point behind him (although Patrick beat Tom in their individual encounter). Patrick also has a number of strong contenders he has yet to play, so the title is still very much up for grabs in my opinion. <br />
The under 18 & 16 girls is looking like a very close competition, with over half the field within a point of the lead. The girls have also only played three of their eight games, so are still in the early stages of the tournament, however the upsets in round two (which saw seeds 1 & 2 defeated) have opened up the tournament for a number of players. <br />
The under 14 event now has only two players, Ethan Lim & Haran Salasan, on a perfect score, however with 5 rounds to go, any one of the players currently in the top 20 could potentially win the title. <br />
The under 12 event, where I have spent most of my time arbiting, has seen players taking a cautious approach, with no-one left on a perfect score after the top boards saw relatively quick draws in round 4. Although this has left many of the top seeds in contention, it has also left things wide open, with 25 players within a point of the lead. <br />
The under 14 & 12 girls sees Cassandra Lim as the only player with a perfect score & the round five clash with her nearest rival, Jody Middleton, could be critical in deciding the eventual winner of the event. <br />
In terms of the chess itself, particularly in the under 12 open event, it has been somewhat surprising to see the difficulty that some players have had in the endgame (of course my big disclaimer is that at a similar age, my endgames were atrocious!). Two positions that I noticed today go to show what I mean ... both games ended in draws, when one side has a clear win! <br />
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Position 1, from the game Dharmapuri-Thompson. Here it is white to play. Black had offered a draw previously when the kings were on c4 & c6, but white had correctly chosen to play on. The winning plan for white involves outflanking the black king & this is done in a number of ways, but the easiest is by playing 1. Ka4, when black's king must give ground, as maintaining the opposition by Ka6 allows the white d-pawn to promote. <br />
A sample line might continue as follows: <br />
<strong>1.Ka4 Kc6 2.Ka5 Kd7 3.Kb6 Kd8</strong> (advancing the white king as far as it can go without needing some technique) <strong>4.d7!</strong> (a critical move required to win the position) <strong>Kxd7 5.Kb7 Kd8 6.Kc6 Ke7 7.Kc7 Ke8 8.Kd6 Kf7 9.Kd7</strong>
(black can no longer defend the e6 pawn, so white will simply capture the e6 pawn & promote the white e-pawn). <br />
The game also featured a winning line, however white still agreed to a draw! It went <strong>1.d7 Kc7 <em>Draw agreed!</em> </strong>However here white is winning & gets to the same position above slightly quicker after <strong>2.Kc5 Kxd7 3.Kb6 Kd8 4.Kc6 Ke7 5.Kc7 Ke8 6.Kd6 Kf7 7.Kd7</strong>
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Position 2, from the game Chen-Zou. Again it is white to play. Here white already has a passed a-pawn (which is defended by the bishop), but he needs more than this to win, In the game, white exchanged on e6 & agreed to a draw once the black king returned to e7 as it is very difficult for white to make progress in that position & white was also concerned about black potentially creating a passed pawn. </div>
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The winning method is simply to create a second passed pawn to tie black's pieces down to defensive roles & to then invade with the white king & bishop. </div>
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A sample line might continue as follows: </div>
<strong>1.f6+ </strong>(creating a protected passed pawn & tying the king to the defence of it) <strong>Kf7 2.b4 </strong>(creating a path for the king to invade) <strong>c4 </strong>(this or cxb4 amount to the same thing - the d4 square is now available for the white king) <strong>3.Kd4 Ke8 4.Kc5 Ba6 5.Kb6 </strong>(and black can no longer maintain the bishop's control of the a5 pawn. Black will then have to give up their bishop for the pawn & the white king will return to win the e6 pawn using an outflanking manoeuvre as in the first position)<br />
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Waiting outside with Alana Chibnall & Shaun Press after the fire alarm went off<br />
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The surprise visitor for the day - the ACT Fire Brigade, who needed to ensure the buildings were safe before players, officials & spectators could return to the hall<br />
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During a more normal moment at the tournament as an arbiter - in this case the kids were confused about their notation because the board only had hand-written letters & numbers around the outside, but these were in fact correct. Decision ... PLAY ON!MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-12001032983633037552015-01-21T06:48:00.000-08:002015-01-21T06:48:59.143-08:00Australian Junior - Day 5Day 5 of the <a href="http://www.ajcc.org.au/">Australian Juniors</a> saw the beginning of a number of events - the U18/U16 girls, the under 14 open, the U14/U12 girls & the under 12 open - as well as a continuation of the under 18 open & under 16 open events. <br />
Of course the new events didn't always go according to seedings, with a number of higher rated players falling victim to their lower rated opponents. <br />
The day also saw the first significant rain while the Australian Juniors has been on & you can definitely tell that its raining by the noise of the water on the roof in the second hall where I was stationed for most of the day, looking after the under 12 open & the under 16 & 18 girls. Although the other room seemed quieter during the storm, it also had issues with a speaker making some unintentional noise, although this was only for a few minutes. <br />
You can of course keep up with the results on the <a href="http://www.ajcc.org.au/results">Results Page</a> of the tournament website. <br />
MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-5325240553116162792015-01-20T13:40:00.000-08:002015-01-20T13:40:03.190-08:00Australian Open Chess - A summarySo the <a href="http://ausopenchess.com/">2015 Australian Open</a> Chess tournament has been run & won ... and I thought I'd do a bit of a summary of both my own performance in the tournament, as well as the event overall. <br />
Personally I was pretty disappointed with my tournament - 5.5/11 could be a good score, however given that I only played two players who were higher rated, it has to be considered a poor performance. To make matters worse, I rarely played good chess & gave my opponents far too many opportunities, whether they took them or not. I also felt uncomfortable facing 1. e4 & that is something that I need to work on in terms of my opening repertoire. <br />
As you can see by the breakdown below, my middlegame & endgame play were particularly poor, with my openings being passable at best (and that's being generous). In total, there were really only two (possibly three) games I was happy with my play - my games against Robert Beeman & Michael Kethro, though in both cases my opponents' made it easier for me to finish the game off, as well as possibly my game against Richard Jones. <br />
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<u>Openings</u><br />
Poor opening - Round 1 black v Damien Van Den Hoff; Round 3 black v Paul Russell; Round 7 black v Kim Anderson; <br />
Reasonable opening - Round 2 white v Richard Jones; Round 4 white v Sarwat Rewais; Round 5 black v Marcus Porter; Round 8 white v Matthew Yan; Round 9 black v Clive Ng; <br />
Good opening - Round 6 white v Robert Beeman; Round 10 white v Michael Kethro; Round 11 black v Bernard Chau; <br />
<u>Middlegame</u><br />
Opponent collapsed in middlegame - Round 6 white v Robert Beeman; Round 8 white v Matthew Yan; <br />
I collapsed in middlegame - Round 4 white v Sarwat Rewais; Round 7 black v Kim Anderson; Round 9 black v Clive Ng; Round 11 black v Bernard Chau; <br />
<u>Endgame</u><br />
Opponent collapsed in endgame - Round 1 black v Damien Van Den Hoff; Round 3 white v Paul Russell; Round 9 black v Clive Ng; Round 10 white v Michael Kethro; <br />
I collapsed in endgame - Round 2 white v Richard Jones; Round 3 white v Paul Russell; Round 5 black v Marcus Porter; <br />
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As for the event itself, it promised so much before the event, but in actuality what was delivered was simply a reasonable tournament, far removed from the pre-tournament hype. <br />
The organisers, Kevin Tan & Peter Yang, had a vision statement for the tournament: <em>As organisers of the Australian Open we are very excited to be bringing this event to the Australian chess players and supporters. Our vision is clear and simple: to hold the best Australian Open tournament for the players with extended media coverage and an exciting festival events. We look forward to having you as part of this great event and we are ever thankful for your continued support of this great tradition.</em><br />
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When you look at the tournament in detail, it is easy to see how the organisers have failed to meet this somewhat optimistic vision for the event. <br />
<u>Prize Money</u> - Yes, the event had the biggest prize pool (and first place) for an Australian Open (and perhaps any chess tournament in Australia), however the prize money was reduced from what was advertised ($25,000+ with $8,000 for first place), which is something that should not be done for an event like an Australian Open (unlike a weekender, when you might make a prize fund subject to a certain number of entries & adjust it by a few hundred dollars depending if you get more or less players than anticipated). I heard that a number of foreign players in particular were unhappy to learn about the reduced prize fund, however this was only second-hand speculation, so I can't confirm if this was the case or not. <br />
<u>Venue</u> - Although the playing hall itself was nice, Castle Hill as a location was far from ideal - a long way from anywhere by car & only accessible by bus if using public transport - so there was a deterrent from entering the tournament to begin with, even for players from Sydney & it is important to have good numbers from the home state if a tournament is to be a success. The additional areas used for commentary & analysis were also far from ideal, as they were not separate rooms & it was possible to hear the commentary from parts of the playing hall, but particularly the area near the restrooms, so that it would be possible for players to go to the bathroom when they reached a critical position & then to hear GM Rogers discussing the position. <br />
<u>Scoresheets</u> - This was one area where the organisers simply dropped the ball. For such a large & important tournament on the Australian chess calendar, it is considered standard to create scoresheets for the event - not only to look professional in general, but to give the players a memento of the event. Instead of doing this, the organisers simply used whatever NSWCA scoresheets they could get their hands on, which had a variety of headings, such as the Grand Prix, NSW Open, etc. Of course to make matters worse, after the rest day, these carbon-copy scoresheets ran out & the tournament finished with most players using standard NSWCA scoresheets, with the organisers doing a post-game photo of the scoresheet in an attempt to collect the games from the event. <br />
<u>Internet coverage</u> - Although some aspects of this were excellent, such as using <a href="https://chess24.com/">Chess24</a> to transmit live games, rather than the usual <a href="http://auschess.org.au/acf/live-games/online-dgt-room-b/">tired looking DGT interface</a>, on the whole it did not live up to the pre-tournament hype. The online broadcast of GM Ian Rogers' <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSzxzV5XHKk">live commentary</a> from the venue had technical difficulties, not being broadcasting for a number of days, as well as having issues with sound & lighting. <br />
<u>Donation Box</u> - In the final few days of the event, the organisers set up a few donation boxes at the venue, asking players & spectators to contribute money to go towards the prize pool. Although I suppose to some extent it is something that an embarrassed group of organisers might resort to if there was no other way of gaining income for the event, it is a very poor look for the tournament. Good tournament organisation should be able to get the necessary income, through sponsorship, entry fees, merchandise, etc, without having to resort to what is effectively begging for money, particularly so late in the event. <br />
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To my mind, the easiest way to avoid such an issue in the future is to have the ACF run & organise its own event! The current 'outsourcing' method has little incentive for organisers, but significant risk & in the recent past, has almost always been organised fairly late (less than year out from the event). <br />
As part of the ACF (I'm currently the Secretary), I've got no issue with personally joining an ACF organising committee for future Australian Opens & Championships, however I know that I could not do something of this scale alone. <br />
Let's see where things go in the future ... my <a href="http://melbournegamescoach.blogspot.com.au/p/australian-open-ideas.html">Australian Open ideas</a> & <a href="http://melbournegamescoach.blogspot.com.au/p/grand-plan.html">ideas for a Chess Festival</a> have been 'out there' for a while now ... whether they are workable in Australia is another issue however ...MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-10389357161315236692015-01-20T12:02:00.002-08:002015-01-20T12:02:42.079-08:00Australian Juniors - Day 4Day 4 of the<a href="http://www.ajcc.org.au/"> Australian Juniors</a> in Canberra was officially the 'rest day', however it was far from that in reality! I had the morning off while the <a href="http://www.ajcc.org.au/tournament-details/problem-solving">Problem Solving</a> competition was held, which had around 60 people participating! While this was happening, I visited <a href="http://www.westfield.com.au/woden/">Westfield Woden</a>, which unsurprisingly was very similar to Westfield's elsewhere, but I found something to do for the morning. <br />
I turned up to be an arbiter for the Blitz tournament to be held in the afternoon. After a few delays with registrations, the tournament got underway just before 3:30pm & I was running the under 12 event. Although scheduled for 11 rounds, I only managed to get through 9 by 6pm, so stopped the tournament there (this decision was announced to players after round 6). The event ran fairly smoothly once the technical issues were sorted out in the early rounds (there were 14 extra players in the list of players who did not turn up for the tournament, which meant re-pairings & a lot of fiddling on the computer during & after round 1). Surprisingly there were very few disputes to resolve, so the event was played in a friendly atmosphere, although there were multiple occasions where I saw players trying to 'out-blitz' their opponents in level positions & many of these saw the player who started with more time (and on occasion also declined a draw offer) go on to lose the game on time. <br />
In the <a href="http://www.ajcc.org.au/results/under-12-blitz">under 12s</a>, Jason Wang from Queensland was the winner, while playoffs will need to be played later in the week to determine many of the other champions - under 12 girls (Cassandra Lim & Jody Middleton), under 10 open (Christopher Lim & Ruicheng Wang), under 10 & 8 girls (Katherine Pan & Ellie Choemuku-Huang). <br />
<a href="http://chessexpress.blogspot.com.au/">Shaun Press</a> looked after the <a href="http://www.ajcc.org.au/results/under-18-blitz">under 18 event</a>, which was won by Yi Liu, completing a good event for the Queenslanders. <br />
The day finished for most with a BBQ, which was well attended, although afterwards Shaun, Alana & myself had to re-arrange & reset the playing halls for the next day's events, which sees another round of the under 18 & 16 open events, as well as the start of the under 12 & 14 open & girls events, as well as the under 16 & 18 girls event. I'm also sure that quite a few kids from the under 10s (and possibly under 8s) will be back for more chess during the under 12s events!MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-2806965150848260492015-01-19T14:23:00.000-08:002015-01-19T14:23:57.270-08:00Australian Juniors - Day 3Day three of the <a href="http://www.ajcc.org.au/">Australian Juniors</a> saw a change of rooms for me - I was in with the under 18 & under 16 open, as well as the under 10 & 8 girls. Overall a far more sedate day, with far fewer issues to resolve!<br />
It was also the final day for the under 8 & under 10 events & wearing my Victorian hat, it was a very good day for the Victorians, winning three of the four titles on offer. <br />
The titles went to the following players: <br />
Under 10 Open - Christopher Lim (Vic), after a playoff with Ruicheng Wang (Vic) (playoff was 1.5-0.5 to Christopher) 7.5/9<br />
Under 8 Open - Atlas Bailieu (Vic) 8/9<br />
Under 10 Girls - Jennifer Zhang (NSW) 9/9 <br />
Under 8 Girls - Ellie Choemuku-Huang (Vic) 5.5/9<br />
Overall I was impressed with the under 10s, though am still not completely sold on the under 8s. The biggest issue for the young kids seems to be concentration - those that could sit at the board for over an hour & concentrate tended to be at the pointy end of the field. Perhaps more effort needs to go into improving the behaviour of some of the younger kids, more in terms of etiquette & what to do & not to do at the chess board (to try to minimise the talking, staring, fidgeting, etc that was a constant issue with a number of the younger players during the event). <br />
After a 'rest day' which features the Problem Solving & Blitz competitions (I'll be an arbiter for the blitz), the final week of the juniors sees the under 12 & under 14 events begin (with a few players doing double-duty after the under 10 & under 8 events!), as well as the under 18 & 16 girls. <br />
Full results can be found on the <a href="http://www.ajcc.org.au/results">Results Page</a>. <br />
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The 'other' room, where I was stationed for day 3</div>
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Under 10 girls winner Jennifer Zhang (NSW)<br />
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The start of the under 10 open playoff, with Christopher Lim playing Ruicheng Wang<br />
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Under 10 open winner Christopher Lim (Vic)</div>
MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-33663437966520838742015-01-18T14:18:00.000-08:002015-01-18T14:18:28.462-08:00Australian Junior - Day 2Day two of the <a href="http://www.ajcc.org.au/">Australian Junior</a> was another busy day, with another three rounds in the under 10 & under 8 divisions. It also saw a double round in the under 18 & under 16 Open events, so fairly busy all round. <br />
My day was once again filled with running around the hall with the under 10 & under 8 open divisions, answering player questions, correcting issues, ensuring players had completed & signed scoresheets at the completion of their games and a variety of other things ... I'm hoping to swap rooms for day 3, to see if it will be any easier on the other side! <br />
As the younger age groups have now finished 6 of their 9 rounds, the tournament & potential place getters are starting to emerge, however it is still very difficult to predict a winner, as players that young are often very inconsistent in their play, so the expected is often the unexpected. <br />
Results for all divisions can be seen on the <a href="http://www.ajcc.org.au/results">results page</a>, however all divisions currently have an outright leader! <br />
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Today's 'door prize' winners could choose a Lego set!<br />
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The playing hall with the under 8 & under 10 players at the start of a round. <br />
Photos thanks to Cathy Rogers. There are more on the <a href="http://www.ajcc.org.au/photo-gallery">official website</a>. <br />
Fellow arbiter Shaun Press is also blogging about the tournament on his page <a href="http://chessexpress.blogspot.com.au/">Chess Express</a> if you are after some alternative coverage of the event.MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-92128469398047753082015-01-17T10:52:00.001-08:002015-01-17T10:52:49.315-08:00Australian Juniors - Day 1Yesterday saw the start of the <a href="http://www.ajcc.org.au/">2015 Australian Junior Chess Championships</a>, being held at <a href="http://www.cgs.act.edu.au/">Canberra Grammar</a> in the ACT. With the 'new' format (which has now been running for 5 years), this meant that today was the first day for the under 18 Open, under 16 Open, under 10 Open, under 8 Open & the under 10 & 8 Girls events to begin. The events are spread over two halls & I am an arbiter for the under 10 & under 8 Open sections. Today they played three rounds (and will play 9 rounds in total over three days) & there are four players in the under 10 (out of 52) & three players in the under 8 (out of 24) who finished the day with a perfect 3/3, though being only the first day, there are still plenty of kids in contention for the top prizes. <br />
Although I have been to a number of previous Australian Juniors, either as a player (just the once - I was a late starter), coach or spectator, this is the first where I have been an arbiter & it is a rather hectic job, particularly with the younger age groups. A typical round starts with some brief announcements, such as the time of the next round & reminding parents to turn their phones/tablets off, followed by a quick walk around the hall to make sure that all the games have started & there are no issues with clocks, etc. Of course as often happens with younger kids, a game or two might finish after only a few minutes & then I have to check that the players sign both scoresheets & fill in the results correctly, as well as reset the board & make sure they don't leave anything behind. The procession of games finishing seems to be fairly constant until around the hour mark, when there are usually only a few games left & it is only then that you can really take a seat & be reasonably confident that you can stay there for almost a minute before something else happens. On day 1, there was typically around 30-45 minutes spare between rounds, however I expect this to get shorter as the games get more evenly matched. <br />
There's already some <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/australias-best-young-chess-players-descend-on-the-capital-for-the-annual-australian-junior-chess-championships-20150117-12sefp.html">media coverage of the event</a>, while Cathy Rogers has been busy taking photos. <br />
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On stage during the opening ceremony<br />
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A hall packed full of young chess players, eager to start their games!MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-84309379721048349122015-01-11T04:48:00.000-08:002015-01-11T04:48:32.966-08:00Australian Open - Day 9Today saw the final round of the Australian Open & I was paired against Bernard Chau. He surprised me a little in the opening, playing 2. e4 (I was expecting 2. c4, however to be fair, the games I had on Bernard were a few years old). I played a Gurgenidze Caro Kann & was happy with the position I reached out of the opening - many of the ideal things for black were on the board - exchanged the white-squared bishop for a knight (and doubled white's f-pawns), pressure on the white centre, a good bishop - however I played some poor moves around move 20 & let my advantage slip. Two moves in particular were problematic for me - after capturing my knight on c6, I should have recaptured with the b-pawn, so as to play c5 & attack the white d-pawn soon afterwards. The second mistake was exchanging knights & undoubling white's f-pawns. All of this allowed white to get some pressure on the kingside, while my queenside & central play did not happen quick enough. Although I tried to make things difficult, white's winning plan was much quicker than my counterplay & I resigned shortly after Bernard promoted one of his pawns. <br />
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Some photos from today's round <br />
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In action against Bernard Chau<br />
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Round 11 against Bernard Chau<br />
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WIM Heather Richards on her way to the Australian Open Women's title - awarded for the first time since 2003! MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7389194023067400715.post-31680474146406713242015-01-10T01:49:00.001-08:002015-01-10T01:49:11.776-08:00Australian Open - Day 8 Today I was white against Canberra junior Michael Kethro & after my usual transpositional options, played the white side of a Modern Benoni. I used an idea from game 8 of the <a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1666558">Anand-Gelfand</a> world championship match & played the manoeuvre Ne2-c3, with the idea of keeping the queenside under control & preventing the thematic b5 pawn break. Kethro responded with the usual kingside play, though the move 11... f4, although thematic, seems a little premature with the white king still in the centre. Once I was able to play 18. a5 & 19. Nb6, I had a nice bind on the queenside, which made it difficult for black to develop their queenside & stifled any counterplay. Kethro exchanged pieces to go into a double rook & bishop endgame, however my space advantage meant that something would have to go seriously wrong for me to lose the position, in spite of having doubled b-pawns. Kethro's 35... g3 seemed to practically put an end to his kingside pressure & allowed me to continue doing what I wanted on the queenside. Although I had some pressure, I was not sure I would be able to win the game, however just as Kethro was about to reach the time control, he played the horrible move 40... a5. This gave him an additional weakness on the queenside to defend & I was able to improve the position of my pieces, before pushing my central passed pawns to gain a winning position, before Kethro dropped an exchange and resigned. <br />
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In the final round I am black against Bernard Chau, which again is a winnable game if I play well. <br />
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More photos to finish today ... <br />
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Playing Michael Kethro in round 10<br />
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Playing Michael Kethro in round 10<br />
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The playing hall during round 10<br />
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Top boards in action <br />
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As for the main tournament, GM Ni Hua from China has locked up first place with a phenomenal 9.5/10 to be two points clear of his nearest rivals, IM Bobby Cheng, who he plays in the final round & GM Zong Yuan Zhao, who are both on 7.5/10, with six players a further half point behind them. <br />
In the Minor, Queensland President Mark Stokes has also locked up first place in the event with 9/10 so far, to put him at least 1.5 points in front of second place (minor round 10 results are not yet online). MelbourneGamesCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07144104338524539170noreply@blogger.com0