Hjorth Open - Day 3

Day three of the Hjorth Open saw the top players begin to play one another & there were surprisingly few draws on the top boards. By the end of the day, only IM Max Illingworth was able to keep a perfect score intact to move to 5/5, however IM James Morris was only half a point behind him after winning all of his games following his round 1 bye.

Of course there were also a number of upsets, with a number of lower rated players showing that ratings are indeed just numbers - Hoai Nguyen, Ray Yang, Anthony Hain, Alana Chibnall, Vishal Bhat & Aryn Gooch all beat higher rated opponents in round 4, while Tony Davis, Gyula Plaganyi, Lousanne Beeren & Kayson Wang scored wins against higher rated opponents in round 5.

In terms of games, two stood out in round 4 - Max Illingworth's win over fellow IM Igor Goldenberg, while IM James Morris found a pretty finish against Max Chew Lee.





Once again, the day's highlight was the lecture at the end of the day, this time presented by IM Guy West. Although Guy only showed two of Greg's games - his win against American Larry Musa from the 1978 Australian Championship & his win against GM Tony Miles from the 1984 British Championship - he told a number of stories & anecdotes about Greg from throughout his life, which were both amusing & informative at the same time!

IM Guy West ready to begin his presentation

IM Guy West showing Greg's win over Larry Musa & the various tricks & traps set by the move Qc2!

Guy reading an interesting profile that he wrote about Greg Hjorth for Ian Rogers' famous book Australian Chess - Into the Eighties, although he did question why he was making such bold, though ultimately often true, statements about this teenage prodigy while Guy himself was only in his early twenties!

IM Guy West analysing Greg's famous with over English GM Tony Miles

IM Guy West in front of the final position in the famous Miles-Hjorth game at the end of the lecture.

Hjorth Open - Day 2

Day two of the Hjorth Open saw seven players finish the day on a perfect 3/3, and these were unsurprisingly seven of the top 8 seeds (third seed James Morris took a half point bye in round 1, but was leading the chasing pack on 2.5/3).

The second day saw more upset results than the first, with Jody Middleton & Richard Voon beating higher rated opponents in round 2, while Richard Voon also scored another upset win in round 3. There were also a few draws across the day, while some of the unrated players (young & old) scored wins against their rated opponents.

One of the more exciting games from day two was from round 3, which saw a wild battle between FIDE Masters, with Domagoj Dragicevic's King's Gambit turning sour fairly quickly against Luke Li.



However the highlight of the day was the lecture presented by Grandmaster Ian Rogers about Greg Hjorth. Ian told stories of Greg's time in the chess scene & showed a number of games or game fragments played by Greg, including wins over former Australian Champion Serge Rubinraut & American Grandmaster Robert Byrne. He also showed Greg's impressive analytical ability in an adjourned position from one of Darryl Johansen's games from the 1982 Olympiad (where Greg was the second reserve & did not play the game, but played a key role as an analyst for the other team members).

GM Ian Rogers talking about Greg's early years in chess

GM Ian Rogers analysing Greg Hjorth's win over former Australian Champion Serge Rubinraut

An adjourned endgame position of Darryl Johansen's from the 1982 Olympiad, where Greg's analysis proved instrumental in Darryl's eventual victory

GM Ian Rogers explaining how Greg Hjorth was able to hold the following position against Filipino GM Eugene Torre, with the key idea being to check the white king if it tries to move in front of the pawn, while the king (in spite of being cut off from getting in front of the pawn) prevents the rook from protecting the pawn from the side.

GM Ian Rogers explaining one of Greg's often-used sidelines against the Sicilian Defence - 2. b3, which was almost unheard of in the late 1970s & early 1980s when Greg was playing.

Hjorth Open - Day 1

The Hjorth Open (previously the Melbourne Cup Weekender) has become a major event on the Australian, let alone Victorian calendar! This year attracted 86 players, far more than previous years & this can be attributed to the hard work done by those at the Melbourne Chess Club (largely tournament organiser Simon Dale) in organising & publicising the event & making every effort for it to be a fitting tribute to IM Greg Hjorth, who passed away unexpectedly in early 2011. Greg's family has also been a driving force behind the event providing sponsorship not only for this event, but also adding a Brilliancy prize to events held at Melbourne Chess Club throughout the year.

With such a large number of players at the club, the first round started a little late, however not before a short opening ceremony where Melbourne Chess Club President Paul Cavezza welcomed everyone to the tournament & shared some memories of Greg.

Round 1 saw most games going according to rating, although there were a few draws on the lower boards. Of the top boards, the board 4 clash between FM Chris Wallis & Rad Chmiel was probably the most interesting of them all, with Chris gaining an opening edge before inexplicably giving away an exchange (the post-mortem suggested that Chris had mentally 'played' Rg1 or Rf1 before Bf3, but then moved the bishop first by mistake), before putting his strong central pawns to work, with a second, intentional, exchange sacrifice securing the victory.

The new perpetual trophy for the winner of the Hjorth Open

A new perpetual trophy for the winner of the Hjorth Brilliancy Prize

 Trophies for the winners of the Hjorth Open & Brilliancy Prize.

Opening ceremony with MCC President Paul Cavezza giving a brief speech about Greg before the tournament began. Greg's parents, Robert & Noela, are on Paul's right.

Round 1 underway in the main hall, almost filled to capacity!

Top boards underway, with six boards broadcast live online.

A number of clocks are being used during this event with the inscription 'In Memory of Greg Hjorth' on them.

Plaque on the wall of the main tournament hall dedicated to Greg Hjorth.

Crown Poker Championships - 7 game event

So I finally decided to play some live poker ... or more to the point, Crown decided to host a mixed game tournament that I had the time to play in (it was run on a Friday night).
The event was part of the new tournament series, the Crown Poker Championships. Not sure if its going to be a regular part of the tournament schedule at Crown, but its good to put another tournament series on that is not going to break the bank (most events were $350 or less to enter). This seems to be something of a departure from their more recent efforts with the WSOP, APPT, ANZPT, etc, which are more geared to the 'pro' or aspiring pro & have significant buy-in fees (and often tougher fields as well) becoming part of the regular tournament schedule, at the expense of events like the Victorian Poker Championship & the Melbourne Poker Championship.
Recently I simply have not had much time to play live poker, so have rarely been to Crown at all this year, so only found out about the series thanks to various posts on Facebook & ultimately did not decide to play in the event until early on Friday afternoon.
Although a few of the regular in mixed events didn't play, preferring to play in Flight 1 of the Main Event that started the same night, I was surprised to see that there were 44 players in the end for the event, which is pretty good for a non-holdem event at Crown.

Of course it still amazes me how some people play in this event ... and two hands in particular stood out for me, one that I was involved in & another that I was watching. They were both hands of seven card stud, one high & the other a hi-lo split. Of course the stud games seem to be the worst played at Crown, largely because they are so rarely played in a live setting in Australia these days ... Also please bear in mind that the hands I am assigning people are somewhat approximate, but are roughly correct.

The first was a hand of Stud hi-lo that I was not involved in. The hand played out 3 ways past 4th street & I was stunned at how the hand played out ... Player A had been leading the betting from 3rd street & had a board something like JK82, Player B had a scary low board, something like 42A7, while Player C had a high board with straight potential, something like 9JKT. Player A had as I said been leading the betting since 3rd street & continued to bet on later streets once Player B picked up an Ace & checked their initial option. 7th street was where things got interesting. Player B had obviously made a low & with the other players being either unlikely or unable to have a low, it made sense to put in a bet on 7th, in the hope of being called by both players & getting an extra half-bet back with the low. Player C then decided to put in a raise! This is the interesting spot! With the scary board, he was obviously representing a straight & it would seem to be a reasonable play if that's what he actually had! If you were player A (who apparently had three Jacks - starting 'rolled up'), what would you do? After some thought, he decided to fold, with the rationale that Player C could only make such a play if he had the straight & his trip jacks obviously don't win against a straight, so better to save a bet than throw two bets (and possibly more - Player B with the low hand could then re-raise to make the pot even bigger) when his hand was likely beaten. Of course Player B called & we came to a showdown ...
Unsurprisingly, Player B had a 7-low, but also a pair of Tens to go with it ... while player C had ... a pair of Nines! Player B scooped the pot!
A bold play by player C & in some ways, a good play to get player A out of the hand, however given that he only had a single pair, not the type of move that is profitable (as the final results of the hand proved). If he had a hand like 2 pair or better, where it is much less likely that he can be scooped by the low hand, then it is a much better play, though it also relies on the ability (or lack of a 5-card hand) of player A to get the 'semi-bluff to chop' play through.

The second hand of note was one I was involved in & unfortunately wound up on the wrong side of the ledger as a result of it ... this was a round of 7 card stud hi in the middle-late stages of the tournament (I think the limits were either 1000/2000 or 2000/4000 at this stage) with two tables remaining.  I was in late position with split Aces (A8)A & before action go to me, there was the bring-in (3), a call (8), a complete (Q) & a call (T). Of course with such a strong starting hand, I raise (AKA the '2-bet' in stud) & to my surprise, all four others (including the bring-in) who were in the hand call my bet! I continued to bet on 4th & 5th streets, before checking 6th street. At this stage I still only had the pair of aces & although it is a strongish hand, I was not in a position to keep betting my hand for value, as I was not confident I had the best hand (and most likely I didn't at that stage). It was difficult to put some of the other players on hands & with the size of the pot already being huge, it was tough to see how I could get any of them to fold.
By 6th street, the various boards looked something like this:
Me: (A8)AK63
Player B (initially limped): 84Q6
Player C (initially completed): Q529
Player D (initially called): TK8J
Four players made it to 7th street (the bring-in folded on 5th or possibly 4th street).Of all the board, player D's was the scariest as he could very easily have a straight, if not another hand that beats my Aces. When 7th street was dealt, I looked down at another 8, giving me aces up. Seven Card Stud is often seen as a 'race to two pair', so when player D bet, I felt sick, but decided to make a crying call, expecting to see a straight. The other two players in the hand folded, presumably they missed some sort of draw that they felt compelled to call to 6th street, & player D turned over his hand for three Jacks! Presumably he started with pocket jacks & picked up a third jack on 6th street, which was enough to win the pot ... and of course with the previous action in the hand, he even decided to bet on 7th with 'only' trips! A sick hand & a bad result for me (and the other two who lost a significant amount of chips in the pot), which ultimately saw me nurse a short stack for the remainder of the tournament.

I managed to sneak my way into 4th place, which in theory was good for a $1450 prize, although I made a deal with one of the other shorts stacks prior to the final table (8 players were on the final table, but only the top 6 were to be paid) that if one of us made the money & the other missed out, we would effectively chop 6th place money ($795), so that we would both make a small profit from the evening rather than have one of us go home empty handed after a long tournament. The net result is that I effectively went home with $1055 in prizemoney, so generally happy with the evening, though would have liked the big Stud hand over again ...
Full results & payouts available on the Crown Poker website.

2014 WOM Australian Women's Masters

Over the past week, some of Australia's best female players have been battling it out with a number of highly-rated foreign opposition at the Melbourne Chess Club in the second Australian Women's Masters.
The event was the brainchild of Jamie Kenmure & Gary Bekker & this year they definitely improved on last year's event. This year the event became a 12-player round robin (up from an 8-player round robin last year), which featured a number of foreign players, with the possibility of players earning a coveted Women's International Master norm.
The tournament also received support from the FIDE Commission for Women's Chess which goes to show just how significant the event was, even on a worldwide scale!
I was involved in the event as the Bulletin Editor (you can find them at the bottom of the News Page) & went to some of the social gatherings that were organised for the tournament.
Overall I thought the tournament was a great success, although no-one scored enough points to achieve a WIM norm (other than the winner Irine Sukandar, who is already a WGM). The players were all very friendly & enjoyed the tournament, as well as the various activities that had been organised ... and most are keen to come back next year if they can!

For my thoughts on the state of Women's Chess in Australia, I think it is easier just to use part of my Editor's Comments from Bulletin 1 of the tournament:

Unfortunately Women's chess in Australia has been largely forgotten over the last decade. The title of Australian Women's Champion has not been awarded since 2003, as the requirements for its awarding as part of the the biennial Australian Open have not been met! The Victorian Women's Championship was resurrected in 2012, having not been run for a number of years previously. Although the tournament was a success, it has not been run since! The Dorothy Dibley Shield was an interstate women’s and girls teams event that was started in 1990 and ran until the mid 2000s, but it has also not been run for around a decade!
Although there are still a number of women and girls who play tournament chess on a regular basis, there are very few dedicated events for women. The biennial FIDE Zonal tournament is one of the few events solely for women that are run with any regularity, however the Zonal is shared amongst countries in Oceania and it has not been held in Australia since 2009.

You can find out the full results & see more information about the event (including the planned schedule for 2015!) on the Official Website, but I thought I should finish this post with a few photos from the event - both chess-related & non-chess!

One of the many collages put together by tournament photographer Anjali Bhatnagar

Tournament participants at the Prize Giving

Pre-tournament at Rosebud beach

Mid-tournament at the Giant's Chair at Mount Dandenong

Mid-tournament post-round dinner

Playing room at the tournament

Pre-tournament at Cape Schanck

Pre-tournament at Cape Schanck

Tournament runners-up with organisers: WFM Otgonjargal Sengeravdan, WFM Margit Brokko, FA Jamie Kenmure, IA Gary Bekker, WFM Tuuli Vahtra, WIM Heather Richards

Tournament winner WGM Irine Sukandar at the Prize Giving

Melbourne Cup Weekender - Day 5

Round 8 of the Melbourne Cup Weekender at the Melbourne Chess Club saw Luke Li wrap up a share of first place with a win over Max Illingworth, while his nearest competitors, James Morris & Bill Jordan, drew their game to be a point behind Luke. Igor Goldenberg & Jack Puccini joined in the tie for second place with wins over Bill Kerr & Dusan Stojic respectively.
As with other rounds, there were upsets this round, with Finley Dale beating Anthony Hain, Yang Wu beating Dan Dobos & Nick Ilic beating Giles Lean. Paul Cavezza held David Hacche to a draw, as did Gary Lin against Sam Low, Bobby Yu against Andrew Footner & Dai Cheng against Calvin Bennett.

Board 1 clash between Luke Li & Max Illingworth


An exciting game between Jack Puccini & Dusan Stojic


A tactical slugfest between Max Chew Lee & George Lester


The final round of the tournament was somewhat anti-climatic, with a number of top board games ending in short draws. Luke Li achieved a strong position early against Bill Jordan, who was happy to accept a draw rather than risking defeat. The all-Queensland pairing of George Lester & Stephen Solomon also saw a draw agreed without much of a struggle, while the same occurred in the all-South Australian game between Bill Kerr & Colin Cloudsdale. James Morris & Jack Puccini decided to buck the trend & played a fighting game, with the winner getting second place, which ended in a win for Morris. This left Luke Li in front on 7.5/9, James Morris in second on 7/9 & Igor Goldenberg & Bill Jordan tied for third on 6.5/9.
As with other rounds, there were upsets to finish the tournament, with Paul Cavezza beating Dimitry Partsi, Geoffrey Hilliard beating Kevin Willathgamuwa & Calvin Bennett beating Andrew Footner. There were also a number of draws in apparent rating mis-matches, including George Lester against Stephen Solomon, David Hacche against Ari Dale, Gary Lin against David Lacey, Dai Cheng against Michael Addamo, Tanya Kolak against John Beckman, Christopher Lim against Mukesh Krishnamurthy, Samuel Trewin against Vishal Bhat & Licia Lao against Giles Lean.
This left the rating group prizes to go to Paul Cavezza on 6/9 for rating group 1, half a point ahead of Jason Chew & Max Chew Lee, while rating group 2 went to Geoffrey Hilliard on 5.5/9, half a point ahead of Rowan Willathgamuwa.

The fight for second place between Jack Puccini & James Morris


A nice finish by Dusan Stojic against Eamonn O'Molloy


A quick win for Karl Zelesco against Gary Bekker


A speculative sacrifice turns into a quick victory for Paul Cavezza against Dimitry Partsi

Melbourne Cup Weekender - Day 4

Round 6 of the Melbourne Cup Weekender at the Melbourne Chess Club saw a change in the lead, when Luke Li beat James Morris on top board. This allowed Luke to become the leader by himself with 5.5/6, with James being joined by Max Illingworth & Dusan Stojic in second place on 5/6. A number of players were absent on day 4, with the Monday not being a public holiday, so the large number of players who took half point byes were mostly doing so due to work or school commitments!
Of course the round was not without upsets, which included Max Chew Lee beating Andrew Footner & Paul Cavezza beating Mehmedalija Dizdarvic, while Chris Kolak held Stephen Solomon to a draw, Gary Bekker drew with Colin Cloudsdale & Vishal Bhat drew with Geoffrey Hilliard in other results that did not go entirely according to rating.

The top board clash between James Morris & Luke Li


An exciting tactical slugfest between Karl Zelesco & Dusan Stojic


Another interesting tactical battle, this time between Mukesh Krishnamurthy & Tristan Krstevski


Round 7 saw Luke Li consolidate his lead with a draw against Igor Goldenberg, while Max Illingworth & James Morris played a fighting draw to remain half a point behind Luke, while Bill Jordan beat Dusan Stojic to join the two IMs half a point behind the leader.
There were plenty of upsets on other boards as players started to tire after their fourth day of chess! Paul Cavezza beat Andrew Footner, Geoffrey Hilliard beat Mehmedalija Dizdarevic, Dai Cheng beat Daniel Dobos, Bobby Yu beat John Beckman & Juan Carlos Ospina Alfonso beat Mukesh Krishnamurthy, while Max Chew Lee held Bill Kerr to a draw, Gary Bekker drew with Dimitry Partsi, Finey Dale drew with Michael Addamo, Ray Yang drew with Jason Chew, Heath Gooch drew with John Wildes & Vishal Bhat drew with Calvin Bennett.

An exciting draw between IMs Max Illingworth & James Morris


Another exciting game between young talents Ari Dale & Karl Zelesco


A great example of the attacking potential in the Sicilian Defence by young Jack Puccini against Sam Low


A tactical slugfest between Stephen Solomon & Anthony Hain

Melbourne Cup Weekender - Day 3

Round 4 of the Melbourne Cup Weekender at the Melbourne Chess Club saw an outright leader emerge for the first time in the event. James Morris won his game against Ari Dale to move to 4/4, while his nearest rivals dropped points through draws or losses. Bill Jordan & Igor Goldenberg drew to move to 3.5/4, while Luke Li, Karl Zelesco & Zachary Loh also won to join them in a tie for second place with 3.5/4.
As with other rounds, round 4 also saw its share of upsets, with Rowan Willathgamuwa beating Mehmedalija Dizdarevic & Geoffrey Hilliard beating Jason Chew. There were also lots of draws, with Goran Ilic drawing with Bill Kerr, Gary Lin drawing with Andrew Footner, Ray Yang drawing with Michael Addamo, Bobby Yu drawing with Savithri Narenthran, Jaiwant Singh drawing with Shane Lawson & Kayson Wang drawing with Samuel Trewin.

Top board clash between James Morris & Ari Dale


A nice win by Karl Zelesco against George Lester


Round 5 saw James Morris retain his perfect record with a win over Igor Goldenberg, while Bill Jordan & Luke Li also won their games to remain half a point behind James in second place.
Upset wins this round were recorded by Jack Puccini over Ari Dale, Christopher Lim over Shane Lawson, Jaiwant Singh over Regan Crowley & Kayson Wang over Vladimir Zacharczenko. A number of players also drew against higher rated opponents, including Gary Bekker against George Lester, Rowan Willathgamuwa against Tom Kalisch, John Wildes against Michael Addamo, Paul Cavezza against Marcel Rothlisberger, Calvin Bennett against Anthony Hain, Gary Lin against Kevin Willathgamuwa & Dai Cheng against John Beckman.
3/5 is the current leading score for the rating divisions, with Tom Kalisch, Eamonn O'Molloy, Max Chew Lee, Gary Bekker & Surjeet Singh leading the under 1950 division on 3/5, while Rowan Willathgamuwa & Goran Ilic lead the U1700 division, also on 3/5.

James Morris retains his perfect score with a nice win over Igor Goldenberg


A nice attacking game by Dusan Stojic against Cloin Cloudsdale

Melbourne Cup Weekender - Day 2

Day 2 of the Melbourne Cup Weekender at Melbourne Chess Club saw the field grow in size to a very chess-related 64 players & a playing hall that was filled to near capacity!
Round 2 saw the top seeds successfully negotiate their games to leave 13 players with 2/2, although not entirely without problems, with Sam Low (who is playing his first rated tournament for a number of years) pushing Max Illingworth, before finally succumbing in the knight v bishop ending that ensued. The round also had a few upsets, with Ray Yang beating Kevin Willathgamuwa, while young Licia Yao held Gary Lin to a draw.

 Top 5 boards underway in round 2

Main playing hall on day 2

The board 1 clash between Max Illingworth & Sam Low


Following the completion of the round, the club became even more crowded as the regular Saturday afternoon allegro ran with 16 players in close quarters in one of the smaller rooms in the club. The event was once again taken out by FM Michael Baron with 7/7 - he is a regular at the allegro events & rarely plays longer games these days, but is still a tough competitor!

Allegro at close quarters!

Round 3 was the most dramatic of the tournament so far, with the two top seed being beaten in their games, while other games saw enterprising chess, as well as some more upsets. Once the round was completed, only 5 players had managed to keep the picket-fence alive & move to 3/3.
Upsets for the round saw Dusan Stojic beat Max Illingworth, Bill Jordan beat Stephen Solomon, Calvin Bennet beat Max Chew Lee, Christopher Lim beat Heath Gooch & Dai Cheng beat Vladimir Zacharczenko. There were also plenty of draws this round, with Zachary Loh holding Luke Li to a draw, Goran Ilic drew with Marcel Rothlisberger, Savithri Narenthran drew with Andrew Footner, Marko Grabovac drew with Mehmedalija Dizdarevic, Rowan Willathgamuwa drew with Michael Addamo, Ray Yang drew with Tom Kalisch & Bobby Yu drew with Gary Bekker.
The prize pool was also finalised, with $700 for first & over $2500 in total prizes, which once again makes it the richest event at the club for the year.
As usual, results are available on ChessChat.

Top board clash between Dusan Stojic & Max Illingworth


Board 2 clash between Stephen Solomon & Bill Jordan


An enterprising game between Anthony Hain & George Lester

Melbourne Cup Weekender - Day 1

Day 1 of the Melbourne Cup Weekender at the Melbourne Chess Club saw 54 players start, with more to begin on Saturday morning. The long-awaited air conditioning was installed in the days before the weekender, so the playing hall was able to remain cool ... so much so that a few players made the rarely heard summertime complaint of the room being too cold!
Top seed for the event is defending champion IM Max Illingworth from Sydney. Other titled players in the event include: IM Stephen Solomon from Queensland, IM James Morris, IM Igor Goldenberg, FM Luke Li, IM Ari Dale, FM Bill Jordan, FM Dusan Stojic, CM Jack Puccini, FM David Hacche, CM Gary Bekker & WFM Savithri Narenthran. There are a total of 14 players rated over 2000 FIDE, so the event is another strong tournament to be held at MCC, although there are a wide range of players, both in terms of rating & age.
Thanks to Philip Drew, the new ACF equipment officer, the event has live DGT coverage of the top 5 boards, so if you are unable to come to the club, you can follow the top games at home or anywhere else online.
Result for the tournament & pairings are being posted on ChessChat, although they will also be available on the MCC website at a later stage.
Round 1 saw results go mostly according to rating, but the players in the top half of the ratings did not make it through the round unscathed. Calvin Bennett beat Colin Cloudsdale, Mukesh Krishnamurthy beat Andrew Footner, Bobby Yu beat Chris Kolak & Dai Cheng held Anthony Hain to a draw.

 Round 1 underway in the main playing hall

 The top boards, all with DGT coverage for this event!

Another view of the main playing hall during round 1

Board 1 saw Max Illingworth play a nice attacking game, with Kevin's position falling apart quickly after 15...Bxh3!


An early nomination for the brilliancy prize was this effort from Ari Dale against Marko Grabovac

Back to work ... and a surprise visit!

With the school term starting again in Victoria (just as it is finishing in NSW & some other parts of Australia), it means that I am back at work, with today starting with the annual year 7 tournament at Billanook College, after a morning session at Banyule Primary.
This time I was an assistant arbiter (Ian Birchall was in charge of things today), so had some time to take a few photos of the tournament in action. The thing that makes the Billanook tournament somewhat unique is that it involves all of the year 7 students, even some who were very new to chess. The tournament also gives them an introduction to chess in a more social setting, where they are around their friends & generally makes for a fun event.

 Great way to start a term with a room full of kids playing chess!

The tournament is also at the same venue as the Billanook Classic, which is an Allegro Series (where I will be playing for a change), which begins this Sunday & features a wide range of players, from Masters to relative newcomers, so everyone gets competitive games!
In unrelated news, I recently visited James Morris & Dimitry Partsi in hosptial, as they recover from the horrific car accident over Easter which shocked the chess community. Thankfully both are much better than they were & look to be on the way to a full, although lengthy, recovery! Although James & his mother Rowena were pleased to see me, James was much more excited to see another visitor - none other than the face of Pokerstars, Daniel Negreanu! Daniel is in town for the World Series of Poker Asia Pacific (where he is currently on the final table of the main event) & it was great of him to take time out of his schedule to see James in hospital! Hopefully he can finish off his trip well (he had previously final tabled the 8-game, which was won by Phil Ivey) & take home the main event bracelet!

Chess Invitational tournament

Facebook manages to turn up all sorts of things & last week I managed to see an advertisement for Chess Competition Tryouts in my sidebar. The event itself was for 'tryouts' for an invitational chess tournament (to be held on August 12), with the aim of being filmed the following weekend (August 18-19) for eventual presentation online. The next day (and independently of my joining the Facebook event), I was contacted by Dan Meiers, the organiser of this event, with a view to having me involved in the event (Dan had managed to find me from this blog, so its good to see that the general readership is growing!).

The plan is to have an 8 player round-robin event, with all games filmed from a variety of cameras, with the final product being presented in some sort of internet-based format. To try and generate interest (as well as attracting strong players), Dan has put up $1000 as first prize! Although the prize money sounds great, I'm more interested in seeing how the final product turns out, as Dan wants to try to do something a little different in terms of presentation, or at least that is part of his idea for the event.
If people are interested in participating in the event, check the Facebook event page for details.
The timing of this event means that I will be missing out on the Super Rookies event at Box Hill Chess Club, which is being run to support the Victorian juniors playing in the Under 16 Youth Olympiad (6 of the 12 players in the three teams are from Victoria). I will also have to miss the Best in the West, which is an excellent weekender I have played in a few times in recent years. 

In terms of my interest in this invitational tournament, much of this stems from some blog posts from last year, concerning the De Groot experiements & ideas for videos. Given that the games will be filmed one at a time, there will be a lot of 'down time' for those not involved in the filming, so I am hoping that I will be able to put together something along the lines of what I outlined late last year related to the thinking of chess players. I'm not quite sure what I'll have in terms of equipment and surroundings, but I'll try to pack my voice recorder & camcorder & see what I can come up with. If anything does end up coming from it, expect to see it on my YouTube page, which has been rather dormant of late in terms of content.
Perhaps it could be a 'modern day' version of the Master Game, which was filmed in England in the early 1980s.