ChessKids National Schools Finals Day 2

Yesterday afternoon I again stopped by the ChessKids National Schools Final to see how the kids from Penleigh Essendon Grammar were doing. For the most part, the kids did very well. One of the big differences about this event and the average school event is that rather than only having a handful of students who play regularly at chess clubs in the event, as you would have at an ordinary schools competition, you have a large portion of the field who are regulars at clubs like Box Hill, Melbourne, Noble Park & other chess clubs around Melbourne. It also shows how much difference playing at a club makes, as these players are used to playing against tough opposition, have faced difficult positions & have in general just played more chess than those who have played the vast majority of their chess in the school environment.
With this in mind, the PEGS kids did very well. The girls team finished 3rd overall in a tough, but disappointingly small girls competition. The top scorers in the team all scored 4/7, which is an excellent effort in such a competition. The boys team also fared well, coming 5th overall out of 13 teams & collecting the trophy for finishing second out of the Middle Years teams, just 1.5 points behind Melbourne High (who had the very experienced Allen Yu leading their team). Once again, the top scorers for the team all scored 4/7 & even those who may not have had the best tournament still managed at least 2.5/7.
There were few surprises at the top end of the tournaments, with Glen Waverley taking out the Secondary competition (with 5 kids who are all regulars at chess clubs), with Bobby Cheng winning the individual tournament. Greythorn won the primary section, with both Enoch Fan & Tristan Krstevski scoring 7/7, while Deepdene won the girls section, with Alanna Chew Lee scoring 7/7.
As far as an overall impression of the tournament goes, there were three things that stood out for me that ChessKids had done well - the venue at Queen's College was excellent, with a large, bright room, with a separate area for parents & teachers where they were could be out of the playing area, but still able to see the games in progress. The lectures & coaching in between games is something that helps add something to the event & make it much more than simply a chess competition & gives all students something to take from the event. The third thing that was done well was simply that all the ChessKids staff were wearing their blue tops with the company logo, so that it was easy to identify who the arbiters & organisers were, particularly with so many parents & staff at the event. That's not to say that the event was without negatives, but these were the things that stood out for me that separated this event from other school events I have attended in recent years.
Of course I took a few photos while I was there ...
 The outside of the playing hall

 The fantastic surrounding buildings of Queen's College

Trophies for the winners

The winning team from Glen Waverley Secondary

With the PEGS kids after the tournament. Boys: Vincent, Chenuka, Adam, Joseph, Aby & Dion. Girls: Rhianne, Ashleigh, Carole, Amber (front), Kate & Jaya. Well Done!

Bob Brooking Round Robin Round 2

Round two of the Bob Brooking Round Robins saw a number of clear leaders emerge in some of the groups. James Morris leads Group A with 2/2 after another comfortable looking win, this time against Malcolm Pyke. David Beaumont leads group B with 2/2 after escaping from a difficult position against Justin Penrose. Group C has Michael Addamo, Peter Fry & Jim Papadinis all sharing the lead on 1.5/2. Gary Bekker & Anthony Harris share the lead in Group D with 2/2, while Michael Hain is the sole leader in Group E with 2/2. Although some of these leaders were the pre-tournament favourites, there are a few surprises in there, particularly Michael Hain leading group E after beating the pre-tournament favourite Jason Chew in round 2.
My own game in round 2 was like many other games that I have played throughout my chess career ... a promising start becomes a good middlegame, and I then proceed to stuff up an attack, miss a defensive move by my opponent & lose horribly. I played the opening a bit unusually, but managed to win an exchange fairly early. I then played aggressively & got a good attacking position, but rather than exchanging some more pieces off, I saw some ghosts & missed a strong continuation, so rather than playing 28.Nxd4, I went for the complications of 28.Qg5, which allowed black to have connected passed pawns in the centre. This made my attack need to be precise, so although Ng3 would have been better, Nf4 was also OK, but Qh5+ needed to be played before f6, as I missed the defensive resource Qc5, which turned the game around & made the central pawns a real threat.


The game of the round in the A group once again sees James Morris playing very logical chess to slowly dismantle Malcolm Pyke's position.

ChessKids National Schools Finals

Yesterday I decided to drop in to the ChessKids National Schools Finals, which were being played at Queen's College in Melbourne University in the city. I was mainly there to see how the kids from Penleigh Essendon Grammar were doing, as I have been coaching there this year & the kids have been very keen to learn & have all improved over the course of the two terms that I have been coaching there. Having said that, an event such as this is very much a step up from what the kids are used to, so it would definitely be a challenging event for them. The first day was tough for the kids, but they all managed to win at least one game from the four that they played today, with Ashleigh Craig being the standout with 3/4 on day one! Hopefully things go well for them on day 2 & they can finish with a proverbial wet sail!
The event itself is being held in a very nice venue, with a large, bright playing hall being the main focus. There was also a large analysis room available for players, which was also very nice. An extra touch that ChessKids offer at this event are lectures by some of the ChessKids coaches between rounds, so that the event is not just a chess competition, but also an opportunity for all the kids playing to learn more about the game & take away more than just seven score sheets & some memories, but also hopefully some skills and insights from some other coaches, which should lead to a better understanding of the game.
Below are some photos from the event
The main playing hall in between rounds

 The smaller playing area for the girls even that becomes a lecture area between rounds, this time Anthony Hain is showing kids a game.

 The analysis room between rounds, with IM Robert Jamieson giving a lecture.

 The main playing hall from the viewing gallery where parents & teachers were ushered to before the round started, leaving the playing area for players & arbiters only.

 The analysis room mid-round, with plenty of games being looked at by players & coaches.

Here is a brief clip from one of Robert Jamieson's lectures, where he is looking at the game Zelesco-Illingworth from the 2012 MCC Melbourne Cup Weekender, and explaining how Karl missed an opportunity to draw the game against Max. 

MCC Allegro Championships Day 2

The answer to yesterday's question was no, as IM James Morris continued his winning ways on day 2 of the MCC Allegro Championships, eventually taking out the tournament with a very impressive 12.5/13! Jesse Jager, who had lost to James in round 4, managed to win his remaining games & finished in second place on an impressive 12/13. Michael Baron finished 3rd after having a disappointing tournament by his standards.
The final cross table & a list of prize winners is available on ChessChat.
The concluding stages of the Baron v Morris clash yesterday from round 5

Play underway during day 2 of the Allegro Championships

 After the tournament, some of the players decided to play blitz on the street out the front of the club!

MCC Allegro Championships Day 1

Day 1 of the annual Melbourne Chess Club Allegro Championships saw 32 players participating, with many MCC Allegro regulars looking for their chance at the $200 first prize on offer! The obvious favourites were FM Michael Baron (now sporting an allegro record 2794 rating!) & IM James Morris, who have between them won almost all the allegro events held in recent years!
These two were not to have things all their own way, with Jesse Jager claiming an upset win over Baron in round 6, after Baron & Morris had drawn their round 5 clash. Tony Tosevski was perhaps the best performer on day 1, with wins over Luke Li & David Garner, but will he be able to keep this good form going on day 2.
A cross table after round 7 is available on ChessChat, but the big question for the day will be if anyone can stop James Morris from claiming yet another title in 2012.
Below are some photos from the event

Bob Brooking Round Robins Round 1

Tonight was the first round of the annual Bob Brooking Round Robin event at Melbourne Chess Club, which sees players split into groups of 6 by rating & then playing a round robin against those players. The format of the event makes for a very competitive event, with all games being (at least theoretically) very tough.
The tournament itself is named after Bob Brooking, former judge at the Victorian Supreme Court, as well a former President of Melbourne Chess Club. He has written an interesting history of Melbourne Chess Club in two volumes, Care for a Game & Play On, which you can read about on the MCC website.

As for the event itself, there are 30 players in five groups this year, with the top division being particularly strong, with 2 IMs & all players rated over 2100! I'm on double-duty, playing in division 2, as well as acting as the tournament arbiter, but I will definitely have to be at my best if I plan to win my division, with Sylvester Urban, David Beaumont, Justin Penrose, Omar Khaled & Richard Voon all looking to spoil these plans of mine!
Full results, as well as the draw for future rounds, can be seen on ChessChat.

The best game of the round in the top division was an efficient game by IM James Morris against Karl Zelesco, where James left Karl with a bad black squared bishop & gradually improved his position until an exchange could further increase his positional edge.

Melbourne Chess Club Open Round 9

Just when it looked like everything was settled, round 9 threw everything up in the air, with plenty of surprises! At the top end of the tournament, the big surprise was board 1, where Mirko Rujevic managed to win a piece against Guy West & Guy instantly resigned! The drama continued on board 2, when David Beaumont found himself a bishop ahead in an ending against Dusan Stojic! More drama was had on board 4, when Richard McCart demolished Peter Fry's customary 1.b3 in 20 moves! Just when it looked like David was ready to secure the win, he blundered & allowed Dusan's pawns to race up the board, and seeing no salvation in sight, resigned! This gave the tournament win to FM Dusan Stojic, a point clear of IM Guy West. These two were followed by four players who finished on 6/9 in a tie for third, Ari Dale, Mirko Rujevic, Carl Gorka & Richard McCart. Another surprise of this final round was that across 14 boards of play, only board 14 saw a win for the player with the white pieces!
Final results & cross table are available as usual on ChessChat.

With the excitement of the final round, I thought I needed to include two games form this round. The first is Peter Fry v Richard McCart, which sees Richard McCart play an excellent attacking game, and although there may have been quicker ways to finish the game off, the game as played was also pretty convincing!
The second game was the dramatic board 2 clash between David Beaumont & Dusan Stojic. Although Dusan appeared to have a reasonable position for much of the middlegame, it was David's central pawns that more than made up for the exchange he was down, ultimately leading to the ending with an extra bishop. The ending is won for David, but there are a few tricks that need to be navigated, with the winning line involving allowing Dusan to promote a pawn, but David would also have promoted a pawn & would have a reasonably straightforward win in an ending with Queen, bishop, pawn & king v Queen, pawn & king.