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.