Gardiner Chess Bulletin #46

In This Issue

Moulthun Ly stars, Gold Coast Junior Masters and Brisbane Young Champions, Ruth Coxhill FIDE Rated Tournament, World Juniors Fundraising Tournaments, Book Reviews, Adults Only Tournament with Qld Vets and Disabled, Ipswich Chess Club recommences, Bardon Bishops, Fastrain Junior Tournament, Brisbane Inter-Schools Finals, Somerville House Invitational, Mackay, Townsville and Cairns Inter-Schools, Gold Coast Open Report, Queensland Juniors Reports, CAQ Newsletter, Reports and Tournament Notices, Tournament Results, Webpage, Unsubscribe.

Moulthun Ly stars at World Open

Only three weeks ago, Moulthun Ly competed in the Gold Coast Open, scoring what for him would have been a disappointing and sobering 3.5/7. On this occasion Australia's number one player Ian Rogers, who won the event on a picket fence 7/7, was the only Grandmaster competing. Total prize money for the Gold Coast Open was just over $5,000, making it one of the top three Grand Prix events in Australia this year.

Immediately after the event Moulthun and his dad Heng flew off to the World Open in Philidelphia. This tournament boasts US$500,000 in prize money, with 49 Grandmasters listed for the main open event. Fourteen-year-old Moulthun, who last year became the youngest Australian Junior Champion in history at the age of 13, decided to enter the main open event. Moulthun finished with an amazing 6/9, just one point behind the winner GM Gata Kamsky in a tie for 20th place. All 19 players ahead of him were Grandmasters. Moulthun scored his first International Master norm, defeated four players with a rating of 2387+ . He has earned the highest prize money in open competition in the history of Australian chess (approximately A$10,000). Full results at: www.worldopen.com/

I understand from Moulthun's father that he will probably try and play in a tournament in Europe in the September school holidays. The young player is a wonderful role model for other juniors, always appearing to be very calm and collected. He reads fairly extensively, and practises ideas on ICC (Internet Chess Club www.chessclub.com) where I'm told he has an amazing 3000+ blitz rating. We have been saying for three years, and still say, that we have absolutely no idea how strong young Moulthun might become. Congratulations and all the best to him.

Junior Masters and Brisbane Young Champions start tomorrow Monday 17 July

These two tournaments are designed to produce young players capable of challenging for Queensland and national honours. They are tough competitions, with championship length time controls, and are specifically targeted at players who have their sights set on becoming champions. As a guide, juniors below 800 QJ rating are not normally ready to play in these tournaments. Players in these competitions are taught always to play for a win (even if they overstretch and lose), and to aim to be number one. Mediocrity is not rewarded! The after-game analysis by strong coaches, with both players present, has given these series of tournaments an extra edge.

The Gold Coast Junior Masters commences at the chess centre at 6pm tomorrow (Monday 17 July). The Brisbane Young Champions commences at Café Checocho at 5pm tomorrow. You can enter both competitions online, or phone the chess centre on 5522 7221.

Ruth Coxhill Memorial FIDE Rated Tournament starts this Wednesday 19 July

The field for the 10 player Ruth Coxhill Memorial is almost finalised: with players David Lovejoy (2032), Oleg Korenevski (2009), Hamish Selnes (1981), Yitao Lei (1911), Sam Grigg (1774), George Lester, Jessica Kinder, Gene Nakauchi and Steven Cooke. We are looking for one more player, who should be at least ACF 1500. Please contact Graeme on 5522 7221. Prizes 1st $300, 2nd $200, 3rd $100.

This event is named after Graeme's mother, who took a great interest in the chess centre as it evolved from a mere vision to reality, but sadly died a short while before it opened.

World Juniors Fundraising Tournaments Sunday 13 August

As previously advised, we are very proud that both Alexandra Jule and Jessica Kinder have been selected to represent Australia at the World Junior Championships in Batumi, Georgia from 18 to 29 October. Unlike Australia, many countries such as USA, China, Vietnam, India will be sending a large contingent as they receive government funding.

Alex and Jessica have decided to organise two chess tournaments at the chess centre on Sunday 13 August. Jessica is the tournament organiser and Alex the tournament arbiter. Details are as follows:

Date Sunday 13 August.

9am Lightning Fundraiser: 15 rounds 5 mins a side Entry Fee $10.
1.30pm Rapid Fundraiser: 7 rounds 15 mins a side Entry Fee $10. Adults, Concession and Juniors all the same price.
You can enter both tournaments for the fee of $15. Both tournaments QJ rated.
The rapid event will also be ACF Rapid rated. At lunchtime there will be a sausage sizzle for $2.50, with cold drinks at $2. Alex and Jessica are organising prizes, including lucky door prizes.
An entry form will be up on our webpage very soon. Please support the girls and have some fun at the same time.

We have received several donations to their joint travel fund. Further donations, however small, will be gratefully received.

Book Reviews by Kerry Corker (Gardiner Chess coach)

Simple Chess by GM Michael Stean $23 plus postage.

The only book by this English Grandmaster and it is one of the classics of chess literature. Some of the chapters include: outposts, weak pawns and half-open files - a great way to learn about positional chess. It is suitable for any student from 850 to those wishing to get to 2000 ACF or QJRL.

The Starting Out Opening Series $45 plus postage.

This series covers all the major openings and is a great way to learn the themes behind your favourite opening. GM and IM authors include John Emms, John Shaw, Angus Dunnington, Glenn Flear, Jo Gallagher and Neil McDonald. These books focus more on why moves are played and less on memorizing variations.They are used by many Gold Coast and Brisbane chess players and are among our best sellers. Good for players of all strength. Titles include: Caro-Kann, English, French, Sicilian, Ruy Lopez, King’s Indian, Nimzo-Indian, Pirc and others.

Adults Only Tournament plus Qld Vets and Disabled Tournament Sat/Sun 19/20 August

These events will be held at the chess centre on the weekend of Sat/Sun 19/20 August, for once in a kids-free zone. That's right adults, for once you don't have to lose points to those vastly under-rated, pesky, ankle-biting juniors. This tournament doubles as the Qld Vets and Disabled Championships. An entry form will be up on our webpage very soon.

Ipswich Chess Club recommences after a long break

Report from Bill Powell, CAQ Vice President/Publicity Officer

I travelled to Ipswich to the new venue to help these great people to restart the Ipswich Chess Club.

It was great to meet Debbie Jenkins and Marty Chadwick as well as catch up with Brendan Downs and Frank Zvonar who were in the club with me many years ago. The venue is great. Well done Debbie for finding this venue.

Ipswich Chess Club restarts 26 July. The room is located at Division 8 (Councillor's Office) Cnr Samford and Toongarra Roads Leichhardt (opposite Leichhardt School). Will be on the 1st, 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month. Closed 3rd Wednesday each month.

The club will become a registered CAQ club.

President /Treasurer /Tournament Officer. Brendan Downs <brdowns@gil.com.au>

Secretary Debbie Jenkins - debbiejenkins@bigpond.com;

Web Master - Marty Chadwick - email - debbiejenkins@bigpond.com;

Committee member - Frank Zvonar.

Please - All emails to be sent to both Brendan and Debbie. debbiejenkins@bigpond.com;<brdowns@gil.com.au>

I do wish them the best of luck and ask all people to help talk people living in the Ipswich area to support this club. Qld need's Ipswich to do well as Ipswich is a large city in Queensland.

Bardon Bishops

The Bardon Bishops Junior Chess Club is one year old. From humble beginnings we have grown to have approximately 30 members who meet every week in school terms at the Bardon State School library from 3:30 to 5 pm. For an annual $5 fee plus $4 per week (casual) including afternoon tea it is a great way to meet new friends, learn some new chess moves and play others in rated tournaments.

We would love to have new primary school aged members. Parents also are more than welcome to stay and play chess (and we don’t charge them anything).

For further details, please contact Gillian Bristow (bristowg@bigpond.net.au).

Fastrain Junior Tournament Sunday 30 July

Venue: North Shore Development and Coaching Centre Level 1, 2008 Logan Rd, Upper Mt Gravatt 9.15am. Games 20 mins a side 7 rounds. Prizes 3.30pm. Entry Fee $15. Age divsions based upon age at 31 July 2006.

Entries close 21 July
Entry forms available from:
North Shore Development and Coaching Centre
PO Box 6316
Upper Mt Gravatt Qld 4122
Office: Level 1, 2008 Logan Rd
Upper Mt Gravatt
Tel: 07 3343 1883
email: nsdcc@optusnet.com.au

Brisbane Primary Inter-Schools Finals at the Marymac Centre Monday 18 September (High Schools Tuesday 19 September, same venue)

All schools most welcome, even if they didn't enter previous rounds. For details go to www.gardinerchess.com (schools, Brisbane)

Somerville House Winter Primary Inter-Schools Invitational Sunday 13 August
For details contact: Patrick Byrom (07) 3371 5870 byronpa@hotmail.com Connie Pizzato (07) 3248 9200 Mobile: 040 979474 Fax: 3397 2922
Cairns, Townsville and Mackay Inter-Schools Finals/Chess Coaching Services for Schools

We wish to advise that in the very near future Gardiner Chess aims to commence offering ongoing chess coaching services to schools in the areas of Mackay, Townsville and Cairns.

Gardiner Chess currently provides ongoing services to approximately 100 schools in South East Queensland. Many schools are recognising the educational benefits for students who play chess, and have also found that many students make chess their passion, and gain a great deal of self esteem in their chess achievements. Chess sits very well both within the curriculum, and alongside such extra-curricular pursuits as dance, music, speech and drama etc.

Graeme Gardiner will be accompanying inter-schools organiser Ian Murray to the regional inter-schools teams events in Mackay, Townsville and Cairns in the last week of August as follows:

Monday 28 August Slade Point Community Hall, Mackay

Wednesday 30 August Heatley Secondary College, Townsville

Thursday 31 August Trinity Anglican School, Cairns

Graeme would be delighted to hear from any schools who would like to register their interest in commencing ongoing chess coaching programmes with a view to developing a chess culture within the school. Please contact him by phone 5522 7221 or email ggardiner@gardinerchess.com. He would also be very pleased to meet with you at the inter-schools competition at the venues mentioned above.
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Rogers’ Reign Rolls On: 2006 Gold Coast Open and Under 1600

Report by DOP Charles Zworestine

Same numbers as last year, similar playing strength: and still one of our top 2-day weekenders! Last year’s Gold Coast Open got 82 players (24 in the Open, 58 in the Under 1600), and the story was remarkably similar this year: 26 in the Open, 56 in the Under 1600. As a new organiser (Outreach Chess, headed by Peter Bender) had taken over, these numbers were pretty good – the next step is to get back to the 100 players of two years ago… The presence of GM Ian Rogers, IMs Stephen Solomon and Peter Froehlich and former Australian Junior Champion Moulthun Ly meant the event was still a prestigious one, but they were never going to have it all their own way – especially not with juniors like Dusan Stojic, equal first in the Doeberl Cup, in the field! Still, at your standard (at least in Oz) Fischer time control of 60 minutes plus 10 seconds per move from the start, Ian Rogers was shooting for his fifth title in a row; could anyone stop him?

The top seeds won pretty routinely in Round 1, except for Craig Duxbury who was lucky to win the longest game of the round when his opponent, Derek Elkington, overstepped the time limit in a drawish rook and pawn ending (despite Craig being a pawn ahead). A couple of juniors sprung upset draws lower down: Alex Jule was winning (pawns up) but allowed a perpetual against Phachara Wongwichit, while Liam McGarity was better for much of the game in his draw with David Lovejoy (over 600 points higher rated!). In an all junior battle, Ben Lazarus was winning but missed a tactic (based on a knight fork) against Jessica Kinder; Jess could then have sprung an upset, but agreed a draw in a superior position… Meanwhile, the Under 1600 already saw a first round shock on Board 1, as Zane Adams upset top seed Alex Toolsie (who blundered a piece). More of those dastardly juniors took adults prisoner when Yi Liu beat third seed Craig Stewart; and fourth seed Bill Ross was another upset victim against Leoma Lee, sacrificing a piece thinking he could regain it but miscalculating the resulting tactics.

Round 2 already saw some interesting results in the Open, with George Lester drawing with Jonathan Humphrey, Phachara Wongwichit stunned by Jessica Kinder’s monster passed e-pawn in the early middlegame and Liam McGarity winning the biggest upset prize for his win over Ben Lazarus with a nice exchange sacrifice to force a passed pawn through. Rogers, Solomon and Froehlich all rolled on, with Ian triumphant over Craig Duxbury, Froehlich over John O’Brien and Solo winning a nice game against Dusan Stojic (see game below). Moulthun Ly was lucky to draw in the end against Svetozar Stojic after he mistakenly swapped off into a lost king and pawn ending, but Svetozar did not see how to win it… The Under 1600 saw fifth seed Ross Lam held to a draw by Peter Booy, while Bill Egan suffered an upset loss in a miniature against John Humphrey (senior). Nick Kospartov struck a blow for the adults when he scored an upset win over a junior, Steven Cooke – it’s normally the other way round!

Solomon, S (2399) - Stojic, D (2067) [A79] 2006 Gold Coast Open (2), Board 2 24/06/2006

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0–0 6.Be2 c5 7.d5 e6 8.0–0 exd5 9.cxd5 Re8 10.Nd2 Na6 11.f3 Nc7 12.a4 b6 13.Nc4 Ba6 14.Bg5 h6 15.Be3 Bxc4 16.Bxc4 a6 17.Qd2 Kh7 18.Rab1 Qd7 19.b4 b5 20.Bd3 c4 21.Bc2 Qe7 22.Rbe1 Nd7 23.f4 Qf6 24.e5 dxe5 25.Ne4 Qd8 26.f5 Nf6 27.Nxf6+ Bxf6 28.d6 c3 29.Qd1 bxa4 30.fxg6+ fxg6 31.Qh5 e4 32.Qxh6+ Kg8 33.Qxg6+ Bg7 34.Qf7+ 1–0

Ian Rogers was really tested for the first time in Round 3, when Stephen Solomon sacrificed much material for activity and a very dangerous position; at one stage he was a rook and a piece down, but Ian’s king was in grave danger! The grandmaster fought off the challenge with the help of the clock, and ended up winning to take the outright lead on 3/3 (see game below). He was helped by Peter Froehlich’s early draw with Moulthun Ly, while Jessica Kinder was another junior continuing to wreak havoc when she drew with David Lovejoy… The Under 1600 saw far fewer shocks this round, as even some of the youngsters were kept in check for once! By the end of Round 3, we had five equal leaders on 3/3: Nenad Chelebichanin, Peter Radovan, Shayne Hunter, Yitao Lei and Matthew Gilpin.

Rogers, I (2564) - Solomon, S (2409) [E37] Gold Coast Open (3), Board 1 24/06/2006

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 Ne4 7.Qc2 c5 8.dxc5 Nc6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Nf3 Bf5 11.b4 b6 12.b5 bxc5 13.bxc6 Rb8 14.Bf4 Qa5+ 15.Nd2 0–0 16.Bxb8 Rxb8 17.f3 Nd6 18.Qc1 c4 19.g4 c3 20.gxf5 Nxf5 21.Bh3 Nd4 22.Kf2 Re8 23.Ne4 dxe4 24.e3 Qh5 25.exd4 Qxh3 26.Qe3 Qh4+ 27.Kf1 c2 28.f4 Qf6 29.Rc1 Qxc6 30.Rg1 Qc4+ 31.Kg2 f5 32.Kh1 Rc8 33.Rg2 Qd3 34.Qe2 Qb3 35.d5 g6 36.Qa6 Rc3 37.Qe6+ Kg7 38.Qe7+ Kg8 39.Qb4 Qxa3 40.Qxa3 Rxa3 41.Rgxc2 Kg7 42.Rd1 1–0

So to the last of the Saturday games, and Ian again showed why he is a grandmaster: he sacrificed a piece (allowing his bishop to be trapped on g6) for compensation that nobody could understand, least of all his opponent (Peter Froehlich)! Froehlich handled the position quite well, so Ian offered him a draw; about to take the piece he declined, but then he found he could not cope with the pressure (time trouble did not help) and ended up losing. 4/4 for Ian, while Solo took care of his second Stojic and Moulthun, Dusan and Lovejoy all also won to get to 3/4. Another top board upset in the Under 1600, where Matthew Gilpin came back from an exchange down (which he had earlier sacrificed for an attack) to stun Nenad Chelebichanin. With Boards 2 and 3 (Peter Radovan vs Shayne Hunter and Leoma Lee vs Yitao Lei) both ending in draws, this left Matthew as the outright leader on 4/4 going into the Sunday rounds.

Froehlich, P (2373) - Rogers, I (2564) [D16] Gold Coast Open (4), Board 1 24/06/2006

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bg4 6.Ne5 Bh5 7.f3 Nfd7 8.Nxc4 e5 9.g3 Bb4 10.dxe5 0–0 11.Bh3 Qe7 12.f4 Rd8 13.Qc2 Na6 14.0–0 Qc5+ 15.Ne3 Nb6 16.g4 Nc4 17.Rf3 Bg6 18.f5 Nxe5 19.Rf4 Re8 20.Kh1 Rad8 (=) 21.fxg6 hxg6 22.Nf1 Qe7 23.Be3 Bd6 24.Re4 Qh4 25.Kg2 Nc5 26.Bf2 Qf6 27.Bxc5 Bxc5 28.Kh1 Qf2 29.Ng3 Nf3 30.Rxe8+ Rxe8 31.Bg2 Ne1 32.Rxe1 Qxe1+ 33.Nf1 Qf2 0–1

Short work was made of both Jonathan Humphrey and David Lovejoy on the top two boards in Round 5, with Ian taking care of Jonathan in a pawn up ending and David sacrificing a piece unsoundly to lose to Solo. Froehlich had it rather tougher, but eventually took care of Svetozar Stojic. The big win, though, was by Dusan Stojic over Moulthun Ly, a nice victory virtually guaranteeing Dusan a trip to Malaysia as at least the top junior in the Grand Prix (see game below)… Meanwhile the battle of the juniors on top board in the Under 1600 saw Yitao Lei finally end Matthew Gilpin’s run after the latter misplayed a combination. Yitao was joined in the lead by Peter Radovan (an adult!) and Shayne Hunter, who handed Nenad Chelebichanin his second loss in a row by grinding him down in a very long game.

Stojic, D (2067) - Ly, M (2213) [C02] 2006 Gold Coast Open (5), Board 3 25/06/2006

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Be2 Nge7 7.a3 c4 8.0–0 Qb6 9.Nbd2 Na5 10.Rb1 f6 11.Re1 Ng6 12.exf6 gxf6 13.b4 cxb3 14.c4 Nf4 15.Bf1 Qc7 16.g3 Rg8 17.Kh1 dxc4 18.Nxc4 Nd5 19.Nxa5 Qxa5 20.Qxb3 Be7 21.Qxb7 Rc8 22.Bb5 Rc7 23.Bxd7+ Kxd7 24.Qb3 Rc3 25.Qb7+ Rc7 26.Bd2 Qa4 27.Qb3 Qa6 28.a4 Rgc8 29.Re4 Rc4 30.Rbe1 R8c6 31.a5 Bb4 32.Rh4 Bxd2 33.Rxh7+ Ne7 34.Nxd2 Qxa5 35.Qb7+ Rc7 36.Qe4 R4c6 37.d5 1–0

An in-form Dusan Stojic gave Ian Rogers a tough workout in Round 6; although Ian was never in danger, Dusan had definite drawing chances until his weak pawns eventually cost him the game in a difficult ending. Solomon-Froehlich was critical, and one of the better games of the event (see game below). Having declined Froehlich’s draw offer on move 13, Solo’s position was fine as he prepared to try and exploit Peter’s isolated d-pawn; but before he could he found Peter’s active pieces getting his king in enormous trouble, and his position slid downhill amazingly rapidly until he lost his queen and resigned! Moulthun conceded any chances of a place by drawing with Phachara Wongwichit… The Under 1600 saw Shayne Hunter take the outright lead on 5.5/6 by beating Bill Egan, who got his pieces tied up in knots, lost pawns and eventually resigned after having a bishop trapped. Draws in Peter Radovan-Yitao Lei (in a tricky knight vs bishop ending) and Matthew Gilpin-Leoma Lee still had them in contention, while Tyson Walker was making a late move (after conceding an early upset) to join Yitao and Peter in second place on 5/6.

Solomon, S (2399) - Froehlich, P (2373) [E39] 2006 Gold Coast Open (6), Board 2 25/06/2006

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0–0 5.Nf3 c5 6.dxc5 Na6 7.g3 Nxc5 8.Bg2 Nce4 9.Bd2 Nxd2 10.Nxd2 d5 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Nb3 Re8 13.a3 Bxc3+ (=) 14.Qxc3 Bg4 15.Nd4 Ne4 16.Qd3 Nc5 17.Qd1 Qb6 18.f3 Bd7 19.Rc1 Rac8 20.Kf2 Ba4 21.b3 Nxb3 22.Rxc8 Rxc8 23.Bh3 Rc1 24.Qxc1 Nxc1 25.Rxc1 Qxd4+ 26.Kg2 g6 27.Kf1 Qe3 28.Rb1 d4 29.f4 d3 30.Bg4 d2 0–1

When the last round came, Ian Rogers was already guaranteed first place; but he made it his third picket fence score in the last four years by making relatively short work of Moulthun. Froehlich agreed a very early draw with Jonathan Humphrey to guarantee himself at least equal second on 5/7; he was duly joined there by Stephen Solomon (who ground down Tony Weller) and Dusan Stojic (winner over Craig Duxbury). The Under 1600 was rather more exciting, as Tyson Walker beat Peter Radovan and then waited for the result of the critical top board game. Shayne Hunter’s pieces looked pretty well placed against Yitao Lei, but his attack could not seem to find a way in; and then tragically for him he moved his queen en prise in time pressure to lose and drop out of first place! Yitao and Tyson were equal first on 6/7, and Shayne had to be content with equal third on 5.5; he was joined there by Sam Grigg and Leoma Lee, two more of those pesky underrated juniors, who defeated fellow juniors Matthew Gilpin and Jayden Fisher respectively.

Open Prize List: 1st Ian Rogers 7/7; 2nd = Peter Froehlich, Stephen Solomon, Dusan Stojic 5; 5th = Sherab Guo-Yuthok, Jonathan Humphrey 4.5/7; 1st Under 1800 Tony Weller 4/7.

Under 1600 Prize List: 1st = Yitao Lei, Tyson Walker 6/7; 3rd = Shayne Hunter, Sam Grigg (1st Under 1450), Leoma Lee (1st Under 1300) 5.5; 2nd Under 1450 Matthew Beltrami 5; 2nd = Under 1300 Daniel Ford, Yi Liu 4; 1st = Under 1100 Brandon Leggett, Allan Menham, Robert Shinnie, Kantley Wu 3.5; 1st = Under 700 Rhys Davies, Danielle Kinder 3.5

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Queensland Under 8 Championships: Brilliant Bristow

by DOP Charles Zworestine

Thought I’d be different, and give the little ones a full report this time! After all, it is not very often that they get a whole tournament report all to themselves. And while we saw the usual quota of dropped queens and missing pieces at this level, this 15 player nine round Swiss event (time limit 15 minutes plus 10 seconds per move from the start) nonetheless produced some very exciting chess; there were even some well played endings!

There were very few upsets in Round 1, except for unrated Harry Hughes beating Felix Tan. The latter did win a piece in the opening, but then gave it back and gradually lost all his pieces! In Round 2 Harry struck again, drawing by repetition in a drawn rook ending against Jared Louie; while Felix was upset once more, this time by Jordan Vico.

Round 3 was the time when the top seeds started meeting; and Number 1 seed Laurence Bristow won queen and game against second seed Brody Seignior. This enabled Laurence to take the outright lead on 3/3 after Jared Louie’s queen fork won an exchange against Martin Jack, and Jared made it count! Laurence maintained his lead in Round 4 when, from a fairly equal ending, he ended up checkmating the enemy king on a5 with his only remaining piece, a Black bishop on c3! David Hughes upset Brody Seignior by winning his queen, surviving Brody’s counterplay and then swapping down to a won ending a rook ahead. Sam Barrett stunned Martin Jack by winning his queen.

Fewer shocks in Round 5, as Brilliant Bristow really started to assert his dominance! He beat Matthew Pyper quite convincingly to get to 5/5. David Hughes (White) and Sam Barrett played an excellent game to draw a difficult rook ending with passed pawns on both sides of the board:

missing graphic - sorry

Play continued 1.a8=Q Rxa8 2.Kxa8 h2 3.Rc1 Kg4 4.Kb7 Kg3 5.Kc6 Kg2 6.Kd5 h1=Q 7.Rxh1 Kxh1 8.Ke5 f4 9.Kxf4 Draw. YOU try to improve upon the play by either side…

After Round 6 it was 6/6 for Laurence, while David Hughes was outright second on 4.5; Brody Seignior and Matthew Pyper (who upset Martin Jack) were on 4. Another upset in round 7 saw Sam Barrett beating Jared Louie to get to 4.5; but the others at the top all won except for Matthew Pyper (who lost to David Hughes). Then Round 8 saw Laurence march on to 8/8! Brody moved into outright second with a win after David Hughes sadly moved his queen en prise to lose to Jordan Vico. Poor David realised just a bit too late; he had earlier queened first and been winning…

So to Round 9, where Bristow won to make it a picket fence; well done Laurence! Jordan continued his fine late run by beating Brody to join him in second place. This was a reward for being the player most prone to actually use his time and think… David Hughes was dead lost, with nothing but his king left against Jared Louie, but never say die: his king then captured all his opponent’s extra material to force a draw! This left David in the tie for second with Jordan and Brody, while Jared had to be content with joining a group of 4 players in equal fifth on 5/9: the others were Felix Tan, Matthew Pyper (little Felix beat Matthew in the last round) and Callum Gray (who upset Sam Barrett in the last round).

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Queensland Under 10 Championships: Yi Ha!

by DOP Charles Zworestine

Look at the title: doubtless “Yee Ha!” is what Yi Liu would have been crying with delight after this event… A recent arrival to Queensland, Yi’s ACF rating of 1052 made him second seed behind Lachlan van den Bergh (1054), with two other players over 1000: Daniel Arase (1031) and Alan Lam (1009). Time controls were 35 minutes each, plus ten seconds per move from the start (Fischer); and I am pleased to say that the Under 10s moved relatively slowly, and used their time well (perhaps even better than the Under 12s). With the ratings of the top seeds so close, this was always going to be a very competitive event… Mind you, this was not clear from Round 1, where they all won handily and there were no upsets whatsoever!

There were already some interesting games at the top in Round 2, however. Lachlan won a queen (against Kenji Nakauchi), then walked into a discovered check allowing his opponent to promote and get his queen back! The top seed eventually recovered to win a rook and force mate. Yi Liu checkmated Ryan Louie’s king trapped on h1 with only a pinned knight on g1 to protect it. Daniel Arase beat Jared Louie, while Alan Lam had to work very hard to do the same from a drawn king and pawn ending against Leteisha Simmonds.

Come Round 3, and Daniel Arase won quickly against the diminutive Wilbert Tan. Indeed the games this round were almost all over quickly, with the higher seeds all winning: only Yi took a while but eventually subdued Callum Leggett, while Lachlan joined Yi and Daniel in the lead by beating Alan Lam… So to Round 4, and the critical meeting between the top two seeds in the last game of Day 1, with Yi Black against Lachlan: and it was Yi who prevailed, winning a long game by first winning several pawns, then watching his opponent overstep the time limit (in a position which was lost anyway). Yi was joined in the lead by Daniel Arase, who beat Alan Lam quite quickly by winning lots of material! A group of 5 players were still in contention on 3/4: Lachlan, Steve Charalambous, Callum Leggett, Ryan Louie and Blair Carey (who upset Kenji Nakauchi in Round 4).

At the dawn of Day 2, it was clear that it is good to be White in the Under 10s: the first 9 games finished in Round 5 (Board 1 and Boards 5-11 inclusive) saw White win all of them! On top board Yi took the outright lead on 5/5 by beating Alex Arase, winning a pawn early (a powerful protected passed pawn on d5) and cashing in to beat the birthday boy. Steve Charalambous and Lachlan van den Bergh spoilt the pattern of White wins with a long draw, although Steve (White!) should have won this one too – he missed a forced mate at the end, and took a perpetual check instead – but Boards 3 and 4 were also White wins, with a nice combination on Board 3 winning Ryan Louie two pawns and game against Callum Leggett… In Round 6 the games were all fast again, with Yi (6/6) winning quickly against Steve to maintain his lead, but Daniel (5/6) remaining in contention by beating Ryan Louie. Lachlan was on 4.5/6 after beating Wilbert Tan, while a group of players on 4/6 included Alan Lam (defeated Jared Louie), Callum Leggett (beat Blair Carey) and Leteisha Simmonds (winner against Kenji Nakauchi).

Round 7 saw Yi win pawns and eventually force mate after his opponent, Alan Lam, fell for a tactic; this left Yi the guaranteed victor on 7/7 after Daniel Arase lost a long game to Lachlan. The latter thus moved into outright second on 5.5/7, half a point ahead of Daniel who was joined on 5/7 by Ryan Louie (beat Leteisha) and Callum (who defeated Martin Jack)… So to the last round, where Yi showed us why you should “never take the queen knight pawn with your queen”: he got his queen trapped, lost it for a rook and eventually suffered his only loss of the event to Leteisha! He still won the title outright on 7/8, but the screams of “Yee Ha!” were a little less vocal… Callum’s upset win over Daniel Arase and Ryan Louie’s stunning mate in one a piece down against Lachlan snared these two players equal second on 6/8, and completed a thrilling event of upsets, good sportspersonship, good chess and generally good fun!

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Queensland Under 12 Championships: Genius Gene, or Legendary Liam?

by DOP Charles Zworestine

Yes, from the start this event already looked like a two horse race: would it be top seed Gene Nakauchi (1574), or second seed Liam McGarity (1383)? Since third seed Alex Arase (1159) was rated more than 200 points below Liam, it was always going to be hard to see anyone else winning – although we certainly expected them to have to work… With the same time limit as the Under 10s (35 minutes each, plus ten seconds per move from the start: Fischer), it was surprising to see the Under 12s move so fast: they often finished before the Under 10s! This already cost Alex Arase in Round 1, as he was held to a draw in a well played rook and pawn ending by Rhys Davies while seventh seed Danielle Kinder was upset by Alex Miles; but the top two seeds both won handily… Then in Round 2 we saw more convincing wins by the top seeds except for fifth seed Oliver McCarthy, who lost an ending to Tomotaka Onoda.

They continued to move too fast in Round 3, as most games were over inside half an hour and again the higher seeds mostly won. Only Gene Nakauchi took a while, but could not win rook and pawn vs rook against Brandon Leggett despite at one point missing a forced win (which was even seen by Graeme Gardiner – yes, he really can play chess!). This left Liam (who beat Tomotaka) alone in the lead on 3/3, with three players on 2.5: Alex Arase (who defeated Oliver), Brandon and Gene.

The vital game between the top two seeds thus took place on Board 1 in Round 4, the last game of the first day; and Liam was duly soundly beaten despite a good start. He missed one critical move and suddenly he had to drop an exchange to a knight fork; he sacrificed a second one to the same theme to try to get counterplay, but failed and lost in what seemed like double quick time! So Gene started Day 2 outright first on 3.5/4, but with 5 players breathing down his neck on 3: Alex Arase and Brandon Leggett (who drew a rook ending in their individual game), Liam, Danielle Kinder and Tomotaka.

So to the second day, and the critical game between Gene and Alex Arase: Gene was worse early, but fought hard as he always does and ended up coming back to win a long game and get to 4.5/5. Liam stayed in contention on 4 by beating Danielle, as did Brandon against Tomotaka… Then while Gene moved to 5.5/6 with a solid win over Darren Ooi, Liam won a critical game of his own! He beat Brandon as Black, thus moving to outright second on 5/6. Meanwhile Danielle put Alex Arase out of the running with a nice win by a knight fork in a topsy-turvy game.

Danielle gave Gene probably his toughest game of the event in Round 7, as she won an exchange for two pawns and had him under some pressure for much of their game; but in the end Gene got his passed pawns through to win and maintain his lead on 6.5/7. Liam was not going to make it easy for him, though, beating Oliver convincingly to get to 6/7. Brandon moved to outright third with a win over Rhys Davies… As we reached the final round, Liam beat Darren Ooi quickly to move to 7/8 and keep the pressure on; but Gene apparently feels no pressure, as he won a rook early against Alex Miles and cashed in to a won ending to get to 7.5/8 and win the title outright. Liam had to be content with second, while Brandon’s connected passed queenside pawns were eventually enough to win his rook and opposite coloured bishop endgame against Oliver; this enabled Brandon to claim outright third on 6/8.

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Queensland Juniors Under 18/16/14: Which Ben?

by DOP Charles Zworestine

OK, I admit it: I am running out of corny titles! It is true, however, that it was not enough for top seed Ben Lazarus to say “Ben won” in this event. Visiting Queensland for coaching, Ben Harris (NSW) was also allowed to play (and was third seed) – thus making an event with second seed Daniel Anderson (equal first last year), fourth seed Alex Jule and fifth seed Yitao Lei (all rated over 1600 on the ACF list) potentially even more interesting. With Shayne Hunter and Jessica Kinder the next two seeds – it was good to see two females at or near the top – and a slow time control of 60 minutes each plus 30 seconds per move from the start (Fischer), the tournament was clearly always going to be a very competitive one. We were happy right from the start, as this 22 player 8 round Swiss was up 9 players on last year – and this has to be a good thing!

Round 1 saw Ben Lazarus make pretty hard work of it, but eventually win a rook ending against Daniel Ford. All the other top seeds won fairly handily – except for one… There was already a big upset on Board 3, as it was clear from the start that the Queenslanders would show no mercy on their interstate visitor; although Daniel Barrett’s unsound piece sacrifice really should have lost against Ben Harris. However, a time scramble saw Ben blunder the piece back in a longish forcing variation, and then he resigned when he was about to be checkmated! There was another upset lower down, where Sam Grigg blundered a piece to lose to Robert Shinnie.

There were already very competitive games on the top two boards in Round 2, where first of all Big Ben (Lazarus) walked into an opening trap and was in big trouble against Jonas Muller! Instead of sacrificing material for initiative and complications, he went into an inferior line; but he got away with it when his opponent accepted his draw offer. Jessica v Daniel (Anderson) was a much longer game, and resulted in a topsy-turvy ending; a draw was probably an appropriate result after both players were winning at different stages. Daniel could have forced a won king and pawn ending, but misjudged it and stayed in a rook ending; but then Jessica misplayed rook against two connected passed pawns and allowed him to escape with a draw. Alex, Yitao and Shayne all won to be the only players on 2/2; Ben Harris got on the board by beating Robert Shinnie; and Sam Grigg blundered a piece again, this time to be upset by Sebastian Jule.

Alex Jule played one of the better games of the event so far in Round 3 to beat Yitao Lei (see game below). Despite allowing him an opportunity to equalize with 20…Bxe5 (which he missed), her active pieces ended up checkmating him or forcing huge material gain… This left Alex outright first on 3/3, after Board 2 where Big Ben put paid to Shayne Hunter; sadly for him, Shayne dropped a piece late in the game in an equal position. Joining Big Ben on 2.5/3 were Daniel Anderson, who beat Jonas Muller; and Jessica Kinder, whose aggressive style left Jayden Fisher cramped and unable to defend his weak pawns. The Queenslanders were giving Ben Harris a hard time again; this time it was Kieton Beilby who took half a point from him…

Jule, A (1703) - Lei, Y (1619), 2006 Queensland Juniors U18/16/14, Round 3 Board 1 28/06/06

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 b6 4.e3 Bb7 5.Nbd2 d6 6.Bd3 Be7 7.0–0 0–0 8.e4 Nbd7 9.h3 Re8 10.Bh2 Bf8 11.e5 dxe5 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Nd5 14.Qh5 g6 15.Qe2 Bg7 16.Rad1 Qe7 17.a3 c5 18.Be4 Qc7 19.c4 Ne7 20.b4 cxb4 21.Bxb7 Qxb7 22.axb4 Nc6 23.Ne4 Qe7 24.Nd6 Red8 25.b5 Na5 26.Qf3 Rf8 27.Qe3 Rad8 28.c5 bxc5 29.Qxc5 f6 30.f4 Ra8 31.Rfe1 fxe5 32.fxe5 Nb7 33.Qc6 Na5 34.Qe4 Rab8 35.Qa4 Qc7 36.Kh1 Qb6 37.Qa2 Qc7 38.Qxe6+ Kh8 39.Rf1 Nb7 40.Nf7+ Kg8 41.Rd7 1–0

Speed seemed to be of the essence in Round 4, although I am not sure why! All the games bar one (and that was bottom board!) were over within an hour and a half… Alex Jule was winning after ten moves, but missed the opportunity and was lost by Move 15; she duly lost the lead by going down to Daniel Anderson. Ben Lazarus joined Daniel Anderson in the lead on 3.5/4 with a quick win over Jessica Kinder, who blundered a piece in the opening; while Shayne joined Alex on 3/4 by beating Sebastian Jule (her brother!). Lachlan Pedersen-Lee held Yitao to a draw; they were joined on 2.5/4 by Kieton (who upset Daniel Barrett) and Ben Harris, who won a long game against Jonas Muller.

The top board Round 5 game between the top two seeds proved to be a rather interesting one, starting with a Nxd6 combination by Big Ben which gave Daniel Anderson the opportunity to sacrifice his queen for massive compensation (see game below). Not having taken this opportunity Daniel lost the exchange, but he still had two beautiful bishops as compensation; he then missed a forced win on Move 20, and four moves later (sadly for him) he blundered a piece and lost! This left Big Ben outright first on 4.5/5, but only half a point ahead of Alex Jule whose centralized queen and open files took care of Shayne Hunter. The other Ben (Harris) was still in contention on 3.5 after his active pieces eventually won a piece against Lachlan Pedersen-Lee. Jessica and Yitao made it hard for themselves as far as winning the event was concerned, drawing in a locked position.

Lazarus, B (1965) - Anderson, D (1719) [B33] 2006 Queensland Juniors U18/16/14, Round 5 Board 1 29/06/2006

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 Be6 9.Nc4 b5 10.Ne3 Be7 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.a4 b4 13.Ncd5 Bg5 14.Nc4 0–0 15.c3 Rc8 16.Nxd6 Bxd5 [16...Qxd6 17.Nf6+ gxf6 18.Qxd6 Rfd8 19.Qc5 Bd2+ 20.Ke2 bxc3 21.bxc3 Bxc3 22.Qxc3 Nd4+ 23.Qxd4 Rxd4 and Black is better] 17.Nxc8 Bxe4 18.Nd6 Bg6 19.Nc4 Qe7 20.Qd5 Qf6 [20...bxc3 21.bxc3 Nb4 22.cxb4 Qxb4+ 23.Nd2 Rd8 and wins] 21.Be2 e4 22.0–0 Rd8 23.Qc5 bxc3 24.bxc3 Qe6 25.Qxg5 1–0

It was draw city on the top boards in Round 6! Ben Harris and Daniel Anderson drew ridiculously early (rather too early, I thought); they claimed to be tired… There was a much tougher fight on Board 1 between Ben Lazarus and Alex Jule; but in the end Alex could make no headway against Ben’s solid play as Black, and so agreed a draw. Yitao Lei and Jayden Fisher ended up in a locked rook and knight vs rook and bishop ending on Board 3, and agreed a draw after a long fight when neither side could see any way to make progress. Jessica Kinder was the only one of the top players to win, staying in the hunt with a win over Shayne Hunter; she won a pawn in the opening to a tactic, then made it count in an ending where she ended up checkmating her opponent!

Ben Lazarus (6/7) had a full point lead by the end of Round 7, after winning a double rook endgame a pawn ahead against Ben Harris. In the battle of the females, Jessica Kinder (as White) pushed hard to beat Alex Jule, attacking and sacrificing an exchange and then a bishop; but Alex did not take the poisoned bishop, instead fighting hard, remaining solid and ending up drawing. Daniel Anderson sacrificed pawns in the opening against Yitao Lei, and ended up at one point three pawns down; he claims that he had compensation and the further course of the game bore this out, as he ended up (after a five pawn turnaround) winning a rook and pawn ending two pawns up! Jonas Muller took care of Sebastian Jule pretty quickly, winning a rook and then eventually checkmating his younger opponent. Sam Grigg completed a remarkable comeback from 0/2 with a win over Jayden Fisher to get to 4.5/7 and top board in the last round…

Daniel Anderson cracked Lachlan Pedersen-Lee with a pretty mate fairly early in Round 8, thus guaranteeing himself at least outright second on 6/8 after Alex Jule drew her game with Jonas Muller. Jonas was up a piece, but Alex had three pawns for it, including a dangerous passed pawn on c2; and in the end, neither player could make progress… So we all waited with bated breath for the result of Big Ben’s game, Black against Sam Grigg. Sam was better early, nearly trapped Ben’s queen, and won a pawn; but despite holding on to the extra pawn, Sam could make no progress in a rook ending against Ben’s outside passed a-pawn, and ended up agreeing a draw to give Ben the title outright on 6.5/8. Ben Harris was better against Jessica Kinder, but ended up having to swap off pieces into a drawn ending (which they did draw).

All in all this was a fantastic event, dispute-free and played in a great spirit by all. Ben Lazarus had some scares, but was undefeated and deserved his win – in my opinion he played the most consistent chess. Daniel Anderson still keeps trying, and may get there next year; Alex Jule was up there all the way but drew her last three games; and Jessica Kinder played some great chess, but still needs more confidence to convert her good positions into wins. Thanks to Gardiner Chess for staging the event, and for all their hospitality towards yours truly – I had a great time! Finally, special mention should be made of GM Ian Rogers’ great coaching and post game analysis: everyone benefited, and will be better players next year for his efforts…

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