by IA Charles
Zworestine
A sad tale; but it has happened many
times before in Australian chess… A winning ending, two pawns ahead. Most
opponents would resign – but not Stephen
Solomon! With Solo fighting on and on, his young
opponent is worn down by his resistance. A momentary lapse: a piece is
blundered, and Solo goes on to win. The boy,
shattered, does nothing further to speak of in this year’s Gold Coast Open (he
ends up on 50%, his best result being a draw with Michael Lip). Add another to the long list of those who have been Soloed…
Well, this time we discovered something
new: it’s not fatal! Fast forward to the Queensland Junior
Championships. The same boy, Phachara Wongwichit, has won the event before; but he knows it
will be much tougher this year. Apart from the usual quota of young
Plenty, says the determined
Queenslander! I’ll show those interstate visitors a thing or two… A field of 26
players (Under 18, 16 and 14 are all combined), a lovely setting at the
Gardiner Chess Centre, and time controls of one hour plus 30 seconds per move
from the start help to give Phachara the right
surroundings, and plenty of time to think. Mind you, we cannot tell much from
the first round, where all games bar one go according to rating. But even this
one tells us something, as Jessica
Kinder upsets NECG squad member Andrew
Brown (ACT); look out visitors, here come the Queenslanders…
Round 2 is more interesting,
although Denis wins without too much trouble; but James Obst
(The Obstacle) has much more difficulty subduing little James Morris! In a thrilling game, the younger James (Morris)
appears to be winning the ending, but age fights back to reach an ending with
queen and rook vs 2 queens – and the first check. In
such cases the lesser material wins (the first check is more important), as the
older James proves in a thrilling finish:
Obst,
J (1891) – Morris, J (1430) [B23]
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4 e6 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.g3 Nf6 6.Bg2 Be7 7.0–0 d5 8.d3 a6
9.h3 b5 10.Ne5 Bb7 11.Nxc6 Bxc6 12.e5 Nd7 13.g4 Qb6 14.Ne2 d4 15.Ng3 Bxg2
16.Kxg2 c4 17.Qf3 Rc8 18.Ne4 Nc5 19.f5 cxd3 20.cxd3 Nxe4 21.Qxe4 Rc2+ 22.Kg1
Qc6 23.Qxc6+ Rxc6 24.f6 gxf6 25.exf6 Bd6 26.Bf4 Kd7 27.Bxd6 Kxd6 28.Rf2 Rhc8
29.Kg2 Rc2 30.Raf1 Rxf2+ 31.Rxf2 Rc1 32.Kg3 Rd1 33.Rf3 Rd2 34.b3 Rxa2 35.Kh4
Ra3 36.Kg5 Rxb3 37.Kh6 a5 38.Kg7 a4 39.Kxf7 a3 40.Rf1 Rb2 41.Kg7 Rc2 42.f7 Rc7
43.Kh6 Rc8 44.f8Q+ Rxf8 45.Rxf8 b4 46.Ra8 e5 47.Kxh7 e4 48.dxe4 d3 49.g5 d2
50.Rd8+ Ke5 51.g6 a2 52.g7 a1Q 53.g8Q d1Q 54.Qg5+ Kxe4 55.Qh4+ Ke5 56.Qe7+ Kf4
57.Rf8+ Kg3 58.Qe3+ Kh4 59.Rf4+ Kg5 60.Qg3+ 1–0
Meanwhile Phachara
takes a cagey draw with Alex Jule, while the only other upset is Jonas Muller’s win over the younger but
still more experienced (yes, this is possible!) Luthien Russell… So to Round 3, where the top seeds start meeting – and
drawing! Cautious, perhaps saving up for the rounds ahead, Denis draws with Moulthun. This lets The Obstacle take the outright lead
with 3/3 after he beats Ben Lazarus; but Alex and Phachara
both win to join Denis and Moulthun on 2½ and
breathing down his neck. Meanwhile, Zane
Adams upsets Amy Evans…
Next to nothing changes in Round
4, as the top seeds are even cagier; so draws ensue between Denis and The Obstacle, as well as Phachara and Moulthun. The only
changes are thus Alex winning to join The
Obstacle on 3½ (equal first), and Ben Lazarus and James Morris winning to
join the group just half a point behind in equal third. Poor Amy and Luthien lose again, to Daniel
Ford and Sean Underwood
respectively… An outright leader again after Round 5 as Mr. Obstacle beats
Alex, while more draws in Denis vs Phachara and Ben vs Moulthun make me think these kids do not want to fight!
(They are soon to prove me wrong…). Ross
Lam does, as he stuns little James to get to 3½; while Sean Underwood
continues his upset run by making it an even harder time for the visitors
against Adelaide Soltysik
(NSW)…
The crucial Under 14 contest
between Moulthun and The Obstacle proves
disappointing in Round 6, as Moulthun sacrifices a
piece unsoundly very early and James wins easily. Denis is still up there as he
beats Alex, as are Phachara and Ben with wins; but on
4½ they are a full point behind The Obstacle, and all counting on Phachara… Has he recovered by now from being Soloed? Yes indeed, he says, as he wins a brilliant
sacrificial game in Round 7 to set up a thrilling finish. This is how you
remove The Obstacle:
Wongwichit,
P (1798) – Obst, J (1891)
[B25]
1.Nf3 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 g6 4.0–0 Bg7 5.e4 d6 6.d3 e5 7.Nc3 Nge7 8.Bg5 h6
9.Be3 0–0 10.Nd2 Rb8 11.a4 a6 12.Qe2 Be6 13.f4 Nd4 14.Bxd4 cxd4 15.Nd1 Qb6
16.b3 Qc5 17.Rc1 b5 18.axb5 axb5 19.Nf2 Kh7 20.f5 gxf5 21.exf5 Bxf5 22.Nfe4 Qb6
23.Rxf5 Nxf5 24.Nf6+ Bxf6 25.Qe4 Bg7 26.Qxf5+ Kg8 27.Be4 Rfd8 28.Bd5 Qc7 29.Rf1
Qe7 30.Ne4 Kh8 31.Qh5 f5 32.Rxf5 Rf8 33.Bf7 d5 34.Rf6 Rxf7 35.Rxf7 Qe8 36.Nf6
Qxf7 37.Qxf7 Rf8 38.Qxd5 Rxf6 39.Qxb5 h5 40.Qe8+ Kh7 41.Qxh5+ Rh6 42.Qf5+ Kg8
43.Kg2 Rc6 44.Qf2 Bh6 45.h4 Be3 46.Qe2 Rf6 47.b4 Kf7 48.Kh3 Rf2 49.Qd1 Ke7
50.Qb1 Rf3 51.Kg4 Rf6 52.b5 Bf2 53.Qb4+ Kf7 54.Qc4+ Kg7 55.Qc7+ Kh6 56.Qxe5 Rf7
57.b6 1–0
Inspired, Ben also punishes the
higher rated visitor, converting superior piece activity into an extra exchange
and a win over Denis. So a three way tie for first (Ben, James, Phachara all on 5½) going in to the last round, with Steven
Cooke sneaking up to just half a point behind after beating Alex… James duly
takes care of Steven, then waits for the result of Ben
vs Phachara. It’s a long
struggle, but Phachara eventually grinds him down.
Equal first, but The South Australian Obstacle is ineligible for the title! So Phachara is again Queensland Junior Champion, completing
his recovery from being Soloed. Meanwhile Sean Rawson stuns Denis (who blunders
away a draw in a rook and pawn ending) to join Ben and Moulthun
in a tie for third, and send the interstate visitors (The Obstacle excepted) home with their tails well and truly between their
legs…