Back in the Saddle!

The Wilde Weekender

After many moons I was roped into playing in a chess tournament again. This gives me a good excuse to post. Five from six is not a bad score and I should be quite happy, especially given my inactivity of late.

 The first round woke me up a bit. I won a queen but failed to convert in an expeditious manner.

In round two I was paired with a friend from Mullumbimby. Mikey is a leading northern rivers player. We used to often play on Wednesdays, when the local club meets at somebody's house. The level in the hills is surprisingly good. In this game Mikey did not give me as much trouble as he usually does on his home turf.



It was nice to get white against Jakob. His white gambits are known and feared by all.



The Doubleroo defense lives! After burning the midnight oil for many years I believe I have patched up what I consider the critical variation. Which is the critical variation?



Until now everything was going according to plan. And I had white against the second seed. More effort was required to make the game interesting. I played several inaccuracies in the opening and never got back in the game. One move stands out and that is 13. Bg5. Pointlessly placing the bishop in mid-air, abandoning my b2 pawn and serving as a useful target. On my next move I should have just moved it back.



Hippo! I got to play both my favourite animal openings on the same day. George made a miscalculation and handed me a pawn in a double-edged position. It had been a long weekend.



It's the Monday after a tournament and I feel a bit drained, more so than usual actually. Playing and organising is much worse than just playing. Perhaps at my age I should only do one or the other :-) 

R.I.P Michael John Corner

Michael, my Mentor

I first met Michael when I was 15 years old, in Sydney, at the Chess Centre. He was sharing a flat in Kings Cross with another chess player, Michael Walsh. I made friends with these two gentlemen and spent a lot of time at their place. One day I packed my schoolbag with clothes and moved into their place, crashing on their floor.

I was there for several months, three or four, I don't remember exactly but I do remember that when I moved in I was a novice. M.W worked during the day while M.J.C and I spent most of every day playing and studying chess. By the time I left I was one of the best Juniors in Sydney, mainly due to Michael. My contribution to the household was mainly cooking as I came from a restaurant background. Every Saturday I would raid my parents restaurant, when they were not there of course, and bring back bags of food.

Chess

When I moved out I moved to Austria for a while to finish my schooling, was back in Sydney within a year and met up with Michael regularly for blitz or just to go for a drink. He was a permanent member of the Sydney chess community and was always happy to play a game or share his knowledge with anyone who asked. His style was very positional and on his day Michael could beat anyone. Here is a game of his from the Australian championships in Brisbane 1995

Later years

I ran into Michael sporadically in chess tournaments over the years and it was always as if we had only seen each other yesterday. We both lived in Adelaide for some years and then later, coincidentally, Queensland. The last decade or so I was mainly in Europe and we lost touch so it was wonderful to see him again end of last year when Michael played in the Veterans and Disabled championship at the Doubleroo Chess Academy in Milton. Michael won the event :-)

Funeral

Last week I received a call and then an email informing me of Michaels untimely passing. Deep vein thrombosis was the verdict. The funeral was set for Thursday March 2 at 2pm, yesterday. The hall was full of people, family, bridge players and of course chess players. I imagine if it had been held on the weekend even more people would have attended. 

Geoff Corner, one of Michaels brothers and also a chess player, gave a very nice eulogy detailing Michaels life including many exploits that I was unaware of, like the fact that he was a "life master", whatever that is, and read messages from many people who's lives Michael had touched. Particularly touching was a message from a young lad who Michael was teaching chess who said he owed his interest and ability to Michael and wishes he were still here to teach him.

Unfortunately the funeral had a sour note to it. But I have deleted the details that were posted here originally. This is not because I have changed my mind but because I have thought better of responding to nastiness in kind.  

Goodbye old friend, I know that if there is an afterlife you will be looked upon favourably for all the kindness and love you gave so freely all your life. 

Crunchtime at Doubleroo

Sophia Rules

This is the first Adult tournament we have ever run at Doubleroo so there are some things one can only learn from experience. I just learnt the value of "Sophia rules" Since I wrote the title of this post the "crunch" game between the sole leader Brodie McClymont (5/5) and pre-tournament favourite and Queensland's highest rated player, Moulthun Ly (4/5). I was expecting a hum-dinger of a game as Moulthun needed to win with black to stay in the hunt for 1st place. Instead the players agreed to a draw in 14 moves. In a Roman Colosseum they would have been flayed alive by the spectators but because it is allowed under standard chess rules they did nothing wrong.

The next tournament held at Doubleroo will have "Sophia rules" There is no draw by agreement allowed.

Australian Junior

Today was the last day of the Junior Championships at Bond University on the Gold Coast. I did really want to go down and watch the exciting final day. Luckily I was able to follow the results on Tornelo at least, a poor substitute for being there but better than nothing. The U18 was won convincingly by Queensland Junior Gene Nakauchi  with a very imressive 8/9, two points ahead of the field. All results and games can be seen on the Tornelo site.

Brigitte Watkins

Would you like to see one of Brigittes games? I thought so.

Tata Steel

The other tournament to finish later today is the Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan zee in Holland. This tournament features the strongest players on the planet and Holland's best. The site has all the games with analysis and commentary by the players themselves. Highly recommended.

I'm going to resume my D.O.P duties (director of play) which luckily consists of doing nothing most of the time. I did have to make one decision today. A phone went off but the other player, Regina Edwards preferred to continue the game rather than accept the point. She then mucked up a good position and resigned but her opponent Hossein Ghodosi offered a draw instead. A happy ending between two sporting players....although the actions of the D.O.P may well be open to criticism :-)

Hasta la pasta amigoes

                  

Australia Day Open kicks off

Chess Weekend

The Doubleroo Australia Day Weekender was conceived just a few weeks ago in a phone conversation with CAQ president Mark Stokes. I wanted to bend Mark's ear about having a nine round, one round a week on Friday's tournament. What about the Australian day he asked? 

Sponsors

While Mark was in Sydney playing the Australian Open he secured the sponsorship of two generous gentlemen, George Lester (also a participant) and Sydney chess enthusiast Elliot Renzies, who donated $100 each towards the tournament. Hearing this, David Esmonde, former president of the Gold Coast chess association decided to throw in $100 as well. Thanks to them we will nearly break even :-)

Kickoff

Our tournament kicked off with twenty keen players taking advantage of the rainy day
One particularly nice surprise was the appearance of  several players who had not moved a pawn in anger for a long time like former leading junior, Jakob Edwards, Ross Jempson and Don Hamilton.

The highlight of the day was when a man in his late twenties, Matt Watson, told me that I had been his Chess teacher at St Kevin's College more than a decade ago.

Matt Watson

We also managed to attract the strongest Queensland chess-player, International master Moulthun Ly. He had a relatively short first round against Craig Stewart who bemoaned having lost in a similar method just recently.

Spectator

John Myers

When I was a teenager, about the same time as the Dinosaurs roamed the earth, Queensland had a very active chess scene. I and my friends used to travel up to play the circuit. John Myers was the one player we all feared. He was a legend thirty years ago and can still spot any combo instantly despite having hung up his pawns years ago. He graced us with his presence as a spectator today and we all appreciated his insights...although he did try to kidnap several players to go to the pub.

Breaking news!!! Jakob Edwards (1917) just beat IM Moulthun Ly (2440) throwing the tournament wide open! I will try to bring you the game later! 

Have a nice day :-)

Australian Junior Championships

This year the Australian Junior is being hosted by Bond University on the Gold Coast. An excellent venue in every way. This is the main entrance, the playing hall being on the first floor, left hand side.

Inside is a well lit, spacious playing area

which could accommodate many times the number of participants present. This is actually baffling to me. At our local school competitions during the year thousands of children take part and now during the holidays the National championship is in our area, at a great venue, excellently organised (as usual by Gardiner Chess) and only a handful of locals are playing. 

Focusing on the positive, this gives coaches plenty of time to sightsee.

Leonid Sandler, ex-Soviet power-broker and current VP of the powerful ACF enjoyed our trip to Burleigh heads for a swim. Leonid is not only coaching Victorians but also some of Queensland's bright young stars. 

Speaking of Queensland's bright young stars, here is the crucial encounter of the Australian lightening championship.

Enjoy, I have to go scold some children :-)

Australian Open Sensation.

National News

Fifteen year old Bobby Cheng caused a sensation a few days ago by winning the Australian Open Chess Championship and the lightening. Although he originally hails from Australia's far eastern Islands,
locally known as New Zealand, his major success since moving to Melbourne was winning the World U12 championship.

I must admit that I have not been paying close attention to the games of Australia's top young players, or anybody's games for that matter, so this game came as quite a surprise to me.

The opening was quite common although Igor Khenkin embarked on an aggressive variation that does not have a great strike rate according to my database. Igor's 12...e5 is a novelty but has a rather pungent aroma . The position had occurred twice before, one with 12...g5 and the other time 12...Qh6. The latter would be my choice.

It is one thing to feel that a move smells bad and quite another to show why. Bobby's regrouping Bc2-b3 and Nf3-e1-d3 would have come to nothing if not for the brilliant 18.Be5!!  If white had nonchalantly played 18.Nd3 immediately black replies ...Bc4 with a smile on his face. Enjoy.

Doubleroo News

We are moving soon to a bigger, brighter, more central venue in the middle of the city of Brisbane, Albert street to be exact. But before we move we will hold one more event at Milton, the Australia Day  Open Weekender! This will be a perfect time for Adults to play because most of the dangerous juniors will be playing in the Australian Junior Championships. If you have not been playing lately because you got tired of losing rating points to little monsters then this is the tournament for you! For info and entry form click here.

See you there :-)

Life in Paradise

Surf

Strange, the things that can affect one strongly, bring back memories of childhood or just inspire. This morning I was advised by a local Byron surfer to go to Tallows beach instead of my regular spot, Wategoes. There was a northerly blowing and that meant that the waves were best at Tallows according to Bobby, who migrated to Australia from Canada decades ago for the surfing and lifestyle in Byron. Bobby had already been surfing at 5am as he does every morning.

Well the waves were spectacular. They were breaking left and right from a sandbar at just the right height and speed for body-surfing. Although I go to the beach as often as possible I have not experienced waves like today for decades!

Memories

And this is what brought the childhood memories back. When I first got to Australia in 1972 my parents lived on Tamarama beach in Sydney. I still remember, clear as day, when I first arrived directly from the airport and saw the beach from our window. I was so mesmerized that after a while my mother told me to just go down there because I was not listening to anything or anybody anyway. I think I was out the door before the had finished the sentence. After several hours my grandmother came looking for me in a panic as I had never learnt to swim. Since I am still here I must have learned quickly :-)

Music

Music is another speciality of the Shire (Byron Bay) and on Saturday I got to see Rapskallion, currently my fave band, at the Byron Bay Brewery.

This is the title song from their latest Album, Vagabond King

And this is the encore band presentation, the last song of the night.

All these hedonistic activities are tempering my regret at not being able to play in the Australian Open in Sydney. I have not played for ages, trying to be a responsible adult and build up a business. Every time a tournament starts I feel nostalgic. Often I yearn for the carefree days of travelling the globe playing in tournaments, eating in restaurants (no dishes), staying in Hotels (no cleaning) and writing my Blog. But then I would not have experienced today's surf :-)

 I will try to lead a more exciting life in 2013 so I have something to blog about a bit more frequently.a

Hasta pronto amigoes