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