Queensland chess Championship 2015

Please excuse the slightly delayed final report but the schedule was gruelling especially after just coming back from Malaysia. Other peoples games can be found here (gardiner chess) and the final results are below. I just stole them from the chesschat site.

Brodie McClymont won quite easily in the end despite some dangerous positions. His tactical ability saw him through the tight spots.

Moulthun got into a theoretical discussion with Brodie and came off second best. Two draws with Gene and I left him with 7 points and clear second.

Gene and I shared third on 6.5/9 Gene lost to Dusan Stojic who also inflicted Brodie's only defeat, while I lost a messy game against Brodie. Gene was also much better/winning against Brodie.

Dusan Stojic had a great tournament, finishing 5th, as the only player with 6 points and playing all the top seeds.

Amongst the juniors, David Liu finished with 5/9 despite being outrated by more than 500 points by most of his opponents. He shared a prize with Eliot and Tom.

Eliot Soo-Burrowes, David Liu, Tom Maguire

Code:

2015 QLD Championships - Round 9

Results

No Name               Rtg  Loc  Total  Result   Name                 Rtg  Loc  Total

 1 Brodie Mcclymont   2308 2427 [6.5]    1:0    Eliot W Soo-Burrowes      1989 [5]  
 2 Dusan Stojic       2163 2239 [5.5]   .5:.5   Aleksandar H Wohl    2343 2424 [6]  
 3 Moulthun Ly        2452 2486 [6]      1:0    Alexander Stahnke    1910 1864 [4.5]
 4 David Liu          1587 1396 [5]      0:1    Gene Nakauchi        2247 2296 [5.5]
 5 Clint Therakam          1645 [4.5]    0:1    Heather Richards     2170 2158 [4.5]
 6 Tristan Stevens    2149 2202 [4]      0:1    David Spuler         1992 2047 [4]  
 7 Charles Tsai       1934 1741 [4]      1:0    Tony (Junhao) Zhong  1835 1792 [3.5]
 8 Tom Maguire        1892 1968 [4]      1:0    Martin Post          1887 1722 [3.5]
 9 Oleg Korenevski    1904 1655 [3]     .5:.5   Michael D'arcy       1924 1889 [3]  
10 Henry Slater-Jones 1920 1632 [3]      0:1    Sebastian Jule       1864 1492 [3]  
11 Oleg Kitikov       1865 1730 [3]     .5:.5   Hughston Parle       1645 1537 [3]  
12 Jared Louie        1873 1746 [3]     .5:.5   Mark Vucak           1779 1696 [2.5]
13 David Lovejoy      1900 1752 [2]     .5:.5   James Kay            1702 1577 [2.5]
Standings

Place Name                  Feder Rtg  Loc  Score M-Buch. Buch. Progr.

  1   Mcclymont, Brodie     QLD   2308 2427 7.5      39.5  50.0   38.5
  2   Ly, Moulthun          QLD   2452 2486 7        36.5  46.5   34.0
 3-4  Wohl, Aleksandar H    QLD   2343 2424 6.5      39.5  51.0   34.0
      Nakauchi, Gene        QLD   2247 2296 6.5      38.5  49.5   34.0
  5   Stojic, Dusan         VIC   2163 2239 6        40.0  51.0   31.0
  6   Richards, Heather     QLD   2170 2158 5.5      37.0  48.0   28.0
7-11  Maguire, Tom          QLD   1892 1968 5        34.5  44.5   25.0
      Liu, David            QLD   1587 1396 5        34.0  43.5   26.5
      Soo-Burrowes, Eliot W QLD        1989 5        33.0  44.0   26.5
      Spuler, David         QLD   1992 2047 5        31.5  42.0   22.5
      Tsai, Charles         QLD   1934 1741 5        28.0  37.0   23.5
12-13 Stahnke, Alexander    QLD   1910 1864 4.5      35.0  45.5   25.5
      Therakam, Clint       QLD        1645 4.5      27.5  35.5   20.0
14-15 Stevens, Tristan      QLD   2149 2202 4        35.5  46.0   25.0
      Jule, Sebastian       QLD   1864 1492 4        28.0  37.0   19.5
16-22 D'arcy, Michael       QLD   1924 1889 3.5      30.5  41.0   21.0
      Post, Martin          QLD   1887 1722 3.5      30.0  40.0   17.5
      Louie, Jared          QLD   1873 1746 3.5      29.0  38.5   18.0
      Zhong, Tony (Junhao)  QLD   1835 1792 3.5      28.5  36.5   19.0
      Parle, Hughston       QLD   1645 1537 3.5      25.5  34.0   16.0
      Korenevski, Oleg      QLD   1904 1655 3.5      24.5  32.0   15.0
      Kitikov, Oleg         QLD   1865 1730 3.5      24.0  32.0   13.5
23-25 Kay, James            QLD   1702 1577 3        26.0  34.0   12.5
      Slater-Jones, Henry   QLD   1920 1632 3        24.0  31.5   12.0
      Vucak, Mark           QLD   1779 1696 3        23.0  30.5   14.0
 26   Lovejoy, David        QLD   1900 1752 2.5      24.0  33.5   13.0
Cross Table

No Name                  Feder Rtg  Total  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9  

1  Mcclymont, Brodie     QLD   2308 7.5   17:W 10:W  3:W  2:W  4:D  5:L  7:W  6:W  9:W
2  Ly, Moulthun          QLD   2452 7     26:W 14:W  4:D  1:L  6:W 16:W  3:D  5:W 12:W
3  Wohl, Aleksandar H    QLD   2343 6.5    7:W 11:W  1:L  9:W 14:W  4:D  2:D 12:W  5:D
4  Nakauchi, Gene        QLD   2247 6.5   18:W 12:W  2:D  6:W  1:D  3:D  5:L 14:W  8:W
5  Stojic, Dusan         VIC   2163 6     15:D 20:W  6:L  7:W  8:W  1:W  4:W  2:L  3:D
6  Richards, Heather     QLD   2170 5.5   22:W  8:D  5:W  4:L  2:L 19:W 10:W  1:L 13:W
7  Maguire, Tom          QLD   1892 5      3:L 23:W 10:W  5:L 15:W 14:W  1:L  9:L 17:W
8  Liu, David            QLD   1587 5     24:W  6:D  9:D 11:D  5:L 10:D 16:W 19:W  4:L
9  Soo-Burrowes, Eliot W QLD        5     21:W 16:D  8:D  3:L 10:D 17:W 12:D  7:W  1:L
10 Spuler, David         QLD   1992 5     25:W  1:L  7:L 19:W  9:D  8:D  6:L 18:W 14:W
11 Tsai, Charles         QLD   1934 5     23:W  3:L 17:W  8:D  0:L 12:L 18:D 16:W 19:W
12 Stahnke, Alexander    QLD   1910 4.5   13:W  4:L 14:L 22:W 17:W 11:W  9:D  3:L  2:L
13 Therakam, Clint       QLD        4.5   12:L  0:W 16:L 17:L 22:W 26:D 20:W 15:W  6:L
14 Stevens, Tristan      QLD   2149 4     19:W  2:L 12:W 16:W  3:L  7:L 15:W  4:L 10:L
15 Jule, Sebastian       QLD   1864 4      5:D  0:L 20:W 18:D  7:L 21:W 14:L 13:L 24:W
16 D'arcy, Michael       QLD   1924 3.5   20:D  9:D 13:W 14:L 18:W  2:L  8:L 11:L 21:D
17 Post, Martin          QLD   1887 3.5    1:L 25:W 11:L 13:W 12:L  9:L 24:D 26:W  7:L
18 Louie, Jared          QLD   1873 3.5    4:L 21:D 22:W 15:D 16:L 20:D 11:D 10:L 25:D
19 Zhong, Tony (Junhao)  QLD   1835 3.5   14:L 26:D 21:W 10:L 25:W  6:L 23:W  8:L 11:L
20 Parle, Hughston       QLD   1645 3.5   16:D  5:L 15:L 23:D 24:W 18:D 13:L 21:D 22:D
21 Korenevski, Oleg      QLD   1904 3.5    9:L 18:D 19:L 24:D 26:W 15:L 25:D 20:D 16:D
22 Kitikov, Oleg         QLD   1865 3.5    6:L 24:W 18:L 12:L 13:L 23:L 26:W 25:W 20:D
23 Kay, James            QLD   1702 3     11:L  7:L 25:L 20:D  0:W 22:W 19:L 24:L 26:D
24 Slater-Jones, Henry   QLD   1920 3      8:L 22:L 26:D 21:D 20:L 25:D 17:D 23:W 15:L
25 Vucak, Mark           QLD   1779 3     10:L 17:L 23:W 26:D 19:L 24:D 21:D 22:L 18:D
26 Lovejoy, David        QLD   1900 2.5    2:L 19:D 24:D 25:D 21:L 13:D 22:L 17:L 23:D
by Swiss Perfect (TM)  www.swissp

 

Round 6

10am and a tough opponent, not the easiest way to start a day. I misplayed the opening but then Gene played a howler allowing a winning position for white. Of course just taking the piece 26.dc6 wins.
After that black gradually equalised.

Round 7

Against Moulthun it is better not to get too creative in the opening so I trotted out the Cozio defense. We played more or less the main line and black had equalised but then instead of continuing my development with either 17...Ra8 or c8 I tried to clarify the centre and got into trouble. Endgame technique was a bit lacking from both sides.


 

Round 8

Alex Stanke played the opening well and had fully equalised before playing d5 one move too early. He never recovered.

Round 9

So in the last round I had to face this tournaments giantkiller, Dusan Stojic. He mishandled the opening giving black easy equality and soon better until I swapped queens for an inexplicable reason and then had to fight for a draw in a pawn down rook ending. Brain fart.



Lastly, thanks to the CAQ for organising a good event at a nice venue. I would like to see a less hectic schedule though and new pieces. Doubleroo will donate some sets for next years event :-)

Queensland Championship 2015

Today we crossed the half way mark of the tournament with Brodie McClymont in the lead on 4.5/5 followed by Gene Nakauchi yours truly. The draw, results and games can be found on the Chesschat site.

The playing room is insulated by thick glass doors. Keeps noise out and lets light in. The benches outside are sort of roped off. 

And inside there is plenty of room to move. We are also playing with the new DGT3000 chess clocks. If there is one little flaw it is the pieces. Some have seen better days. 

Round 4

Eliot made too many pawn moves in the opening and never got his pieces out. 4...Nge7 is one improvement I can suggest.

Round 5

I have not been playing the Alekhines defense regularly for years so I thought it might be worth wheeling out. As soon as black played 15...c5 everything was fine. This begs the question, what if white had played 15.c5 first? White seems to have a useful advantage.



Toodles amigoes, hasta manjana.

Queensland Chess Championship 2015

Queensland Chess Championship 2015

It is nice to play chess in the Helensvale Cultural Centre. The building seems fairly new and is roomy, quiet and clean. Now if it wasn't for the morning rounds...

Round 1

Tom Maguire has long been one of Australia's most talented juniors, taking many titles, including if I'm not mistaken, the Australian U16 champion. In this game he committed a "fingerfehler", intending to swap pawns on e5 and then castling. But I did get a chance to play a Queen sacrifice.

Round 2

Charles is first board for Churchie and has been in great form this year. He is a great tactician so I avoided an open position as best I could. Once white got control of the e5 square blacks position looks hopeless.



Round 3

Brodie knows his opening so I thought I'd try a line I can only remember playing from the white side or in blitz. Both sides could probably improve on the opening play. The position got messy and interesting but two mistakes 24...Ng4 ( the immediate 24...bc5 is pleasant for black according to Stockfish) and 26...Qd2. Now 26....Nd4! is 00.00, Seriously?



Time for a few hours sleep before the next 10am round.

Moulthun Ly and Anton Smirnov share first place in the Dato Arthur Tan Malaysian Chess Open 2015. (edited)

Dato Tan

Dato Tan Chin Nam showed his interest in the event which bares his name and which he has sponsored for it's entire twelve year history by speaking at the closing ceremony. He asked one of the youngest competitors, Sultan Al-Zaabi, to join him and to say a few words.

He is very frail now at 89 and needs help with everything, movement, eating but strangely enough not moving the chess pieces. He played several friendly games during the event. Talking itself is a considerable effort so he is economical with his words but makes perfect sense and shows full awareness of the world around him, especially regarding his two great passions, chess and horses.

The Open Winners

Six players finished on 7/9 with tie-break separating them. Full results for all events can be found on the Chess Results website. Australias took out both the Silver and the Bronze.

Brisbane player and coach Moulthun Ly came second

Anton Smirnov from Sydney, the early leader came third. 

His performance was nearly 2600 and at just 14 he clearly has a bright future.

The top seed GM Jahongir Vakhidov was the top seed and played accordingly, winning five games and drawing four. He played the toughest field, took the lead early and drew his way home. A thoroughly professional and deserved victory. 

Moulthun kindly provided one of his games for our viewing pleasure. His others were too dry and technical which one can't say about this one. Stockfish points out that his opponent had chance (understatement alert) around the time control but in practical increment play this is normal, even in games between super GM's. Makes it even more entertaining.

Here is the score of the game. As Andrew Ooi pointed out, the game re-player is not working.

White.   Minh, To Nhat     Black.  Ly, Moulthun

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.c3 Nf6 5.Qe2 a6 6.Ba4 b5 7.Bc2 e5 8.O-O
Be7 9.d4 O-O 10.Rd1 Qc7 11.d5 Nb6 12.h3 Ne8 13.Nbd2 g6 14.Nf1 Ng7 15.
Ng3 c4 16.Bh6 a5 17.Nh2 Qd8 18.f4 exf4 19.Bxf4 Bg5 20.Qe3 Bxf4 21.
Qxf4 Qe7 22.Nf3 Nd7 23.a4 b4 24.Qh6 f6 25.Rd4 Ne5 26.Nxe5 Qxe5 27.Nf1
Ba6 28.Nd2 Rab8 29.Nf3 Qe7 30.Qd2 b3 31.Bd1 f5 32.e5 dxe5 33.d6 Qf6
34.Rd5 Rbd8 35.d7 Bb7 36.Rd6 Qe7 37.Be2 f4 38.Bxc4+ Kh8 39.Re1 Nf5
40.Re6 Qc5+ 41.Kh2 Qxc4 42.R1xe5 Bxf3 43.Re8 Qf7 44.Rxf8+ Qxf8 45.
gxf3 Qf7 46.Rd5 Qe6 47.c4 Kg8 48.c5 Ne3 49.Qxa5 Rxd7 50.Rxd7 Qxd7 51.
Qb4 Qd3 52.Qb8+ Kf7 53.Qxf4+ Ke6 54.Kg3 Nf5+ 55.Kg4 h5+ 56.Kg5 Qd8+
57.Kxg6 Qg8+ 58.Kxh5 Qh7+ 59.Kg4 Qh4# 0-1

As for my tournament, considering I have not played a lot of chess for several years now and have never had a good tournament in Malaysia, I guess it was not too bad. I started quite badly but recovered a bit in the second half.

My last round game was another blunderfest but am told it was quite entertaining so I have posted it as usual but hidden it here so only the most dedicated reader will see it :-)



Other members of our "delegation" performed well, got some breaks and missed some chances.

Brodie McClymont, who recently tied for first in our Zonal in Sydney thereby becoming an IM, played in his first International open. One bad double round day destroyed his GM norm chances and an unnecessary loss in the last round kept him out of the prize-pool.

David Liu, rated 1461, gained 110 elo points performing at about 2000! Despite this he could have done even better, spoiling some promising positions. He visibly grew during the tournament, adapting to the new environment. The player he drew with in the first round I drew with in the last round so he figures we are the same strength now :D

 Jacob Chan, who rarely plays in even local events excelled in the challengers. He played 9 rated opponents so should emerge with a FIDE rating, probably around 1500, on the next list.

Last but most definitely not least I must mention Jordan Chan.

Jacobs nine year old brother may have had the greatest influence on the future of Malaysian chess of any Australian. Let me tell you how.

Last night I had a cup of tea with Ignatius Leong, Peter Long and Hamid Majid, arguably the three most influential organisers in Asia. The subject of my last blog post, Malaysian cheating championship  came up and I was expecting at least a little rebuke. I was surprised that they were all in agreement and determined to remedy the situation.

Hamid told us that he witnessed the replay of Jordan's game and saw Jordan gently remind his opponent, who had just cheated him, to press his clock.  It was immediately clear to Hamid who was really telling the truth about the previous game and he felt very bad that there was little he could do to remedy the situation. Jordan lost the game and graciously congratulated his opponent.

All the chief organiser (Mr Hamid Majid) could do was give Jordan a medal for sportsmanship but he said "we must do more in future to protect wonderful young children like Jordan against cheating". 

Thank you Jordan, you are an example to all of us. 

Malaysian Cheating Championships.

Today I witnessed the most incredible festival of chess cheating ever. Before I get to the Australian victims let me present an international victim.

Sultan Al-Zaabi

Sultan is a very friendly young man from the UAE. He is only 14 with a FIDE rating of 1981 who I played in the first round. He lost three games to cheating by much weaker opponents, one who claimed he had pressed the clock with the other hand. another, the sister of the previous claimant, accused him of adjusting  a piece and by the third incident the arbiter had already identified him as a repeat offender.

Anton Smirnov lost a game because a piece fell over. Untold games were decided in this manner. It didn't help that the tables were covered in soft cloth, upon which roll up boards and partly unweighted pieces were placed. Every round I observed games were decided by a piece toppling often just because the clock was bashed. One trick, which worked on at least one occasion, was to knee the underside of the table just as the opponent is moving and then claim the game.

Illegal move, like moving King next to King was tried on at least three occasions that I am aware of. In the first case the person losing moved his king into check and when the opponent failed to notice, the first player claimed the game.

The second time, a King moved to c3, a square covered by a knight, deliberately, and again the opponent didn't notice but this time the claimant lost, despite the fact that his opponent didn't notice.

Can you guess how the third incident ended? Draw of course.

Another attempt was holding the clock down but the cheater lost on time anyway.

I should mention that the most egregious incident happened a few days ago where Jordan Chan's opponent just reported that he had won. I saw the game shortly before and Jordan had just liquidated nicely and I left as he had Queen and Knight against nothing (some pawns each).

I am so glad I didn't play as I could well be in jail now, and not for throwing pieces but throwing a cheater or an arbiter.  Amusing for  spectators though :D

The main tournament is over now and I'll do a final report tomorrow. Spoiler alert: It went quite well for the Australian contingent. 

Toodles.

Dato Arthur Tan Malaysian Chess Open 2015

Stupidity rewarded

Several years ago I was berated by Ian Rogers after winning a brilliant game against a strong Grandmaster with the Hippo as now I made his coaching job harder. When he tried telling his students to play proper chess they would point to this game. Btw, Ian  is right. For every brilliancy there are many stupid losses with silly openings.

Do not copy this one today either. My opponent made a bookish impression on me so I decided to leave theory so played the totally uninspiring move 4.d3. Of course black is immediately at least equal, probably better already. Only a complete amateur would play a weak move like that.

Luckily my "Mullumbimby move" provoked my opponent into an unsound attack trying to blow the patzer opposite him off the board. It backfired and I won my shortest game of the tournament. :-)

Time for din dins. Last round tomorrow, toodles :D

Dato Arthur Tan Malaysian Chess Open 2015 Round 7

I have now reached 50% in my personal Indonesian championship :-) Four out of my seven opponents so far have been Indonesians. Luckily this time I played an adult. I got the better of the opening, sacrificed the exchange for a pawn and the two bishops then another pawn, and another, reaching an assessment of 7.7 at one stage. Then one blunder after another led to a queen ending where I was just one pawn up. Finally my opponent gifted me a mate in three. Phew.

Meanwhile on the Junior front, David Liu is going on a drawing spree, getting two draws today, although the first one was due to triple repetition in a superior position. The intention was to repeat twice. Moral of the story. Don't play with your food! Despite missing this half point his performance is nearly 1900

Jacob Chan is on 3/7 performing at nearly 1500. Not bad for his first International open!

That's all for today folks, stay tuned :-)

Dato Arthur Tan Malaysian Chess Open 2015 Round 6

Toilet Police

After a pleasant evening at a superb Japanese restaurant and a few glasses of wine and good company I slept very well for the first time since arriving in Malaysia. Is wine the secret? Could well be. This morning I was feeling fresh and ready for my game. My first surprise was my opponent. Seeing the name Michael Owen I expected a jaded old white chess tourist like myself, instead I got a motivated young Indonesian kid.

I was quite satisfied with my opening and after a few glasses of water needed to visit the bathroom. On my way out a pretty young lady with a sheet and pen in her hand asked me where I was going. I told her and she asked my name and board number, and noted my exit. As the round went on she seemed a bit overworked because not only are there hundreds of people playing, all leaving the hall for different reasons but with the nationalities represented, occasionally language was also an issue.

Needless to say some players expressed more than a little irritation at being interrogated especially as the time control approached.

I am not sure what this is supposed to achieve and everything (almost) is worth trying once but I hope the organisers shelve this rather absurd idea forthwith.

Round 6

I was quite happy with the opening, especially since Michael consumed oodles of time to get a bad position but on move 14 I thought better of the intended and natural Qf2 and swapped queens noticing that I get at least a pawn back. However it was not so simple and accurate calculation was required which I was too lazy to do.

I did in fact see 22.Rd6, sacrificing the exchange for all his Queenside and central pawns but figured anything won at this stage. A miscalculation later I was a pawn down in a bad rook ending. I was proud of my technique in at least holding the draw until I checked it with Stockfish. Turns out I played it quite poorly. Oh well, at least he did as well.

Now for a quick snack and then the last double round for this tournament.
Toodles :-)

Dato Arthur Tan Malaysian Chess Open Round 5

Anton Smirnov is in the equal lead with 4.5/5 and Moulthun Ly is not far behind on 4/5. The rest of us Aussies are not fairing quite so well. My second game today was a bit of a disaster. The hippo is a dangerous defense and best played when one is in top form. This was obviously not the case today. I had reservations about castling before I did it but could not find any other active moves so did it anyway. I was surprised when Stockfish endorsed my choice but definitely didn't like my next move  14...f5?? instead Nc6 is almost equal. I did consider it but didn't appreciate that after 15.Ng4 Nd4 16.Nh6+ Kh8 the naked black king is apparently quite happy. Black is a pawn down but the central d pawn is enough compensation for my Silicone friend.

Oh well, at least I learnt something today :-) Would you be brave enough to play that position? I'll have to put it under the microscope before deciding.

Luckily there was some compensation for this incredibly weak game in the form of another meal at
Din Tai Fung. The kitchen staff all wear surgical masks and the kitchen is surrounded by glass so one can see how everything is made. I had walked past it previously and always wanted to check it out and the last two days that dream has come true. Another experience crossed off my bucket list. If you are a foodie I suggest you put it on yours. To that end I have supplied the link. Bon App.

Our group changed a little from yesterday,including Thai administrator and player Sahapol Nakvanich, whose birthday it is. Happy birthday!

Well tomorrow is a rest day. Lets see what culinary delights await us.

Toodles!

Dato Arthur Tan Malaysian Chess Open 2015 Round 4

This morning I faced an underrated junior at 9am who came at me with the accelerated Dragon. This coupled with little sleep can be a dangerous combination. Not wanting to have a theoretic battle, primarily because I didn't even know how to enter one, I tried 3.h4.

The rest of the game I just tried to play simple moves and avoid calculation. It worked a treat.

Now some lunch and if possible a little nap before the afternoon round.
Toodles :-)

Dato Arthur Tan Malaysian Open 2015 Round 3

No excuses today, just a fight with many mistakes by both sides. My opponent went wrong first by capturing on d2 with the Queen. If instead 10.Nd2 I cannot move my e pawn (it loses a pawn) so white would have time to play e4,f4 Nf3 and rooks behind. I am not sure where black can find counterplay.

Black was better and I was carrying out my plan unhindered when I suddenly had a brain meltdown with 23...b5 forgetting that the d3 knight defended the rook on f2. Luckily I spotted my mistake immediately and continued as if nothing had happened.

We then got into a messy tactical melee with a swinging evaluation until I played the final blunder 44....Qa3. Instead I should play Qd4 and the position is about equal. This would have given me the opportunity to blunder later. Or maybe..... Spilt milk.

I was feeling a bit annoyed about my play after the game but that soon evaporated when we went to the best Chinese dumpling restaurant ever. Good food, good company, all good.

Now to try and survive another double round day starting at 9am.