Live from the Vic Open

I walked into Canterbury Chess Club today at about 1pm expecting to say hello to a few people, but was amazed that the majority of games were still going strong. There are many pairings in the third round which were more competitive than the first 2 rounds, the juniors are becoming more accustomed to long-play chess, and the adults are giving their less experienced opponents the respect they deserve. This should give the organisers some well earned satisfaction as they have assembled afield both large and strong. I will try to get some words from Trevor Stanning or Gerrit Hartland a bit later as they are the main architects behind a club which is successful for its large membership base, its great venue, and its successful tournaments and coaching programs.

So what do you do when you walk into Canterbury Chess Club near the end of a round but without many people to talk to? The simple answer is to walk about 4 minutes across to Maling Road for some excellent cafes and restaurants…..however, I will do a full review of the fantastic eating and drinking places in Maling Road in another post someday, hopefully with a member of BHCC to show me their favourite haunts.

It’s about 20 minutes before round 4 and I’ll try to post some things about this round which may interest people. There are still some games going so the feeling at the moment is one of expectancy in the analysis room.

Nicholas Liu, playing blitz in the analysis room. Nicholas is a very dangerous blitz and allegro player, but his draw with David Hacche earlier in the tournament shows he is no push over in long play chess.

Some early insights:

Firstly check out the live boards here. The top 3 boards are mouth watering affairs with IM Morris-GM Smerdon on board 1, the all IM battle of Rujevic-Goldenberg on 2 and Teichmann-Wallis on 3.

Stephen Solomon was held to a draw in the previous round and finds himself relegated to board 5 where he is facing Hacche’s Modern Defence. Nicholas Liu faces Jason Tang on 6. These 2 must have played each other hundreds of times over the years in blitz, online and tournament games. Nicholas has set up a very solid Colle formation as white. Frank Lekkas has played the Accelerated Fianchetto Sicilian against FM Doug Hamilton. Frank has had a lot of experience in this opening at the MCC recently, but Doug has a wealth of experience. Dizdarevic had a long game against Goldenberg in the previous round which probably explains why he chose the Centre Game, 1.e4 e5 2.d4 against Sally Yu. Karl Zelesco is level with Sylvester Urban but is moving very quickly. He is already over 10 minutes up on the clock after about half an hour. And finally on board 10, David Flude appears to have lost his queen to Victor Kildisas. I’m sure we’ll find out soon here in the analysis room exactly how sound this sacrifice was.Of the other games, the one that interests me is Kempen-Dale where Leon is sat statue like, while his young opponent is very fidgity. A great contrast of styles!

Trevor Stanning, one of the chief organisers of the event is very happy with the way the event has been running. There were a couple of minor glitches early in the tournament, such as faulty clocks, but essentially the tournament has gone smoothly. Trevor is “very happy” with the turnout of 90 “which compares favouably with the NSW Open” which had 66 players.

STOP PRESS!!!

A brief walk around the tables allowed me a glimpse of Leon Kempen’s left hand middle finger twitch slightly. Ari Dale was thinking about his move against Leon and and had sat stock still for possibly 8 seconds, which perhaps unsettled Leon’s stauesque pose. I asked David Smerdon how he felt about playing someone in a Hawthorn scarf. Did it make him want to beat James Morris even more. David admitted that it wasn’t a factor in his ambition to win but he felt it ironic that before the first round, James had asked why David was “wearing that ridiculous scarf?” I haven’t seen David’s scarf so I’ll await judgement.

A couple of interesting positions after an hour an a half:

Hamilton-Lekkas times: 35-61 with Black to move.

Hamilton has the 2 bishops but Black’s pawn structure is fine and white has used a lot of time.

Urban-Zelesco times: 48-103 Black to move

This double rook ending is very difficult to play. I will be very interested to see how both younger players fare in these endings.

The game between Dragicevic and Cheng started a little late as both players had long games in the previous round. They have reached the following tough position with Bobby Cheng as Black to move.

Times: 36-58

2 and a half hours into the games:

A lot of games are finished but their are still quite a few going on. David Smerdon doesn’t look happy….he also doesn’t look overly unhappy, he looks resigned to a hard slog for the full point. Goldenberg and Rujevic are mirroring each other in their appearance, both seemingly happy with their positions when it’s their opponent’s move, and agonising at their own turns. Hacche is solid, but pinned back by Solomon who will be looking for a breakthrough in the centre and the kingside soon. Liu-Tang is an equal ending. Frank Lekkas has developed some queen side pressure doubling rooks on the c-file. Doug had pushed his b-pawn to b4, so his c-pawn is a little weak. Denis Tuncer has a rook and pawn for 2 pieces in an ending against Richard Voon. Gene Lai seems to be developing an attack against Bosko Mijatovic, but if it doesn’t work he will pay dearly as his structure is very compromised. There are also 2 interesting endings and the Dragicevic-Cheng game has moved forward a little:

Bobby sacrificed his d-pawn to bring his queen into the game. The next few moves will have to be played accurately by white.

Thomas Feng and Jim Cannon are fighting out this pawn endgame. It surely looks even, but who knows?

And this is how the game Urban-Zelesco has progressed. Without any analysis I am guessing Sylvester has an edge, but again, who knows in pawn endgames?

An Interview with an interviewer.

Hello Elliott Renzies:

1. Who will win the World Cup? Spain, Argentina or Brazil, but Argentina most likely.

2. Fave Melbourne Cafe? Acland Street, Cicciolina

3. Fave cafe in Maling Road? Cafe 88

4. Fave Chess Player? Alekhine

5. A must read book? One Flew Read Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Ken Kesey

6. How can chess improve in Victoria or Australia? More involvement by professionals ie coaches. A cooperative agreement where coaching organisations utilise their professional approach to run tournaments and events.

Thanks very much Elliott, we love your interviews, and I hope you have a good tournament.

3 hour update

David Smerdon has resorted to wearing his scarf, a nice black and grey thin striped number. Morris needs to learn dress sense! Victorian Junior Champion Jason Tang is a pan up in an ending of rook and opposite bishops against Nicholas Liu but with only 3 pawns it will be difficult to convert. Hamilton has advanced on the queen side and has a dangerous initiative against Frank Lekkas now. Jamie Cross looks to be causing a big upset against Tony Davis. And a very interesting ending is happening on the lower board game between Savithri Narenthran and Shane Lawson. Shane as black has just played ..d5.

It is really encouraging to see so many juniors honing their endgame skills in events like this and then analysing deeply afterwards. I have just witnessed the final of Feng-Cannon in analysis and Jim unfortunately tried too hard to win, and eventually lost.

PUZZLE of the DAY

Black to play in Narenthran-Lawson, what should be the result?

Not too many games left. Solomon is a pawn ahead against Hacche, but the position is not easy, and Stephen has only a minute left. Igor Goldenberg looks bewildered by his position. He is a pawn ahead in a rook ending against Rujevic, but the position seems unclear to me.

Only 5 games left

The top 3 boards, and Tuncer-Voon with Deniz having King, Rook and 2 pawns against Voon’s King Bishop, Knight and 1 pawn. This should end a draw. The other game is Nigel Cooper against Nathan Hibberd where white has a knight against a bishop but his king is very strong. I am expecting a white win here.

Who has the better scarf, the GM on the right or the IM on the left? Morris and Smerdon analysing their game.

IM Igor Goldenberg (left) isn’t happy during the analysis, while IM Mirko Rujevic (right) always seems happy with his position. FM Eric Teichmann in the background is more interested in working out how much time he has before the next round.

Ok, with the round over it is time for me to leave. Thanks for looking at the blog and I will be back here tomorrow for the last round. The full results can be seen on the CV website.