Live from the final round of the Vic Open

With one round to go there are 6 leaders of the tournament so it’s going to be an amazing last round. There’s a remarkably relaxed feeling around. I’ve just had a coffee in Maling Road with a very laid back Igor Goldenberg. However, I know that underneath there are some pulses racing and some thoughts about tournament victory. I suppose from the point of view as a bloggist, I’m hoping to see few short games in the last round, but I’m guesing there’ll be a few quick draws.

Elliot Renzies sporting a blue beanie (actually Serif Tuglaci has an almost identical hat, so this must be the winter chess collection)  behind MCC member John Beckman while IM Mirko Rujevic gets ready for his last round game against talented junior Michael Chan.

A fantastic community spirit exists at this tournament with all age groups catered for.

Tournament director Gerrit Hartland giving announcements before the last round, while IM Goldenberg and FM Cheng listen carefully before their last round game.

1 hour into the games:

There are 3 games being transmitted live so I’ll talk about some of the other games here. The Urban-Solomon game on board 4 is a mess that I can’t assess. Dragicevic chose the English against Morris and James countered with a king side fianchetto. Rujevic has also fianchettoed king side, but it is a Czech Benoni type position against Michael Chan. The game between Ng and Tang is heading for the endgame while Dizdarevic has gone for opposite side castling while Allen Yu is trying to exchange rooks in the centre to simplify the position. Leon Kempen has a typically closed position against Jamie Cross which is in stark contrast to the game between Flitny and Gibson where both kings are dangerously placed in the centre.

Some more interesting developments:

Morris has offered the exchange. Solomon looks to be winning material but the position is complicated with lots of possibilities. I’m sure Stephen is on top of all the variations. Rujevic has got his queen from d8-h5 in a King’s Indian type structure. Jason Tang has taken a lot of time over his last move and is down to 35 minutes. Allen Yu has managed to exchange a pair of rooks but the position is still very unclear against Dizdarevic. Flitny has got his king safely tucked away against Kyle Gibson but Kyle’s is precariously placed in the centre. Frank Lekkas is 2 pawns up while Zac Loh is a rook up. Vinay Lakshman has the best piece in the round, a beautiful knight outpost on d6 as white against Elliot Renzies.

Visitors so far are CV President Leonid Sandler, and Jamie Kenmure.

How about this for an eye-catching position:

Paul Bearup-Geoff Cook

2 hour update:

Solo is an exchange up while Morris next to him is an exchange down. Michael Chan has blocked the e4 square against Rujevic and an interesting position has arisen.

Jason Tang is pressing on the queen side against Isaac Ng, the queens have come off in this game. The queens also just came off in Allen Yu-Dizdarevic with an ending of R+B v R+N. The same ending appears in the game Liu-Feng, where white with the knight, has an extra pawn (albeit doubled). And a couple of other interesting endings lower down:

Kildisas-Lai with Black to move

This ending is from the board 40 game between Jimmy Ying and Tim Forster. White took on f4.

2 and a half hours:

Thai Ly has come to spectate and is immediately drawn into a blitz series with Richard Voon.

David Smerdon holds his head in his hands while concentrating on his move. Chris Wallis puts a hand on his forehead as if feeling his own temperature. Bobby Cheng looks relaxed, while Igor Goldenberg nods and chews his nails as he calculates. Teichmann leans forward across the board at Hamilton who leans back with his arms folded. Solomon looks bored, while Morris twists his front hair curl. So perhaps we can learn from poker and gain some tells about how our opponents are feeling?

Solo is a clear exchange up against Sylvester Urban and must be technially winning. Morris is an exchange down to Dragicevic and is probably technically losing. Jason Tang’s king is just about to break into Isaac Ng’s position. Jason must be close to winning this position.

This position is from Allen Yu-Dizdarevic:

It’s white’s move

Close to 3 hours:

Dragicevic has given back the exchange and the position looks a little better for him. Isaac Ng has somehow created a winning passed pawn in a bishops of the same colour ending. And Ari Dale is better against Angelo Tsagarakis in an all MCC clash of generations.

The Ng-Tang ending looked like this:

After the moves 1… Bb7 2. Ke2 (2. Ke1) 2… Ba6+ 3. Kd1 Ke3 4. b7 Bxb7 5. Bxb7 this position is at the board now:

I have just been analysing with Leonid Sandler and we think that white must be winning this, the unofficial Brighton Grammar School Championship.

ACF President Gary Wastell is in the building! Leonid Sandler has just told me of a very strong entry for the Vic Champs this year. I won’t divulge names here, as that is for CV to do, but the field looks incredibly good.

There are 8 games still going including all the top boards. The Dragicevic-Morris game is in this state with black to move. Times: 10.56-16.00

This game has now been agreed a draw, so we are left with the top 3 boards for the prizes. All the talk is of Hamilton’s sacrifice against Teichmann.

3 and a half hours:

Most of the analysis is finished and the juniors are hammering the clocks in their blitz transfer games. There are 3 monitors displaying the live games at the front of the hall which have quite a crowd around, and there even more people crowded around the top boards. Can Smerdon exploit Wallis’s pawn weaknesses in the heavy piece ending? Is Bobby Cheng beating Igor Goldenberg, or will the IM hold? Can Doug Hamilton win in sacrificial style against Eric Teichmann or will the Englishman repulse the attack and remain material ahead?

Ok, it’s now time to follow the games live at the site as I have to leave the building. It has been great blogging from the Vic Open, and I thank everyone who has watched this blog

For the pleasure of the audience, BHCC provide screens of the top games.

For all the winners, check out the CV website