Tasmanian Southern Teams Round Robin

Thanks to the hard work and inspiration of Carl Gorka, open teams chess is back in Tasmania; while there have been occasional matches between clubs in the north of the state the last multi-team tournament was last held in 2000.

The Southern Championship was played today in Hobart

Round 1
JDT (Junior Dream Team) 1.5-2.5 Kingborough Knights
William Dunbabin (W) 1/2-1/2 Kevin Bonham
Yung-Shin Wells (B) 1-0 Tan Than Nguyen
Lachie Hughes (W) 0-1 Dave Rolph
Sam Banks (B) 0-1 Alex Nagy

JAMiNG 2-2 Monkey Mind
Noah Carpenter (W) 0-1 Zach Lim
Anya Song (B) 0-1 Toby Straton
Gary Morris (W) 1-0 Yusuf Khodjaev
Mary Khodjaeva (B) 1-0 Yien Zheng

Round 2
Monkey Mind 2.5-1.5 Kingborough Knights
Zach Lim 1-0 Kevin Bonham
Toby Straton 1-0 Dave Rolph
Yusuf Khodjaev 1/2-1/2 Andrew Martini
Karl Lee 0-1 Chris Shepherd

JAMiNG 3-1 JDT
Noah Carpenter 1-0 William Dunbabin
Anya Song 1-0 Yung-Shin Wells
Gary Morris 1-0 Esteban Prieto
Jethro Sih 0-1 Samuel Cassidy

Round 3
JDT 2-2 Monkey Mind
Lachie Hughes 0-1 Zach Lim
Sam Banks 0-1 Toby Straton
Esteban Prieto 1-0 Yusuf Khodjaev
Samuel Cassidy 1-0 Yien Zheng

Kingborough Knights 2-2 JAMiNG
Kevin Bonham 1/2-1/2 Noah Carpenter
Dave Rolph 0-1 Anya Song
Andrew Martini 1-0 Jethro Sih
Alex Nagy 1/2-1/2 Mary Khodjaeva

Team JAMiNG 2 matches 7 games
Team Monkey Mind 2-6.5
Team Kingbrough Knights 1.5-6
Team JDT 0.5-4.5

Teams JAMiNG and Monkey Mind qualify for the state finals.

Team JAMiNG take on the Kingborough Knights in round 3

Monkey Minds upgainst the JDT (Junior Development Team)

TAS Rapid 2024

Carl Gorka’s report on the Tasmanian Rapid and Lightning…

photo credit Kam Lee

Carl Gorka's Tasmanian State Championship

The 2024 Championship was held in the northern Launceston suburb of Rocherlea. It was a very warm weekend, but the venue had good air conditioning, and at times I even had to put on a fleece as it felt so cool! A field of 30 players competed including seven of Tasmania’s top 10 rated players.

Round 1:

The first round started at 2pm on Saturday 9th of March with a time control of 90 minutes for the game, plus 30 seconds increment per move. The tournament was to be rated by the ACF and FIDE. In the first round of Swiss events, the top half of the field play the bottom half of the field, so it is expected that there will be some easy games for the top players. But this rarely happens and I was very mindful of my form in game one, and interested to watch how the other top players fared. 

I was paired against talented Hobart junior Esteban Prieto who has a reputation for being able to win against much higher rated opponents. Esteban perhaps lacks some consistency, but can be a very dangerous player to anyone in Tasmania. I chose a slightly unusual system against his Kan, and he reacted badly allowing me to force a king side concession early on, and then hurry up my development until we reached this position:

As White, I had just castled queen side which looks a bit dangerous. Esteban, as Black, needs to get on with developing and ensure his king safety. But instead he decided to open lines to my king even though he isn’t set up to attack. 12..d5? This is a fairly typical blunder. The side which is better developed has the better attacking chances, so that means White should be opening lines while Black is trying to slowly improve their position. And even worse, he is opening the centre where his king is situated! 13.exd5 exd5 14.Rhe1

In just a couple of moves, Black has gone from being worse to being lost. Black now has to give up material to avoid being mated.

While I was looking at the other top players, I thought Kevin Bonham was struggling, Wynand-Jack Pretorius was making hard work of his position, Will Rumley looked to be losing, but Fabian Ivancic seemed to be very sharp. Of the top ten players, three were held to draws by much lower rated opponents in round 1, Rumley, Rout and Lim. The biggest upset of the round was when Noah Carpenter’s phone went off giving an automatic win to Yung-Shin Wells who was rated more than 500 points less!

A full hall, Will Rumley faces Hayden Shaw in the nearest game

Round 2:

The second round was due to start at 6pm on Saturday, but the in almost every round the longest game exceeded the time allocation, and went over four hours. So the round started a bit after 6pm. There were no major upsets in the second round as all the higher rated players started to work their way to the top of the table. James Banbury showed throughout this tournament that he was vastly under rated. In this round he beat Chris Shepherd, the first of many scalps. I was paired with another talented young Hobart player, Anya Song.

After a changing opening that started as 1.d4, then transposed to a type of Modern (1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5) or Philidor Defence (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6), and then became blocked in the centre, we finally came out with this position:

I know this pawn structure from the Sicilian. It can arise from the Najdorf or Sveshnikov Sicilians when White puts a knight into d5, Black trades and White recaptures with their e-pawn. Strategically, White should be playing to their majority on the queen side, while Black plays ..f5 to create some counter chances on the king side and in the centre.

Anya chose a different strategy and castled long going for attacks on opposite sides of the board, though the pawn structure doesn’t really fit with this strategy. There are, of course, still tactical chances that might work for White, but if Black plays correctly, then they should be in a good position. Five moves later, the following position was reached:

It is clear that Black is better developed and has more threats than White. And if the attacks fail for both sides, then White has very weak pawns which will favour Black in any endgame.

Marcus Bretag and Anya Song both deep in thought

Round 3:

The third round was played on Sunday morning, the first of three games in the day. On top board, I was held to a draw by Marcus Bretag. On board 2, the big game between second and third seeds was won by Kevin Bonham against Wynand-Jack Pretorius. On board 3, Fabian Ivancic won another top level game against Ian Rout. This left Kevin and Fabian as the only players on 3/3 while Marcus and I were half a point behind, and the field sat another half a point behind. Young Sam Cassidy produced another upset against Chris Shepherd this round. Chris would get his game together and finish well after this.

 was White in this position against Marcus and had to decide which way to proceed. I have the following options:

28.Bxe6 trades the bishop pair for a pawn weakness
28.b4 keeping the bishop pair for now and trying to hold up the queen side
28.e5 advancing the king side majority

All of these options have some good and some bad in them. I decided to trade bishop for knight which I felt gave me the best chances of playing on with the least risk of losing. Marcus played very solidly, and the game ended in a draw.

Wynand-Jack Pretorius-Fabian Ivancic, a high level game

Round 4:

Kevin and Fabian scored a draw which meant that no one was on a perfect score by the end of this round. I won against Wynand-Jack Pretorius to join the leaders, while Marcus lost to Zach Lim who was playing and acting as arbiter. Will Rumley also won to join Zach just a half point behind the leaders and Anya Song also joined this group. Perhaps the biggest upset of the whole tournament came in this round, when James Banbury beat ex-Champion Ian Rout, the game having a rating difference of some 600 points!

Another complicated endgame, though this one is a lot more tactical. Black’s queen side looks great, but White has fantastic counterplay with the h-pawn. My opponent, Wynand-Jack played 56.Ra6+? As so often, checks only push a king to a better spot. (56.Bf4 Nh7 was the best White could get, but the position is very complicated) 56..Kf5 57.Kb1 (57.Bf4 is still probably best) 57..b3 58.Rf6 Ke4

White’s king side hasn’t progressed while Black’s queen side looks very dangerous now. 59.Bf4 and I now missed a forced mate by 59..Nf3 though I still managed to win the game in a time scramble after this.

Generational battles like Himash Keerithatne vs Ian Rout are becoming more common

Round 5:

This was the third game on Sunday and most players were really tired. I played Kevin Bonham in a game where neither of us played particularly well, but he played just a little worse than I did. On board 2, Fabian Ivancic drew with Will Rumley which left me half a point clear going into the last day. Fabian was the only player half a point back, but then there was a big group of six players a further half point behind. While there were no significant upsets, James Banbury held another ex-winner, Miles Petterson, to a draw

I had built a strong position against Kevin playing White. Black just offered a trade of rooks. I probably could have taken and then won a pawn, either b7 or d4 with good winning chances. But I remembered a game I played in the 2005 Australian Masters against FM Jesse Sales where he took on c8 but he shouldn’t have. He had a stronger continuation that we found in the post mortem analysis. 27.Rc7! Now Black can’t trade as that would bring my other rook to the seventh rank, so he had to play 27..Rd8 when I just took 28.Bxb7 and was a pawn up in a better position. I never let up and won the game.

Round 6:

I managed to win my game against Fabian and stood a point clear of the field guaranteed at least a share of the title. Kenin Bonham and Zach Lim both won to jump into equal second, while Anya Song continued her good tournament drawing with Will Rumley and joining him a half point behind Kevin and Zach. Upsets in this round came in the form of Eric Foster getting the better of Rosalia Miller in a topsy turvy game, and Daryl Ross beating Fabio Camporesi in a game that started 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.d4 Nxd4 7.c3 Be7 and then I believe Daryl didn’t take on f7 but still went on to win the game!

As Black in this position I took 16..Nxe4. I’d seen Fabian could play 17.Bxb6 winning a pawn back and discovering an attack against my knight 17..Qb7 pins White’s bishop while protecting e4. This complicated little tactical sequence left the following position:

I thought Fabian would play 18.Qc2 when I planned 18..Nd5 and I felt I was in a good position, but wasn’t sure. This position never came about, because Fabian sacrificed the exchange with 18.Rxe4?! And never really had enough for it, so I went on to win.

Louise Ford and Yung-Shin Wells have the White pieces against Eric Foster and Adam Heap

Round 7:

I played Zach Lim in the last round and took a fairly quick draw against him to secure the title. Zach still finished equal second as Kevin Bonham drew with Anya Song. Fabian Ivancic won against Wynand-Jack Pretorius to join the group on equal second. 

The final standings were:

1 Gorka 6/7; 
2= Bonham, Lim, Ivancic 5; 
5= Rumley, Song, Patterson, Keerthiratne, Carpenter 4.5
10= Bretag, Banbury, Pretorius 4
13= Rout, Prieto, Shaw, Kuypers, Shepherd 3.5
18= Ross, Cassidy, Ratkowsky, Foster, Djatschenko, Wells 3
24= O’Mara, Oud 2.5
26= Camporesi, Miller, Lee 2
29= Ford, Heap

There were great performances through this tournament by Anya Song, James Banbury, Hayden Shaw, Daryl Ross and Sam Cassidy, all of whom will be getting a decent rating improvement for their efforts.

This was the final position in my game against Zach Lim from round 7. I have taken a pawn on e5, but will lose my d3 pawn in return. I offered a draw which Zach accepted. Earlier in the tournament I would definitely have played on and tried to make something from this level sort of position.

I was quite happy with my performance this year. I don’t think I was ever in a losing position, maybe just a bit worse or level at times. The competition seemed tougher than last year, even though I seemed to be playing better.

Prize Winners:

Tasmanian Champion: Carl Gorka

Women’s Champion: Anya Song

Senior Champion: Chris Shepherd and Ian Rout tied

Junior Champion: Will Rumley and Himash Keerthiratne tied

Prizes also awarded for:

=2nd Kevin Bonham, Fabian Ivancic, Zacharias Lim

U1800 Himash Keerthiratne, Noah Carpenter

U1500 James Banbury

Finally, a games selection, with 35 games played over the weekend

PGN Viewer from Chess Tempo

[Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.09"] [Round "1"] [White "Gorka"] [Black "Prieto"] [Result "1-0"] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Bc5 6.Nb3 Ba7 7.c4 Qc7 8.Qg4 Kf8 9.Nc3 Nf6 10.Qe2 d6 11.Bg5 Nbd7 12.O-O-O d5 13.exd5 exd5 14.Rhe1 Qd6 15.Nxd5 Nc5 16.Nxf6 Nxb3+ 17.axb3 gxf6 18.Bh6+ Kg8 19.Qe8+ Qf8 20.Qxf8# [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.09"] [Round "1"] [White "O'Mara"] [Black "Bonham"] [Result "0-1"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 O-O 6.Bd3 b6 7.Nge2 Bb7 8.Bxf6 Bxf6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Rc1 a6 11.O-O Re8 12.Nf4 Nd7 13.Ncxd5 c5 14.Qg4 cxd4 15.Rc7 Ne5 16.Bxh7+ Kf8 17.Qh5 Bxd5 18.Nxd5 Qxd5 19.Be4 Nf3+ 20.Qxf3 Qxe4 21.Qxe4 Rxe4 22.exd4 Bxd4 23.b3 Rae8 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.09"] [Round "1"] [White "Keerthiratne"] [Black "Foster"] [Result "1-0"] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nb5 a6 6.Nd6+ Bxd6 7.Qxd6 Qe7 8.Qg3 g6 9.Nd2 Nf6 10.e5 Nh5 11.Qe3 b5 12.g4 Ng7 13.Bg2 Bb7 14.Ne4 Nxe5 15.Qd4 Bxe4 16.Bxe4 d5 17.O-O f6 18.Bg2 Qa7 19.Qf4 Ke7 20.g5 Nd7 21.Be3 Nh5 22.Qb4+ [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.09"] [Round "1"] [White "Heap"] [Black "Oud"] [Result "0-1"] 1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bd3 e5 5.c3 Bc5 6.O-O d6 7.cxd4 Nxd4 8.Be3 Bg4 9.Nbd2 Nf6 10.Bc4 b5 11.Bxd4 bxc4 12.Bxc5 dxc5 13.Nxc4 Qxd1 14.Raxd1 Bxf3 15.Nd6+ Kd7 16.gxf3 Ke7 17.Nf5+ Kf8 18.Rd2 g6 19.Nh6 Kg7 20.Ng4 Nxg4 21.fxg4 h5 22.f3 h4 23.h3 Rad8 24.Rfd1 Rd4 25.Rxd4 cxd4 26.Rc1 Rb8 27.Rc2 f5 28.Rc7+ Kf6 29.Rc6+ Kg5 30.b3 fxe4 31.fxe4 Rd8 32.Rc2 d3 33.Rd2 Kf4 34.Kf1 Kxe4 35.Ke1 Rc8 36.Rd1 Rc2 37.Ra1 Rh2 38.Rd1 Ke3 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.09"] [Round "1"] [White "Shepherd"] [Black "Kuypers"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bf4 d5 4. e3 Bg7 5. c4 O-O 6. Nc3 c5 7. Rc1 Qa5 8. Qb3 Rd8 9. Be2 dxc4 10. Bxc4 e6 11. O-O Na6 12. Rfd1 cxd4 13. exd4 Qf5 14. Bg5 h6 15. Bh4 g5 16. Bg3 Nh5 17. Ne2 Nxg3 18. Nxg3 Qa5 19. Bd3 Qb6 20. Qxb6 axb6 21. Be4 Nb4 22. a3 Nd5 23. Ne2 Bd7 24. Nc3 Bc6 25. Nxd5 exd5 26. Bf5 Re8 27. Re1 Kf8 28. g4 Rxe1+ 29. Rxe1 Re8 30. Kf1 Bb5+ 31. Kg2 Rxe1 32. Nxe1 Bxd4 33. b3 Bc3 34. Nd3 Bc6 35. Kf1 Ke7 36. Ke2 Kd6 37. Ke3 d4+ 38. Ke2 Bb5 39. Kf3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.09"] [Round "2"] [White "Song"] [Black "Gorka"] [Result "0-1"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d6 3.e4 Nbd7 4.Be3 e5 5.d5 Be7 6.f3 c6 7.Qd2 cxd5 8.Nxd5 Nxd5 9.exd5 O-O 10.O-O-O Nb6 11.g4 f5 12.gxf5 Bxf5 13.Bd3 Rc8 14.Bxf5 Rxf5 15.Qg2 Nc4 16.Bh6 Bf6 17.Qg4 Qb6 18.b3 Ne3 19.Bxe3 Qxe3+ 20.Kb1 g6 21.h4 e4 22.Qxe4 Qc3 23.Kc1 Qb2+ 24.Kd2 Rxc2+ 25.Qxc2 Rxd5+ 26.Ke1 Qxc2 27.Rxd5 Qg2 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.09"] [Round "2"] [White "Keerthiratne"] [Black "Bonham"] [Result "1-0"] 1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 e6 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 Be7 5.O-O O-O 6.c4 c6 7.Nc3 b6 8.Bf4 Bb7 9.Rc1 Nh5 10.Be3 Nd7 11.cxd5 cxd5 12.a4 Rc8 13.Qd2 a6 14.Na2 Nhf6 15.Rxc8 Qxc8 16.Rc1 Qa8 17.Rc2 Rc8 18.Qc1 Rxc2 19.Qxc2 Qc8 20.Qxc8+ Bxc8 21.Bf4 Ne8 22.Kf1 Nd6 23.Nc1 b5 24.axb5 axb5 25.Nd3 Nc4 26.Ke1 Bd6 27.Bxd6 Nxd6 28.Nfe5 Nxe5 29.Nxe5 Nc4 30.Nd3 Kf8 31.Kd1 Ke7 32.Kc2 Bd7 33.Kc3 Kd6 34.Kb4 Bc6 35.b3 Nd2 36.f3 Nb1 37.g4 f5 38.gxf5 exf5 39.e3 Be8 40.Bf1 Bh5 41.Be2 g5 42.Ne5 Nd2 43.Kc3 Ne4+ 44.Kc2 b4 45.Bd3 Nf6 46.Bxf5 Be8 47.Bh3 h5 48.Nd3 Bg6 49.Kd2 Bxd3 50.Kxd3 g4 51.fxg4 hxg4 52.Bg2 Nh5 53.Kd2 Nf6 54.Ke2 Nh5 55.Kf2 Ke6 56.e4 Nf4 57.exd5+ Kd6 58.Be4 Nh5 59.Ke3 Ke7 60.Kd3 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.09"] [Round "2"] [White "Banbury"] [Black "Shepherd"] [Result "1-0"] 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 h5 5.Bg5 Qb6 6.Bd3 Qxd4 7.Nf3 Qxb2 8.Bxf5 Qxa1 9.e6 f6 10.Bg6+ Kd8 11.Be3 b6 12.O-O Qxa2 13.Nc3 Qc4 14.Qd2 Qg4 15.Nxd5 Qxe6 16.Nxb6+ Qd6 17.Nxa8 Qxd2 18.Bxd2 Kc8 19.Ba5 Na6 20.Rd1 Nh6 21.Rd8+ Kb7 22.Nd4 Nc5 23.Be8 e5 24.Nxc6 Na6 25.Nxa7 Kxa7 26.Bc6 Nc5 27.Bb6+ Ka6 28.Bxc5 Bxc5 29.Rxh8 Ng4 30.Bf3 Bxf2+ 31.Kf1 Bxh4 32.Bxg4 Bg5 33.Be2+ Kb7 34.Bf3+ Ka7 35.c4 f5 36.Rxh5 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.09"] [Round "2"] [White "Foster"] [Black "Carpenter"] [Result "0-1"] 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bc4 Bf5 6.O-O e6 7.a3 c6 8.d4 Be7 9.Bf4 O-O 10.b4 Qd8 11.Nh4 Be4 12.Nxe4 Nxe4 13.Nf3 Nd7 14.Qd3 Ndf6 15.Rfe1 Nd6 16.b5 Nxc4 17.Qxc4 Rc8 18.Qb3 c5 19.dxc5 Bxc5 20.Red1 Qb6 21.Rd2 Ne4 22.Re2 Nxf2 23.Be3 Bxe3 24.Qxe3 Qxe3 25.Rxe3 Rxc2 26.Nd4 Rc4 27.Kxf2 Rxd4 28.Rc1 Rfd8 29.Rc7 R4d7 30.Rec3 h6 31.h3 Kf8 32.Ke3 Ke7 33.R7c4 e5 34.Rg4 Kf8 35.Rc5 f6 36.Ra4 Rd3+ 37.Ke4 R3d4+ 38.Kf5 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.09"] [Round "2"] [White "Oud"] [Black "Pretorius"] [Result "0-1"] 1.c4 b6 2.Nc3 Bb7 3.e4 e6 4.g3 Bb4 5.Nge2 f5 6.Bg2 Nf6 7.Qc2 O-O 8.O-O Bxc3 9.Nxc3 fxe4 10.Nxe4 Nc6 11.d3 Nd4 12.Qd2 Nxe4 13.dxe4 Nf3+ 14.Bxf3 Rxf3 15.Qe2 Rf7 16.Bf4 d6 17.Rfd1 Qf6 18.e5 Qg6 19.Qe3 d5 20.Rac1 c5 21.cxd5 exd5 22.Qd3 Qe6 23.h4 d4 24.Re1 Qh3 25.f3 Rxf4 26.gxf4 Qg3+ 27.Kf1 Bxf3 28.Re2 Bg2+ [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.10"] [Round "3"] [White "Gorka"] [Black "Bretag"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Be2 O-O 6.O-O d5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.d3 Be6 9.Bd2 Qd7 10.Nxd5 Bxd5 11.Bc3 Bd6 12.e4 Be6 13.d4 exd4 14.Nxd4 Rad8 15.Nxe6 Qxe6 16.Qb3 Qxb3 17.axb3 a6 18.g3 Bc5 19.Rac1 Bb6 20.Kg2 Rfe8 21.f3 Be3 22.Rcd1 Rxd1 23.Rxd1 Rd8 24.Rxd8+ Nxd8 25.f4 Ne6 26.Bg4 b6 27.Kf3 Bg1 28.Bxe6 fxe6 29.Be5 c6 30.g4 Kf7 31.f5 g6 32.fxg6+ Kxg6 33.h3 b5 34.b4 c5 35.bxc5 Bxc5 36.Bc7 Bd4 37.b3 Bc3 38.Ke3 h5 39.Bd8 hxg4 40.hxg4 a5 41.Kd3 Be1 42.Kd4 Bb4 43.Bh4 a4 44.bxa4 bxa4 45.Kc4 Bd6 46.Bd8 a3 47.Kb3 Bf8 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.10"] [Round "3"] [White "Pretorius"] [Black "Bonham"] [Result "0-1"] 1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bd6 5.Na3 Na5 6.Nc4 Nxc4 7.Bxc4 Qe7 8.a4 b6 9.Qf3 Rb8 10.Nh3 Bb7 11.Qg3 O-O 12.f3 Rbe8 13.O-O Bc5 14.Kh1 d5 15.Be2 Bd6 16.Rad1 c5 17.Bb5 Rc8 18.Qh4 Bc6 19.Be2 Bd7 20.g4 d4 21.e4 Ne8 22.Qg3 Nc7 23.c4 Qe6 24.Ng5 Qf6 25.h4 Be7 26.f4 exf4 27.Rxf4 Bd6 28.Rdf1 Bxf4 29.Rxf4 Qd6 30.Qf2 f6 31.Nh3 Bc6 32.d3 a6 33.Bc1 b5 34.axb5 axb5 35.Rf3 Ra8 36.Bf4 Qd7 37.Qg3 Ne6 38.Rf1 Nxf4 39.Nxf4 bxc4 40.bxc4 Ra2 41.Bf3 Rfa8 42.Bg2 Ra1 43.Kg1 Rxf1+ 44.Bxf1 Qd6 45.Qf2 Bd7 46.Be2 Ra1+ 47.Kg2 Ra2 48.Kf3 Qb8 49.g5 f5 50.exf5 Bxf5 51.Qg3 Qe5 52.Qf2 Qb8 53.Qg3 Qb1 54.Kf2 Ra1 55.Ng2 Qg1+ 56.Kf3 Ra8 57.Qe5 Rf8 58.Kg3 Bc8 59.Bf3 Rxf3+ 60.Kxf3 Bb7+ 61.Ke2 Qxg2+ 62.Kd1 Qf1+ 63.Kc2 Qf2+ 64.Kb3 Qf8 65.Qe6+ Kh8 66.h5 Bc8 67.Qe5 Kg8 68.Qd5+ Kh8 69.Qe5 h6 70.g6 Bf5 71.Kc2 Qc8 72.Kd2 Bg4 73.Qd6 Be6 74.Qe5 Kg8 75.Qd6 Bg4 76.Qd5+ Kh8 77.Qe5 Qf8 78.Kc1 Qf1+ 79.Kb2 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.10"] [Round "3"] [White "Ross"] [Black "Oud"] [Result "1-0"] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.c3 e5 5.O-O Bg7 6.b4 cxb4 7.Bxc6 dxc6 8.cxb4 Bg4 9.h3 Bxf3 10.Qxf3 Qd4 11.Nc3 Qxb4 12.Rb1 Qe7 13.Rb3 Nh6 14.Ba3 Qd7 15.Rfb1 b6 16.Na4 c5 17.Nxc5 Qxd2 18.Nb7 Bf8 19.Rd1 Qf4 20.Qd3 Bxa3 21.Qd7+ Kf8 22.Rxa3 Qxe4 23.Re3 Qf5 24.Qd6+ Kg7 25.Rxe5 Qc8 26.Re7 Ng8 27.Qe5+ Nf6 28.Nd6 Qf8 29.Rc1 Rd8 30.Rcc7 Rxd6 31.Qxd6 Ne8 32.Qe5+ Nf6 33.Rxa7 Qd8 34.Rxf7+ Kh6 35.Rxf6 Qd1+ 36.Kh2 Qc1 37.Rff7 Qc8 38.Qf4+ g5 39.Rf6+ Kh5 40.g4+ Qxg4 41.Qxg4# [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.10"] [Round "3"] [White "Heap"] [Black "Foster"] [Result "0-1"] 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Be2 Qc7 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 a6 7.Be3 Nf6 8.O-O Be7 9.Qd2 Nxd4 10.Bxd4 O-O 11.Qe3 d5 12.Rac1 dxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Bd6 15.Bd3 f5 16.Qh4 e5 17.Bc3 e4 18.Be2 Be5 19.Bxe5 Qxe5 20.c3 Rf6 21.f3 exf3 22.Bxf3 Rh6 23.Qg3 f4 24.Qf2 Rb8 25.Rfe1 Qb5 26.Rc2 Bf5 27.Rd2 Re6 28.Ree2 Rbe8 29.Kf1 Bd3 30.Qe1 Bxe2+ 31.Bxe2 Qh5 32.Qf2 Qxh2 33.Qg1 Qxg1+ 34.Kxg1 Rxe2 35.Rxe2 Rxe2 36.b4 Re3 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.10"] [Round "3"] [White "Shepherd"] [Black "Cassidy"] [Result "0-1"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 Bf5 4. e3 e6 5. Bd3 Ne4 6. O-O Bd6 7. Re1 O-O 8. c4 c5 9. cxd5 exd5 10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. Qc2 Nd7 12. Nc3 Rc8 13. Bxe4 dxe4 14. Nxe4 Bb4 15. Qd3 Bxe1 16. Rxe1 Nc5 17. Qxd8 Rfxd8 18. Nxc5 Rxc5 19. Nd4 Bg6 20. h3 h6 21. Rd1 Rdc8 22. Kf1 Rc1 23. Ke1 Rxd1+ 24. Kxd1 Rc5 25. f3 Bd3 26. h4 g5 27. hxg5 hxg5 28. Bd6 Rd5 29. Be7 Bf1 30. g4 Re5 31. Nf5 Rd5+ 32. Ke1 Bd3 33. e4 Rb5 34. b4 Rb6 35. a3 Ra6 36. Bxg5 Rxa3 37. e5 Bxf5 38. gxf5 Rxf3 39. f6 Rf5 40. Be3 Rxe5 41. Kd2 Rxe3 42. Kxe3 Kh7 43. b5 Kg6 44. Kd4 Kxf6 45. Kd5 Ke7 46. Ke5 a5 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.10"] [Round "4"] [White "Pretorius"] [Black "Gorka"] [Result "0-1"] 1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 d6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Ne2 Nc6 5.g3 h5 6.h3 Bf5 7.Bg2 Qd7 8.d3 d5 9.Nd2 O-O-O 10.Nf3 Bd6 11.a3 Kb8 12.Qd2 Rhe8 13.Ng5 e4 14.d4 h4 15.f4 exf3 16.Bxf3 hxg3 17.O-O-O Qe7 18.Nc3 Bxa3 19.Rde1 Bb4 20.Qg2 Bg6 21.Qxg3 a6 22.h4 Na7 23.Re2 Bxc3 24.Bxc3 Nb5 25.Bb2 Ne4 26.Nxe4 Bxe4 27.Bxe4 Qxe4 28.Rf1 Nd6 29.Rf4 Qh1+ 30.Re1 Ne4 31.Qg1 Qxg1 32.Rxg1 Nf6 33.Kd2 Re6 34.Kd3 Rde8 35.Bc1 R6e7 36.Rgf1 Re4 37.Bd2 Kc8 38.c4 c6 39.cxd5 Rxf4 40.Rxf4 cxd5 41.Be1 Kd7 42.Rf5 Rh8 43.Bg3 Rc8 44.Be5 Ke6 45.Rg5 Ne4 46.Rxg7 Rc3+ 47.Ke2 Rxb3 48.Rg8 Rb2+ 49.Ke1 b5 50.Ra8 Ra2 51.h5 Ra1+ 52.Ke2 b4 53.h6 Ng5 54.Kd2 Ra2+ 55.Kc1 a5 56.Ra6+ Kf5 57.Kb1 b3 58.Rf6+ Ke4 59.Bf4 Rg2 60.Rb6 a4 61.Rb4 Kd3 62.e4 Nxe4 63.h7 Nc3+ 64.Kc1 Rc2# [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.10"] [Round "4"] [White "Bonham"] [Black "Ivancic"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 Bb4 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O Bxc3 7.bxc3 d6 8.Ng5 Bf5 9.e4 Bg4 10.f3 Bh5 11.d3 Rb8 12.Qa4 Nd7 13.Nh3 Bg6 14.Nf2 f5 15.f4 Nc5 16.Qd1 fxe4 17.d4 exd4 18.cxd4 Nd3 19.Nxe4 Nxc1 20.Rxc1 Re8 21.Ng5 Qf6 22.Nf3 Be4 23.d5 Nb4 24.Qd2 Nd3 25.Rc3 Bxf3 26.Rxd3 Re2 27.Bxf3 Rxd2 28.Rxd2 Re8 29.Rff2 Re1+ 30.Kg2 Qa1 31.Bg4 Kf7 32.Be6+ Kf6 33.Bc8 b6 34.Bg4 a5 35.Bd7 Qc1 36.Rc2 Qd1 37.Rfd2 Rg1+ 38.Kf2 Rf1+ 39.Kg2 Qf3+ 40.Kh3 Re1 41.Bg4 Qf1+ 42.Kh4 h6 43.Rf2 Qd3 44.Kh3 Re4 45.Bf3 Rxc4 46.Rxc4 Qxc4 47.Re2 g6 48.Re6+ Kf7 49.Be4 g5 50.fxg5 hxg5 51.Kg4 c6 52.Kxg5 cxd5 53.Rf6+ Ke7 54.Bf5 d4 55.Rh6 d3 56.Rh7+ Kf8 57.Rb7 Qd5 58.Rc7 Qg8+ 59.Kf6 Qh8+ 60.Kg6 Qg8+ 61.Kf6 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.10"] [Round "4"] [White "Bretag"] [Black "Lim"] [Result "0-1"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 d5 4.e3 c5 5.c3 Nc6 6.Nbd2 h6 7.h3 Qb6 8.Qb3 c4 9.Qc2 Qd8 10.b3 cxb3 11.axb3 Bd6 12.Bb5 Bxf4 13.exf4 O-O 14.O-O Qc7 15.g3 Bd7 16.Bxc6 Bxc6 17.Qd3 Ne4 18.Ne5 Nxd2 19.Qxd2 Qb6 20.Rfb1 Rfc8 21.Qd3 Be8 22.c4 f6 23.Nf3 dxc4 24.bxc4 Qc7 25.Nd2 b6 26.f5 exf5 27.Qxf5 Bf7 28.d5 Qc5 29.Ne4 Qe7 30.Re1 Qb4 31.Rab1 Qf8 32.Nd2 Qd8 33.Re4 Qd6 34.Rg4 Kh8 35.Qd3 Re8 36.Ne4 Qe7 37.d6 Qe5 38.Nd2 Red8 39.d7 Be6 40.Rd4 Qc7 41.Re1 Bxh3 42.Re7 Qc5 43.Qe3 Qc6 44.Qe4 Qxe4 45.Nxe4 Kg8 46.g4 Kf8 47.Re8+ Rxe8 48.dxe8=Q+ Rxe8 49.Nd6 Rd8 50.f3 h5 51.gxh5 Be6 52.Kf2 Bxc4 53.Ke3 Bf7 54.h6 gxh6 55.Kf4 Bg6 56.Kg4 Ke7 57.Nb5 Rxd4+ 58.Nxd4 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.10"] [Round "4"] [White "Oud"] [Black "Djatschenko"] [Result "1-0"] 1.c4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.cxd5 exd5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nc3 Qe6+ 6.Be2 c5 7.Nf3 Be7 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Qb6 10.Be3 Qxb2 11.Ndb5 Qb4 12.Nc7+ Kf8 13.Rc1 Nf6 14.O-O Bg4 15.Bxg4 Nxg4 16.Nxa8 Bd6 17.Nd5 Bxh2+ 18.Kh1 Nxe3 19.Rc8# [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.10"] [Round "4"] [White "Ratkowsky"] [Black "Foster"] [Result "1-0"] 1.c4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 Nc6 4.Qd1 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Nf3 Bg7 7.Bg5 O-O 8.Nd5 h6 9.Nxf6+ Bxf6 10.Bxh6 Re8 11.Bc1 d6 12.e3 Ne5 13.Nxe5 Bxe5 14.Rb1 Bf5 15.Bd3 Qg5 16.g3 Bxd3 17.Qxd3 Bg7 18.O-O Rad8 19.Qd5 Qxd5 20.cxd5 Re5 21.Rd1 c6 22.dxc6 bxc6 23.b3 Ra5 24.a4 Rc5 25.Ba3 Rd5 26.Rxd5 cxd5 27.Rd1 Rb8 28.b4 Bc3 29.b5 Rb6 30.Rxd5 a6 31.Rxd6 Rxd6 32.Bxd6 axb5 33.axb5 Ba5 34.Bc5 Bc7 35.b6 Bb8 36.e4 f6 37.f4 Kf7 38.Kf2 Ke6 39.Ke3 f5 40.exf5+ gxf5 41.Kd4 Kd7 42.h4 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.10"] [Round "4"] [White "Lee"] [Black "Shepherd"] [Result "0-1"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bd3 Bxd3 6. Qxd3 Nd7 7. O-O Qb6 8. Nc3 c5 9. Qb5 cxd4 10. Qxb6 Nxb6 11. Nxd4 a6 12. Be3 Nc4 13. Bc1 Nxe5 14. Bf4 Ng6 15. Bg3 Bc5 16. Rad1 Nf6 17. Rfe1 O-O 18. Kh1 Bb4 19. Rd3 Rac8 20. Ree3 Rfe8 21. a3 Bc5 22. b4 Bxd4 23. Rxd4 e5 24. Rd2 d4 25. Rf3 Rxc3 26. Rxc3 dxc3 27. Rd3 Rc8 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.10"] [Round "5"] [White "Gorka"] [Black "Bonham"] [Result "1-0"] 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.e3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nb4 7.d3 N8c6 8.a3 Na6 9.Be2 Nc7 10.O-O Nd4 11.Nxd4 cxd4 12.Nb1 Be7 13.f4 f5 14.Bf3 O-O 15.Nd2 Rb8 16.Nc4 Kh8 17.Bd2 Bd7 18.Rc1 Ne8 19.Qb3 Nd6 20.Ne5 Nf7 21.Nxf7+ Rxf7 22.e5 Rf8 23.Rc2 Re8 24.Rfc1 Qb6 25.Qxb6 axb6 26.Kf1 Rec8 27.Rc7 Rd8 28.Bxb7 Bf8 29.Bc6 Be8 30.Bxe8 Rxe8 31.Rd7 Kg8 32.Ke2 Bc5 33.b4 Re7 34.Rxe7 Bxe7 35.Rc7 Kf8 36.Rd7 Rd8 37.Rb7 Ra8 38.Bc1 Rc8 39.Kd2 g5 40.g3 gxf4 41.gxf4 Kf7 42.Bb2 Rg8 43.Bxd4 Rg2+ 44.Kc3 Rxh2 45.Bxb6 Ke8 46.a4 h5 47.a5 Ra2 48.Rb8+ Kd7 49.b5 h4 50.Rh8 Ra3+ 51.Kc2 Ra2+ 52.Kb1 Ra4 53.a6 Rb4+ 54.Kc2 Rxb5 55.a7 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.10"] [Round "5"] [White "Shaw"] [Black "Oud"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bb5 Nd4 6.a4 Nh6 7.O-O O-O 8.d3 e6 9.Bc4 f5 10.e5 d5 11.Ba2 Bd7 12.Nxd4 cxd4 13.Ne2 Qb6 14.b3 Ng4 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.10"] [Round "5"] [White "Foster"] [Black "Kuypers"] [Result "0-1"] 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qe5+ 4.Be2 c6 5.Nf3 Qc7 6.d4 Bf5 7.Bd3 Bg6 8.Bxg6 hxg6 9.d5 Nf6 10.dxc6 Nxc6 11.O-O Rd8 12.Qe2 Nd4 13.Nxd4 Qxh2# [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.10"] [Round "5"] [White "Shepherd"] [Black "Djatschenko"] [Result "1-0"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bf4 d5 4. e3 c5 5. c3 Nc6 6. Nbd2 Nh5 7. Bb5 Nxf4 8. exf4 a6 9. Bxc6+ bxc6 10. Ne5 Qb6 11. Qb3 Qxb3 12. Nxb3 cxd4 13. cxd4 Bb4+ 14. Ke2 Bb7 15. a3 Bd6 16. Na5 Rb8 17. b4 O-O 18. Nd7 Bxf4 19. Nxb8 Rxb8 20. g3 Bg5 21. f4 Bf6 22. Ke3 g5 23. Rac1 Ba8 24. Nxc6 Rb6 25. Ne5 Bxe5 26. fxe5 Bc6 27. Rhf1 Bb5 28. Rf2 Bc4 29. Rf6 Kg7 30. h4 h6 31. Kf3 Rc6 32. Rc2 Rc8 33. Kg4 Ra8 34. Kh5 Bd3 35. Rc7 Rf8 36. hxg5 Be2+ 37. g4 hxg5 38. Rg6+ Kh8 39. Rh6+ Kg8 40. Kxg5 Bd3 41. Rh3 Bf1 42. Rf3 Be2 43. Rfc3 (43. Rf2 {+10.3} 43... Bd3 44. Kf6 Bg6 45. Rh2) 43... Bc4 44. Kf6 Be2 45. g5 Bh5 46. Rc8 Rxc8 47. Rxc8+ Kh7 48. Ra8 Be2 49. Ra7 Bb5 50. Rxf7+ Kg8 51. g6 a5 52. Ra7 Bc6 53. Rc7 Be8 54. Rc8 Kf8 55. g7+ Kg8 56. Rxe8+ Kh7 57. g8=Q+ Kh6 58. Qh8# [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.11"] [Round "6"] [White "Ivancic"] [Black "Gorka"] [Result "0-1"] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.h3 O-O 7.O-O c6 8.a4 b6 9.Re1 Bb7 10.d5 Qc7 11.Be3 cxd5 12.Bxd5 Nxd5 13.Nxd5 Bxd5 14.Qxd5 Nf6 15.Qb3 Rac8 16.c3 Nxe4 17.Bxb6 Qb7 18.Rxe4 Qxe4 19.Bxa7 Ra8 20.Be3 Rfb8 21.Qa3 Qc2 22.b4 Rc8 23.Bd2 e4 24.Ra2 Qd1+ 25.Ne1 d5 26.a5 Qe2 27.Qa4 Bh4 28.g3 Bxg3 29.fxg3 e3 30.Qc2 Qf2+ 31.Kh1 Qxg3 32.Qd3 Qxh3+ 33.Kg1 Qg3+ 34.Ng2 exd2 35.Qxg3 d1=Q+ 36.Kh2 Qb3 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.11"] [Round "6"] [White "Bonham"] [Black "Bretag"] [Result "1-0"] 1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 Bf5 5.O-O e6 6.c4 Nbd7 7.Nbd2 Bd6 8.Re1 h5 9.Ng5 h4 10.e4 dxe4 11.Ndxe4 Nxe4 12.Bxe4 hxg3 13.fxg3 Qc7 14.Qf3 Qa5 15.Re2 g6 16.Bxf5 gxf5 17.Nxe6 fxe6 18.Rxe6+ Kd8 19.Rxd6 Qe1+ 20.Qf1 Qxf1+ 21.Kxf1 Rxh2 22.Kg1 Re2 23.Rh6 Kc7 24.Bf4+ Kb6 25.Rd6 Nf8 26.b4 Ne6 27.Be5 Ng5 28.a4 Nf3+ 29.Kf1 Rh2 30.a5+ Kc7 31.Rh6+ Kd7 32.Rxh2 Nxh2+ 33.Kg2 Ng4 34.Kf3 Ke6 35.Re1 Nxe5+ 36.Rxe5+ Kf6 37.Kf4 Rd8 38.Rxf5+ Kg6 39.d5 cxd5 40.Rxd5 Rc8 41.c5 Rf8+ 42.Ke4 Re8+ 43.Re5 Rb8 44.b5 Kf6 45.Rh5 Rg8 46.Rh7 Rxg3 47.Rxb7 Rg5 48.Kd4 Ke6 49.Rxa7 Rg4+ 50.Kc3 Rg3+ 51.Kd4 Rg4+ 52.Ke3 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.11"] [Round "6"] [White "Rout"] [Black "Shepherd"] [Result "1-0"] 1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 d4 4.Ne2 c5 5.c3 Nc6 6.cxd4 cxd4 7.Qa4 Bd7 8.Nexd4 e5 9.Nxc6 Bxc6 10.Bb5 Rc8 11.Bxc6+ bxc6 12.Nxe5 Qb6 13.O-O Nf6 14.d4 Qb5 15.Qxb5 cxb5 16.Bf4 Bb4 17.Rac1 O-O 18.Nc6 a5 19.a3 Bxa3 20.bxa3 Nxe4 21.Ne7+ [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.11"] [Round "6"] [White "Oud"] [Black "Keerthiratne"] [Result "0-1"] 1.c4 b6 2.Nc3 Bb7 3.e4 e6 4.d4 Bb4 5.d5 Qe7 6.Ne2 exd5 7.exd5 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 d6 9.Be3 Nf6 10.Nd4 O-O 11.Bd3 Nbd7 12.O-O Ne5 13.Be2 Qd7 14.h3 Ba6 15.Qb3 Ne4 16.f4 Nc5 17.Qb4 Ned3 18.Qb1 Bxc4 19.Rd1 Qe7 20.Bc1 Qe4 21.Ba3 Qe3+ 22.Kh2 Qxf4+ 23.Kg1 Qf2+ 24.Kh2 Bxd5 25.Bf3 Bxf3 26.Nxf3 Nf4 27.Rd2 Ne2 28.Bxc5 dxc5 29.Qe4 Rae8 30.Rxe2 Qxe2 31.Qxe2 Rxe2 32.a4 Rb2 33.Ra3 Re8 34.Ng1 Re3 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.11"] [Round "6"] [White "Foster"] [Black "Miller"] [Result "1-0"] 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.h3 Bxf3 6.Qxf3 e6 7.Bf4 Bg7 8.O-O-O Nf6 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bh4 g5 11.Bg3 O-O 12.e5 Ne8 13.h4 f6 14.Qh5 f5 15.hxg5 Qxg5+ 16.Kb1 f4 17.Qxg5 hxg5 18.Bh2 Kf7 19.Be2 Ke7 20.Rd3 Nd7 21.g3 c5 22.gxf4 gxf4 23.dxc5 Nxc5 24.Rh3 Bxe5 25.Rh7+ Kd8 26.Nb5 a6 27.Na3 Nf6 28.Rh4 Nfe4 29.f3 Nd6 30.Rh5 Bd4 31.c3 Be3 32.Nc2 Nf5 33.Nxe3 Nxe3 34.Rh4 e5 35.Bg1 d4 36.Bxe3 dxe3 37.Rh5 Re8 38.Rd1+ Nd7 39.Rh7 Re7 40.Rh8+ Re8 41.Rh7 Rg8 42.Rdxd7+ Kc8 43.Rc7+ Kd8 44.Rcg7 Re8 45.Rh5 Kc8 46.Rgh7 Ra7 47.Rh8 Rxh8 48.Rxh8+ Kd7 49.Kc2 Ke7 50.Kd3 Kf6 51.Ke4 b5 52.Rh6+ Kg5 53.Re6 Kh4 54.Rxe5 Kg3 55.Bd3 Rd7 56.b3 Rxd3 57.Kxd3 Kxf3 58.Re4 Kg3 59.Ke2 Kg4 60.c4 Kg3 61.c5 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.11"] [Round "7"] [White "Gorka"] [Black "Lim"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d3 e5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 d6 6.c3 Nf6 7.Nbd2 h6 8.Nc4 Be6 9.Ne3 Qd7 10.O-O d5 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Nxd5 Bxd5 13.Qe2 O-O-O 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.Qxe5 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.11"] [Round "7"] [White "Song"] [Black "Bonham"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bf4 e6 4.Nb5 Na6 5.a3 c6 6.Nc3 c5 7.e3 Nc7 8.Nf3 Bd6 9.Ne5 O-O 10.Bd3 a6 11.O-O Nce8 12.Qf3 c4 13.Be2 Nd7 14.Qg3 f6 15.Nf7 Kxf7 16.Bxd6 Nxd6 17.Qxd6 Qb6 18.Qxb6 Nxb6 19.b3 cxb3 20.cxb3 Bd7 21.Rac1 Rac8 22.Bf3 Rc7 23.Ne2 Rfc8 24.Rxc7 Rxc7 25.Rc1 Rxc1+ 26.Nxc1 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.11"] [Round "7"] [White "Kuypers"] [Black "Oud"] [Result "1-0"] 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.d3 g6 4.Be3 d6 5.d4 e5 6.dxc5 dxc5 7.Qxd8+ Kxd8 8.O-O-O+ Nd4 9.Nf3 Bg7 10.Bc4 Nh6 11.Nxe5 Bxe5 12.Bxh6 Ke8 13.f4 Bf6 14.Nb5 Bg4 15.Rd2 Rd8 16.Nc7+ Kd7 17.Nd5 Be7 18.c3 Nc6 19.Nf6+ Kc7 20.Nxg4 Rxd2 21.Kxd2 [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.11"] [Round "7"] [White "Ford"] [Black "Foster"] [Result "0-1"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Nf3 d6 5.e4 Nc6 6.Be3 O-O 7.Bd3 e5 8.d5 Nb4 9.O-O Bg4 10.Be2 c5 11.a3 Na6 12.h3 Bd7 13.b4 cxb4 14.axb4 Nxb4 15.Qb3 a5 16.c5 Qc7 17.cxd6 Qxd6 18.Rfc1 Rfc8 19.Bb5 Bxb5 20.Nxb5 Rxc1+ 21.Bxc1 Qd7 22.Na3 Nxe4 23.Bb2 Qxd5 24.Qxd5 Nxd5 25.Bxe5 Bxe5 26.Nxe5 Nec3 27.Nd3 b5 28.Nc5 b4 29.Nc2 a4 30.Ne3 Nxe3 31.fxe3 a3 32.Nb3 a2 33.Kf1 Ra3 34.Nd4 b3 35.Nxb3 Rxb3 36.Kf2 Rb1 37.Rxb1 axb1=Q 38.Kf3 Qf5+ 39.Kg3 Ne4+ 40.Kh2 Qf2 41.h4 Qxh4+ 42.Kg1 Qf2+ 43.Kh2 Qxe3 44.Kh1 f5 45.Kh2 Kg7 46.Kh1 Kh6 47.Kh2 Kg5 48.Kh1 Kh4 49.Kh2 g5 50.Kh1 g4 51.Kh2 g3+ 52.Kh1 Qe1# [Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.11"] [Round "7"] [White "Shepherd"] [Black "O'Mara"] [Result "1-0"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Bf5 3. Bf4 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. c4 c6 6. Bd3 Bg6 7. O-O Bd6 8. Bxd6 Qxd6 9. c5 Qc7 10. a3 Nbd7 11. Qc2 O-O 12. Bxg6 fxg6 13. Nbd2 Rae8 14. e4 e5 15. exd5 Nxd5 16. Rfe1 exd4 17. Nxd4 Nf4 18. Ne4 Nf6 19. Nd6 Rd8 20. Qc4+ N4d5 21. Ne6

Tasmanian State Championship 2024

Traditionally Launceston Chess Club (LCC) host the Tasmanian State Championships, over the long weekend in March.  Geographically Launceston sits in between the southern state capital Hobart and the North coast cities of Devonport and Burnie.  This was my sixth consecutive year of travelling up the National Highway 1 to take part, having made my debut in the 2019 event. Drawn by the star power of Grandmaster David Smerdon who took part that year.

Since the closure of the YMCA in Launceston the LCC have been looking for a new home for the State Champs.  After a trip out to Carrick in 2023 this year’s event was hosted in Rocherlea Memorial Hall, in the outer northern suburbs of greater Launceston.  The success of this year’s event hopefully means the State Champs have found a new home for 2025 and beyond.

The rude health of chess in Tasmania was evidenced by a near record breaking field taking part this year. There was some talk that we might break the long-standing record of 32 players who contested for the title in 2007.  In the end several late withdrawals reduced the field to 30.  However, three players made the trip from the big island to take part.  Friend of the tournament Miles Patterson from Canberra, Darryl Ross of NSW and Ron Kuypers from Queensland.  It was also good to see a healthy number of young people on the start list, with just over 50% of the entries aged between 16 and 39. 

In an echo of the 2023 Tasmanian Open, the oldest player David Ratkowsky was drawn against the youngest Karl Lee in the final round.  I also played Karl in round 4, a nerve-racking experience, because I coach Karl and a cohort of his fellow pupils at the Calvin school in Kingston and I was therefore extra keen not to lose. 

After seven rounds of hard-fought chess Carl Gorka retained his title of Tasmanian State Champion, finishing on a score of 6 out of 7 (5 wins and 2 draws).  Kevin Bonham, Zach Lim and Fabian Ivancic all finished equal second on 5 out of 7. 

In addition to Carl’s achievement history was also made in Tasmanian chess by Anya Song who finished equal 5th on 4.5/7.  I understand this is the highest score by a female player in Championship history.  Anya was awarded a cash prize very kindly donated by Carl Gorka.

The Junior prize was shared between Will Rumley and Himash Keerthiratne.  In addition, Himash shared the under 1800 rating prize with Noah Carpenter.  Finally, James Banbury was awarded the under 1500 rating prize.

The Tasmanian Senior Champion title is shared between Ian Rout and me (Chris Shepherd).

Round 4 game between Marcus and Zach
PGN viewer from Chess Tempo

[Event "Tasmanian Champs 2024"] [Site "Rocherlea"] [Date "2024.03.09"] [Round "4"] [White "Marcus Bretag"] [Black "Zach Lim"] [Result "0-1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bf4 d5 4. e3 c5 5. c3 Nc6 6. Nbd2 h6 7. h3 Qb6 8. Qb3 c4 9. Qc2 Qd8 10. b3 cxb3 11. axb3 Bd6 12. Bb5 Bxf4 13. exf4 O-O 14. O-O Qc7 15. g3 Bd7 16. Bxc6 Bxc6 17. Qd3 Ne4 18. Ne5 Nxd2 19. Qxd2 Qb6 20. Rfb1 Rfc8 21. Qd3 Be8 22. c4 f6 23. Nf3 dxc4 24. bxc4 Qc7 25. Nd2 b6 26. f5 exf5 27. Qxf5 Bf7 28. d5 Qc5 29. Ne4 Qe7 30. Re1 Qb4 (30... Re8) 31. Rab1 (31. c5) 31... Qf8 32. Nd2 Qd8 33. Re4 Qd6 34. Rg4 Kh8 35. Qd3 Re8 36. Ne4 Qe7 37. d6 (37. Nc3) 37... Qe5 (37... Rad8 38. c5 bxc5 39. Qb5 Qe5 40. d7) 38. Nd2 Red8 (38... Rad8) 39. d7 Be6 40. Rd4 Qc7 41. Re1 Bxh3 42. Re7 Qc5 43. Qe3 (43. Qe4 Rg8 44. Rd5 Qb4 45. Re8 Bxd7 46. Rxa8 Rxa8 47. Rxd7 Qf8 48. Nf3) 43... Qc6 44. Qe4 Qxe4 45. Nxe4 Kg8 46. g4 Kf8 47. Re8+ Rxe8 48. dxe8=Q+ Rxe8 49. Nd6 Rd8 50. f3 h5 51. gxh5 Be6 52. Kf2 Bxc4 53. Ke3 Bf7 54. h6 gxh6 55. Kf4 Bg6 56. Kg4 Ke7 57. Nb5 Rxd4+ 58. Nxd4

Playing Hall during round six

Carl and Fabian

Clockwise from back row left, Will Rumley, Kevin Bonham, Fabian Ivancic, Anya Song, Himash Keerthiratne, James Banbury, Noah Carpenter, Ian Rout, Chris Shepherd, Carl Gorka and Zach Lim.

One for the ages, Tasmanian Open 2023

Thirty-three competitors found their way to Hobart Chess Club’s temporary home a pair of math’s classrooms at Guildford Young College (GYC) in West Hobart.

Travis Liddell of Launceston Chess Club (LCC) was the field’s youngest player at 10 years old.  While David Ratkowsky 88, of Hobart Chess Club (HCC) was the oldest.

Travis’s family having recently moved to Tasmania from South Africa, promptly enrolled him in his local chess club.  Travis’s mum Lauren Liddell was quoted by The Mercury as saying, ‘he has found his people [at LCC]’.  I was told that while joining the chess club has solved one issue the search for a suitable rugby club in the area is ongoing.

David, like Travis, is new to competitive over the board chess.  Having joined Hobart Chess Club this year.  David’s background is in academia as a Microbiologist, amongst many scientific papers and citations he has also co-authored a popular local book ‘A field Guide to Tasmanian Fungi’ with Genevieve Gates.

The two newbies to tournament chess representing different ends of the age spectrum and the State’s traditional geographic north, south rivalry, met in round three with the win going to the older player.

Another outstanding performance was recorded by a competitor one year older than Travis. From Melbourne, Ariana Fais just 11 years of age and playing in her second rated tournament, recorded a score of 3.5 (a tournament performance rating of 1447).  Ariana’s performance was enough to take a well-deserved share of the best junior prize with Esteban Prieto.

The tension was high going into the last round on Monday morning.  A win on board one would give the victor the outright title.  The (board one) clash between two HCC member’s Will Rumley and Zach Lim ended in a draw after just 19 moves. Possibly because the two players know each other’s game so well?!  That result left both Will and Zach with a final score of 5/6.

The draw on the top board meant that Will and Zach would have to further share the title if there was a decisive result on board two between Fabian Ivancic (LCC) and James Briant (HCC).  And, with Carl Gorka (LCC) if he could overcome Ian Rout on board three.  Indeed, in the end the title was a four-way tie.  After Fabian defeated James in the longest game of the tournament (4 hours and 28 minutes) and Carl defeated Ian in a tense game on board three. I understand that none of the four winners have taken out the Tasmanian Open title before.

The full prize list: -

1st Will Rumley, Zach Lim, Carl Gorka, Fabian Ivancic
Top under 1650 rating: Kam Lee
Top under 1500 rating: Thomas Powell-Davies
Best Juniors: Esteban Prieto, Ariana Fais

Full results can be found on ChessChat here: chesschat.org/2023-Tasmanian-Open

One unfortunate side effect of hosting the tournament in classrooms (a temporary arrangement while the campus library is upgraded) was during Monday morning’s final round the classroom public address system sprung into life to unexpectedly play several classic pop songs.  The third (and thankfully last) being Don Maclean’s Vincent leading to play being temporarily suspended as the tournament was still being decided on the top boards. 

As Kevin Bonham wrote on ChessChat – ‘A Mr W. Joel and a Mr B. Springsteen (edit: also Mr D. Maclean) have been noted by the DOP for disrupting the games. It is possible that Mr Joel's line "Son can you play me a memory? I'm not really sure how it goes" was referencing his trouble remembering opening theory and also seeking outside assistance. It is believed he is a Guioco Piano man.’

Tasmanian Open 2023 prize winners.  Clockwise from back left Kam Lee, Esteban Prieto, Thomas Powell-Davies, Ariana Fais, Will Rumley, Zach Lim, Fabian Ivancic and Carl Gorka

Tasmanian Open competitors captured before the start of round three Sunday morning 11th June 2023

Thanks to Kam Lee for the Photographs

Tasmanian Championships 2023 Results

Carl Gorka is Tasmanian Champion at the first attempt.

Prize list:

=1st Carl Gorka / Hui Li
3rd Wynand Pretorius
Best Junior Will Rumley/Himash Keerthiratne
Best U1650 Yung-Shin Wells
Best U1500 Hayden Shaw

other titles Tasmanian Womens Champion Udani Amarasekera, Tasmanian Seniors Champion Ian Rout.

For full results and much more checkout chesschat.org thread on the tournament.

Himash Keerthiratne Winner of the 2022 Glen Gibbs Memorial Award

The TCA is pleased to announce that Himash Keerthiratne is to receive the 2022 Glen Gibbs Memorial Award.

In 2022 Himash had impressive performances at The Tasmanian Rapid and Lightning Championship, finishing 4th and 2nd respectively.  And placing second in the Launceston Open Lightning tournament.

The panel also commend Himash on his performance at the 2023 Australian Junior Chess Championships.

At the recently completed Tasmanian State Champs Himash was joint best Junior with previous Glen Gibbs winner Will Rumley (2015).

2022 Huon Valley Chess Festival

The Huon Valley Chess Festival goes from strength to strength, with the biggest (in terms of entries and prize money) so far this year.

 Prize List -

Player wins the prize of highest value or standing, all other prizes cascade down. Only rated players can win ratings prizes, except Best Newcomer (which is open only to players without an ACF or FIDE ID)

Open
1 GM Anton Smirnov
2-3 GM Moulthun Ly, GM David Smerdon
4 GM Max Illingworth
5 Mackiel Rodriguez
6 IM James Morris (tiebreak)

Female
1 WIM Hong Anh Nguyen
2 WGM Kim Phung Vo
3 Caroline Cowley / Anya Song

Junior (U16)
1 Calen Tang
2-3 Thomas Hartwell, Will Rumley

U2000
1 Calliste Herve-Mignucci
2 Tan Thanh Nugyen (tiebreak)

U1750
1 Andrew Martini
2 Addison Djatschenko (tiebreak)

U1500
1 Matthew Soriano
2 Hayden Shaw/William Hou/Lance Ryan/Alex Shaw (tiebreak not applied as all had been announced as prizewinners)

U1250
1-2 Jonty Oud, Eric Foster

Senior (Over 60)
1 Adrian Flitney
2 Alex Nagy
3 Roger Blackburn

Newcomer (No FIDE or ACF ID)
1 Domnhall Brannigan
2 Neil Arvin Dalmen

Tasmanian
1 Fabian Ivanovic (tiebreak)

Links:-

Rapid Full results: Rapid Crosstable

Lightning results: Lightning Crosstable

For more news pictures and to keep up with next years event checkout the Facebook page: facebook.com/huonvalleychessfestival

Additional Photos by Kam Lee

Launceston Cup and Lightning 2022

The results for the Launceston Cup 2022 are in: -

1st: Carl Gorka
2nd: Fabian Ivancic/ Wynand Pretorius joint for 2nd
Best Junior: Addison Djatschenko
Best under 1650: Esteban Prieto
Best under 1500: Yung-Shin Wells

Top three, Jack, Fabian and Carl.

Pos NAME                           Rtg   T  Fed  Pts |   1     2     3     4     5     6     7    |  Buc1    BucT  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1 Gorka,Carl                        0     TAS  7.0 | +B6   +W3   +B7   +W2   +B4   +W8   +B9    |   25.0    27.5 
  2 Ivancic,Fabian                    0     TAS  5.5 | +W4   +B5   +W8   -B1   =W3   +B6   +W7    |   27.0    30.5 
  3 Pretorius,Wynand-Jack             0     TAS  5.5 | +W10  -B1   +W13  +B5   =B2   +W7   +W4    |   26.0    26.5 
  4 Djatschenko,Addison               0     TAS  4.0 | -B2   +W9   +B10  +W11  -W1   +BYE  -B3    |   26.5    29.0 
  5 Cohen,Scott                       0     TAS  4.0 | +B9   -W2   +B11  -W3   -B7   +W10  +B8    |   23.0    25.5 
  6 Prieto,Esteban                    0     TAS  4.0 | -W1   -B8   +W9   +B12  +W13  -W2   +BYE   |   23.0    23.5 
  7 Keerthiratne,Himash               0     TAS  3.5 | +W11  +B13  -W1   =B8   +W5   -B3   -B2    |   28.0    28.5 
  8 Hartwell,Thomas                   0     TAS  3.5 | +B12  +W6   -B2   =W7   +B10  -B1   -W5    |   26.0    27.5 
  9 Wells,Yung-Shin                   0     TAS  3.0 | -W5   -B4   -B6   +BYE  +W12  +B11  -W1    |   22.0    23.5 
 10 Lillywhite,Harry                  0     TAS  3.0 | -B3   +BYE  -W4   +B13  -W8   -B5   +W12   |   20.5    21.0 
 11 Amarasekara,Udani                 0     TAS  3.0 | -B7   +W12  -W5   -B4   +BYE  -W9   +B13   |   17.0    17.5 
 12 Campbell,Andrew                   0     TAS  2.0 | -W8   -B11  +BYE  -W6   -B9   +W13  -B10   |   16.5    17.0 
 13 Bui, Hieu Minh                    0     AUS  1.0 | +BYE  -W7   -B3   -W10  -B6   -B12  -W11   |   20.5    22.0

Launceston Lightning 2022:

1st: Fabian Ivancic
2nd: Himash Keerthiratne
3rd: Wynand Pretorius
Best Junior: Addison Djatschenko
Best Under 1500: Tung-Shin Wells

All pize winners 

 Pos   N NAME                 Elo   T  Fed   Pts  |  1   2   3   4   5   6 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1   5  Ivancic,Fabian          0     TAS   9.5  |  *   1½  11  11  11  11 
  2   1  Keerthiratne,Himash     0     TAS   7.0  |  0½  *   01  ½1  11  11 
  3   4  Pretorius,Wynand-Jac    0     TAS   6.0  |  00  10  *   11  10  11 
  4   6  Djatschenko,Addison     0     TAS   3.5  |  00  ½0  00  *   11  10 
  5   2  Wells,Yung-Shin         0     TAS   2.0  |  00  00  01  00  *   10 
  6   3  Duboudin,Christian      0     TAS   2.0  |  00  00  00  01  01  *

Tas Rapid and Lightning Report

Congrats to Carl Gorka who is the first player to get 7/7 in the nine-year history of the Tas Rapid. Book prizes were awarded for first, second and =3rd, and junior prizes to Anya and Esteban.

 Pos NAME                           Rtg   T  Fed  Pts |   1     2     3     4     5     6     7    |  Buc1    BucT  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1 Gorka,Carl                     1993     VIC  7.0 | +B21  +W15  +W10  +B9   +W3   +B8   +W5    |   25.0    27.5 
  2 Rout,Ian C                     2139     TAS  5.5 | -W6   +B29  =B7   +W23  +W9   +B3   +W11   |   24.5    25.0 
  3 Straton,Toby                   2103     TAS  5.0 | +B18  +W12  +B4   +W8   -B1   -W2   +B13   |   29.5    32.5 
  4 Keerthiratne,Himash            1817     TAS  5.0 | +B23  +W22  -W3   +B6   +W11  -B5   +W8    |   24.5    26.5 
  5 Kruup,Andrew                   1572     TAS  4.5 | +B24  +W17  -B8   =W7   +B15  +W4   -B1    |   27.0    29.5 
  6 Briant,James                   1531     TAS  4.5 | +B2   -W7   +B16  -W4   +B17  +B10  =W9    |   26.5    29.5 
  7 Cohen,Scott                    1982     TAS  4.5 | =W9   +B6   =W2   =B5   -W10  +B21  +W16   |   26.0    28.5 
  8 Ivancic,Fabian                 1996      SA  4.0 | +W14  +B11  +W5   -B3   +W12  -W1   -B4    |   29.5    33.5 
  9 Song,Anya                      1400     TAS  4.0 | =B7   +W27  +B17  -W1   -B2   +W19  =B6    |   27.5    28.5 
 10 Bonham,Kevin                   2144     TAS  4.0 | +B13  +W16  -B1   -W15  +B7   -W6   +B17   |   27.0    30.0 
 11 Morris,Gary                    1583     TAS  4.0 | +B19  -W8   +B22  +W13  -B4   +W14  -B2    |   25.5    27.5 
 12 Nagy,Alex                      1620     TAS  4.0 | +W20  -B3   +W18  +B21  -B8   -W13  +B15   |   22.5    25.0 
 13 Duboudin,Christian             1550     TAS  4.0 | -W10  +B26  +W24  -B11  +W21  +B12  -W3    |   22.0    24.0 
 14 Prieto,Esteban                 1521     TAS  4.0 | -B8   +W19  -B15  +W24  +B27  -B11  +W22   |   19.0    20.0 
 15 Shepherd,Chris                 1573     TAS  3.5 | +W25  -B1   +W14  +B10  -W5   =B16  -W12   |   27.0    29.0 
 16 Martini,Andrew                 1626     TAS  3.5 | +B26  -B10  -W6   +W19  +B25  =W15  -B7    |   21.5    23.5 
 17 Lee,Kam                        1797     TAS  3.0 | +W29  -B5   -W9   +B22  -W6   +B20  -W10   |   22.0    22.5 
 18 Lillywhite,Harry               1523     TAS  3.0 | -W3   +B20  -B12  -W25  -B19  +W23  +B26   |   19.5    21.5 
 19 Scala,Ari                         0     TAS  3.0 | -W11  -B14  +W29  -B16  +W18  -B9   +W27   |   19.5    20.0 
 20 Fitzallen,Elias                   0     TAS  3.0 | -B12  -W18  -B23  +W26  +B24  -W17  +B25   |   17.0    19.0 
 21 Wells,Yung-Shin                1471     TAS  2.5 | -W1   +B25  +B27  -W12  -B13  -W7   =B24   |   24.0    25.0 
 22 Sutton,Darcy                      0     TAS  2.5 | +BYE  -B4   -W11  -W17  =B23  +W25  -B14   |   21.5    23.5 
 23 Aldred,Sam                        0     TAS  2.5 | -W4   -B24  +W20  -B2   =W22  -B18  +W29   |   21.0    21.5 
 24 Sharma,Vihaan                     0     TAS  2.5 | -W5   +W23  -B13  -B14  -W20  +B29  =W21   |   20.5    21.0 
 25 Scala,Max                         0     TAS  2.0 | -B15  -W21  +W26  +B18  -W16  -B22  -W20   |   17.5    19.5 
 26 Dhakal,Deepansu                   0     TAS  2.0 | -W16  -W13  -B25  -B20  +W29  +B27  -W18   |   16.5    17.0 
 27 Martini,Raphael                   0     TAS  1.0 | =BYE  -B9   -W21  =B29  -W14  -W26  -B19   |   19.0    19.5 
 28 Holbrook,Liam              (W) 1668     TAS  0.5 | =BYE   --    --    --    --    --    --    |   18.5    20.0 
 29 Blain-Lawry,Wes                   0     TAS  0.5 | -B17  -W2   -B19  =W27  -B26  -W24  -B23   |   18.5    19.5 
Generated by Vega - www.vegachess.com
(copy licensed to: Hobart Chess Club - AUS)

Fabian Ivancic is this year's Lightning Champion on the very impressive score of 8.5/9. Fabian said he was very sleep-deprived after getting off the boat that morning but managed to hang in there long enough for a string of opponents to blunder!

Himash won 2nd place, Zach was 3rd and Will and newcomer Deepansu shared the junior prize.

 Pos NAME                           Rtg   T  Fed  Pts |   1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9    |  Buc1    BucT  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1 Ivancic,Fabian                 1996      SA  8.5 | +B13  +W16  +W3   +B6   +W2   =B8   +B7   +W4   +B5    |   42.5    46.0 
  2 Keerthiratne,Himash            1817     TAS  6.5 | +B10  +W7   =B6   +W4   -B1   +W3   +B9   -W5   +B11   |   45.5    50.0 
  3 Lim,Zacharias                  2110     TAS  6.0 | +B18  +W9   -B1   +W7   +W8   -B2   +W11  -B6   +B14   |   43.5    47.0 
  4 Nguyen,Tan Thanh               1939     TAS  5.5 | =W15  +B19  +W11  -B2   =W6   =B5   +W8   -B1   +W9    |   44.0    45.5 
  5 Duboudin,Christian             1550     TAS  5.5 | +W8   -W6   -B7   +B15  +W16  =W4   +B13  +B2   -W1    |   43.5    47.0 
  6 Straton,Toby                   2103     TAS  5.0 | +W14  +B5   =W2   -W1   =B4   -W9   +B15  +W3   -B7    |   46.0    50.0 
  7 Bonham,Kevin                   2144     TAS  5.0 | +W17  -B2   +W5   -B3   +W11  +B12  -W1   -B9   +W6    |   45.5    49.0 
  8 Rumley,William                 2157     TAS  5.0 | -B5   +W14  +B16  +W9   -B3   =W1   -B4   =W12  +B13   |   43.0    46.5 
  9 Morris,Gary                    1583     TAS  5.0 | +W20  -B3   +W17  -B8   +W13  +B6   -W2   +W7   -B4    |   40.5    40.5 
 10 Dhakal, Deepansu                  0     TAS  5.0 | -W2   -B17  -B14  +W20  +B18  -B13  +W19  +W15  +B16   |   30.5    30.5 
 11 Price,Ben J                    1793     TAS  4.5 | =W19  +B15  -B4   +W12  -B7   +W14  -B3   +W17  -W2    |   39.0    40.5 
 12 Lawrence,Cormac                1770     TAS  4.5 | -B16  +W13  +B18  -B11  +W14  -W7   -B17  =B8   +W19   |   33.0    34.5 
 13 Harvey-Kays,Jesse              1344     TAS  4.0 | -W1   -B12  +W20  +B17  -B9   +W10  -W5   +B18  -W8    |   40.5    40.5 
 14 Wells,Yung-Shin                1471     TAS  4.0 | -B6   -B8   +W10  +W18  -B12  -B11  +W20  +B19  -W3    |   35.0    35.0 
 15 Nguyen,Le                      1211     TAS  4.0 | =B4   -W11  +B19  -W5   =B17  +W16  -W6   -B10  +W20   |   34.0    34.0 
 16 Sharma,Vihaan                     0     TAS  3.5 | +W12  -B1   -W8   +W19  -B5   -B15  =W18  +B20  -W10   |   37.5    37.5 
 17 Lillywhite,Harry               1523     TAS  3.5 | -B7   +W10  -B9   -W13  =W15  +B20  +W12  -B11  -W18   |   35.5    35.5 
 18 Blackburn,Roger                1512     TAS  3.5 | -W3   +B20  -W12  -B14  -W10  +B19  =B16  -W13  +B17   |   32.0    32.0 
 19 Morton,Harriet                    0     TAS  1.5 | =B11  -W4   -W15  -B16  +B20  -W18  -B10  -W14  -B12   |   34.5    34.5 
 20 Wang,Wesley                       0     TAS  0.0 | -B9   -W18  -B13  -B10  -W19  -W17  -B14  -W16  -B15   |   32.5    34.0

Photo credit Kam Lee ©

Tasmanian Open 2022 Report

Kevin Bonham is the 2022 Tasmanian Open Champion.  Wining the tournament with a score of six out of six.  However, the picket fence included a forfeit win.  The wild weather in the Northwest over the Queen’s Birthday weekend meant that Reg Harvey was unable to face Kevin in round two.  

Kevin posted on ChessChat…

“Thanks for the congrats all. The 13th time I've won the Open but the first picket fence (albeit with an asterisk for a win on forfeit); I also got one in the Tas Champs 2002 and have had a few in club events and other weekenders. I missed one in the 2020 Open when I blew a won ending on move 81 in the final round. I also had a shot at one in the final game in the 2006 Open but made no effort to win with black.

Picket fences in the Open: Darryl Johansen (1985), Graham Lee (1987), Pavel Sakov (1998), Michael Hornung (2000), Phil Donnelly (2013), Kevin Bonham (2022, including one forfeit)”

Prizes

1st Kevin Bonham
2nd Wynand Pretorius
3rd Fabian Ivanovic
Best Junior Will Rumley
U1650 Zach Lim
U1500 Addison Djatschenko

An exciting game from round 4…

PGN Viewer from Chess Tempo

[Event "Tasmanian Open 2022"] [Site "Somerset"] [Date "2022.06.12"] [Round "4"] [White "Ivancic, Fabian"] [Black "Rumley, William"] [Result "0-1"] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.Qd2 Bd7 8.0-0-0 Rc8 9.Nxc6 Bxc6 10.Bd4 Bh6 11.f4 Nf6 12.g4 e5 13.g5 Nxe4 14.Nxe4 Bxe4 15.Bb5+ Kf8 16.Bxe5 Rxc2+ 17.Qxc2 Bxc2 18.Bxd6+ Kg8 19.Kxc2 Bxg5 20.fxg5 Qxg5 21.Bc4 Kg7 22.Kb1 Rc8 23.Bb3 Qf5+ 24.Ka1 f6 25.Rhe1 Qg5 26.Bb4 Rc7 27.a3 Qg2 28.Rd8 g5 29.Rg8+ Kh6 30.h4 g4 31.Bd6 Rc6 32.Bf4+ Kh5 33.Bf7+ Kxh4 34.Rg7 ( { 34.Rh8 wins eg } 34.Rh8 g3 35.Rxh7+ Kg4 36.Be3 Kf5 37.Rg7 Ke5 38.Bxa7+ Kf5 39.Bg6+ Kf4 40.Bb8+ Kf3 41.Be4+ ) 34...h5 35.Rh7 Rc5 36.Bd6 Rb5 37.Bb4 g3 38.Rd1 { Now black is winning } 38...Qf3 39.Rd4+ Kh3 40.Ka2 g2 41.Rg7 Rg5 42.Be6+ Kg3 43.Be1+ Kh2 { and black won } 
Pos NAME                           Rtg   Perf  T  Fed  Pts |   1     2     3     4     5     6    |  Buc1    BucT  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1 Bonham,Kevin                   2014   N/A     TAS  6.0 | +B13  +F26  +W5   +B7   +B8   +W6    |   18.0    21.0 
  2 Pretorius,Wynand-Jack             0  1963     TAS  5.0 | +B16  =W14  =B10  +W4   +B9   +B7    |   17.5    20.5 
  3 Ivancic,Fabian                 1940  1809      SA  4.5 | =W12  +B21  +B4   -W8   +B13  +W10   |   17.5    20.0 
  4 Lim,Zacharias                  1640  1895     TAS  4.0 | +W29  +B11  -W3   -B2   +W21  +B8    |   19.0    20.0 
  5 Saint,Graham D                 1761  1719     NSW  4.0 | +B17  +W15  -B1   -W9   +B16  +W14   |   18.0    20.5 
  6 Broad,Braydon                     0  1642     TAS  4.0 | +B27  -W9   +B17  +W18  +B15  -B1    |   17.5    18.5 
  7 Kuzmic,Dylan                   1740  1832     TAS  3.5 | +W25  +B19  +B9   -W1   =B10  -W2    |   20.5    22.5 
  8 Rumley,William                 1734  1782     TAS  3.5 | +B23  =W10  +B14  +B3   -W1   -W4    |   20.5    22.5 
  9 McMahon,Denis                  1823  1802     TAS  3.5 | +W22  +B6   -W7   +B5   -W2   =B11   |   20.0    21.5 
 10 Duboudin,Christian                0  1768     TAS  3.5 | +W21  =B8   =W2   +B22  =W7   -B3    |   19.0    20.5 
 11 Rout,Ian C                     1900  1579     TAS  3.5 | +B18  -W4   +B16  =W13  =B14  =W9    |   16.5    19.5 
 12 Powell-Davies,Thomas           1504  1365     TAS  3.5 | =B3   -W13  -B23  +W17  +B24  +W18   |   15.5    17.5 
 13 Keerthiratne,Himash            1538  1697     TAS  3.0 | -W1   +B12  +W25  =B11  -W3   =B19   |   20.0    22.0 
 14 Cohen,Scott                    1539  1710     TAS  3.0 | +W20  =B2   -W8   +B19  =W11  -B5    |   19.0    21.5 
 15 Hann,Thomas                       0  1367     TAS  3.0 | +BYE  -B5   =W19  +B25  -W6   =B21   |   16.0    18.0 
 16 Djatschenko,Addison            1230   N/A     TAS  3.0 | -W2   +B29  -W11  +B24  -W5   +B27   |   15.5    16.5 
 17 Herve-Mignucci,Calliste           0  1288     TAS  3.0 | -W5   +B20  -W6   -B12  +W27  +B22   |   15.5    16.5 
 18 Morris,Gary                       0  1216     TAS  3.0 | -W11  +B24  +W28  -B6   +W22  -B12   |   14.5    15.0 
 19 Kruup,Andrew                   1572  1360     TAS  3.0 | +B28  -W7   =B15  -W14  +B23  =W13   |   14.0    14.5 
 20 Yu,Shuyang                        0  1063     TAS  3.0 | -B14  -W17  +BYE  -B21  +W25  +W23   |   12.5    14.0 
 21 Amarasekara,Udani              1367  1325     TAS  2.5 | -B10  -W3   +B27  +W20  -B4   =W15   |   17.0    18.0 
 22 Prieto,Esteban                    0  1032     TAS  2.0 | -B9   +W23  +F26  -W10  -B18  -W17   |   15.5    17.5 
 23 Cowley,Caroline                   0  1010     TAS  2.0 | -W8   -B22  +W12  +B28  -W19  -B20   |   14.0    14.5 
 24 Oud,Jonty                         0   N/A     TAS  2.0 | -B26  -W18  +B29  -W16  -W12  +B28   |   14.0    14.5 
 25 Foster,Eric                       0   N/A     TAS  2.0 | -B7   +W27  -B13  -W15  -B20  +W29   |   12.5    13.5 
 26 Harvey,Reg                 (W) 1664   N/A     TAS  1.0 | +W24  -F1   -F22   --    --    --    |   15.0    17.0 
 27 Oomen,Kavya                       0   N/A     TAS  1.0 | -W6   -B25  -W21  +W29  -B17  -W16   |   14.5    15.5 
 28 Shenoy,Amartya                    0   N/A     TAS  1.0 | -W19  +BYE  -B18  -W23  -B29  -W24   |   12.0    13.0 
 29 Oommen,Vaidehi                    0   N/A     TAS  1.0 | -B4   -W16  -W24  -B27  +W28  -B25   |   12.0    12.5

TCA TEAM 2022

The TCA AGM was held following the Tasmanian Championships. As there were only single nominees for each of the TCA Executive positions, it wasn’t too difficult to finalise our new team.

Ian Little has kindly agreed to take on the duties of President, succeeding Denis McMahon, who has retired after serving 8 years as President. Chris Shepherd returns as Vice-President, and is also our new Webmaster. Andrew Martini is our new Secretary. Christian Duboudin is the TCA Treasurer. James Briant is the new Junior Chess Officer. Dr. Kevin Bonham continues as Ratings Officer.

Sincere thanks to Ian Little for his work as Treasuer, Secretary and Webmaster; to Christine for her selfless and consistent work as Junior Chess Officer; and to Denis for his Presidency - and thanks in advance to the new team for helping Tasmanian chess to survive and prosper.

In other AGM news, the TCA decided not to increase the annual membership fees for 2023.

MILES REPEATS THE DOSE

Miles Patterson has won the 2022 Tasmanian Championships tournament, with 5.5 / 7, just ahead of Wynand Pretorius and Kevin Bonham. Wynand and Kevin share the 2022 Tasmanian Champion title, as only Tasmanian residents are eligible.

FINAL RESULTS:

1st Miles Patterson
2nd= Kevin Bonham. Wynand-Jack Pretorius (Tasmanian Champions)
U1650 David Escobar
U1500 Chris Shepherd, Udani Amarasekera
Best Junior Himash Keerthiratne, Harry Lillywhite
Tasmanian Seniors Champions Ian Rout, Denis McMahon
Tasmanian Women's Champion Udani Amarasekera

There were a number of withdrawals from the event, including Toby Straton, (who was leading at the time he felt he needed to withdraw), with about half of these relating to the pandemic.

Sincere thanks to the players who entered at this difficult time; to the Launceston Chess Club for their superb hosting; and to Kevin Bonham for his expert Direction of play.

Here’s the final crosstable, including iterative performance ratings:

Pos NAME                           Rtg   Perf  T  Fed  Pts |   1     2     3     4     5     6     7    |  Buc1    BucT  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1 Patterson,Miles                1901  2053     ACT  5.5 | +W18  +B6   +W3   =B5   =W2   =B7   +W4    |   29.0    32.0 
  2 Bonham,Kevin                   2009  1914     TAS  5.0 | +B13  +W8   =B4   +W10  =B1   =W6   =B7    |   26.5    29.5 
  3 Pretorius,Wynand-Jack             0  1839     TAS  5.0 | +B14  +W10  -B1   -W4   +B13  +W8   +B6    |   25.0    28.0 
  4 McMahon,Denis                  1728  1920     TAS  4.5 | +W22  +B7   =W2   +B3   -W5   +B10  -B1    |   29.0    30.5 
  5 Straton,Toby               (W) 1891  2079     TAS  4.5 | +W16  +B15  +W11  =W1   +B4    --    --    |   28.5    30.5 
  6 Cohen,Scott                    1731  1833     TAS  4.5 | +B12  -W1   +B9   +W14  +B8   =B2   -W3    |   27.0    30.0 
  7 Rout,Ian C                     1894  1767     TAS  4.5 | +B9   -W4   +B14  +W12  =B15  =W1   =W2    |   26.0    29.0 
  8 Davis,Tony J                   1844  1668  CM VIC  4.0 | +W19  -B2   +W15  +B11  -W6   -B3   +B16   |   23.5    25.0 
  9 Escobar,David                  1300  1502     TAS  4.0 | -W7   +B22  -W6   -B15  +B16  +W14  +W11   |   21.0    22.5 
 10 Keerthiratne,Himash            1531  1406     TAS  3.5 | +W23  -B3   +W19  -B2   +W18  -W4   =B12   |   23.5    25.0 
 11 Shepherd,Chris                 1493  1334     TAS  3.5 | +B20  +W13  -B5   -W8   =B12  +W17  -B9    |   22.5    24.0 
 12 Amarasekara,Udani                 0  1424     TAS  3.5 | -W6   +B18  +W16  -B7   =W11  =B13  =W10   |   22.0    24.0 
 13 Lillywhite,Harry                  0  1325     TAS  3.5 | -W2   -B11  +F23  +B19  -W3   =W12  +B17   |   21.5    23.0 
 14 Brown,Monty                    1090  1155     TAS  3.0 | -W3   +B23  -W7   -B6   +W20  -B9   +B19   |   22.0    23.5 
 15 Lim,Zacharias              (W) 1670  1644     TAS  2.5 | +B17  -W5   -B8   +W9   =W7    --    --    |   25.5    28.0 
 16 Prieto,Esteban                    0   667     TAS  2.5 | -B5   =W17  -B12  +BYE  -W9   +B20  -W8    |   21.5    23.0 
 17 Beeton,Luwanna                  695   889     TAS  2.5 | -W15  =B16  -W18  +B22  +W19  -B11  -W13   |   16.5    18.0 
 18 Herve-Mignucci,Calliste    (W)    0  1011     TAS  2.0 | -B1   -W12  +B17  +W20  -B10   --    --    |   21.5    23.0 
 19 Wells,Yung-Shin                1062   N/A     TAS  2.0 | -B8   +W20  -B10  -W13  -B17  +BYE  -W14   |   17.5    19.0 
 20 Walker,James                      0   N/A     TAS  2.0 | -W11  -B19  +W22  -B18  -B14  -W16  +BYE   |   14.5    15.5 
 21 Abbott,Nathan              (W)    0   N/A     TAS  1.0 | +BYE   --    --    --    --    --    --    |   20.5    22.5 
 22 Dunn,Mark                  (W)    0   N/A     TAS  1.0 | -B4   -W9   -B20  -W17  +BYE   --    --    |   17.0    18.0 
 23 Anand Lokesh,Gomanth       (W)    0   N/A     TAS  0.0 | -B10  -W14  -F13   --    --    --    --    |   15.5    16.5

Oscar Breslin wins the 2021 Glen Gibbs Memorial Award

Oscar Breslin has added the Glen Gibbs Memorial Award to his trophy cabinet., following an outstanding year. In June, he became the youngest ever winner of the Tasmanian Open. He also won the prestigious Huonville Festival event. In November he successfully defended the Tasmanian Junior Champion title he won last year. Oscar also finished 3rd. in the Tasmanian Rapid Championships in Burnie, and participated in each of the four Tasmanian title events. The decision of the selection panel was unanimous. This year, it just had to go to Oscar!

Oscar wins back to back Tasmanian Junior titles.

Oscar Breslin has successfully defended his Tasmanian Junior Champion title, finishing with 7.5 / 8 - half a point ahead of Will Rumley from Hutchins and Liam Hollbrook from Elizabeth College.

Hutchins won the Secondary Division, repeating their 2020 success, with Scotch Oakburn, Launceston Church Grammar and Launceston College finishing 2nd. equal.

In the Primary Division, Waimea Heights Primary had an outstanding day, finishing 3 points ahead of The Friends School, with Princes St. Primary a further point back in 3rd.

Here’s a link to all the results: Event summary | Tornelo

Sincere thanks to the Kids Unlimited team for organising the events; and to Scotch Oakburn for hosting. With about 400 students representing their schools at the finals, chess was the biggest winner on the day.