Congrats to team JAMiNG who have won the state final - despite losing to Launceston 1.5-2.5, they outscored Launceston 7 to 5 in their other matches and hence won with 8.5 game points (final was game points first). Winning team was Noah Carpenter, Anya Song, Gary Morris and Mary Khodjaeva. (The J in JAMiNG, Jethro Sih, was loaned to another team who were short a game). Team Monkey Minds went into the final round in the lead but were beaten by Launceston. In the second division, Kingborough Knights won by a large margin on 10.5 game points.
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
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
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.
Tasmanian Junior Rapid Champs 2023
Seven rounds of rapid chess played out at Sacred Heart College in Launceston on Saturday 9th December. In three age divisions, under 8s and 10s, Under 12 and Secondary.
Thanks to Blacksquare Chess.
Tournament results: -
Secondary
=1st Thomas Hartwell & Himash Keerthiratne 6.5/7
3rd Jonty Oud 5/7
4th Eric Foster 4/7
Under 12s
1st Stefan Walstab 7/7
2nd Joel Metzler 5/7
3rd/4th Minh Nguyen & Amartya Shenoy 4.5/7
Under 8 & 10s
=1st Kyler Wang & Jae Lockyer 6/7
3rd William Hanna 5.5/7
4th Zoe Meredith 5/7
The playing Hall
Tasmanian Junior Chess Championships 2023
Over the weekend of the 23 and 24th of September the 2023 Tasmanian Junior Championships were held at Sacred Heart College in New Town Hobart. The event was organized and run by Blacksquare Chess, over 110 players competed for titles across five different age groups. The results: -
Under-8
1st - James Wang 7/7
2nd - Yien Zheng 5/7
3rd - Will Lockyer 5/7
1st Girl – Zoe Meredith 6/7
2nd Girl – Lottie Morgan 3.5/7
3rd Girl – Charlotte Bonde 3.5/7
Under-10
1st - Travis Liddell 7/7
2nd – Kyler Wang 6/7
3rd – Le Nguyen 5/7
Under 12
1st – Amartya Shenoy 7/7
2nd – Luca Giannakopolous 5.5/7
3rd – Angus Hewitt 5/7
1st Girl – Jessica Hu 5.5/7
2nd Girl – Carina Wu 3.5/7
Full player list and details - Tornelo 2023-tasmanian-junior-u8-10-12
L-R: Will Rumley, Khanh Nguyen, Himash Keerthiratne, Amartya Shenoy, Travis Liddell, James Wang, Zoe Meredith, Jessica Hu, Darcy Sutton
Under 14
1st - Himash Keerthiratne
2nd - Matthew Soriano
3rd - Lachlan Hughes
1st Girl – Darcy Sutton
2nd Girl – Nilu Jiang
Tasmanian Under14 Champs
New Town, Hobart, TAS - 23/09/2023, 24/09/2023
Cross Table at round 7 sorted by score
Pos NAME Rtg T Fed Pts | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | BH BH-C1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Keerthiratne,Himash 1762 TAS 6.5 | +W11 +B12 +W5 +B2 +W6 =B4 +W7 | 28.5 25.5
2 Soriano,Matthew 815 TAS 5.5 | +W18 +B16 +B13 -W1 =B7 +W8 +W4 | 26.0 24.5
3 Hughes,Lachlan 0 TAS 5.0 | -W5 +B15 +W16 -B4 +W19 +B14 +B6 | 22.5 21.0
4 Prieto,Esteban 1295 TAS 4.5 | -B12 +W11 +B8 +W3 +B5 =W1 -B2 | 31.5 28.5
5 Sutton,Darcy 830 TAS 4.5 | +B3 +W19 -B1 +W12 -W4 =BYE +B13 | 27.5 26.0
6 Sharma,Vihaan 674 TAS 4.0 | +B9 =W8 =B7 +W13 -B1 +B17 -W3 | 29.0 26.5
7 Cassidy,Samuel 0 TAS 4.0 | -W14 +B10 =W6 +B19 =W2 +B11 -B1 | 27.5 26.0
8 Wilkins,Luka 0 TAS 4.0 | +W20 =B6 -W4 =B14 +W15 -B2 +W17 | 23.5 22.0
9 Medina,Xavier 0 TAS 4.0 | -W6 +B20 -W12 -B11 +W18 +B15 +W14 | 18.5 17.0
10 Giannakopoulos,Alex 0 TAS 4.0 | -B13 -W7 -W15 +B18 +W16 +B20 +W11 | 18.0 16.5
11 England,Oscar 0 TAS 3.0 | -B1 -B4 +W18 +W9 +B13 -W7 -B10 | 27.5 26.0
12 Fan,Wentong 0 TAS 3.0 | +W4 -W1 +B9 -B5 -W14 -W13 +B19 | 27.0 25.5
13 Foster,Eric 887 TAS 3.0 | +W10 +B14 -W2 -B6 -W11 +B12 -W5 | 27.0 24.0
14 Payne,Harrison 0 TAS 3.0 | +B7 -W13 =B17 =W8 +B12 -W3 -B9 | 25.5 23.0
15 Crowley,Solomon 0 TAS 2.5 | -B19 -W3 +B10 +W17 -B8 -W9 =B16 | 23.5 22.0
16 Skala,Maximilian 0 VIC 2.5 | +B17 -W2 -B3 -W20 -B10 +W19 =W15 | 22.5 21.0
17 Cukier-O'Brien, Memphis 0 TAS 2.5 | -W16 +B18 =W14 -B15 +B20 -W6 -B8 | 19.0 17.5
18 Jiang,Nilu 0 TAS 2.0 | -B2 -W17 -B11 -W10 -B9 +BYE +W20 | 21.0 20.5
19 Skala,Ari 0 VIC 1.5 | +W15 -B5 =W20 -W7 -B3 -B16 -W12 | 23.0 21.5
20 Dhakal,Deepansu 0 TAS 1.5 | -B8 -W9 =B19 +B16 -W17 -W10 -B18 | 20.0 18.5
21 Capaci,Noah (W) 0 TAS 0.0 | -- -- -- -- -- -- -- | 17.5 16.5
Under-16
1st – Khanh Nguyen
2nd – Riley Bowden
3rd - Will Dunbabin
Under 18
1st – Will Rumley
2nd - Jonty Oud
3rd – Louise Ford
Tasmanian Junior Champs
New Town, Hobart, TAS - 23/09/2023, 24/09/2023
Cross Table at round 7 sorted by score
Pos NAME Rtg T Fed Pts | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | BH BH-C1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Rumley,William (W) 1900 TAS 6.0 | +W5 +B9 +W2 +B4 +W3 +B6 -- | 33.0 30.0
2 Nguyen,Khanh 0 TAS 6.0 | +B3 +W8 -B1 +W7 +W4 +B5 +B11 | 29.5 26.5
3 Bowden,Riley 0 TAS 5.0 | -W2 +B10 +W5 +B12 -B1 +W8 +W4 | 29.0 26.5
4 Oud,Jonty 1362 TAS 4.0 | +B8 +W6 +B7 -W1 -B2 +W9 -B3 | 31.5 28.5
5 Dunbabin,William 0 TAS 4.0 | -B1 +W11 -B3 +W6 +B7 -W2 +B13 | 29.5 28.5
6 Carlos,Quincy 0 TAS 4.0 | +W10 -B4 +W9 -B5 +W12 -W1 +B8 | 26.0 23.5
7 Wells,Yung-Shin 1204 TAS 4.0 | +W13 +B12 -W4 -B2 -W5 +W14 +B10 | 20.5 20.5
8 Ford,Louise 0 TAS 3.0 | -W4 -B2 +W14 +B10 +W9 -B3 -W6 | 25.0 25.0
9 Blain-Lawry,Wes 0 TAS 3.0 | +B11 -W1 -B6 +W13 -B8 -B4 +W14 | 21.5 21.5
10 Robbie,Nicholas 0 TAS 3.0 | -B6 -W3 +B11 -W8 +B14 +B13 -W7 | 20.0 20.0
11 Li,Tian 0 TAS 3.0 | -W9 -B5 -W10 +B14 +W13 +B12 -W2 | 19.5 19.5
12 Burns,Jackson (W) 0 TAS 2.0 | +B14 -W7 +B13 -W3 -B6 -W11 -- | 20.0 20.0
13 Joyce,Tobin 0 TAS 1.0 | -B7 +W14 -W12 -B9 -B11 -W10 -W5 | 19.5 19.5
14 Norris,Tyler 0 TAS 0.0 | -W12 -B13 -B8 -W11 -W10 -B7 -B9 | 19.5 18.5
15 Munnings,Daniel (W) 0 TAS 0.0 | -- -- -- -- -- -- -- | 17.5 16.5
Unfortunately, Will Rumley wasn’t able to play his round seven game because of a clash with a schools mathematics competition.
All the winners
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 22.0Launceston 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
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 12.5TCA 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 16.5Oscar 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!
Eddy defends the LCC Northern Champions
Congratulations to Eddy on a very successful defence of this event - and to Himash for the Top Junior prize. Congratulations also to Esther, Andrew and their team for their wonderful hospitality; and to the players for their camaraderie.
LCC have also decided to donate about $250 from the raffle conducted during the Launceston Cup to the TCA. Sincere thanks for their kindness.
Pos NAME Rtg T Fed Pts | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | Buc1 BucT
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Amos,Eddy 2103 TAS 6.5 | +B8 +W14 =B3 +W2 +W4 +B11 +W5 | 25.0 26.5
2 Ivancic,Fabian 1968 TAS 5.5 | +W7 +B10 +W5 -B1 +W11 +W3 =B4 | 27.0 30.0
3 Keerthiratne,Himash 1781 TAS 5.0 | +W13 +B11 =W1 =B5 +W9 -B2 +W12 | 25.0 27.5
4 McMahon,Denis 1920 TAS 4.5 | +B15 -W5 +B9 +W8 -B1 +W6 =W2 | 26.0 26.5
5 Hartwell,Thomas 1694 TAS 4.0 | +W6 +B4 -B2 =W3 =B8 +W10 -B1 | 28.5 31.5
6 Puccetti,Ryan 0 TAS 4.0 | -B5 +BYE +W10 -B11 +W7 -B4 +W9 | 22.0 24.5
7 Brown,Monty 1418 TAS 4.0 | -B2 -W9 +B15 +W14 -B6 +BYE +W11 | 19.5 20.0
8 Duboudin,Christian 1552 TAS 3.5 | -W1 +W12 +B14 -B4 =W5 -B9 +BYE | 23.5 25.0
9 Tang,Weihang 0 TAS 3.5 | =W10 +B7 -W4 +B12 -B3 +W8 -B6 | 23.0 25.5
10 Beeton,Kerry 1561 TAS 3.5 | =B9 -W2 -B6 +W13 +B14 -B5 +W15 | 20.5 21.0
11 Djatschenko,Addison 1704 TAS 3.0 | +B12 -W3 +B13 +W6 -B2 -W1 -B7 | 26.5 29.0
12 Beeton,Bayani 698 TAS 3.0 | -W11 -B8 +BYE -W9 +B15 +W13 -B3 | 19.0 19.5
13 Beeton,Luwanna 1011 TAS 3.0 | -B3 +W15 -W11 -B10 +BYE -B12 +W14 | 17.5 18.0
14 Walker,James 0 TAS 2.0 | +BYE -B1 -W8 -B7 -W10 +W15 -B13 | 22.0 22.5
15 Campbell,Andrew 1194 TAS 1.0 | -W4 -B13 -W7 +BYE -W12 -B14 -B10 | 18.0 19.5
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.
The Launceston Open Lightning 2021
Jeeva in Command
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