Burnie Xmas - Youth vs Wisdom

last chance of teh year for young uns to whop the oldies.  7pm start.
Check out these games from Phil http://members.dodo.com.au/phild707/

Launceston vs Burnie Match

What a turn out! At least Lawrence was bedecked in a smart dinner suit, black shirt and tie, with white shoes.  A great outfit appropriate for dining on ham sandwiches and Tim Tams and all the better to play chess in.  Well almost - Lawrence's winning game soured to tramp's rags when Dylan found a comeback to recover his bishop and then to force a perpetual check.  Lawrence checked his team mate's progress before deciding to accept the draw over a dubious king run in faint hope of  survival.

Nigel was ecstatic about his salvation against new Tasmanian, Charlie Fourie, to halve points.

Reg was disappointed and disappointing missing many moves and never really got into his game against Launceston captain, Mike Baldini. 

My game finished early against George Hambley.  15 moves of quiet play by George allowed rampant attack in the centre.

Phil played Marcus in the best game of the night.  Unfortunately the time controls dictasted play in the middle game where ascendancy passed from Phil to Marcus.  Marcus incredibly managed to wriggle from a restricted position to force an innovative combination with only 3 minutes remaining and Launcetsone wins 3-2!

Board 1 Marcus Bretag 1 (Launceston) vs Phil Donnelly 0 (Burnie)

Board 2 Reg Harvey 0 (Burnie) vs Mike Baldini 1 (Launceston)

Board 3 Lawrence Bretag 1/2 (Launceston) vs Dylan Kuzmic 1/2 (Burnie)

Board 4 Nigel Lewis 1/2 (Burnie) vs Charlie Fourie 1/2 (Launceston)

Board 5 George Hambly (Launceston) 0 vs Russell Horton 1 (Burnie)

Launceston 3 beats Burnie 2

Calendar for rest of 2010

Dec 1st Burnie Chess Club Lightning Championships - 5'/player - all welcome.  Entries start at 6:45pm, close at 7pm. 
Dec 8th Burnie plays Launceston at Havenview Primary.  Early start 6:30pm for a 6:45pm match.  Top seeded players present will be slelected to represent Burnie.  Other players will play rated games.  60'+10"

Chess 960

A asmall field contesteded the Chess 960.  Carey wa sexteremly unlucky not to win teh tournament, losing precious seconds hunitng for a queen against Reg (borrowed by Russell) to end in a draw.  For teh record teh psoitions were 748, 552, 042, 929, 740, 000.  Reg won with 3.5/5, Andrew and Carey 2nd with 3, Russell 3rd with 2.5.

High School Chess - two weeks free

Burnie Chess Club invites all high school players to free chess nights. Opening traps, coaching and competitive games.

Wednesday at 6:45 -8:45pm

November 3rd and 10th

Havenview Primary School

Allegro Placings Decided

Reg has streeted teh field with a 10 zip win and can't be caught with only two games left.  Vincent also finishes second (7 with 1 to play) and Nigel 3rd (6.5) without any changes to placings despiet two games remaining.  Dylan vs David; Vincent vs David for honour only.

Last Week of Allegro

Reg has had a clear run so far defeating all before him and leads with 9 points and 1 game remaining.
Draw for tonight:
Russell vs Phil; Nigel vs Andrew; Zac vs Dylan; Vincent vs David;
Dylan vs Carey; Nigel vs Reg; Vincent vs Fred;
Dylan vs David;  Carey vs Andrew;
Dylan vs Andrew; Vincent vs Carey
Colours to be drawn at the board.

Allegro and Geronimo

Moving quick brings a special set of problems.  You would think that 15 minutes per player would be enough to easily make 10 opening moves, 20 middle game moves to gain an advantage and then clean up or win in the end game.  Not so, BCC players miss one move tactics, become befuddled with complicated combinations and react either efficiently or terribly under pressure.  Tonight we had a few illegal moves - warning only - and many a game won on time or by the surprising stroke of a  one move #.  David threatened to give up and never come back, Dylan played on a Q down wishing for stalemate, Phil moved into check, Nigel called and illegal move on me which wasn't but it took a while to check, post match could have beens were loudly defended.  Geronimo jumps off the chess cliff - why do players resort to such ordinary chess in Allegro?  My one win tonight beating Vincent convincinlgy aftre some ordinary other games.
The leaders are Nigel 4.5/5, Vincent 4/5.

Entries for Weekender in 10 days now being accepted - details below.

I misted the Isted

Last week saw the final games played in the Robert Isted club tournament.  The cards had fallen with me (6) requiring one win to secure equal first with Vincent (7) and Reg (7).   David played Andrew and won without consequence on the final standings.  My final game was against Vincent where he casually asked if I had been doing some preparation against him (ie his usual response to d4).  The game went 1. d4 f5 and very Dutch - by move 5 we were in a weird position with my h4 looking to be a good aggressive move.  Unfortunately this plan petered out and after some wriggling he managed to move into an endgame.  Vincent offered a draw which I politely declined (even though worse now), desperately fighting for a win which didn't even raise it's head for a chance.
Final results
Vincent 1st, Reg 2nd, Russell 3rd.

Next week we start the Allegro - 15 minute games over 4-5 weeks.
Sure to be fun especially for new players and juniors.  No recording.

Be sure to play in the Burnie Shines weekender - what better than a weekend of chess 23 and 24 October.

Robert Isted - 11 Moves

Dylan was satisfied with his f5 on move 5 and hopped up from the table to have a wander. What a surprise when he returned - N x e5!!  A run of checks and pawn captures soon gave Vincent the advantage and mate followed on move 11.White Horton, Vincent.  Black Kuzmic, Dylan. Result 1-0
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 h6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. d3 f5 6. Nxe5 dxe5 7. Qh5+ Kd7 8. Qxf5+ Kc6 9. Qxe5 a6 10. Be3 Qd6 (10... Nf6 $18 11. Qg3 (11. d4 b6) 11... b5 12. e5 Kb7 13. exf6 Bxf6 14. Bd5+) 11. Bb5+ (11. Qb5+ axb5 12. Bxb5#) 11... axb5 12. Qxb5# 1-0

Phil continued his mixed results with a win this week against Fred after a loss last week to David due to a shortage of time.  This week he had plenty on the clock and Reg and I (observers) were entertained by the myriad of possibilities for tactics with knight running amuck mid game.
No Name Total #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14


1. Fifield, Andrew 3.5 * D D W - L W - L D

2. Horton, Russell 6 D * L W W L - W L W - W D

3. Harvey, Reg 7 D W * W W - L D W W W

4. Loveric, Paul 0 L * L L -

5. Kuzmic, Dylan 3 L L * W - L W L L W

6. Lewis, Nigel 5 L W L L * - W L W W - W L

7. Lucas, Peter 1 - - - W - - * - - - - - - -

8. Cameron, Owen 0 L L - * L - L

9. Horton, Vincent 7 W W W W - W * W W - L L

10. Kuzmic, Carey 3.5 L W D L L - L * W - L W

11. Hughes, David 3 L W W L - L L * - W L

12. Hendrey, Kevin 1 - - L - W - - - - - - * - -

13. Donnelly, Phil 4 W L L L - W W L - * W

14. Duiker, Fred 5 D D L L W - W W L W - L *

Tasmanian Junior Championships - L'ton Sept

U18 Tasmanian Junior Championships 2010
U18 Champion Alastair Dyer, 2nd Kevin Hendrey, 3rd Lawrence Bretag and Marcus Bretag
U16 Champion Vincent Horton
U14 Champion Mason Carter

1 Dyer, Alastair TAS 4
2 Hendrey, Kevin TAS 3.5
3-4 Bretag, Lawrence TAS  2.5
Bretag, Marcus TAS  2.5
5 Horton, Vincent TAS 1.5
6 Carter, Mason TAS 1

Results U18 Lightning – Double Round Robin
1st Alastair Dyer 7/10
2nd Vincent Horton 6/10
3rd Marcus Bretag 5.5/10
4th Lawrence Bretag 5/10
5th Mason Carter 4.5/10
6th Kevin Hendrey 2/10

U12 Championships 2010
U12 Champion Oscar Brown, 2nd Kyle Clarke
U10 Champion Lenard Lange, 2nd Bradley Vince, 3rd Nathan Williamson
U10 Girls Yuvini Perera, 2nd Teagan Lee

Place Name Feder Rtg Loc Score Berg. Wins

1 Brown, Oscar  7
2 Lange, Lenard  6
3 Vince, Bradley  5
4 Perera, Yuvini   4
5-6 Williamson, Nathan  2.5
Clark, Kyle TAS 500 2.5
7 Lee, Teagan TAS 500 1

U12 Lightning
1st Oscar Brown 6/6
2nd Bradley Vince 3.5/6
3rd Yuvini Perera 1.5/6
4th Lenard Lange1/6

North West Junior Chess Event

Ulverstone Primary: Sunday 29 August 12:30-4:30pm
Primary and Secondary 7-12 Competition
Prizes, lessons, newcomers welcome. $7 entry on the day from 12pm
Contact: Russell Horton nwchess@gmail.com

Go Marcus

Last weekend in Hobart Marcus Bretag played Vladimir Smirnov (overall winner) in the last round and scored a draw against the FM! A small field contested the event with Alastair Dyer (4/6 equal 3rd), Vincent Horton (3/6) and myself (3/6) the only players from the NW.
Last week at the Burnie Club, Phil returned from an overseas holiday in Poland. He played Vincent who had the upper hand but was beaten by a tactic. Paul lost to Peter. Reg df Dylan. Carey upset David. Nigel was looking 2 pawns down and I suffered from a bit of complacency. Nigel quickly found a queen trap and the game was lost.
Next week the tournament continues and players will play either tournament games or rated games outside of the tournament.

Cancellations

A number of players have pulled out of the tournament and several have been away, therefore the draw is looking messy.
Last week Fred 1 vs David 0; Owen 0 vs Russell 1; Andrew 1 vs Carey 0.
Its not too late to enter Hobart Weekender

Draw for rounds 7 and 8

Robert Isted next rounds
Round 7 (Phil absent - all players to attend and play earlier rounds)
1 Paul Loveric (4) : Fred Duiker (14)
2 Dylan Kuzmic (5) : Reg Harvey (3)
3 Nigel Lewis (6) : Russell Horton (2)
4 Peter Lucas (7) : Andrew Fifield (1)
5 Owen Cameron (8) : Phil Donnelly (13)
6 Vincent Horton (9) : Kevin Hendrey (12)
7 Carey Kuzmic (10) : David Hughes (11)

Round 8
1 Fred Duiker (14) : David Hughes (11)
2 Kevin Hendrey (12) : Carey Kuzmic (10)
3 Phil Donnelly (13) : Vincent Horton (9)
4 Andrew Fifield (1) : Owen Cameron (8)
5 Russell Horton (2) : Peter Lucas (7)
6 Reg Harvey (3) 1:0 Nigel Lewis (6)
7 Paul Loveric (4) : Dylan Kuzmic (5)

Tasmanian Chess History

Chess stalwart, Neville Ledger has published another volume of chess tournaments in Tasmania.  Results and comments on all Tas events dating back to 1890.  The latest volume 5 is $5 and available from Neville Ledger, PO Box 837, Burnie, Tas, 7320.

Hobart Weekender

Hobart Weekender 2010
Class One Yulgilbar-Think Big Australian Chess Grand Prix event.  Hosted by Hobart International Chess Club
VENUE: Migrant Resource Centre, 49 Molle St, Hobart
FORMAT: 6 round Swiss or Accelerated Swiss. 60 minutes plus 10 seconds per move per player.
ROUNDS START: Saturday 14th August 10:30 am, 1:30 pm, 4:00 pm, 7:15 pm.  Sunday 15th August 9:30 am, 12:45 pm.
ENTRY FEES: $50 waged, $45 conc, $30 U18, $25 U12, $5 discount if entry received by 6th Aug. Entries on day close 10 am. If considering entering on day, please let us know.
ENQUIRIES: Kevin Bonham ph. 0421 428 775 email k_bonham@tassie.net.au
HALF POINT BYES: One per player maximum, Saturday only, if requested in writing with entry or before the day for round 1, or before the start of previous round for rounds 2-4. Not available if player has already received a bye or forfeit.

Games and results update

Fred and Nigel with their Bronze medals from the very hotly contested Lindsay Atkinson.

Robert Isted Results
Fred 1 vs Vincent 0
Russell 0 vs Reg 1.  (I was thrashing Reg, with an exchange, two pawns and Reg's king under attack.  In an attempt to drive the knife deeper I kept the Queens on.  10 moves later completely lost.)
Andrew 1 vs Nigel 0
Vincent 1 vs Carey 0 (Exchange up and won on time).
Russell vs David 0.  (David struggled in the opening and was continually cramped.  I missed a chance to win a piece and but gained an exchange to easily round up the lose pawns).
Reg 1 vs Fred 0.  (Reg attacked ferociously, later Fred fought back and mounted his own ferocity.  Reg checkmated while Fred was threatening mate in 1).
Dylan 1 vs Nigel 0.  (Dylan played a King's Gambit, pushed his kingside pawns with his two rooks supporting).
Fred 0 vs Carey 1
David 0 vs Vincent 1 (Vincent was up an early exchange and then David gave away his Bishop :-(
Russell 1 vs Dylan 0 (We played familiar territory with the English Defence and Dylan nearly repeated Bb7xe4, but settled for Nf6 and so stymied his f5 breakout.  With f3 blocking the bishop I pushed a dubious h4.  The oncoming pawns looked too much for Dylan so he exchanged his bishop for 2 nointers.  I found breaking through tricky and was down to low time before I secured a mate with knight on h8 and f6).
Reg 1 vs Nigel 0 (The Stonewall strikes again, a hot sac Bxf7 got things going for Reg).

All good games!?

When we looked at the draw for round 3 most games looked to be interesting with strong tussles to eventuate.  The surprises encountered in earlier games are posted here http://members.dodo.com.au/phild707/
Reg won a piece to a two move tactic, but Andrew managed to wriggle out with a draw.
Dylan went down to Kevin
Nigel returned to club form and defeated David to be very pleased with himself.
Owen had a tough time against Vincent.
Carey v Phil was a symmetrical English for a while until white, noticing that black on the point of launching a Q side pawn offensive, correctly counterattacked in the centre. Carey 1st sac'ed a pawn then a knight to gain a crushing grip on e6 and f7 and all the initiative. Unfortunately, particularly after such an enterprising game by Carey, he got engrossed in the position, forgot to watch the clock and his flag fell. Bad luck as he deserved at least a draw. (Notes from Phil)
In my game against Fred - I had a crushing attack, won  an exchange and tried to get too much out of the position, ran short on time, dropped a few quick pawns and accepted a draw with 80 secs left.  Fred kept on hanging in and remarked afterwards, "Why is everyone's rating so low in this club?"

Robert Isted Draw

Round 3 {Berger number ( )}
1 Russell Horton (2) : Fred Duiker (14)
2 Reg Harvey (3) : Andrew Fifield (1)
3 Paul Loveric (4) : Phil Donnelly (13)
4 Dylan Kuzmic (5) : Kevin Hendrey (12)
5 Nigel Lewis (6) : David Hughes (11)
6 Peter Lucas (7) : Carey Kuzmic (10)
7 Owen Cameron (8) : Vincent Horton (9)

Round 4
1 Fred Duiker (14) : Vincent Horton (9)
2 Carey Kuzmic (10) : Owen Cameron (8)
3 David Hughes (11) : Peter Lucas (7)
4 Kevin Hendrey (12) : Nigel Lewis (6)
5 Phil Donnelly (13) : Dylan Kuzmic (5)
6 Andrew Fifield (1) : Paul Loveric (4)
7 Russell Horton (2) : Reg Harvey (3)

Round 5
1 Reg Harvey (3) : Fred Duiker (14)
2 Paul Loveric (4) : Russell Horton (2)
3 Dylan Kuzmic (5) : Andrew Fifield (1)
4 Phil Donnelly (13) 0:1 Nigel Lewis (6)
5 Peter Lucas (7) : Kevin Hendrey (12)
6 Owen Cameron (8) : David Hughes (11)
7 Vincent Horton (9) : Carey Kuzmic (10)

Surprise Sacrifice

Recently Andrew has been playing the odd sacrifice and Wednesday against Russell was no exception.  Andrew used an offbeat Bg5 and f4 Sicilian and black was better.  On move 13 he surprisingly sacked his Knight on e6, it looked a mistake, Queens were swapped and I was looking better.  Unfortunately according to my German analyst there was only one good move for black and this wasn't the one I chose.  Andrew's remaining pieces swarmed in, tied  Black up, attacked the king and Black was losing.  Maybe Andrew was trying to get too much out of the position but we managed to swap pieces off, to be 5 pawns and R vs 4 P and R and a draw resulted.
Carey played Nigel and had some early initiative, winning an exchange.  Nigel defended strongly before Carey's pieces broke through but he was running short of time and Nigel gained the upperhand and a win.
Fred played newcomer Owen.  Owen lost some pawns early but managed to create some counter play for a while before falling to his first smother mate.
David played Dylan. 1. e4 e6, 2. d4 b6.  Dylan was on the backfoot early and David managed to get a Knight into d6 and then a pawn on the same square which became a thorn in Dylan's side.  Dylan castled long and David enjoyed a Q-side march of his pawns to win.
Phil played Reg and was a pawn up and better, although short on time.  Other players thought that swapping Qs suited Reg 0-1.

BCC Rules

Interesting games are the usual fare at BCC due to the evenness in ability of most players. With Alastair tucked away studying, just about anyone can hold their own against most of the club players. This results in unusual results, and contesting of Minor placings. The BCC rule, "No countbacks, we like giving out ,medals," has resulted in some 6 way ties for bronze and silver medals.  Russell, Carey, David, Reg, Dylan and Kevin (absent) show off their medals.

Phil enjoys the moment - two trophies in one year - more to come?

Robert Isted Draw?

The numbers were pulled out last week and using the same order I have unofficially paired players.
Fred vs Owen
Vincent vs Peter
Carey vs Nigel
David vs Dylan
Kevin vs Paul
Phil vs Reg
Andrew Russell

RI Surprises

Has Andrew Fifield lost his form from the Tas Open, or had Fred found form?  Andrew's early sac didn't pay off and a draw resulted.1/2/-1/2
Did Reg really beat Kevin?  Kevin struggled to find the a good square for his f8 bishop, Reg had a strong Knight on e4 and a kingside attack looming.  1-0
Paul in his first club tournament game held his own against David for a while, but was an exchange down with a Queen headbutting his ramparts. 0-1
Dylan plays dad and dad (Carey) misses his chance for a perpetual.  Son was left grinning allover. 1-0
I was surprised that Phil played the Benoni against me after our encounter in the club championships.  He found the improvement and b7 looked tempting a few times.  Nevertheless the e4 push resulted in an advantage from the opening. 1-0
[White "Horton, Russell"] [Black "Donnelly, Phil"
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. Bf4 Bg7 8. Qa4+ Bd7 9. Qb3 Qc7 10. Nf3
This looks tempting, but loses 10. Bxd6 Qxd6 11. Qxb7 Qb6 $19)
10... O-O 11. Bd3 Re8 12. O-O a6 13. e5 Now or never, b5, c4 are coming dxe5 (13...Nh5 14. exd6 Qc8 15. Be3) 14. Bxe5 $1 Rxe5 (14... Qc8 is also losing) 15. Nxe5 b5 (15... Qxe5 16. Qxb7 Ng4 17. g3 Qh5 18. h4 Ne5 19. Be2 Bg4 20. Qxa8 Bxe2 21. Qxb8+) 16. d6 $1 Qxd6 17. Qxf7+ Kh8 18.Rfe1 Nc6 19. Qxd7 (Attacking the king looks promising but doesn't appear to go anywhere} 19. Nxg6+ hxg6 20. Qxg6 Re8) 19... Qxd7 (19... Nxd7 20. Nf7+ Kg8 21. Nxd6) 20. Nxd7 Nxd7 21. Be4 Nde5 22. Rad1 Rf8 23. Bxc6  Nxc6 24. Rd6 Ne5 25. Rd5 Re8 26. Kf1 b4 27. Na4 c4 28. f4 (28. Nc5 Kg8 29. Nxa6) 28... Rf8 29. Rdxe5 Bxe5 30. Rxe5 Rxf4+ 31. Ke2 Rd4 32. Rc5 Kg7 {White is running low on time} 1-0

Nigel had the upper hand in the opening against Vincent, before V's pieces started to work late in the game.  A lost pawn and then a mistake led to a loss.  0-1
Newcomer Owen plays his first game next week.

Alastair Double Stamp

Alastair Dyer claimed the dual crowns of Tasmanian Open winner and Tas Lightning Champion in the one weekend.  This adds to his Tas Champion title won earlier in the year and sets him above the rest of the field.  He intends to contest the upcoming weekenders but is unlikely to play in the Burnie Club events as he concentrates on his year 12 studies.  Another Burnie junior player to do well was Andrew Fifield who beat both Kevin Bonham and Nigel Frame.  He also managed to go into a drawn endgame against Alastair but lost.  In a very instructive game for myself, Andrew slowly gained the upperhand against a pathetic Q-side push in his KID to overrun me totally.  Vincent Horton also had a return to chess and 3.5 points to share the U1700 rating prize.
Lindsay Atkinson tournament finishes - Phil Donnelly wins despite losing his last three games while half the field finishes in equal second on 5/9.
Robert Isted underway
Entries close tomorrow for the RI tournament which is 60'+10".  Nigel and Phil flipped for colours and Nigel as black showed a return to form.

Tas Open Entries

Alastair Dyer, Nigel Frame, Jamie Bryant (junior), Harrison Bryant (junior), Owen Short, Robert Jiang (junior), Bill Cheng (junior), Shuqi Yu (junior), Graham Richards, Andrew Fifield (junior), Adam Carter, Mason Carter (Jnr), Kevin Bonham, Marcus Bretag, Lawrence Bretag, Russell Horton, Vincent Horton, David Hughes, Nigel Lewis, Phil Donnelly, TonySturges, Dallas Fry, Dylan Kuzmic, Tony Dowden
Late Entries up 'til 10:00am
VENUE: Havenview Primary School


FORMAT: 6 round Swiss 90 mins + 15 secs/move

ROUNDS START: Saturday 12th June 10:30 am, 2:30 pm, 6:45 pm.

Sunday 13th June 9:30 am, 1:45 pm,

Monday 14th June 9:00 am

ENQUIRIES: David Hughes david.gareth.hughes@gmail.com 03 6423 5669 Mob: 0433 062 200

Lightning Championships: Sunday 13th June, 7:00 pm entries close at 6:45 pm. $10 entry.

Beauty and the Geek -

Make contact for your chance to win if you are the goods (or the God!)
Hello Russell,

...I have been asked to pass this on to our recipients.
I have received a request from the tv show Beauty and the Geek 2 to ask if there would be any interested people in 'having a go' at being a contestant on this TV show.
In the first version, Canberran chess player Jeremy Reading won first place and $50,000 approx. I have also attached documents that might be helpful for interested people.
From the producers-
We are looking for very intelligent guys with interesting hobbies, who can teach a thing or two to the beauties on the show! It would be a great chance for them to meet some great people and have an amazing experience. Last years contestants all really loved it and are actively recommending it to anyone thinking about getting involved this year.
Any help you could give me would be incredible. I have attached a flyer – as well as information about the casting in Brisbane on Sunday 6th June from 8am to 12pm.
All the information is also on www.beautyandthegeek.com.au
If anyone wants to contact me directly – they are very welcome to email or phone me as well.
Thank you so so much again. Please do let me know if you have any questions.
Katie

New members and event update

Welcome to new members Paul and Louise, who attended their first night with BCC and played some casual games.  We look forward to their company.  The club meet weekly on Wednesdays at 6:45pm at Havenview primary School in Marriott St, Burnie.  New players are welcome.
June 2  Complete Lindsay Atkinson
June 9  Complete Lindsay Atkinson and casual games
June 12,13,14  Tas Open at Burnie and Tas Lightning Championships (entry details below).
June 16 Casual Games, entries taken for Robert Isted tournament.
June 23 Robert Isted starts, 1 game per night at 60'+10", Round Robin.
October BCC Allegro
October Burnie Weekender
Dec BCC Lightning

David's Tigers Come Home

David pictured here with his son's discarded Richmond cap three weeks ago.  later he was to wear the Tigers beanie.  He had faith and finally today they ran out winners in AFL over Port Adelaide.  Other players, Nigel, Fred and Phil, sit bemused as they ready for their games.

So far Phil, current club champion, is making easy work of this tournament winning all games except last week's encounter with Reg.  Material was about even but Phil had a blocked Bishop.  Despite it being a rapid game, Reg gave up his Knight for pawns on the queenside which proved unstoppable.

The previous week Phil routed me completely with a brevity showing that my change to e4 has a long way to go.  Next week should almost complete the tournament.

2009 Club Champion and 2010 Tasmanian Champion, Alastair presents the 2010 Burnie Club Champs honour board to Phil.  Below we have Phil with his gold and Andrew and Russell with bronze in club champs.  2nd placed Kevin was absent.

Lindsay Atkinson underway

Phil defeated Andrew due to Andrew missing something he thought was very good.
Nigel lost to Russell.  The game was quickly equalised inteh opening and it wasn't until Nigel let go of g4 that was Russell able to quickly convert the better psoition to a win in the quicker time controls.
David wore his donated Richmond cap from a disgruntled fan.  This did little for him as he went down like the Tigers to carey's French defence with an entertaining ending Q vs 3 pawns.
Fred beat Reg and put it down to lady luck smiling at last.
In other games
Reg and Russell played a lacklustre opening which turned intoan enthralling middlegame - Reg won.
Carey used a Reti to scare Andrew who thought it may have been a Yeti to take away 2 wins for the night.
Fred scored his second win in a row over David - his luck and David's cap!
Enter now for Tas Open and Tas Lightning

Tas Open and Lightning Championships

2010 Tasmanian Open and

Tasmanian Lightning Championships

Class One Yulgilbar-Think Big Australian Chess Grand Prix event
Hosted by Burnie Chess Club for the TCA
VENUE: Havenview Primary School
FORMAT: 6 round Swiss 90 mins + 15 secs/move
ROUNDS START: Saturday 12th June 10:30 am, 2:30 pm, 6:45 pm.
Sunday 13th June 9:30 am, 1:45 pm,
Monday 14th June 9:00 am
ENTRY FEES: $55 waged, $50 conc, $30 U18, $25 U12, $5 discount if received by 28th May. Entries on day close 10:00 am (subject to room and equipment). If considering entering on day, please let us know.
PRIZES: 1st c. 40%, 2nd c. 20%, 3rd, U1700, U1400 c. 10% of prize pool, U18 prize $70, U12 prize $50 (subject to at least three entries per division). Prize pool is entry fees less running costs and levies.
ARBITERS: To be appointed.
ENQUIRIES: David Hughes david.gareth.hughes@gmail.com 03 6423 5669 Mob: 0433 062 200

Lightning Championships: Sunday 13th June, 7:00 pm entries close at 6:45 pm. $10 entry.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENTRY FORM
Name:
Address:                  Phone:           Email (optional):
DOB if under 18:
Tick here if you would like your entry acknowledged by email: ____
Please detach this form and post it with payment to:
Neville Ledger, PO Box 837, Burnie, Tas, 7320.Cheques and money orders to be made payable to Burnie Chess Club.

Lindsay Atkinson Commences

New and former club members are all wlecome for the start of the Lindsay Atkinson memorial.  It will eb a round robin and last for about 8-10 weeks.  There will be 2-3 games per night at rapid rate.  It will either be 25+5 or 25+0.  The first game sstart on Wednesday 5th May but players can join later the following week provided they haev entered to either myslef or David by May 5th.

Club Champion Finalised

Phil's notes in Black. My comments in Blue.
After last week's Benoni (Debacle var.) against Russell blew up in my face I reverted to the more reliable KI against Dylan's 1.d4.
Dylan didn't get the usual white counterplay on the Q side allowing black the unusual situation of having iniative on both wings.
In the middle game the position got very tactical with both players missing many best lines before Black was able to liquidate into a winning R+B+extraP v R+N.
Short of time Black's play was not accurate and white missed at least one clear chance to equalise this ending but ultimately black was able to sac a B to force a pawn through to Queen.

I didn't see the end of the other games but I thought that Andrew's KI looked a bit dubious when he had to retreat his N to b8 but he seemed OK against you after that later in the game.  This line is known but e6 is more usual than e5 to which dxe gives white a better position than the way the game turned out.  With Andrew making backward development I considered a K-side pawn storm but opted for a slower Q side advance.  I had a slight advantage and an easy plan but then Andrew came up with a surprising move (or one I had overlooked) whereby I lost a pawn but gained e4 for a mighty Knight.  Andrew's King was more exposed and I thought I had a way to break through with several weak points to attack  - unfortunately I was now running out of time and had lost my 20 minute advantage.  The game then descended into a time scramble which was unfortunate given the possibilities for both sides.  Andrew made it easy with a bad mistake under time pressure to lose a very even game.

Carey had Kevin absolutely on the ropes but Kevin some how survived and when I left Carey was lost.  Kevin managed to exchange pieces and slowly get out of danger.

Reg was the exchange up for a couple of pawns against Peter. I thought Peter had good chances to draw this one.  Reg went out for a smoke and Peter thought he coudl get some time back and so he moved quickly only to lose teh exchnage.  Reg then later gave away a piece and the game.

My tally for the tournament placings is
Phil Club Champion 8/10
Kevin 2nd 7.5/10
Russell and Andrew =3rd 6.5/10.
David to confirm final standings.

Quick games

This week 3 of the four games were quickly completed, much to the surprise of everyone.  Neville returned to the club after his knee operation and played some casual games against Carey.
Despite 75'+30" three games finished by 8:15pm.
Peter played a QGD against David.  Peter created many threats - if David dared to capture on d4 with the simple Bxh7+.  David was left with little chance and succumbed to losing a piece or mate.  This game marks a turning point in Peter's play with a return good form.
Kevin had Dylan's king under pressure early and his pieces combined well down the e-file and on f7.  Late in the opening, a pawn fork on d5 won a piece and the attack intensified.  A quick result between two evenly matched players.
I played Phil and played slightly offbeat/dodgy Benoni line, holding back my e-pawn to gain a move and create pressure on d6.  Phil's error saw the early loss of two pawns and a stranded king.  White soon rounded up a piece and swapped queens.  Despite this loss Phil is still ensured of 1st place.  His next game and the results of Kevin and Andrew will determine who shares with him.
In the final game Nigel had an opprtunity to swap into an even ending N+B+ an extra pawn vs B+B but he continued to fight for more.  Nigel eventually lost a piece and the game.

Remaining Draw

April 20
Russell vs Phil
Andrew vs Carey
Peter vs david
Kevin vs Dylan
Nigle vs Reg

April 27
Russell vs Andrew
Reg vs Peter
Kevin vs carey
Dylan vs Phil

May 5
Dylan vs Fred
Peter vs Carey or Nigel.

Phil edges closer to title

Phil's win over Kevin has virtually sealed the result of the club championships and it looks as though he will finally see his name engraved alone on the coveted sheild. (A previous joint champion, he is now looking at outright first.)  In the game, Kevin as black was bogged down, badly constricted with his Queen isolated on the far wing and his major pieces in hiding on the second and first rank.  Despite this material winning position, Phil found the best move by threatening mate with a Queen sacrifice - "Ah, I see", murmered Kevin.  The White Bishop on f7 was dominant.  While defending this threat he was unable to protect f6 and an eventual mate allowing Phil a masterful finish to the game.
Andrew now remains the only player with a faint hope of reaching Phil and he scored a win over Carey.  Carey was 2 pawns down and looking into the eyes of a pawn march, but found some counter play to force Andrew into defence.  Andrew quickly readjusted and swapped off material to go into the ending with winning pawns.
David defeated Reg playing the Vienna.
Nigel played without error and beat myslef.
Peter as black defeated Fred.

Easter BCC results and catch up

Easter Results
Nigel lost to Phil and Fred lost to Carey.
Catch-Up
Some time ago I may have misreported some games.  Today I found the following comments.
Kevin's Sicilian defeated Fred, "I lost!", seemed to indicate it was one way for Kevin.
Peter vs Carey provides an interesting commentary - "On move 7 we had several exchanges and then after I castled on move 16, I realsied something was not right!"  Indeed, Carey discovered he was a Knight down.  (Two years ago, late at night, this bemusing phenomenon happened between Carey and myself, with Carey the beneficiary.)
David snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, a pawn up and an attack, but in going for checkmate,opened his king up to find himself lost.  - Please edit and include your opponent.

2010 TCA Calendar

Tas Champs: 6-8 Mar Hobart (Princes St Primary) confirmed
Rapid Series I: 17 Apr Hobart (Princes St Primary)
Rapid Series II: Late May Ulverstone (TBA)
Tas Open: 12-14 June Burnie (Havenview Primary)
Rapid Series III: July Launceston (to be confirmed)
Hobart Weekender: 14-15 August Hobart (Migrant Resource Centre)
Tas Junior Champs: 4-5 Sept Launceston (TBA)
Burnie Shines: 23-24 Oct Burnie (Havenview)

2010 Tasmanian Rapid Chess Series

Tournament 1 Hobart
Hosted by the Hobart International Junior Chess Club for the TCA

This series of 3 tournaments was introduced in 2009 to encourage competition between adult and junior players. Each of the zones, South, North and North West will host a tournament throughout the year.

Date : April 17th 1pm – 7pm
Venue : Princes Street Primary School, Randall St, Sandy Bay.
Format : 5 rounds. 25 minutes + 5 seconds per move.
Cost : $30 Adults, $25 Concession, $15 Juniors.
Prizes : to be determined on the day. Prizes will include Open, u18, u12 and girls divisions, subject to at least three entries per division

All games will be rapid rated.
Entries will be taken on the day by 12.30pm.

Enquiries : Nigel Frame Ph 042183052 framebna@hotmail.com

Kevin making a claim on BCC title

Kevin racked up another win over Dylan by winning a pawn early, dominating with his pieces, winning a second pawn and rolling through the game. He now sits on top of the leader board with only one loss and one draw. Phil has a similar points loss but has several more games to play - their clash in Round 10 will likely decide the BCC Champion.
Meanwhile I had an interesting battle with Reg's Colle system. Reg launched a premature King-side attack and I accpeted control of the d file. There was no easy way for either player to break through. Reg launched a typical g4 thrust and teh game see-sawed with good possibilities for both players. Unfortunately Reg made a serious mistake late in the game to end the even tussle.
Carey, David, Fred and Andrew all played but I'm not sure of teh results.
April 7th teh club will be open and Nigel and Fred play. Otehr catch up games can also be arranged. Round 10 proper commences on April 14.

Too much pondering!

I am late writing this Blog since I have been flailing myself about pondering over nuances in my game against David. After ekeing out a small edge with a simple plan - protected passed pawn + good bishop vs bad bishop - I slid into equality before overlooking a simple piece trap seen a few moves earlier. So devestated I sulked! Unable to come to grips with the fact that 24 moves of careful play had resulted in a tiny edge, which I had thrown away 12 moves later, I played on hoping David would have a massive brain explosion and give me back my piece, and have been ruminating since.
Much better chess was played on the other boards!
Phil and Andrew had an interesting game with Phil commanding space and an attack, Andrew had a chance to strike back (i think) but missed it and the attack came alive.
Reg with black seemed to have a massive cannon against Dylan's King. A return to the board saw Dylan's Bishop and Rook in dominating positions, defence solid and then like a bolt of lightning his Queen flew across the board to force checkmate.
Carey beat Nigel - someone said Nigel played too fast.
Fred and Peter were both absent.
Next week - Fred plays Andrew, Peter vs carey, Nigle vs Phil, Reg vs Russell, Kevin vs Dylan.
April 7 is a break from play.

Round 7 in Club Champs

The 2010 Club Champion is a 3 way tussle between Phil, Kevin and Andrew with myself and David outside chances. Andrew is having his best tournament. This week's notes by Phil.
For once I had a quick game yesterday evening and had the time to take notice of what was going on in other boards:
Phil v Peter (1-0)was a Steinitz defence that started quietly.
Peter left his King in the centre and was caught out by a thrust of the white e pawn which broke up the black pawn structure.
White was soon throwing a mating net around the black K.


Andrew v Dylan (1-0) Dylan blundered his dark squared Bishop on move 9 after which it was only a question of time.

The other three games were rippers.
Nigel v Kevin (0-1) In an orthodox …e6 type Sicilian Nigel fianchettoed his light squared B in his castled kingside position.
However he allowed it to be traded off for a knight and black’s bishop pair teamed up powerfully on diagonals to open up the white K position.
The King was forced to take a walk on the wild side, and shortly after when he had to give up a Rook for a queening pawn it was time to pass round the cigars.


David v Carey (1-0) with kings castled on opposite wings and neither of them looking at all secure it was nail biting stuff to watch.
I thought that Carey, with big crossfire along open lines on the enemy K, might have had the best chances to breakthrough, but running low on time he grabbed a poisoned pawn walking into a R pin on his Q against his K.

Reg v Fred (Still going when I left at 10pm) In a congested pawn centre Reg managed to get a R in behind enemy lines and picked off a backward pawn securing a passed e pawn.
Meanwhile on the other side of the pawn mass Fred got his Q and R lined up such that it looked like he could force perpetual by harassing the white Q on the 1st and 2nd ranks with his R.
However Reg calmly left the Q en prise and pushed the pawn! I couldn’t tell who was going to win this one but whatever the result both players fought well.


Cheers
Phil.

Round 6 - bunching up

Andrew (4.5/6) remains in good form taking a draw against another in form player - Kevin (4.5/6).
I had the slight advantage agianst Carey in a marathon 73 move game.  A  pawn centre advance didn't produce the advantage I hoped and his defence was too solid.  I couldn't find the better moves to convert active pieces, settling for half point (4.5/6).
Nigel played quickly and when the game got complicated found the correct line to come away with more pieces in a combination against Dylan.
David omce again did better with the black pieces to score a hard fought win over Fred.  Fred has been playing well but alas mistakes cost dearly.  He will be one to watch later in the tournamet as his board vision returns.
Cohen and Anthony have withdrawn from the tournament.

Peter returns to form

This week Peter ,top seed, returned to form with a clear win over Dylan.
Andrew continued his excellent form, a possible by-product of his play and coaching at the recent Aust Jnr, with a win over Nigel.
Phil and Reg fought an even game. A pawn sac to gain compensation by Reg, petered out, and a late error turned the game over to Phil.
I had a lead in development over Fred but in the middle of piece manoeuvring Fred won an exchange from a simple tactic. With a mixture of bluff and pressure I was fortunate to tie down Fred's pieces and win an attack on the king.
Players away: David - unable to drive; Anthony, Cohen and Kevin school work.
Meanwhile we wish Neville a speedy knee recovery and look forward to his return.
Sadly it looks as though no Burnie players will be going to Hobart for the 2010 Tasmanian Championships.

Burnie Club Champs Update

Things have been slow while I recover email and chess files after a HDD failure. Keep checking as I hope to have things moving along weekly. David put up the draw on the last Club Champs post see comments.
Last week
Phil and David were locked in an even struggle as we headed out the door at 9:20pm. Was the better outpost for David's Black Knight going to be enough? Did Phil have purchase on the e5 pawn?
Carey looked lost against Reg defending against back row threats but he used his queen to run wild rounding up pawns - and looked to have cleverly escaped. Cohen used his knowledge of the Slav (courtesy David's prep) to play a good opening before losing a piece to Russell.
Andrew was an exchange up against Fred, and had magnificent mating tricks which kept
allowing him to win pawns as the back row couldn't be left unguarded.
Kevin played his usual Vienna and Peter saw an opportunity for a winning combination - it looked good and that's where it ended. The calculation failed and Kevin now has 3/4 against some good opponents.
Add some comments via the Blogger.

Launceston Cup

Alastair (BCC) won the weekender outright with 5/6. Thomas H (BCC) finished equal 2nd after losing his final game on time. Vincent (BCC) finished equal second on 4/6, inlcuding a zero point bye. Others on 4/6 were Lawrence B, Kevin B, Nigel F. Andrew (BCC) continues to play well and shared the U1500 rating prize (3/6).

Burnie Club Championhisp underway

The first two round have been played and noone has a perfect score! Two regular juniors, Alastair (current club champion) and Vincent (Robert Isted, Lightning), aren't playing and the opportunity remains for Phil or David to put their stamp on the tournament. Last week David prepared well to outplay Kevin's Vienna. Phil escaped with a draw after looking better during the opening but lost a piece for pawns mid game. Carey ran short of time and wasn't accurate enough. Andrew surprised with a great upset against Peter. Dylan (with b4) and Russell had a ding dong battle with constant pressure. All set for week 3.

round 10

round 10

Report on Aus Juniors 2010

Alastair's game against Alistair was a ripper in round 10. From move 30 there was some tense heavy piece moving. From being equal at move 33 things changed quickly to be winning for black (Alastair), and reversed a few moves later and reversed again. Check this game and several others at www.chesstasmania.org.au/AJCC. Alastair had 5/6 when he met 2009 World U12 Champion, Bobby Cheng on board 1. Then followed IM James Morris on the rebound! Alastair played some ripper games but it was round 11 before he was rewarded with some points.

Charlie had a solid tournament (4 points) with a major upset (500 points) in round 1 over Michael Chan. Andrew played some good chess and long games without much reward until the later part of the tournament (4.5). Mitchell Reid slowed down hi splay and improved considerably and was pleased with his win over Brett D. Vincent had a slow start to the tournament losing some easy (?) matches before coming home on fire with a great game over Seb J in round 11, to finish tied for third place in U14 on 6 points.

Kevin gave away too many pawns for nothing and then fought back amazingly in many entertaining games to finish on 5.5. His games are worth looking at.

Other Tasmanians who featured were Harry and Mason in U12. Both on 6.5 to be equal 8th.

In the lightning Vincent scored well despite a non-functioning clock to win a silver in U14 Open with 6/10.

Players and adults were treated to a simul with GM Ian Rogers. Nigel F playing next to me had an interesting game while I plodded through a Slav (surely not possible). Ian 25 - Challengers 0!

Welcome 2010

Officials for Burnie Chess Club

President: Carey, Sec/Tres: Neville, Vice Pres: Nigel, Director of Play: David, Auditor: Dylan.

Play starts Feb 3rd.

Calendar

Feb 3rd- May: Club Championships 75'+30" and Reserve Championships. Rules 3 weeks of postponements allowed. 1 week break following Easter.

June - July: Lindsay Atkinson 25'+10"

June 12-14: Tas Open Weekender

July: Youth vs Wisdom

August -Oct: Robert Isted 60'+10"

October 23 -24: Weekender 60'+10"

November: Allegro

December: Lightning

Alastair plays world champion

Today Alastair played Bobby Cheng the 2009 U12 World Champion on Board 1.

Alastair was in 2nd position in the U18 Open Australian Junior Championships with 5/6. With white Alastair faced a French (not his favoured option for the mire of tactics he enjoys). By about move 20 teh queens were off and the position equal. Alastair kept seeing tactics that didn't work and defending aginast these his pieces became awkward and he then lost to a rook trapping tactic. He now heads into round 8 with 5/7.

Other Bunrie players had a better day, Andrew scored his second win (3/7), Charlie and Kevin drew agaunst each other, Mitchell yet to win a game is now playing solidly and not leaving pieces en prise, Vincent scored a win (3.5/7).

Burnie AGM

Wednesday 28th January for a casual night of chess and a brief meeting.
The following week the club championships will commence.
This week the Australian Junior Championships starts in Hobart. Burnie club players to keep an eye on are Alastair, Kevin, Vincent, Andrew, Charlie and Mitchell. Visit the TCA website for further information.

The final night of 2009 ended with a 5 round Swiss playing the following openings: Bishop, Elephant Gambit, Monkey's Bum Gambit, Latvian Gambit, Blackburne Shilling Gambit.