Sydney International Open
Those players who attended the Sydney International Open last week expecting atmosphere and excitement were not disappointed. The high-powered field comprised 143 players of whom 72 were rated above 2000.
It was a long week, with play over five days extending from Tuesday to Saturday, and many players were feeling the strain by the final round. (I saw one man doze off during the game as he waited for his opponent to move.) The weariness must have been even more acute for the many players who were doubling up after spending the previous four days at the Doeberl Cup in Canberra.
There were many upsets during the tournament and top seed GM Sergei Shipov would have been disappointed with his performance. He drew with Sam Chow (Victoria, 2220) in round 2, lost to Manthan Chokri (India, 2168) in 4, drew with Hilton Bennett (NZ, 2134) in 5, drew with Ilia Zvedeniouk (NSW, 2121) in 6, and lost to Pinoy Almario Bernardino (Philippines, 2146) in 8.
But there were others who might have hoped for better things. IM David Smerdon finished only a point off the lead but it wasn’t enough to secure his third GM norm; and Magic Moulthun—that’s Moulthun Ly of Queensland—was half a point further away and probably missed his third IM norm.
It seems likely that Gareth Oliver (ACT, 2110) was the only player to get a norm (IM) while Tomek Rej (NSW, 2260) missed out by only half a point.
The last round was full of drama. Georgy Timoshenko led after round 8 but drew his last game with Victor Mikhalevski while Dejan Antic defeated Murray Chandler to snatch a share of the lead. The Australian GMs, Darryl Johansen and Ian Rogers, both had six points starting the round but Johansen won and got a share of 3-6. He was joined by Victor Mikhalevski, Zong-Yuan Zhao, and Rooty Hill club member, IM Gary Lane. Gary lost only two games—to GM Ian Rogers and Marc Repplinger (Germany, 2239)—and won his other seven to finish half a point from the winner.
Other Rooty Hill players were Leo (“the Terminator”) Tenorio (4.5), Levi Descallar (4), David Evans (3.5) and Carrie Evans (3).
It was a long week, with play over five days extending from Tuesday to Saturday, and many players were feeling the strain by the final round. (I saw one man doze off during the game as he waited for his opponent to move.) The weariness must have been even more acute for the many players who were doubling up after spending the previous four days at the Doeberl Cup in Canberra.
There were many upsets during the tournament and top seed GM Sergei Shipov would have been disappointed with his performance. He drew with Sam Chow (Victoria, 2220) in round 2, lost to Manthan Chokri (India, 2168) in 4, drew with Hilton Bennett (NZ, 2134) in 5, drew with Ilia Zvedeniouk (NSW, 2121) in 6, and lost to Pinoy Almario Bernardino (Philippines, 2146) in 8.
But there were others who might have hoped for better things. IM David Smerdon finished only a point off the lead but it wasn’t enough to secure his third GM norm; and Magic Moulthun—that’s Moulthun Ly of Queensland—was half a point further away and probably missed his third IM norm.
It seems likely that Gareth Oliver (ACT, 2110) was the only player to get a norm (IM) while Tomek Rej (NSW, 2260) missed out by only half a point.
The last round was full of drama. Georgy Timoshenko led after round 8 but drew his last game with Victor Mikhalevski while Dejan Antic defeated Murray Chandler to snatch a share of the lead. The Australian GMs, Darryl Johansen and Ian Rogers, both had six points starting the round but Johansen won and got a share of 3-6. He was joined by Victor Mikhalevski, Zong-Yuan Zhao, and Rooty Hill club member, IM Gary Lane. Gary lost only two games—to GM Ian Rogers and Marc Repplinger (Germany, 2239)—and won his other seven to finish half a point from the winner.
Other Rooty Hill players were Leo (“the Terminator”) Tenorio (4.5), Levi Descallar (4), David Evans (3.5) and Carrie Evans (3).
Joshua Christensen who holds dual membership of the Parramatta and Rooty Hill clubs deserves a special mention. He finished with the rather ordinary score of 3.5 but that score is no indication of his play. In Round 1 he tangoed Arianne Caoili (2153) to a draw, followed that by defeating India's Kumar Saha Uttam (2016) then whupped Domagoj Dragicevic (2196). That put him up on the stage for Round 4 where he lost to NZ FM Robert Smith (2294), lost again to Vladimir Smirnov (2319) in Round 5, and again to Richard Voon (1886) in Round 6. In Round 7 he drew with Oleg Korenevski (1879) lost to Parramatta club-mate Arthur Huynh (1879) in Round 8, and finished the comp by drawing with David Lovejoy (2003). So only 3.5 points but against a remarkably strong field. It's worth can be seen in his tournament performance rating of 2011. Not bad for somebody with an Oz rating of 1605. Not bad at all!
Outside the Parramatta Town hall activities included simuls by IM Leonid Sandler, individual tables for casual play, and a giant chess set. Leonid also gave a series of lectures during the event.
Leading scores after nine rounds were:
Equal 1st: Georgy Timoshenko and Dejan Antic – 7.5/9.
3-6: Victor Mikhalevski, Zong-Yuan Zhao, Darryl Johansen, Gary Lane.
7-14: Ian Rogers, Tejas Bakre, George Xie, Carlos Matamoros Franco, David Smerdon,
Stephen Solomon, Igor Bjelobrk, Igor Goldenberg.
The top placed woman in the event was Spain’s Paloma Gutierrez Castillo with 6 points.
We understand that plans are already under way for the event to be held again next year. Put it in your calendar and try to be there. This tournament shouldn’t be missed.
The photograph on this page is courtesy of Amiel Rosario (The Closet Grandmaster). He took many photographos at the tournament including one of Leo Tenorio playing Kiwi IM Paul Garbett. You can view them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/closetgrandmaster/sets/72157600061085122/
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Labels: chessgenie
posted by David Evans at
10:19 pm
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