OPEN VICTORIAN 2004, BOX HILL
12-14th June 2004
Bas van Riel
June 2004, the Netherlands
I was looking forward to an interesting and well organised weekend-tournament, the Open Victorian. And I was not disappointed, as the Box Hill Chess Club did a great job in all respects: efficiently, good venue, a large turnout and a variety of players. Items which impressed me in particular were the intense and well directed publicity campaign (Trevor Stanning), and the use of live internet (of the two top boards/Phil O'Connor). As an fellow-organiser of the Ballarat Begonia tournament for many years, these novel aspects did appeal very much to me, and I would wish that we could introduce a similar sophistication in the near-future....
The results and some reports have been widely publicised elsewhere. I therefore will restrict myself to showing the cross-table (for completeness, and as a reference for those interested) without commenting on the general details of the tournament. Photos were taken by myself.
The focus here is rather restricted and 'selfish': my own impressions of the tournament and presenting some snippets of my own games. Or in other words: a bit of an egotrip. I should add and acknowledge the contribution of Amiel Rosario (AR) who presented his experience in an unique and humorous way on the Bulletin Board of the ACF. I believe that much more often tournaments reports should be written in this way, ie showing the human side of a chess tournament rather than merely technical, and result-oriented stories.
.
IM Froehlich. An alright bloke I suppose. At the closing ceremony he gave a nice speech. He said, before coming over to this country he was told that Aussie chess was weak. Well it's not true since it's taken him over a year and a half to win his first ever tournament. I understand he runs some coaching seminars at the BHCC too. Well done Mr Froehlich! (AR)
The winners..
The famous Mexican - Mr. Wastell. I was quite impressed by him. He conducted himself correctly and properly. They really love the guy. Perhaps this is why the BHCC mob handed him a bottle of grog. Well, it must have been grog.(AR)
The Box Hill organisers and the venue...
The five-and-half participating players of the Ballarat Club.
The 'other' player from Ballarat...
The following was taken from Amiel Rosario (ChessKits Bulletin Board):
"These days I like to put in a bit of a holiday trip in my chess
competitions. As I'd never been to
Mexico, I thought
OK let's haul me butt off down there. I'm glad I went. It would have to be the
best weekender I played in - outside, of course, of the Doeberl. I can't recall
a more professionally conducted weekender: rounds commenced on time as
advertised; games recorded and posted on the net; computerised demo boards; and
a canteen!
The venue was bung right on the centre of town - Box Hill, a town some 15
kilometres from the CBD. It reminded of Bankstown actually, very multicultural
(quite a few Orientals) and where the life seems to revolve around a big
shopping centre. The difference is that Box Hill is a lot more charming and
probably no drive by shootings as well as the occasional gang rapes. The joint
certainly didn't seem like a hive for the local Al-Qaeda chapter.
I had a funny tournament I did - never had one like that before. On odd numbered
rounds I had weaker opponents as White. And on the even numbered rounds, I
played stronger opponents as Black. FMD I thought! Hard life. And do youse all
remember when we were talking about hygiene? Well, in one round I played this
bloke who ate his pie at the board. His fingers dripped with ketchup. And just
before we shook hands he starts lickin' his fingertips. Disgusting! In another
round - this fella sounded like he was about to spit a pair of lungs out at me.
Germ spreader! And talk about personal presentation. Some blokes look like
they've just escaped from a goddamn asylum. But let me tell youse, in the last
round, this dude looked like one of 'em fellas in the Village People. I couldn't
bloody believe it!
I played terribly I must admit. Put it down to distraction. For example, just
before round 4, I was having me lunch at the motel when the Miss Universe rerun
was on TV. Crisis! Watch the show or play chess? So I ring me mom in Sydney, of
all people, and asked her to record the show. As you can guess - I lost! (By the
way, don't you blokes just love that
Newcastle
sheila? Ain't she a good sort? She absolutely killed 'em in the bikini
competition I reckon. She shook that butt like there's no tomorrow. If Australia
never wins anything this year - at least we've got Miss Universe. I mean, we've
bloody waited long enough - 30 years!)
Great tourn starter mate . . . but I hardly saw the sun for the entire time I
was down here (I'm in a net cafe near Flinders Stn ATM). There's something
sinister about the sky in Melb. It's as if some soggy tarp hangs over the whole
state and about as permanent as that toothpick in Rujevic's mouth. It just
doesn't go away".
(AR)
Personally, this tournament was memorable and exciting for me from a chess-point of view. During the first five rounds over two days, I scored 4.5 points (!). Only some of the masters did better up to that point. But more importantly, I felt that I had played good chess without making too many blatant mistakes. This is naturally a personal opinion, based on my rating (=average chess ability), and long tournament experience.
My high score and success after five rounds, obviously had a serious consequence, in that I had to meet IM Peter Froehlich on board 2 (live on internet!) in round 6, followed by a pairing against Ascaro Pecori in the last round. The two resulting losses dropped me from 'glory', back to reality and it made me finish the tournament amongst the mere mortals, ie. the pack.
The first round was a fairly relaxed Scandinavian. Not a very familiar opening to me, but I seemed to have a good position when my opponent committed a mistake, serious enough to resign a few moves later. My second round was special as I was paired against John Kable, whom I highly respect for certain reasons and who had returned to tournament chess for the first time after a long absence.
After a strong opening, I had advantage for most of the game, due to my bishop pair and superior space. But in the following position (diagram 1), I had a mental blank: the immediate threat for black is Nxd5, loosing a pawn, but I could not solve 1..Kd5; 2.Na5 thinking that I would have to give up the bishop pair, but overlooking that white would loose a piece in that case, after 2...Bb5; 3.Nxb7, Bxa6 and white's knight is now trapped. Instead, I played the weak move 1...Rd7? and became so 'upset' by white's reply (which was not even considered by me) 2.Nc5+, that I made another error: 2...Bxc5; 3. Rxc6, Kd5?. Of course, 3...Bd6 was called for, still with reasonable advantage for black Now, after 4.Rxh6, the position is double edged and difficult. John immediately offered a draw, which I accepted.
Diagram 1.
John Kable (round 2)
Bas van Riel (to move)
In my third game of the day, I gradually built up a stronger position, culminating in a pawn grab and a winning combination in the endgame.
The next day, in round 4, I had a favourable draw, as the rating difference with Marcus Ogden was considerable. Playing my favourite Kings Indian with black, white made some 'clumsy' moves on his king side. My main concern in diagram 2 was how to improve the attack. It took me a long time before I played: 1..Nxh2, as I had to make certain that the knight could escape after 2.f3 or g3. Obviously 2.Kxh2, Qh5 checkmate was not an option. The game finished in a flurry, although not perfect: 1.f3, e3; 2. Nb3, Qg5 (!); 3.g3, Qh5; 4. Kg2, f4; 5.g4, Qh6 (Bxg4, f3 and Nf4+ immediately would have been quicker); 6.Qd1, Bxg4; 7.fxg4, f3+;8.Bxf3, Nxf3; 9.Rh1, Qg5(!) 0-1
Diagram 2.
Marcus Ogden (to move)
Bas van Riel
In my game of the 5th round against Marcel Rothlisberger (black), I was mostly slightly better, when he positioned his black bishop on an 'awkward' square (d8). The finishing touch was quite elegant, I feel (see diagram 3). Black has just played Qa8, applying pressure on e4.
1.e5!, Bxg2; 2.Qxg2, Qxg2; 3.Kxg2, Ng4; 4.Bg1(!), Nh6; 5.Nd5 (virtually forcing the win for white), Rxc1; 6.Rxc1, Nf5 (black's bishop seriously hampers the development of the rook) 7.Rc6 (!, diagram 4), a5; 8.Bc5, Re8; 9.Rc8 (!, it is over), Nh4+; 10.Kf1, f6; 11. Nc7 1-0
Diagram 3. Diagram 4
Marcel Rothlisberger (after Qa8) Marcel Rothlisberger
Bas van Riel (to move) Bas van Riel (after 7.Rc6!..)
Froehlich,Peter (IM 2389) - Van Riel,Bas (1816)
Victorian Open Box Hill (6.2), 14.06.2004
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0–0 5.0–0 d6 6.c4 Nc6 7.d5 Nb8 8.Nc3 c6 9.Be3 e5 10.dxe6 Bxe6 11.Qd3 Ng4 12.Nd4 Ne5 (diagram 5) 13.Nxe6 fxe6 14.Qe4 Qe7 15.Rad1 Nbd7 16.b3 Nf6 17.Qc2 d5 18.Bg5 Rad8 19.h3 dxc4 (?, Diagram 6) This move doesn't feel 'right', and black gradually got into troubles.20.Ne4 cxb3 21.Qxb3 b6 22.Rxd8 Rxd8 23.Qb2 Ned7 24.Rd1 e5 25.Rd6 ( Diagram 6) Pressure builds up. ..h6 26.Bxf6 Nxf6 27.Rxc6 Nxe4 28.Bxe4 Rd6 29.Rc8+ Kh7 30.Qb3 Rd8 31.Qc2 Rd6 32.h4 h5 33.Rc7 Qf6 34.Rxa7 Rd4 35.e3 Rd6 36.Kg2 Kh6 37.Rb7 Qd8 38.Qe2 Rd2? (Diagram 7). 39.Qf3? (white overlooked the winning 39.Rxb6) Rd6 40.Qf7 Qf6 41.Qxf6 Rxf6 42.a4 Rd6 43.f3 Kh7 44.Kh3 Kg8 45.g4 hxg4+ 46.Kxg4 Bh6 47.f4 exf4 48.exf4 Rd4 49.Kf3 Rd6 50.f5 (Diagram 8) Rf6? (after gxf5 51.Bxf5, Rd4 53. Rxb6, Rxa4 black would have had realistic drawing chances) 51.Kg4 gxf5+ 52.Bxf5 Be3 53.Re7 Bc5 54.Rd7 Be3 55.Rd3 Bc1 56.Rd5 Be3 57.h5 Bc1 58.Kf3 Rc6 59.Bd7 Rf6+ 60.Ke4 Bf4 61.Rb5 Bh6 62.Ke5 Bg7 63.Be6+ Kf8? (Probably deserves two question marks. (It is the clincher and looses the game, as white now creates mating possibilities) 64.Rxb6 Rf2+ 65.Kd6 Rd2+ 66.Bd5 Bc3 67.Rb7 Rh2 68.Rf7+ Ke8 69.Rf4 Bd2 70.Bc6+ 1–0.
Diagram 5 Diagram 6 Diagram 6 Diagram 7
P.Froehlich P.Froehlich P.Froehlich after 25.Rd6.. P.Froehlich
B.van Riel after 12...Ne5 B.van Riel after 19...dxc4 (?) B.van Riel B.van Riel after 38...Rd2?
Diagram 8
P.Froehlich after 50.f5..
B.van Riel
The game against Froehlich was the last to finish. I was very tired and had about 15 minutes until the last round and still needing to find lunch.
In my game against Ascaro Pecori I was so exhausted that it took me about one hour to work my way through the opening. After swapping a lot of material and simplifying the positions, I offered a draw in a very drawish position, but Ascaro, realising my predicament decided to keep trying and squeeze out a win. In the following position (diagram 9), white made two errors: he should have tried 1.Rxc5 instead of 1.Rc4?, Rxc4;2. Bxc4, cxb4; 3.Rxe6+, Kg7; 4. axb4? (overlooking black's reply. Better but still precarious for white would have been 4.Bb3, bxa3; 5. Rd2 etc) 4...Bc8(!) and white resigned.
Diagram 9.
B.van Riel after 1.Rc4?
A.Pecori
No Name Div Rtg Prize Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 Smerdon, David C - 2389 $750 =1st 6 71:W 28:W 34:W 8:W 3:W 5:D 2:D 2 Froehlich, Peter - 2389 $750 =1st 6 63:W 25:W 27:W 17:W 5:D 18:W 1:D 3 Lojanica, Milenko 1 2023 $105 =1st div 1 5.5 81:W 38:D 69:W 35:W 1:L 44:W 23:W 4 Pecori, Ascaro 1 1997 $105 =1st div 1 5.5 47:W 35:L 81:W 29:W 9:W 23:D 18:W 5 Solomon, Stephen J - 2466 $105 =3rd 5.5 39:W 15:W 13:W 10:W 2:D 1:D 6:D 6 Dizdarevic, Mehmedalija 1 1970 $105 =1st div 1 5.5 60:W 29:W 35:D 7:D 25:W 12:W 5:D 7 Wallis, Christopher D 1642 $120 1st div D 5.5 95:W 30:W 11:D 6:D 8:W 14:W 10:D 8 Stojic, Dusan 1 1947 5 45:W 32:W 26:W 1:L 7:L 46:W 25:W 9 Lugo, Ruperto B 1799 $60 =1st div B 5 66:W 74:W 10:L 57:W 4:L 52:W 37:W 10 Rujevic, Mirko - 2296 5 51:W 31:W 9:W 5:L 34:D 38:W 7:D 11 Rothlisberger, Marcel A 1892 $60 =1st div A 5 44:W 46:W 7:D 42:W 18:L 34:W 15:D 12 Jensen, Kai U $80 1st unrated 5 40:W 20:W 43:D 16:D 37:W 6:L 28:W 13 Hogg, Dean A 1875 $60 =1st div A 5 64:W 92:W 5:L 46:W 44:D 35:W 17:D 14 Kempen, Leon 1 1974 5 68:W 37:D 55:D 32:W 16:W 7:L 26:W 15 Stojic, Svetozar B 1783 $60 =1st div B 5 89:W 5:L 60:W 47:W 17:D 19:W 11:D 16 Lin, Zhigen Wilson C 1644 $120 1st div C 5 96:W 23:D 54:W 12:D 14:L 27:W 36:W 17 Nemeth, Janos 1 2050 5 59:W 21:W 36:+ 2:L 15:D 42:W 13:D 18 Van Riel, Bas A 1816 4.5 53:W 42:D 52:W 43:W 11:W 2:L 4:L 19 Hyland, Peter L A 1889 4.5 48:W 26:L 68:D 50:W 45:W 15:L 43:W 20 Miller, Anthony C 1691 4.5 87:W 12:L 64:W 24:L 60:W 53:D 45:W 21 Lycett, Garry B 1748 4.5 82:W 17:L 44:L 72:W 81:W 45:D 53:W 22 Yachou, Nur A 1904 4.5 62:W 43:L 40:D 68:L 75:W 49:W 42:W 23 Jager, Jesse A 1861 4.5 49:W 16:D 37:D 26:W 24:W 4:D 3:L 24 Chew, Zi Li U 4.5 54:L 73:W 92:+ 20:W 23:L 29:W 34:D 25 Szuveges, Narelle S B 1787 4 72:W 2:L 74:W 59:W 6:L 48:W 8:L 26 Burak, Mehmed C 1656 4 83:W 19:W 8:L 23:L 69:W 30:W 14:L 27 Wyss, Felix A 1823 4 50:W 41:W 2:L 37:L 74:W 16:L 63:W 28 Jia, Jing Qu B 1769 4 93:W 1:L 45:L 78:W 58:W 47:W 12:L 29 Lawson, Shane C 1686 4 91:W 6:L 48:W 4:L 62:W 24:L 59:W 30 Belletty, Malcolm A 1857 4 78:W 7:L 47:L 66:W 57:W 26:L 44:W 31 Sharman, Scot A B 1779 4 61:W 10:L 62:W 45:L 48:L 64:W 58:W 32 Brockman, Roland C 1676 4 77:W 8:L 49:W 14:L 53:L 62:W 68:W 33 Voon, Richard 1 1962 4 74:L 66:W 59:L 65:W 68:W 37:L 57:W 34 Frost, Peter A 1812 4 90:W 57:W 1:L 58:W 10:D 11:L 24:D 35 Ly, Thai B 1730 4 86:W 4:W 6:D 3:L 40:W 13:L 39:D 36 Lea, Tom B 1793 4 85:W 58:W 17:- 39:D 52:D 59:W 16:L 37 Stewart, Scott C 1681 4 88:W 14:D 23:D 27:W 12:L 33:W 9:L 38 Fletcher, Andrew B 1756 4 70:W 3:D 42:L 90:W 39:W 10:L 40:D 39 Van Dijk, Devrim D 1588 4 5:L 85:W 78:W 36:D 38:L 80:W 35:D 40 Bearup, Paul E 1539 $120 1st div E 4 12:L 82:W 22:D 80:W 35:L 70:W 38:D 41 Bergmanis, Olgerts D 1607 4 80:W 27:L 53:D 69:D 70:D 68:D 61:W 42 Kable, John R D 1593 3.5 56:W 18:D 38:W 11:L 43:W 17:L 22:L 43 Ogden, Marcus W C 1662 3.5 67:W 22:W 12:D 18:L 42:L 50:W 19:L 44 Morris, James E 1433 3.5 11:L 75:W 21:W 55:W 13:D 3:L 30:L 45 Braham, Peter E 1447 3.5 8:L 77:W 28:W 31:W 19:L 21:D 20:L 46 Rosario, Amiel C 1657 3.5 75:W 11:L 65:W 13:L 61:W 8:L 48:D 47 Stanisheff, Alex E 1526 3.5 4:L 86:W 30:W 15:L 55:W 28:L 52:D 48 Bailey, Mitchel F 1428 $30 =1st div F 3.5 19:L 67:W 29:L 83:W 31:W 25:L 46:D 49 Kloprogge, Ion F 1417 $30 =1st div F 3.5 23:L 83:W 32:L 56:D 89:W 22:L 80:W 50 Renzies, Elliott F 1392 $30 =1st div F 3.5 27:L 80:D 76:W 19:L 56:W 43:L 75:W 51 Wilson, Norm D 1568 3.5 10:L 61:L 88:W 70:L 86:W 75:D 77:W 52 Ashlock, Brad D 1623 3.5 73:W 54:D 18:L 89:W 36:D 9:L 47:D 53 Malejewicz, Alexander F 1354 $30 =1st div F 3.5 18:L 56:W 41:D 54:D 32:W 20:D 21:L 54 Campara, Miralem A 1851 3.5 24:W 52:D 16:L 53:D 59:L 74:D 76:W 55 Kara, Barbaros B 1715 3.5 69:D 97:W 14:D 44:L 47:L 78:D 60:W 56 Kenmure, Jamie H 446 $120 1st div H 3.5 42:L 53:L 0:W 49:D 50:L 79:W 74:W 57 Mollard, Max J D 1591 3 79:W 34:L 72:W 9:L 30:L 65:W 33:L 58 Biondo, Sam D 1578 3 65:W 36:L 61:W 34:L 28:L 69:W 31:L 59 Maguire, Jesse E 1560 3 17:L 93:W 33:W 25:L 54:W 36:L 29:L 60 Bultman, Grant E 1486 3 6:L 91:W 15:L 77:W 20:L 73:W 55:L 61 Sanderson, Paul G 1242 $40 =1st div G 3 31:L 51:W 58:L 63:W 46:L 81:W 41:L 62 Chong, Trevor E 1444 3 22:L 88:W 31:L 87:W 29:L 32:L 89:W 63 Stokie, William D 1583 3 2:L 72:L 91:W 61:L 90:W 66:W 27:L 64 Potter, Christopher F 1426 3 13:L 84:W 20:L 75:L 87:W 31:L 82:W 65 Zivkovic, Sam F 1416 3 58:L 96:W 46:L 33:L 67:W 57:L 88:W 66 Glenton, Alan F 1332 3 9:L 33:L 67:W 30:L 88:W 63:L 83:W 67 Nayar, Rick U 3 43:L 48:L 66:L 94:W 65:L 86:W 85:W 68 Potter, Matthew E 1490 3 14:L 87:W 19:D 22:W 33:L 41:D 32:L 69 Kostrzewa, Jake G 1150 $40 =1st div G 3 55:D 76:W 3:L 41:D 26:L 58:L 81:W 70 Vijayakumar, Rengan G 1178 $40 =1st div G 3 38:L 81:L 96:W 51:W 41:D 40:L 71:D 71 Elliott, Alan D 1572 3 1:L 89:D 90:L 76:W 80:L 84:W 70:D 72 Stewart, Clint F 1308 3 25:L 63:W 57:L 21:L 77:D 89:D 84:W 73 Potter, Michael H 654 3 52:L 24:L 86:L 0:W 82:W 60:L 90:W 74 Nikolayevsky, Artem E 1467 2.5 33:W 9:L 25:L 82:W 27:L 54:D 56:L 75 Lugo, Jerome H 882 2.5 46:L 44:L 93:W 64:W 22:L 51:D 50:L 76 Galiabovitch, Elena G 1121 2.5 97:D 69:L 50:L 71:L 94:W 90:W 54:L 77 Fraser, Reuben H 916 2.5 32:L 45:L 85:W 60:L 72:D 93:W 51:L 78 Baxter, Craig U 2.5 30:L 95:W 39:L 28:L 91:W 55:D 0: 79 Potter, Daniel H 301 2.5 57:L 90:D 89:L 85:L 83:W 56:L 91:W 80 Qian, Dennish H 721 2.5 41:L 50:D 97:+ 40:L 71:W 39:L 49:L 81 Omeragic, Jusuf E 1554 2 3:L 70:W 4:L 86:W 21:L 61:L 69:L 82 Abdelrahman, Youssef G 1176 2 21:L 40:L 84:W 74:L 73:L 95:W 64:L 83 Paterson, Graham H 874 2 26:L 49:L 94:W 48:L 79:L 87:W 66:L 84 Wang, Shuyu H 857 2 92:L 64:L 82:L 93:W 85:W 71:L 72:L 85 Hamilton, Ian R F 1310 2 36:L 39:L 77:L 79:W 84:L 91:W 67:L 86 Seehusen, John G 1170 2 35:L 47:L 73:W 81:L 51:L 67:L 95:W 87 Schön, Eugene G 1051 2 20:L 68:L 95:W 62:L 64:L 83:L 96:W 88 Tang, Jason H 991 2 37:L 62:L 51:L 95:W 66:L 94:W 65:L 89 McKenzie, Mark G 1247 2 15:L 71:D 79:W 52:L 49:L 72:D 62:L 90 Frangakis, John F 1348 1.5 34:L 79:D 71:W 38:L 63:L 76:L 73:L 91 Lemmel, Oliver U 1 29:L 60:L 63:L 96:W 78:L 85:L 79:L 92 Wolf, Peter C 1653 1 84:W 13:L 24:- 0: 0: 0: 0: 93 Hopf, Lorna G 1214 1 28:L 59:L 75:L 84:L 96:W 77:L 94:L 94 Lee, Geoff G 1298 1 0: 0: 83:L 67:L 76:L 88:L 93:W 95 Devoy, Sean H 685 1 7:L 78:L 87:L 88:L 0:W 82:L 86:L 96 Van Dijk, Marieke H 691 1 16:L 65:L 70:L 91:L 93:L 0:W 87:L 97 Antoniazzi, Francesco C 1695 .5 76:D 55:L 80:- 0: 0: 0: 0: