Newcastle Open

2010 Newcastle Open Report

The 2010 Newcastle Open attracted 40 players for the six round event. The field was weakened slightly at the top end, when WIM Heather Richards had to withdraw because of illness prior to the start of play on the Saturday morning. Congratulations to Raul Samar (2104) who was undefeated, winning the tournament with 5.5 from 6. Equal second was shared by FIDE Master Vladimir Smirnov (2297) and strong Central Coast chess identity David Castor (1885), both with 5 from 6 respectively. Interestingly, both these two players, like Raul Samar, were undefeated.

The tournament was a hard fought affair, being eventually decided in the last round. Three players, FM Vladimir Smirnov, Raul Samar and David Castor went into the last round on 4.5 points each. FM Vladimir Smirnov squared off against David Castor, Whilst Raul Samar met Johny Bolens (2029). Vladimir and David drew their game, whilst Raul got the better of Johny. Raul's victory over Johny allowed him to go to 5.5 points, a clear 0.5 point ahead of both Vladimir and David. Next best was Jason Chan (1986) on 4 points, who tied with Bernie O'Riordan (1899), who was the best of the local Novocastrian players.

A whole swag of players came in on 4 points: Gareth Charles, Ron Scott, Johny Bolens, Colin Bemrose, Tristan Stevens, Michael McGuirk and Herman Rachmadi.

Sydney juniors, Anton Smirnov and Nicholas Deen-Cowell performed well with 3.5 each, whilst local junior, Eddie Chen, did well to secure 3 points and score 50%.

At the opening ceremony, Norm Greenwood the New South Wales Chess Association Treasurer, presented Allan Wright, the tournament's Director of Play, with the 2010 Koshnitsky Medal. The Koshnitsky Medal has been awarded annually since 1982, the recipient receiving the award for their services to Chess Administration. Congratulations to Allan.

Best Sacrifice Competition

Heather Richards judged the the Best Scarifice Competition for the 2010 Newcastle Open. Four players entered the Best Sacrifice Competition this year and these games are shown immediately below. Heather judged Andrew Robinson as this year's winner, as he had more genuine scarifices in his game against Coffs Harbour stalwart Bill Ross. Andrew received $50 as prize money for his game.

Johny Bolens (2029) - Alex Mehan (1531) [B50]

Best Sacrifice Newcastle Open (2), 13.02.2010

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d6 4.0–0 Nf6 5.d3 e6 6.c3 Be7 7.h3 0–0 8.Re1 a6 9.Bb3 b5 10.Nbd2 Bb7 11.Nf1 a5 12.Bc2 b4 13.Ng3 Qc7 14.Bf4 Rac8 15.Rc1 Qb6 16.Bb1 d5 17.e5 Ne8 18.d4 Nc7 19.Bg5 Bxg5 20.Bxh7+ Kxh7 21.Nxg5+ Kg8 22.Qh5 Rfe8 23.Qxf7+ 1–0

Brad Heaney (1443) - Doug Wright (497) [C62]

Best Sacrifice Newcastle Open (4), 13.02.2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.d4 Bd7 5.0–0 exd4 6.Nxd4 Nxd4 7.Bxd7+ Qxd7 8.Qxd4 c5 9.Qd3 g6 10.Nc3 Bg7 11.Bf4 0–0–0 12.Rfd1 Ne7 13.Bxd6 Bd4 14.Bxe7 Qxe7 15.Nd5 Qd6 16.Qb3 Rhe8 17.c3 Bg7 18.f3 Rd7 19.a4 Qc6 20.a5 c4 21.Qa3 Bf8 22.Qa4 Qc5+ 23.Kh1 Re6 24.Nb6+ axb6 25.Qxd7+ Kb8 26.a6 Re7 27.a7+ Ka8 28.Qd8+ Qc8 29.Qxc8# 1–0

Andrew Robinson (1341) - Bill Ross (1392) [A00]

Best Sacrifice Newcastle Open (4), 13.02.2010

1.g4 d6 2.Bg2 Nc6 3.g5 e5 4.d3 Bd7 5.c4 Qe7 6.Nc3 0–0–0 7.Qb3 f6 8.h4 fxg5 9.hxg5 Qf7 10.Be3 a6 11.a4 Nge7 12.Nb5 g6 13.Nxc7 Na5 14.Qb6 Bc6 15.Bh3+ Nf5 16.Qxa5 Bxh1 17.Bb6 Rd7 18.Nd5 Bxd5 19.cxd5 Bg7 20.Rc1+ Kb8 21.e4 Rc8 22.Rxc8+ Kxc8 23.Qc3+ Kb8 24.Ne2 Re7 25.Ng3 Re8 26.exf5 Rc8 27.Qxc8+ Kxc8 28.fxg6+ Qd7 29.Bxd7+ Kxd7 30.Nf5 Bh8 31.g7 1–0

Warren McElroy (1519) - Ludwig Wolf (1366) [B13]

Best Sacrifice Newcastle Open (2), 13.02.2010

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 d5 4.Bd3 c5 5.c3 cxd4 6.exd4 Be7 7.0–0 0–0 8.Re1 Nbd7 9.Nbd2 b6 10.Ne5 Bb7 11.Ndf3 Rc8 12.Bg5 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 Nd7 14.Bxe7 Qxe7 15.Bxh7+ Kxh7 16.Qh5+ Kg8 17.Re3 Nxe5 18.Rh3 f6 19.dxe5 f5 20.Rd1 f4 21.Rd4 Rf5 22.Qh7+ Kf7 23.Rh6 Ke8 24.Rg6 Rxe5 25.h3 Rg5 26.Rxf4 Rxg6 27.Qxg6+ Kd8 28.Rf7 Qxf7 29.Qxf7 Rc7 30.Qf8+ Kd7 31.Qxg7+ Kd6 32.Qf6 Rc4 33.Qd8+ Kc6 34.Qe8+ 1–0

Small selection of games from 2010 Newcastle Open

Norm Greenwood (1384) - Alex Momet (787) [D05]

2010 Newcastle Open (2), 14.02.2010

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Bd3 c5 5.b3 Nc6 6.c3 Bd6 7.Bb2 Qe7 8.Nbd2 Bd7 9.0–0 0–0–0 10.a4 g5 11.Nxg5 Rhg8 12.f4 h6 13.Ngf3 Ng4 14.Qe2 f6 15.h3 e5 16.fxe5 fxe5 17.hxg4 Rxg4 18.Bb5 e4 19.Nh2 Bxh2+ 20.Kxh2 Qh4+ 21.Kg1 Rdg8 22.Rf2 Rg3 23.Raf1 Rh3 24.Rf8+ Kc7 25.Re8 Bxe8 26.Bxc6 Kxc6 27.Qb5+ Kc7 28.Qxc5+ Kd7 29.Qxd5+ Ke7 30.Ba3# 1–0

FM Vladimir Smirnov (2297) - Ron Scott (2221) [A56]

2010 Newcastle Open (4), 14.02.2010

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e5 4.Nc3 d6 5.e4 Nbd7 6.Bd3 a6 7.Nge2 h5 8.h3 h4 9.Be3 Be7 10.a3 Nh7 11.b4 Bg5 12.Qd2 Bxe3 13.Qxe3 Nhf8 14.Na4 b6 15.Rb1 Ng6 16.0–0 0–0 17.bxc5 bxc5 18.Rb2 Qa5 19.Bc2 Rb8 20.Rxb8 Nxb8 21.Qc3 Qd8 22.Rb1 Nd7 23.Qe3 Qa5 24.Kh2 Kh7 25.Qg5 Kg8 26.Qe3 Kh7 27.Ng1 Qd8 28.Nf3 Nf4 29.g3 Ng6 30.Qg5 hxg3+ 31.fxg3 Nf6 32.Nb6 Bb7 33.Qe3 Qc7 34.Ng5+ Kg8 35.a4 Rb8 36.a5 Bc8 37.Ba4 Bd7 38.Qa3 Bxa4 39.Qxa4 Qd8 40.Qd1 Nd7 41.Qh5 Nf6 42.Qf3 Rb7 43.h4 Nf8 44.Qf5 g6 45.Qf3 N6h7 46.Nxh7 Kxh7 47.Rf1 Kg7 48.Rf2 Nh7 49.Qg4 Rc7 50.Kh3 Nf6 51.Qf3 Nh5 52.Qe3 f6 53.Qf3 Rb7 54.Qg4 Re7 55.Qc8 Qc7 56.Rb2 Qa7 57.Qc6 Qb8 58.Na4 Qd8 59.Rb6 Rd7 60.Rxa6 f5 61.Ra8 Qe7 62.Qc8 Nf6 63.Qh8+ Kf7 64.Nb6 fxe4 65.Nc8 Qe8 66.Nxd6+ Rxd6 67.Rxe8 Nxe8 68.Qxe5 1–0

Bob Quek (1163) - Michael McGuirk (1713) [D10]

2010 Newcastle Open (4), 14.02.2010

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 dxc4 4.e3 b5 5.a4 Bd7 6.axb5 cxb5 7.g3 b4 8.Na2 Bc6 9.f3 e6 10.Bxc4 Nf6 11.Bd2 a5 12.Qe2 Qb6 13.Nh3 Be7 14.Nf4 0–0 15.Kf2 Nbd7 16.h4 e5 17.dxe5 Nxe5 18.Bb3 Bxf3 19.Qf1 Nfg4+ 20.Ke1 Bxh1 21.Qxh1 Nxe3 22.Bxe3 Qxe3+ 23.Kf1 Qxb3 24.Qh2 Rfc8 25.Rd1 Qxd1+ 0–1

Bernie O'Riordan (1899) - Anton Smirnov (1713) [C28]

2010 Newcastle Open (6), 14.02.2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.f4 Nxe4 5.Nf3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.fxe5 0–0 8.0–0 d6 9.exd6 Bxd6 10.Ng5 Ne5 11.Qh5 h6 12.Nxf7 Nxf7 13.Bxf7+ Rxf7 14.Qxf7+ Kh7 15.Be3 Bg4 16.Bd4 Qg5 17.h4 Qg6 18.Qxg6+ Kxg6 19.Rae1 h5 20.Be5 Bc5+ 21.Kh2 c6 22.b4 Be7 23.g3 a6 24.Bxg7 Bxh4 25.gxh4 Kxg7 26.Re7+ Kg6 27.Rxb7 Rd8 28.Rf2 Be6 29.Rb6 Bxa2 30.Rxc6+ Kh7 31.Rxa6 Bc4 32.Rc6 1–0

Results Of The 2009 Newcastle Open

Including Best Sacrifice Competition

Women's International Master Heather Richards and International Master Gary Lane prior to the start of Round 3 and visiting Dutch player Nathalie Eimers takes time out for a photograph before Round 6
The 2009 Newcastle Open was held on the 14 & 15 February at Panthers Newcastle and attracted 43 players, well up on last year's numbers. The 2009 Newcastle Open is arguably the strongest field ever assembled outside of a city metropolitan area Australia-wide, as well as for a NSW Country Tournament. Fifteen players were rated above 1900 that equated to very strong competition at the top end of the field. The tournament had an in international flavour attached to it, with classy Nepal chess player Krishna Thapa (2143) and visiting female player Nathalie Eimers (1700) from the Netherlands making up the competitors. This amazingly strong field included the following: IM Gary Lane (2336), FM Vladimir Smirnov (2324), FM Jesse Sales (2304), Ron Scott (2191), Krishna Thapa (2143), local WIM Heather Richards (2132), Andrew Bird (2118), Max Illingworth (2114), FM James Morris (2058), David Castor (1974) and FM Lee Jones (1967). The remainder of the players travelled from the following regions to compete: Melbourne, Sydney, Central Coast and Gosford, Taree, Gunnedah and Canberra, and were aided admirably with support from the local Novocastrian chess fraternity.

The tournament was won by 16 year old Max Illingworth (2114) who was undefeated on 6.5 from 7, who is earning himself a reputation as a giant-killer. Max defeated the top seed IM Gary Lane (2336), who was in chronic time trouble in the critical fourth round on the Saturday evening. By defeating Gary, Max positioned himself well for a shot at the title on the Sunday. Along his path to victory he secured a draw with FM Jesse Sales (2304) and seized the title in true championship style with a win in the last round by defeating the second seed, FM Vladimir Smirnov (2324).

Equal second on 5.5 from 7 was FM Jesse Sales (2304) and former State Champion Andrew Bird (2118).

Equal fourth was FM Vladimir Smirnov (2324), Ron Scott (2191) and David Castor (1974) all on 5 from 7.

Best local player was WIM Heather Richards who ran seventh overall on 4.5 from 7.

Best unrated player was Toby Coates on 4 from 7.

Some games from the tournament are listed below including two brevities. The first brevity was between two FIDE Masters that occurred in the critical fourth round on the Saturday evening, where FM Vladimir Smirnov (NSW) defeated FM James Morris (VIC) in 18 moves.

FM Vladimir Smirnov (2304) - FM James Morris (2058) [B41]

Newcastle Open, Newcastle Panthers (4), 14.02.2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.c4 Qc7 6.a3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.Be3 b6 9.Be2 Bb7 10.b4 Be7 11.Rc1 h5 12.f3 d6 13.Nd5 Qd8 14.Nxc6 Bxc6 15.Bxb6 Qb8 16.Nc7+ Kf8 17.Nxa8 Bxa8 18.Be3 and Black resigns 1–0

The second brevity features the totally unfashionable Kings's Gambit, that has almost been eradicated from high level and Master play, but saw a rare outing in round five of the tournament between newly arrived local player Tristan Stevens (ex South Australia) and Ron Scott (ex Newcastle local). This was a truely a fascinating game that stirred much interest among players after its completion.

Tristan Stevens (1943) - Ron Scott (2191) [C37]

Newcastle Open, Newcastle Panthers (5), 15.02.2009

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.Ne5 Qh4+ 6.Kf1 Nc6 7.Nxc6 dxc6 8.d4 Bh6 9.Nc3 Nf6 10.Bd2 g3 11.Kg1 f3 12.Qxf3 Bxd2 13.Rf1 Ng4 14.Qxf7+ Kd8 15.Rf3 gxh2+ 16.Rxh2 Qxh2+ 17.Kf1 Qh1+ 18.Ke2 Qe1+ 19.Kd3 Nf2+ and White has had enough 0–1

Games from the tournament will be listed as they become available.

Norm Greenwood (1452) - Ron Groenhout (1706) [A46]

Newcastle Open, Newcastle Panthers (4), 14.02.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bg5 Be7 4.Nbd2 b6 5.e4 Bb7 6.Bd3 d6 7.c3 Nbd7 8.0–0 e5 9.Rc1 0–0 10.Bb1 Ng4 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.h3 Ngf6 13.Re1 Nh5 14.Nxe5 dxe5 15.Qxh5 f6 16.Qe2 Kh8 17.a3 c5 18.d5 f5 19.c4 f4 20.Rc3 g5 21.Bc2 Rg8 22.Bd1 Nf6 23.g4 a5 24.a4 Ne8 25.Rb3 Rg6 26.Qf1 Ba6 27.Qd3 Rb8 28.Qc3 Nd6 29.Be2 Rh6 30.Bf1 Kg8 31.Nf3 Nf7 32.Ra3 Rd8 33.Raa1 Bc8 34.Rad1 Rdd6 35.Nd2 Bd7 36.b3 Qf8 37.Nb1 Rh4 38.f3 Qh6 39.Rd2 Qf6 ½–½

Best Sacrifice Competition

The inaugural Best Sacrifice Competition only had five entries, but proved tough going for the judge, WIM Heather Richards. Heather deliberated for quite some time before eventually selecting the winner. Congratulations to FM Jesse Sales on winning the competition. Jesse's game against Andrew Bird is given below, along with all the other entries. For completeness, Ron Scott's game, although shown above as a brevity, was also entered in the competition and has been shown again.

Jesse Sales - Andrew Bird [D15]

Newcastle Open, Newcastle Panthers (4) 14.2.2009

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 Qb6 5.a3 Bf5 6.c5 Qc7 7.g3 g6 8.Bg2 Bg7 9.Nh4 Be6 10.Bf4 Qc8 11.0–0 0–0 12.b4 a6 13.Na4 Nbd7 14.Qd3 Nh5 15.Bd2 Bf6 16.Nc3 Qc7 17.f3 Bxh4 18.gxh4 Nf4 19.Qe3 Nxg2 20.Kxg2 Nf6 21.Kh1 Nh5 22.Rg1 Ng7 23.h5 Nf5 24.Qf2 Rad8 25.Rad1 Rd7 26.Bc1 Rfd8 27.Na4 Rf8 28.Nb6 Rdd8 29.e4 Ng7 30.Qh4 Rb8 31.Bf4 Qd8 32.Be5 f6 33.hxg6 hxg6 34.Rxg6 fxe5 35.Rxg7+ Kxg7 36.Rg1+ Kf7 37.Qh5+ Kf6 38.dxe5# 1–0

Lee Jones - Keith Hogan [A12]

Newcastle Open, Newcastle Panthers (1) 14.2.2009

1.c4 d5 2.Nf3 Bf5 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 c6 5.0–0 e6 6.b3 Nbd7 7.Bb2 Nb6 8.d3 a5 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.Nd4 Bg6 11.Nc3 Bc5 12.Ncb5 Qd7 13.Rc1 Qe7 14.Rxc5 Qxc5 15.Ba3 Qxa3 16.Nxa3 0–0 17.Qd2 a4 18.b4 Nbd7 19.Nab5 Ng4 20.Nd6 b6 21.Rc1 Ra7 22.Nc6 Ra6 23.Ne7+ Kh8 24.Rc7 Ngf6 25.Nxg6+ fxg6 26.g4 Ne5 27.Qc3 Nexg4 28.Qc6 Raa8 29.Nf7+ Kg8 30.Qxe6 h5 31.Ng5+ Kh8 32.Qe7 Rg8 33.h3 Nh6 34.Qxf6 gxf6 35.Rh7# 1–0

Toby Coates - Ali Mosadderque [A86]

Newcastle Open, Newcastle Panthers (1) 14.02.2009

1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 d6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.b4 0–0 7.a4 c5 8.bxc5 dxc5 9.e3 Nc6 10.Nge2 e5 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.dxe5 Ng4 13.Qxd8 Rxd8 14.f4 Rd3 15.h3 Nxe3 16.Bxe3 Rxe3 17.Rd1 Rf3 18.Rd8+ Kf7 19.Rd6 Be6 20.Kd2 Rb8 21.Rxc6 Bxc4 22.Rxc5 Rb2+ 23.Kc1 Rxe2 24.Nxe2 Bxe2 25.Re1 Bd3 26.e6+ Ke8 27.Rc8+ Ke7 28.Rc7+ Kf6 29.e7 1–0

Tristan Stevens - Ron Scott [C37]

Newcastle Open,Newcastle Panthers (5) 15.2.2009

Norm Greenwood - Jerry Xu [A46]

Newcastle Open, Newcastle Panthers (6) 15.02.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bg5 h6 4.Bh4 g5 5.Bg3 Ne4 6.e3 Nxg3 7.hxg3 d6 8.Bd3 Nd7 9.Qd2 b6 10.e4 Bb7 11.c3 Bg7 12.Na3 a6 13.0–0–0 c5 14.Nc2 Rc8 15.Qe2 b5 16.Qe3 c4 17.Be2 Nf6 18.Nd2 Qe7 19.f4 g4 20.e5 Nd5 21.Qf2 dxe5 22.Bxg4 exd4 23.Nxd4 b4 24.Nf5 bxc3 25.Nxe7 cxb2+ 26.Kb1 Nc3+ 27.Kc2 Nxd1 28.Rxd1 Kxe7 29.Qb6 Bxg2 30.Qb4+ Ke8 31.Bf3 Bh3 32.Qb7 Rd8 33.Bc6+ Kf8 34.Qc7 Bf5+ 35.Ne4 Rxd1 36.Qb8+ Ke7 37.Qb7+ Kf8 38.Kxd1 Kg8 39.Kc2 Bg6 40.Qb4 c3 41.Bb7 Kh7 42.Bxa6 Rb8 43.Bb5 Rxb5 44.Qxb5 Bxe4+ 0–1