Dear All,
A somewhat mixed week for the St. George grade match teams this week... Most still won, and are leading their respective divisions. A special thank you to the captains, since I was away at Bonnyrigg on Tuesday night and did not see most matches. You even get a double dose report on one match! Read on to find out which one...
ROUND 3
Under 2100 Bonnyrigg 1-3 St. George
1. Djuro Pilja 1844 0.5-0.5 Quentin Reitmans 2010
2. Krste Blazeski 1647 0.5-0.5 James Watson 1923
3. Gojko Trzin 1610 0-1 Charles Zworestine 1942
4. Milko Banovic Unrated 0-1 Aina Musaeva 1915
We did not play that well, but we still won 3-1 - so I guess I cannot complain! Aina was once more the first to finish, and she looked like she was always in control against her lower rated opponent - he ended up losing on time in the first time control when a piece down... Then James had his usual adventures, having once more secured a totally won position out of the opening as Black - but he neglected to play a crushing Qd5 move, missing his opponent's one knight move (Ng3), and so his advantage was reduced to just a pawn. Still it was one clear, healthy pawn - until time pressure got James and he misplayed his position and had to give the pawn back! He reached the time control, then proceeded to outplay his opponent to once more end up a pawn up in a knight and pawn ending - but this time it was trickier, and James was also short of time. So in the end, pawns were liquidated and he had to be content with a draw... I was the lucky one, having misplayed the opening very badly - at one point my opponent missed a forcing capture that would have forced me to saddle myself with doubled and isolated f pawns, and an exposed king - dead lost! Instead I gradually outplayed him to a won ending - and then got careless again and gave him massive counterplay! Had he played the correct move (found by James next morning), I would have had to struggle very hard just for a draw... He did not, and I ended up winning the ending quite easily in the end. Quentin was the last to finish, and he again looked like he was always in control and in the better position - but as usual, in time pressure! He won a pawn; but queens were coming off the board, and opposite coloured bishops made it very hard to make progress. So still short of time, Quentin decided to take no risks and settle for a draw - hence the eventual 3-1 result...
Under 1800 St. George Dragons 2-2 Ryde Eastwood
1. Jamie Roberts 1834 0.5-0.5 Steven Herrn Liu 1779
2. Sarwat Rewais 1768 0-1 Lorenzo Escalante 1742
3. Nick Kordahi 1777 0.5-0.5 Konrad Zielinski 1679
4. Mirsad Zekic 1687 1-0 Joshua Christensen 1651
Report texted to me by Dragons team captain Nick Kordahi - thanks Nick!
Board 1 was a close affair, with Jamie obtaining a slight advantage from the opening - but the position was heading to a draw until Jamie realised Sarwat and Nick were going to find it hard to salvage any points and so went for the win - but hard as he tried Jamie managed only a draw. On Board 2 Sarwat struggled from the opening but managed to get himself into an ending - to no avail, as he still went down. On Board 3 Nick achieved nothing from the opening, got himself into an inferior ending, but still managed to salvage a draw in his opponent's time trouble. On Board 4 Mick played a nice controlled game and was very composed in a complicated position to put his opponent away.
Bonus double dose report by Board 1 Jamie Roberts - thanks Jamie!
I did not see much of the other games, but here is my take on the evening.
I very quickly got into a very good position as Black against my opponent: We had castled on opposite sides, and my opponent made several time wasting moves allowing my pawn storm to get very close to his king before he had even finished his development. Having won a pawn, I sensed that victory was close, and pushed on. Unfortunately, I passed up a prophylactic move thinking it unnecessary and unfortunately got hit by a clever counter-attack. I sacrificed two pawns to keep my attack moving, and was, for about ten moves, always one move away from mating my opponent, but he defended tenaciously and in the end I had to take a draw by repetition.
The round was exciting because at one point in the match Nick, our team captain, told me that I was going to be the only one scoring any points. After my game finished I went to look at the other games to find that Nick had managed to snatch a draw from the mouth of defeat and Mirsad had gone half a point better, scoring a full point from a lost position.
Under 1800 North Sydney 3-1 St. George Saints
1. Anthony Pickering 1774 1-0 Robert Kovacs 1660
2. Lloyd Nicholas 1745 0.5-0.5 Chris Waterman 1603
3. Fred Apcar 1734 1-0 Kole Murgoski 1618
4. Paul Glissan 1718 0.5-0.5 Tom Tomas 1603
Report by Saints team captain Robert Kovacs - thanks Robert!
The U1800 Saints lost 3-1 to Norths but even though the Norths players were all at least a hundred points higher rated than any of us, the result still could have gone either way - which is a positive. Things started off alarmingly when two of our players arrived 20 mins late, but got better for a while. I didn't see much of the other games, but will tell you what I can. Chris Waterman drew fairly early against Lloyd Nicholas on Board 2 in what I believe was a no way through position. Kole Murgoski was next to finish - losing to Fred Apcar in circumstances which were very confusing and somewhat heated. Kole unfortunately played on, after possibly winning on time - he later tried to claim this but it was too late and neither player had written down the final moves up to the time control, so it would have been difficult anyway. The other two games went almost to the end of the 3.5 hrs. I started off by obtaining a won position up a rook against Anthony Pickering before gradually throwing away the win and the draw - not happy! Tom Tomas' game against Paul Glissan ended in a draw after a long endgame and a long discussion relating to a draw claim by his opponent suing for mercy - which Tom finally agreed to just as I arrived.
Under 1600 Manly 1.5-2.5 St. George Saints
1. Jack Mejzini 1607 0-1 John Papantoniou 1629
2. Chris Dimock 1549 0-1 Jack Ruan 1557
3. Gordon Miller 1585 0.5-0.5 Harry Ruan 1459
4. Owen Roach 1479 1-0 Sean Gu 1361
Report by Saints team captain Nellie Ruan - thanks Nellie!
We had another excellent night! Our boys won two games, one drew and one lost.
Our Board One player John Papantoniou was late by about 40 minutes because of school music. He got into time pressure but still won the game. He was a pawn up at the very beginning, and at the end the pawn promoted and Jack Mejzini resigned.
Board Two had a very exciting long game; it lasted for three hours! At the beginning, the game was roughly equal. Jack Ruan stormed through the queenside, while Chris Dimock tried to break from the kingside. Then Dimock sacrificed the exchange and created deadly mate threats. But Jack defended extraordinary well. He swapped off the heavy attacking pieces and remained a bishop and two pawns up. So eventually Jack won the game.
Board Three had a very friendly game. Harry Ruan played White, and had the centre. But Gordon Miller got a solid position, and Harry couldn’t break in. So both were happy and a draw was agreed even though all the pieces remained on the board (only a pair of pawns swapped off).
Our Board Four player Sean Gu is only eight years old, and had won his first two rounds! He started the game pretty well, but then his knight was forked by Owen Roach. So Sean was a piece down, and then got checkmated in the end.
Under 1600 St. George Dragons 2.5-1.5 Norths Brown Bears
1. Peter Astorga 1642 0.5-0.5 David Stern 1543
2. Brian Press 1542 1-0 Andrew Johnson 1515
3. Geoff Britton 1510 0-1 Oscar Wang 1479
4. Terence Wall 1506 1-0 Robert Lawrie Unrated
Report by Dragons team captain Terence Wall - thanks Terence!
The U1600's won a narrow victory 2.5 to 1.5.
I was busy fighting to equalise in the first hour of my game, and found Peter's game almost over when I was first able to check up.
Peter had 4 pawns plus bishop vs three pawns plus opposite coloured bishop; and although his extra pawn was passed and on the 6th rank, he couldn't advance it and so the game finally resulted in a draw.
Brian's board seemed to be as crowded as Peter's was bare at the same point, but his white pieces were well advanced into enemy territory. I didn't see exactly how he won and, when I asked him for a report, he replied modestly "I used aggressive and no-nonsense rough stuff" .......... 'nuff said.
Geoff had the misfortune to face Oscar Wang in very good form. Oscar soon had a strong attack going and Geoff found the going tough against this bright young fellow's play. I felt rather guilty because Oscar had played up a board; so I was relieved at not having to face him!
My unrated opponent gave me a hard time in the opening, but miscalculated a 3-move swap-off which left him an a-pawn down. Another oversight allowed me to win his b-pawn, giving me passed a and b pawns. I managed to get these to the sixth rank backed up by my rook and bishop, and his rook/knight defenders seemed unable to prevent a pawn promotion so he resigned.
Under 1400 North Sydney 1 St. George Saints 3
1. Mathew Carden 1320 0.5-0.5 Cedric Koh 1222
2. Hareesh Thippeswamy 1224 0.5-0.5 Peng Yu Chen 1130
3. Andrew (Garry) Jennings 1172 0-1 Clarise Koh 946
4. Nicholas Little Unrated 0-1 Shirley Gu 842
Report by Saints team captain Jason Koh - thanks Jason!
Another good result for U1400 St George Saints juniors; kudos especially to our two female team members! Shirley had an exciting game, as the position was so unpredictable. She was the first to finish when opportunity arose with a discovered check and without hesitation, she gained a free rook. After that, the opponent resigned instantly.
Cedric had an interesting endgame, but could not convert it for a win.
Similarly, Peng Yu's position was equal with both players holding a queen and 2 pawns on the board. The victorious result for the team concluded after Clarise's 2 bishops (against one bishop) "cherry picked" and tortured the opponent's pawns as they were slowly being eliminated!
Under 1400 St. George Dragons 4-0 Parramatta
1. Omar Taric 1361 1F-0F Bob Sewell 1429
2. Thierry Ollivain 1342 1-0 Tony Baldwin 1348
3. Peter Johansson 1335 1F-0F
4. Henry Too 1314 1F-0F
Report by Dragons team captain Peter Johansson - thanks Peter!
As only one player from Parramatta (Tony Baldwin) had turned up at around 7.40 pm last night, I gave their team captain (Bob Sewell) a call. He informed me that he was on his way but had lost direction. He also advised that Tony would play on Board 2, and that he had been unable to get any players for Boards 3 and 4.
So I got the Board 2 game between our Thierry Ollivain and Parramatta's Tony Baldwin started, and I started Bob's clock on Board 1 which was supposed to be Omar Taric's game against Bob Sewell. When Bob still hadn't turned up at around 8.15 I gave him another call. He told me that he was still on his way. When he eventually arrived it was more than an hour after the start time, so he accepted a forfeit loss.
In the meantime Thierry and Tony had played for an hour and a bit, and were still equal in material and position. Eventually Thierry started to build up some pressure on the queenside. On the 24th move he captured Tony's a-pawn, which gave Thierry a passed pawn on this file. The rest of the game centred around this pawn. Tony gave away a knight in his desperate attempts to stop it, but resigned a few moves later when it was clear that he could not prevent the pawn from promoting without loss of even more material.
Regards,
Charles Zworestine.
Club Captain,
St. George Leagues Club Chess Club.