Welcome to the 50th Begonia Open 2016

Over 150 players descended upon Ballarat Clarendon College to compete in the 50th Ballarat Begonia Open for the coveted Kevin J. Perrin Trophy. Top players vied for points to go up the field to compete against GM Short, GM Illingworth and 2015 Open winner, IM Izzat. Midfield players could be seen checking the rating groups to see how many points they needed to secure one of the generous rating group prizes and special prizes. There was a constant stream of people moving between the playing arena and the Commentary Room manned by GM Ian Rogers. Younger players competed in the Chess Kids tourney and got a taste of what it will be like for them to compete in Australia's premier regional tournament.

Feedback from players included comments about how valuable they found the commentary and analysis, in particular when Nigel went over his last two games against Max and Kanan, with Ian.

The possibility of taking a half point bye was appreciated by many, turning the gruelling 3 game Sunday schedule into a fun day with an evening break.

Players put blogged and reported on the tournament far and wide: ChessChat forum got results posted, and Leonid Sandler (one of the few to not be beaten by Nigel Short) even got information posted on the premier Russian Chess site chess-news.ru. (see some nice photos there too!)

Kevin Perrin, Patrick Cook, Chris Segrave and Anna Yates were busy before, during and after, taking care of the myriad of problems that need attention.

Philip Drew and Rob Loveband worked hard with the digital boards and web site to keep the delayed live feed going, and the Arbiters, Gary Bekker, Jamie Kenmure and Bjorn Lategan were kept running with the inevitable stream of questions and requests for this and that.

The canteen helpers put in long hours and we thank them all for their efforts, some people even doing two shifts! Players expressed their appreciation at not having to go out to eat, especially if a game had gone over time, leaving them with only 20 minutes between rounds.

Sue Ryan could be seen flitting around taking photos which were printed and posted around the room for all to see on the day. Mio Ristic also took some great shots, unobtrusively moving around the arena between games. Photos are on the News page.

Kevin Perrin hosted Nigel Short and was often seen whisking Nigel off to meals and sightseeing in between putting in a pretty good effort over the boards, and managing the logistics of putting on the tournament!

Check out the prize list on the Prizes page, the games on the Games page, the final Results and more photos on the News page.