2006 Spielvogel Memorial - Round 2
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As expected, 3 more players joined the tournament in this round. Darren Young, given the bye in round 1, played Patrick Cook and the opening went through an amusing series of transpositions, beginning as an Alekhine’s Defence, then switching to a Pirc Defence, before finally settleing down to a closed variation of the Sicilian Defence. Patrick had to work hard to gain an edge, before finding a nice combination that won a piece and the game shortly after. Peter Miitel faced John Abson, fresh from his round 1 upset. John launched an ultra-aggressive pawn storm right from the start of a Queens Gambit Declined and was rewarded with a piece for 2 pawns. Peter kept his head, however, grabbed some more pawns and forced John’s resignation when he was confronted by an overwhelming wall of pawns parked in front of his king. Rob Bailey played the Torre system against Joel Beggs and the game was a typically dour positional struggle with little material exchanged well into the middle game. Both players used a lot of time, but it was Joel who cracked under the pressure, dropping a piece and then his queen. He resigned on the spot. James Eldridge versus John Frangakis was a Scandinavian Defence (1. e4 d5). An interesting tactical battle ensued that remained evenly balanced throughout and eventually ended in a draw. No last minute blunder by John this time. The other 2 latecomers, Shane Sporle and Gene Bell met each other and Gene played a weird French Defence (1. e4 e6 2. d4 a5?!). Shane quickly gained the upper hand and forced Gene’s resignation by winning his Queen. Jamie Brotheridge faced Tim Commons' Slav defence and found himself 2 pawns in arrears early in the middle game while trying to build up a kingside attack. He was saved from a difficult defensive task when Tim blundered a piece and resigned in disappointment. Michael Schreenan had the bye.
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