Once again, Ballarat Chess Club entered a team in the 2nd Division of the Victorian Teams Competition, and after our excellent 3rd place finish in 2010, we had high hopes of another successful tournament.
                                      Round 1: Ballarat v Croydon  1-3
Although it was listed as a home match, we travelled to Box Hill Chess Club for round 1 to accommodate the meeting of team captains. The match was disappointing, with the following board results :
Board 1 : Ian Birchall (1895) Croydon vs. Vineetha Wijesurija (1714) Ballarat  1-0
Board 2 : Joel Beggs (1646) Ballarat vs. Jamie Cross (1728) Croydon  0-1
Board 3 : Kyle Gibson (1478) Croydon vs. Patrick Cook (1651) Ballarat  ½-½
Board 4 : Kevin Perrin (1587) Ballarat vs. Ian Kloprogge (1347) Croydon ½-½
                                        Round 2 : Yarra  v  Ballarat  1.5-2.5
For round 2 we travelled to Melbourne Chess Club and registered a good win.
Board 1 : Wineetha Wijesurija (1714) Ballarat vs. Milan Brkljac (1739) Yarra  0-1
Board 2 : Milan Ilic (1705) Yarra vs. Bas van Riel (1658) Ballarat  0-1
Board 3 : Joel Beggs (1646) Ballarat vs. Cviko Radovanovic (1400) Yarra  1-0
Board 4 : Slobodan Zoraja (1450) Yarra vs. Patrick Cook (1651) Ballarat ½-½
                                       Round 3 : Ballarat v Melbourne Chess Club 3  3-1
We hosted Melbourne Chess Club 3 at our clubrooms and registered an emphatic victory.
Board 1 : Ian Stone (1835) MCC3 vs. Bas van Riel (1658) Ballarat  1-0
Board 2 : Joel Beggs (1646) Ballarat vs. Tony Tosevski (1657) MCC3 1-0
Board 3 : Simon Karumbi (1397) MCC3 vs. Rod Jacobs (1603) Ballarat  0-1
Board 4 : Patrick Cook (1651) Ballarat vs. Elizabeth Warren (795) MCC3  1-0
                                           Round 4 : Noble Park 2  v  Ballarat  2-2
Our team met the strong Noble Park team at Box Hill Chess Club and managed a surprise draw thanks to an unfortunate forfeit.
Board 1 : Bas van Riel (1658) Ballarat vs. Omar Khaled (1959) Noble Park 2  0-1
Board 2 : Mehmedalija Dizdarevic (1948) Noble Park 2 vs. Joel Beggs (1646) Ballarat 1-0
Board 3. Kevin Perrin (1587) Ballarat vs.  …               1-0f
Board 4 : Orephile Phuma (-) Noble Park 2 vs. Thumula Gamage (1147) Ballarat  0-1
                                        Round 5 : Ballarat  v  Geelong 1.5-2.5  (2.5-7.5)
We hosted Geelong Chess Club for this round and at the suggestion of Geelong President Ben Kersten a match of 10 boards, in the spirit of the famous  1925 and 1926 matches, was arranged, with the top 4 boards counting for the teams competition. Before play commenced, we were presented with a copy of Andrew Wemyss’ splendid history of Geelong Chess Club, their only generous gesture on the day since we were completely crushed in the match, with only young Jonathon Yates scoring a win.
Board 1 :  Michael Sugrue (1943) Geelong  vs. Rob Loveband (1694) Ballarat ½-½
Board 2 : Joel Beggs (1646) Ballarat  vs. Stephen Fletcher (1746) Geelong  0-1
Board 3 : Zoran Babic (1685) Geelong vs. Patrick Cook (1651) Ballarat ½-½
Board 4 : Kevin Perrin (1587) Ballarat vs. Andrew Wemyss (1656) Geelong  ½-½
Board 5 : Bill Stokie (1605) Geelong vs. Rod Jacobs (1603) Ballarat  1-0
Board 6 : Jamie Brotheridge (1473) Ballarat  vs. Paul Power (1569) Geelong  0-1
Board 7 : Reza Daneshvar (1554) Geelong  vs. Rob Bailey (1453) Ballarat   1-0
Board 8 : James Watson (941) Ballarat  vs. Ben Kersten (1536) Geelong  0-1
Board 9 : Tom Nemaric (1377) Geelong  vs. Tom Oppenheim (1065) Ballarat 1-0
Board 10 : Jonathon Yates (884) Ballarat vs. Mike Maertzdorf (-) Geelong  1-0
                                       Round 6 : Ballarat  v  Box Hill 2  2-2
We hosted Box Hill 2 this round and gained a creditable draw thanks to Patrick Cook’s heroic 109 move! draw on board 2, and Rob Loveband’s upset win on board 1.
Board 1 : Octavio Martinez (1780) Box Hill 2  vs. Rob Loveband (1694) Ballarat  0-1
Board 2 : Patrick Cook (1651) Ballarat  vs. David Flude (1713) Box Hill 2  ½-½
Board 3 : Kevin Brown (1677) Box Hill 2 vs. Rob Bailey (1453) Ballarat  ½-½
Board 4 : James Watson (941) Ballarat vs. Elliott Renzies (1419) Box Hill 2  0-1
                                      Round 7: Dandenong  v  Ballarat 1.5 – 2.5
For the final round, all teams played at Box Hill Chess Club, and we finished on a high note.
Board 1 : Wineetha Wijesurija (1725) Ballarat vs. Garry Lycett (1872) Dandenong  1-0
Board 2 : Stephen Jago (1514) Dandenong vs. Bas van Riel (1658) Ballarat  1-0
Board 3 : Joel Beggs (1646) Ballarat vs. Mendel Armerman (1541) Dandenong  1-0
Board 4 : Christopher Potter (1507) Dandenong vs. Patrick Cook (1651) Ballarat ½-½

The 2011 competition was much stronger than 2010, with our team usually outrated. Despite this we finished equal 4th with 3 match wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses. Joel Beggs and Patrick Cook  demonstrated their team spirit by playing 6 of the 7 matches, with Patrick, the team Captain, once again undefeated.

Please send games to include in our game database for this event.