2016 Ballarat Chess News

On the Move

Chess in Ballarat will start again on Thursday, 19th of January in the Hooper Room at the Ballarat Mechanics' Institute which will be our new home. See the Contact page for map and address.

Chess Chatter

Hear All About It! Sue Ryan is now editing a monthly chess newsletter for the Ballarat Chess Club... Download and read the debut edition below!

From international tournament analyses and photo galleries to club member's contribution- it's got it all. Write something yourself for the next edition!

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End of year BBQ

Bring a salad, bring a snag and a drink; come to the friendly end of year gathering on Thursday 15th of December at 6:30. It will be held at Rob's place in Mt Clear again. BBQ facilities, plates etc. available, everything else bring yourself.

Chess Triathlon a Success

A great day was had by all, with a line-up of 15 contestants vying for the inaugural tournament's Gold and Silver Medals. Read more

Blitz 5

After Jamie's 6.5 out of 7 performance, the title of Blitz Champion for 2016 has been cemented in history! Harrison lost 2 games which knocked him out of the running... Read more

Chess Triathlon

The Inaugural Ballarat Chess Triathlon will be held on Saturday, December 10th, starting at 9:00am sharp, at the Ballarat Mechanics Institute. Instead of swimming, running and riding, we'll have 2 rounds each of Blitz, Rapid and (nearly) Standard games. This is a friendly, end of year unrated tournament which will give Ballarat's chess lovers a great day of chess at our new club venue for 2017. Entry is only $5 for members and there will be prizes for the overall winner and also for the Reserve division.

30-11-16 Ballarat Clarendon Open Secondary in National Finals

A fine effort and an amazing experience for the students on a number of levels, not to mention being immersed in a snapshot of the aspirational culture in and around Melbourne University. All of the students competed in true College spirit – humble in victory and dignified in defeat. The students also recorded all of their games in a chess scorebook and no doubt analysis will ensue over the coming days, as mistakes are rued and improvement sought, through feedback and further practice. Congratulations to all the students involved, and with chess so popular throughout the school, College players will no doubt be competitive in the National Finals in years to come! Participation in this tournament was made possible by Chris Segrave and Rob Bailey, both active members of the Ballarat Chess Club. Several of the students also regularly play in the club tournaments. Read more on the College Facebook site

01-12-16 Koelle Rd 7

Bas van Riel dispatched Harrison efficiently in an uncharacteristically rapid game, over within an hour! This victory secured Bas' place as winner of the Koelle for 2016. Congratulations, Bas, for taking your first Koelle championship title! Place-getters are undecided as many games were postponed. In the Reserves, Louis Douglas was able to shorten Caitlin Barnett's picket fence by one picket, taking the point and leaving Caitlin in equal first position with Anna Yates. Remarkably, this is the second tournament this year that they have shared Reserve winnings in; the Teters was the first. Congratulations to Anna and Caitlin!

25-11-16 Koelle Rd 6

Bas van Riel has steamed ahead after defeating Patrick Cook, and Kevin Perrin is now in second place, a half point behind. After defeating Rob Loveband, Harrison will go on to play Bas in the final round. In the Reserves, Caitlin Barnett is a full point ahead of Anna Yates and looking like she will pass the post in the front of the field.

17-11-16 Koelle Rd 4,5

Bas van Riel defeated James Watson in a feisty game in Rd5 to catch up to Rob Loveband who was had 2 draws; they both sit on 4 points, followed closely by Patrick Cook who will play Bas next week. Caitlin Barnett is building a picket fence in the Koelle B with 5 straight wins, Anna Yates being the latest casualty.Read more

03-11-16 Koelle Rd 3

In Koelle A upsets abounded; Isaac Stolk achieved a draw against the higher-rated Jamie Brotheridge, Michael Tausz defended well against a Rod Jacobs gambit and took the point, as did Rob Loveband against Bas van Riel, with Rob playing a Caro Kann. In the B group, Anna Yates defeated the upcoming Sue Ryan, while Kalen Douglas won the point against higher-rated Sasha Jacobs.

27-10-16 Koelle Rd 2

Round 2 - Chris has had to withdraw due to work and Michael S was away so everyone in Koelle A got a game on the night. Notable upsets were Isaac Stolk holding Patrick Cook to a draw, and Rob Loveband taking the point from James Watson. In the Koelle B, Caitlin, Anna, Sue and Chantelle head the field along with Jasan on 2 points, and they will have some competition ahead from Miguel Marbella who has joined the fray.

20-10-16 Koelle Rd 1

The tournament kicked off Thursday with 35 participants divided into two groups of 16 and 19. The Swiss format caters for the large numbers and limited number of weeks, with one drawback being less time for catch ups as results affect following pairings. Read more

20-10-16 Arthur Koelle Tournament

The Arthur Koelle Tournament starts on Thursday with two divisions competing in Swiss tournaments rather than a round robin, to accommodate the anticipated large number of entrants. This means all games not played on the night will have to be completed before the following week. Please notify the Arbiter, James Eyre of any dates you may be away and give him your contact details to assist in planning. As usual there will be prizes for both divisions. Read more

15-10-16 Vic Country Chess Championship

The Victorian Rural Chess League's annual Country Championship was held in Geelong on the weekend with 32 regional players congregating in the Girl Guide's Hall. It was 6 rounds and although some of the stalwarts of the tournament such as Dr Stewart Booth and David Schepisi were absent, competition was tough as usual. Shum Ghumman from Flinders won his final round game against last year's winner Khosrou Ghafouri in an exciting blitzed finale with both players' clocks down under 2 minutes to clinch the championship on 5 points. Mio Ristic shared second place with the experienced veteran Mark Bruere on 4.5 points. For Mio, obviously underrated on 1551, it was a magnificent result - he took the Reserve's title as well as 2nd overall! Local player Rod Jacobs was our highest scorer on 4 points but Kevin Perrin was the only one of us to take a 1/2 point from the champion, Shum. Read more

13-10-16 Annual General Meeting

Not always the most popular event in the Club Event Calendar but one of the most important, the AGM will be held next Thursday. Items for discussion include the potential to move to the Mechanic's Institute, the make-up of the weekly programme, next year's Begonia, pairing programs, junior chess and more! All welcome to have a cuppa and a say - see you at 7:30. There will be time for some fun games as well, before and after the meeting.

06-10-16 Rapid #3

Bas passed the post a nose ahead of Harrison in Rapid #3, however, when the dust settled we saw that Patrick was ahead of Harrison and other contestants, on 10.5 points already garnered in the previous two Rapids, and enough for a win of this year's title of Rapid Player of the Year! Cassandra had an upset win over Rod who took the Trojan Horse in exchange for a quick death! Read more

29-09-16 Rapid #3

Harrison and Bas on full marks whilst the rest of the pack follow... Patrick Cook, still in with a chance of claiming the Rapid Play title for the year, suffered a loss to Rauri Coffey, facing the Albin Countergambit and falling to mid-game tactics. His following win against Rod Jacobs somewhat ameliorated his depression, though, as he showed good endgame skill making the most of the pawn majority he attained during White's not quite successful attack on his King side. Read more

Blitz #4

Jamie Brotheridge back in form with a lovely picket fence, 7 of 7! James Watson was on his tail but was taken down by the Speed King.

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15-09-16 Team Chess - fun social chess

As proposed by Cassandra Barnett, we split into 4 teams of four and played two team games, no clocks, lots of discussion - as it turned out in one game the three best moves of the winning side were made by the junior players! Angus Blenkiron made an appearance, taking some time from a busy school schedule, as did regular, Rauri Coffey. Team Harrison managed to take down Team Bas, and Team Rob won against Team Rod in a feisty, dangerous game, an Albin counter gambit. The discussions encouraged lots of learning and fun rivalry. See the game here.

Bas van Riel - Teters Champion 2016

Bas van Riel triumphs!

After 7 hard fought rounds, on 6.5 points, congratulations go to the winner of the 2016 Arthur Teters Memorial, Bas van Riel, for the second year running. Most of Bas' games are annotated and definitely worth a look if we are to have a chance at challenging our highest rated player for the points! Rob Loveband came second a full point behind Bas. The stand out performance was from a player initially ranked 32nd who ended up coming equal fifth on 4 points - Caitlin Barnett. Cassandra, Caitlin and Rauri were all juniors who achieved 4 points, a great result for them, as they took some scalps on the way!Read more

08-09-16 Teters Rd 7

Bas van Riel, after Kevin Perrin missed an early opportunity for a better game, held off an interesting Bishop sacrifice by Kevin which ultimately proved to be unsound, and with careful play negated the threat, leaving no play left for Kevin who resigned.

On the 2nd board of players on 4.5, Rod Jacobs, when faced with the imminent loss of a pawn with no compensation, sacrificed a Bishop for a pawn, leaving two passed pawns. Unfortunately, Rob Loveband gave back a Knight for three pawns and was able to put a deadly Bishop in the middle of the board stymying any chances of Rod of getting back into the game.

James Watson faced Rauri Coffey and was lucky not to be put on the spot when Rauri missed the chance of taking an empty file with his Rook and forcing James' King away from protecting his awkwardly placed Bishop, to be taken by a Knight. However, Rauri swapped off pieces to an inferior Rook and pawns position which James converted into a mate with an active King.

Ben Naughton let his opponent Caitlin Barnett off the hook after carelessly taking Black's only piece able to move, leaving Caitlin who had set up the situation nicely, with a draw!

In contrast to Michael Tausz and Patrick Cook's somewhat lacklustre game which ended in a draw, Jamie Brotheridge had to work hard well into the night countering a well fought game by Chris Segrave to garner the full point.

So, after 7 hard fought rounds, on 6.5 points, the winner of the 2016 Arthur Teters Memorial is Bas van Riel, for the second year running. Most of Bas' games are annotated and definitely worth a look if we are to have a chance at challenging our highest rated player for the points! Rob Loveband came second a full point behind Bas. The stand out performance was from a player initially ranked 32nd who ended up coming equal fifth on 4 points - Caitlin Barnett. Cassandra, Caitlin and Rauri were all juniors who achieved 4 points, a great result for them, as they took some scalps on the way! Read more

01-09-16 Teters Rd 6

A pivotal round to the outcome with Bas putting distance between himself and the field. It's now up to Kevin to win for a potential 2-3 way tie for first with the winner of the Rob L vs Rod J game. James Eyre once again fell victim to the quickly improving Barnetts with Caitlin Barnett winning a nice tactical game against him. Read more

25-08-16 Teters Rd 5

The points generally went to the higher rated player this round. However, Cassandra and Chantelle both had a good night, Cassandra taking the point from the more experienced James Eyre, and Chantelle beating Andre in a game showing her improving technique. Rod and Rob B fought a hard draw, and Rob L was lucky to turn a loss into a win against Michael T in the twilight of their game. Possibly the most interesting game of the night was Harrison vs Bas, where Harrison, instead of choosing to be slowly worn down after a weaker opening game, sacrificed a piece for some fireworks and chance. Read more

18-08-16 Teters Rd 4

A night of upsets - primarily James' stomach which forced an adjournment of his and Harrison's game at about 9:30pm!

Another upset was Patrick losing to Rob L after failing to instigate 'Patrick's Curse'. He didn't offer a single draw!

Round 5 pairings waiting for 2 postponed games - please get your results to James Eyre or Rob as soon as completed so they can update the website. Read more

14-08-16 Fletcher Morrow Tournament

By one o'clock the tournament was ready to start and, thanks to some thoughtful organising by Kevin Perrin, there were enough pieces, boards, cups and cakes for all 30 players and visitors.

The overall tournament score was standing at 2.5 vs 2.5, and although the match was ostensibly just a fun way to pass a chilly Ballarat winter Sunday, you could see on the players faces that there was serious work to be done. Ten boards for the tournament, one board for the juniors playing a rated game. Ballarat was outplayed for the most part; all three top boards went to Geelong, and our only full points were garnered by Patrick Cook on Board Four, Jamie Brotheridge on Board Nine, and James Eyre on Board Ten. Rob Bailey and Michael Tausz did well to get 1/2 points from higher rated opponents on Boards Seven and Eight. Cassandra Barnett on the Junior board did the same, staving off higher rated Jack Smith for a draw. Read more

14-08-16 Fletcher Morrow MOU

An agreement was signed on the weekend by representatives of both clubs, outlining the commitment of the clubs to continue holding the inter-city chess challenge match annually on the second Sunday in August.

The success of the revival of this historic tournament is evidenced by enthusiasm of the players to travel for an hour to play against their traditional rivals. Every year has seen more than the nominated 10 boards being contested.

Download a copy of the Guidelines

11-08-16 Teters Memorial Round 3

James, Harrison and Rod all went on to win their games and are on the full 3 points, a 1/2 point ahead of Bas who drew his game against Patrick. No surprises this week but some good games played. See them here.

04-08-16 Championship C Group Winner

A happy Miguel Marbella receives a book prize from Patrick Cook for winning the C Group tournament in the 2016 championship before official play starts in Round 2 of the Teters.

04-08-16 Teters Memorial Round 2

Another cold night failed to deter 35 players from the promise of a challenging game of tournament chess on Thursday. We also had a few casual players enjoying a game or two which took total attendance to near record levels. After the dust settled, most games went to the higher rated player, the exceptions being Cassandra who defeated Tom using what she'd learned about keeping the opposition earlier in the week, and Sasha who defeated Michael S. The Vega system is now producing acceptable pairings and next week will see the 8 players on 2 points all play each other which should give us some interesting games. For this week's games see Chess Microbase. Read more

28-07-16 Teters Memorial Round 1

Record numbers braved the Ballarat cold to turn out for our mid-winter standard play tournament - the sixth Arthur Teters Memorial Tournament. Serious chess was the order of the day, half of the field of 32 being juniors, who after a Harrison special 'pick-me-up' snack and some blitzing with him and others, sat down to delve into chess at a deeper level. Seeing such young minds so well focussed kept the old guard on their toes, and although there was only one upset, with young Caitlin Barnett holding the more experienced Tom Oppenheim to a draw, some interesting games ensued. Read more

28-07-16 Champions Awarded

Championship winners, James Watson and Chris Segrave received their medals and cheques to the sound of applause and much congratulating all around. The spirit of competitive chess, an honorable battle of minds, was much evident in the room. Ian Marbella, winner of the C Group, was absent. Read more

21-07-16 Rapid #2

Patrick Cook and Jamie Brotheridge emerged from the throng victorious on 5 points out of 6. With one more Rapid Play to go, on 10.5 out of 12 points, it's still possible for a handful of Patrick's competitors to catch him, if he has a bad night! A feature of this type of Grand Prix event is that it is the best 2 results out of 3 tournaments so heroic comebacks are possible!! The third Rapid Play will start on the 29th of September. Read more

14-07-16 Rapid #2

First round of 3 games sees Patrick, Michael and Kevin undefeated. The last three games will be held next Thursday, so come and build up your points. It's unrated so play for fun - there are no ratings points at risk! You can write down your games, or not, Some games have been entered into Chess Microbase, such as Patrick's "Cooked Goose Gambit" which gave him a win against our club champion. Read more

07-07-16 Blitz #3

James Watson lost 1 game to Harrison and he in turn lost 1 to Patrick, and if Patrick hadn't lost to Jamie it would've been a 3 way tie. As it was James and Harrison take equal top spot in the 3rd Blitz tourney for the year. Read more

30-06-16 Club Championship

Most games are now concluded and James Watson has emerged with a very respectable 1.5 point lead over runner up, Rod Jacobs. Peter Lumsdon, third seed, came in third, and tenth and eleventh seeds, Jeremy Lin and Michael Tausz ousted the old guard from their previously comfortable spots near the top of the pile. James' meteoric rise in ratings points would seem to be justified! Chris Segrave proved his place as top seed also victorious with a 1.5 point lead over the field. As winner of the Reserves he has a guaranteed place in the Championship next year. Ian Marbella will probably be vying for Reserves champion next year after showing great promise in the 3rd division. Congratulations to all participants for a well fought tournament with many annotated games entered to Chess Microbase for us all to enjoy! Read more

16-06-16 New Club Champion

We have a new club champion: James Watson now has an unassailable lead after a win against Kevin Perrin, coinciding with Bas being defeated by upcoming talent, Michael Tausz. As Kevin noted, "at 21 James has plenty of time to win many more titles, so watch out Pat!" He went on to say that records indicate that Arthur Koelle was one of our youngest ever champion at 15 and 16 way back in 1968 and 1969. Other youthful champions include George Maksacheff, Stephen Symons and David Lumsdon who was also 15. So, congratulations to James on a well deserved and hard fought rise to the top! Members are still looking forward to what many thought would be the key game between Bas and James which is still to be played - presumably in the catch up night next Thursday. Read more

09-06-16 Club Championship Rd 10

Round 10 was eventful: Bas lost to Jeremy Lim on what was his last night at the club - a nice way to finish his time at the club with a win against our top rated played! Rod and Patrick's game was initially adjourned - some confusion over the draw by repetition rule, which appears to have concluded in a draw. James Watson has quietly taken the lead. He is 1/2 point down with Rod and Bas now both 1.5 points down from 11 max. Chris Segrave holding onto the Reserves after a draw against Anna, with James Eyre still with a chance for an equal first. Congratulations to upcoming junior, Ian Marbella, for winning the C Group competition! Read more

02-06-16 Club Championship Rd 9

Round 9 saw consolidation of the top contenders, with both Bas and James winning their games. Rod also packed on another point, winning his game against Harrison who once again fed the masses and provided a simul for some of the C group and kids playing before the 7:30 start. Rob B held off James W for most of the game before letting James create a passer which then led to a Rook infiltration and a collapse. Patrick had an early night due to Ben's car trouble. Chris is holding on to his lead in the Reserves. Anna was unable to defeat Michael S but got a half point for her troubles.

26-05-16 Club Championship Rd 8

A feisty game was played between Peter L and Rod J last night which started with mass swaps to end with 2 Bishops vs a Bishop and a Knight. Rod was able to nullify the 2 Bishop advantage and maneuver his way to a win in 66 moves, by which time both players were showing signs of tired play!

James and Rod share top place in the ladder as Kevin and James game was unplayed. Chris steaming ahead in Reserves as is Ian in the C group.

19-05-16 Club Championship Rd 7

James Watson now has a clear lead with 6.5 of 7 games played and one catch up game with Bas to finalise. He defeated Rod, now in second place, and played a Rd 11 game against Jeremy who'll be away. Jeremy was lucky to catch an opportunity to equalise after James played a lacklustre pawn grab allowing Jeremy to put both rooks on the 7th. Michael T vs Rob B. what happened? Chris S has a healthy one point lead in the Reserves, having only dropped one game so far. Ian Marbella is not looking in any doubt in the C Group with a 2 point lead.

12-05-16 Club Championship Rd 6

Rod's roll was slightly stymied by Bas, with him having to concede a draw with the top seed- not a bad result at all! Jamie not faring so well with a point going to Ben - a great result for him. Rob B back on track, and Peter starting to amass some points. Check the results and put up your games!

05-05-16 Club Championship Rd 5

Rod is still in the lead with 5 points. His Round 4 game against Jeremy was a great example of how to survive the unsurvivable! From a loss to a draw to a win, all in 3 or 4 moves. He took a more gradual approach this week against Michael T, after getting a nice strong centre, slowly making improvements until Queens were off and cleaning up was pretty straightforward.

In the Reserves, Chris leads the way on 4 points followed by Tom on 3. Ian Marbella is up the top of the C Group.

R5 Results

Jamie had a good win against Rob B. in a game which was equal until move 33 when "Rob fell asleep" (JB) and put his Bishop in a compromising position!

28-04-16 Club Championship Rd 4

Only Rod Jacobs has continued his winning streak into the fourth round after defeating Jeremy Lim last night. The big upset was Michael Tausz taking the point off Patrick Cook; he has consistently improved and has taken scalps off a few of the club's top players. It will be interesting to see their game.

The Reserves!!! Every result was an upset - Chris losing to Raurie, Cassandra holding James E to a draw, Jake taking the point from Jasan, and Louis beating Caitlin. Put your games up guys - interesting times!

R4 Results

Many catch up games yet to be played by others, but Rod can't improve on 4 out of 4!

21-04-16 BCCC Round 3

Rod, Chris and Tom still on leading their divisions with 3 of 3. Some postponed games yet to be played so nothing is certain... a bird in the hand though... All results up to date. Patrick yet to write up the tournament start; we are all looking forward to his running commentary! After finishing the History Book has he run out of steam? We'll see!

14-04-16 BCCC continues

Round 2 results and pairings are up. Sorry for the delay! Rod in the A's, and Chris, Tom and Isaac in the B's are all on 2 out of 2. Many of the key clashes are being held early in the tournament... one of the vagaries of using Swiss Perfect is imperfect pairing! Check results and pairings Read more

07-04-16 2016 Club Championships

And they're off! For the first time in the club's history there are three fields in the championship. Members ratified a change in the rules to allow the 3 groups to cater for the unprecedented numbers and keep spaces for late inclusions. Check out results and pairings here. Read more

	17-03-16 Begonia Prizes Three local junior players recieved prizes for their perfomances in the Begonia Open; they were Cassandra Barnett, Sasha Jacobs and Caitlin Barnett. Congratulations to our junior members! Ben Naughton also picked up a prize belatedly on the night!

17-03-16 Blitz #2

Jeremy Lim took out the blitz in style! He only lost one picket to Rod Jacobs, and Jamie had some serious competition for speed chess. Read more

31-03-16 Rapid Play #1

Patrick Cook took the honours with 5.5 of 6 points, followed closely by the rest of the field. Read more

24-03-16 Rapid Play #1

The first of the Rapid Play tournaments at 25'+10" kicked off last night with some upsets. Patrick and Rod lead the field but will have a tougher draw next week. Read more

24-03-16 Spielvogel Winner

Congratulations to Bas van Riel for a great performance in the 2016 Spielvogel Memorial tournament! He played Kevin Perrin in the decider on the weekend to secure first place by a full point, clear of James Watson who also had a fantastic tournament. Read more

Ballarat Open turns 50

by GM Ian Rogers

The Begonia Open, which coincides with the Begonia Festival held on the second weekend in March each year in Ballarat, began in 1967 as a small club tournament but was thrown open to the professionals two years later and has attracted some of Australia’s best players ever since. Read more

March 12 - Begonia Open 2016

The biggest and best Begonia Open to be held in 50 years has come and gone with a great show of support by over 150 players, local and foreign, and enriched by the participation of GM Nigel Short on the boards and GM Ian Rogers in the Analysis Room. Check the Begonia web site for photos, prize list and games. The tournament trophy was share by GM Short, FM Kanan Izzat and IM Bobby Cheng. Read more on Chessbase

March 10 - GM Nigel Short Simul

In a remarkable effort the British Lion devoured all 31 victims in just 3.5 hours. He did not pause once for a drink or a break of any kind. It was amazing to watch him go about the demolition job he did on our members. Some players got close to achieving a draw but his technique was just far too good for us. After the weekend tournament he will try to repeat this in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney. See the Courier article and time lapse video. 

Spielvogel Winner

One game remains to be played which will determine the outcome of the tournament. Current leaders on 5.5 are Bas van Riel and James Watson but if Kevin beats Bas in their postponed game there will be 3 shared first places, otherwise Bas will be the outright winner if he can hold a draw or take the full point. No pressure, Kevin!

3 March - Spielvogel Results

Please check your results on the Spielvogel page: many results were input incorrectly. If you are not sure how to do it, leave it to the Arbiter or someone who does! If your game result is wrong, please inform Bjorn or Rob L..

3 March - Spielvogel Round 7

Bas leads by a point... a loss would see 2 contenders sharing first place, but a draw would secure it. Can Kevin keep his eye on the ball in the last round? Read more

The new face of chess in Ballarat

With an influx of younger players, both boys and girls, the club is becoming a lively, well connected community hub every Thursday night. Moving the starting time to 7:30 has suited our younger players who often come in at 6:45 and finish before 9:00. Everyone seems to enjoy the competitive but fun atmosphere, with the older players encouraging and mentoring younger ones - who often go on to beat their teachers!

11 February - Spielvogel Memorial