Round 1
31 players descended on the Girl Guides Hall in Geelong for the 2014 Victorian Country Chess Championship - this was the largest turnout in several years, with numbers boosted by a large contingent of Geelong players. Top seed was FIDE Master, Simon Rutherford, who was playing in the tournament for the first time. There were some interesting moments in Round 1, with at least one player having to take time out of his game to move his car to avoid a parking fine. Over the board, there were a number of minor upsets, with Rod Jacobs using the Morra Gambit to hold second seed Stewart Booth to a draw, and solid play from Reza Daneshvar, Ben Kersten and Alexander Harris also holding their higher rated opponents to a draw.

No	White	Loc	Result	Black	Loc
1	Simon A Rutherford	2269	1:0	Kevin J Perrin	1598
2	Rodney M Jacobs	1578	.5:.5	Stewart Booth	2067
3	Michael Sugrue	1931	.5:.5	Reza Daneshvar	1531
4	Clint Stewart	1531	0:1	Mark F Bruere	1910
5	Khosrou Ghafouri	1873	1:0	Ken Czuczman	1456
6	Ben Kersten	1436	.5:.5	Geoffrey Gill	1841
7	Nigel Barrow	1831	1:0	Jonathon Yates	1424
8	Patrick Lenne	1389	0:1	Alistair Anderson	1765
9	Zoran Babic	1755	1:0	Chris Schulz	1275
10	Alexander Harris	1167	.5:.5	Leigh Healey	1720
11	Joel Beggs	1653	1:0	Bjorn Lategan	959
12	Anna Yates	924	0:1	Max J Mollard	1635
13	Patrick Cook	1629	1:0	Gareth Mills	715
14	Sasha Jacobs	580	0:1	Andrew M Wemyss	1622
15	Geoffrey Barber	1599	.5:.5	Anandaram Jothibabu

Simon Rutherford, right, contemplates his next move against Kevin Perrin, while Rod Jacobs challenges Stewart Booth with the Morra gambit. Bjorn Lategan (left) causes headaches for Joel Beggs, while Anna Yates takes on Max Mollard. Patrick Cook seems more interested in the newspaper than his game, while Alistair Anderson looks on as Andrew Wemyss takes on the youngest player in the tournament, Sasha Jacobs.

Alex Harris takes on Leigh Healey, while Chris Schulz looks on from the next board.

Round 2
Round 2 saw most games go to the higher rated players, with the exceptions being Rod Jacobs continuing his good form with a win over Leigh Healey, while Max Mollard held Khosrou Gahfouri to a draw. The last game to finish saw Andrew Wemyss perhaps a little unfortunate not to be able to hold Nigel Barrow to a draw.

No	White	Loc	Result	Black	Loc
1	Zoran Babic	1755	0:1	Simon A Rutherford	2269
2	Mark F Bruere	1910	1:0	Joel Beggs	1653
3	Max J Mollard	1635	.5:.5	Khosrou Ghafouri	1873
4	Andrew M Wemyss	1622	0:1	Nigel Barrow	1831
5	Alistair Anderson	1765	1:0	Patrick Cook	1629
6	Stewart Booth	2067	1:0	Ben Kersten	1436
7	Anandaram Jothibabu		0:1	Michael Sugrue	1931
8	Geoffrey Gill	1841	1:0	Alexander Harris	1167
9	Leigh Healey	1720	0:1	Rodney M Jacobs	1578
10	Reza Daneshvar	1531	1:0	Geoffrey Barber	1599
11	Kevin J Perrin	1598	1:0	Chris Schulz	1275
12	Bjorn Lategan	959	0:1	Clint Stewart	1531
13	Ken Czuczman	1456	1:0	Anna Yates	924
14	Jonathon Yates	1424	0:1	Mio Ristic
15	Gareth Mills	715	0:1	Patrick Lenne	1389
16	Sasha Jacobs	580	1:0	BYE

Gareth Mills v Patrick Lenne. Zoran Babic (far left) and Simon Rutherford look on while Anandram (Andy) Jothibabu takes on Michael Sugrue, Leigh Healey plays Rod Jacobs and Reza Daneshvar takes on Geoff Barber.

Round 3
Round 3 saw Simon Rutherford challenged by Alistair Anderson, with Anderson perhaps a little unfortunate to not hold the top seed to a draw, whilst in contrast on board 2, Nigel Barrow, at one point two pawns down, appeared to be extremely lucky to escape with a draw against Mark Bruere.

No	White	Loc	Result	Black	Loc
1	Simon A Rutherford	2269	1:0	Alistair Anderson	1765
2	Nigel Barrow	1831	.5:.5	Mark F Bruere	1910
3	Khosrou Ghafouri	1873	0:1	Stewart Booth	2067
4	Michael Sugrue	1931	1:0	Max J Mollard	1635
5	Rodney M Jacobs	1578	0:1	Geoffrey Gill	1841
6	Joel Beggs	1653	.5:.5	Reza Daneshvar	1531
7	Clint Stewart	1531	0:1	Zoran Babic	1755
8	Patrick Cook	1629	1:0	Sasha Jacobs	580
9	Patrick Lenne	1389	1:0	Andrew M Wemyss	1622
10	Mio Ristic		0:1	Kevin J Perrin	1598
11	Geoffrey Barber	1599	1:0	Ken Czuczman	1456
12	Ben Kersten	1436	0:1	Leigh Healey	1720
13	Alexander Harris	1167	0:1	Anandaram Jothibabu
14	Anna Yates	924	0:1	Jonathon Yates	1424
15	Chris Schulz	1275	0:1	Bjorn Lategan	959
16	Gareth Mills	715	1:0	BYE

Players relax after three hard fought rounds and enjoy a meal together.

Round 4
Round 4 saw the much awaited clash of the top two seeds, with Simon Rutherford emerging victorious in the endgame against Stewart Booth. Anandram Jothibabu from Shepparton continued his good form, defeating Khosrou Ghafouri.

No	White	Loc	Result	Black	Loc
1	Stewart Booth	2067	0:1	Simon A Rutherford	2269
2	Mark F Bruere	1910	.5:.5	Michael Sugrue	1931
3	Geoffrey Gill	1841	1:0	Nigel Barrow	1831
4	Alistair Anderson	1765	1:0	Zoran Babic	1755
5	Reza Daneshvar	1531	.5:.5	Patrick Cook	1629
6	Kevin J Perrin	1598	1:0	Patrick Lenne	1389
7	Anandaram Jothibabu		1:0	Khosrou Ghafouri	1873
8	Leigh Healey	1720	.5:.5	Joel Beggs	1653
9	Max J Mollard	1635	.5:.5	Rodney M Jacobs	1578
10	Andrew M Wemyss	1622	1:0	Bjorn Lategan	959
11	Sasha Jacobs	580	0:1	Clint Stewart	1531
12	Ken Czuczman	1456	0:1	Mio Ristic
13	Jonathon Yates	1424	1:0	Gareth Mills	715
14	Alexander Harris	1167	1:0	Ben Kersten	1436
15	Chris Schulz	1275	1:0	Anna Yates	924

Faces of concentration with the trophy up for grabs.

Rutherford (left) takes on Stewart Booth, as Mark Bruere looks on from Board 2. Anna Yates looks on as Clint Stewart (foreground, left) records his move against Sasha Jacobs, Ken Czuczman takes on Mio Ristic and Gareth Mills plays Johnathon Yates.

Round 5
Round 5 saw the top seed lose his first half point, with Geoffrey Gill holding on for a draw. Draws on boards two and three however, helped him maintain his lead over the rest of the field.

No	White	Loc	Result	Black	Loc
1	Simon A Rutherford	2269	.5:.5	Geoffrey Gill	1841
2	Michael Sugrue	1931	.5:.5	Alistair Anderson	1765
3	Kevin J Perrin	1598	.5:.5	Mark F Bruere	1910
4	Patrick Cook	1629	0:1	Stewart Booth	2067
5	Nigel Barrow	1831	.5:.5	Reza Daneshvar	1531
6	Zoran Babic	1755	.5:.5	Anandaram Jothibabu
7	Clint Stewart	1531	0:1	Leigh Healey	1720
8	Joel Beggs	1653	.5:.5	Jonathon Yates	1424
9	Patrick Lenne	1389	1:0	Max J Mollard	1635
10	Rodney M Jacobs	1578	1:0	Andrew M Wemyss	1622
11	Mio Ristic		1:0	Alexander Harris	1167
12	Khosrou Ghafouri	1873	1:0	Chris Schulz	1275
13	Gareth Mills	715	.5:.5	Ken Czuczman	1456
14	Bjorn Lategan	959	1:0	Sasha Jacobs	580
15	Ben Kersten	1436	1:0	Anna Yates	924

The last game to finish was a topsy-turvy game between Nigel Barrow and Reza Daneshvar, which looked like one player was winning easily with a passed pawn, until the other countered with a passed pawn of his own, and then looked like he was winning easily. With both players in time pressure, White conjured threats of a mating net, and the game eventually simplified into a theoretically drawn rook and pawn endgame.

Round 6
Simon Rutherford went into the last round with a half point lead over his nearest rival, Geoffrey Gill, with a number of players a full point behind - it would be up to former champion Mark Bruere to halt Rutherford's run. Bruere played well enough to hold Rutherford to a draw, however Geoffrey Gill could not overcome Michael Sugrue on board 2, which meant Rutherford won the tournament outright. Stewart Booth defeated Kevin Perrin to tie with Gill for equal second. Anandram Jothibabu and Mio Ristic both topped off their good tournaments with victories in the last round to tie for equal first in the Reserves.

No	White	Loc	Result	Black	Loc
1	Mark F Bruere	1910	.5:.5	Simon A Rutherford	2269
2	Geoffrey Gill	1841	.5:.5	Michael Sugrue	1931
3	Stewart Booth	2067	1:0	Kevin J Perrin	1598
4	Alistair Anderson	1765	.5:.5	Nigel Barrow	1831
5	Leigh Healey	1720	1:0	Patrick Lenne	1389
6	Anandaram Jothibabu		1:0	Rodney M Jacobs	1578
7	Reza Daneshvar	1531	0:1	Mio Ristic
8	Joel Beggs	1653	1:0	Khosrou Ghafouri	1873
9	Jonathon Yates	1424	0:1	Zoran Babic	1755
10	Max J Mollard	1635	1:0	Patrick Cook	1629
11	Andrew M Wemyss	1622	0:1	Clint Stewart	1531
12	Bjorn Lategan	959	1:0	Ben Kersten	1436
13	Ken Czuczman	1456	0:1	Alexander Harris	1167
14	Anna Yates	924	1:0	Gareth Mills	715
15	Chris Schulz	1275	1:0	Sasha Jacobs	580

Rutherford (right) versus Mark Bruere, while Geoffrey Gill plays Michael Sugrue on board 2.

The final game to finish once again involved Nigel Barrow, this time against Alistair Anderson. Anderson looked to be in trouble at one stage, but in mutual time pressure, and with inexact play from both players, managed to generate chances with an outside passed pawn. The final position saw Barrow with a Bishop and three pawns against two knights and a pawn. Whilst there may still have been winning chances, both sides agreed to a draw to conclude the tournament.

Simon Rutherford holds the winner's trophy while Kevin Perrin reaches over to award the champagne. Anandram Jothibabu (left) and Mio Ristic share the honours for the Reserves Trophy.

Blurry group photo with Sasha and Rod Jacobs holding the trophies - but where's Ken Czucman? Ah, there he is!

Players by Rating and Location

No	Name	Loc	Title	Location
1	Rutherford, Simon A	2269	fm	Bacchus Marsh
2	Booth, Stewart	2067		Swan Hill
3	Sugrue, Michael	1931		Geelong
4	Bruere, Mark F	1910		Yea
5	Ghafouri, Khosrou	1873		Portland
6	Gill, Geoffrey	1841		Geelong
7	Barrow, Nigel	1831		Bendigo
8	Anderson, Alistair	1765		Geelong
9	Babic, Zoran	1755		Geelong
10	Healey, Leigh	1720		Bendigo
11	Beggs, Joel	1653		Ballarat
12	Mollard, Max J	1635		Bendigo
13	Cook, Patrick	1629		Ballarat
14	Wemyss, Andrew M	1622		Geelong
15	Barber, Geoffrey	1599		Geelong
16	Perrin, Kevin J	1598		Ballarat
17	Jacobs, Rodney M	1578		Ballarat
18	Daneshvar, Reza	1531		Geelong
19	Stewart, Clint	1531		Ballarat
20	Czuczman, Ken	1456		Bendigo
21	Kersten, Ben	1436		Geelong
22	Yates, Jonathon	1424		Ballarat
23	Lenne, Patrick	1389		Drouin
24	Schulz, Chris	1275		Geelong
25	Harris, Alexander	1167		Moe
26	Lategan, Bjorn	959		Ballarat
27	Yates, Anna	924		Ballarat
28	Mills, Gareth	715		Bendigo
29	Jacobs, Sasha	580		Ballarat
30	Jothibabu, Anandaram			Shepparton
31	Ristic, Mio			Geelong