60th Club Championships 2025

Prize-giving Ceremony

Julian presented medals to Club Champion Declan Smith, Reserves Winner Peter Stickland,

and Inaugural Women's Champion Anna Yates. Peter presented the prize for the unrated winner to Minsadi Wansapura

Reserves play-off: Michael Leckie decided not to contest it. Peter drew with Lucas Ware and defeated Anirudh after the latter had beaten Lucas. So, Peter 1.5, Anirudh 1.0 and Lucas 0.5 were the final scores.

Round 9 last round

The final round of our special 60th Jubilee Championships saw 40 players at the boards for the commencement of play. Another 24 players were not paired.
On Board 1 Sam Song took on the Champion elect CM Declan Smith, but was unable to hold the rampaging Champion. On Board 2, Justin Goodison, who has had a fine tournament, showed his class with a strong win over Vipin Jyani. On Board 3 Bas van Riel proved to be just too strong and experienced for junior Rey Mukherjee, who still had an excellent event. On Board 4, new President Peter Stickland met old President Patrick Cook, and the respect showed in a careful draw. On Board 5, Paja Marko faced our player of honour Kevin Perrin. It was a lengthy fighting game, and Kevin prevailed to show his remarkable stamina and class, despite 60 Championship tournaments!
In the battle for the Women’s Championship, on Board 7. Michael Leckie defeated leader Minsadi Wansapura, while on Board 12 Shanaya Guha won against promising junior Rory Colgrave to equal Minsadi's score. Meanwhile, on Board 9 experienced Tom Oppenheim fell to excellent play by Anna Yates who thus grabbed the inaugural Ballarat Chess Women’s Championship title.
The Reserves and C grade titles are undecided, with Peter Stickland, Lucas Ware, Michael Leckie, plus Anirudh Weerakoddy finishing on 5.5/9. A play off will be required. 

Round 8

With our 60th Jubilee Championship nearing its conclusion, the title(s) are still up for grabs, as 46 players sat down to fight it out over the Boards. No less than 17 players were not paired.
On Board 1, the leader CM Declan Smith faced the inventive and dangerous Paja Marko, and was in some trouble early before fighting his way out for a crucial victory. On Board 2, Scott Stewart launched the hyper-aggressive Smith-Morra Gambit against 2nd placed Vipin Jyani and won in splendid style, while on Board 3, Minsadi Wansapura fell to Sam Song who continues to gain in playing strength. On Board 4, Patrick Cook met his great rival, Bas van Riel. These 2 old lions have each won 8 Championship titles, and their game became a sharp fight before smouldering to a draw. On Board 5, veteran Kevin Perrin, himself a 7-time Champion, fought out a lengthy draw against up-and-coming junior Justin Goodison. Down on Board 9, junior Rehhyansh Mukherjee defeated Shanaya Guha, while on Board 14, Anna Yates played an excellent game to down Methuja Dissanayake.
The results mean that top seed, Candidate Master Declan Smith, leads with 7.5/8 and has won the Championship title for 2025 with a round to spare. Vipin Jyani, Scott Stewart, and Sam Song are on 5.5/8, with a posse of 7 players further back on 5/8.
The inaugural Women's Championship is a tight race, with Minsadi Wansapura still leading with 4.5/8, followed by Anna Yates on 4/8, and Shanaya Guha still in with a chance on 3.5/8.

Round 7

Our exciting 2025 Championship tournament continued on Thursday evening with 46 players sitting down at the boards. 6 players took their last chance for a half point bye, while 9 players were not paired.
On Board 1, 8-time champion Bas van Riel took on top seed CM Declan Smith and resigned after just 11 moves when a faulty pawn exchange dropped a piece. On Board 2, Vipin Jyani quietly outplayed drawmeister Patrick Cook to inflict the 8-time champion's first defeat in the event, while on Board 3, Sam Song held aggressive Scott Stewart to a hard fought draw. On Board 4, mystery man Paja Marko defeated
Rob Loveband in a lengthy brawl, and on Board 5, Lucas Ware couldn't cope with rising junior, Justin Goodison, and slipped to defeat.
Down on Board 7, in a battle of young players, Declan Mahar was defeated by Minsadi Wansapura, while further down on Board 18, Anna Yates scored an efficient win over Crissa Tobin.
With just 2 rounds to go, CM Declan Smith maintains his lead on 6.5/7, with Vipin Jyani on 5.5, and Paja Marko on 5. Another 8 players are theoretically still in with a chance on 4.5.
In the Women's Championship, Minsadi Wansapura continues to lead on 4.5/7, with Shanaya Guha on 3.5, and Anna Yates on 3.

Round 6

Our 60th Jubilee Championship continued on Thursday night, with 49 players, so 1 player was given a bye, 5 players took a half point bye, including defending champion James Watson, and 8 players were not paired.
On Board 1, Minsadi Wansapura had the daunting task of facing top seed Declan Smith. She was unable to cope with his high class and duly lost. On Board 2, Vipin Jyani met Sam Song in a tough, high quality struggle. Neither player could gain an edge and the game ended in a draw. On Board 3, Justin Goodison sacrificed a piece for a seemingly decisive mating attack against Bas van Riel, only to see Bas find a spectacular save that gave Bas the point. On Board 4, Patrick Cook won a piece for 3 pawns late in the middle game against Michael Leckie. Michael assessed the endgame as lost and resigned rather than be tortured by Patrick's technique. On Board 5, Scott Stewart had little trouble despatching high flying junior Anirudh Weerakoddy.
CM Declan Smith continues to lead with 5.5/6, with Patrick Cook, Vipin Jyani, and Bas van Riel at a respectable 1 point behind on 4.5/6. Minsadi Wansapura still leads the Women's Championship on 3.5/6, with Shanaya Guha now in contention on 3/6.

Board 1 ready to go, Minsadi enjoying the experience of being on the top board!

Round 5

With the tournament reaching the half-way mark, exciting chess and interesting results continued after 46 players sat down for Round 5. 7 players took half point byes, and 5 were not paired.
On Board 1 the much-anticipated showdown between top seed Declan Smith and 2nd seed, defending Champion James Watson was a win for Declan after a tense, high quality game. On Board 2, Rob Loveband fell to a focused Vipin Jyani, while on Board 3, Sam Song survived after dropping a pawn against drawmeister Patrick Cook. That game was the only draw of the round! On Board 4, Bas van Riel brushed aside Anirudh Weerakoddy, while Jamie Brotheridge crashed and burned against Justin Goodison on Board 5. Down on Board 8, Paja Marko proved too strong for Anna Yates, while on Board 11 Oscar Heawood squandered a good position against Minsadi Wansapura.
Candidate Master Declan Smith, now leads with 4.5/5, with Vipin Jyani on 4. Patrick Cook, James Watson, Bas van Riel, Sam Song, Justin Goodison, and Minsadi Wansapura are further back on 3.5/5. Minsadi has now stretched her lead in the Women's Championship.

Board 1 ready to go, Board 23 likewise.

Round 4

Round 4 of the 60th Ballarat chess championships had 44 players sitting at the commencement of play, with 11 players taking a half point bye. On Board 1, defending champion James Watson took on tournament leader Sam Song and won convincingly. On Board 2, Patrick Cook faced Rob Loveband and a quiet draw resulted. Veteran Kevin Perrin met top seed Declan Smith on Board 3, and despite spirited play fell to Declan's high class. On Board 4, Peter Stickland held Bas van Riel to a draw; and Vipin Jyani despatched Jasan Barnett on Board 5. Down on Board 9, junior Anirudh Weerakkody scored a major upset, profiting from an oversight by Lucas Ware. Declan Smith and James Watson are now the leaders on 3.5/4, with Patrick Cook, Vipin Jyani, Sam Song, Rob Loveband, and Anirudh Weerakoddy a half point behind. There are now 5 female players in the field, and Minsadi Wansapura leads the race for the inaugural Ballarat Womens chess championship on 2.5/4, a half point ahead of Anna Yates.

Round 3

Fighting chess continued in Round 3 as 44 players sat down at the boards on the night. 9 players took a half point bye, and 3 players have withdrawn. Sam Song scored an excellent, disciplined victory over Kevin Perrin on Board 1, Declan Smith struggled, but eventually prevailed against Justin Goodison on Board 2, on Board 3, Jamie Brotheridge messed up a very promising position versus James Watson and lost, on Board 4 Rob Loveband clawed a win on time against Julian Laffey, while on Board 5, Paja Marko fell to a motivated Patrick Cook in a lengthy struggle. Juniors Anirudh Weerakkody and Reyhhansh Mukerjee were given a free lesson by Vipin Jyani and Peter Stickland respectively, and Minsadi Wansapura survived a tough endgame against Shanaya Guha to stay in touch in the race for the Women's title. Sam Song now leads alone on 3/3, with Declan Smith, James Watson, Patrick Cook, and Rob Loveband in hot pursuit on 2.5/3.

Round 2

The action continued in Rd. 2 with 48 players sitting down at the boards, and 4 players taking a half point bye. And there were yet more interesting and important results. On Board 2, our player of honour, Kevin Perrin, despatched out-of-sorts Scott Stewart, while on Board 1, Patrick Cook lived up to his reputation as drawmeister with a tough, lengthy draw against runaway favourite Declan Smith. High flying junior Zachariah Jacob came crashing to earth versus strong youngster Sam Song on board 3, while veterans Bas van Riel and Jamie Brotheridge fought to a draw on Board 4.
Other noteworthy results included Julian Laffey, quietly improving despite administative duties, taking down young Declan Maher on Board 7, and Anna Yates defeating Minsadi Wansapura in the race to become the first Ballarat Chess Club Women's Champion.
Despite the large field, only 4 players have started with 2/2: veteran Kevin Perrin, young Sam Song, and juniors Anirudh Weerakkody and Rehhyansh Mukherjee. A host of others are just a half point behind.

Round 1

The tournament got off to a flying start with 49 players present on the night. 5 of the entry opted for a half point bye, while 2 were no shows. Before play commenced, our player of honour, Kevin Perrin, was presented with a special medallion in recognition of his astonishing achievement of 60 championship tournaments. The action on the boards was dramatic, with some important upsets. Declan Mahar lived up to his reputation of spoiler by holding defending Champion James Watson to a draw, while 2024 Reserves Champion Lucas Ware did likewise versus experienced Rob Loveband, and Paul Marko, joint winner of this years Spielvogel Memorial, was defeated by junior Zachariah Jacob. Other juniors to shine were Johan Stanley, and Minsadi Wansapura, who now leads the race to be Women's Champion.

Kevin Perrin receives his medal for 60 years participation in the Club Championship

Prologue

2025 marks the 60th Ballarat Chess Club Championship since the revival of the Club in the mid-1960's, a fantastic achievement for any Australian chess club, let alone a small provincial one. Remarkably, one of our members, the doyen of Ballarat chess, Kevin Perrin, has played in all of them. A truly amazing record. Last year, the members voted to change the format from the traditional round robin Championship and Reserves events,with the 'C' championship as a Swiss, to a single Swiss system event for all players, with a shorter time control and fewer rounds. The 'A', 'B', and 'C' grade medals will go to the highest scoring players in each rating group.
No fewer than 56 players have entered, headed by Candidate Master Declan Smith, vying for his 1st Championship title after narrowly missing out last year. James Watson, holder of 3 titles, is the defending Champion, aiming to become only the 2nd player (after Bas van Riel) to win 3 Championship titles in a row. Also amongst the top 10 seeds are 3-time Champion Scott Stewart, 3-time Champion Rob Loveband, 8-time Champion Bas van Riel, 8-time Champion Patrick Cook, and 7-time Champion Kevin Perrin, as well as strong youngsters Sam Song and Justin Goodison, and wily veteran Jamie Brotheridge.
This year the field has 3 female players who will be vying for the inaugural Ballarat Chess Club Women's Championsip. And of course, the field has a swarm of enthusiastic juniors, some of whom are very dangerous, as well as a number of tough, experienced campaigners.
So, an exciting and interesting 60th Championship tournament is in store. Gens una Sumus.