Ballarat Chess Triathlon

8th Triathlon Tournament. Report by Patrick Cook

The Ballarat Chess Club held its 8th Triathlon Tournament on Saturday, 6th December, in its marvellous Humffray Room headquarters at the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute.

Twenty-two players entered—an excellent turnout—including Arun Thomas, making his first visit to the Club. He had previously only competed in our online events. Patrick Cook remains the only player to have participated in all eight tournaments.
Top seed was CM Declan Smith, the defending champion.

  • Round 1 (Blitz): The big upset was Anna Yates’ victory over Rodney Jacobs.
  • Round 2 (Rapid): This time, youngster Rory Colgrave defeated Jasan Barnett.
  • Round 3 (Classical): The higher-rated players imposed some order, with no upset results.
  • Round 4 (Blitz): Julian Laffey defeated veteran eight-time Club Champion Bas van Riel.
  • Round 5 (Rapid): Jasan Barnett overcame Bas van Riel—again!
  • Round 6 (Classical): No major upsets occurred.

After six rounds of fun chess, Declan Smith made it clear who’s “boss” at the Club with an untroubled 6/6 score, joining James Watson as the only player to win two Triathlon gold medals. He is now also the only player to win back-to-back Triathlons.
Oscar Heawood had a strong day, securing the silver medal with a score of 4/6.

Special thanks go to Anna Yates and Julian Laffey as tournament officials, and of course to Jasan Barnett, who originated the idea.

Declan gets gold, while Oscar secures Silver

6 December, 2025 Saturday Triathlon View in full screen - click here...

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The idea for holding a "Triathlon" - a mix of blitz, rapid and short standard games held on the one day, was conceived by Jasan Barnett. It was well received, with many members expressing support for the tournament as a fun way to end the year of chess. The inaugural tournament was held in the Hooper Room of the Ballarat Mechanics' Institute, the club's new domicile from 2017. Now it is held in the clubroom, upstairs in the Humffray Room.

Tournament List