Anyhow back to this year...I left home at 3.45 for the hour walk to Picton station to catch the 4.53 train from Picton to Campbelltown, then had to change at campbelltown for a city service then had to change at Central for a Newcastle train (exquisite views between Cowan and Gosford) to finally arrive at Civic Station at 10.00, the train was a couple of minutes late, but to my surprise (not) when i arrived at Newcastle Panthers the tournament had not started yet, but i dont think anyone really cared much for the lateness..... Its a fairly laid back tournament.
The tournament attracted 37 players from as wide as Melbourne, Canberra, Armidale, Laurieton and of course Sydney. There were 5 players rated over 2000: International Master Gary Lane, Former Newcastle Open winner R0n Scott, Johny Bolens, Jason Hu and Paul Broekhuyse. There was also last years Coal City Open winner James Morris. I was on the top half of the draw! A strange occurance. Even the blind were attraceted to this tournament (visually blind, not drunk!)
Round One saw no upsets according to rating however apparently unrated player Emil Nomat defeated Michael Weltner (1394).
On Board one it was the battle of the Lanes. Laurieton's Endel Lane had the task of playing against Gary Lane (no relation).
Round two saw Richard Eccles (1589) defeat Johny Bolens (2106). I nearly caused an upset against Paul Broekhuyse when my knight sac evenually won me a pawn and my piece back and stopped him from castling. There was one draw for the round; Unfortunately the O'rourkes had to play each other and agreed to a draw. Johnathan Behne Smith (1211) defeated former Newcastle (now Orange?) resident Colin Parsons (1371).
Round 3 saw what could have been an attempt at a swiss gambit by some of the over 2000 rated players when James Morris drew with Ronald Scott, Ben Harris drew with Jason Hu and Paul Broekhuyse drew with Robert Hvistendahl, leaving Gary Lane as the sole leader after 3 rounds.
Upsets for round 3 included Ryan O'Rourke (938) defeating Colin Parsons (1375) and Emil Nomat hammered Me! Mary Wilkie (1281) drew against Ian Dickson (1575).
Round 4 saw Gary Lane and Ron Scott battle it out well into their time allocation for the International master to break through and rack up his 4th win to complete the day. On other top boards: Jason Hu drew with Paul Broekhuyse, and Robert Hvistendahl defeated James Morris after apparently being a piece down. Whilst Ben Harris defeated Alex Mendes Da Costa to join Hvistendahl on equal second. Upsets for round 4 included Ryan O'Rourke (938) defeating Michael Weltner (1394), Ben Ryan (1460) holding Vaness Reid (1629) to a draw and Mary Wilkie (1281) using her granny gambit against Gary Losh (1462).
So at the end of the first days play we have the following leaderboard:
1st Lane 4/4 \
2nd Hvistendahl, Harris 3.5/4
4th Bolens, Hu, Broekhuyse, Guo-Yuthok, Nomat on 3/4
Round 5 saw Hvistendahl lose to Lane, Bolens Lose to Ben Harris
Sherab Guo-Yuthok lose to Jason Hu, Broekhuyse defeat Nomat. The only game that resembles an upset on the lower boards was Michael Weltner drawing with Rebecca Harris.
It was a battle of Master and apprentice on the top board in round 6. Gary Lane defeated his student Ben Harris to clinch the 2006 Newcastle Open outright. Paul Broekhuyse defeated Scott to take equal second with Jason Hu . Broekhuyse and Hu did not have the opportunity to play Lane. Upsets for round 6 include: Weltner defeating losh and Luthien Russell drawing with Ben Ryan.
After a short presentation it was time to head off back to Picton. I look forward to the 2007 Newcastle Open.
1 comment:
Good report
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