MCC Round 9 live blog

Hi from the MCC, as I played my last round game against James Morris last week tonight I will look at some of the games as they happen. There is a huge buzz as our life member and Grandmaster, Darryl Johansen, has the unpleasant task of taking on 11 year old schoolboy Karl Zelesco in the last round. I feel for Darryl here, as he has so much to lose and not much to gain from this game, but it is still an intriguing match up. You can watch it live on the MCC website

The situation at the top is tense, with 4 or 5 players in the running for first or joint first. If there is a tie for first place, there will be a play off, though any money prizes will be shared. Ok, I'm now off to look at some interesting games and I'll be back soon.

1 hour into the games:

The games have just started to get interesting. Darryl is taking things slowly against Karl, and we may be in for an epic battle on board 1. On board 2 Domagoi Dragicevic, who has played interesting chess throughout this event, has an IQP position against Bobby Cheng. The board 3 battle between Jager and Rujevic is just entering the middle game of a Closed Spanish I think. These are the games that have a bearing on the top places.

However, the first winner of the round was none other than Elliott Renzies! Not that he played tonight....he played his match early because his opponent couldn't play tonight. And just to show what a great clubman Elliott is, he is at the club tonight watching the developments unfold. The first winner on the night was Bosko Mijatovic who won on forfeit against Svetozar Stojic. And the first winner of an actual game has just reported his score, so it is congratulations to Ian Stone for his victory against Marcus Ogden.

 Ian Stone analyses his game...the first winner of a played game on the night!

Top clubman Elliott Renzies won last week but still shows his support on the night!

Ok, it is time to get some positions, but just one more quick update, especially on the 5 point group where the U-1900 rating prize is likely to be contested. Board one is heavy with spectators, among them FM Bill Jordan. Board 2 is still the typical IQP though Domagoi had a knight on e5 which has just been kicked away by an f6 advance. Will this cause weaknesses around Bobby's king later? Mirko seems to be developing some action on the queen side against Jesse, but it is still very early in this game. And finally, Justin Tan is deep in thought and looking worried against Malcolm Pyke. Justin has got his queen into an awkward spot where it currently can't move! As I am writing I have just seen Chris Wallis pass me with his score sheet and the result is a....draw. It has been a great tournament for Kozo Simutanyi who now moves himself clear of the pack by half a point in the fight for the U-1900 rating prize. Oops, I'd forgotten Karl Zelesco at the top!! David Beaumont looks to be building a menacing attack on the king side against Kerry Stead in a c3 Sicilian. And Frank Lekkas is way up on the clock against Thai Ly. has frank prepared? He currently has a very active position, but the worse structure in what looks like a French Winawer/MacCutcheon or Nimzo Indian. Thai has 37 minutes left to Frank's 1:05!

3 Interesting positions:

 Justin tan as black has spent a long time trying to work out what is happening to his queen here!

 David Beaumont has a very threatening looking attack as white against Kerry Stead.

Frank Lekkas as white is way ahead on the clock against Thai Ly, but is black just better here because of the structure?

2 hours down

The buzz around is that Darryl is winning against Karl. I haven't seen that game as there are many other interesting ones around. Domagoi is tutting a lot on board 2, though I think the position is level. Domagoj was probably hoping for an advantage with the white pieces. Jesse Jager is also showing negative body language against Mirko, though that game is far from over. The Stojic-Sirota game has been interesting throughout, and has eventuated in this position:

I can't tell who is better, but both players are looking edgy.

2 and a half hours have gone and Domagoi has taken a long time over his last move, and is down to 14 minutes. Mirko looks better against Jesse Jager, but the material is even. Malcolm Pyke has just refued a draw offer from Justin Tan. David Beaumont has opened the h-file and is deep in thought of how to continue. It looks as if there should be something, but what I don't know. Michael Addamo has taken a long time over his game with Garth Fitzmaurice and is down to 11 minutes. He has a host of pawn, but his king is a little exposed.

Laurence Matheson is trying hard to beat Jim Papadinis and has sacrificed a pawn in an ending to create a passed pawn. Meanwhile, John Beckman looks to be carrying on in his good form, a pawn up against John Dowling, while Milutin Krunic is an exchange for a pawn up against Felix Wyss, though there is a lot of play left in that game!

Bill Jordan's views on the top games:

1. Darryl is winning comfortably
2. Bobby will win, he has better bishop and Domagoi has little time
3. Difficult to say, but Bill prefers Mirko...anything could happen.
4. Stojic-Sirota is the toughest and probably the most interesting of the lot. Bill won't stick his neck out here.
6. Bill wonders whether Malcolm Pyke is overstretching and causing too many weaknesses against Justin Tan.

And finally the game between Lekkas and Ly, Bill favours for Thai having the better structure, but Thai is getting abit low on time.

Fitzmaurice-Addamo, looks good for black, but he only has 6 minutes left

 Malcolm Pyke as white has just played Kh1 and offered a draw. Should black take it?

Dragicevic-Cheng has reduced to this.

It is great to have regulars from other clubs playing in our tournaments. Here we have Box Hill regular Laurence Matheson.

U-1600 prize

At the moment John Beckman is leading this on 4 points, but he is currently an exchange down for a pawn against John Dowling. Kevin Brown is on 3.5 and looks to be winning against Shane Lawson. he has sacrificed a piece for an attack, and it looks good. There are a group of other players who have moved up to 4 points: Gary Bekker, Jono Roberts and Elliott Renzies. These will all be waiting on the finish of the 2 games above.

Stop Press....

Justin Tan sac's the house against Malcolm Pyke, but comes up short and resigns. Great fighting spirit from the youngster when he had a draw offered him.

3.5 hours into the games

My blog ends here :(

Darryl has just won against Karl and looks good for the championship as Domagoi and Cheng look to be dead level, with an edge for Cheng if anyone. Jager-Rujevic and Stojic-Sirota are still very messy but time will play a part in these games. David beaumont is a piece up for 2 pawns against Kerry Stead and should convert, and Thai Ly is an exchange up against Frank Lekkas. There are still a number of games on the lower boards still going on, and things are far from clear regarding the rating prizes.

 A big thanks to our arbiter, Peter Tsai.

And the hero of the tournament, and still able to smile after a loss....Karl Zelesco