MCC Open Round 9 7/4/2011

 Richard McCart and Rad Chmiel face their opponents

 The main hall of the MCC

The back room...out of focus...Morris and Dowling are nearest to the camera on the top board.

The final round of the MCC Open has just got underway. There are a number of interesting match-up's across the boards. Currently, young IM James Morris is half a point clear of top seed IM Mirko Rujevic, with Domagoj Dragicevic a further point back. Paul Cavezza and Anthony Hain are leading the underdog status in the small room tonight.

1 hour down

The game between Riley Lenard and Kevin Brown has been postponed, while Endre Simon has gone to Europe and couldn't find time to play Jim Papadinis before leaving. Roger Beattie did show up at the club and somewhat colourfully announced he was forfeiting his last game. This left 2 players, Jim Papadinis and Ben Gavine without opposition, so they have been repaired together.
Around the games being played, there has been some mention of the board 3 game between Malcolm Pyke and Eddy Levi. The game started 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Nd5 Ba5 4.b4 c6 5.bxa5 cxd5 6.cxd5 d6 7.Qa4+ Nbd7 8.Ba3 leaving the following position

MCC President asked of this position, "Isn't this just good for white?" Well a pawn up, but a very undeveloped king side...I'm not sure I'd like to be trying to attack someone like Malcolm Pyke from this position with the black pieces; then again, I don't think I'd like to defend against Eddy Levi with white!

James Morris looks good, a pawn up and with an attack. Dowling can be a pretty tough nut to crack though. David Garner has accepted an IQP against Paul Cavezza, and it is a tricky situation for both players now.
Anthony Hain is showing no fear on board 5 against Justin Tan. The position looks tricky for the higher rated Tan as black.

Another interesting game is on board 7 where 2 in form players are meeting. Ari Dale as black has put both his knights on the edge of the board but can take both white's bishops, though he is a pawn behind (even if white does end up with tripled f-pawns).

On the lower boards, things seem only to be getting going. Felix Wyss looks forlorn....he has lost his beloved bishop pair to Alex Kaplan. Meanwhile Stephen Jago is a pawn up against Sarah Anton. But the most interesting game for me is between Richard McCart and Gary Bekker. Gary is a pawn up in the following position

As black Gary just played 1..Re4.

2 hours gone

Ben Frayle is the first winner on the night. Ben has had another solid performance in this tournament, showing just how misleading ratings can be. His ACF of 1231 might make him appear an easy target to many, but he has shown he is better than this rating suggests, and looks as if he will post a FIDE rating of nearer to 1600 in the next list. Well done Ben! Felix Wyss wins

Stop Press *** James Morris wins and takes the tournament. Well played James, a deserving tournament victory.

On board 2 it is 2 minor pieces vs rook and pawn endgame. Mirko, as black, is deep in thought over this tricky situation.

On 3 Malcolm looks as if he's a piece ahead. Does Eddy as black have any tricks? It is white to move in the next diagram.

Paul Cavezza is doing a good job against David Garner, he has the 2 bishops and a decent looking position, though he is getting characteristically low on time. Anthony Hain, is looking even more impressive against Justin Tan who is working out the complications in this position. tan as black to play.

In the main room, the Beaumont-Dale game is very interesting with David having 3 pawns for a piece. Gary Lycett is a piece up while Richard Voon is an exchange down against Mario Palma. Stephen Jago is now an exchange for a pawn ahead and Jack Puccini has a dangerous looking attack, but is material down and only has 8 minutes left on his clock. On board 20 there is an interesting ending between Michael hain and Roger McCart.

James Morris final round victory:

Ok, we're getting close to the end now. Domagoj and Mirko have the K+R v K+N with no pawns. Mirko is shrugging, but I guess Domagoj will try to win it. Malcolom Pyke has won, as has Sarah Anton (the luckiest escape of the tournament). Paul Cavezza's great tournament finally fell against David Garner, though Paul should still be happy about his play in this event.

Last shout.

Anthony Hain looks to be winning an opposite coloured bishop ending against Justin Tan. Watch out for this game, as Malcolm Pyke pointed out a brilliant queen sacrifice earlier in the game which would have won for Anthony. Kerry Stead is winning against Karl Zelesco (actually, just won), Shane Lawson is continuing his great tournament, being a piece up against Peter Fry. Jack Puccini is fighting valiantly against Marcus Ogden, and Jack has been down to his last 30 seconds for a long time. I think he is going to find it tough to hold on much longer. Besides that, the tournament is virtually over. James has won, Mirko is second, and Malcolm and Domagoj shared third. The rating prizes are yet to be decided, but I'll post them by tomorrow on the MCC website.

Stop Press *** Anthony Hain hits the upset of the tournament, beating Justin Tan.

Thanks to all viewers, the next live games will be from the Victorian Juniors next week, and then the Malitis Memorial, the next Monday night tournament at the MCC.