Glen Eira Chess Club

I was half expecting a low turn out for last Friday's Glen Eira Chess Club. The weather was terrible, with strong winds and hail and rain, while there seems to be lots of minor illnesses around. So I was pleasantly surprised to see everyone present who was expected. Of the top seeds, David Cordover took a bye, while Domogoj and I had to play. Smari is the other highly rated player in the tournament, but he had to take a bye the week before due to illness.

The top game of round 3 between myself and Domogoj was a hard fought game, where I felt I had an advantage, then wasn't too sure, then was wondering whether I would come away with a draw, only to finally win the game after a blunder by Domogoj. To be fair, we were both short on time, as the time control of 60 minutes + 10 seconds increment and we were down to less than a minute each.

As white I played 1.Be6 freeing up my rook to go to work. Black must now go on the defensive as white has a threat. However, with only about 20 seconds left, Domogoj took the pawn. 1..fxe3? [1..Nb6 2.Bf5 will probably be heading towards a draw, though I'd rather be black] 2.Rc1 Nb6 [too late] 3.Rc8+ and because the bishop is guarding c8, the game is effectively over.

Most of the games went with the ratings, though young Gabi Rips managed to score a draw against his experienced opponent. The results, scores and provisional 4th round draw can be found on the tornelo site. The top 3 players who haven't previously qualified will make it to the end of year club championship.