September Weekender 2006

Hosted by the Launceston Chess Club

JAMES MORRIS WINS LAUNCESTON WEEKENDER

An impressive field of 29 players entered this 7xG60 weekender held at the Migrant Resource Centre, Launceston.
State champion Tony Dowden was the favourite but was short of recent match practice, conceding a surprise round 1 draw to Russell Horton rated nearly 1000 points below him. This left the event wide open, and 12-year old Victorian junior James Morris moved to the lead in round 4 after defeating Kevin Bonham. Bonham was better early in the game but Morris countered with a double-piece sacrifice, which while apparently "unsound" was a good practical try at the fast time limit and paid off after Bonham made two major defensive errors.

Morris was then able to hold his half-point lead with draws against Dowden and Thomas Hendrey before beating Thomas Tilsley in the final round to secure outright first and become the youngest ever winner of a Tasmanian open tournament.

Morris, who performed at 2139, had no trouble with the fast time limit and impressed many with his ability to calculate tactics and strategies at lightning speed in complex positions, an example being a storming From’s Gambit win over Milutin Ivkovic in which he used even less time than his lightning-fast opponent!

Bonham recovered from his loss to Morris to salvage outright second, winning from deep trouble against former state champion Michael Lucht (making a welcome comeback after a long absence from the game), then topping this with a round 6 swindled draw against Dowden in a poor game in which Bonham blundered a piece to a pawn fork in the opening!

Dowden was undefeated but conceded four draws (those against Morris and Hendrey also from good positions) while Hendrey’s 5/7 was an excellent result after a perilous round 3 escape against Carey Kuzmic.
Seemingly doomed on the clock in a complex ending, Hendrey somehow outscrambled his opponent to reach a won position and get mate down with six seconds left on his clock.

The Horton family had a great tournament – not only did dad Russell draw with Tony Dowden, but son Vincent (1036) mated Lucht in the first round with less than a minute on his clock! He also beat John O’Mara (1477) and fellow junior Alastair Dyer (1419) on his way to the Under 18 prize, performing at 1558
Daughter Nina (694) performed at 1235 including a draw with Paul Berzins (1634) and a win against John Krushka (1454).

Justin Hood, who recently impressed with a 7/7 result in a Chesskids interschool qualifier, confirmed his promise with wins over Krushka and Leo Minol for a 1313 PR in his first rated tournament.

Of the adults, unrated Thomas Tilsley made an excellent debut performing at 1722, and Tony Sturges beat Carey Kuzmic in the last round game for the U1500 ratings prize.

The first Launceston weekender with electronic clocks on every board ran absolutely smoothly with no incidents at all. Between rounds 3 and 4 a sausage sizzle was enjoyed by many players.

RESULTS