2009 Tasmanian Junior Championships

A small but high quality field contested the U18 division of the championships in Hobart. Tournament favourite and reigning champion was faced with some surprisingly tough games from the greatly improved Jamie Briant and Marcus Bretag.

In round one Jamie showed good composure and took Alastair into an even ending before eventually losing. Vincent Horton was up an exchange and some pawns after a lengthy combination, which swapped off plenty of materials, but need to look a few moves further to see the unusual mating net with a sacrifice by Owen.

In round 2 Lawrence surprised Kevin by using an opening well known to him – the Scandinavian – and dished out a thrashing. Alastair continued on his wining way with wins over both Bretags. He survived his game against Kevin Hendrey which required care with Kevin down in materials but throwing the kitchen sink into a mating attack. Vincent Horton gained a piece and looked to be in control against Lawrence Bretag who snuck in a rook threat which proved to strong.

The final round was important to decide the age group divisions – always a difficult problem with multiple divisions using Swiss Perfect. Nick Hunn and Jessica Rossiter played out a never-ending and amusing Q vs Q and Knight ending. Jessica Rossiter, sole girl in the section, enjoyed the competition and improved her play throughout the tournament and is looking for a mid-field finish in the upcoming Australian Junior championships.

In the slower time controls Harry Briant went undefeated through the nine rounds scoring 8.5 as U12 Tasmanian Champion at the same time as being selected to represent the state in soccer. Oscar Brown finished with 7.5 to win the U10 title with Anurag Gilkum (U8), Emily Vince (U12 Girls) and Yuvini Peru (U10 Girls). Runner-ups were Seb Krasnicki (U12), Shu Qi Yu (U10), Olivia Lee (U10 Girls) and Raman Law (U8).

The state lightning championships were also contested and Lawrence Bretag emerged the surprise winner - with Alastair 2nd and Vincent and Jamie third.

The U12 lightning was won by Shu Qi Yu and Lenard Lange who both upstaged their more experienced and older competitors and showed they will be fast improvers over the next 12 months. Bradley Vince and Oscar Brown were joint third.

Coinciding with the championships was a one day event aimed at encouraging more junior players to take up the sport. A small field was attracted and they raced through their games, thoroughly enjoying themselves and still had time for outdoor games and lessons on chess. Harinda Herath was the winner.