So ends a big 3 weeks of chess in Australia

 The Sydney International Open finished today, with a win for GM Mitrabha Guha. This follows on from his win in last weeks O2C Doeberl Cup. and an equal 2nd in the Melbourne International Open. He takes home almost $10,000 in prizes from the 3 events, which is a pretty handy return.

Of course he, and a lot of other players, had to work hard. Three 9 round events, over the course of 21 days is not easy, especially if you factor in the travel. Quite a few other players did the 3 tournament circuit, as did at least one arbiter. All 3 events were successful in terms of numbers, and hopefully the format will continue next year. 

Now that the 'circuit' has been established, the next challenge is to get more OS players to take part. One of the goals for each of the events is to provide title opportunities for local players, and increasing the number of visitors will help do that. At least for the Doeberl Cup, the feedback was very positive, and I expect that the other events were similarly well recieved.

So watch this space later in the year, and hopefully the 2026 Australian Circuit will have some exciting announcements.

Tragedy in the Endgame

 Each year (for the past 3 years), the Hobsons Bay Chess Club has organised a junior challenge match involving clubs across Australia and New Zealand. Played as a hybrid event (online play supervised by an arbiter at a local venue), the event consists of a RR of 6 teams across 6 boards. 

This years event was won by the ACT Junior Chess League team, finishing just ahead of a much improved Hobson Bay A team (who beat the ACT team 4-2 in their individual match). The quality of play has improved over the last 3 years, although one game saw a very tragic ending.

Around move 65 Black is completely winning. However White keeps playing, and Black misses 69 ... f6! which keeps the win in hand. After the exchange of pawns, the position is now drawn, as the White King is close enough to assist the pawn to the end of the board. However, Black thinks their might be one last trick in the position with 76 ... Kf6?? While the idea of threatening mate, or skewering the King and Queen might look tempting, White has a few moves to avoid this, and keep the Queen. Even then it is still a tough ending to win, until White forces the rook away from the king on move 115, when it is picked off by the Queen.

Annapureddy,Dhru (1543) - Nguyen,Kiet Anh (1516)
ANZAC Day Inter Club Hybrid Rapid 2025 Tornelo INT (4.3), 25.04.2025

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 Bf5 4. Bd3 Bg6 5. Nbd2 e6 6. Ne5 c5 7. Nxg6 hxg6 8. b3 Nc6 9. Bb2 Rc8 10. a3 cxd4 11. exd4 Bd6 12. Nf3 O-O 13. O-O Re8 14. Ne5 Qb6 15. Nxc6 Rxc6 16. Qe2 Rec8 17. Rfc1 a6 18. a4 Bb4 19. g3 Bc3 20. Bxc3 Rxc3 21. Qe5 Nd7 22. Qf4 Qb4 23. Qg4 a5 24. h4 Nc5 25. Qf4 Nxd3 26. cxd3 Qxb3 27. Rxc3 Qxc3 28. Rb1 Qc6 29. Rb5 b6 30. Kg2 Kf8 31. Qg5 Qd6 32. h5 gxh5 33. Qxh5 Kg8 34. Qh1 Rc6 35. Qh4 Rc3 36. Rb1 g6 37. Rh1 Kf8 38. Qh8+ Ke7 39. Rh7 Qd7 40. Qg8 Qe8 41. Qg7 Qf8 42. Qxg6 Rc7 43. Qg5+ Kd6 44. Qe5+ Kc6 45. Rh1 Qd6 46. Rb1 Kd7 47. Qxd6+ Kxd6 48. Rxb6+ Rc6 49. Rb3 e5 50. dxe5+ Kxe5 51. Rb5 Kd4 52. Rxa5 Rd6 53. Kf3 Kxd3 54. Ra7 Rf6+ 55. Kg2 d4 56. f4 Kd2 57. Kf2 d3 58. Rd7 Kc2 59. Rc7+ Kd1 60. Ke3 d2 61. Rd7 Re6+ 62. Kf3 Ke1 63. f5 Re2 64. a5 d1Q 65. Rxd1+ Kxd1 66. g4 Ra2 67. g5 Rxa5 68. Kg4 Ke2 69. g6 fxg6 70. fxg6 Ke3 71. g7 Ra8 72. Kf5 Kf3 73. Kf6 Kf4 74. Kf7 Kf5 75. g8Q Ra7+ 76. Kf8 Kf6 77. Qh8+ Kg6 78. Qh1 Rf7+ 79. Ke8 Rf6 80. Qg2+ Kf5 81. Qd5+ Kg6 82. Qe5 Rf5 83. Qe4 Kf6 84. Kd7 Re5 85. Qd4 Kf5 86. Qf2+ Ke4 87. Qe2+ Kd4 88. Qd2+ Ke4 89. Kc6 Re6+ 90. Kc5 Re5+ 91. Kc4 Kf5 92. Qf2+ Ke6 93. Qf4 Rf5 94. Qg4 Ke5 95. Kd3 Rf6 96. Qg5+ Rf5 97. Qe7+ Kf4 98. Qe3+ Kg4 99. Ke4 Rf7 100. Qg1+ Kh5 101. Qg3 Kh6 102. Ke5 Rg7 103. Qf4+ Kh7 104. Kf6 Rg6+ 105. Kf7 Rg7+ 106. Kf6 Rg6+ 107. Kf5 Rg7 108. Qh4+ Kg8 109. Kf6 Rf7+ 110. Ke6 Rh7 111. Qd8+ Kg7 112. Qf6+ Kg8 113. Qg6+ Rg7 114. Qe8+ Kh7 115. Kf6 Rg3 116. Qe4+ Kg8 117. Qc4+ Kh8 118. Qh4+ Kg8 119. Qxg3+ Kf8 120. Qb8# 1-0

2025 O2C Doeberl Cup - GM Mitrabha Guha wins

 The 2025 O2C Doeberl Cup has seen the top seed GM Mitrabha Guha finish in 1st place, with 7.5/9  He went through the tournament undefeated, and played the other 4 GM's in the field along the way. Interestingly, the top 5 places were all occupied by the 5 GM's in the tournament, with GM Das Sayantan in 2nd on 7/9, and GM's Zhao, Antonio and Stopa all tying for 3rd on 6.5.

The 59 player field was tougher than last year, with the the Premier being harder to qualify for. Despite this, Guha won when he needed to, and event though he only needed a draw in the final round, still pushed hard for a win (it was eventually drawn). His style suited the  shortened tournament format ( 9 rounds over 5 days), keeping his positions under control until his opponent made a mis-step. 

For winning this years event Guha collects $5000 first prize. Das picked up $3000 for 2nd, as well as a 33% share of the Fighting Fun, alongside Zhao and Stopa.

 Overall the tournament attracted 377 players across the 5 division, while the Saturday night blitz attracted 200 players across 2 sections. 

Reports on the other events to follow across the next few days

Mitrabha,Guha (2505) - Antonio,Rogelio Jr (2363) [E11]
2025 O2C Doeberl Cup Premier Canberra, Australia (4.2), 18.04.2025

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Qe7 5. g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 Bxd2+ 7. Nbxd2 d6 8. O-O O-O 9. e4 e5 10. d5 Nb8 11. Ne1 Bg4 12. f3 Bd7 13. Nd3 c6 14. Qb3 cxd5 15. cxd5 b5 16. f4 Ng4 17. Rfc1 Qd8 18. Kh1 Qb6 19. Rf1 Na6 20. fxe5 Nxe5 21. Nxe5 dxe5 22. Qc3 Qd6 23. Rac1 Rfc8 24. Qe3 Qb6 25. Qa3 Rxc1 26. Rxc1 Qh6 27. Nb3 Re8 28. h4 g5 29. Rc6 Bxc6 30. Qxa6 gxh4 31. Qxc6 Re6 32. Qc1 hxg3+ 33. Qxh6 Rxh6+ 34. Kg1 Rf6 35. Bh3 h5 36. Nc5 Rf2 37. d6 Rd2 38. d7 Kf8 39. Nb7 Ke7 40. d8Q+ Rxd8 41. Nxd8 Kxd8 42. Kg2 h4 43. Kf3 Ke7 44. Kg4 Kd6 45. b4 1-0

Not sleeping, just busy

 The 2025 O2C Doeberl Cup has me swamped. Updates (including a lot about the tournament) will resume in the next few days.

2025 O2C Doeberl Cup

 The 2025 O2C Doeberl Cup begins tomorrow, at the Woden Southern Cross Club, Canberra. While not quite achieving the numbers of the last 2 years (367+-), the Premier is once again quite strong, with 5 GM's in this years field. With defending champion GM Hrant Melkumyan choosing to sit out this years event, Indian GM Mitrabha Guha is the top seed. The tournament is significantly stronger this year, with the median rating over 100 points higher than last year. Of course the raising of the tournament floor explains this, with the added effect of the Major and Minor events filling up quite quickly.

The first round of the Premier is at 1pm tomorrow, with round 2 at 7pm. The other events all begin at 1pm on Friday, with all running through to Monday (with the exception of the 2 day Under 1200 tournament) 

The tournament website www.doeberlcup.com.au has links to results, pairings, and live coverage from the premier.

MIO - FM Felix Xie wins

 New Zealand FM Felix Xie has won the 2025 Melbourne International Open, finishing with 7/9. Needing half a point toe secure a share of 1st, and an IM norm, Xie drew with FM Kai Jie Soo in 38 moves. Indian IM Arghyadip Das had a chance to join Xie in 1st place, but was held to a draw by CM Rheyansh Annapureddy on board 2. This allowed GM Sayantan Das and GM Guha Mitrabha to also take a share of 2nd on 6.5/7.

A number of leading participants in this event will have a few days break before heading for Canberra for the 2025 O2C Doeberl Cup. At this stage the Premier has 61 players, with 5 GM's, 1 WGM, 8 IM's and 2 WIM's entered. The Premier starts on Thursday (17th April), with the other sections starting on Friday (18th April)

Maybe I'm amazed

 There are a couple of big European Opens either running or coming up, including the Reykjavik Open, which is up to round 4. Local Canberra player Tim Pearce is taking part, and may well be the first Australian player to face someone from Greenland in an international event. He is currently on 2/4, but hasn't reached a board high enough to have his games broadcast. 

So instead I found a top board clash which seems to revolve around a somewhat bizarre opening line. 10.h4 is a common reaction to Ng6 type moves, but then it gets a little strange. Pieces get offered and declined, but in the end the an equal middlegame is reached. This lasts a few moves and then White simply collapses. I'm guessing it was time trouble, as White only had 2 minutes on the clock,  but I would not rule out avoiding a draw as the other culprit.

Gunnarsson,Jon Viktor (2439) - Safarli,Eltaj (2617) [B33]
Reykjavik Open 2025 Reykjavik, Iceland (4.5), 11.04.2025

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 Nxd5 8. exd5 Ne7 9. c4 Ng6 10. h4 Nxh4 11. Rxh4 a6 12. Bg5 Be7 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. Nxd6+ Qxd6 15. Qa4+ Ke7 16. c5 Qxd5 17. Rd1 Qc6 18. Qb4 Be6 19. Rd6 Qc7 20. Rb6 a5 21. Rxb7 axb4 22. Rxc7+ Kf6 23. Rxb4 Rxa2 24. Bd3 Ra1+ 25. Ke2 Rd8 26. Rb6 Rd4 27. Bxh7 Rad1 28. f3 R1d2+ 29. Ke3 g6 30. Bg8 R4d3+ 31. Ke4 Kg5 32. Rb4 Bf5+ 0-1