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This page is used to showcase the top junior performances in adult tournaments within Australia as well as overseas. This will be updated quarterly.
This page is used to showcase the top junior performances in adult tournaments within Australia as well as overseas. This will be updated quarterly.
It has been an exciting three months with many juniors showing that their talent and study can bring success. We have seen two gold medals, a bronze medal, an International Master norm and tournament victories as Australia's juniors perform at an high level both in Australia and as they represent Australia in overseas competitions. Congratulations to all the winners. Emma Guo also had the WIM title she earned at the last Oceania Zonal confirmed by FIDE. It is also very important that juniors enjoy playing chess and while enjoying chess they will gain mental discipline that will serve them well in whichever path they choose for the rest of their lives.
Justin Tan finished equal first in the Noble Park Chess Championships with 6/7, before losing a marathon playoff to Domagoj Dragicevic. This result led to Justin being named the Victorian player of the month for May this year. Zachary Loh scored 4.5/7 to finish equal 4th while Karl Zelesco, and Savithri Narenthran scored 3.5/7.
Full Results: http://www.nobleparkchess.org.au/stan.html
FM Bobby Cheng has finished the Geelong Open equal first with IM Stephen Solomon with 5/6. Solomon was declared the winner on count back. Cheng, who took a half point bye, defeated Solomon in their individual game. He drew with IM Leonid Sandler and completed another excellent result. Benjamin Spencer finished on 3/6 to win the Top Junior prize, and William Maligin finished on 2/6 to achieve second place in the Top Junior category.
Full Results: http://geelongchess.com/geelong-open-2011/
The Victorian Open was won jointly by FM Erik Teichmann and Domagoj Dragicevic, with FM Bobby Cheng putting in a solid performance to finish equal 3rd on 5.5/7. Other strong performances were:
5 Michael Chan, Laurence Matheson, Karl Zelesco
4.5 Max Chew Lee, Ari Dale
4 Enoch Fan, Thomas Feng, Zachary Loh
3.5 Matthew Cheah, Finley Dale, Kyle Gibson, Sam Gluzman, Savithri Narenthran, Jack Puccini
Full Results: http://www.chessvictoria.org.au/cross_table1.htm
Pengyu Chen and Kinto Wan were the top junior performers in this event, won by FMs Junta Ikeda and Max Illingworth. They both scored 5/7; while John Papantoniou's 4.5 points included a draw with IM Gary Lane. Other results were:
4.5 Andrew Pan, Jack Ruan
4 Joshua Behar, WIM Emma Guo, Kevin Tan
3.5 Megan Setiabudi, Anton Smirnov
3 Ryan Louie
Full Results: http://www.nswca.org.au/tournaments/results_show_users.php?ItemID=10
Visiting ACT juniors Harry Press and an undefeated Jamie Lee-Guo were the top juniors on 5/7; while other strong performances were:
4 Kashish Christian, Luke Halpin, Shirley Gu, Clarise Koh, Methew Yan
3.5 Eric Pan
Full Results: http://www.nswca.org.au/tournaments/results_show_users.php?ItemID=11
Pengyu Chen has won the St George Club Championships with an excellent score of 8.5/9.
Full Results: http://www.stgeorgechess.org/results/2011/ClubChamp/round9/CC_champ_div_round9_results.htm
The Queensland Championships were won by IM Stephen Solomon on 7/9, and also featured strong performances from juniors. Sam Grigg finished second on 6/9, and drew with Solomon; while Yi Liu and FM Gene Nakauchi were amongst those tied for third on 5.5/9.
Full Results: http://www.caq.org.au/htm/Results/2011/QldChampionship/2011QueenslandChampionship.html
Thomas Feng joined GM David Smerdon and Tristan Stevens in playing the Commonwealth and South African Open tournament played in Ekurhuleni in Gauteng, South Africa. It was an excellent tournament for Feng, who performed at 2167, over 300 points above his rating. This brilliant performance meant Feng won the gold medal for 1st place, and is the Under 16 Commonwealth Champion.
Full Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr52156.aspx?art=4&lan=1&flag=30
Accompanying the Open was an under 1800 B-section, with Rowan and Kevin Willathgamuwa playing. Both performed excellently, Rowan scoring 8/11 and Kevin 7.5/11. Rowan finished third in the Under 10 Championship and claimed the bronze medal. Kevin was first in the Under 8 Championship. He won the gold medal, and so is Commonwealth Under 10 Champion.
Full Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr52240.aspx?art=1&lan=1
This means three juniors went to South Africa, and they all returned with medals; along with GM David Smerdon who won the bronze medal for third in the Open section. An extremely successful trip for Australia; congratulations to them all for their wonderful results!
The strong Gold Coast Open was won by IM Stephen Solomon; but juniors also performed very well. IM James Morris was the top junior, finishing equal second including a draw with GM Darryl Johansen. FM Gene Nakauchi and Yi Liu also performed excellently, Nakauchi defeating IM Andrew Brown. Other performances were:
4.5 Alexander Stahnke
4 Sam Grigg
3.5 Ryan Louie
Full Results: http://www.caq.org.au/htm/Results/2011/GCOpen/Open/2011GoldCoastOpen.html
Natasha Bortsova and Matthew Pyper joined adult Axel Stahnke as winners of the Under 1600 tournament on 5.5/7, an excellent result for both of them. Fellow juniors Nicholas Johnson and Kees Huband-Lint tied for fourth position. Other good performances were:
4.5 Travis Baker, Zac Clarkson, Jared Louie, Oliver McCarthy, Daniel Nowshadi
4 Matthew Cervenjak, Harry Hughes, Tony Zhong
3.5 Callum Gray, Zachary Pomerenke, Wei-wei Tsai, Ivan Zelich
The very strong Checkmate Open, won by Trevor Tao, was played in Adelaide at the start of July. FM Bobby Cheng and Alistair Cameron both put in strong performances to finish equal third on 5/7. Cheng showed continued high level performance, including a draw with GM Darryl Johansen and a win over IM Mark Chapman. Cameron performed well above his rating, drawing with Cheng: a sign that he is improving quickly. Sam Grigg also performed well with a win over IM Andrew Brown. Fabian Ivancic scored 3.5/7, a performance well above his rating.
Full Results: http://www.sachess.org/results/results2011/Checkmate_Open_2011.txt
The Challengers Under 1600 tournament saw a large number of juniors playing, and Lachlan Cameron was the best. He tied for first with visiting Victorian adult Jamie Kenmure, an excellent result for Cameron. Sophie Eustace and 10 year old Denny Han tied for 3rd. An impressive performance by Han, whose improvement is bringing good results. Other good junior performances were:
4.5 Stuart Nicholls, Miranda Webb-Liddle
4 Aashray Gupta
3.5 Eddie Han, Timothy Selvanderan
Full Results: http://www.sachess.org/results/results2011/Checkmate_Challengers2011.txt
IM James Morris has won the Melbourne Chess Club Open with a very impressive 8.5/9, including a win over IM Mirko Rujevic. This victory shows Morris’ continued ability to win tournaments following his Ballarat Begonia Open win earlier in the year. Ari Dale and Justin Tan performed well to finish on 5.5/9 and jointly claim the junior prize. Karl Zelesco finished on 5 points.
Full Results: http://melbournechessclub.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=44&Itemid=83
The George Trundle Masters is New Zealand’s premier round robin tournament, and this year had an excellent field headed by GM Darryl Johansen and IM Igor Goldenberg. It was, however, FM Bobby Cheng who won the event with 6.5/9, not losing a game and drawing with both Johansen and Goldenberg. This excellent performance was also enough for Cheng to score his first International Master norm, and confirmed Cheng as one of Australia's top players.
Full Results: http://www.newzealandchess.co.nz/results.html