2004 Coffs Harbour Open
2004 Inaugural Coffs Harbour Weekender
Tournament Report by DOP Charles Zworestine
A half century on debut is not too bad… So the tournament organisers were pretty
thrilled to get 55 players to the inaugural Coffs Harbour weekender. Apparently
the first Doeberl Cup only attracted 40 players – and we know how successful
that event has become… The location helped: not only is Coffs a lovely tourist
destination, but is close enough to attract players from NSW (Sydney, Newcastle,
Armidale, Taree, the locals…) and Queensland (Brisbane, Redcliffe and the Gold
Coast). It all augurs well for the future of the tournament…
The inaugural Coffs weekender was strong, too: 6 players over 2000, headed by
visiting Serbian grandmaster Dejan Antic. Second seed was Board 4 on the
recently returned Australian Men’s Olympiad team (IM Stephen Solomon), while
also playing were FM George Xie, Johny Bolens, FM Brian Jones and FM Lee Jones.
Add to these the usual dangerous juniors (especially from the Gold Coast), and
youngsters recently out of the juniors like Matthew Sonter and Phachara
Wongwichit. Clearly it was going to be a hard fought and interesting event. And
with time controls of one hour plus ten seconds per move from the start, the
chess was indeed intriguing, as the following round by round report shows:
Round 1: Antic was already playing one of the dangerous juniors, defeating Alex
Jule in a slow positional crush with the two bishops. The other top seeds had
even quicker wins. Jessica Kinder won queen and game against local organiser
John Maddix, while unrated local Nathaneel Reesink beat another of the local
organisers, Bill Ross. In the last game to finish yet another tough unrated
local, Peter Anderson, was ground down in a very tough rook and pawn ending by
Nathan Davidson. A careless John Marsden fell for a theme checkmating tactic and
lost to Taree junior Shane Northover in the game below.
Northover, S (1185) – Marsden, J (1878), 2004 Coffs Harbour Open Round 1,
13/11/04
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.d3 Nf6 5.0–0 d5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.Nxe5 0–0 8.Bg5 Nbd7
9.f4 Nc5 10.Nd2 c6 11.Qf3 Qb6 12.Kh1 a5 13.a4 Nxb3 14.Nxb3 Qc7 15.Qg3 Nh5 16.Qh4
Bxg5 17.fxg5 Qxe5 18.Qxh5 Qe6 19.Rae1 Qg4 20.Qxf7+ 1–0
Round 2: While Antic, Xie, Bolens and Brian Jones all won quite convincingly,
Solo was given a much tougher fight by Tony Weller before overcoming him from
the exchange down. After sacrificing material, Lee Jones could find no better
than a perpetual check against Alf Klinkby. Sonter eventually won a long
struggle tactically against Nathan Davidson, while Vaness Reid upset Ken Creech.
Nik Stawski was a bit lucky to win from the exchange down after his opponent,
Shane Northover, missed a problem-like draw. A different sort of luck for local
junior Leslie Wells: his opponent, Robin Stokes, stalemated him from five pawns
up!
Round 3: Solo was much more convincing this round, scoring an excellent tactical
win over Phachara. Antic and Xie also won quite easily; but Bolens was very
lucky to beat Nik Stawski after the latter, in a won position, missed a strong
Bolens exchange sacrifice that turned the tables. Nik was one of several players
distracted by a very loud sound check next door late in the round, which led to
Brian Jones and George Lester agreeing to a "musical draw" (Brian’s words)
despite Lester being an exchange ahead! The position was probably too locked for
Lester to make progress anyway. According to John Marsden (the Robert Jamieson
look-alike), he went from a win to a draw to a loss against Taree’s Michael
Weltner; perhaps their eventual draw was therefore an appropriate result!
Solomon, S (2448) – Wongwichit, P (1924), 2004 Coffs Harbour Open Round 3,
13/11/04
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Ngf3 cxd4 6.Bc4 Qc5 7.0–0 Nf6 8.Bd3 Nc6
9.Nb3 Qb6 10.Nbxd4 Bc5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Ne5 h6 13.Qf3 Bb7 14.Bd2 Bd4 15.Nc4 Qc7
16.Bf4 e5 17.Nxe5 c5 18.Bb5+ Kf8 19.Qg3 Nh5 20.Ng6+ fxg6 21.Bd6+ Kg8 22.Qb3+ Qf7
23.Bc4 Qxc4 24.Qxc4+ Kh7 25.c3 Bf6 26.g4 Rad8 27.Rfd1 1–0
Round 4: It was the long and the short of it this round: a short "grandmaster
draw" between Brian and Lee Jones, but a long wait before George Xie finally
beat Stephen Solomon for the first time! "5 years", an elated Xie claimed to
have been lying in wait after the game, which featured a rare Solo
miscalculation. The opening seemed to be heading for a positional game, with
pawn majorities on both sides of the board; but then Solo misjudged a tactical
melee, and ended up in a losing ending the exchange down. This left Xie equal
first on 4/4 with Antic (who convincingly beat Bolens) and Sonter (who continued
his quiet sneak to the top with a win over George Lester). Bruce Murray, with 3
pawns for his piece and an attack as Black, could find no better than a draw by
repetition against Mike Canfell; while Nathan Davidson misplayed his bishop
ending against Phachara, thus losing a game he could have drawn.
Xie, G (2328) – Solomon, S (2448), 2004 Coffs Harbour Open Round 4, 13/11/04
1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Be2 e6 7.0–0 Be7 8.c4 Qd8
9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Qxd8+ Kxd8 11.Nc3 Ke7 12.Rd1 b6 13.a3 Bb7 14.b4 Bd6 15.Nb5 Bb8
16.Bb2 Rc8 17.c5 bxc5 18.bxc5 Na5 19.Bc3 Nb3 20.Nd6 Rxc5 21.Bxf6+ gxf6 22.Nxb7
Rc7 23.Rab1 Rxb7 24.Nd4 Be5 25.Nc6+ Ke8 26.Nxe5 fxe5 27.Bf3 Rab8 28.Bxb7 Rxb7
29.Rd3 Nc5 30.Rxb7 Nxb7 31.Rh3 Nd6 32.Rxh7 a5 33.Rh8+ Kd7 34.Ra8 Nc4 35.h4 Ke7
36.h5 Kf6 37.Rg8 1–0
Round 5: Clearly everyone slept well, because they certainly produced some
thrilling finishes this round! Antic’s French Defence took a long time to grind
down Sonter, but the GM eventually broke through to force mate. Bolens lost on
time in an inferior position a pawn down against Xie. Leon Bowen looked to be
making most of the play against Brian Jones, but overpressed and eventually lost
a knight and pawn ending. Steven Cooke upset Alan Tankel, while I could not
figure out whether the attack obtained by Bernie Saavedra was enough
compensation for his 2 pawn deficit against Lester; in the end they drew… All of
this paled into insignificance, however, when compared to the Solomon-Stawski
struggle. Here we saw more Solo adventures as he seemed to be losing a piece,
but then conjured up his usual complications; in the end, after a massive time
scramble where he was down to one second twice, Nik was able to force a
perpetual check draw in a two rook versus queen endgame.
Round 6: According to Fritz, Xie was doing better against Antic until move 27;
but then a few inaccurate moves by George saw Dejan win the exchange with a
knight fork, consolidate with his GM technique and win on time when a piece
ahead. Brian Jones’ attack crashed through by force against Sonter, while
Phachara won a see-sawing battle against Lee Jones. Solo made short work of
Steven Cooke; while Stawski, worn out by his efforts of the previous round,
agreed to a draw with Bruce Murray. There were many upsets this round, headed by
Mike Canfell’s win over Ken Creech. Milorad Lukic defeated George Lester; Alex
Jule beat Tony Weller; Peter Bender toppled Robin Stokes; and Jessica Kinder
upset Endel Lane.
Antic, D (2488) - Xie, G (2328), 2004 Coffs Harbour Open Round 6, 14/11/04
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 c5 4.e3 cxd4 5.exd4 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Bxd2+ 7.Nbxd2 b6 8.Bd3 Bb7
9.0–0 0–0 10.b4 d6 11.Re1 Nc6 12.b5 Ne7 13.a4 Rc8 14.Rc1 a5 15.Nb3 Ba8 16.Nfd2
Rc7 17.Bf1 Ng6 18.h3 Nd7 19.g3 e5 20.d5 f5 21.h4 Bb7 22.h5 Nh8 23.f4 exf4
24.gxf4 Qh4 25.Nd4 Nf6 26.N2f3 Qg3+ 27.Bg2 Rfc8 28.Nxf5 Qxf4 29.Ne7+ Rxe7
30.Rxe7 Bxd5 31.Qd2 Qxd2 32.Nxd2 Bxg2 33.Kxg2 Rb8 34.h6 gxh6 35.Rf1 Ng6 36.Re6
Nd7 37.Ne4 Nde5 38.Rxd6 Nxc4 39.Nf6+ Kh8 40.Rd7 Nf8 41.Re7 Rd8 42.Rf4 Ne5
43.Rxe5 Ng6 44.Rfe4 Nxe5 45.Rxe5 Kg7 46.Rd5 Rc8 47.Nd7 and Black lost on time
1–0
Round 7: This time a real grandmaster draw for Brian Jones, who accepted Antic’s
early offer after the GM realised this guaranteed him outright first. Brian
himself was content with equal third with Solo, who defeated Mike Canfell. The
latter still had an excellent tournament, winning his rating group with 4.5/7.
Phachara was left out of the prizes after he failed to survive an inferior
opening against George Xie, who thus took outright second on 6/7. Alex Jule
topped her rating group on 4.5/7 after a last round upset draw with Marsden,
while Alan Tankel (also 4.5/7) recovered from earlier upsets to become the Mid
North Coast Champion.
Standings
Place Name Feder Loc Score
1 Antic, Dejan OS 2488 6.5
2 Xie, George NSW 2328 6
3-4 Jones, Brian A NSW 2056 5.5
Solomon, Stephen J QLD 2448 5.5
5-9 Wongwichit, Phachara QLD 1924 5
Bolens, Johny NSW 2095 5
Sonter, Matthew QLD 1953 5
Murray, Bruce D NSW 1927 5
Jones, Lee R NSW 2045 5
10-13 Jule, Alexandra QLD 1523 4.5
Canfell, Mike J NSW 1707 4.5
Tankel, Alan NSW 1899 4.5
Marsden, John A NSW 1878 4.5
14-23 Stawski, Nik V QLD 1821 4
Cooke, Steven L QLD 1504 4
Bowen, Leon QLD 1808 4
Davidson, Nathan P QLD 1647 4
Alkin, John QLD 1744 4
Reid, Vaness NSW 1635 4
Burgess, Greg NSW 1720 4
Lukic, Milorad NSW 1539 4
Maddix, John T NSW 1829 4
Bender, Peter G QLD 1272 4
24-32 Lester, George E QLD 1882 3.5
Weller, Tony QLD 1748 3.5
Creech, Ken E NSW 1924 3.5
Saavedra, Bernard QLD 1646 3.5
Losh, Gary NSW 1450 3.5
Ross, Bill NSW 1536 3.5
Kaspar, Ric QLD 1413 3.5
Reesink, Nathaneel NSW 3.5
Stokes, Robin H NSW 1513 3.5
33-39 Mearns, David NSW 1418 3
Northover, Shane NSW 1185 3
Kinder, Jessica QLD 1093 3
Lane, Endel NSW 1407 3
Roach, Owen NSW 1429 3
Jule, Sebastian QLD 766 3
Anderson, Peter NSW 3
40-45 Weltner, Michael NSW 1440 2.5
Wilkie, Mary E NSW 1273 2.5
Klinkby, Alf NSW 1684 2.5
Northover, Matthew NSW 995 2.5
Quadros, Andrew NSW 2.5
Ham, Jonathon NSW 2.5
46-50 Wells, Leslie NSW 923 2
Mildenhall, Todd NSW 1143 2
Kospartov, Nick QLD 1305 2
Phipps, Matthew NSW 923 2
Kimura, Mikio QLD 716 2
51 McCartney, Nicholas QLD 516 1.5
52-55 Aylwin, Helen NSW 1
McArthur, Logan NSW 836 1
Stevens, Matthew NSW 876 1
Gelagin, George NSW 1625 1
Cross Table
No Name Loc Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 Antic, Dejan 2488 6.5 10:W 16:W 8:W 6:W 7:W 2:W 3:D
2 Xie, George 2328 6 15:W 18:W 12:W 4:W 6:W 1:L 5:W
3 Jones, Brian A 2056 5.5 40:W 11:W 24:D 9:D 16:W 7:W 1:D
4 Solomon, Stephen J 2448 5.5 32:W 25:W 5:W 2:L 14:D 15:W 11:W
5 Wongwichit, Phachara 1924 5 48:W 55:+ 4:L 17:W 18:W 9:W 2:L
6 Bolens, Johny 2095 5 28:W 20:W 14:W 1:L 2:L 17:W 16:W
7 Sonter, Matthew 1953 5 33:W 17:W 19:W 24:W 1:L 3:L 21:W
8 Murray, Bruce D 1927 5 30:W 27:W 1:L 11:D 10:W 14:D 18:W
9 Jones, Lee R 2045 5 37:W 42:D 26:W 3:D 25:W 5:L 14:W
10 Jule, Alexandra 1523 4.5 1:L 49:W 39:W 20:W 8:L 25:W 13:D
11 Canfell, Mike J 1707 4.5 38:W 3:L 30:W 8:D 40:W 26:W 4:L
12 Tankel, Alan 1899 4.5 41:W 21:W 2:L 27:D 15:L 40:W 29:W
13 Marsden, John A 1878 4.5 34:L 43:W 40:D 15:D 33:W 19:W 10:D
14 Stawski, Nik V 1821 4 43:W 34:W 6:L 19:W 4:D 8:D 9:L
15 Cooke, Steven L 1504 4 2:L 54:W 31:W 13:D 12:W 4:L 24:D
16 Bowen, Leon 1808 4 49:W 1:L 42:W 21:W 3:L 27:W 6:L
17 Davidson, Nathan P 1647 4 39:W 7:L 48:W 5:L 28:W 6:L 33:W
18 Alkin, John 1744 4 54:W 2:L 37:W 28:W 5:L 30:W 8:L
19 Reid, Vaness 1635 4 45:W 26:W 7:L 14:L 39:W 13:L 35:W
20 Burgess, Greg 1720 4 53:W 6:L 41:W 10:L 36:W 29:D 23:D
21 Lukic, Milorad 1539 4 44:W 12:L 47:W 16:L 46:W 24:W 7:L
22 Maddix, John T 1829 4 35:L 31:W 28:L 47:W 30:L 48:W 37:W
23 Bender, Peter G 1272 4 24:L 29:L 46:D 49:W 42:W 32:W 20:D
24 Lester, George E 1882 3.5 23:W 35:W 3:D 7:L 27:D 21:L 15:D
25 Weller, Tony 1748 3.5 46:W 4:L 33:W 29:W 9:L 10:L 31:D
26 Creech, Ken E 1924 3.5 36:W 19:L 9:L 43:W 31:W 11:L 28:D
27 Saavedra, Bernard 1646 3.5 52:W 8:L 34:W 12:D 24:D 16:L 30:D
28 Losh, Gary 1450 3.5 6:L 53:W 22:W 18:L 17:L 34:W 26:D
29 Ross, Bill 1536 3.5 31:L 23:W 35:W 25:L 48:W 20:D 12:L
30 Kaspar, Ric 1413 3.5 8:L 52:W 11:L 50:W 22:W 18:L 27:D
31 Reesink, Nathaneel 3.5 29:W 22:L 15:L 34:W 26:L 47:W 25:D
32 Stokes, Robin H 1513 3.5 4:L 46:D 36:L 44:W 41:W 23:L 40:W
33 Mearns, David 1418 3 7:L 51:W 25:L 35:W 13:L 46:W 17:L
34 Northover, Shane 1185 3 13:W 14:L 27:L 31:L 43:W 28:L 46:W
35 Kinder, Jessica 1093 3 22:W 24:L 29:L 33:L 52:W 36:W 19:L
36 Lane, Endel 1407 3 26:L 39:L 32:W 45:W 20:L 35:L 42:W
37 Roach, Owen 1429 3 9:L 50:W 18:L 46:L 44:W 38:W 22:L
38 Jule, Sebastian 766 3 11:L 40:L 44:L 0:W 45:W 37:L 47:W
39 Anderson, Peter 3 17:L 36:W 10:L 41:W 19:L 50:W 0:
40 Weltner, Michael 1440 2.5 3:L 38:W 13:D 42:W 11:L 12:L 32:L
41 Wilkie, Mary E 1273 2.5 12:L 45:W 20:L 39:L 32:L 49:W 43:D
42 Klinkby, Alf 1684 2.5 50:W 9:D 16:L 40:L 23:L 52:W 36:L
43 Northover, Matthew 995 2.5 14:L 13:L 51:W 26:L 34:L 53:W 41:D
44 Quadros, Andrew 2.5 21:L 48:L 38:W 32:L 37:L 45:D 54:W
45 Ham, Jonathon 2.5 19:L 41:L 53:W 36:L 38:L 44:D 50:W
46 Wells, Leslie 923 2 25:L 32:D 23:D 37:W 21:L 33:L 34:L
47 Mildenhall, Todd 1143 2 0:D 0:D 21:L 22:L 53:W 31:L 38:L
48 Kospartov, Nick 1305 2 5:L 44:W 17:L 52:W 29:L 22:L 0:
49 Phipps, Matthew 923 2 16:L 10:L 50:L 23:L 54:W 41:L 52:W
50 Kimura, Mikio 716 2 42:L 37:L 49:W 30:L 51:W 39:L 45:L
51 McCartney, Nicholas 516 1.5 55:L 33:L 43:L 0:D 50:L 54:L 53:W
52 Aylwin, Helen 1 27:L 30:L 54:W 48:L 35:L 42:L 49:L
53 McArthur, Logan 836 1 20:L 28:L 45:L 54:W 47:L 43:L 51:L
54 Stevens, Matthew 876 1 18:L 15:L 52:L 53:L 49:L 51:W 44:L
55 Gelagin, George 1625 1 51:W 5:- 0: 0: 0: 0: 0: