2006 NEWCASTLE OPEN: GEORGE’S JOYFUL JAUNT
by DOP Charles Zworestine
I was surprised: I realised it was three years since I had directed this event… Lucky then that George Lithgow, originally listed as DOP, agreed to play and instead let me be the one to take over from Allan Wright (arbiter for the past two years)! After the Brisbane and Queenstown events and the Australia Day weekender (all very successful), I was keen and in the mood for more chess; and this tournament did not disappoint… 47 players descended upon Newcastle (well, Cardiff actually) for the 21st Newcastle Open, with a strong field of 9 over 2000. With time controls of 1 hour plus 10 seconds per move from the start (Fischer), the usual interesting and high standard chess was played, with upsets even as early as Round 1…
Fourth seed Gareth Charles was the first upset victim, miscalculating a tactic and losing piece and eventually game to Norm Greenwood after he forgot that his knight was pinned! He was closely followed by Max Illingworth, who seemed to misplace several pawns in his upset loss to Ian Hendry. WIM Laura Moylan (seed 7) had to struggle before overcoming unrated (but dangerous) young Victorian Dennis Au: at one point a rook for three pawns down, Laura made her connected passed pawns count to eventually win a very tricky ending…
So by Round 2 some natural attrition of the top seeds had already taken place, especially as second seed Ronald Scott had arrived late and had to take a half point bye in Round 1… No trouble for top seed IM elect George Xie, however, as he won a piece then got his rooks doubled on the seventh rank to convincingly defeat Segopotso Hlabano. Third seed Brett Tindall succeeded with his mating attack against Robert Hvistendahl, while fourth seed and NSW State Champion Andrew Bird won a long game against Victor Liuga. Upset draws were achieved by Andrew Phillips against ninth seed Ilia Zvedeniouk, and NSW Junior Champion David Behne-Smith after he forced a dead drawn opposite coloured bishop ending against Adrian Chek. Good wins were achieved by two juniors this round, as Jonathan Behne-Smith beat Bela Nemeth and Alex Mehan (in his first adult event) defeated Andrew Robinson.
In Round 3 the games got tougher, although George Xie was able to win tactically against Laura Moylan, in the end sacrificing a rook to force mate. Brett Tindall sacrificed the exchange and a pawn and seemed worse against David Castor, but generated enough counterplay to cause David to lose on time in an inferior position. Andrew Bird ground down Alex Mendes da Costa. Johny Bolens was much luckier to beat Arthur Huynh, somehow conjuring up a win from a lost position where Arthur had two rooks and a piece for a queen, two beautiful bishops and a winning attack! Biggest upset this round was scored by David Behne-Smith, who won the exchange and eventually the game against Ilia Zvedeniouk.
A big battle occurred on top board in Round 4, where George Xie was out for revenge against Andrew Bird after his upset loss the weekend before at the Australia Day weekender. As it happens, George played beautifully, winning a rather nice game where he trapped Andrew’s bishop, thus leaving him playing effectively a piece down, and then forced his resignation when he was about to queen a pawn (see game below). Board 2 saw Johny Bolens join George on 4/4 with an upset win against Brett Tindall; after surviving Brett’s attack, Johny forced an ending with two beautiful bishops for a rook, then won with his last pawn (which happened to be a passed e-pawn). Ronald Scott got to 3.5/4 by beating Adrian Chek, where he was joined by David Behne-Smith who pulled off a stunning upset against Laura Moylan, winning pawns to tactics and then surviving her attack to force a winning endgame. Scott Nicholson upset Arthur Huynh to join a large group on 3/4.
Bird, A (2105) - Xie, G (2324), 2006 Newcastle Open Round 4, Board 1 04/02/2006
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.0–0 Qb6 7.Nxc6 dxc6 8.Nd2 e5 9.Nc4 Qc7 10.Bg5 Be6 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Ne3 Rd8 13.Qb1 Bc5 14.Be4 Bxe3 15.fxe3 Ke7 16.Qe1 h5 17.Qb4+ c5 18.Qxb7 Qxb7 19.Bxb7 Rb8 20.Bf3 Rxb2 21.Rfb1 Rhb8 22.Rxb2 Rxb2 23.Bxh5 e4 24.a3 f5 25.Kf2 c4 26.h3 Rxc2 27.Ke1 c3 28.a4 Bc4 29.Kd1 Bb3 30.Ke1 Kf6 31.h4 Kg7 32.g4 f4 33.exf4 e3 34.g5 Rd2 0–1
Round 5 saw George Xie take the outright lead on 5/5 by winning the exchange to beat Johny Bolens. Ronald Scott took longer, but still reached 4.5/5 by beating David Behne-Smith with a nice Nxg2 pseudo-sacrifice. Both Brett Tindall and Gareth Charles won rook and pawn endings pawns ahead, while the difficult bishop ending between David Castor and Alex Mendes da Costa ended up drawn. Upset wins were scored by Brendon Norman over Ilia Zvedeniouk, and Jonathan Behne-Smith against Andrew Robinson’s Grob. The longest game of the round was won by Andrew Bird over Segopotso Hlabano. Andrew was winning with strong pressure for much of the game, but in time pressure his opponent should have drawn the queen and pawn ending by perpetual check; instead he went pawn grabbing, eventually allowing his opponent a nice checkmate by underpromoting to a knight with check!
At least equal first was wrapped up for George Xie after Round 6, where he beat Ronald Scott as Black after the latter missed a Qxg3+ tactic based on a pin. Brett Tindall won a long struggle against Gareth Charles to reach 5/6, in the end winning a queen and rook ending with a picturesque mate (see game below). He was joined there by Andrew Bird, who beat Johny Bolens in another long game where Andrew’s superior position was eventually converted into a won bishop ending. Many players were still in contention for the minor prizes on 4.5/6, among them David Castor whose kingside attack (having castled on opposite sides) was faster against David Behne-Smith’s Dragon. Upsets this round were Andrew Murdoch defeating Segopotso Hlabano, and Jonathan Behne-Smith drawing with Mike Weltner.
Tindall, B (2214) - Charles, G (2105), 2006 Newcastle Open Round 6, Board 2, 05/02/2006
1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 c5 3.e4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bf4 e5 8.Bg5 a6 9.Na3 b5 10.Nd5 Be7 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.c3 0–0 13.Nc2 Bg5 14.a4 bxa4 15.Rxa4 a5 16.Bb5 Ne7 17.Nce3 Bxe3 18.Nxe3 Bb7 19.0–0 Qb6 20.Qe2 d5 21.exd5 Nxd5 22.Nxd5 Bxd5 23.c4 Bc6 24.Qxe5 Bxb5 25.cxb5 Rab8 26.b4 axb4 27.Rxb4 Rfe8 28.Qb2 Re6 29.h3 g6 30.Rc4 Rbe8 31.Qb4 Re5 32.Rb1 Rb8 33.Rbc1 Qxb5 34.Rc8+ Rxc8 35.Rxc8+ Kg7 36.Qf8+ Kf6 37.Qd8+ Kg7 38.Qf8+ Kf6 39.Qh8+ Kf5 40.Rc1 Qe8 41.g4+ Kf4 42.Qf6+ Ke4 43.Qd6 Kf4 44.Qd2+ Kf3 45.Rc3+ Ke4 46.f3# 1–0
George Xie was Newcastle Open Champion for the very first time after Round 7, where he accepted Brett Tindall’s early draw offer after both players claimed they were too tired to play on! Andrew Bird had to work much harder to claim outright second, but eventually did so after beating Ronald Scott when the latter (as Black) overlooked a pin and hence blundered his d2 bishop. David Castor beat Brendon Norman to share third place with Brett. Among those causing upsets to share the Under 1900 prize were Max Illingworth (in a long draw with Johny Bolens) and Paul Reynolds (who stunned Ilia Zvedeniouk). Best local was pooled in with this prize by David Behne-Smith, whose two rooks and five extra pawns were more than enough to beat Jose Escribano’s queen.
Prize Winners: 1st George Xie 6.5/7; 2nd Andrew Bird 6; 3rd = David Castor, Brett Tindall 5.5; 1st = Under 1900 + Best Local David Behne-Smith, Max Illingworth, Brendon Norman, Paul Reynolds 4.5; 1st Under 1550 Andrew Murdoch 4; 2nd = Trent Parker, Michael Weltner 3.5; 1st = Under 1400 Jonathan Behne-Smith, Ian Hendry, Alex Mehan, Mary Wilkie 3.
Place Name Feder Loc Score
1 Xie, George NSW 2324 6.5
2 Bird, Andrew NSW 2105 6
3-4 Tindall, Brett NSW 2214 5.5
Castor, David NSW 2008 5.5
5-7 Moylan, Laura A NSW 2093 5
Chek, Adrian NSW 1990 5
Charles, Gareth NSW 2105 5
8-13 Bolens, Johny NSW 2095 4.5
Scott, Ronald NSW 2248 4.5
Behne-Smith, David NSW 1585 4.5
Norman, Brendon NSW 1843 4.5
Illingworth, Max NSW 1786 4.5
Reynolds, Paul J NSW 1597 4.5
14-20 Mendes da Costa, Alex NSW 1930 4
Hvistendahl, Robert NSW 1701 4
O'Riordan, Bernard NSW 1821 4
Hlabano, Segopotso NSW 1798 4
Huynh, Arthur NSW 1800 4
Murdoch, Andrew NSW 1452 4
Phillips, Andrew NSW 1564 4
21-25 Zvedeniouk, Ilia NSW 2001 3.5
Escribano, Jose NSW 1669 3.5
Keuning, Anthony V NSW 1624 3.5
Weltner, Michael NSW 1481 3.5
Parker, Trent NSW 1490 3.5
26-35 Greenwood, Norman NSW 1468 3
Bonjekovic, Tom NSW 1480 3
Hendry, Ian L NSW 1267 3
Au, Dennis VIC 1450 3
Nicholson, Scott NSW 1591 3
Dickson, Ian C NSW 1546 3
Behne-Smith, Jonathan NSW 974 3
Nemeth, Bela L NSW 1410 3
Wilkie, Mary E NSW 1249 3
Mehan, Alex NSW 3
36-39 Lithgow, George NSW 1404 2.5
Whiteside, Benjamin NSW 1366 2.5
Koutnik, Matthew NSW 1251 2.5
McCook, Jake ACT 941 2.5
40-44 Deacon, Graeme NSW 1360 2
Rowston, Bruce VIC 1303 2
Robinson, Andrew NSW 1367 2
Boyd, Alex NSW 2
Liuga, Victor NSW 1679 2
45 Parsons, Colin J NSW 1426 1.5
46-47 McIlveen, Trevor NSW 195 1
Surya, Jai NSW 1
No Name Loc Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. Xie, George 2324 6.5 26:W 15:W 7:W 4:W 6:W 2:W 3:D 2. Scott, Ronald 2248 4.5 :D 12:W 13:W 10:W 23:W 1:L 4:L 3. Tindall, Brett 2214 5.5 27:W 17:W 8:W 6:L 13:W 5:W 1:D 4. Bird, Andrew 2105 6 28:W 18:W 11:W 1:L 15:W 6:W 2:W 5. Charles, Gareth 2105 5 29:L 19:W 27:W 17:W 22:W 3:L 11:W 6. Bolens, Johny 2095 4.5 30:W 20:W 14:W 3:W 1:L 4:L 16:D 7. Moylan, Laura A 2093 5 31:W 22:W 1:L 23:L 28:W 17:W 14:W 8. Castor, David 2008 5.5 32:W 21:W 3:L 16:W 11:D 23:W 12:W 9. Zvedeniouk, Ilia 2001 3.5 33:W 24:D 23:L 31:W 12:L 39:W 21:L 10. Chek, Adrian 1990 5 34:W 23:D 24:W 2:L 19:W 11:D 30:W 11. Mendes da Costa, Alex 1930 4 35:W 29:W 4:L 20:W 8:D 10:D 5:L 12. Norman, Brendon 1843 4.5 :D 2:L 46:W 24:W 9:W 13:W 8:L 13. O'Riordan, Bernard 1821 4 36:W 25:W 2:L 18:W 3:L 12:L 28:W 14. Huynh, Arthur 1800 4 37:W 39:W 6:L 22:L 21:W 29:W 7:L 15. Hlabano, Segopotso 1798 4 38:W 1:L 28:W 25:W 4:L 30:L 29:W 16. Illingworth, Max 1786 4.5 39:L 36:W 29:W 8:L 34:W 22:W 6:D 17. Hvistendahl, Robert 1701 4 40:W 3:L 30:W 5:L 25:W 7:L 33:W 18. Liuga, Victor 1679 2 41:W 4:L 32:W 13:L 29:- : : 19. Escribano, Jose 1669 3.5 :D 5:L 40:W 39:W 10:L 31:W 23:L 20. Keuning, Anthony V 1624 3.5 42:W 6:L 34:W 11:L 30:L 40:D 36:W 21. Reynolds, Paul J 1597 4.5 43:W 8:L 39:D 37:W 14:L 36:W 9:W 22. Nicholson, Scott 1591 3 44:W 7:L 42:W 14:W 5:L 16:L : 23. Behne-Smith, David 1585 4.5 45:W 10:D 9:W 7:W 2:L 8:L 19:W 24. Phillips, Andrew 1564 4 46:W 9:D 10:L 12:L 37:D 34:W 25:W 25. Dickson, Ian C 1546 3 47:W 13:L 44:W 15:L 17:L 37:W 24:L 26. Parker, Trent 1490 3.5 1:L 37:D 31:L 47:W 39:L 32:W 40:W 27. Weltner, Michael 1481 3.5 3:L 38:W 5:L 36:D 40:D 42:D 43:W 28. Bonjekovic, Tom 1480 3 4:L 41:W 15:L 42:W 7:L 46:W 13:L 29. Greenwood, Norman 1468 3 5:W 11:L 16:L 41:W 18:+ 14:L 15:L 30. Murdoch, Andrew 1452 4 6:L 43:W 17:L 44:W 20:W 15:W 10:L 31. Au, Dennis 1450 3 7:L 40:D 26:W 9:L 43:W 19:L 42:D 32. Parsons, Colin J 1426 1.5 8:L 45:W 18:L 43:D 36:L 26:L 35:L 33. Nemeth, Bela L 1410 3 9:L 42:L 37:L 38:W 45:W 41:W 17:L 34. Lithgow, George 1404 2.5 10:L 47:W 20:L 46:W 16:L 24:L 39:D 35. Robinson, Andrew 1367 2 11:L 46:L 41:L 40:L 42:L :W 32:W 36. Whiteside, Benjamin 1366 2.5 13:L 16:L 45:W 27:D 32:W 21:L 20:L 37. Deacon, Graeme 1360 2 14:L 26:D 33:W 21:L 24:D 25:L 41:L 38. Rowston, Bruce 1303 2 15:L 27:L 47:L 33:L :W 45:W 46:L 39. Hendry, Ian L 1267 3 16:W 14:L 21:D 19:L 26:W 9:L 34:D 40. Koutnik, Matthew 1251 2.5 17:L 31:D 19:L 35:W 27:D 20:D 26:L 41. Wilkie, Mary E 1249 3 18:L 28:L 35:W 29:L 47:+ 33:L 37:W 42. Behne-Smith, Jonathan 974 3 20:L 33:W 22:L 28:L 35:W 27:D 31:D 43. McCook, Jake 941 2.5 21:L 30:L :W 32:D 31:L 44:W 27:L 44. McIlveen, Trevor 195 1 22:L :W 25:L 30:L 46:L 43:L 45:L 45. Boyd, Alex 2 23:L 32:L 36:L :W 33:L 38:L 44:W 46. Mehan, Alex 3 24:L 35:W 12:L 34:L 44:W 28:L 38:W 47. Surya, Jai 1 25:L 34:L 38:W 26:L 41:- : :