The calendar has been slightly adjusted to accommodate the extended period of lockdown.
New calendar is as follows:
16 September: 2021 Lightning Championship
23 & 30 September: Fischer Random Rapid (Chess960)
7 October through 25 November: 2021 Geelong Chess Club Championship
2 & 9 December: 2021 Rapid Play Championship

The Lightning Skittles tournament will be played if we find ourselves with a week to spare.

If you have any questions or wish to get in early, contact us
by phone: 0406199457 (Jack Smith)
or email: geelongchessclub@gmail.com

First of all, congratulations to Rodel for taking out the Winter Swiss with a dominating score of 4.5/5! He only dropped a half point to a BYE due to unavoidable work commitments in round 3.
Jack came second on 3, taking a 0 point bye in the last round due to illness, and Paul, Toby and Geoff Barber came equal second on 2.5, with the latter having missed the first 2 rounds!

Many thanks to all the attendees for their patience, as this “5 week” tournament took much longer than 5 weeks due to current circumstances, with the decision finally made to finish the last 2 rounds of the tournament online. Everyone has been great with accommodating to the flow of things and I appreciate it.

Final Standings:

Final Standings:
1. Rodel Sicat 4.5
2. Jack Smith 3
3 – 6. Paul Brown 2.5
Toby Mew 2.5
Geoff Barber 2.5
6. Geoff Davis 2
7 – 8 Mio Ristic (Withdrew in r3) 1.5
Izabelle 1.5
9. TJ 1
10. Elizabeth 0.5
11. Tryan (withdrew in r3) 0

In other club news, the Fletcher Morrow Shield vs Ballarat has been postponed pending the end of the lockdown. A far cry from the scheduled first week of August, but the captains have agreed that it is much more worthwhile to hold the match over the board than to have it online.

The next tournament at Geelong Chess Club after lockdown will be the Lightning Championship! Don’t miss out!

The Fletcher-Morrow Shield Match has been postponed to Sunday the 22nd August due to difficulties in procuring a venue in Ballarat for the 15th.

A reminder: the match will be held in Ballarat at the Ballarat Mechanics Institute in Sturt Street from 1 pm on Sunday 22 August.

We have 10 players, but if you’re interested you’re still welcome to join us!

Contact us at 0406199457.

Good news; with the lockdown lifting it looks like we’ll be able to continue the Winter Swiss this coming Thursday!

Remember that it is not too late to join the tournament, but we will be closing late-comer registrations firmly at 7:10!

Round 1 Results:

Izabelle vs Jack 0-1
Geoff D vs TJ 1-0
Tryan vs Rodel 0-1
Paul vs Elizabeth 1-0

Round 2 Pairings (subject to change):

Jack vs Paul
Rodel vs Geoff D
Mio vs Izabelle
TJ vs Geoff B
Toby vs Tryan
Elizabeth vs BYE

There will be no chess tonight due to the state-wide lockdown.

Hi everyone! Thursday Chess will resume this coming Thursday the 10th of June.
We were due to be playing the 2nd round of the Tandem Chess rapid event, however on the 10th we will likely play casual games – which is a good opportunity for newer players to come along or those who can’t commit to longer format tournaments.

A few notes for anyone thinking about coming along:
– Please do NOT turn up if you have been to a hotspot or are feeling at all unwell – this is clearly our best defence against the spread of Covid!
– Please, when arriving, use the QR code available at the entrance to the Girl Guides Hall to check in (this is now a legal requirement) – the manual paper system wont be used anymore
– Please wear your face mask, unless seated at your table, or outside
– Please practice the now-normal hygiene protocols around hand washing and social distancing – especially when watching someone else’s game

The Autumn Swiss kicked off last Thursday with 10 players entered. Paul Brown graciously took charge of the running of the tournament, as the usual DOP was out of town and took a half point bye.

Brian Coppock, a Saturday afternoon enthusiast, took on Mio Ristic on board 1; Brian had a fine position at one point but Mio’s experience won out.

On board 2 Geoff Barber played talented young Fin Hutton; Fin also had good chances, but Geoff is a tricky customer and eventually took the win.

Toby Mew and Serge Corbeil battled it out on board 3; Toby, another talented junior, overcame Serge to pull off a fine upset off the bat!

Geoff Davis and newcomer Michael Ryde played on the last board; Geoff, the winner of the previous Swiss, proved he’s still got it and took the victory.

Jack Smith was out of town and took a half point bye while Paul Brown selflessly elected to take the bye so no one else had to miss out.

Round 1 results:
Brian vs Mio 0-1
Geoff B vs Fin 1-0
Toby vs Serge 1-0
Geoff D vs Michael 1-0
Paul vs BYE 1-0
Jack 0.5 BYE

Round 2 pairings:
Mio vs Geoff D
Toby vs Geoff B
Serge vs Fin
Michael vs Brian
Paul 0.5 BYE
Jack 0 BYE

Geoff Davis has won the Summer Swiss, drawing his last game with Chris Lamming to finish on a score of 4/5, with Chris and Serge Corbeil coming equal second on 3.5!

Well done to Geoff and thanks to everyone who played!
The game on board 1 saw Mr. Davis playing White, essaying the Scotch; (1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4) Chris replied with the speculative line 3… exd4 4. Nxd4 Ne5!? and Geoff soon got a big advantage in space. White was pressing for the whole game but Black’s cramped position proved rock solid, even in the face of a passed e6 pawn late in the game. White couldn’t prove anything and the players agreed to draw.

Board 2 saw tragedy for Rodel Sicat against Serge Corbeil; Rodel played the Black side of a Benoni-like structure, with Serge deploying his pieces in a cautious but risk-free manner. Black had fine play, breaking out and reaching probable equality before a careless blunder cost him a rook thanks to a nice tactical find by Serge, who secured equal second place in the first game to finish.

Board 3 was a slugfest between two equally inconsistent players in Geoff Barber and Jack Smith. Jack, taking the black pieces, played quite quickly for the first several moves, as the game repeated the first 12 moves played in the round 4 game Chris vs Jack. Jack sacrificed an exchange for an abundance of activity and an easy game, and then cleverly blundered a piece. He clawed his way back to an endgame where he had 2 pawns for a bishop and nothing to lose. Geoff overlooked a unique tactic, and had to give back the piece, but there was nothing for black in the resulting position and the players agreed a draw.

Mio Ristic won a fine game against Paul Brown on board 4 in a Classical Sicilian. Mio, playing White, essayed his trusty English attack, and followed the simple plan of castling queenside and pushing his h and g pawns into Blacks kingside-castled face. Paul missed a surprising resource in the opening after White stuck a knight on d5, and Black wound up not being able to solve the problems presented.

Final Standings:
1. Geoff Davis 4
2 – 3. Chris Lamming 3.5
Serge Corbeil 3.5
4. Mio Ristic 3
5 – 7. Jack Smith 2.5
Geoff Barber 2.5
Rodel Sicat 2.5
8 – 10. Anakin Kotus 1
Paul Brown 1
James Davidson 1

Round 4 of the Geelong Summer Swiss is over, and we are seeing a freight-train performance by Geoff Davis, only halted a few rounds ago by Geoff Barber who held him to a draw.

His latest victim was Serge Corbeil, where Geoff, playing White played 3. e5, the Advance Variation, against Serge’s French. Geoff snatched a pawn in the middlegame but Serge stuck it out through a 127 move slug fest before finally going down to Geoff’s material advantage.

On board 2, Chris Lamming turned around an unpleasant position as White against Jack Smith after Jack missed White’s tactical opportunity, and Black proceeded to play on down 2 pawns for a piece; the position was probably drawn until Jack inexplicably placed both passed pawns en prise in a row.

Rodel Sicat played a fine game as White against Geoff Barber on board 3 in a Slav, with Black finding his king under heavy siege in the middlegame, and White forced resignation before the endgame.

Mio got a forfeit win over Anakin, and James and Paul Brown were apologies. (James was given a half point bye.)

Going forward, Geoff Davis needs only a draw to win the tournament, but Chris will have something to say about that in their game I’m sure! It should be an exciting finish to the event.

Round 5 pairings:
Geoff Davis vs Chris Lamming
Serge Corbeil vs Rodel Sicat
Geoff Barber vs Jack Smith
Mio Ristic vs Paul Brown
James Davidson vs Anakin Kotus
Standings before round 5:
1. Geoff Davis 3.5
2. Chris Lamming 3
3-4. Serge Corbeil 2.5
Rodel Sicat 2.5
5 – 7. Jack Smith
2Geoff Barber 2
Mio Ristic 2
8-9. Paul Brown 1
Anakin Kotus 1
10. James Davidson 0.5

Round 3 saw Geoff Davis and Serge Corbeil take the lead, after Davis thwarted Jack Smith’s attempts to bamboozle with 1. e4 c5 2. a3?! on the top board, and Serge patiently put away Anakin Kotus on board 2.

Mio Ristic went down on board 3 to Geoff Barber, after hanging a knight fork of king and queen. Rodel Sicat won his game against keen newcomer James Davidson without too many issues; Chris Lamming was not present, as he had unavoidable work committments.

Round 3 results:
Jack Smith vs Geoff Davis 0-1
Serge Corbeil vs Anakin Kotus 1-0
Geoff Barber vs Mio Ristic 1-0
Rodel Sicat vs James Davidson 1-0
Paul Brown 0.5 BYE

Round 4 pairings:
Geoff Davis vs Serge Corbeil
Chris Lamming vs Jack Smith
Rodel Sicat vs Geoff Barber
Mio Ristic vs Paul Brown
James Davidson vs Anakin Kotus