DAILY BULLETIN #2 2012 Australian Junior Chess Championships

A record breaking event!

More like cricket
In only one respect do I wish that chess were more like cricket. No, not the bats. I just wish there were more statistics mainly because I think this event would be setting a whole heap of records!

Under 18 Championships 3 rounds of 9 played

Anton and Alistair (2 and 3 seeds) drew today, a smart strategic play to keep top seed Justin Tan under pressure. No upsets today unless you count James Watsons clubmates coming down from Ballarat to find he had the bye!
nd rd

Under 18/16 Girls 3 of 7 preliminary rounds

Poster girl Charlotte Dilnutt has had a tough start to the tournament, playing the top 2 seeds and Zoe for a grand total of zero. And it doesnt get any easier today! Zoe Harrison was crushing Ruihong until she blundered mate in 1. You cant afford many of these mistakes in a round-robin!

Under 16 Championships 3 rounds of 11 played

All going according to ratings so far with Pasan and Bernard on perfect scores. Ive always been told that the best strategy in round-robin events is dont lose. Keep that in mind.

The only statistic really ever kept is size and this event soundly surpasses the 2007 Canberra record (210 players) to become the largest Australian Junior Championships ever (258 players). We challenge the Gold Coast, Queensland to attract more next year! We also have the youngest player (Stella Cameron not yet 4), possibly the youngest player to win a game (Oliver, 4) and there is even a chance we will have the youngest Champion (can Antons do it?). We also had the youngest 8 year-old with Gaby Rips only 8 and 4 days. Thanks to a great game-entry effort today (adding 185 games today out of a total of 199 played) we are now back on track to break the record of 1139 recorded games which was made in Canberra in 2007.keep it going! A few more games have comments (look for icon) and I have asked some very famous guest commentators to take a look through your games and make some comments as well. One of the games contains the comment This move is the secret blue fish. If you can tell me which game and what move number then YOU are the t-shirt winner!

Under 10 Championships 7 rounds of 9 played

I predicted it would be a close event and it certainly is. Kris and Haran are snapping at the heels of the leaders. Today sees the battle of the brothers the winner gets to go to a new school!

Under 10/8 Girls Championships 7 of 9 played

There were a few key encounters yesterday and it was Jody who came out on top. You need a bit of luck to win any tournament and she certainly had the luck in her game against Amelia. Her lone-queen attack managed to find a checkmate in a clearly winning position for Amelia. Emily and Cassandra are both on 4 points tied in the lead for the Under 8 title. Hopefully they play each other soon!

Under 8 Championships 7 of 9 played

Bobby defeated Jason in round 5 in what might have been the deciding game of the tournament. It was a very exciting game with first Bobby taking the attack, then the tables turned and it looks like Jason was going to win for a while. Watch out for Christopher Lim - he is doing very well, still Under 6 and already has 4 points! Also Harry Phillips has the potential to be a future champion. Good to see Victoria on top in every category except the U16 Open. I guess we have to throw NSW a bone... Cmon Max and Jack, grab that bone.

Daily Bulletin produced and sponsored by Chess Kids 1300 424 377 www.chesskids.com.au

Player Profile Miranda Webb-Liddle (VIC U18G)

Miranda is a type of fizzy drink and means Never Wrong Born: Australia, attends John Monash Science School Mechatronics Engineering

Future Career:

Favourite sports/hobbies: Equestrian, music (cello, piano and percussion) Greatest Chess Achievement: Representing Australia at st the World Youth Championships 3 times and placing 61 What I like about chess tournaments: Seeing friends Favourite player: Kasparov Pets: 6 horses, 2 dogs and a cat Quote: You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest, where 2+2=5 and the path leading out is only wide enough for one." - Mikhail Tal Miranda has only missed one Australian Junior since 2007 (2010), because she was living in France! William Maligin v. Vishal Bhat Here Black played the nice move 22Bxd4+ forking everything and deflecting Williams queen. After 23.Qxd4 Vishal played Qe1++

Brain Buster 3

XABCDEFGHY 8-+-+-+-+( 7tR-+-+-+K' 6P+-+-+-zp& 5+-+-+-+-% 4-+-+-+-zp$ 3+-zP-+-+-# 2-+-+-+-+" 1+-+k+-+r! xabcdefghy
White to play and win

Answer to Brain Buster 2

The first person to correctly solve this tough one was Vishal Bhat. Quite a few made attempts, but didnt quite get the answer! 1.Qh2 is the key first move. If 1Kxf1 then 2.Qh1+ Ke2 3.Nf4# If 1Bxg2 2.Qh5+ Kxf1 (or 2Bf3 3.Qb5#) 3.Qd1# But what if 1Bf5?

An endgame puzzle today. Endgames are the most important phase of the game. Your Hint: Where do rooks belong in the endgame?

Game of the day: An unusual sight, Miranda attacks

Miranda Webb-Liddle Stephanie Gu 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bg5 c5 4. c3 e6 5. e3 Bd6 6. Nbd2 Nbd7 7. Bd3 O-O 8. e4 c4 9. Bc2 Be7 10. e5 Nh5 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. h4 g6 13. Qe2 f5 14. g3 b5 15. Ng5 a5 16. a3 Ba6 17. g4 Nf4 18. Qf3 fxg4 19. Qxg4 h6 20. Nh3 Nxh3 21. Qxg6+ Kh8 22. Qxh6+ Kg8 23. Rxh3 Rf7 24. Rg3+ Rg7 25. Qh7+ Kf8 26. Qh8+ Kf7 27. Rxg7# 1-0

FREE scoop of ice-cream!

Bring this bulletin to the Canteen and youll get a free scoop of ice-cream with every drink purchase ($3). Valid 1pm 3pm only!

Chess Kids Training Squad

If you finish in the top half, but dont win your tournament, you should visit www.chesstraining.com.au maybe youll win next time?

Daily Bulletin produced and sponsored by Chess Kids 1300 424 377 www.chesskids.com.au