Results from the Final round
A Grade
- Round 7 pgn from Alex Nagorski
- Bruce Watson went into the last round a full point ahead of Ang, Ward and Hague. After a long game he claimed a win against Alphaeus to finish on 6.5 points a full 1.5 points ahead of the second place players Mike Steadman, Gordon Morrell, William Li and Keith Ward.
- In the Steadman vs Hague game Mike’s unorthodox opening left him slightly behind but after Ben’s attack left him with pieces stranded Mike was able to build a huge centre and Ben’s defense could not hold. In the last couple of moves Ben tries two traps to salvage the game but Mike saw past them to win.
Initial positionSteadman, MikeHague, BenACC Autumn Cup 20167.02Auckland1.b41…e52.Bb22…Bxb43.Bxe53…Nf64.Nf34…Nc65.Bb25…O-O6.e36…d57.Be27…Re88.O-O8…Bg49.a39…Bd610.c410…dxc411.Bxc411…Ne512.Be212…c613.d413…Nxf3+14.Bxf314…Bxf315.Qxf315…Ne416.Rd116…Qh417.g317…Qh618.Nd218…Ng519.Qg219…Nh3+20.Kh120…Qh521.e421…Rad822.e522…Bc723.f423…Re624.Rf124…f525.Nc425…Rh626.Rad126…Qf727.Ne327…Bb628.Qc228…Kh829.Nxf529…Qg630.Ne330…Qh531.Rd231…Qf732.Qe432…Qb333.Nf533…Ba534.Re234…Rh535.g435…g636.gxh536…gxf537.Qxf537…Rg838.Qf6+38…Rg7White must play carefully39.Rg239…Nf2+40.Rgxf21–0 - Besides Steadman there were 8 other upsets during the round including Rodney Li against Eric Wu, Virginia Milne vs Caroline Yan and Jasmine Zhang against Simon Lyall.
B Grade
- In the last round the 3 leaders Euan McDougall, Neil Sonnekus and Mike Steiner had already played each other so had separate games.
- Mike Steiner ended up being the sole winner of the 3 ( Neil drew and Euan lost) so capture the grade win.
- Upsets were Leo Li beating Euan McDougall and Hugh Gao drawing with Renae Ghadiali.
- Final placing was Mike Steiner 1st on 6 points; Niel Sonnekus 2nd on 5.5 and Euan McDougall, Leo Li and Mathew Steadman 3rd= on 5.0
The Vega website for the tournament is