Both A and B grade saw fewer upsets than in previous round but things are still close. Coming up round 6 will be played on May 29th but the club will be closed on June 5th for Queens birthday, round 7 will be on June 12th.
A reminder that the signup sheets are in place for the Junior Interclub on June 25th and for the Club Champs from mid-June onwards. The Trusts Open will also be on Queens Birthday weekend. More details in the Entry form.
Autumn Cup round 5 PGN by Ewen Green and Tim Ha
A Grade
Ang vs Hague – Black got off to a good start and seemed a little ahead for much of the game. White’s H-Rook was stuck in the corner and his other pieces imperfectly placed. Black got a pawn ahead but a complicated swap left an unbalanced endgame. White had 2 rooks & 3 pawns vs a rook, a bishop & 5 pawns. Black push his centre pawns white White pushed his H-pawn. White put on pressure and black missed some good moves and eventually the (very hard to find) drawing line. 1-0
Duneas vs Watson – After an even start White made a tactical error and then compounded it trying to save it. He resigned a few moves later. 0-1
Fan vs Caroline Yan – A fairly even game though to about move 20 before white picked up 2 pawns and then swapped to an single rook each endgame with 2 extra pawns. 1-0
Jasmine Zhang vs Leo Zhang – Black got under early pressure (I suspect the Gruenfeld is not a good opening if you are rough on theory) and miscalculated some tactics to leave himself well down in material. 1-0
Milne vs Gong – White was looking good until she got her Queen trapped. 0-1
Nagorski vs Macdonald – This game has extensive analysis by Paul Macdonald in the PGN – I very much recommend reading it. Paul summarizes the game as “This game was special in my mind because it was played generally at to a very high standard. What was significant was that the endgame was played well by both sides with no major errors despite there being significant time trouble. I felt both players could be proud of this game.” – Draw
Eade vs Morrell – Black got his pieces on great squares and restricted White. He then sacrificed an exchange to bust open the position. White resign as he was about to lose material. 0-1
Goodhue vs Liu – Black failed to take advantages of White’s slow start. As White turned up the pressure Black lost a piece. 1-0
Steadman vs Peak – Mike is having a rough tournament and this game was no better. – The game started evenly but white got the imitative with a pawn storm on the kingside. But Black was able to hold it off due to central pawns blocking white’s other pieces. Tactical chances were missed by both players but black managed to get a perpetual check. Draw.
Sarah Yan vs Ward – An obscure opening. The game got very tactical for many moves before black made the last mistake. 1-0
Jacobs vs Lyall – Passive play by black allowed white to push 4 supported pawns against Black’s King. Mate followed. 1-0
Nicole Qin vs Steiner – White got a good position out of the opening and Black went downhill from there. 1-0
Ha vs Oscar Qin – White won a piece, then another. 1-0
Michael vs Wu – White sacrificed a knight for two pawns and a pawn storm against Black’s king. He looked quite good after that but in a complex position as the players swapped pieces he fell for a pin of his Queen against his King. 0-1
Wells vs Burrows – Nobody expects you to accept the Queen’s Gambit. However white recovered and was winning. Black eventually left a piece en prise. 1-0
Ewen McDougall vs Aaron Wang – The places seem to have accidentally played with wrong colors from the draw. White (McDougall) was ahead early on after black failed to quickly develop. After white got a pawn up he swapped to an endgame. The position was draw but black made a mistake in a King and pawn endgame. 1-0
Yu vs McDougall – White got into a good position after blacks dubious opening but missed a tactic and lost a piece. Both players when swapped pieces with white trying various ways to get his piece back. Eventually Black managed to come out ahead. 0-1
With his win against Ben Hague; Alphaeus Ang is now in first place on 4.5 ahead of Bruce Watson. Jasmine Zhang and Allen Fan on 4 points.
B Grade
Upsets in Round 5
- Winston Weng beat Renae Ghadiali
- Kelvin Xiao beat Isabelle Ning
- Jeffery Yu beat Jacob Chai
- Rosa Ryu beat Zi Hao Lin
Current leader after 5 rounds is Toby Zhang on 4.5, ahead of Erica Hu on 4.0 . 5 players are just behind on 3.5
Round 6
The draft draws for round six are below. Subject to usual changes.
