Just one more week left in this tournament. If you are in A, B or C grade please check the results of all your games are listed and let Simon know if they will be played or there are results missing.
Round 6 PGN by Alex Nagorski and Tim Ha
A Grade
Allen Fan vs Mike Steadman – White allowed Black to get some mobility early on. An exchange sacrifice by Black left White desperately trying to hold the position but he eventually gave up a piece. 0-1
Alex Huang vs Alphaeus Ang – 18 moves of theory and then White grabbed a pawn. This proved unwise as it tied down a Bishop and allowed Black to get a pawn on the 6th rank in front of White’s King. The Bishop had to go backwards to prevent mate and White lost an undefended piece. Black quickly picked up a couple more pieces. 0-1
Nigel Metge vs Daniel Gong – A nice opening by White left him with a good position. However Black was able to swap off pieces to neutralise Whites advantage and the game swapped to a drawn endgame. Draw
Alexei Kulashko still leads the Grade by half a point from Daniel Gong.
B Grade
Caroline Yan vs Don Eade – White got better out of the opening and was a pawn up with a nicer position. Black tried some sharp play to get back in the game but miscalculated and lost a piece. 1-0
Paul Macdonald vs Clinton Wells – See Paul’s commentary in the PGN – White got the better opening and pushed forward a big centre of pawns which Black was unable to counter and got into time pressure. Black resigned after White punched a hole through Black’s cramped position and was about to win Black’s Queen. 1-0
Jasmine Zhang vs Euan McDougall – After an even start White jumped quickly ahead with two bishops raking Black’s position, threatening and pinning pieces. Black tried some unsound desperation tactics but White found her way through. 1-0
Simon Lyall vs Alex Nagorski – After early exchanges White was left with isolated pawns on the d file. He failed to find the best moves and ended up a pawn down and with a losing endgame. 0-1
Alex Nagorski keeps his lead. He is now 1.5 points ahead of Jasmine Zhang with just one game left.
C Grade
Karl Holdo vs Winston Weng – White looked a little meek in the opening but found a way to break out and put pressure on Black’s King. Black was able to swap things back to even and after further swaps the players had a King and 7 pawns each with no pieces. White made a mistake and Black’s King was able to invade and win. 0-1
Aaron Wang vs Xinyang Liu – White miscalculated some swaps and left Black with a passed pawn. To stop it Black had to trap a piece in the corner and Black was able to dominate the position. 0-1
Akshay Sharma vs Felix Xie – White was better throughout most of the game but Black managed to just hold on for a draw.
Jordan Lewis vs Tim Ha – A steady swap down to a drawn endgame. Each player had some chances but neither got significantly ahead. Draw
Felix Xie still leads, half a point ahead of Jordan Lewis.
D Grade
A strange pattern of wins and losses. White won the top 4 games, then Black the next 7, then White the next 3, etc.
Upsets in Round 6
Thomas Zheng beat Grant Burrows
Bashar Mohammad beat Mike Steiner
Jeffrey Yu now leads the grade by himself. He is half a point ahead of Anya Thurner and Joe Wang.