Grade Match Report – 2005

Open Team:   Lee Jones, Tony Bouchaaya, Paul Laurance, Brian Jones

As the 2005 Interclub Grade Matches get under way Rooty Hill is already a winner. We are the first club in the history of the event to field eight teams—Open, Under 2000, Under 1800 (2), Under 1600 (2), and Under 1400 (2).

Lloyd Fell Does Manly like thee, Dr Fell?

Round 1: There were certainly some entertaining results on Monday night.
Open:   The team won 2½–1½. Tony Bouchaaya defeated Matthew Drummond (2317) in a time scramble and Lee Jones beat Ivan Zirdum. Click here to see the game.
U2000:   We got off to a bad start, losing 4-0 (including a forfeit). Paul Laurance sent in his game against Ilia Zvedeniouk—it has a clever mating position. See it here.
U1800:   Rick Carballo's Rooks drew with Robert Ambalong's Knights although the Knights had to forfeit on Board 4. The Rooks lost 3-1 to Mount Pritchard.
U1600:   The Rooks defeated Ryde-Eastwood 3-1 in a match of extremes—Ted Lawrence won in 19 moves (here's the game) but Allan Butler had only 14 seconds left when he mated the enemy king. He'd probably have won on time anyway . . . his opponent was down to 6 seconds! The Knights also had a big win against Canterbury. Norrie Tique invested a knight for two pawns and was rewarded with a multiple-choice mate.
U1400:   Congratulations to the Knights who crushed Manly 3½–½ and sent them home with their (silver) tails between their legs. Wins to Eddie Quesada, Rolando Gonzales and Lloyd Fell. The Knights also won 3-1 though they were unfortunately aided by forfeits on boards 1 and 2.

Norrie Tique Why is he laughing?

Round 2:   Both the U1800 teams were away this week, everybody else played at home.
Open:   It was disappointing to lose 1-3 against Sydney Academy. Tony Bouchaaya's game was a little passive but he defended well for the draw and Brian Jones, two pawns up, was unable to force the win against opposite coloured bishops.
U2000:   Another tough draw saw the team go down 1-3 with draws to Joe Ymalay and Leonardo Tenorio.
U1800:   In a copycat result, the Rooks managed the same score against Manly as last year's U1800 Rooks – 3½-½. It can't get much better than that. Stephan Jovanovic, Henry Rara (one of last year's Rooks) and Doug Djukovic all won.
U1600:   Bill Herreros led his Knights to victory over the Rooks 2½–1½. Bill and Raj Ramachandram beat Allan Butler and Munir Anjum but Ted Lawrence defeated Frank Kresinger. The reason Norrie Tique is laughing may well be because he spotted a three time repetition in a king & pawn ending when I was a pawn up with a win clearly in sight.
U1400:   In another local derby the Knights whupped the Rooks 3-1. It could easily have been 2-2 but Ben Zalac and Lloyd Fell played out the parable of the Old Bull and the Young Bull—Ben's early advantage evaporated when he rushed his game. Ken MacGillivray & Rolando Gonzales won against Peter Watts & David Van Look.

Ken MacGillivray Monopoly Gambit

Round 3:   Fourteen teams played at Rooty Hill on Monday night with mixed results. The highlight was Tony Bouchaaya's draw with NSW Champion George Xie (2367) but there were some interesting games in the lower divisions as well—including Ken MacGillivray's Monopoly Gambit. It can only be played from a lost position and needs a cooperative opponent. It is Caissa's equivalent of a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card.
Thank you to everybody who helped put away the equipment at close of play.   It's appreciated.
Open:   Canterbury 3 Rooty Hill 1 was a disappointing result. Two games were drawn (Tony almost beat George and Brian Jones almost beat Fred Flatow), Paul Laurance was ill (here's his game) and, in the fourth game, Joe Ymalay lost a piece, won it back, then lost the tactical battle. See Tony's game here.
U2000:   Lost a tough match 1-3 to Wollongong at St. George.   Joe Ymalay and Levi Descallar drew their games.
U1800:   The Knights beat Mt Pritchard 3-1 with wins to Robert Ambalong and Leo Tenorio and draws to Levi Descallar and Ernesto Alberici. No details are available from the Rooks but they beat Croatia 2½–1½.
U1600:   The Rooks took a hiding 3-1 but Allan Butler's three giant passed pawns were unstoppable—see how they run.   Michael Jansen filled in for the Knights who lost 1½–2½. He played a solid draw and you can click here to see it.
U1400:   The Knights drew 2-2 with St. George Dragons with wins to Ken MacGillivray whose opponent only had to push his passed pawn to win (check it here) and Lloyd Fell whose game against Thierry Ollivain can be seen by clicking here. The Rooks managed only one point against Ryde-Eastwood.

Chris Rust No rust on this Knight's armour!

Round 4:   Rooty Hill had five away teams all playing together at North Sydney. That's a first!
Open:   A big win 3-1 against North Sydney puts the team back on the winning trail again. Tony Bouchaaya had the best of a draw with Jeremy Hirschhorn, Phil Viner went for a win against Brian Jones and paid the price, Lee Jones had a fighting draw against young Raymond Song (see it here), and Paul Laurance played the perfect game (no mistakes) against Casper the Friendly Ghost—a forfeit.
Under 1800:   On Board 1 for the Knights Robert Ambalong lost a king-and-pawn ending to 13 year-old magician Angela Song (here it is) while only Leo Tenorio managed a win in their 3-1 loss to this very strong North Sydney team.
Under 1600:   An even result all round with Rooks and Knights both drawing 2-2. For the Knights, Chris Rust & Raj Ramachamdram won, while Allan Butler's pawn won the race to the line for the Rooks—click here. There was an interesting pairing when David Evans who won the NSW U1600 tournament on the weekend played Tony Pickering who won the U1700. I played the Mishmash Attack and was temporarily a pawn up when our game was interrupted by a problem with the Board 4 clock. Tony returned to the board and immediately left a piece en prise. Upset at the blunder he dropped a rook two moves later.   Here's the game.
Under 1400:   The Knights continued their good form with a 3-1 win against Ryde-Eastwood. Rolando Gonzales, Eddie Quesada & Lloyd Fell all won. Undefeated after four rounds, the team is on 11.5 points and hold a slender ½ point lead in the competition.   The Rooks lost 3-1 to North Sydney With only Michael Jansen able to fly the Rooty Hill flag. Here's his game.

Robert Ambalong Escapologist

Round 5:   Seven home games this week meant fourteen teams playing in the Auditorium. It was crowded and sometimes too noisy. There were some convincing scores.
Open:   Won 3½-½ against North Sydney. Tony eked out a win in a tricky position, Brian played a simple combo (see it here), Lee was losing pawns so bailed out with a draw, and Paul outclassed his opponent, winning first a pawn, then a piece, then a rook.   Click here.
U2000:   After losing 3-1 to Wollongong in Round 1 the team turned the tables for a 3-1 victory this week. Wins to Levi Descallar & Joe Ymalay, draws to Peter Cassettari & David Harvey.
U1800:   The Knights played St. George Dragons and Robert Ambalong pulled off another great escape—when his last pawn fell his opponent was left with less than two minutes to remember how to mate with a pair of bishops. We're missing the last few moves where Robert's pawns fell, but you can play through the rest of it here. Draws to Robert and Levi Descallar and a comfortable win to Ernesto Alberici.   The Rooks went down 3-1 to North Sydney. Doug Djukovic won well but Rick Carballo lost a piece to young improver William Xu who looks destined to go a long way. Rick said that after the game they played some blitz but William was pretty good at that too!
U1600:  The Rooks went hunting Bear and made a clean sweep of Norths Grizzlies. After defending for a long time Ted Lawrence's opponent cracked under pressure. "He just gave up," Ted said. He was certainly running out of options. Here's the game. Allan Butler, Munir Anjum & David Evans also won. My opponent spent thirty minutes on move 9 (Qc2) and made the cut-off with only seconds to spare. See it here. The Rooks have now joined the Knights who started this round in second place and defeated Mount Pritchard 2½-1½. Norrie Tique & Raj Ramachandram (probably the most under-rated player in the club) both won and Frank Kresinger drew.
U1400:   The Knights won 3-1 against Norths.   Lloyd Fell had a long struggle but in a rook and pawn ending his connected passed pawns were too strong. Ken MacGillivray & Rolando Gonzales also won. The Rooks had a tough assignment against Fairfield and defended well for a long time in complex positions before going down 4-0.

Michael Jansen Roving Reporter Team Captains:   Send me a few words about your team. It makes a better report. Email: footloose@tpg.com.au

Round 6:   With only one round left to play in the Open competition it appears the four qualifiers for the final Round Robin will be Canterbury, Sydney Academy, St George and Asquith. Rooty Hill will probably finish fifth ahead of Parramatta and both North Sydney teams.
Open :   A bad day at the office. Tony won Q for R, B and P but could not hold the position, Brian built a promising position but one inaccuracy cost the game, Lee sacrificed a few pawns but could only draw by repetition, and Paul ran out of time in a wild complicated game where both players tried to self-destruct. See his game here.
U2000:   A tough match against Campbelltown saw the team go down 3-1. Draws to David Harvey & Joe Ymalay.
U1800:   The Knights beat Ryde-Eastwood 3-1. Ernesto Alberici beat Andy Schwarcz and Leo Tenorio's pieces so dominated the board that Konrad Zielinski sacrificed a bishop in an unsuccessful attempt at counterplay.   Robert Ambalong also sacrificed a bishop, stripped Morale Dumas's king-side pawns, and left His Majesty with nowhere to hide. Here's the game. The Rooks had the bye this week.
U1600:   The Knights won 3-1 against Fairfield with Norrie Tique, Chris Rust & Frank Kresinger all winning their games. Bill Herreros went down to Rooty Hill regular Shane Burgess.   The Rooks visited Mt Pritchard on Thursday and lost 2½-1½. David Evans overlooked a double attack, Munir Anjum's opponent found a three time repetition and Allan Butler refused a draw and ran into time trouble. Ken MacGillivray's bishop hung over his opponent's position like Damocles' sword, proving that the threat can be more effective than its execution.
U1400:   The Knights sustained their first loss of the comp losing 3-1 to the very strong Fairfield team. Ken MacGillivray went down to the fast-improving Trent Parker and Eddie Quesada was unlucky to lose on time when his opponent had only twentyseven seconds left. Lloyd Fell made it six in a row with a win against Turan Phant (In English grammar a tautology is an unnecessary repetition of words — eg, a free gift:   if it's a gift it must be free.   It's almost a tautology to say "Lloyd Fell won". In his present dynamic form we only need to say "Lloyd Fell" and assume the win!   Nice work, Dr. Fell.)   The Rooks played away against the St George Saints and Michael Jansen turned a one pawn advantage into a winning endgame see it here; David Van Look gained an early advantage with superior tactics, but could not capitalise; Vince Zalac fought a long and hard battle, but lost to a strong opponent; and young Ben Zalac faced a vicious attack that involved two sacrifices—he defended well, blocked the enemy bishops, and went on to win the game.

Ted Lawrence Mit doppelganger

Round 7:   This week was the final round for our Open team who finished fifth (with 14.5 from 28) and failed to make the final Round Robin. The four qualifiers are St George 19, Sydney Academy 18.5, Canterbury 18 and Asquith 15+.
Open:   The team finished with a 3-1 win against Parramatta.   Tony Bouchaaya sacrificed a pawn but was worse throughout the game; Brian Jones played flawless chess when his opponent failed to arrive; Lee Jones had a big Catalan crush against Vasil Tulevski and Paul Laurance won a complex spirited Open Spanish against Nick Kordahi. Click here to enjoy it. Final individual scores were Tony 3.5/7, Brian 4.5/7, Lee 3.5/6, Paul 3/5. Thanks to all players, including Levi and Joe who played in the early games.
U2000:   St. George were too strong winning 3-1 with draws to Peter Cassettari (playing against Charles Zworestine) and David Harvey. Adam Grzeslak's loss to Ivan Zirdum was an interesting one and Adam's queen was forced to spend much of the game inspecting her own hinterland. Click here to enjoy the game.
U1800:   Playing away to Croatia the Knights drew 2-2. Robert Ambalong overlooked mate in two (well, four if black really wanted to prolong the agony by interposing his queen and rook) by 28. Qa8+, but, already a rook in front, he was probably thinking only of clearing the board. Here's what happened. Leo Tenorio ended in a photo finish with Frank Barisic. Frank may have had a slightly better position but his flag fell first.   The Knights won 3-1 against Ryde-Eastwood. Stevan Jovanovic won convincingly, and Doug Djukovic overpowered his opponent with a nice combination. Rick Carballo's Russian opponent played an English opening and attacked down the queenside; Rick countered down the centre and won a knight for his new-born queen. Henry Rara, the exchange in front, made an involuntary rook sacrifice and lost.
U1600:   The Knights drew with Wests: wins to Norrie Tique and Chris Rust, while the Rooks lost 1½-2½ to Fairfield. David Evans "won" a piece for three pawns but his knight couldn't stop the avalanche, Ted Lawrence relaxed a little too early, Allan Butler ran into time trouble in a winning position and allowed Shane Burgess a perpetual check, and Munir Anjum kept it respectable with a handy win.
U1400:   The Knights did it hard tonight, losing 1½-2½ to St. George Saints. Rolando Gonzales was able to smile after his win but Ken MacGillivray's interesting position slipped away to a draw. Lloyd Fell proved he's human after all by losing his first game of the competition, and Eddie Quesada lost.   The Rooks were away to Canterbury and David Van Look won an excellent game against Leif Andersen, Ben Zalac was unlucky to lose to Mario Parissis, and Ben's dad Vince Zalac's lone king was able to force a stalemate against king and three pawns.

Eddie Q Invisible wall

Round 8:   We had heaps of games submitted from this week's play and they're a very entertaining batch. Be sure to play through them.
U2000:   David Harvey resigned in a level position (Ra6 would have held). Joe Ymalay fell for an opening trap and, despite chances to mix it up, never recovered. Peter Cassettari, with black, equalised early and had good Q-side pressure. His opponent's pieces were poorly co-ordinated but after exchanging off it "petered" out into a draw. Paul Laurance's opponent gave up his white square bishop (and therefore d5) too early and paid the price. In the old days Paul's play would have been a Karpovian Squeeze—nowadays it's just "Short"!   Judge for yourself.   And short was the word for an early night when all games were finished by 10.00 o'clock. (Report: Paul Laurance.)
U1800:   The Knights won 3-1 against St. George with wins to Robert Ambalong (here's his game), Leo Tenorio and Levi Descallar.   Ernesto Alberici had an even position against Leopoldo Soto but one incorrect pawn move in the ending cost him the game. (See diagram.)   The Rooks lost 1½-2½, also to St. George. David Harvey drew on Board 1 but Doug Djukovic, a pawn down and with an inferior position, found a discovered check, sacrificed his queen, and mated his opponent on h8. Doug has scored 5½ from 7 games.
U1600:   The Rooks had a big win (3½-½) against third-placed Wests. In a family effort David Evans managed to draw a won game while Carrie Evans beat previously undefeated Robert Kovacs. Here's how. The middle boards were a contrast in time. Munir Anjum won his opponent's queen in 19 moves see this! and Allan Butler got into time trouble before concocting a pretty mate on move 71. Here's his game. The Knights beat Ryde-Eastwood 2½-1½ but no details were provided.
U1400:   The Knights drew with Wests 2-all with wins to Ken MacGillivray who showed what happens when black castles long in a Sicilian: (click here), and Eddie Quesada whose knight and pawn built an invisible wall to stop black's king approaching while Eddie's bishop cleared the way for his lonely h pawn. The Rooks also drew, this time with St. George. wins to Ben Zalac and Michael Jansen. Here's Michael's game.   Ben, the youngest player in the room, was matched against the oldest. The exchange in front, he used his rook to isolate black's king on the side of the board and queened at leisure. (See diagram.)

Allan Butler Hagar Attack

Round 9:   Manly had a Greek Gift experience this week. My opponent sacrificed on h7 in a King's Gambit but resigned on the 15th move when the Trojans came out on top. The game was so uninteresting I wont bother putting it up. By contrast Leo (I'm glad he's on our side!) Tenorio played a clever Gift against a Sicilian. You can play through it in the U1800 report. The Round 9 photographs were taken by Robert Ambalong.
U2000:   This 3-1 victory was a very good result! Wins to Peter Cassettari, Joe Ymalay, David Harvey and a draw to Paul Laurance. Paul had prepared for a queen's pawn opening and instead found himself playing against e4. He set up a perpetual check and the game was all over in ten minutes. Here it is.
U1800:   The Knights drew 2-2 with Manly but your initial had to be "L" to score any points. Leo Tenorio and Levi Descallar both won. Aram Sandalciyam fell victim to Leo and on move 22 found himself in a "Good news/Bad news" situation. The bad news was that he was faced with "queen or mate". The good news was that the queen was perfectly safe after all, but the king was about to abdicate!". Put your feet up, relax, and click here to enjoy the game. Robert Ambalong and Charles Bleyer's stoush had all the makings of a bare-knuckle brawl but when Robert ran out of checks Charles was threatening mate. Click here.   The Rooks lost 2½-1½ to St. George. Stevan Jovanovic, Rick Carballo and David Harvey all had draws.
U1600:   Things looked pretty even for the Rooks for a while. Munir Anjum and David Evans won quickly but on Board 2 Ted Lawrence replied to what he expected his opponent to play, only to find he had played something else. He lost the initiative and, eventually, a piece. Allan Butler managed to turn his piece down into a rook down with a lost game but, obviously inspired by Hagar the Horrible, he stormed black's castle, won the exchange and once again found himself a piece down but with a pair of connected passed pawns. Black sacrificed his bishop for one, but the other queened. The Knights lost 3-1 to Wollongong but we have no details.
U1400:   The Knights lost 2½-1½ to Canterbury and that has cost them first place. Ken MacGillivray, Rolando Gonzales and Eddie Quesada all had draws. This team led the competition for the first seven weeks and have only stumbled in the last two rounds. Congratulations to all. The Rooks had a disappointing final round with only Ben Zalac able to salvage a draw. He was two pawns down in a queen and pawn end game but forced a perpetual check; David Van Look fell victim to an unfamiliar opening trap while Michael Jansen (like Allan Butler) found himself down in material after overlooking a pin but didn't have Allan's cooperative opponent. Here's the game.   Vince Zalac had by far the most interesting game but, attempting a brilliant tactical manoeuvre, he fell victim to a series of checks which destroyed his attack.

Round 9:   David Evans, Robert Ambalong/Charles Bleyer, Jim Holland.   Photos:   Robert Ambalong

Peter Cassettari Old enemy friendly result

Round 10:   This week sees the end of the competition for all teams except the U1600s who have one round to go. The results are as yet unavailable for any teams except the U1400s—all the others have gaps in their score table, but we'll bring them to you as soon as possible.
U2000:   The night was chaotic. Due to a multiple traffic accident on the M4 the St. George team were fortyfive minutes late arriving. Since the clocks had been started on time there was a scramble. Joe Ymalay and David Harvey both appeared to have winning positions but, in the circumstances, agreed to draws. Peter Cassettari and his old enemy Charles Zworestine also fought out a draw, but Paul Laurance, himself forty minutes late due to the traffic gridlock, found his interesting Chigorin Defence didn't quite hold up against Kerry Stead. Play through it here.
U1600:   Great result by the Knights to beard the dragon in his den and inflict competition leader St. George's first lost this season. They won 2½-1½ with wins to Chris Rust and Bill Herreros and a draw to Raj Ramachandran. The Rooks lost 1-3 to second-placed Wollongong and all four games were so hard-fought it might have been a grand final match. On board 1 David Evans managed a draw a pawn down with opposite coloured bishops (here's the game) while at the other end of the table, super-sub Ken MacGillivray defended a very cramped position—when his pieces started to spread their wings he accepted his opponent's draw offer. Allan Butler and Munir Anjum both had tough games that could have gone either way till the last few moves.

Leo Tenorio Performance Prize

Round 11:   The only two teams left in this week were the U1600 Knights and Rooks. The Knights travelled to Manly and had a 2-2 draw while the Rooks had every chance against Canterbury but conceded the match 2½=1½ with three draws and a loss.

Saint George won the Open Division in controversial circumstances after the draw was changed part way through the competition which Sydney Academy claimed unfairly favoured St. George. The Academy subsequently withdrew in protest.
In a remarkable performance St. George were clear winners in each of the other divisions, although they shared first place with Ryde-Eastwood in the U1400s.

Our Rooty Hill teams performed well without winning anything.
The U1400 Knights looked almost certain winners until the last few rounds but dropped back to finish fourth, only a point and a half off the lead. The Rooks had a tough competition and were placed 10th.
The U1600 Knights finished third on 24½ and Norrie Tique (who scored 8/11) won a performance prize for his effort. The Rooks had a mostly successful season but had the distinction of being the only team in the division to lose to both Canterbury and Fairfield (who finished 11th and 12th). Nevertheless they managed 23½, to slot in just behind the Knights.
The U1800 Knights had the best season of any of our teams finishing second on 18, but 4½ points behind St. George. Leo Tenorio with seven points from eight games was our only other performance prize winner. The Rooks were only two points further back on 16.
The U2000 was a four team competition and we may have been unlucky to finish fourth. Our results in the last few weeks were almost enough to place us ahead of Wollongong.
Our Open team needed to finish in the top four to qualify for the final Round Robin. We missed out by only two points, finishing sixth.

                              —Report:   David Evans

The following table is not intended to be complete. It will show the points scored by each team during each week of the competition. To check your team's position in the competition and to see how the other clubs are faring, you can CLICK HERE to visit Steve Carratt's Grade Match website.

Click on submitted games to see them:
> Ivan Zirdum - Lee Jones (0-1) > Les Mikolajczyk - Edward Lawrence (0-1) > Paul Laurance - Ilia Zvedeniouk (0-1) > George Xie - Tony Bouchaaya (½ - ½) > Michael Jansen - Roger Jeffreys (½ - ½) > Allan Butler - Leon Munk (1-0) > Terry Wall - Ken MacGillivray (0-1) > Lloyd Fell - Thierry Ollivain (1-0) > Ernesto Puzon - Paul Laurance (1-0) > David Evans - Tony Pickering (1-0) > Bernie Accola - Michael Jansen (0-1) > Robert Ambalong - Angela Song (0-1) > Lee Jones - Raymond Song (½ - ½) > Terry Jenkins - Allan Butler (0-1) > Edward Lawrence - Norbert Heimberger (1-0) > Brian Jones - Lauchlan Benson (1-0) > Paul Laurance - Graham Dick (1-0) > Sloan Watharow - Robert Ambalong (½-½) > Robert Pike - David Evans (0-1)	To view games with MoveText click the Chess Genie icon and select the game under NSW Grade.	> Morales Dumas - Robert Ambalong (0-1) > Michael Jansen - Vane Radevski (1-0) > James Cronan - Paul Laurance (1-0) > Ivan Zirdum - Adam Grzeslak (1-0) > Robert Ambalong - Jack Tomac (1-0) > Nick Kordahi - Paul Laurance (0-1) > Paul Laurance - Kerry Lee (1-0) > Robert Kovacs - Carrie Evans (0-1) > A.Karraszon - Munir Anjum (0-1) > Allan Butler - Roque Molavin (1-0) > Ken MacGillivray - M.Johnston (1-0) > Michael Jansen - Sam Sharkawy (1-0) > Robert Ambalong - Kole Murgosky (1-0) > Michael Jansen - Bob Moxom (0-1) > Leo Tenorio - Aram Sandalciyam (1-0) > Charles Bleyer - Robert Ambalong (1-0) > Zeljko Kanostrevak - Paul Laurance (½-½) > Kerry Stead - Paul Laurance 1-0 > David Evans - Rade Mitjakovski(½-½)