A lot has been happening at the Chess Club in recent months.

The first thing to report is the final standings for the Summer Open.

Adrian Rose won with a perfect score of 7/7, Aina Musaeva came second with 5.5/7 and four players tied for third on 5/7: Nikola Radev, Dimitar Mojanovski, Charles Zworestine and Petre Bogdanoski.

The Summer Open Lightning was won by John-Stuart Plant with a score of 8.5/9.

Following these two tournaments the chess club’s AGM was held.

The executive officers for the following year are as follows: President, Jamie Roberts; Vice President, Michael Van der Kolff; Club Captain, Charles Zworestine; Treasurer, Terrence Wall; Secretary, Peter Johansson; and Web Mistress, Aina Musaeva.

This year’s Club Championship attracted 56 entrants and was run over six divisions.

The Champion Division was won by the irrepressible Adrian Rose with the strong score of 8/9, with Nikola Radev coming second with 6.5/9 and Arthur Huynh third with 5.5/9.

The winners of the other divisions were: D2, Sarwat Rewais 8/9; D3, Kole Murgoski 8/9; D4, Thierry Ollivan 8.5/9; D5, Jack Ruan 8.5/9; D6, Adolfo Garrido 9.5/10.

The Club Lightning Championship was a very interesting affair.

Three players came equal first with a score of 9/11: Francisco Plaza, James Watson and Harry Ruan.

While both Francisco and James were expected to perform well, Harry surprised us all insofar as he is one of the clubs youngest members – he is not yet 11 years old! I am also happy to report that the first leg of the Chess Club’s yearly show-down with the North Sydney Chess Club resulted in a five point victory for St George (22.5 – 17.5).

This is encouraging after our poor performance against them last year.

This victory was ensured by the strong performances of our middling players.

Finally, the yearly Grade Matches have just begun, with St George entering seven teams, making us again the best represented club in the tournament.

Let us hope that this strong showing is reflected in our results.

St George Leagues Club Chess Club continues to flourish.

I am particularly happy to note the large amount of Juniors we now have playing for the club – at last count, around 13 of our members are aged under 12.

Not only will this ensure that our club remains a strong presence in the Sydney chess scene for many years to come, it makes the Chess Club a fun and vibrant place to spend Tuesday nights! The Chess Club meets on Tuesday nights at 7:30.

All are welcome.

Jamie Roberts,
Chess Club President

Late last year the Chess Club held its yearly Swiss event.

Contrary to what you might think, this tournament does not involve alp horns! Rather, Swiss refers to a playing format where each round of people on the same score play against each other.

After a few rounds the better players start to congregate around the top of the draw because they keep winning, and those whose game needs a little work head towards the bottom.

This tournament was won by Adrian Rose with a remarkable score of 9/9.

Adrian has been winning everything lately.

There was a large gap to second place, which was shared between Ronald Manila, Nikola Radev and Robert Kovacs on 6.5/9.

Robert’s result is noteworthy because his rating at the time was several hundred points below both Ronald and Nikola.

At the moment we are just about to finish the St George Summer Open.

With one round to go Adrian Rose is leading on 6/6.

The only person that can stop him is Nikola Radev who is in second place on 5/6.

It should be an exciting last round! The other important recent news is that four of our juniors competed in the World Youth Championships in Turkey in November.

Of particular note was Sean Gu’s performance.

In the Under 8 division he scored 7/11.

This placed him equal eighteenth in a field of over one hundred.

I am confident that Sean will be a very strong player for both the club and the country in the years to come.

Anton Smirnov also did very well in the same division scoring 6.5/11.

Anton’s father is Vladimir Smirnov, a very strong player, so we also expect great things from him.

Cedric Koh competed in the Under 10 division and scored 5/11, while his sister Clarise Koh competed in the Under 10 Girls’ tournament and also scored 5/11.

All of us at the Chess Club would like to thank the League’s Club for the support they have given our younger players.

The Chess Club meets on Tuesday nights at 7:30.

All are welcome!

Jamie Roberts,
Chess Club President

Three events have been completed in recent months at St George Chess Club. The main event was the yearly grade matches; a tournament in which clubs from around Sydney compete against each other. This year St George entered six teams (the most entered by any club) and had at least one team in each division except the open division.

Our under 1900 team did not fare so well, placing fourth, however, this was the only blemish.

In the under 1700 division St George teams place first and third, with both Nicholas Kordahi and Anthony Belz winning prizes for excellent individual performances.

In the under 1500 division St George again placed first and third with Robert Kovacs and young John Papantoniou (13) winning individual prizes.

Finally, our under 1300 team, made up entirely of club members aged under 11 years, narrowly missed out on winning their division. From this team Cedric Koh and Sean Gu both won individual prizes. Both Cedric and Sean are two of St George’s rising stars. Along with Clarice Koh and Anton Smirnov they will be representing Australia at the World Youth Championships later in the year.

Following the grade matches St George held its yearly Allegro tournament, in which each player had fifteen minutes to complete his or her moves. The tournament was won by chess heavyweights Vladimir Smirnov and
Alexander Matros who scored 8.5/9. The formidable James Watson placed third with 6.5/9.

Finally, following the Allegro the St George Rapid was held (thirty minutes for each player). This tournament was won by Adrian Rose with a score of 8.5/9 with three players: Ronald Manila, Nicholas Kordahi and Charles Zworestine (our club captain) sharing second place with 6.5/9.

The St George Chess Club meets every Tuesday night at 7:30. All are welcome to come and play some social games or join the club!

Jamie Roberts,
Chess Club President.

President: Jamie Roberts

Vice-President: Michael Van der Kolff

Secretary: Anthony Belz

Treasurer: Terrence Wall

Captain: Charles Zworestine

Patron: George Baikovas

Sports Council Rep: Brian Allison

Webmaster: Aina Musaeva

Equipment Officers: Terence Wall, Sam Sharkawy and Mirsad Zekic

General Committee: Peter Johansson, Brian Press and Eunice Koh

www.stgeorgechess.org