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6.0/6 and a rating performance of 3150!
The Australian Open 2015 is being held from the 2nd to 11th of January 2015 and has the highest prize money of any tournament ever held in Australia with a top prize of USD $6000. We announced this tournament a fortnight ago at ChessBase News, and it has attracted a good participation with 106 players. Seven out of them are grandmasters and twelve are International Masters. The time control of the event is 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for all remaining moves, with an increment of 30 seconds per move as of move one. The schedule of the tournament is quite unusual. It was pretty hectic at the start with two double rounds on the 3rd and 5th of January but the 6th was a rest day and now the remaining five rounds are a more leisurely one per day.
For Ni Hua, who is comfortably the strongest player in the tournament, his toughest competitor was the second seeded Murtas Kazhgaleyev (2573).
Murtas Kazhgaleyev is one of the strongest players from Kazakhstan
and at one point in his career had a peak rating of 2653
The two players met each other in the fifth round and Ni Hua scored a convincing win from the white side of the Caro Kann.
The key round five clash between the top two seeds (1-0)
Though Kazhgaleyev lost his game against Ni Hua, he did win one with with a very pretty little tactic.
Kazhgaleyev showing his miniature to GM Ian Rogers and the spectators in the commentary room
The 2014 Australian Champion, Max Illingworth, is on 4.5/6. Illingworth,
who is gunning to be Australia’s fifth grandmaster gave leader Ni Hua a
real scare in the sixth round when he had a totally dominant position
and even turned down a repetition.
GM Rustam Khusnutdinov is in joint second position with 5.0/6. He played
a very attractive tactical game against Ikeda Junta.
IM James Morris (2378) is playing a fine tournament and is unbeaten with a score of 5.0/6
GM Zhao Zong-Yuan is on 4.5/6. He is currently Australia’s number one
ranked player. He became the country’s third grandmaster after…
…GM Ian Rogers, who has now retired after peaking at world no.51, and is a commentator in
this tournament followed by…
….GM Darryl Johansen
GM Vasily Papin has travelled from Russia to play in this tournament.
He is a very enthusiastic photographer and is often seen in tournaments
with his DSLR camera.
FM Eugene Schon can surely expect an IM norm from this tournament if
he keeps up his current pace
IM Moulthun Ly is a talented International Master from Australia. He
won the Sydney Open in 2014 ahead of strong players like Nisipeanu
and Van Wely.
Thirteen-year-old IM Anton Smirnov is not having a particularly impressive
tournament but he is surely one of the biggest prodigies the nation has
produced, and should soon become a grandmaster
“Look children, the legend!” Ian Rogers the man who is seen working on a laptop in this picture is not only Australia’s first grandmaster but was also the nation's highest rated player for nearly twenty years. Apart from being an extremely strong chess player and winning hundreds of tournaments all over the world, Ian is also a chess reporter and has also featured as a commentator in many top events. He has Bachelor’s degree in Meteorology and is also a FIDE Senior Trainer. Truly, a multi-faceted personality.
Ian Roger is married to Cathy Rogers who is a WFM, International Arbiter and a lawyer! She is
also the person responsible for taking all the wonderful pictures in this report.
The beautiful venue for this tournament: Hotel Castle Hill
The last five rounds of the Australian Open 2015 are going to be full of excitement. The question on everyone’s mind is whether Ni Hua can maintain is 100% score and continue his dream run in this tournament. If not, who will be the person to stop him? We will soon find out!
All pictures by Cathy Rogers
|
Rk
|
SNo
|
Ti.
|
Name
|
FED
|
Rtg
|
Pts
|
TB |
|
1
|
1
|
GM
|
Ni Hua |
CHN
|
2689
|
6.0
|
22.5
|
|
2
|
7
|
GM
|
Khusnutdinov Rustam |
KAZ
|
2476
|
5.0
|
23.5
|
|
3
|
17
|
IM
|
Morris James |
AUS
|
2378
|
5.0
|
22.5
|
|
4
|
2
|
GM
|
Kazhgaleyev Murtas |
KAZ
|
2573
|
4.5
|
26.5
|
|
5
|
6
|
IM
|
Illingworth Max |
AUS
|
2476
|
4.5
|
26.0
|
|
6
|
3
|
GM
|
Zhao Zong-Yuan |
AUS
|
2564
|
4.5
|
24.0
|
|
7
|
5
|
GM
|
Papin Vasily |
RUS
|
2513
|
4.5
|
23.5
|
|
8
|
23
|
FM
|
Schon Eugene |
AUS
|
2318
|
4.5
|
22.5
|
|
9
|
8
|
IM
|
Ly Moulthun |
AUS
|
2460
|
4.5
|
22.0
|
|
10
|
20
|
FM
|
Wallis Christopher |
AUS
|
2348
|
4.5
|
21.5
|
|
11
|
16
|
GM
|
Johansen Darryl K. |
AUS
|
2404
|
4.5
|
21.0
|
|
12
|
12
|
IM
|
Ikeda Junta |
AUS
|
2416
|
4.5
|
20.5
|
|
13
|
9
|
IM
|
Cheng Bobby |
AUS
|
2436
|
4.5
|
20.0
|
|
14
|
18
|
IM
|
Solomon Stephen J. |
AUS
|
2372
|
4.5
|
20.0
|
|
15
|
28
|
FM
|
Nakauchi Gene |
AUS
|
2213
|
4.5
|
19.0
|
|
16
|
4
|
GM
|
Smerdon David |
AUS
|
2519
|
4.0
|
24.5
|
|
17
|
21
|
FM
|
Li Zuhao Luke |
NZL
|
2337
|
4.0
|
22.0
|
|
18
|
34
|
|
Loh Zachary |
AUS
|
2076
|
4.0
|
22.0
|
Links
The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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