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The historic and picturesque goldfields city of Ballarat is located 110 kilometres west of Melbourne, in the Central Highlands of Victoria, in South-Eastern Australia. The city was the site of the “Eureka Stockade” gold miners rebellion in 1854, and features many historic 19th Century buildings. It is also internationally famous for its Begonia flowers, which blossom magnificently in the city’s temperate climate, and the Begonia Festival, a carnival and cultural celebration that has been held each year in March since 1953. Ballarat is also the setting for the popular television series “The Doctor Blake Mysteries".
The Ballarat Chess Club, first established in 1856, organizes an annual Open chess tournament in the city to coincide with the “Begonia Festival”, and 2016 was the 50th consecutive event. A magnificent achievement for a small chess club. The success is due in no small measure to the tireless efforts of IA Kevin Perrin who has been involved in all 50 tournaments, as either a player, arbiter, or organizer! From its humble beginnings in 1967, the tournament has grown into one of Australia’s most popular weekenders. The list of tournament winners is a virtual roll-call of the cream of Australian chess over the past five decades.
The Old Ballarat Gaol, the tournament venue for 32 years until 2014
The jubilee 50th event, held from 12-14 March, proved to be a great success, with a record entry of 147 players, including 22 locals. It was also the strongest event in the tournaments history, with four GM’s, ten IM’s and six FM’s vying for the top prizes. Among the many new features of the tournament, was live on-site commentary by five-time winner GM Ian Rogers, and live streaming of the top boards on the internet. It was a seven round tournament with grueling schedule of two double rounds and one day of triple rounds!
Heading the field was the genial and much-travelled English GM Nigel Short, the 1993 World Championship challenger, and still amongst the top players in the world. Second seed was Australia’s newest GM Max Illingworth, with third seed GM Zong-Yuan Zhao (Aus), making his first appearance at Ballarat. The fourth seed was the defending champion, strong and talented Azeri IM Kanan Izzat, who became the first player to score 7/7 in 2015. Also in the field were young IM Anton Smirnov (Aus), six-time Begonia Open winner IM Guy West (Aus), and the amazing 13-time winner of the event GM Daryl Johansen (Aus), among a host of strong contenders. The tournament also included two Ballarat players from the original 1967 event : Kevin Perrin and Arthur Koelle, 1971 Australian Junior Champion and veteran of the German Bundesliga competition in the 1980‘s.
GM Nigel Short arrived in Ballarat a few days prior to the tournament and graciously agreed to give a simul at the Ballarat Chess Club. He also gave a very instructive and very entertaining lecture at the tournament venue the evening before the tournament commenced.
Playing 31 boards at the same time is never easy...
... but Nigel annihilated the Ballarat Chess Club members 31-0!
The next day, the Mayor of Ballarat, Councillor Des Hudson, officially opened the tournament, and was then presented with a copy of the tournament history book “Ballarat Begonia Chess Tournament : 50 years 1967-2016“ by the editor, Ballarat Chess Club President, Patrick Cook.
Ballarat Mayor, Councillor Des Hudson (left) receives a copy of
the tournament book from Ballarat Chess Club President Patrick Cook
As is usual in Swiss events, the top seeds were mostly untroubled in the first round, although on board six, Francesco Antoniazzi held new Australian Champion IM Bobby Cheng to a draw. Round two saw a few more upset results. Kevin Sheldrick defeated IM Smirnov on board five, while on board one IM Leonid Sandler, the President of Chess Victoria, held GM Short to a draw, and FM Brian Jones drew with GM Johansen on board eight.
GM Darryl Johansen : 13-times Ballarat winner!
GM Max Illingworth ponders his position
By round four, the leaders were facing each other. On board one GM Illingworth defeated former winner FM Christopher Wallis, on board two IM Junta Ikeda held GM Zhao to a draw, on board three Izzat defeated West, while on board five Short kept his chances alive with a smooth win with the Black pieces over young IM Ari Dale.
Going into round five, three players, Kannan Izzat, Max Illingworth, and five-time winner IM Stephen Solomon were leading with 4/4. On board one, IM Izzat snatched the sole lead by defeating GM Illingworth, while on board two GM Zhao was held to a draw by IM Solomon. On board three GM Short kept in range by defeating IM Ikeda, and IM Cheng also stayed in touch with a win over FM Eddy Levi.
IM Stephen Solomon vs Arthur Koelle, while IM Guy West has a look at Nigel Short’s position
With two rounds to go on the last day, the title was still up for grabs. On board one, Short defeated Izzat, and won the tournament brilliancy prize in the process. On board 2 Zhao drew with Cheng, while on board three Illingworth defeated Dale.
GM Zhong-Yuan Zhao vs. IM Bobby Cheng in round six
Nigel Short beat IM Izzat Kannan in round six
In the last round, GM Short made sure of at least a tie for first with a draw against GM Illingworth on board one. On board two, former winner IM Brodie McClymont drew with GM Zhao to dash his hopes. On board three IM Izzat joined Short for the first place by beating IM Solomon, and IM Cheng made it a three-way tie by defeating yet another former winner FM Erik Teichmann.
With no tie-breaks, all three players were declared the joint winners of the 50th Ballarat Begonia Chess Tournament, and will have their names inscribed on the K.J.Perrin perpetual trophy.
The winners : IM Bobby Cheng, IM Kanan Izzat, GM Nigel Short with the K.J.Perrin trophy
The organizing committee : Patrick Cook, Rob Loveband, Anna Yates, Kevin Perrin, Chris Segrave
Top 20 players of the tournament. For complete list of final standings please visit the official website.
GM Nigel Short’s victory completes the peripatetic Grandmaster’s quest to win a chess tournament on every inhabited continent...a remarkable achievement! For IM Kanan Izzat, it was three wins in a row, while for IM Bobby Cheng, former U-12 World Champion, it was his first Begonia title.
A short video celebrating 50 years (1967-2016) of Ballarat Begonia Chess Club's existence
About the author:
Patrick Cook has served as Ballarat Chess Club President since 1995. He has won the Ballarat Chess Club Championship a record 8 times.
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