The Mackay Open was on from the 22nd to 23rd of July this year, and once again the club sent down a handful of players to compete. Here’s a few photos from the playing venue at the Harrup Park Country Club:
[foogallery id=”1797″]
This year our crew skipped the late nights and karaoke, and this was perhaps reflected in the final standings, with Townsville players claiming spots 2, 3, 4, 8, and 9 in the final standings. However, it wasn’t enough to stop IM Stephen Solomon running away with an outright victory—a result which seemed certain after his controlled win over David Castor in round 4. Brendan Pierotti had a great tournament winning the junior prize, including a solid result in round 3 against Ken Stark.
Final crosstable
Pos NAME Rtg T Fed Pts | 1 2 3 4 5 6 | DirE BucM BucT Cmlt --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Solomon, Stephen J 2424 IM QLD 6.0 | +W10 +B9 +W3 +B2 +W5 +B4 | 0.0 15.5 23.5 21.0 2 Castor, David 2161 QLD 5.0 | +B13 +W4 +B6 -W1 +B10 +W8 | 0.0 14.5 23.5 18.0 3 O'Shaughnessy, Dave 1745 QLD 4.0 | +B18 +W5 -B1 +W11 -B4 +W7 | 0.0 14.5 22.5 15.0 4 Whalley, Lee 1512 QLD 4.0 | +W17 -B2 +W15 +B16 +W3 -W1 | 0.0 13.5 21.5 15.0 5 Stokes, Mark C 1484 QLD 4.0 | +W22 -B3 +W12 +B15 -B1 +W10 | 0.0 12.5 18.5 14.0 6 Weller, Tony 1714 QLD 4.0 | +W19 +B7 -W2 -B10 +W16 +B11 | 0.0 11.5 18.5 14.0 7 Macleod, Keith 1405 QLD 3.5 | +B21 -W6 +B13 =W8 +W9 -B3 | 1.5 14.0 19.0 13.5 8 Stark, Ken 1784 QLD 3.5 | +W12 =B15 =W9 =B7 +W17 -B2 | 1.0 12.5 19.5 14.0 9 Pierotti, Brendan 1528 QLD 3.5 | +B14 -W1 =B8 +W13 -B7 +W15 | 0.5 13.0 21.5 12.0 10 Bourke, Ronald 1362 QLD 3.0 | -B1 +W11 +B18 +W6 -W2 -B5 | 0.0 16.0 24.0 12.0 11 Hellmann, Oskar 1371 NSW 3.0 | +W16 -B10 +W19 -B3 +W12 -W6 | 0.0 12.0 18.0 12.0 12 Carter, Martin 1007 QLD 3.0 | -B8 +W20 -B5 +W14 -B11 +W18 | 0.0 11.5 17.5 9.0 13 Noack, Daniel 1286 QLD 3.0 | -W2 +B17 -W7 -B9 +W21 +B16 | 0.0 11.0 17.0 8.0 14 De Thomassis, Lincol 581 QLD 3.0 | -W9 -B16 +W22 -B12 +W19 +B17 | 0.0 9.0 12.5 7.0 15 Joseph, Siju 1502 QLD 2.5 | +B20 =W8 -B4 -W5 +B18 -B9 | 0.0 13.0 19.0 10.5 16 Reed, Andrew 0 QLD 2.0 | -B11 +W14 +B20 -W4 -B6 -W13 | 0.0 13.0 19.0 9.0 17 McGrath, Dallas 533 QLD 2.0 | -B4 -W13 +B21 +W20 -B8 -W14 | 0.0 11.5 16.5 7.0 18 Hitchcock, Cameron 744 QLD 2.0 | -W3 +B22 -W10 +B19 -W15 -B12 | 0.0 10.5 14.5 8.0 19 Nolan, Vincent 685 QLD 2.0 | -B6 +W21 -B11 -W18 -B14 +W22 | 0.0 9.0 13.0 6.0 20 Comerford, Kai-Yi 500 QLD 2.0 | -W15 -B12 -W16 -B17 +W22 +B21 | 0.0 7.5 10.5 3.0 21 Penna, Dale 0 QLD 1.0 | -W7 -B19 -W17 +B22 -B13 -W20 | 0.0 9.0 12.5 3.0 22 Milles, Jordan 0 QLD 0.0 | -B5 -W18 -B14 -W21 -B20 -B19 | 0.0 9.0 14.0 0.0
Thanks go to tournament organiser Dale Noack, who once again put together a fantastic event, and also player/arbiter Lee Whalley who oversaw proceedings. Here are a few interesting games from the tournament:
Games
[pgn]
[Event “Mackay Open”]
[Site “Mackay”]
[Date “2017.07.22”]
[Round “2”]
[White “O’Shaughnessy, David”]
[Black “Stokes, Mark”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “1484”]
[ECO “C41”]
[EventDate “2017.07.22”]
[WhiteElo “1745”]
1. Nf3 d6 2. d4 Nd7 3. e4 e5 4. Bc4 { An unusual transposition into a Philidor
defence.} 4… h6 { This seems slow, and there are some interesting attacking
possibilities here.} 5. Nc3 ( 5. dxe5 Nxe5 ( 5… dxe5 { allows…} 6. Bxf7+
$1 Kxf7 7. Nxe5+ Ke8 $2 ( 7… Kf6 { is more resilient, although white will
continue to attack.} ) 8. Qh5+ Ke7 9. Qf7+ Kd6 10. Nc4+ Kc5 11. Qd5+ Kb4 12.
a3+ Ka4 13. Nc3# )6. Nxe5 dxe5 7. Bxf7+ Ke7 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 { is just a pawn
down.} )5… Ngf6 6. Qe2 c6 7. Bb3 Qc7 8. Bd2 exd4 { Black plays to claim the
bishop pair and clear away the white bishop, but conceeding the centre is a
high price to pay.} 9. Nxd4 Nc5 10. Bf4 Nxb3 11. axb3 Nd7 12. O-O Ne5 13. Rfe1
Be7 14. Nf5 Bxf5 15. exf5 { The f pawn could be a useful attacking piece.}
15… O-O 16. Qh5 f6 17. Bxh6 $1 { Too tempting.} 17… gxh6 18. Rxe5 { The
bishop sacrifice is only justified by removing this defender.} 18… fxe5 ( {
Stephen Solomon pointed out another defensive idea, although he accurately
assessed white as still standing better in the ensuing ending. } 18… dxe5 19.
Qg6+ Kh8 20. Qxh6+ Kg8 21. Ra4 Bb4 $1 { Clearing the rank for the queen while
temporarily blocking the rook. [%cal Rc7h7]} 22. Rxb4 Qh7 23. Qxh7+ Kxh7 24.
Rxb7+ Kh8 25. Ne4 { And white has very well placed pieces with many weaknesses
to attack.} )19. Qg6+ Kh8 20. Qxh6+ Kg8 21. Ra4 Rf6 { This error in time
trouble leads to a quick finish.} ( 21… Bf6 { would have offered a tougher
defence.} 22. Rg4+ Bg7 23. f6 Rxf6 24. Qxf6 Rf8 25. Qh6 Rf7 26. Ne4 { The
computer claims that white is winning, and there are some hidden threats.
E.g.,} 26… d5 $2 27. Rxg7+ Rxg7 28. Nf6+ Kf7 ( 28… Kf8)29. Qxg7+ Kxg7 30.
Ne8+ )22. Rg4+ Kf7 23. Qh5+ { If the black king could escape to the queenside
everything would be OK. [%cal Rh5e8]} 23… Kf8 24. Qh8+ Kf7 25. Rg7# 1-0
[/pgn]
[pgn]
[Event “Mackay Open”]
[Site “Mackay”]
[Date “2017.07.23”]
[Round “5”]
[White “Whalley, Lee”]
[Black “O’Shaughnessy, David”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “1745”]
[ECO “D05”]
[EventDate “2017.07.22”]
[WhiteElo “1512”]
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 e6 4. c4 a6 5. a4 { An interesting idea to stop black
from playing the standard dxc4 Bxc4 and b5.} 5… Nbd7 6. Be2 Be7 7. O-O O-O
8. c5 b6 9. cxb6 Nxb6 10. Bd2 Ne4 11. Qc2 c5 12. Ba5 Qd6 13. Nc3 f5 14. dxc5
Nxc5 $2 ( 14… Qxc5 { was a more sensible approach.} 15. Bxb6 Qxb6 )15. Bb4 {
White exerts some pressure now.} 15… Bb7 16. Nd4 Qe5 17. Nxd5 $2 { But this
is too much.} 17… Bd6 $4 { A poor reaction that overlooks the knight simply
returning to block the threat.} ( 17… Nxd5 18. Bxc5 Rac8 19. Nb3 Bxc5 20.
Nxc5 Nb4 { is a concrete refutation.[%cal Re5c5,Rc8c2,Rb4c2]} )18. Nf4
g5 19. Bxc5 Bxc5 20. Nfxe6 { 20.Nd3 was even easier, but black is badly lost
anyway.} 20… Bd6 21. g3 Nd5 22. Nxf8 Nxe3 23. Qb3+ Bd5 24. Qxe3 Qxe3 25.
fxe3 Rxf8 26. Rxf5 Rxf5 27. Nxf5 Bc5 28. Bxa6 Be4 29. Nd4 {Black’s dragged this
one out well beyond its expiry date!} 1-0
[/pgn]
[pgn]
[Event “Mackay Open”]
[Site “Mackay”]
[Date “2017/07/22”]
[Round “2”]
[White “David Castor”]
[Black “Lee Whalley”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “1512”]
[ECO “A45”]
[EventDate “2017/07/22”]
[WhiteElo “2161”]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 Ne4 3. Bf4 g5 { Apparently this is the “Borg” variation of the
Trompowsky.} 4. Be5 Rg8 5. f3 d6 6. fxe4 dxe5 7. e3 exd4 8. exd4 Bd7 9. Bc4 e6
10. Ne2 Nc6 11. O-O Qe7 12. c3 O-O-O 13. Ng3 Bg7 14. Qf3 Rdf8 ( { Instead }
14… Nxd4 $1 15. cxd4 Bxd4+ 16. Kh1 Bxb2 17. Nd2 Bxa1 18. Rxa1 Bc6 { with an
interesting imbalance.} )15. Nh5 g4 16. Qf2 f5 17. e5 Qg5 18. Nf4 Nd8 19. d5
Kb8 20. dxe6 Bc6 21. Qd4 Qe7 22. b4 Bh6 23. b5 Bxf4 24. Rxf4 Nxe6 $2 ( 24…
Bxb5 { was necessary to make this work} 25. Bxb5 Nxe6 { although the lines are
complicated.} )25. Bxe6 Qxe6 26. bxc6 { And black is just a piece down.}
26… Rd8 27. Qa4 Qxe5 28. Na3 Qe3+ 29. Kh1 Rd2 30. Rb4 { Missing the immediate
30.Qb3, but good enough.} ( 30. Qb3 { [%cal Rb3b7,Rb3g8]} 30… Kc8 31.
Qxg8+ Rd8 32. cxb7+ )30… Qf2 31. Rxb7+ Kc8 32. Rb8+ Kxb8 33. Qb3+ 1-0
[/pgn]
[pgn]
[Event “Mackay Open 2017”]
[Site “Mackay”]
[Date “2017.07.23”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Macleod, Keith”]
[Black “Stark, Ken”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “A96”]
[WhiteElo “1405”]
[BlackElo “1784”]
1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 f5 3. c4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. g3 d6 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O a5 8. b3 Ne4
9. Bb2 Nxc3 10. Bxc3 Bf6 11. Qc2 Nc6 12. Rad1 Qe8 13. e3 e5 14. d5 Ne7 15. Rd2
Qh5 16. Ba1 b6 $2 { This attempt to lock down the queenside has a tactical
flaw.} 17. Ne1 ( 17. Nxe5 $1 { The full justification for this sacrifice is
quite impressive.} 17… Bxe5 18. Bxe5 dxe5 $2 19. d6 { [%cal Rg2a8]} 19…
e4 20. dxe7 Re8 21. Rd8 ( { Also good is } 21. c5 Qf7 22. cxb6 cxb6 23. Qc6 Ba6
24. Rfd1 Qxe7 25. Qxb6 )21… Qf7 22. Bxe4 $1 fxe4 23. Qxe4 Rb8 24. Rxe8+ Qxe8
25. Rd1 { White’s advanced pawn and piece activity are too much for black.} )17…
f4 18. exf4 exf4 19. Bxf6 Rxf6 20. Qd1 Bg4 21. f3 fxg3 ( 21… Rh6 { Is an
interesting try,} 22. fxg4 Qxh2+ 23. Kf2 Qxg3+ 24. Kg1 { Maybe black should
take the perpetual here, since white has the possibility of organising a
defence if the attack continues.} ( 24. Ke2 $4 Qe3# )24… Rf8 25. Nf3 Qxg4
26. Nd4 Qg3 27. Rf3 Qh2+ 28. Kf1 Ng6 29. Ne6 )22. hxg3 Bh3 23. Rff2 Rh6 24. g4
Qh4 25. Bxh3 Qxh3 26. Rh2 Qg3+ 27. Rdg2 Qf4 28. Rxh6 Qxh6 29. Qd2 Qf6 30. Re2
1/2-1/2
[/pgn]
Keith had been having a great tournament, playing well above his rating, but disaster struck in the final round in his game against me:
[pgn]
[Event “Mackay Open”]
[Site “Mackay”]
[Date “2017.07.23”]
[Round “6”]
[White “O’Shaughnessy, David”]
[Black “Macleod, Keith”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B07”]
[EventDate “2017.07.22”]
[WhiteElo “1745”]
[BlackElo “1405”]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. e4 d6 4. f3 Bg7 5. Be3 Nbd7 6. Qd2 c6 7. Bh6
{Black resigns. How is the result possible with only seven moves? After 7.Bh6, intending
7…Bxh6 8.Qxh6 b5, Keith accidentally picked up the b pawn before having played Bxh6, and
called it a day. Terrible luck, especially considering that he beat me a piece
down in the casual game we played straight after (from the final position)!} 1-0
[/pgn]