Monday 3 October 2016

2016 Ryde Eastwood Weekender - Day 3

IM Igor Bjelobrk and Dmitri Silver overtook IM Andrew Brown on the final day, to finished equal first in the 2016 Ryde Eastwood Weekender. Brown had started the event with 5 from 5, but took a short draw with second seed Bahman Kargosha in round 6. Playing Bjelobrk in round 7, Brown knocked back a draw offer in an attempt to secure outright first, but active defence by Bjleobrk turned the tables. Short of time Brown returned an exchange in an attempt to reach a drawn rook ending , but Bjelobrk found the winning plan, and the game was soon over.
Dmitri Silver had started the day on 4 points, but a round 6 win over Frank Low, set up a round 7 clash with Kargosha. Silver launched a big attack on Kargosha's king, and was rewarded with a quick win. Kevin Willathgamuwa capped a very good event, beating Christopher Ball in the final round to share third place with Brown.
Having started the day on 2.5/5, I managed two wins to reach 4.5/7. It wasn't a great 4.5, but I was still pleased with what was essentially a return to weekend chess after 5 or 6 years. The time control on 60m+30s probably helped, as I'm sure I would have performed worse at 60m+10s  As with a lot of weekend events these days, I played mainly junior opponents (5 in this case), but I didn't mind that, and scored 4/5 against them. My openings need some work (of course), and exercises in calculation wouldn't go astray, but all in all, it was an enjoyable event, and I am glad I played.

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