Absolute pin for chess comp

THE Ballarat Begonia Open Chess Tournament got underway over the long weekend with more than two-hundred and twenty competitors taking to the eight by eight boards over the three-day event.

Presented by member of the Ballarat Chess Club, the competition was held at the Ballarat Tech School across seven rounds.

With record competition, BCC treasurer and tournament manager Kevin Perrin said the event was a well-attended one.

“Last year he had a record entry of 172 players. This we’ve got 225,” he said. “It’s quite amazing and clearly after COVID, people are very keen to get back into chess tournaments, so a lot of people have turned up.

“We’ve had a very enthusiastic atmosphere and we’ve got players coming from all over Australia and internationally.

“There’s a lot of families and young players. We’ve got players as young as eight years old. Our oldest is 88.”

The event has been running for nearly 60 years, and with competitions ongoing during COVID lockdowns, it’s the longest-running tournament, as well as one of the oldest, in Australia.

As with previous years, live commentary was provided by the first Australian Grandmaster Ian Rogers with Peter Tsai as chief arbitrator.

Competitors included Grandmasters Zong Yuan-Zhao and Darryl Johansen and Julia Ryjanova as well as international Grandmasters Igor Bjelobrk, Ari Dale, James Morris, Stephen Solomon and FIDE Master Chris Wallis.

BCC president Patrick Cook said the number of women and children playing in the tournament was a sign of chess’s continued strength in Ballarat.

“We’re getting more and more young people each year which is fantastic,” he said. “Chess has been around in Ballarat. One of the very first tournament to be played in Australia was in Ballarat in 1866.

“It’s got a very strong identity here. The club was formed in 1856 and revived and reconstituted in the mid-1960s. We’ve made sure it continues on ever since then.”