City’s chess scene returns for Open

GLOBAL participation in chess has grown since the release of Netflix series, The Queen’s Gambit.

If the board game captured your imagination, you may be fascinated to discover Australia’s second longest continuously running tournament is Ballarat’s own.

The 55th annual Begonia Open will be held at Ballarat Tech School over the long weekend; Saturday, 6, Sunday, 7 and Monday, 8 March.

The Ballarat Chess Club’s seven-round comp already has 90 players registered, from primary-aged children to 80 year olds. BCC secretary Anna Yates said they’re expecting about 120 entries.

“We’ve got players from Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland. Three grandmasters are playing, including one Englishman based in Australia,” she said.

“We have people representing Bangladesh, China, and Hong Kong. We have quite a lot of local Ballarat players which is really nice.”

Mrs Yates said the diversity of competitors is exciting, with some players so little, their feet don’t touch the floor when they sit at the board.

“It’s a nice feel having an event where people of all ages can compete on the basis of their skill and ability, not their gender, age, or nationality.

“As a lesser-rated player, I love getting to be in the same field as some really top players. The chances of me winning those games is small, but anyone can have a bad day and make a mistake,” she laughed.

The player, or players, who have won the most games in the seven rounds win the tournament. There have been multiple winners before, like a four-way tie, but only one winner in the Begonia Open’s history has won all seven rounds.

Due to COVID-19, last year’s Begonia Open was the city’s most recent in-person tournament.

“We’ve had really positive messages from players who are very keen to play because there have been very few tournaments in Australia, and this is the first big tournament back.”

The BCC has a COVID-safe plan. Mrs Yates said the Club adapted well to online tournaments in 2020, but it was never the same as playing over the board.

Visit ballaratchess.com to enter.