60th Begonia Open 2026
Ballarat Begonia Chess: Fiery Finale by Paul Power, Australian Chess Federation
The 60th Begonia Tournament hosted players from all Australian states, Serbia, India, Portugal, Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa competing for a prize pool of around $15,000 over seven rounds on the Labour Day long weekend. Over 200 players were headed by West Australian Grandmaster Temur Kuybokarov, two other Grandmasters, seven International Masters and Woman Grandmaster Jilin Zhang.
Sunday morning, Round 3, saw upsets on the top boards with Woman Grandmaster Jilin Zhang defeating Grandmaster and #3 seed Zong-Yuan Zhao, Nicholas Ilic defeating #6 seed Kai Jie Soo, Daniel Melamed downing #9 seed Luis Chan and Cheng Dai escaping with a draw against #7 seed David Cannon.
Chess spectators were expecting a keen contest when former winners and tournament leaders Victorian James Morris and West Australian Temur Kuybakarov met in Round 5 of the 7 round Begonia Open Sunday night. The outcome was not as straightforward as it looked, until the peaceful end.
The final round of the Begonia Open in Ballarat Sunday was set for an exciting finish after co-leader James Morris was defeated by Zong-Yuan Zhao in the prior round, leaving West Australia's Temur Kuybokarov sole leader on 5.5/6 with six players on 5/6.
Adding to the excitement, #2 seed Serbia's Mihajlo Radovanovic was paired with White against Temur Kuybokarov.
In live commentary, Grandmaster Ian Rogers predicted Radovanovic would throw everything at Kuybokarov to secure a tournament win.
Radovanovic (White)
chose an English Opening, 1. c4, with Kuybokarov 
1... e5
then 2. e3, which Ian Rogers noted was rare, arriving, after 4. Qb3
at the same position as Magnus Carlsen vs Ding Liren, Goldmoney Asian Rapid, 2021, where Ding Liren continued 4... Bb4; Kuybokarov 4... b6
Normal developing moves followed 5. Nf3 Bb7 6. d4 6... exd4 7. exd4 Na5 8. Qc2 Bb4 9. Bd3 O-O
where the solid continuation is 10. O-O with an equal game. But Radovanovic had other ideas and continued 10. Bg5
Then 10... h6 and now, although Radovanovic took over eight minutes on the reply, Rogers suggested he always intended to play 11. h4 setting off a display of fireworks.
There followed 11… Re8+ 12. Kf1 Bxc3 13. bxc3 hxg5 14. hxg5 Ne4
Rogers, in analysis, noted that if White now played 15. Ne5, he would be happy to exchange Rook for Knight, as Bishop plus Knight is worth significantly more than Rook plus pawn, especially in the early Middlegame, where Rooks have little scope.
(Even on 15. Re1 d5 16. cxd5 Qxd5 17. c4 Nxc4 (which Rogers noted Kuybokarov would have to find (which perhaps in his analysis he did - annotator's note)) 18. Bxc4 Nd2+ 19. Qxd2 Qxc4+ Black is ahead)
The game followed 15. Ne5 Rxe5 16. dxe5 Nxc4 17. Bxc4 Qxg5
Now best is 18. Bb3 Re8 19. Kg1 Nd2 20. Qh7+ Kf8 21. Qh8+ Ke7 22. Qh3 Nf3+ 23. Kf1 Nxe5 24. Re1 Kd8, but Black is still better. But, instead, White played 18. Qd3 then 18... Qf4 19. f3 Nd2+ 20. Kf2 Nxc4
the dust has settled, Black parried the attack and is material to the good.
There followed 21. Qh7+ Kf8 22. Rae1 Nxe5 23. Rh4 Qf6 24. f4 Nd3+ and Black resigned.
Radovanovic threw everything at Kuybokarov, who parried every threat and emerged undefeated to clinch the title. (Editor note: On both Lichess and chess.com this game has 2 extra moves which are not part of the game. The game finished on 24... Nd3+)
Final results: 1st GM Temur Kuybokarov 6.5, 2nd FM Luis Chan 6, =3rd IM James Morris, IM David Cannon, GM Zong-Yuan Zhao, CM Jesse Zafirakos, IM Poorna Mithrakanth, CM Daniel Wang, 5.5.
Ballarat Times 6 Mar 26
Ballarat Times 14 Mar 26
Milestone: Begonia Open director Kevin Perrin, who celebrated his 60th year at the weekend as part of the tournament. Photo: CHRISTOPHER O'LEARY
MORE than 200 chess competitors battled it out at the 60th Begonia Open at the weekend, and local stalwart Kevin Perrin was honoured for his own diamond jubilee as part of the tournament.Mr Perrin was recognised for his involvement in every year of the Begonia Open, as a player, arbiter or organiser.The tournament director said the turnout of competitors from across Australia was pleasing and important for Ballarat.Western Australian Temur Kuybokarov won the Begonia Open.“We’ve got over 200 entries and that’s become sort of a judging point from our point of view to see whether or not we’ve got good support,” Mr Perrin said.“It’s only about the fourth time that we’ve had over 200 entries.”Peter Ebbutt and Ross Finlay from Melbourne group Chess in the Park said they made the road trip to compete and socialise.“There’s plenty of people here that we know because they’ve all come from Melbourne anyway,” Mr Finlay said. “I’ve seen it grow over the years more and more popular.”
Peter Ebbutt, Begonia Open director Kevin Perrin and Ross Finlay.
“It is like a nice little weekend away,” Mr Ebbutt said. “And like I said, the fact that people would go over the games with you upstairs, that’s a good part of it as well.”Mr Perrin said the tournament had originally been opened to country players only, but within a few years grew into a competition that attracted challengers from across the country.Over time he said the Begonia Open had changed with technology and rules.Venue, equipment and a dedicated group, Mr Perrin said, were key ingredients to running a tournament.“I mean this isn’t just me,” he said. “We’ve got a good committee of about six people and in future I’ll be stepping back a little bit from my tournament manager role.”He said he was proud of the tournament’s longevity and the joy competitors received from taking part.“I love to see the outcome and the smiles on people’s faces when they come and they keep turning up,” he said.Mr Perrin hopes to step back in the next few years to actually play a game himself.“I do like to sort of put everything else aside, sit down and play a game,” he said. “Then you’re in the land of calculations and possibilities and what ifs and all those types of variations.“That gives me quite a lot of pleasure.”
The Age 2026
Gallery
Some wonderful memories brought to you by Sabrina Koetsier (Chess Life Academy)Click the image to go to the gallery on Flickr.
