2023 Spielvogel Memorial

2023 Champions: Om O'Carroll & Scott Stewart

Spielvogel Memorial 2023 Rd. 7

The final round of the tournament saw the leaders fighting it out for the title. Jordan Furlong took on Om O'Carroll in an Open Sicilian, and became somewhat confused in time pressure. He resigned the game when he may well have been able to continue the struggle. Scott Stewart did what he does best against Patrick Cook, sacrificing a pawn for piece activity and brushing aside Patrick's efforts to hang on. Paul Dao slugged it out with Bas van Riel in a fighting draw. So Scott Stewart and Om O'Carroll share the first Classical title for the year on 5.5/7, with Jordan Furlong taking the Reserves title on 5/7. Paul Dao, Patrick Cook, Jamie Brotheridge and Julian Laffey finished with 4.5/7, with Anna Yates and Bas van Riel on 4/7.

The final deciding game of the Spielvogel Memorial is currently being played. Om on 4.5 Jordon on 5 chasing down Scott 5.5. *Update* Om won to share 1st place with Scott.

Rounds 4-6

When we left the tournament after 3 rounds, Paul Dao and Jordan Furlong were leading with 3/3, and they duly met in Rd. 4. Paul prevailed with Black to seize the outright lead. Scott Stewart won against Vipin Jyani to stay in range, Om O'Carroll held Bas van Riel to a draw, and Patrick Cook overcame Jasan Barnett.
In Rd. 5, Paul Dao fell to a determined Scott Stewart, Om O'Carroll and Patrick Cook fought to a draw, while Jordan Furlong was back in business after defeating Vipin Jyani with the Black pieces.
Rd. 6 was suitably dramatic, Jordan Furlong regained the tournament lead after a triumphant victory over Scott Stewart, Om O'Carroll kept in touch with a good win over Paul Dao, and veteran Patrick Cook stayed in range with a win over Trevor Ivory, despite blundering away a large opening advantage.
Going into the last round, Jordan Furlong leads with 5/6, with Scott Stewart, Om O'Carroll, and Patrick Cook lurking just behind on 4.5/6. 

Rounds 1-3

About 30 players, young and old, initially entered this years Nathan Spielvogel Memorial. This is our first Classical tournament for the year, and is headed by Club Champion Scott Stewart, followed by fast rising junior Paul Dao, and veterans Bas van Riel, Rob Loveband, and Patrick Cook. It is encouraging that several new members, some past members, as well as a number of players from our Junior Club, are amongst the entries.
There were no dramas in Rd. 1, and Rd. 2 had more or less the same expected results, except for lowly rated Jordan Furlong defeating veteran 7-time Ballarat Champion Kevin Perrin. Prior to Rd. 3, several more players entered the fray, including a new top seed in 2016 Ballarat Champion James Watson!

The games were tough, fighting affairs. Strong junior Om O'Carroll held Scott Stewart to a draw (or was it the other way 'round?), fellow junior Paul Dao outplayed veteran 8-time Ballarat Champion Patrick Cook (yet again!), while fellow veteran Bas van Riel fell to the tournament sensation Jordan Furlong. Also of note was Vipin Jyani's defeat of Jamie Brotheridge.
After 3 rounds, Paul Dao and Jordan Furlong lead with 3/3 and they will square off next round. Om O'Carroll and Scott Stewart follow a half point behind, with a swag of players on 2/3...

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From Australian Dictionary of Bibliography

Nathan Frederick Spielvogel (1874-1956), teacher, writer and historian, was born on 10 May 1874 at Ballarat, Victoria, son of Newman Frederick Spielvogel, pawnbroker, and his wife Hannah, née Cohen. Newman, an Austrian, and Hannah, a Prussian, were typical of the strong Jewish community on the Ballarat goldfields. Nathan attended Dana Street State School and trained there in 1892-95 as a pupil-teacher. He taught at several schools in the Wimmera, including Dimboola (1897, 1899-1907).

A small man, with sharply chiselled features, a wide forehead, big ears, warm eyes, a jutting chin and a beard that became golden, Spielvogel was adventurous and imaginative. In 1904 he spent his savings of £120 on a six-month journey through Egypt, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Britain. He had begun his writing career in 1894 with a Christmas story for the Ballarat Courier, to which—with the Jewish press, the Bulletin, the Dimboola Banner and other newspapers—he contributed regularly under such pen names as 'Genung', 'Eko', 'Ato' and 'Ahaswar'. From the early 1920s he wrote a humorous piece each month for the Teachers' Journal, but was probably best known for his first book, A Gumsucker on the Tramp (1906). It sold 20,000 copies. He also published The Cocky Farmer (1914), A Gumsucker at Home (1914), Old Eko's Note-Book (1930) and a volume of poetry called Our Gum Trees (1913).

He loved a beer (not lager) and around 1908 dined every Thursday at Fasoli's café, Melbourne, with writers and artists such as E. J. Brady, Norman Lindsay, Hal Gye, C. J. Dennis and Louis Esson. Later he was close to J. K. Moir, Victor Kennedy and R. H. Croll of the Bread and Cheese Club. Croll thought him 'offensively Australian' yet proudly Jewish, a conjunction that rent Spielvogel in 1901 when his love for a Gentile conflicted with a promise to his mother not to marry out of the faith. He remained steadfast and on 6 September 1911 at the Great Synagogue, Hyde Park, Sydney, married Jessie Muriel, daughter of Henry Harris, publisher of the Hebrew Standard.

After further postings to other Victorian schools, Spielvogel returned to Ballarat to be headmaster of Dana Street in 1924-39. Inspiring, sympathetic and methodical, he was immensely popular: a phalanx of pupils usually escorted him into the grounds. As president of the revived Ballarat Historical Society (1933-56), he developed a passion for local history. He published vignettes of early Ballarat life and a popular monograph, The Affair at Eureka (1928). After retirement he was largely responsible for managing the local museum and for placing plaques and monuments at historic sites. His broadcasts and press releases increased historical awareness.

Spielvogel was president of the Ballarat Hebrew Congregation, the Mechanics' Institute, the Teachers' Institute and Dana Street Old Scholars' Association. Strongly patriotic during World War I, he became chairman of the Dads' Association in World War II. A sharp mind lay behind his lifelong interest in chess: he was secretary (1894) and president (1939) of the Ballarat club and represented Victoria in 1921 and 1925. He was instrumental in sustaining the Ballarat synagogue between 1941 and 1953 and wrote Jewish stories with a tenderness and strength that drew from Judah Waten the remark that Jewish literature in Australia began with him. Spielvogel died on 10 September 1956 at Ballarat and was buried in the old cemetery. His wife and their three sons (all of whom had married out of the faith and in his absence) survived him.