2026 Spielvogel Memorial
đ Champion: Declan Smith đ„ Reserves Champions: (8-way tie)
All Reports by Chess Reporter: Alberto Biju
Final Round
The first classical tournament of 2026 â the Spielvogel Memorialâ concluded last Wednesday, with Declan Smith once again dominating the field in trademark fashion. Rodney Jacobs secured the runner up spot on 5.5/7, clinching second place with a sharp win over Rob Loveband. Their game featured a Dutch Defence that spiralled into a wildly complex middlegame, with both players castling long, an unusual sight in that opening. The decisive moment came when Rob, under mounting pressure, faltered with 34.c4, allowing Rodney to convert a crisp three move tactical sequence and claim the full point.
Our rising young female talent, Shanaya Guha, had an outstanding start to the year, finishing on 5/7. Her only losses came against Scott and Jamie, both tightly contested battles that showcased her rapid improvement, fighting spirit and grit.
The B Grade contest proved impossible to separate, with eight players finishing on 4/7, a testament to just how fiercely competitive and evenly matched the section has become.
Rounds 5&6
Round 5 was a quiet round with no real upsets.
Round 6 saw Declan Smith win his sixth game in a row, dominating the field and securing the tournament with a round to spare. The battle for second place is fought between three veterans â Rob Loveband, Bas van Riel, and Rodney Jacobs â after Rodney delivered a statement victory against Stewart Scott.
Minsadi leads the Bâgrade charge on 3.5/6, with a handful of players close behind on 3 points.
Round 4
It was the clash that decided who would take the lead in the tournament. Scott opened with his signature SmithâMorra Gambit and achieved a pleasant position out of the opening. However, as the game transitioned into the endgame, Declan held the advantage, playing a series of strong positional ideas in the middlegame. The turning point came when Declan misstepped with 47âŠhxg5, a move both players noted in their post-game reviews as giving White far too much play thanks to the suddenly active bishop, turning it into a fairly equal endgame.
The critical mistake, however, arrived much later in the endgame with 67.Ke3??. It isnât an obvious blunder at first glance, but it collapses to the precise sequence 67âŠNd5+ 68.Kd4 Nc7, completely shutting down Scottâs initial idea of sacrificing the bishop on a4 for a draw. The king is boxed out beautifully by Blackâs coordinated knight and pawn, and the defensive resource simply doesnât work.
On board two, Vipin secured a solid draw against Patrick. Meanwhile, our newcomer Patrick Moon continues his impressive run, scoring yet another victory â this time against Bas van Riel on Board Threeâ with expert opening play.
As it stands, Declan Smith leads the tournament on 4 points, with Patrick Moon and Patrick Cook right behind him on 3.5.
Round 3
Board 1 saw Declan Smith play Rodney Jacobs, which showed a very exciting battle, with Declan rolling down the kingside with a rook lift and various pawn breaks. Though Rodney defended commendably, Declan put the game away by playing a nice tactic: 30.Qxf6+, which picked up the exchange after âŠQxf6 31.Nd7+ Kf7 32.Nxf6 Kxf6.
Board 2 saw another slugfest, with Scott making a faulty bishop sacrifice with 19âŠBxh3, looking into the line gxh3 and Qg3+, which looked to double-attack the bishop and the king. However, he later found the elementary retrieving move Bg2, which saves the bishop and blocks the check. Scott later jokes in his notes that he had âmomentarily forgotten that bishops can move to block check. Damn.â
However, with Scottâs admirable efforts to stay in the game, his opponent Rob Loveband struggled to find a way to kill the game off and later found himself in time trouble, which caused him to blunder the game away.
The game between Sam Song and Patrick Cook is another instructive game. The game started with a rare sideline of the Alekhine Defence called the Scandinavian Variation , which turned into a pretty equal middlegame. Patrick, of course, true to form, took this chance to offer a draw, invoking the infamous âPatrickâs Curse,â where if his opponent accepts the draw he is satisfied with the result, but the curse works when the opponent decides to fight on, where often they end up losing the game. Whether the curse struck again is up for debate, but Patrickâs rook-endgame technique certainly did, converting it with trademark precision.
He joins Declan and Scott as the front-runners of the tournament on 3/3, a strong start to the year for the eight-time club champion.
In other news, the two newcomers continue to impress, with Kynan Thomson scoring a well-fought draw with Leckie Michael in a CaroâKann Exchange Variation, with both players playing almost perfect chess. Patrick Moon defeats the aggressive Paul Marko with tough attacking chess.
See the game here...
Round 2
On the top board, Declan Smith chose to challenge Paul Marko with a Taimanov Sicilian. The game steered into a sharp middlegame where Declan eventually won a piece â and with it, the game.
The clash between Scott Stewart and Shanaya Guha was one of the most dynamic encounters of the round. Scott opened with his signature SmithâMorra Gambit, but Shanaya seized the initiative with the brilliant tactical idea 13âŠNxe4, Scott responded with pressure from a rook on the seventh rank. Despite being on the back foot, Scott fought resourcefully, complicating the position and ultimately turning the tables to secure the win. A highly entertaining game well worth revisiting here...
Board 3 saw a tense, back-and-forth struggle between Julian and Sam Song. After a series of trades, the game simplified into an equal rook endgame â until Julian slipped, missing the critical 43âŠb4. A tough moment, but a valuable lesson.
On Board 4, Rob Loveband claimed a relatively smooth victory over Jason Barnett.
Strong newcomer Kynan Thomson held our local legend Bas van Riel to a draw, an impressive result in his debut event. Likewise, newcomer Patrick Moon earned a hard-fought draw against Vipin Jyani, trading queens early and defending a pawn-down rook endgame with admirable precision.
Round 1
There is an air of excitement in the Ballarat chess scene with the start of the first classical tournament of the year, the Spielvogel Memorial, which began on Thursday night. The tournament is currently led by our very own CM Declan Smith, who was joint winner of this event with Paul Marko last year. This year, he has widened the gap from the rest of the field by a remarkable 300 rating points. Female representation in Ballarat chess continues to grow steadily, with five entrantsâthe most weâve seen in recent years. The top rated female competitor this year is Shanaya Guha.
Due to the large turnout and the Swiss format, there were predictably no major upsets in the first round. However, we can expect some exciting results in the rounds ahead.
Don't forget you can record your games and view previous games in the Games tab above.
View this year's games and more in the game viewer here...
Now arranged in Date order.
Use the BCC Game Input area below to upload new games. Read the instructions carefully to learn how to use Lichess to make the PGN move list file, copy and paste below, and add game details such as player names and results.
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 ÂŁ120 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 whichâwith the Jewish press, the Bulletin, the Dimboola Banner and other newspapersâhe 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.