Report by Bas van Riel
The traditional and unique Ballarat Begonia Open Chess Tournament was this year’s first Grand Prix (Class 3) event in Victoria. Organising successful tournaments without making a financial loss has been very difficult in Victoria for the last few years. One may argue about the reasons for this. After a disappointing entry level in 1998, the tournament organisers were extremely lucky to secure substantial sponsorships last year, which undoubtedly increased the players’ interest. Having missed out on extra funds this year, the committee didn’t know what to expect. However, it turned out that it didn’t have to worry, as 90 players turned up, exactly the same number as last year.
The number of top players, headed by DARRYL JOHANSEN, was fairly small, but the record entry of juniors (18) was very pleasing. Worth mentioning is the group of players who seem to return to Ballarat year in, year out, many of them pensioners. This special composition of the tournament creates a unique atmosphere with a group which takes chess seriously, trying to win (prizes), a large group of ‘social’ players and thirdly the group of juniors with all their distractions and variable interests (not only in chess!). An interesting mix of chess players blended in one single Ballarat tournament.
To make all this happen each year again, is mainly due to the untiring efforts of Kevin Perrin (DOP). Mind you, he has been involved as the main organiser since the inception of the tournament.
The great support in different ways by players, clubs, VCA and ChessWorld is invaluable for the success of our tournament, and it is greatly appreciated by the committee. Visits by chess personalities such as Robert Jamieson, Guy West, Gary Wastell, David Flude etc., certainly add flavour and moral support to the event.
As far as I am aware the tournament went flawlessly, apart from a brief failure of a group of lights during one of the evening rounds: a minor hiccup compared to last year’s commotion when the arbiter was stuck in the elevator for more than an hour!
The social aspects of the event were improved by a sausage sizzle lunch; the Craigs Hotel offering meals and drink discounts, making it a focal meeting point for all between the rounds; and also by the drinks-and-nibbles provided after the final round up to the prize-giving ceremony.
In the top group GEORGE PRATSCH (1752, =newcomer?) had a good tournament, helped by a good draw. He finished with 5.5 points on equal 4th spot. STEWART BOOTH started with a strategic draw in the first round and this carried him safely through the next few rounds, thereby building up valuable match practice before meeting the bigger guns in the crucial last rounds. The B-group was jointly won by JANOS NEMETH who scored very well against four much higher rated players, and good old OLGERTS BERGMANIS with 5 points each. I would not be surprised to find that Olgerts and his friend GUNNAR LAMBERTS have played in virtually all (34) Ballarat Begonia Open tournaments.
The C-group was won equally by two juniors with 5 points each: AMIR NISSEN (Vic) and AARON GUTHRIE (SA). Amir drew with STEWART BOOTH, won against KEN HOLT and being the 51st seed, the average seeding of his opponents was 19! Similarly, Aaron being seeded 67 met with opponents averaging 29 and he polished off his effort with a win against DAVID CORDOVER (10) in the last round.
Group D was jointly won (3.5 points) by ERIC LINDBERG who squeezed three wins out of his last three opponents, and COLIN FINLAY from NSW, who played a solid tournament.
A brief note by Gary Bekker:
The event was won by MIRKO RUJEVIC with 6.5 / 7 points. Equal second were GM DARRYL JOHANSEN, who lost to RUJEVIC in round 5, and MARK CHAPMAN who drew with IM LEONID SANDLER and agreed a quick draw with Rujevic in the final round. Chapman did not have to play against Johansen, while Sandler finished outside of the prize list after a draw with Chapman, losing to Rujevic and then to Johansen in the final round. Leading final scores: M. RUJEVIC 6.5; D. JOHANSEN, M. CHAPMAN 6.0; S. BOOTH, S. LOW, J. PRATSCH 5.5; G. SZUVEGES, J. NEMETH, G. GILL, M. BARON, M. LOJANICA, O. BERGMANIS, D. PARTSI, A. NISSEN, A. GUTHRIE 5.0.
Many thanks to all involved in the tournament, especially to BAS VAN RIEL, KEVIN PERRIN and PATRICK COOK for organising the event and collecting duplicate scoresheets for publication.
Download the pgn game file here, containing 47 games from the tournament.