2014 Victorian Championship Games

Round 1 of the Victorian Championship, played at the Box Hill Chess Club saw five decisive games, with plenty of fighting chess. Not all games went according to rating, but perhaps the most significant game of the night was Chris Wallis' victory over Igor Goldenberg. Chris achieved an edge in the opening, before Igor seemingly consolidated his position, before Chris finally found a number of tactics in the endgame to secure the win.

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Round 2 at Noble Park Chess Club

Round 2 of the Victorian Championship, played at Noble Park Chess Club saw another four decisive games, although this round was much better for the higher rated players. Having said that, the 12th seed in the tournament David Hacche, who was a last-minute replacement for FM Luke Li, has started fantastically, winning both of his first two rounds to share first place with IM Morris & FMs Izzat & Wallis. His game against FM Eddy Levi was the most exciting of the round & saw fortunes change a number of times before Hacche finally secured the point with an attack against Levi's king.

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Round 3 at Melbourne Chess Club

Round 3 of the Victorian Championship, played at the Melbourne Chess Club, saw three decisive games & the number of players with a perfect score reduced to two. FMs Chris Wallis & David Hacche are somewhat surprisingly the current leaders of the event with 3/3, while at the other end of the field, John Nemeth & Dusan Stojic have yet to get off the mark. The most interesting game of the round was David Hacche's recovery from a poor opening against Malcolm Pyke.

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Round 4 at Box Hill Chess Club

Round 4 of the Victorian Championship returned to the Box Hill Chess Club & it saw a clash of leaders with David Hacche playing Kanan Izzat. Although David seemed to have a good position at one point in the middlegame, Kanan eventually gained an advantage which he pressed home to secure the win. The other pre-round leader Chris Wallis was held to a draw by John Nemeth, who fought well to hold a difficult position. James Morris also won his game & this left Kanan, Chris & James all tied for the lead with 3.5/4.

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Round 5 of the Victorian Championship returned to the Noble Park Chess Club & saw FM Kanan Izzat become the sole leader of the tournament after he defeated CM Jack Puccini (ending Jack's run of draws). IM James Morris drew with FM Chris Wallis in the battle of the leaders, so they are now half a point behind Kanan in a tie for second place. The most interesting game of the round was the final game to finish between Malcolm Pyke & FM Domagoj Dragicevic, which saw some interesting middle game manoeuvring before Malcolm gained the advantage with some tactics. Although Domagoj had a material disadvantage, he fought on until Malcolm consolidated his position, forcing Domagoj to resign.

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Round 6 of the Victorian Championships was played at Melbourne Chess Club & saw the leader board again change around after Domagoj Dragicevic beat tournament leader Kanan Izzat to slow his progress at the head of the field. Chris Wallis was held to a draw by David Hacche, however this allowed Chris to catch Kanan & take a share of the lead. At the other end of the field, Zachary Loh & Eddy Levi both scored their first wins for the event to get them off the bottom of the leader board. Domagoj's victory over Kanan was definitely the game of the round however.

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Round 7 of the Victorian Championships was played at Box Hill Chess Club & Kanan Izzat again took the lead in the tournament after defeating Eddy Levi. However his nearest rivals, James Morris & Chris Wallis both each have a game to play & are able to catch Kanan if they can win their postponed games. A number of games were decided by blunders late in the game, however the most exciting game of the round was the clash between Igor Goldenberg & Domagoj Dragicevic. Igor played an enterprising sacrifice early in the game, giving up his queen & a pawn for three minor pieces. After some exchanges, Igor's pieces seemed to be getting the better of Domagoj's queen, so he returned some material to leave the game in an ending with Domagoj's rook & 4 pawns against Igor's bishop, knight & 3 pawns. With all the pawns on the same side of the board, it was going to be difficult for either player to make progress & they eventually agreed to a draw, but the game is worth playing through for the early excitement!

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Round 8 of the Victorian Championships was played at the Melbourne Chess Club & the leaders of the tournament, Chris Wallis & James Morris continued their winning ways, although James Morris was a little lucky to win after Zachary Loh blundered in a drawish ending. The most exciting game of the round saw Dusan Stojic defeat Jack Puccini in a Sicilian slugfest, where Jack's early pressure was held off before Dusan generated some strong counterplay against Jack's king. Dusan was able to castle to get his king out of danger, while Jack's king was stuck in a mating net.

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Round 9 of the Victorian Championships was played at the Box Hill Chess Club & although on the surface it appeared to be a relatively quiet night, with four of the five games played on the night finishing in draws, it turned into a dramatic one, with tournament leader Chris Wallis being defeated by Eddy Levi after Chris' tactics went astray. This allowed James Morris to catch up to Chris, whils Kanan Izzat now has two games to play, but is only one point behind the leaders, so is still very much in with a chance to win the tournament. Replay the exciting game between Wallis & Levi using the link below:

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Round 10 of the Victorian Championships was played at Noble Park Chess Club & the tournament officially became a three-way battle! Chris Wallis beat Malcolm Pyke to take the lead in the tournament as James Morris was held to a draw by Jack Puccini. The 'wild card' in the tournament, Kanan Izzat defeated Igor Goldenberg to retain his chances of winning. Although he sits one point behind Chris, he has two games to play midweek, against Zachary Loh & Malcolm Pyke, as well as a mouth-watering final round clash against Chris Wallis! The most interesting game of the round was the critical clash between Kanan Izzat & Igor Goldenberg.

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Round 11 of the Victorian Championships was played at Melbourne Chess Club & the expected exciting final round happened! The final two games in the tournament turned out to be James Morris against Domagoj Dragicevic, which James eventually won, leaving the battle or the title to be played out between Chris Wallis & Kanan Izzat. Chris was a point behind going into the game & needed to win the game to finish equal first with Kanan. Chris managed to obtain a small edge out of the opening & as time trouble approached, Chris' active rook created havoc for Kanan & on numerous occasions Kanan made his move with literally only a second to spare! However Chris managed to maintain his control over the position, finally forcing Kanan to resign!

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You can also download a PGN file of games from the tournament at the link at the bottom of the page.