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Australian Juniors Summary – Day 9 (by Kerry Stead)

The Australian Junior has wrapped up for another year. Congratulations to the following players who are now the Australian Junior Champions for 2018:

• Under 8 Girls Tiffany Tran
• Under 10 Girls Damaris Augustine
• Under 12 Girls Sophie Chang
• Under 14 Girls Emily Lin (playoff over Myiesha Maunders)
• Under 16 Girls Amanda Cheng
• Under 18 Girls Cassandra Lim
• Under 8 Open Jayden Ooi
• Under 10 Open Feiyang Wang
• Under 12 Open Yihe (Rebo) Fu
• Under 14 Open Nicholas Ilic
• Under 16 Open Kayson Wang (playoff over Anthony Fikh)
• Under 18 Open David Cannon

On a personal note, I would like to thank the team of arbiters for the event – Tony Davis, Hans Gao, Kyle Gibson, John Nemeth, Leonid Sandler & Elsa Yueh (along with Roger Croft operating the DGT boards) – they made my job much easier & helped ensure the tournament ran smoothly. The organising team, lead by Peter Tsai & his band of willing volunteers, made the event a pleasure to be involved with & they should take pride in making the 2018 Australian Juniors the biggest & arguably the best Australian Juniors ever!

Although the 2019 Australian Juniors venue is yet to be decided, it is likely to be held in either Perth or Sydney – hopefully that event can continue the growth of the event that has brought over 400 players to Melbourne for this year's event.

Finally, to the players & parents that made this event possible through their participation & support, thankyou!

Australian Juniors Summary – Day 7 (by Kerry Stead)

The final events of the 2018 Australian Junior started today, with the under 8 & under 10 girls beginning with 7 & 18 players respectively. This brings the total number of entrants to this year's Australian Juniors to 417, which is a record entry!

In terms of the chess, David Cannon has extended his lead in the under 18 open event, while in the under 16 open event, Kayson Wang has taken the outright lead after a slow start to the event. Lillian Lu holds a slender half point lead in the under 18 girls event & has yet to play some of her nearest rivals, which should make for an interesting conclusion to the event. Amanda Cheng leads the under 16 girls, also by half a point, again setting up a potentially exciting conclusion to the event. Nicholas Ilic has taken the outright lead in the under 14 open event, while Yihe Fu leads the under 12 open event, but both leaders have a number of players following close behind. The under 14 girls event sees Emily Lin & Myiesha Maunders sharing the lead, while Sophie Chang has the sole lead in the under 12 girls. Athena-Mal Retnaraja & Emma Chang share the early lead in the under 10 girls, while Tiffany Tran & Chanya Rupasinghe share the early lead in the under 8 girls event.

With only two days to go, there is still plenty to play for, with no event being decided yet!

Australian Juniors Summary – Day 5 (by Kerry Stead)

The first of the big days kicked off with almost 250 players filling the main tournament hall as the under 12 & under 14 open, along with the under 12, under 14, under 16 & under 18 girls events began! Some hard fought chess was played throughout the day, with a number of games going beyond the three hour mark!

The under 18 Open event is still lead by David Cannon, half a point ahead of Bobby Yu & Ray Yang. These three players are the only 

undefeated players in the under 18 event, but they have yet to play each other, so those matchups will play an important role in deciding the final winner of the event. Anthony Fikh leads the under 16 event with 5/5, a point clear of Haran Salasan & Kayson Wang.

In the under 14 open event, 16 players made it through day one with two wins, while 23 players have an unblemished record in the under 12 open event.

In the girls events, Alanna Chew Lee has taken an early lead in the under 18 event, starting with 2/2, half a point ahead of Cassandra Lim & Lillian Lu. Paula Chen & Amanda Cheng also started with 2/2 in the under 16 girls, however with both of these events being round robins, there is plenty of opportunity for the leaders to change.

In the under 14 girls event, four girls made it through the first day with two victories, while seven girls share the lead in the under 12 event on two points.

The 'rest' day saw a huge number of players turn up for the problem solving & lightning competitions, with Gavyn Sanusi-Goh taking out the under 12 event in a field of 89 players, while David Cannon, Michael Ostapenko & Ray Yang tied for first in the under 18 event in a field of 73 players, with David winning the title on tie-break. The main hall was overflowing with over 130 eager participants in the problem solving competition. Grandmaster Darryl Johansen went through the solutions with the entrants at the conclusion of the event, with final results to be announced at the closing ceremony.

Australian Juniors Summary – Day 2 (by Kerry Stead)

2018 sees the annual Australian Juniors taking place at Swinburne University in Melbourne's inner eastern suburbs, with a record field of over 400 players expected across all events.

The under 8 & under 10 events are well underway & Queensland's Jayden Ooi has dominated the under 8 event & leads with 6/6, a point clear of the chasing pack. The under 10 event has been a much closer event, with Feiyang Wang & Shaheel Faizal sharing the lead on 5.5/6, just half a point ahead of a group of three players.

The event has been played in a mostly friendly, sportsmanlike manner & it is good to see that all players have now scored some points. After some early issues, the players have adjusted to the formalities of a serious chess tournament, with a quiet playing hall & results sheets being completed correctly.

The under 16 & under 18 events are only a few rounds in & there have already been a few upsets & close escapes from the higher seeds! David Cannon (top seed in the under 18 event) was lucky to win his round 1 game after going astray in the opening, fighting back to set up a potential defensive fortress before his opponent blundered to leave him with a winning king & pawn endgame! The other top seeds have also struggled, with many dropping half a point or more in the opening rounds. However, there are many rounds remaining, so it may be possible to recover from an early 'hiccup'.

Don't forget about the Lightning & Problem Solving events coming up on the rest day (Tuesday), before the venue gets a real test from Wednesday when the under 12, under 14 & various girls events run alongside the under 16 & under 18 events!