52 players entered the 9-round 2005 Dandenong Club Championship with another being added for round 2.
Richard Voon will be defending the title he has won for the last two years but it wont be easy for the sixth seed.
As the first round of a swiss involves the top half of the draw playing the bottom half the results are generally predictable.
Probably the biggest surprise in the first round was no lower rated player managed to win. Normally there is at least a couple of upsets. Five lower rated players did manage to hold their opponents to a draw. It was no surprise that two of them were young Potter's, one day their ratings will catch up with their ability. Graham McEachern and Gerard Barta also did well to hold much higher rated players to a draw, whilst newcomer Sujendra Premaka was obviously stronger than the provisional rating given
to him to do the pairings as he made Frank Silas struggle. In the end Frank was probably lucky to scrape a draw in what looked to be a winning endgame for Sujendra.
Although all other games went with the ratings there were some good fights put up, most notably Craig Baxter who was finally ground down by TG Pramod in a long game finishing after midnight. Craig had fought back from what looked to be a hopeless position, but whenever he reached a stage where it looked as though he would win he would overlook the best move and let TG
back in it. Eventually these slight miscalculations took their toll and TG's passed pawns came through. Geoff Lee and Mirko Kudric also put up good resistance before finally going down against Ramo Burzic and Mehmedalija Dizdarevic respectively.
This year the Reserves Championship, (top scoring player in the bottom half of the draw), is for players rated less than 1500.
Round 1
1 Lojanica, Milenko 2043 [0] 1:0 Lane, Victor 1469 [0]
2 Nagendirarajah, Anteney 1435 [0] 0:1 Pyke, Malcolm 2005 [0]
3 Dizdarevic, Mehmedalija 1997 [0] 1:0 Kudric, Mirko 1433 [0]
4 Pispek, Peter 1415 [0] 0:1 Machell, Don 1949 [0]
5 Lojanica, Zdravko 1923 [0] 1:0 Pronk, Syf 1410 [0]
6 Doon, Steven 1404 [0] 0:1 Voon, Richard 1852 [0]
7 Silas, Frank 1850 [0] .5:.5 Premaka, Sujendra Unr [0]
8 Jonas, Daniel 1386 [0] 0:1 Campara, Miralem 1825 [0]
9 Lushaj, Tahir 1789 [0] 1:0 Keefe, Peter 1349 [0]
10 Potter, Michael 1345 [0] .5:.5 Deng, Kuol Unr [0]
11 Lycett, Garry 1681 [0] 1:0 Sljivovac, Branko 1317 [0]
12 Baxter, Craig 1316 [0] 0:1 Pramod, T.G. Unr [0]
13 Armerman, Mendel 1643 [0] 1:0 Drew, Phillip 1279 [0]
14 Lamech, Albert 1276 [0] 0:1 Potter, Matthew 1634 [0]
15 Biondo, Sam 1608 [0] .5:.5 Potter, Daniel 1264 [0]
16 Zamora, John 1263 [0] 0:1 Kocjancic, Eddie 1607 [0]
17 Shaw, Graham 1570 [0] .5:.5 McEachern, Graham 1219 [0]
18 Drazzi, Frank 1194 [0] 0:1 Spiric, Bob 1569 [0]
19 Maciulaitis, Don 1568 [0] 1:0 Kuok, James 1191 [0]
20 Lee, Geoff 1106 [0] 0:1 Burzic, Ramo 1538 [0]
21 Yilmaz, Ahmet 1537 [0] 1:0 Seehusen, John 1104 [0]
22 Kenmure, Jamie 1102 [0] 0:1 Scherrenberg, Henk 1505 [0]
23 Gungordu, Ismet 1497 [0] .5:.5 Barta, Gerard 1082 [0]
24 Auimatagi, Joshua Unr [0] 0:1 Vitkovic, Nick 1495 [0]
25 Atem, Andrew 1493 [0] 1:0 Yam, Hunyi 970 [0]
26 Rasmussen, Henning 918 [0] 0:1 Potter, Christopher 1476 [0]
Round 2 saw the 21 equal leaders whittled down to just 10 players now on 2/ 2.But it wasn't as easy for the top seeds as the ratings may have suggested. Matthew Potter and Mendel Armerman put up strong resistance before both eventually lost to Milenko Lojanica and Malcolm Pyke. Winner of the last
two club championships, Richard Voon, made a strange blunder against Don Maciulaitis. After Don, who is blind, told Richard his move Bh6, Richard wrote the correct move but played Ba6 on the board. A few moves later Don won a rook playing Bxc1 and Richard realised his mistake. Richard was able to win nevertheless to keep up his hopes of a "threepeat". Meanwhile Tahir Lushaj looked lost against Henk Scherrenberg, a piece down and with Henk's queen and bishop threatening his king it looked as though all Tahir could
do was get a perpetual with his queen against Henk's king. Henk may have been overconfident as a few moves later, trying to avoid perpetual, he lost his extra piece and the game. Meanwhile a few lower rated players managed to cause some upsets, Nick Vitkovic played very well to easily account for Garry Lycett and Geoff Lee managed to regain some form to defeat Syf Pronk.
Round 2
1 Potter, Matthew 1634 [1] 0:1 Lojanica, Milenko 2043 [1]
2 Pyke, Malcolm 2005 [1] 1:0 Armerman, Mendel 1643 [1]
3 Kocjancic, Eddie 1607 [1] -:+ Dizdarevic, Mehmedalija 1997 [1]
4 Machell, Don 1949 [1] 1:0 Spiric, Bob 1569 [1]
5 Burzic, Ramo 1538 [1] 0:1 Lojanica, Zdravko 1923 [1]
6 Voon, Richard 1852 [1] 1:0 Maciulaitis, Don 1568 [1]
7 Campara, Miralem 1825 [1] 1:0 Yilmaz, Ahmet 1537 [1]
8 Scherrenberg, Henk 1505 [1] 0:1 Lushaj, Tahir 1789 [1]
9 Vitkovic, Nick 1495 [1] 1:0 Lycett, Garry 1681 [1]
10 Pramod, T.G. Unr [1] 1:0 Atem, Andrew 1493 [1]
11 Potter, Christopher1476 [1] 0:1 Silas, Frank 1850 [.5]
12 Deng, Kuol Unr [.5] +:- Gungordu, Ismet 1497 [.5]
13 McEachern, Graham 1219 [.5] 0:1 Biondo, Sam 1608 [.5]
14 Potter, Daniel 1264 [.5] 0:1 Shaw, Graham 1570 [.5]
15 Premaka, Sujendra Unr [.5] 0:1 Potter, Michael 1345 [.5]
16 Barta, Gerard 1082 [.5] 0:1 Rashid, Abdulwahab 1968 [0]
17 Lane, Victor 1469 [0] 1:0 Lamech, Albert 1276 [0]
18 Drew, Phillip 1279 [0] .5:.5 Nagendirarajah, Anteney 1435 [0]
19 Kudric, Mirko 1433 [0] 1:0 Zamora, John 1263 [0]
20 Drazzi, Frank 1194 [0] 0:1 Pispek, Peter 1415 [0]
21 Pronk, Syf 1410 [0] 0:1 Lee, Geoff 1106 [0]
22 Kuok, James 1191 [0] 0:1 Doon, Steven 1404 [0]
23 Seehusen, John 1104 [0] 0:1 Jonas, Daniel 1386 [0]
24 Keefe, Peter 1349 [0] .5:.5 Kenmure, Jamie 1102 [0]
25 Sljivovac, Branko 1317 [0] 1:0 Auimatagi, Joshua Unr [0]
26 Yam, Hunyi 970 [0] 0:1 Baxter, Craig 1316 [0]
27 Rasmussen, Henning 918 [0] 1:0 BYE
The third round finished with five players remaining on 3 / 3, they are already a full point ahead as oddly enough nobody is on 2.5
Richard Voon's hopes of defending his title took a setback with his loss to Milenko Lojanica. Milenko was joined at the top by Malcolm Pyke, Mehmedalija Dizdarevic and Zdravko Lojanica who each overcame strong opposition. The fifth member of the leading group was a surprise with the more fancied Don Machell going down to TG Pramod. TG has been playing well since recently joining the club, with an equal first in the "B" Grade tournament, but this was still an unexpected victory.
Although it is still early in the tournament the top two boards in round four look to be very important games in determining the eventual winner.
In other games Chris Potter did very well to hold Abdulwahab Rashid to a draw, while Peter Pispek could be returning to some form as he managed to hold Matthew Potter to a draw also. Geoff Lee made Henk Scherrenberg work long and hard for his point and Graham McEachern grabbed some more rating points, this time from Syf Pronk who looks a bit rusty after a couple of months off.
Round 3
1 Lojanica, Milenko 2043 [2] 1:0 Voon, Richard 1852 [2]
2 Campara, Miralem 1825 [2] 0:1 Pyke, Malcolm 2005 [2]
3 Lushaj, Tahir 1789 [2] 0:1 Dizdarevic, M. 1997 [2]
4 Pramod, T.G. Unr [2] 1:0 Machell, Don 1949 [2]
5 Lojanica, Zdravko 1923 [2] 1:0 Vitkovic, Nick 1495 [2]
6 Silas, Frank 1850 [1.5] .5:.5 Biondo, Sam 1608 [1.5]
7 Deng, Kuol Unr [1.5] .5:.5 Shaw, Graham 1570 [1.5]
8 Potter, Michael 1345 [1.5] 0:1 Lycett, Garry 1681 [1]
9 Rashid, Abdulwahab 1968 [1] .5:.5 Potter, Christopher 1476 [1]
10 Armerman, Mendel 1643 [1] 1:0 Lane, Victor 1469 [1]
11 Pispek, Peter 1415 [1] .5:.5 Potter, Matthew 1634 [1]
12 Kocjancic, Eddie 1607 [1] 1:0 Kudric, Mirko 1433 [1]
13 Spiric, Bob 1569 [1] 0:1 Doon, Steven 1404 [1]
14 Maciulaitis, Don 1568 [1] 1:0 Jonas, Daniel 1386 [1]
15 Baxter, Craig 1316 [1] 0:1 Burzic, Ramo 1538 [1]
16 Yilmaz, Ahmet 1537 [1] 1:0 Sljivovac, Branko 1317 [1]
17 Lee, Geoff 1106 [1] 0:1 Scherrenberg, Henk 1505 [1]
18 Atem, Andrew 1493 [1] 1:0 Rasmussen, Henning 918 [1]
19 Drew, Phillip 1279 [.5] .5:.5 Premaka, Sujendra Unr [.5]
20 Kenmure, Jamie 1102 [.5] .5:.5 Gungordu, Ismet 1497 [.5]
21 Nagendirarajah, A. 1435 [.5] .5:.5 Potter, Daniel 1264 [.5]
22 Barta, Gerard 1082 [.5] .5:.5 Keefe, Peter 1349 [.5]
23 Pronk, Syf 1410 [0] 0:1 McEachern, Graham 1219 [.5]
24 Lamech, Albert 1276 [0] 0:1 Kuok, James 1191 [0]
25 Zamora, John 1263 [0] 0:1 Seehusen, John 1104 [0]
26 Auimatagi, Joshua Unr [0] .5:.5 Drazzi, Frank 1194 [0]
27 Yam, Hunyi 970 [0] 1:0 BYE
The fourth round resulted in only one of the leading five players going to 4 / 4. Zdravko Lojanica was able to capitalise on some mistakes from Malcolm Pyke to put himself in outright first place. But with five rounds to go and ten players within a point of him Zdravko still faces a tough fight to become club champion. On board one Milenko Lojanica and Mehmedalija Dizdarevic drew and are both 1/2-point behind Zdravko. The other leader going into the round was TG Pramod who looked to be joining Zdravko on 4 when he was two exchanges and two pawns up against Richard Voon. Another loss by Richard would certainly end his chances of a third straight championship and so he kept resisting, first getting back one exhange and eventually achieving a position where TG was forced to go for a perpetual check rather than lose. So TG is also on 3.1/2-points with no less than seven players on 3-points.
Leading the Reserves Championship is one of the new Sudanese players, Andrew Atem who defeated Sam Biondo in this round to be on 3. Henk Scherrenberg could have joined him, but Henk found trying to mate with a bishop and knight beyond him. In his game against Kuol Deng 70 moves passed before the start of the 50-move limit for Henk to find a mate. Spectators thought they were in for a long battle but Henk only reeled off about fifteen moves before stalemating Kuol.
Next week the tournament passes the halfway stage, and if the usual draw between the brothers Lojanica eventuates then wins by the players on 3-points would keep them very much in the running and should setup an exciting last four rounds.
Speaking of brothers playing drawn games, round four saw Michael and Matthew Potter play each other. In an exciting game with many twists and turns a draw was eventually agreed in a position where some spectators thought Matthew was winning. Their opinion was based on Matthew's better positioned knight, although others thought Michael's position looked better due to a better pawn structure.
Round 4
1 Dizdarevic, Mehmedalija 1997 [3] .5:.5 Lojanica, Milenko 2043 [3]
2 Pyke, Malcolm 2005 [3] 0:1 Lojanica, Zdravko 1923 [3]
3 Voon, Richard 1852 [2] .5:.5 Pramod, T.G. Unr [3]
4 Machell, Don 1949 [2] 1:0 Kocjancic, Eddie 1607 [2]
5 Maciulaitis, Don 1568 [2] .5:.5 Silas, Frank 1850 [2]
6 Burzic, Ramo 1538 [2] 0:1 Campara, Miralem 1825 [2]
7 Vitkovic, Nick 1495 [2] 0:1 Lushaj, Tahir 1789 [2]
8 Scherrenberg, Henk 1505 [2] .5:.5 Deng, Kuol Unr [2]
9 Lycett, Garry 1681 [2] 1:0 Yilmaz, Ahmet 1537 [2]
10 Doon, Steven 1404 [2] 0:1 Armerman, Mendel 1643 [2]
11 Biondo, Sam 1608 [2] 0:1 Atem, Andrew 1493 [2]
12 McEachern, Graham 1219 [1.5] 0:1 Rashid, Abdulwahab 1968 [1.5]
13 Potter, Matthew 1634 [1.5] .5:.5 Potter, Michael 1345 [1.5]
14 Potter, Christopher 1476 [1.5] 1:0 Pispek, Peter 1415 [1.5]
15 Premaka, Sujendra Unr [1] +:- Baxter, Craig 1316 [1]
16 Spiric, Bob 1569 [1] 1:0 Drew, Phillip 1279 [1]
17 Potter, Daniel 1264 [1] 1:0 Gungordu, Ismet 1497 [1]
18 Lane, Victor 1469 [1] 0:1 Kuok, James 1191 [1]
19 Rasmussen, Henning 918 [1] 0:1 Nagendirarajah, Anteney 1435 [1]
20 Kudric, Mirko 1433 [1] 1:0 Lee, Geoff 1106 [1]
21 Jonas, Daniel 1386 [1] 0:1 Kenmure, Jamie 1102 [1]
22 Keefe, Peter 1349 [1] 1:0 Yam, Hunyi 970 [1]
23 Sljivovac, Branko 1317 [1] 0:1 Tolpigin, George 1319 [1]
24 Seehusen, John 1104 [1] 0:1 Drazzi, Frank 1194 [.5]
25 Lamech, Albert 1276 [0] .5:.5 Auimatagi, Joshua Unr [.5]
26 Zamora, John 1263 [0] 1:0 Pronk, Syf 1410 [0]
27 Shaw, Graham 1570 [2] .5:.5 BYE
28 Barta, Gerard 1082 [1] .5:.5 BYE
