Copyright (c) 2008 Dandenong Chess Club Inc.

                                     Dandenong Summer Swiss - 2007

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                                                                Round  8

In the eighth and final round all outright placings and rating groups were still up for grabs.

Domagoj Dragicevic went into the round with a half point lead over both Zdravko Lojanica and Malcolm Pyke.

Zdravko arrived about 20 minutes late but still defeated Don Machell quickly enough to be one of the first games finished.

This put Zdravko on 6.5-points and meant Domagoj had to win his game over Miralem Campare to take outright first.

On board two Milenko Lojanica managed to beat Malcolm Pyke with a strong  attack, at one stage Milenko could have won a queen but overlooked it. It didn’t matter as his position was so strong the game finished soon after.

This put Milenko on 6-points.

These results meant a win by Miralem on board one would leave himself, Domagoj and Milenko tied for second behind Zdravko, and a draw would give Domagoj only equal first.

After putting up strong resistance Miralem finally crumbled in one of the last games to finish.

This gave Domagoj 7-points and a well deserved outright first place.

Zdravko had a very good tournament to finish second with Milenko third.

Neither of the top three placegetters lost a game, Domagoj conceding only two draws, Zdravko three and Milenko four.

Perhaps the quick draws both Zdravko and Milenko gave to Eddie Kocjancic in the early rounds cost them a chance of victory.

In the battle for the U1600 rating group the five-way tie was whittled down

to two as Bob Parrot and Peter Pispek emerged the equal winners on 5-points.

They knocked out Ghayoori Pezhman and Bahri Senturk by beating them and the other equal leader, Graham Shaw, lost to Abdulwahab Rashid. These three along with Nick Vitkovic and Chris Potter finished in a tie for second on 4-points.

Peter's effort in jointly winning this group was amazing, after starting  with three losses he won the last five rounds.

The U1400 rating group was won by Daniel Potter after he defeated Manny Chua giving him 4.5-points. The leader going into the round, Frank Hewitt was beaten by Irene Holmes and finished with Peter Keefe and Gerard Barta on 4-points.

 

1st  Domagoj Dragicevic on  7-points

2nd Zdravko Lojanica on      6.5-points

3rd Milenko Lojanica on       6-points

 

 

Bob Parrot & Peter Pispek on 5-points

U1400 Daniel Potter on 4.5-points

For those who may be interested this tournament had, (excluding forfeits and byes):

70 wins by White 43.75%

65 wins by Black 40.62%

25 draws 15.63%

        Final Standings 

ROUND 7

The penultimate round saw a quick draw on top board between leader Domagoj Dragicevic and Mehmedalija Dizdarevic.

This meant Domagoj ensured himself at least equal first going into the last round as only Don Machell could

catch him, and to do so he needed to beat reigning club champion Malcolm Pyke. As it turned out the last game to finish was the Machell vs Pyke game, Don was the exchange down but was trying to remove all the pawns or swap a pair of rooks when he would have good drawing chances. Malcolm was able to retain a single pawn and helped by his two rooks pushed it to the

eventh rank. Don had a rook, bishop and pawn and almost resigned thinking he couldn't stop the pawn queening without giving up material. Suddenly he found that his rook could get to the first rank and when it did I was wondering how Malcolm could avoid a draw. But Malcolm's final combination was able to win the rook and this time Don did resign. I'm not sure how

many of the spectators saw Malcolm's finish in advance, although clever it

was remarkably simple and the sort of instructive example seen many time in endgame puzzles.

Don's loss meant Domagoj is in sole lead on 6-points going into the final

round next week. He is followed by Malcolm and Zdravko Lojanica on

5.5-points with Don Machell, Milenko Lojanica and Miralem Campara a further 1/2-point behind on 5-points.

In other games Tim Casey scored his first win at the club when he defeated

Alan Gray in a very entertaining game. Both players managed to lose

material at some stage during a game in which traps and various other

tactics were abundant on both sides. Just when it looked as though Tim may

have given up the advantage by allowing Alan to push a pawn to the seventh

rank he was able to use his remaining rook and queen to produce a final mating combination that clinched it for him.

Both Eddie Kocjancic, over Mendel Armerman, and Miralem Campara, over Manny

Chua, had such impressive wins that they each submitted their games for

best game prize, they will appear along with others from this event in the

first newsletter of the year, which will come out after the AGM.

In the U1600 group Bahri Senturk relenquished sole lead when he lost quickly to Milenko Lojanica to remain on 4-points. He could have been passed by either Graham Shaw or Manny Chua, but Graham was only able to

come level with Bahri after his draw with Craig Baxter, whilst Manny was

beaten by Miralem Campara to remain 1/2-point behind. Three other players,

Bob Parrot, Peter Pispek and Ghayoori Pezhman were able to win and join the

lead. These three plus Bahri and Graham mean there are five players equal

first on 4-points, closely followed by Craig Baxter, Mirko Kudric and Manny

Chua on 3.5-points, with Nick Vitkovic, Ahmet Yilmaz and Chris Potter on 3-points.

Peter Pispek is the in form player amongst the leaders, after losing the

opening three games he has won the last four in a great comeback.

Of the five leaders Bob Parrot plays Ghayoori Pezhman and Peter Pispek

plays Bahri Senturk in last round games to decide who takes first. Graham

Shaw was the unlucky one in the draw as he must defeat Abdulwahab Rashid in the last round to ensure a share of first place.

In the U1400 group Frank Hewitt took the lead on 4-points with a win over

Ahmet Yilmaz. Daniel Potter and Graham McEachern both had very good draws

against higher rated opponents Irene Holmes and Mirko Kudric respectively,

this took them to equal second on 3.5-points with Peter Keefe, Gerard Barta

and Robert Ufnalski on 3-points. Gerard has been leader or equal leader in

this group for a number of weeks but has had to play very tough opposition

next week Frank, Daniel and Graham all have games against much higher rated

opponents and Gerard could still catch them in the last round.

In the lead for the rating group prizes after round six;

U1600: Bahri Senturk, Graham Shaw, Bob Parrot, Peter Pispek and Ghayoori Pezhman on 4-points

U1400: Frank Hewitt on 4-points