DIS 2016 Australian Women's Masters

Bulletin 1 – Round 1 Thursday January 14, 2016Editor: Kerry Stead

Fresh off the back of organising a highly successful Australian Championships, the Sesquicentennial (150 year) celebrations continue at Melbourne Chess Club with the hosting of the 2016 Australian Women's Masters! Now in its fourth year, the 2016 edition of the Australian Women's Masters has seen a shiftin the field playing in the event. This year the event is much stronger & players have the opportunity to achieve FIDE title norms if they perform well enough! This year Dr Anita Stangl returns (and she has the distinction of being the only player to have played in all three years that the tournament has been run as an event with foreign players), however this year she finds herself as the bottom seed, not one of the mid-high seeds as she has been in the past! Also returning is last year's winner WGM Julia Ryjanova, who is once again the top seed for the tournament, and will be looking to take out the tournament again in 2016! Of course the tournament would not be possible without the support of a variety of organisations & people. The organisers would like to thank the FIDE DIS commission for its support of the event, Melbourne Chess Club for providing the venue for the tournament & Chess Victoria for its support of the tournament. The vital contribution of people who are hosting visiting players is also appreciated & I'm sure that the visiting players will be made most welcome during their stay in Melbourne. Round 1 of the Australian Women's Masters got underway on cool Thursday Melbourne afternoon, with the players thankful that the temperature was in the moderate mid 20s rather than the scorching mid 40s of the previous day! On the board, the play was generally very combative, with most games producing hard-fought contests.

Round 1 underway at Melbourne Chess Club, where both the Masters &the Reserves sections saw hard foughtgames.

Round 1 Masters Results 1 WFM Maria Gosciniak 2090 ½:½ Kristyna Novosadova 2231 2 WGM Xiaobing Gu 2286 1:0 WGM Julia Ryjanova 2387 3 IM Irina Berezina 2178 1:0 WFM Anita Stangl 2052 4 WGM Jilin Zhang 2250 ½:½ IM Deimante Daulyte 2378 5 WGM Ticia Gara 2347 1:0 WIM Hanna Leks 2192 Round 1 Reserves Results 1 Narelle Szuveges 1800 1:0 Niruruthi Ravichandren 1368 2 Jody Middleton 1494 ½:½ Lillian Lu 1521 3 Tanya Krstevska 1584 1:0 BYE

Round 1 Game summaryThe clash between Poland's Maria Gosciniak & Kristyna Novosadova from the Czech Republic saw a Four Knight's Opening, which saw many pieces exchanged off early, with aknight v bishop endgame reached on move 26. Although Novosadova had an extra pawn, Gosciniak blockaded it with her knight & when almost all attempts to make progress were exhausted, the players agreed to a draw on move 50. A critical early clash between two of the tournament WGMs, Xiaobing Gu from China & Julia Ryjanova from Russia, saw the Gu play the Panov-Botvinnik attack in response to Ryjanova's Caro-Kann defence. Momentum in the game seemed to shift a number of times, with Gu's early space advantage looking promising, before Ryjanova developed threats on the kingside & looked to be on track to victory when her knight became active. However Gu managed to create a protected passed d-pawn in the process & found shelterfor her king to again shift the momentum of the game before exchanging into a queen & rook endgame. Ultimately it would be Gu's d-pawn that proved critical, with Ryjanova giving up other pawns to prevent the d-pawn promoting, before Gu finally found a way through with her king & rook to take the win. Australia's Irina Berezina managed to grind out a win against Germany's Anita Stangl on the white side of a Dutch Stonewall, slowly improving her position & winning material alongthe way. Although Stangl put up a good fight, and finding ways to avoid disaster along the way, Berezina's extra pawns proved too much in the ensuing rook endgame. Jilin Zhang & Deimante Daulyte played a line of the Rossolimo Sicilian which saw a number of minor pieces exchanged early in the game. With both sides having a solid position, the players agreed to split the point of move 17. Ticia Gara played the sharp Richter-Rauzer attack against Hanna Leks' Sicilian Defence &seemed to gain a small advantage out of the opening. Leks tried to make her defensive task easier by exchanging queens, however this simply allowed Gara to further target the weaknesses in Leks' pawn structure. When Leks played the central break d5, Gara took the opportunity to leave Leks with tripled f-pawns before a tactical opportunity presented itself & Gara was able to win a piece & with it the game.

In the Resevres tournament, top seed Narelle Szuveges slowly outplayed Niruruthi Ravichandren on the white side of a Nimzo-Indian Defence to start the tournament off with a win, while Lillian Lu looked to be wining against Jody Middleton, however a poor capture in a queen & rook endgame left her queen out of play & Middleton was happy to take a draw when Lu's king could not find shelter from the checks of Middleton's queen.

Masters Norm Requirements Womens International Master Womens Grand MasterStangl & Gosciniak 4.5/9 Stangl, Gosciniak, Berezina, Novosadova 5/9 Leks & Novosadova 6.5/9

Round 1 Masters Games

Gosciniak,Maria (2090) - Novosadova,Kristyna (2231) [C47]2016 Australian Womens Masters Melbourne (1.1), 14.01.20161.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.exd5 0–09.0–0 cxd5 10.Bg5 c6 11.h3 Bd6 12.Qf3 Rb8 13.Na4 h6 14.Bxf6 Qxf6 15.Qxf6 gxf6 16.c4Rb4 17.b3 Ba6 18.Rac1 dxc4 19.Bxc4Bxc4 20.Rxc4 Rxc4 21.bxc4 Rb8 22.Rd1Be5 23.Nc5 Rb4 24.Nd3 Rxc4 25.Rc1Rxc1+ 26.Nxc1 Kf8 27.Kf1 Ke7 28.Ke2Kd6 29.Nb3 Kd5 30.Kd3 f5 31.Na5 Bc732.Nc4 Bb6 33.f3 f4 34.Nd2 Ba5 35.Nc4Bb4 36.Nb2 f5 37.Nc4 Bd6 38.Na5 Be539.Nc4 Bf6 40.Na5 Bd8 41.Nb3 c5 42.Nd2Bc7 43.Nc4 Kc6 44.Na3 Kd5 45.Nc4 Bd846.Na3 Bh4 47.Nc4 Be1 48.Na3 a649.Nc4 a5 50.a4 Bb4½–½

Gu,Xiaobing (2286) - Ryjanova,Julia (2387) [B14]2016 Australian Womens Masters Melbourne (1.2), 14.01.20161.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Bb4 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Qc2 Nc6 9.Bd3h6 10.0–0 0–0 11.a3 Bd6 12.Qe2 Nce7 13.Rd1 Bd7 14.Ne5 Bxe5 15.dxe5 Nxc3 16.bxc3Qc7 17.Rb1 Bc6 18.Rb4 Rad8 19.Re1 Ng6 20.Bc2 Rd5 21.f4 a5 22.Rb1 Qe7 23.Be4 Rd724.Bxc6 Qc5+ 25.Be3 Qxc6 26.c4 Qe4 27.g3 Rc8 28.c5 Ne7 29.Bf2 Qf5 30.Red1 Rcd831.Rbc1 Nd5 32.Be1 a4 33.Ba5 Ra8 34.Qb5 Re7 35.Bd2 h5 36.Qb1 Qg4 37.Qe4 h438.Kg2 Rd7 39.Qf3 Qg6 40.Kf2 Ne7 41.Be3 Rad8 42.Rd6 Nf5 43.Bd2 Nd4 44.Qe3 Nb345.Rc3 Qb1 46.Rcd3 Rxd6 47.cxd6 Qh1 48.gxh4 Qxh2+ 49.Kf3 Qxh4 50.Qg1 Qh5+51.Kf2 Qh4+ 52.Ke2 Qh5+ 53.Ke1 g6 54.Be3 Qf3 55.Qf1 Qe456.Kf2 Kg7 57.d7 Qc6 58.Qd1 Rh8 59.Kg3 Rd8 60.f5 Nc5 61.f6+Kg8 62.Bxc5 Qxc5 63.Qe1 Qb5 64.Qc3 Kh7 65.Qd4 Kg8 66.Kf3Qb1 67.Kf2 Qc2+ 68.Kg3 Qb1 69.Qe3 Qb5 70.Rc3 Kh7 71.Kg4 Qf172.Qh3+ Qxh3+ 73.Rxh3+ Kg8 (Diagram) 74.Rd3 b5 75.Kg5 Kh776.Kf4 b4 77.axb4 a3 78.Rh3+ Kg8 79.Rxa3 Rxd7 80.Ke4 Rb781.Rb3 Kf8 82.Kd4 Ke8 83.Kc5 Kd7 84.b5 Kc8 85.b6 Rd7 86.Ra3Kb8 87.Kc6 Rd1 88.Ra7 Rc1+ 89.Kd6 Rd1+ 90.Ke7 Rb1 91.Kxf7Rxb6 92.Re7 g5 93.Rxe6 Rb7+ 94.Kg61–0

(3) Berezina,Irina (2178) - Stangl,Anita (2052) [A84]2016 Australian Womens Masters Melbourne (1.3), 14.01.20161.d4 e6 2.c4 d5 3.Nf3 c6 4.e3 f5 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.0–0 Bd6 7.b3 Qe7 8.Bb2 0–0 9.Qc1 Ne410.Ba3 b6 11.Bxd6 Qxd6 12.Qa3 c5 13.Rd1 Nc6 14.dxc5 bxc5 15.Qb2 dxc4 16.Be2 Qe717.Bxc4 Bb7 18.Nbd2 Nb4 19.Qe5 Rae8 20.Nxe4 Bxe4 21.Rd6 Bd5 22.Bxd5 Nxd523.Rc1 Nf6 24.Rc6 Ne4 25.Rc7 Qf6 26.Qxf6 Rxf6 27.Rxa7 Rd8 28.g3 g5 29.Rc2 f430.exf4 gxf4 31.g4 Rg6 32.h3 h5 33.Ne5 Rf6 34.Kg2 Rd5 35.Nf3 Rg6 36.Nh2 f3+ 37.Kxf3Ng5+ 38.Kg2 Rd3 39.gxh5 Rf6 40.Ng4 Rf8 41.Rxc5 Nxh3 42.Kf1 Nf4 43.Re5 Rh344.Rg5+ Kh8 45.Ne5 Rh1+ 46.Rg1 Rxh5 47.Ng6+ Nxg6 48.Rxg6 Rc5 49.Rxe6 Rc1+50.Kg2 Rc2 51.Re3 Rfxf2+ 52.Kg3 Rg2+ 53.Kf4 Rcf2+ 54.Ke4 Kg8 55.a4 Rg4+ 56.Kd3Kf8 57.Kc3 Rf1 58.a5 Rc1+ 59.Kb2 Rh1 60.Rc7 Rg2+ 61.Rc2 Rgg1 62.Kc3 Ra1 63.Re5Rab1 64.Rf2+ Kg7 65.Rf3 Rh4 66.Rg5+ Kh6 67.Rgf5 Rc1+ 68.Kb2 Re1 69.Rf2 Re370.Rf6+ Kg5 71.R2f5+ Kg4 72.Rf4+ Kg5 73.Rxh4 Kxf6 74.a61–0

Zhang,Jilin (2250) - Daulyte,Deimante (2378) [B31]2016 Australian Womens Masters Melbourne (1.4), 14.01.20161.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d3 Bg7 6.0–0 Nf6 7.Nc3 Bg4 8.h3 Bxf3 9.Qxf3e5 10.Bg5 Qd6 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.a4 b6 13.Nd1 0–0 14.Ne3 Bg7 15.Nc4 Qc7 16.Rae1 Rad817.b3½–½

Gara,Ticia (2347) - Leks,Hanna (2192) [B60]2016 Australian Womens Masters Melbourne (1.5), 14.01.20161.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2a6 8.0–0–0 Qb6 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nb3 Bd7 11.f4 0–0–0 12.Be2 Be713.Rhf1 Kb8 14.Rf3 Rdg8 15.Bf1 h5 16.Kb1 Rc8 17.Na4 Qb418.Qxb4 Nxb4 19.Nb6 Rc7 20.Nxd7+ Rxd7 21.f5 d5 22.c3 Nc623.exd5 Ne5 24.Rh3 exf5 25.c4 Ng4 26.Rf3 Nxh2 (Diagram)27.Rxf5 Ng4 28.Rd3 Ne5 29.Rd4 b6 30.a4 h4 31.a5 Ka7 32.axb6+Kxb6 33.d6 Bxd6 34.Rxd6+ Rxd6 35.c5+ Kc6 36.cxd61–0

Leks & Gara played a fightinggame, with Gara winning witha nice tactic, while Daulyte &Zhang preferred to split thepoint peacefully in a relativelyshort game

Round 1 Reserves Games

Szuveges,Narelle (1800) - Ravichandren,Niruruthri (1368) [E36]2016 Australian Women's Reserves Melbourne (1.1), 14.01.20161.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0–0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 d5 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 Re8 9.cxd5exd5 10.Nf3 Bf5 11.e3 Qd6 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.Qxc7 Nc6 14.Be2 Rac8 15.Qg3 Re7 16.0–0Rec7 17.b4 Ne7 18.Ne5 Ng6 19.Nxg6 Bxg6 20.Bg4 Bf5 21.Qf3 Bxg4 22.Qxg4 Rc2 23.h4R8c3 24.Qd7 Rb2 25.Qxd5 Rcc2 26.Qf3 Qxh4 27.Rac1 Rd2 28.Rc8+ Kh7 29.Qf5+1–0

Middleton,Jody (1494) - Lu,Lillian (1521) [C13]2016 Australian Women's Reserves Melbourne (1.2), 14.01.20161.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bd3 h6 8.Bh4 0–0 9.0–0b6 10.Nxf6+ Nxf6 11.Bg3 Bb7 12.c3 c5 13.dxc5 Bxc5 14.b4 Be7 15.a3 Qd7 16.Qe2 Qc617.Rac1 Nh5 18.Rfe1 Nxg3 19.fxg3 Bf6 20.Qc2 Rac8 21.Be4 Qd7 22.Bxb7 Qxb7 23.Qd2Rfd8 24.Qe3 b5 25.Re2 a6 26.h4 Qc7 27.Kh2 Qc4 28.Nd2 Qd5 29.Ne4 Be7 30.Rd2 Qe531.Rxd8+ Rxd8 32.Kh1 f5 33.Qa7 Bxh4 34.gxh4 Qxe4 35.Qf2 Qc4 36.Qe1 Kf7 37.Kg1Rd3 38.Kh1 Kf6 39.Kg1 Qf4 40.Kh1 Re3 41.Qf1 Qxh4+ 42.Kg1 Qe4 43.Qf2 Rd3 44.Qe1Qc4 45.Kh1 g5 46.Kg1 Qb3 47.Qe2 Qxa3 48.Re1 Rd6 49.Qe5+ Ke7 50.Qg7+ Ke851.Qg8+ Kd7 52.Qf7+ Kd8 53.Qf8+ Kc7 54.Qe7+ Kc6 55.Rxe6 Qc1+ 56.Re1 Qxc357.Qe8+½–½

Useful websiteshttp://www.facebook.com/Australian-Womens-Masters-253240558184329/http://chess-results.com/tnr203649.aspx?lan=1