South Island Championship / Nelson Open 2013

There was no rest for the wicked after the George Trundle Masters. After a few hours of sleep I was booked to try to teach New Zealand’s best and brightest something about chess. The main theme was a tabia most famous from Karpov – Browne 1972. Naturally I showed off with my games featuring similar positions, like Rogozenko – Wohl  and a few others that regular readers will be familiar with. I then made up the rest of the time with a quick overview of the English defense.

Since the audience was very strong  I was not able to bluff my way through and had to answer some probing questions.

A few hours late I played the toughest Simultaneous exhibition ever. Several participants from the challengers tournament were playing and I scored 2/3 against them! The smiling Hans Gao, pictured below took all the pawns I offered and was one of the first to fall. He walked into one of my “landmines” and never stood a chance. Nathan Goodhue took all the material I blundered and Alpheaus Ang got squeezed in a French variation he didn’t know.

Of the others Caroline Yan comprehensively outplayed me in an ending while her younger sister Sarah held a draw without too much trouble.

We finished about 11.20pm so again, not much sleep and the next morning it was off to the airport for the one hour flight to Nelson. This part was nice. No identity check, no luggage screening, just like hopping on a bus. Those that enjoy a good grope will be disappointed. And the aircraft?