My Impressions of the Sydney International Open
By George Zaprudsky
Even on the plane to Sydney I knew that this was going to be a chess tournament to remember. The Sydney International Open. Strongest chess tournament ever held in Australia. 9 Grandmasters. Wow. Coming to Australia from countries as far as Russia, Israel, the Ukraine. I don’t think I’d ever seen that many Grandmasters in one room before. Many years ago I was fortunate to have met Peter Leko (world No.8) when he visited Australia. And I once saw world no. 12, Vassily Ivanchuk, sleeping on the couch at the old Victorian Chess Association premises in Elizabeth St during his visit to Melbourne. But this tournament was going to be a first for me.
I should say from the outset that I was not playing in the tournament, I was going to Sydney for various reasons, but of course, dropping in on the SIO was going to be the highlight of my trip. Did I regret not playing when I entered the playing hall! Rows and rows of heads in deep concentration. Here was the number 1 seed, Sergei Shipov, whom I often watch playing blitz on the Internet Chess Club. Australia’s 2 Grandmasters were there, as were Australian GM hopes David Smerdon and Zong-Yuan Zhao. I saw Australia’s top juniors, including no. 1 Box Hill junior, Chris Wallis, celebrity chess player Arianne Caoili, controversial chess identity, Matthew Sweeney, and many friends from around Australia whom I hadn’t seen for a long time. What a tournament this promised to be!
Although I had planned to attend the Opening Ceremony, I missed the first day due to an unfortunate incident. A friend had kindly offered to lend me his apartment in Kirribilli while I was in Sydney. Cool, I thought. That’s where the Prime Minister lives. My plane arrived late on the first night and I immediately went to asleep. During the night, I got out of bed for a drink and when I returned to bed, I discovered……
the walls and floor were crawling with cockroaches! Some were even crawling up the sides of the bed. I hadn’t noticed them the night before. Now my friend is a respected Sydney businessman and this was the last thing I had expected to find in his apartment. You think you know some people…. Needless to say, I couldn’t get back to sleep and read a book in the corner for the rest of the night. The next day I checked into a hotel, fell asleep, and as a result, missed the Opening Ceremony of the SIO.
When I finally made it to the tournament, I saw some fascinating games in progress. I saw Victorian juniors Christopher Wallis and Zhigen Wilson Lin go down valiantly to overseas GMs. I saw Melbourne University student Sam Chow hold Shipov to a draw on board 1 in a long Rook + Bishop + Pawn Vs Rook + Knight + Pawn endgame. I was fortunate to have had a win over Sam in an allegro game several months earlier. ‘Imagine what I could have done against these GMs,’ I thought. Wishful thinking, no doubt. That day I saw plenty of upsets, by the end of the 3rd round, there were only GMs and IMs left undefeated on 3/3.
The next time I came in armed with my camera. Some were keen to be in my photos, some not so keen. Tony Davis said to me, ‘Do you have to take a photo of me when I’m on 1 out of 4?’ My mate Domagoj Dragicevic said, ‘I am here to play GM’s, not these guys from Australia.’ Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of the beauty and the beast clash between Angelo Tsagarakis and Arianne Caoili where Angelo came out on top. Well done, Angelo. I also put my camera to good use on the ferry ride back to Sydney city from Parramatta. I have been to Sydney close to 20 times but this was the first time I had caught the Parramatta ferry, and the views of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House were some of the best I had ever seen.
The tournament eventually drew to a close, with first place being shared by Grandmasters Georgy Timoshenko and Dejan Antic on 7.5 points. Daryl Johansen won a memorable game over Ian Rogers (who had been leading all tournament) in the last round to finish on 7 points with International Masters Gary Lane and Zong-Yuan Zhao. Some fantastic individual performances, great camaraderie, friends made, acquaintances re-established. I enjoyed hanging out at the tournament, if only as a spectator, maybe next year I will play and try to knock off a GM or two.
Victorian chess coach, IM Leonid Sandler, plays a simul outside the tournament venue.
A giant chess set, organised as part of the Parramatta Chess Festival.
The tournament hall, with top boards up on stage.
IM Gary Lane Vs Marc Repplinger (closest board).
IM Stephen Solomon Vs Malcolm Pyke (next board).
Igor Goldenberg Vs Chris Wallis, which ended in a hard fought draw. Spot the GMs and IMs in the background.