2015 Burnie Shines

Overview

The 2015 Burnie Shines Tournament was taken out by Joshua Loh with Ian Rout coming second and David Rolph a clear third.  With 8 of the 11 competitors within 150 points of each other there were no easy games right from round 1.  Considering the field having outright 1st, 2nd, and 3rd was a pleasant rarity, and it wasn't through lack of trying.  A quick last round draw between Josh Loh and Dylan Kuzmic gave Ian Rout the chance to claim equal 1st and leaving 3 players on equal 3rd, but David Rolph held Ian to the mark to draw in the crucial last-round game.

William Rumley continued his rise up the Tasmanian ratings with a win over 3rd seed Reg Harvey.  While William claimed the Tasmanian U12 state championship with 9 from 9,  Reg is his biggest scalp yet.

List of Players

Final Standings

Cross Table


Day 1

Day 1 of the Burnie Shines event is always a gruelling one.  With 4 games and potentially 8 hours of chess, it can be a last man standing affair.  With this tight field there were no easy games; win, lose, or draw, your next opponent was likely just as hard as the previous.  As a result, all games in the first 2 rounds were decisive, but only 4 from 10 games in the remaining 2 rounds of the day ended with someone taking a full point.

ROLPH, David (1608) - PEIRCE, James (1539) [C10]

Burnie Shines 2015 Havenveiw Primary School (1), 24.10.2015

 

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+

Position after sideline 13.Bxc5

5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.Nf3 h6 7.Bxf6 Nxf6 8.Bd3 is another way to play the position if white wants to keep his nice centralised knight.

5...Qxf6 6.Nf3 c5

striking at the centre is not a bad idea, but in this position it allows some strong counterplay from white as they are given the opportunity to strike at the misplaced queen. 6...h6 7.Bd3 c5 is possibly a better way of doing things, but after 8.Be3 black is spending a lot of time striking at the centre and is falling behind in development.

7.Bg5 Qf5 8.dxc5

Position after 17...e5

capturing with tempo against the black king.


8...f6 9.Be3 Bxc5 10.Bd3 Qh5 11.Qe2 0–0?!

after regaining material equality and getting out of the mate threats black castles into danger.

12.Rd1

Position after sideline 22.Nf3

Black is given a life, but still has problems with his stunted development.  12.Bxh7+! Qxh7 (12...Kxh7 13.Ng5+) 13.Bxc5 (diagram above).

12...Bxe3 13.Qxe3 Qa5+ 14.Rd2?!

14.Nd2 Qxa2 15.Nc4 and with all of black's pieces on bad squares, white has an advantage despite being down the a pawn.

14...Qxa2 15.0–0 Qxb2 16.Nd4 Qb6 17.Re1 e5 (diagram above)

17...Nc6 18.Nxc6 (18.Nxe6? black will liquidate and just be up 2 pawns. 18...Qxe3 19.Rxe3 Bxe6 20.Rxe6) 18...Qxc6 and white's compensation is wearing away.

18.Qe4 g6 19.Bc4+ Kg7 20.Rd3 Na6

20...Kh8! this simple aggressive retreat sets up counter chances for black.  White's knight on d4 is still under attack, and with no Ne6+, Bf5 (winning more material) is threatened. 21.g4 Bd7 (21...exd4 leads to a very computer like forcing line where a draw is the most likely result with correct play. 22.Rh3 Qb4 23.Bd3 f5 24.Qe5+ Kg8 25.Qd5+ Kg7 26.Qe5+ with perpetual the best for both sides.) 22.Nf3 (diagram above) and black is getting developed and gaining control of the game.

Position after 22...Nc5

21.Ne6+ Bxe6 22.Rb3 Nc5?! (diagram left)

not losing, but unnecessary.  22...Qd6 23.Rxb7+ Kh8 24.Qh4 h5 25.Bxe6 Qxe6 Black is now a piece and a pawn up and should have no hassle putting away the point.; 22...Qa5 is another way to retain the material.  This line takes some careful calculation, but once black is happy he's not getting mated, he'll enjoy a substantial material and positional advantage. 23.Rb5 Qa4 24.Rxb7+ Kh8 25.Qh4 h5 26.Qe4 Qxc4 27.Qxg6 Rf7 28.Qh6+ Kg8 29.Qg6+ Kf8 30.Qh6+ Ke8 31.Qh8+ Rf8 32.Qg7 Qc5 once black exchanges off some of the imposing heavy pieces, the game will be his.

Final position.

23.Rxb6 Nxe4 24.Rxb7+ Kh6 25.Rxe4 f5?

Black's initiative has dwindled, and white's counter play will prove stronger than black's extra pawn.

26.Rh4+ Kg5 27.Rbxh7 Bxc4 28.Rxc4 Rfd8??

an easy blunder to make in a drawn position.  Black wants to be the first to drum up initiative, but now mate is forced. 28...e4; 28...f4; 28...Rfc8 all of these moves avoid the mate threat, and the game should be drawn.

29.h4+ Kf6 30.Rc6+ (diagram right)

1–0

 

 

LOH, Joshua (2181) - LITTLE, Ian (1565) [A48]

Burnie Shines 2015 Havenview Primary School (2), 24.10.2015

 

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 g6 3.Bg5 d6 4.Nbd2

Position from sideline 12...c5

in the absence of Bg7 this is a valid line for white, but the arising structure is nothing for black to fear, and he will also retain the bishop pair advantage. 4.Bxf6 exf6 5.g3 Bg7 6.Bg2 f5 7.0–0 Nd7 8.c4 0–0 9.Nc3 Re8 10.e3 Nf6 11.b4 Ne4 12.Qc2 c5 (diagram right)

4...Nbd7 5.e4 h6 6.Bh4 e5

6...g5 7.Bg3 Nh5 8.c3 Bg7 9.Bd3 c5 is another way to play the position.

7.Bc4 Bg7 8.dxe5 Nxe5 9.Nxe5 dxe5 10.Qe2 0–0 11.0–0–0

by white's own admission after the game this is a little ambitious.  Black has chances to generate a quick attack on the queenside.

Position after 14...Ba6

11...c6 12.h3

aimed against something landing on g4, but unneccesary.

12...b5 13.Bb3 a5 14.c3 Ba6? (diagram left)

black is trying to make something of the discovered attack, but the bishop was much better placed on the c8. 14...Qe7 15.a3 (15.a4; 15.Bc2 Be6 16.Kb1 Rfb8 17.g4 a4 18.Rhg1 b4 19.c4 b3 20.axb3 axb3 21.Bxb3 Qb4) 15...b4 16.axb4 axb4 17.c4 Qa7

Position after 21...Kh6

 

15.Qf3 Qe7 16.g4 a4 17.Bc2 c5 18.g5 Nh5 19.gxh6 Qxh4 20.hxg7 Kxg7 21.Rdg1 Kh6 (diagram right)

the critical move that black missed.  With Nf4 white's attack will soon be stunted, but black's can continue, if only a little slower. 21...Nf4! 22.Rg4 Qf6 23.h4 (23.Nf1 b4) 23...Rh8 (23...b4)

22.Rg4 Qf6 23.Qe3+ Nf4 24.Nf3 b4 25.Nxe5 Qxe5 26.Rxf4 Kg7 27.Rh4 Rh8 28.Rxh8 Rxh8 29.f4 Qh5 30.Bxa4 Qe2 31.Qxe2 Bxe2 32.Rh2 Bf3 33.e5 Rh4 34.Bd7 Rxf4 35.Rf2 g5 36.Kd2 Bd5 37.Rxf4 gxf4 38.cxb4 cxb4 39.a3 bxa3 40.bxa3 (diagram below)

Position after 40.bxa3

Black has "survived" the middle game, but has come into a lost bishop and pawn end game.  With the pawns split across the board it's only a matter of time before the remaining bishop will become too stretched, and while white can always sacrifice at the right moment, black will never have that option.

40...Kg6 41.Kd3 Kg5 42.Kd4 Bg2 43.Be8 Kh4 44.Bxf7 Bc6

the other try for black is 44...f3 but after 45.Ke3 the game is still lost. (45.e6 f2 46.e7 f1Q 47.e8Q Qa1+) 45...Kg3 46.Bc4 f2 47.a4 f1Q 48.Bxf1 Bxf1 49.e6 Bxh3 50.e7 Bd7 51.a5 Bb5 52.a6

45.e6 f3 46.Ke3 Kg3 47.e7 f2 48.Bc4 Kg2 49.h4 Be8 50.Kf4 Bf7 51.Ba6 Kh3 52.Kg5 Be8 53.h5

1–0

 

 

ROLPH, David (1608) - KUZMIC, Dylan (1602) [B00]

Burnie Shines 2015 Havenview Primary School (3), 24.10.2015

 

1.e4 e6 2.d4 b6 3.Nf3 Bb7 4.Bd3 c5 5.c3 cxd4 6.cxd4 Nf6 7.Nc3 Bb4

7...d5 for black to even equalise d5 must be played at some stage.

Position after 12...Qg4

8.Qe2 Qc7 9.Bd2 Bxc3 10.Bxc3 Qf4 11.d5

another way to play the position is. 11.Bd2 Qg4 12.h3 Qg6 (12...Qxg2 13.0–0–0 is not good for black.) 13.Nh4 Qh5 14.Qxh5 Nxh5 and white has a nice space and development advantage.

11...0–0 12.g3 Qg4?! (diagram right)

it looks like the queen will soon be trapped.

13.h3 Qh5 14.g4 Nxg4

only slightly better is 14...Qg6 15.e5 (15.Nh4 Qh6 16.g5 (16.Nf3) 16...Qxh4 17.gxf6 g6) 15...Nxd5 16.Bxg6 fxg6 17.Nd2 Nf4 18.Qf1 and black doesn't have enough compensation for the queen.

15.Rg1 f5

Position after 17.O-O-O

15...Qxh3 16.Ng5 Qh4 17.Rxg4 is winning for white.; 15...Nf6?? is not possible due to the pin on the g pawn. 16.Bxf6

16.hxg4 fxg4 17.0–0–0? (diagram left)

a rare case of it being unwise to castle!  Castling gives black the opportunity to capture on f3 and kill white's initiative.

17...Rxf3 18.dxe6 dxe6 19.Bc4 Kf7?

19...Qh6+ is a nice tempo gaining move that protects the e pawn. 20.Kb1 Nc6 is necessary to prevent Rd8+ 21.Rxg4 Rxc3 22.bxc3 Ne5 23.Rgg1 Qf6 black is down an exchange for a pawn, but now it is white's king who is open, and black will soon collect a second pawn and be fine.

Final Position

20.Rd6

20.Bxe6+! is crushing. 20...Ke8 (20...Ke7 21.Bb4+ Kf6 22.Bxg4 wins; 20...Kxe6 21.Qc4+ and black's exposed king and underdevelopment will cost him the game.) 21.Bxg4 wins on all lines.

20...Bc8 21.Rd8 Qg5+ 22.Rd2 Qh5 23.Qxf3+ gxf3 24.Rxg7+ Ke8 25.Rg8+ Kf7 26.Rg7+ Ke8

½–½

 

 

 

 

HARVEY,Reg (1644) - RUMLEY,William (733) [A45]

Burnie Shines 2015 Havenview Primary School (4), 24.10.2015

 

1.d4 Nf6 2.e3 g6 3.Bd3 Bg7 4.c3 0–0 5.f4 Nc6 6.Nf3 d6 7.0–0 Re8 8.e4 e5 9.fxe5 dxe5 10.d5 Nb8

Position after 14.Qe1

Black has played very principledly, even with this slightly inaccurate retreat, the closed nature of the position does not make it a disaster, and the knight can always be redeployed to d7.

11.c4 c6 12.Bd2 Qb6+ 13.Kh1 Ng4 14.Qe1 (diagram right)

14.Qc1! is a nice tactical defence of the f2 square as 14...Nf2+? 15.Rxf2 Qxf2 16.Be3 and the queen is trapped. The move also sets up standard ideas of trading the dark squared bishops at the correct moment.

14...Qxb2

Black has won a pawn and is making inroads into the position.  While the missing f and d pawns change the structure from a normal KID type to something unique, black can play to somewhat similar KID plans and has some ability to do that.

15.Bc3 Qb6 16.h3 Nh6 17.Qd2 Nd7 18.Na3 cxd5 19.cxd5 Qd6 20.Nc4

20.Nb5 heading for the c7 square was stronger here.

Position after 31...Nf6

20...Qc7 21.Rab1 b6 22.Bb4 Ba6 23.Bd6 Qc8 24.Rfc1 Qd8 25.Ne3 Bxd3 26.Bc7 Qe7 27.d6 Qe6 28.Qxd3 Qxa2 29.Nc4 Qa6 30.Qd5 Qc8 31.Rf1 Nf6 (diagram left)

the past 10 moves have, for the most part, seen black on the defensive avoiding queen attacks.  However, after some inaccuracies from both players, the game has arrived at this position with black up 2 pawns but somewhat smothered with very little space.  White has a monster passed pawn and the game will now revolve around white's ability to queen that pawn.  If white can, he will surely win, if he can't, then it is likely the passed a and b pawns of black will be triumphant.

32.Qc6 Qd7 33.Ncxe5 Qxc6 34.Nxc6 Rxe4 35.Rfe1 Ree8

Position after sideline 43...Rxd7

35...Rae8 36.Nxa7 Rxe1+ 37.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 38.Nxe1 Nd7 39.Nc8 Bd4 could see the game end in a draw.; 35...Nf5 36.Rxe4 Ng3+! a sneaky way to recapture which keeps an eye on the important d7 square.

36.Ne7+ Kh8 37.Ng5 Nd7 38.Rf1 f5

38...Bf6 wins, as black will either win material, or the strategically important d pawn. 39.h4 (39.Ne4 Bxe7 40.dxe7 Rxe7) 39...Bxe7 40.Nxf7+ Kg7 41.Nxh6 Kxh6 42.Rf7 Bxh4 43.Rxd7 (diagram right)

39.g4 Bf6 40.h4 Nxg4 41.Rfe1 Bxe7 42.Rxe7 Rxe7 43.dxe7 Re8 44.Re1 Kg7 45.Bd8 h6 46.Ne6+ Kf7 47.Nc7 Rg8??

47...Nge5 This is not an easy move to spot, and it does involve an exchange sacrifice, but black is still winning in this position by virtue of the fact that white's bishop must keep an eye on the d pawn. 48.Nxe8 Kxe8 now white's hopes of a win are all but over, his best chance is to jettison the d pawn for some bishop activity.  But in all lines, stopping the army of black pawns will not be easy.

48.Re6??

Final position

48.e8Q+ Rxe8 49.Rxe8 and now black is the one in trouble.  The extra rook, along with the fact that white has the only bishop, should be more than enough to handle the pawns.

48...Ngf6

the double blunder has returned the game back to the deserving player's favour.

49.Rxf6+?

the final mistake, black will recapture and cover the queening square.

49...Nxf6 50.Kg2 a5 (diagram left)

0–1


Day 2

Day 2 saw some fresher faces that had recovered from the previous days upsets.  While Josh Loh had a comfortable lead the tournament was wide open and anything could happen.

KUZMIC,Dylan (1602) - PEIRCE,James (1539) [C00]

Burnie Shines 2015 Havenview Primary School (5), 25.10.2015

 

1.e4 e6 2.f4

I'm certain this version of the French has a name (La Bourdonnais according to Mr Peirce), but I'm equally as certain any French player would now be out of book.

2...d5 3.e5 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.Bxc6 Bxc6 7.d4 Nh6 8.c3 Be7 9.0–0 Nf5 10.Bd2

slightly inaccurate.  While white needs to get developed, this move just allows the thematic Qb6 to be played with very few decent replies.

10.g4 what else to do but attack while you can.  Despite white's impressive pawn chain and space, if he doesn't drum up something quick black's bishop pair advantage and lead in development will prove problematic for white.

Position after 12.g4

10...Qb6 11.Qb3 Qc7

perhaps there were other, more ambitious, moves but this doesn't hurt black.

12.g4 (diagram left)

had to be played sooner or later for white to make any progress.

12...Nh6 13.h3 f5

13...c4 14.Qd1 0–0–0 locking the queenside and castling out of the attack.

14.g5

14.exf6 gxf6 15.c4 trying to break down blacks imposing centre before he castles.  It's an aggressive strategy as white's own king is looking a little breezy.

14...Nf7 15.Rf2 a5

up until now the c4 and O-O-O plan has been on the table, and with each move white uses to commit more resources to the kingside, that option has been getting stronger.  Now that a5 has been played, that option is less attractive.

Position after 26...Qc4

16.a4 Rb8 17.Na3 b5 18.axb5 c4 19.Qc2 Bxa3 20.Rxa3 Rxb5 21.Rf1 Qb6 22.Rb1 Rb3 23.Rxb3 cxb3 24.Qd1 Qb5 25.Be3 a4 26.Ra1 Qc4 (diagram right)

after black committed to some more traditional French ideas, such as executing a queenside attack as a counter to white's kingside push, the game has arrived at this reasonably equal position.  The central pawn structure is closed, with both bishops being quite bad.  The chances of a decent pawn break for either player are slim.  Black can attempt to swap the position of his queen and bishop, and then arrange the advance of the a pawn if he wants to press for the win.  White will find it difficult to arrange a decent break on the kingside and can only hope to foil black's ideas to penetrate.

Final position.

27.Kf2 Bb5 28.Nd2 Qd3 29.Nf3 Qc4 30.Nd2 Qc6 31.Nf3 0–0 32.Nh4 Nh8 33.Kg3 Ng6 34.Nxg6 hxg6 35.h4 Kf7 36.Qd2 Rh8 37.Rc1 Qc4 38.Qd1 a3 39.bxa3 b2 40.Rb1 Qxc3 41.Qd2 Qxa3 42.Rxb2 Rb8 43.Kf2 Qa1 44.Qc1 (diagram left)

Black was probably correct in accepting the draw here, as the pin on the b file could prove enough to give white time to re-group and make it harder to hold the draw.  But the position is still dead equal, and black is not forced to exchange.

½–½

 

 

 

ROLPH,David (1608) - ROUT,Ian (1978) [C56]

Burnie Shines 2015 Havenview Primary School (6), 25.10.2015

Position after 14.N4b3

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.e5 d5 6.Bb5 Ne4 7.Nxd4 Bd7 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.0–0 Bc5 10.Be3 Bb6 11.Qe2 0–0 12.f3 Ng5 13.Nd2 c5 14.N4b3 (diagram right)

A fairly book opening of the Scotch with neither player risking much so far, and both avoiding the sharp traps this opening can often ensnare players in.

14...d4

14...Ne6 is a solid reply that holds a slight edge for black.  Black can decide on his course of action after white has committed to a pawn structure.

Position after sideline 23.Nxf2

15.Bxg5 Qxg5 16.f4

16.Nc4 is another way to defend the pawn and provide a route for the b knight to re-enter the game. 16...f6 17.a4 a5 18.f4 Qg4 19.Qxg4 Bxg4 20.Nbd2 and the position is balanced with chances for both sides.

16...Qg6 17.Nc4 Rae8 18.Qf2 Bf5 19.Rac1 f6 20.Nbd2 fxe5 21.Nxe5

21.fxe5 is not possible because 21...Be4 white has to be prepared to sacrifice the queen for the bishop and rook, and then hold the end game. 22.Nxe4 Rxf2 23.Nxf2 (diagram left)

Final position.

21...Qe6 22.Ndc4 Be4 23.Rce1 Qd5 24.Re2 Bf5 25.Qh4 Bc8?!

an unneccesary retreat. 25...Qxc4 26.Nxc4 Rxe2 is an interesting way to unbalance the position.  But as in the previous example, black has to be prepared to hold the end game with a rook and bishop for the queen.

26.Rf3 Qd8 27.Qxd8 Rxd8 28.Nc6 Rde8 29.Rxe8 Rxe8 30.N6e5 Bf5 31.Rf2 c6 32.g4 Be6 33.Kf1 Bc7 34.f5 (diagram right)

a very accurate game for the last round of the tournament, and a deserving result for both players who took out second and third place.

½–½