2009 Oceania Zonal

The 2009 Oceania Zonal was held at Tweed Heads, Gold Coast (Outrigger Twin Towns Resort) from the 20-26th of June. It was a strong tournament with a whole range of titled players. The top seed was GM Zong-Yuan Zhao (2583).

Here are the final results:
1st IM and soon-to-be GM David Smerdon (2489) with 7.5/9
2nd-7th (in countback order) FM James Morris (2114), GM Zong-Yuan Zhao, FM Igor Bjelobrk (2332), IM Stephen Solomon (2455), Bobby Cheng (2103) and Michael Steadman (2262) with 6.5/9

This zonal tournament gives out official chess titles. It is worthy to note that FM James Morris achieved the IM title, while Bobby Cheng and Michael Steadman both received FM titles.

In the female tournament, there were 18 players with the highest seed being IM Irina Berezina (2252).

Here are the final results:
1st WIM Arianne Caoili (2172) with 8/9
2nd IM Irina Berezina with 7/9
3rd WFM Sue Maroroa with 6/9

I'm not too sure about this, but I think Sue Maroroa receives the WIM title, while Vaness Reid (1837) and Sarah Anton (1718) both get WFM titles.

Click here to see the final crosstable for the 2009 Oceania Zonal Open tournament.

Click here to see the final crosstable for the 2009 Oceania Zonal Womens tournament.