2009 Victorian Open

The 2009 Victorian Open had a great turnout of 94 players. It was held at Box Hill Chess Club (Melbourne) from the 6th-8th of June. The top seed was GM Gawain Jones (2560). This tournament has been registered as a Class 4 Grand Prix tournament, improving on last year.

Here are the final results:
1st-2nd IM Mirko Rujevic (2223, and winner on countback) and FM Erik Teichmann (2296) on 6/7
3rd-7th Domagoj Dragicevic (2166), GM Gawain Jones, IM Stephen Solomon (2379), IM Igor Goldenberg (2384) and IM Guy West (2292) on 5.5/7

2009 43rd Ballarat Begonia Open

The 2009 43rd Ballarat Begonia Open was held from the 7th-9th of March and the venue was the historic Old Gaol building. This tournament was FIDE-rated and a Category 3 Grand Prix.

The following ratings are ACF ratings. The event was won jointly by FM (soon-to-be IM) Igor Goldenberg (2376) and FM Erik Teichmann (2240), both on 6/7 with Goldenberg having the higher countback.

3rd-5th were Christopher Wallis (2124), IM Mirko Rujevic (2217) and Bobby Cheng (2133).

Click here to see the final crosstable for the 2009 43rd Ballarat Begonia Open.

2009 43rd Ballarat Begonia Open Begins

The 2009 43rd Ballarat Begonia Open will be held from the 7th-9th of March (during the long weekend) and the venue is the historic Old Gaol building. The top 10 boards play in "elevation" which is lower than the normal boards, referred to as "the pit" (sorry if that explanation seemed strange). This tournament is FIDE-rated and is a Category 3 Grand Prix. The top seed has not been officially announced.