Solomon wins 2008 Elwood Chess Championship

IM Stephen Solomon has won the 2008 Gambit Elwood Bendigo Bank Chess Championship with a score of 6.5/7, ahead of a very strong field. The tournament ran from the 1st-4th of November at the Box Hill Chess Club. The tournament was both a FIDE rated event as well as a Category 5 Myer Tan grand prix event.

Here are the top results:
1st IM Stephen J Solomon (2470)
2nd/3rd FM Michael Baron (2327), Ronald Scott (2252)

You can see the full crosstable by clicking here.

2008 Ryde-Eastwood Open

The 2008 Ryde-Eastwood Open was held at the Ryde-Eastwood Leagues Club from the 4th-6th of October. It was a Category 4 Grand Prix event. The field of 52 players was quite strong.

The final standings were:
1st David Smerdon (2502)
2nd Armen Ayvazyan (2164)
3rd Blair Mandla (1984), Arthur Huynh (1835), Max Illingworth (2170), Andrew Brown (1951), Sebastian Jule (1674), Paul Broekhuyse (2072) and Ronald Scott (2212)

You can find the final crosstable by clicking here.

Coming Australian Grand Prix Events

The following are events that are coming soon. These events are part of the 2008 Myer Tan Australian Chess Grand Prix, a large chess competition with prizes (all strong events are normally part of the grand prix).

There are a couple of strong events coming up, most notably the Elwood Bendigo Bank Open (which I won two years ago!). There is also the Ryde-Eastwood Weekender, which also should be of considerable strength.

Event Place Class Start Finish Contact Ryde-Eastwood Weekender Sydney, NSW 4 4/10/08 6/10/08 www.nswca.org.au/ Wendy Terry Memorial Rothwell, Qld 1 4/10/08 5/10/08 www.caq.org.au/ Labour Day Weekender Adelaide, SA 1 4/10/08 5/10/08 www.sachess.org/ Burnie Shines Weekender Burnie, Tas 1 25/10/08 26/10/08 www.chesstasmania.org.au/ Elwood Bendigo Bank Open Melbourne, Vic 5 31/10/08 4/11/08 chessvictoria.netfirms.com/ Gosford Open Gosford, NSW 1 1/11/08 2/11/08 www.gosfordchess.com/ Fischer's Ghost Campbelltown, NSW 3 8/11/08 9/11/08 www.nswca.org.au/ Darling Downs Gold Cup Toowoomba, Qld 1 29/11/08 30/11/08 www.caq.org.au/ Tuggeranong Vikings Weekender Canberra, ACT 1 29/11/08 30/11/08 Club calendar Christmas Open Perth, WA 1 6/12/08 7/12/08 www.cawa.org.au/

Coming Australian Grand Prix Events

The following are events that are coming soon. These events are part of the 2008 Myer Tan Australian Chess Grand Prix, a large chess competition with prizes (all strong events are normally part of the grand prix).

Event Place Class Start Finish Contact Mackay Open Mackay, Qld 1 2/8/08 3/8/08 www.caq.org.au North Queensland Open Townsville, Qld 1 9/8/08 10/8/08 www.caq.org.au Bundaberg Open Bundaberg, Qld 2 16/8/08 17/8/08 Website Hobart Weekender Hobart, Tas 1 16/8/08 17/8/08 www.chesstasmania.org.au/ Surfers Paradise Open Surfers Paradise, Qld 5 29/8/08 31/8/08 www.kingsofchess.biz/ Blayney Open Blayney, NSW 1 6/9/08 7/9/08 www.nswca.org.au/index.shtml Nell van de Graaf Classic Gold Coast, Qld 1 20/9/08 21/9/08 www.caq.org.au/ Ryde-Eastwood Weekender Sydney, NSW 4 4/10/08 6/10/08 www.nswca.org.au/ Wendy Terry Memorial Rothwell, Qld 1 4/10/08 5/10/08 www.caq.org.au/ Labour Day Weekender Adelaide, SA 1 4/10/08 5/10/08 www.sachess.org/ Burnie Shines Weekender Burnie, Tas 1 25/10/08 26/10/08 www.chesstasmaina.org.au/ Elwood Bendigo Bank Open Melbourne, Vic 5 31/10/08 4/11/08 chessvictoria.netfirms.com/

Coming Australian Grand Prix Events

The following are events that are coming soon. These events are part of the 2008 Myer Tan Australian Chess Grand Prix, a large chess competition with prizes (all strong events are normally part of the grand prix).

Event Place Class Start Finish Contact Freytag Checkmate Open Adelaide, SA 5 5/7/08 6/7/08 Website Geelong Open Geelong, Vic 3 19/7/08 20/7/08 Website Coffs Harbour Open Coffs Harbour, NSW 3 19/7/08 20/7/08 www.nswca.org.au/ ANU Open Canberra, ACT 4 26/7/08 27/7/08 New website! Mackay Open Mackay, Qld 1 2/8/08 3/8/08 www.caq.org.au North Queensland Open Townsville, Qld 1 9/8/08 10/8/08 www.caq.org.au Bundaberg Open Bundaberg, Qld 2 16/8/08 17/8/08 Website Hobart Weekender Hobart, Tas 1 16/8/08 17/8/08 www.chesstasmania.org.au/ Surfers Paradise Open Surfers Paradise, Qld 5 30/8/08 31/8/08 www.kingsofchess.biz/ Blayney Open Blayney, NSW 1 6/9/08 7/9/08 www.nswca.org.au/index.shtml Nell van de Graaf Classic gold Coast, Qld 1 20/9/08 21/9/08 www.caq.org.au/