Report from Monday, May 25 - Teams Comp

Mingara went into the final round of the CC Teams Challenge against Gosford facing an insurmountable deficit, but restored some pride by narrowly winning the final round. Gosford led 12.5 to 5.5 with six games to play and finished with a 15-9 victory.
Our improved results came courtesy of strong performances on Boards 4, 5 and 6, where all Mingara players faced higher rated opponents and all had wins. Lou Kreidl beat Ramon Alvarez, Hughie Winsor won a piece against Neil Clark and calmly made his advantage pay, and Tim Guo wreaked havoc after working his queen into the king's side of the uncastled Carlos Gutierrez.

We congratulate Gosford on taking the championship that last year was ours and look forward to being the challengers in 2010.

Next Monday, June 1, brings the start of our five-round French Defence tournament,
when all games will begin 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5.

The draw will be done at 7.55 and games will start immediately following the Mingara Cash draw. The time control will be 90 minutes, one round to be played each Monday night. Play will be suspended in favour of social games on the June 8 public holiday.

See teams individual standings and cross table below.

2009 Teams Challenge - Round 4 - Cross Table

No Name               Rtg Loc  Club    Total  1    2    3    4  

1  Clark, Neil            1165 Gosford 3      4:W  4:W 10:W  6:L
2  Curtis, John           2261 Gosford 3      0:   9:W  9:W  8:W
3  Jacobs, Rocky          1272 Gosford 3     16:W 16:W  6:W  1: 
4  Kreidl, Lou            1254 Mingara 2      1:L  1:L 11:W 11:W
5  Losh, Gary             1520 Mingara 2     11:L 11:W 12:D 12:D
6  Winsor, Hugh           1007 Mingara 1.5    7:L  7:D  3:L  1:W
7  Gutierrez, Carlos      1122 Gosford 1.5    6:W  6:D  0:  10:L
8  Santrac, Branko        1639 Mingara 1.5   13:L 15:W 15:D  2:L
9  Nutter, John           2029 Mingara 1     15:W  2:L  2:L  4: 
10 Guo, Timothy           817  Mingara 1      0:   0:   1:L  7:W
11 Alvarez, Ramon         1300 Gosford 1      5:W  5:L  4:L  4:L
12 Pascoe, John L         1398 Gosford 1      0:   0:   5:D  5:D
13 Berry-Porter, Zach     1759 Gosford 1      8:W  0:L  0:   0:L
14 Farrell, Keith R       1370 Gosford 1      0:   0:   0:  16:W
15 Rowlison, Colin N      1832 Gosford .5     9:L  8:L  8:D 11: 
16 Keaveney, Joseph       1401 Mingara 0      3:L  3:L  0:  14:L

Report from Monday May 11 - Teams Comp

Mingara lost its second-round encounter with Gosford but did manage to score almost 50 per cent, a big improvement on the previous week. Branko Santrac took a point from higher-rated opponent Colin Rowlison, while Gary Losh beat Ramon Alvarez. Hughie Winsor aimed to show better form to reverse his first round loss to Carlos Gutierrez and appeared to be on track after gaining a convincing material advantage, but the game ended in a draw by stalemate. The third round will be played at Gosford on Tuesday, May 19.

Report from Monday May 4 and Teams Comp

John Kadlubek showed a liking for quick chess when blitzing the field in the six-round, 10-minute rapid held on Monday May 4.

Just a few weeks ago he was asking what he had to do to win a game. It seems he has found the answer. John, the lowest rated player in the field, lost only to Branko Santrac and finished with 5/6. Branko suffered two losses and claimed equal second spot with Carlos Gutierrez (who played above his rating) and Gary Losh.

Mingara made a disastrous start to its defence of the CC Teams title when being thrashed by Gosford 5-1 at CC Leagues Club on Tuesday May 5. Branko Santrac, Gary Losh and Lou Kreidl all made game-losing blunders, the latter two falling from positions of material advantage.

Branko lost on Board 2 to Zach Berry-Porter, Gary on Board 3 to Ramon Alvarez, Joe Keaveney lost on Board 4 to Rocky Jacobs, Lou lost to Neil Clark on Board 5 and Hughie Winsor lost to Carlos Gutierrez on Board 6.

Our only winner was top board player John Nutter, who picked up a couple of pawns against Colin Rowlison and made the advantage count.

Winning from 5-1 down after the first of four rounds is not impossible, but the fight-back will need to begin next Monday night when we see what strength Gosford can field away from home.

Cross table for Monday 4th May

No Name                  Rtg Loc  Total 1   2   3   4   5   6  

1  Kadlubek, John            838  5     6:W 5:W 3:L 8:W 4:W 2:W
2  Gutierrez, Carlos         1122 4     4:W 3:L 5:W 6:W 7:W 1:L
3  Santrac, Branko           1639 4     7:W 2:W 1:W 4:L 8:W 6:L
4  Losh, Gary                1520 4     2:L 7:W 8:W 3:W 1:L 5:W
5  Keaveney, Joseph          1401 3     8:W 1:L 2:L 7:W 6:W 4:L
6  Pascoe, John L            1398 3     1:L 8:W 7:W 2:L 5:L 3:W
7  Guo, Timothy              1235 1     3:L 4:L 6:L 5:L 2:L 8:W
8  Scherpenisse, Jacinta     950  0     5:L 6:L 4:L 1:L 3:L 7:L