South Island Championship 2021
Express Report by Bill Forster
Covid doubts hung around the South Island Championship this year almost until its eve, which undoubtedly had a terrible effect on the turnout. However redoubtable organiser and arbiter Craig Hall never lost hope of running the tournament, and in the end made lemonade out of the lemons by running a small but decent quality round robin with 7 players and 7 rounds. Some entertaining chess was the reward, and a selection of games is presented here.
FM Stephen Lukey was a clear favourite going into the event, but already in round 1 there were signs he was a little rusty. His opponent here had a good tournament, earning him a share of second place.
Lukey, Stephen G - Membrere, Briene
2021 South Island Championship
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.Nf3 g6 5.d6 Bg7 6.cxb5 O-O 7.Nc3 a6 8.e4 axb5 9.e5 Ng4 10.Bg5 Qa5 11.dxe7 Re8 12.Bxb5 Nxe5 13.O-O h6 14.Bf4 Rxe7 15.Nxe5 Bxe5 16.Bxe5 Rxe5 17.Qd6 Re6 18.Qxc5 Bb7 19.Qd4 Nc6 20.Qxd7 Re7 21.Qd2 Qb4 22.a3 Qh4 23.Bxc6 Bxc6 24.f3 Rae8 25.Qf2 Qg5 26.Ne4 Qf4 27.Rae1 Bb5 28.Qd4 Bxf1 29.Rxf1 Re6 30.g3 Qb8 31.Nf6+ Rxf6 32.Qxf6 Qa7+ 33.Kh1 Qd7 34.Qa6 Qd2
Moves are clickable
White's two extra pawns are fully balanced by a weak king and active Black pieces. It's easier to play Black 35.Qb6 Re2 36.Qg1 Qxb2 37.Re1 Rc2 38.a4 Kh7 39.g4 Qc3 40.Qe3 Qf6 41.Re2 Rc3 42.Qe4 Rxf3 43.Kg1 Rf4 White lost on time in a lost position (43...Rf4 eg 44.Qd5 Rxg4+ 45.Kh1 Qa1+ ) (43...Rf4 or 44.Qe8 Rf1+ 45.Kg2 Qf3# ) 0-1
By way of contrast, eventual winner second seed CM David Cilia Vincenti played some sparkling chess right from the start as can be seen in this round 1 effort.
Cilia Vincenti, David - Perrin, Brent
2021 South Island Championship
1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.g3 f5 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.O-O d6 7.d3 Bxc3 8.bxc3 Nc6 9.Nd4 Ne7 10.e4 fxe4 11.dxe4 e5 12.Nb3 b6 13.f4 Nc6 14.f5 Ba6 15.g4 Bxc4
Moves are clickable
16.g5! Nd7 (16...Bxf1 17.Qxf1 Nd7 18.Qc4+ ) 17.Rf3 With a strong attack 17...Qe8 18.Rh3 Qf7?
19.Rxh7! And that's that 19...Rfd8 20.g6 Qe7 21.Qh5 Kf8 22.Rh8+ Bg8 23.Rxg8+ 1-0
Young Ryan Koo has been formidable in NZCF's fun online tournaments this year, but he couldn't convert that form into over-the-board success. In this tournament he developed that most unfortunate habit of bringing out the best in his opponents. This game from round 2.
Koo, Ryan Gyeong Mo - Cilia Vincenti, David
2021 South Island Championship
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.e5 Ne4 More usual is ( the thematic 5...d5 Black makes this sideline hum ) 6.O-O Be7 7.Re1 d5 8.exd6 Nxd6 9.Bd5 O-O 10.Bxc6 bxc6 11.Nxd4 Bd7 12.Qf3 Bf6 13.Nxc6 Re8 Black has full compensation 14.Rd1 ( not 14.Rxe8+?? Qxe8 with two threats ) 14...Qc8! Threatening Bg4. David starts rolling out hammer blows 15.h3 Bf5 16.Nb4 Be4 17.Qg4 Qb7 18.Nd3
Moves are clickable
18...h5! Ooof. As Mike Tyson would say, everybody has a plan until they're hit in the face 19.Qg3 Nf5 20.Qh2 Bxd3 21.cxd3 Be5
22.Qh1 Donald Trump was visiting, apparently he saw this position and was heard to say "Sad!" 22...Qb6 23.Kf1 Qf6 Good enough (23...Ng3+ 24.fxg3 Bxg3 25.Qg1 Qf6+ and mates would have been an even more fitting finish ) 24.Kg1 Ng3 0-1
In this game Ryan relaxed his guard just for a second.
Perrin, Brent - Koo, Ryan Gyeong Mo
2021 South Island Championship
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bb5 Bc5 5.O-O d6 6.h3 O-O 7.Re1 Nd4 8.Nxd4 Bxd4 9.d3 c6 10.Bc4 a5 11.a4 Re8 12.Ne2 Ba7 13.Be3 Bxe3 14.fxe3 Qb6 15.Ng3 Qxb2 16.Rb1 Qa3 17.Rf1 d5 18.exd5 cxd5 19.Bb5 Rf8
Moves are clickable
20.Rxf6!? gxf6 21.Nh5 Qd6 22.Qf3 f5 23.e4 dxe4 24.dxe4 f4 25.Rd1 Qg6 26.Rd5 f6 27.Rd6 Rb8 28.Rb6 Kh8 29.Kf1 Qg5 30.Qd1
Black is well on top, but... 30...f5? 31.Qd6! Whoops 31...Be6 32.Qxe5+ Kg8 33.Qxe6+ Rf7 34.Nf6+ Kg7 35.Ne8+ Rxe8 36.Qxe8 Re7 37.Qd8 f3 38.Qd4+ Kf7 39.Bc4+ 1-0
The top seeds clash was the tournament highlight for Stephen Lukey and David Cilia Vincenti's only setback.
Cilia Vincenti, David - Lukey, Stephen G
2021 South Island Championship
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.e4 d6 6.Nge2 e5 7.O-O Be6 8.d3 Qd7 9.Nd5 c6 10.Nxf6+ Bxf6 11.Nc3 Bg7 12.Be3 Na6 13.Qd2 f5 14.exf5 gxf5 15.f4 Nc7 16.Rad1 Bf7 17.fxe5 dxe5 18.Bh6 Bh5 19.Bxg7 Qxg7 20.Rde1 Rae8 21.Bf3 Bxf3 22.Rxf3 Ne6 23.Kh1 Ng5 24.Rff1 Kh8 25.Qe3 a6 26.d4 e4 27.h4
Moves are clickable
27...Ne6 Missing an opportunity ( Presumably 27...Nf3!! was avoided due to 28.Rxf3 exf3 29.Qxe8 but now comes 29...f2! forcing 30.Qxf8+ Qxf8 and Black is winning ) 28.d5 Nd4 29.Qf4 Rg8 30.Kg2 Nf3 Black gets the knight to f3 anyway 31.Re2 Qg6 32.h5 Qxh5 33.Rh1 Qg6 34.Rh6 Qg7 35.dxc6 bxc6 36.Rxc6 Qd4 37.Qe3 f4 Good enough to force resignation ( although 37...Rxg3+ 38.Kxg3 Qg7+ 39.Kh3 Qg4# is mate, but chess is easy for computers ) 38.Qxd4+ Nxd4 It's nice when one of these forks wins a whole rook rather than just an exchange 0-1
Nick Cummings played some nice chess to finish second equal with Lukey and Membrere.
Perrin, Brent - Cummings, Nick
2021 South Island Championship
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.c3 Bg7 4.d4 cxd4 5.cxd4 d5 6.exd5 Nf6 7.Nc3 Nxd5 8.Bc4 Nxc3 9.bxc3 O-O 10.O-O Nc6 11.Bf4 b6 12.Qe2 Bb7 13.Rac1 Rc8 14.Rfd1 Na5 15.Bb5 Qd5 16.Ba6 e6 17.Bxb7 Qxb7 18.Ne5 Rfd8 19.h4 Qe7 20.h5 Qh4 21.Qf3 f6 22.Nd3 Qxh5 23.Qe3 Qf5 24.Re1 Kf7 25.Nb4 Nc4 26.Qf3 Rd7 27.g4 Qb5 28.Qe2 Re7 29.Qe4 Qd7 30.Re2
Moves are clickable
White's position is too loose 30...e5! 31.dxe5 Qxg4+ 32.Kh1 fxe5 (32...f5! ) 33.Nd5 Ree8 34.Rg1 Qh4+ 35.Kg2 exf4 36.Qf3 Rxe2 37.Qxe2 Qg5+ 0-1
Again Ryan Koo came up against an inspired opponent.
Cummings, Nick - Koo, Ryan Gyeong Mo
2021 South Island Championship
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 d6 5.Nc3 O-O 6.O-O Nc6 7.Rb1 e5 8.b4 a6 9.a4 Bf5 10.d3 e4 11.Nh4 Be6 12.Nxe4 Nxe4 13.Bxe4 d5 14.cxd5 Bxd5 15.Bxd5 Qxd5 16.Nf3 Qa2 17.Bf4 a5 18.b5 Nb4 19.Bd2 Rfe8 20.Re1 Nc2 21.Rf1 Nb4 22.Rc1 Re7 23.d4 Rc8 24.e3 c5 25.bxc6 bxc6 26.Rc5 Ra7 27.Qa1 Qe6 28.Qb1 Bf8 29.Rcc1 Rac7 30.e4 Bd6 31.Ng5 Qd7 32.Qb3 c5 33.e5 c4 34.Qe3 Re8
Moves are clickable
35.exd6!? I think someone was watching game 6 of the World Championship 35...Rxe3 36.dxc7 Re8 37.Rxc4 Rc8 38.Rfc1 Qxa4? 39.Ne4! Winning 39...Kf8 There was no way to prevent Nd6 (39...Qd7?? 40.Nf6+ ) 40.Nd6 Qd7 41.Nxc8 Qxc8 42.Bxb4+ axb4 43.Rxb4 One of those rare instances where two rooks are worth 63 pawns more than a queen according to Stockfish:-) 1-0
Another uncharacteristic insipid game from Lukey.
Lukey, Stephen G - Perrin, Brent
2021 South Island Championship
1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 Be7 5.c4 O-O 6.O-O d6 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Qc2 Nxc3 9.Qxc3 a5 10.b3 Bf6 11.Bb2 Nc6 12.Rad1 Qe8 13.e3 e5 14.Qd2 Kh8 15.a3 Qh5 16.b4 f4 17.exf4 exf4 18.b5 Ne7 19.Qxf4 Bg4 20.Rd3 Bf5 21.Rc3 g5 22.Qc1 g4 23.Nd2 Qg6 24.Re3 Rae8 25.Rfe1 Bg5 26.d5+ Kg8 27.R3e2 Bf6 28.Bxf6 Qxf6 29.Ne4 Bxe4 30.Bxe4 Rf7 31.Qd2 b6 32.Re3 Ref8 33.f4 h5 34.Bc2 Kh8 35.Re6 Qg7 36.Qe3 Nf5 37.Bxf5 Rxf5 38.Re7 R5f7 39.Rxf7 Rxf7 40.Qe8+ Kh7 41.Qe4+ Kh8
Moves are clickable
An in form Stephen Lukey would be expected to put this game away 42.Kf1 Qc3 43.a4 Qf6 44.Qe6 Qg7 45.Kg2 h4 46.Qe8+ Kh7 47.Qe4+ Kh6 48.gxh4 Kh5
49.Kg3? Qf6 Black now has sufficient counterplay 50.Kg2 Kxh4 51.Qe8 Qxf4 52.Qh8+ Kg5 53.Qg8+ Kh4 54.Qh8+ Kg5 55.Qg8+ Kh4 56.Qh8+ 1/2-1/2
Some nice defensive play and endgame technique from the tournament winner.
Black, Ross - Cilia Vincenti, David
2021 South Island Championship
1.d4 f5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bg5 d5 4.Nf3 e6 5.e3 Be7 6.Bd3 O-O 7.Qe2 Ne4 8.Bxe7 Qxe7 9.Bxe4 fxe4 10.Ne5 b6 11.O-O-O Ba6 12.Qg4 Rxf2 13.h4 Nd7 14.Nxd5 exd5 15.Qxd7 Qxd7 16.Nxd7 Rd8 17.Ne5 Rxg2 18.Rdg1 Rxg1+ 19.Rxg1 c5 20.c3 cxd4 21.cxd4 Rf8 22.h5 Rf3 23.Kd2 Rf2+ 24.Kc1 Bd3
Moves are clickable
Role reversal. The bad Dutch bishop is too strong and the e5 knight that often dominates it has to submit to an exchange 25.h6 g6 26.Nxd3 exd3 27.Rg5 Rf5 28.Rg3 Rh5 29.Rg2 Rxh6 30.Kd2 Rh3 31.Kxd3 Rf3 32.b4 Kf7 33.a4 h5 34.a5 bxa5 35.bxa5 h4 36.a6 h3 37.Rc2 g5 38.Rh2 g4 39.Ke2 Rf6 40.Rf2 Rxf2+ 41.Kxf2 Kf6 42.Kg3 Kf5 43.e4+ Kxe4 44.Kxg4 h2 0-1
Some nice tactics.
Perrin, Brent - Black, Ross
2021 South Island Championship
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nxd5 4.d4 g6 5.Be2 Bg7 6.O-O O-O 7.Re1 Nd7 8.c4 N5b6 9.c5 Nd5 10.Nc3 N7f6 11.Bg5 Bf5 12.Nh4 Be6 13.Nf3 c6 14.Qd2 Qc7 15.Bh4 Rfe8 16.a3 b5 17.Bg3 Qb7 18.Bd3 a5 19.Ne5 b4 20.Ne4 Nxe4 21.Bxe4 f6 22.Nd3 b3
Moves are clickable
23.Bxg6! hxg6 24.Rxe6 Kf7 25.Rae1 Rh8 26.Qe2 Bh6 27.Qf3 Rad8
28.Rxc6! ( Actually 28.Ne5+! is even prettier and more forceful 28...Kxe6? allows mate in three 29.Qg4+ f5 30.Qxg6+ Nf6 31.Qf7# ) 28...Kg7 ( Of course 28...Qxc6 29.Ne5+ ) 29.Rce6 (29.Rc7! underlines White's dominance more ) 29...Rhe8 30.Nf4 a4 31.h4 Kf7 32.h5 Bxf4 33.hxg6+ Kxg6 34.Qe4+ Kf7 35.Bxf4 Rh8 36.c6 Qb5 37.Bd2 Rdg8 38.g3 Rc8 39.Rc1 Nc3? Giving up a knight to get in Qh5 is never going to work with White's central control, in particular g2 and h1 are covered 40.Rxe7+ Kf8 41.Bxc3 Qh5 42.Bb4 Qh2+ 43.Kf1 Qh3+ 44.Ke2 Qh5+ 45.Kd3 Qg5 46.Re5+ Kf7 47.Rxg5 fxg5 48.Qf5+ Kg7 49.Qxg5+ Kf7 50.Re1 1-0
One more standard tactic to finish.
Koo, Ryan Gyeong Mo - Lukey, Stephen G
2021 South Island Championship
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.O-O Bg7 5.Re1 e5 6.c3 Nge7 7.a4 a6 8.Bc4 O-O 9.Bd5 d6 10.d3 Nxd5 11.exd5 Ne7 12.c4 b6 13.Nc3 h6 14.Rb1 g5 15.h3 Ng6 16.b4 f5 17.Qb3 Ra7 18.bxc5 bxc5
Moves are clickable
Get ready for an instructive mistake 19.Qb6? Qxb6 20.Rxb6 e4! Ouch 21.Nxe4 fxe4 22.dxe4 Rd7 23.Be3 Ne5 24.Nd2 Bf6 25.Rbb1 Bd8 26.Rec1 Ba5 27.Nb3 Bb4 28.Bd2 Rb7 29.Bxb4 Rxb4 30.Na5 Rxa4 0-1