2013 WA Open

Played at Moreby St Hall, Kensington on the 9th & 10th and 16th & 17th of March.


The turnout of only 15 for this event was not only disappointing, but unexpected. Perhaps we were victims of the WA Elections, I am not sure.

Though missing many of our strongest players, the field had a very solid look about it. I felt a bit sorry for the four players in the U1600 rating group, who were heavily out-gunned by just about everybody. However, for the most part, they acquitted themselves well.

Marc Vlietstra and Akef Saleh took control of the tournament. Marc had the lead by courtesy of Aileen Fisher's draw with Akef, and looked very likely to win the title, but he dropped a bit of a bombshell before the last round: he had a prior engagement and would have to take a zero point bye in the last round!! I am not sure that I have ever seen this happen before.

Anyway, this gave Akef a chance to repeat his WA Open win of 2012, if only he could defeat young George Carolin-Unkovich. He was not able to do so and Marc and Akef finished equal first. This title is decided by tie-break and Marc had the best of both tie-break methods and is the 2013 WA Open Champion.

There was a mass of players behind the first two, with 12 players finishing within two points of each other. In the end, three players shared third place. David Ellis has had many such results over the years, but both George Carolin-Unkovich and Gabriel Nhial are on the improve.

Once again, we only had one woman player, so there was no competition for the WA Womens Championship with Aileen Fisher winning the title.

We initiated a WA Senior Championship in this event. At least, we had two competitors here: David Ellis and Nedeljko Tomic, with David winning fairly comfortably.

The three qualifying places for the WA Closed Championship go to: Marc Vlietstra, Akef Saleh, and Gabriel Nhial. The first reserve is David Ellis and the second reserve is George Carolin-Unkovich.

Report by: Haydn Barber, DOP


Prize Winners


  WA OPEN CHAMPION		Marc Vlietstra  
  WA WOMENS CHAMPION		Aileen Fisher
  WA SENIOR CHAMPION		David Ellis

  Open
 =1st 	Marc Vlietstra 			5.5/7 
	Akef Saleh		 	5.5
 =3rd	Gabriel Nhial	   		4.5
	David Ellis	 		4.5
	George Carolin-Unkovich		4.5

  U/1900
 =1st 	Gabriel Nhial	   		4.5
	George Carolin-Unkovich		4.5

  U/1600
 =1st 	Ignatius Yap	 		3
	Evan Yeung	 		3
	Sean Xiong	 		3


Final Standings


 Place Name                     Loc  Club   Score   M-Buch. Buch. Progr.  

 1-2   Vlietstra, Marc          2052        5.5      20.5  28.5   25.0
       Saleh, Akef              1916        5.5      17.0  23.5   22.5
 3-5   Nhial, Gabriel           1846        4.5      19.0  27.5   18.0
       Ellis, David             1995        4.5      18.0  26.5   17.0
       Carolin-Unkovich, George 1715 Junior 4.5      16.5  25.0   19.0
 6-7   Kelly, Adam              1757 Junior 4        16.0  23.0   10.0
       Dunlop, Gordon           1854        4        16.0  21.0   13.0
 8-9   Fisher, Aileen           1771        3.5      18.5  24.5   14.0
       Tomic, Nedeljko          1821        3.5      14.5  21.0   11.0
 10-13 Yap, Ignatius            1079 Junior 3        20.0  28.5   15.0
       Xiong, Sean              1266 Junior 3        18.0  23.0   13.0
       Yeung, Evan              1490        3        17.5  25.5   13.0
       de Yaak, Peter           1971        3        17.0  22.0   13.5
 14    Janceski, Alex           1890        2.5      18.5  27.0   14.0
 15    Donaldson, Gary          1504        1        17.0  25.0    5.0


Cross Table


 No  Name                     Loc  Club   Total  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    

 1.  Vlietstra, Marc          2052        5.5    8:W  5:W  2:W  4:D 11:W  7:W   :L
 2.  Ellis, David             1995        4.5   10:W  7:D  1:L  9:D 14:W  6:D  3:W
 3.  de Yaak, Peter           1971        3     11:D  6:D 13:W 15:L  8:L 12:W  2:L
 4.  Saleh, Akef              1916        5.5   12:W  9:D  7:W  1:D 15:W 13:W 11:D
 5.  Janceski, Alex           1890        2.5   13:W  1:L 14:W 11:D  7:L 10:L  8:L
 6.  Dunlop, Gordon           1854        4     14:L  3:D 10:W  7:L 12:W  2:D 15:W
 7.  Nhial, Gabriel           1846        4.5   15:W  2:D  4:L  6:W  5:W  1:L 13:W
 8.  Tomic, Nedeljko          1821        3.5    1:L 12:W 15:L 10:L  3:W  9:D  5:W
 9.  Fisher, Aileen           1771        3.5     :W  4:D 11:L  2:D 13:L  8:D 12:W
 10. Kelly, Adam              1757 Junior 4      2:L 13:L  6:L  8:W   :W  5:W 14:W
 11. Carolin-Unkovich, George 1715 Junior 4.5    3:D 14:W  9:W  5:D  1:L 15:W  4:D
 12. Donaldson, Gary          1504        1      4:L  8:L   :W 14:L  6:L  3:L  9:L
 13. Yeung, Evan              1490        3      5:L 10:W  3:L   :W  9:W  4:L  7:L
 14. Xiong, Sean              1266 Junior 3      6:W 11:L  5:L 12:W  2:L   :W 10:L
 15. Yap, Ignatius            1079 Junior 3      7:L   :W  8:W  3:W  4:L 11:L  6:L