2022 State Allegro Championship


Twenty-seven players contested the WA Allegro Championship over-the-board at Southern Suburbs Chess Club on Sunday 13th March. The turnout was very encouraging, given Perth is nearing the peak of its Omicron wave with nearly 5,000 COVID cases per day at present. Masks were worn by all players, and 2 sqm distancing was maintained in accordance with the WA Government's current Level 2 public health measures.

All players enjoyed their day and contributed to some very good chess.

Tim Hare gained a half-point lead in Round 5 by defeating the top seed FM Patrick Gong. However, Patrick was able to draw level in Round 7 after Tim drew his game with Bozidar Mandic. Both Patrick and Tim finished on 8.0/9, which meant that a two-game blitz (3+2) playoff took place for the Championship. Patrick won the playoff 2-0 to become 2022 WA Allegro Champion. Tim had already secured the 2022 WA Seniors' Allegro Championship in the main tournament, finishing 2.5 points ahead of the second-placed senior (Bozidar Mandic).

The Women's category produced an exciting contest, with WFM Kathryn Hardegen and Celine Ong being neck-and-neck from Round 6 until both players met by chance in the final round, in a game to decide the title. Their game, a main line Ruy Lopez, was the last game to finish in the tournament. Celine faced some pressure in the middlegame, but managed to generate counterplay and eventually reach a level endgame. With both players down to around 1 minute on the clock, Kathryn declined a draw by repetition but instead traded down, misjudging the dynamic king-and-pawn endgame that resulted, which was later found to be winning for Black with best play. However Celine chose the wrong path at a crucial stage, and Kathryn was able to queen first and ultimately score the full point to win the 2022 WA Women's Allegro Championship, also finishing outright 4th (6.0/9).

Finishing outright 3rd, and 1st Under 1800, was Sri Dharmapuri (6.5/9). This was an excellent result by Sri, which included wins over past champion Bozidar Mandic and the defending champion Jamie Laubbacher.

Equal 1st Under 1550 were Josh Davoll and Daniel Clarke (5.0/9). Josh played very well in the first half of the tournament in particular, with a win against Jamie and a draw with Bozidar. Daniel had a slower start but was then able to score 5 points from his final 6 games.

Current WA Girls' Champion Celine Ong (5.0/9) won the Under 1300 prize. Celine has improved her chess markedly in the past 12 months, and spent considerable time on the top boards in this year's Allegro. Perhaps her best win was against David King.

An honourable mention goes to 11 year old Liam Raptis (4.5/9) who, in four successive rounds, claimed the scalps of Daniel Clarke, David King, Dylan Gough, and fifth seed Neville Shah. Liam already has a theoretical understanding of chess that is probably unsurpassed among WA juniors of his age, and he has a good grasp of tactical possibilities. If he continues to work hard and play regularly then he may soon be a strong force in CAWA adult events.

Congratulations to all prizewinners:

2022 WA Allegro Champion: FM Patrick Gong (8.0/9) [after 2-game playoff with Tim Hare]

2nd, and 2022 WA Seniors' Allegro Champion: Tim Hare (8.0/9)

3rd, and 1st Under 1850: Sri Dharmapuri (6.5/9)

4th, and 2022 WA Women's Allegro Champion: WFM Kathryn Hardegen (6.0/9)

Equal 5th, and 2nd placed Senior: Bozidar Mandic (5.5/9)

Equal 5th: Jamie Laubbacher & Neville Shah (5.5/9)

Equal 1st Under 1550: Josh Davoll & Daniel Clarke (5.0/9)

1st Under 1300: Celine Ong (5.0/9)

Report kindly provided by: FA Andrew Hardegen (Chief Arbiter -- 2022 WA Allegro Championship)


Final Standings


 Pos Pts  ID  T  NAME                      | Rtg  PRtg Fed |  Buc1  BucT 
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 
  1  8.0   1  FM Gong,Patrick              | 2455 2168  WA |  46.5  51.5
  2  8.0   2     Hare,Tim                  | 2191 2142  WA |  44.0  46.5
  3  6.5  11     Dharmapuri,Sri Krishna Ko | 1673 2012  WA |  45.5  49.0
  4  6.0   4 WFM Hardegen,Kathryn          | 2038 1895  WA |  47.5  52.0
  5  5.5   3     Mandic,Bozidar            | 2144 1781  WA |  44.5  48.0
  6  5.5   6     Laubbacher,Jamie          | 1948 1786  WA |  43.0  46.0
  7  5.5   5     Shah,Neville              | 2033 1630  WA |  41.5  45.0
  8  5.0  15     Davoll,Josh               | 1505 1892  WA |  47.0  50.5
  9  5.0   7     Ashworth,Matthew          | 1800 1649  WA |  42.5  46.0
 10  5.0   8     King,David                | 1754 1566  WA |  41.0  42.5
 11  5.0  21     Ong,Celine                | 1297 1703  WA |  39.5  41.0
 12  5.0  19     Clarke,Daniel             | 1365 1262  WA |  31.5  33.0
 13  4.5  26     Raptis,Liam               | 1101 1660  WA |  41.5  45.5
 14  4.5  22     Koh,Shannon               | 1285 1502  WA |  36.5  40.0
 15  4.5  18     De Heer,Alex              | 1383 1440  WA |  35.0  36.5
 16  4.5  13     Gough,Dylan               | 1592 1410  WA |  34.5  36.0
 17  4.0  12     Hansen,Niels              | 1627 1483  WA |  39.0  40.5
 18  4.0  24     Barbare,Ishaan            | 1256 1602  WA |  37.0  39.5
 19  4.0  14     Tomic,Nedeljko            | 1563 1436  WA |  33.5  35.0
 20  4.0  23     Gupta,Aarnav              | 1258 1435  WA |  33.0  34.5
 21  4.0  25     Umasankar,Naveen Ramnat   | 1205 1291  WA |  31.5  33.0
 22  4.0  17     Smith,Aidan               | 1400 1360  WA |  30.0  31.5
 23  3.5  16     Wolstencroft,Alan         | 1441 1315  WA |  34.5  36.0
 24  3.5  20     Gupta,Anoushka            | 1305 1209  WA |  32.5  34.0
 25  3.0   9     Yeung,Evan                | 1733 1168  WA |  34.5  36.0
 26  2.0  27     Sethuraman,Jaswanth Ram   |  797 1113  WA |  32.5  34.0
 27  2.0  28     Yu,Bruce                  |  717  993  WA |  29.5  31.0
 28  0.0  10     Giraldo Avila,Juan Fel(W) | 1700    0  WA |  26.0  27.0


Cross Table


 Pos NAME                 Rtg  T  Fed  Pts |   1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9   |  Buc1  BucT  
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
  1  Gong,Patrick         2455 FM  WA  8.0 | +W8   +B10  +W5   +B4   -W2   +W3   +B6   +B11  +W9   |  46.5  51.5 
  2  Hare,Tim             2191     WA  8.0 | +B23  +W25  +B7   =W3   +B1   +B13  =W5   +B4   +W8   |  44.0  46.5 
  3  Dharmapuri,Sri Krish 1673     WA  6.5 | +W21  +B6   +W18  =B2   +W17  -B1   -W4   +B5   +W10  |  45.5  49.0 
  4  Hardegen,Kathryn     2038 WFM WA  6.0 | =B15  +W16  +B9   -W1   +B8   =W7   +B3   -W2   +W11  |  47.5  52.0 
  5  Mandic,Bozidar       2144     WA  5.5 | +W22  +B17  -B1   =W8   +W20  +B18  =B2   -W3   =B6   |  44.5  48.0 
  6  Laubbacher,Jamie     1948     WA  5.5 | +B24  -W3   -B8   +W9   +B14  +W17  -W1   +B19  =W5   |  43.0  46.0 
  7  Shah,Neville         2033     WA  5.5 | +W12  +B19  -W2   +B11  -W13  =B4   +W18  -B10  +W15  |  41.5  45.0 
  8  Davoll,Josh          1505     WA  5.0 | -B1   +W15  +W6   =B5   -W4   +B22  =B9   +W14  -B2   |  47.0  50.5 
  9  Ashworth,Matthew     1800     WA  5.0 | +W11  =B18  -W4   -B6   +W16  +B20  =W8   +B13  -B1   |  42.5  46.0 
 10  King,David           1754     WA  5.0 | +B14  -W1   -B13  +W23  +B26  -W11  +B17  +W7   -B3   |  41.0  42.5 
 11  Ong,Celine           1297     WA  5.0 | -B9   +W27  +B25  -W7   +B24  +B10  +W13  -W1   -B4   |  39.5  41.0 
 12  Clarke,Daniel        1365     WA  5.0 | -B7   -W13  -B23  +B21  +W27  -W14  +BYE  +B22  +BYE  |  31.5  33.0 
 13  Raptis,Liam          1101     WA  4.5 | -W17  +B12  +W10  +B16  +B7   -W2   -B11  -W9   =B14  |  41.5  45.5 
 14  Koh,Shannon          1285     WA  4.5 | -W10  +B22  -W17  +B19  -W6   +B12  +W20  -B8   =W13  |  36.5  40.0 
 15  De Heer,Alex         1383     WA  4.5 | =W4   -B8   +W21  -B20  -W19  +B26  +W24  +B18  -B7   |  35.0  36.5 
 16  Gough,Dylan          1592     WA  4.5 | +W26  -B4   =W20  -W13  -B9   +B21  -W19  +B24  +W17  |  34.5  36.0 
 17  Hansen,Niels         1627     WA  4.0 | +B13  -W5   +B14  +W26  -B3   -B6   -W10  +W23  -B16  |  39.0  40.5 
 18  Barbare,Ishaan       1256     WA  4.0 | +BYE  =W9   -B3   +W24  +B25  -W5   -B7   -W15  =B23  |  37.0  39.5 
 19  Tomic,Nedeljko       1563     WA  4.0 | +B27  -W7   -B26  -W14  +B15  +W25  +B16  -W6   -BYE  |  33.5  35.0 
 20  Gupta,Aarnav         1258     WA  4.0 | -B25  +W23  =B16  +W15  -B5   -W9   -B14  =W21  +W27  |  33.0  34.5 
 21  Umasankar,Naveen Ram 1205     WA  4.0 | -B3   =W24  -B15  -W12  +BYE  -W16  +B27  =B20  +W25  |  31.5  33.0 
 22  Smith,Aidan          1400     WA  4.0 | -B5   -W14  -B24  +BYE  +W23  -W8   +B25  -W12  +B26  |  30.0  31.5 
 23  Wolstencroft,Alan    1441     WA  3.5 | -W2   -B20  +W12  -B10  -B22  +BYE  +W26  -B17  =W18  |  34.5  36.0 
 24  Gupta,Anoushka       1305     WA  3.5 | -W6   =B21  +W22  -B18  -W11  +B27  -B15  -W16  +BYE  |  32.5  34.0 
 25  Yeung,Evan           1733     WA  3.0 | +W20  -B2   -W11  +B27  -W18  -B19  -W22  +BYE  -B21  |  34.5  36.0 
 26  Sethuraman,Jaswanth   797     WA  2.0 | -B16  +BYE  +W19  -B17  -W10  -W15  -B23  -W27  -W22  |  32.5  34.0 
 27  Yu,Bruce              717     WA  2.0 | -W19  -B11  +BYE  -W25  -B12  -W24  -W21  +B26  -B20  |  29.5  31.0 
 28  Giraldo Avila,Jua(W) 1700     WA  0.0 | -BYE   --    --    --    --    --    --    --    --   |  26.0  27.0