Thursday 24 September 2009

Solomons Islands International - Day 1

The 2009 Solomon Islands International started this afternoon, with everyone making it to the venue except for one crucial person. Tournament organiser Gary Bekker missed his early morning flight from Melbourne to Brisbane, meaning he then missed the connection to Honiara. He hopes to catch another flight tomorrow and make it time for the start of round 3.
The rest of us received a fantastic welcome at the tournament venue, the Red Mansion Comfort Inn. There was a brief opening ceremony, followed by the drawing of lots and then round 1. This evening there will be an official welcome, with a number of local dignitaries in attendance.
The tournament itself consists of 4 overseas FIDE rated players, and 6 local players. The first round saw the visitors up against the local players with the Shaun Press, Lee Jones and Brian Jones all recording wins. The unlucky visitor was Kerry Stead who lost to the SI Zonal representative Fernando Aguilar. However Kerry did have a small excuse in that he was up until 3am last night winning a Poker tournament at the Sydney Casino.
Here is my first round game, which resulted in a quick win after my opponent allowed a killing check with my queen.

Teusa,S - Press,S (2075) [A00]
Solomons Island International Honiara, Solomon Islands (1.2), 24.09.2009

1.a3 e5 2.e4 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.exd5 Nxd5 5.Nxd5 Qxd5 6.c3 Nc6 7.d3 Bf5 8.Be3 0-0-0 9.c4 Qd7 10.b4 Bxd3 11.Bxd3 Qxd3 12.b5 Qc3+ 13.Bd2 Rxd2 14.Qxd2 Qxa1+ 15.Ke2 Nd4+ 16.Ke3 Qxa3+ 17.Ke4 f5+ 18.Kxe5 Qd6# 0-1

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