Saturday 1 April 2017

2017 Dubbo Open - Day 1

The 2017 Dubbo Open started with a solid field of 30 players, mixing participants from the local region and further afield. Top seed was Dragan Granjas from Bathurst, NSW, with local champion Don Keast 2nd seed, and fellow Dubbo player Trever Bemrose seeded third.
However at at the end of the first 3 rounds, none of these players have a share of the lead. Instead 4th seed WFM Alana Chibnall, is on 3/3, along with CM Leon Kempen from Victoria, and Slavko Kojic (NSW). Chibnall defeated top seed Granjas in the third round, in a game where a dispute over the recording of moves marred an otherwise tough battle. Kempen beat Keast with a nice attack while Kojic beat Rod McPhee.
There were more than a few upsets on the first day, with local junior Kerwin Ma finishing with 2.5/3. He beat two higher rated opponents in rounds one and two before drawing with Bemrose in round 3. Mary Wilkie also had  good result in beating Alexander Aich, her first ever win against Aich in this event.
After round 3 10 players took part in the Time Handicap Blitz, where higher players conceded time on the clock to their lower rated opponents. This did not make enough of a difference as top seed Alana Chibnall won the tournament for the third time in 4 years.
The final three rounds will take place tomorrow, with Kempen playing Kojic, and Chibnall playing Bemrose on the top 2 boards.
  

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