2021 Fringe Festival Banter Blitz and GM Simul

The Fringe World State of Play chess events concluded with the Banter Blitz and the GM Simul played on Friday 22nd & Saturday 23rd of January 2021 respectively.

On Friday afternoon more than 30 people gathered, at responsible physical distances of course, in the foyer of the State Theatre's Studio Underground for a couple of hours of casual blitz. It was very pleasing to see such a good turnout with many interested members of the public along with some familiar faces. At one point the emergency services turned up for a random COVID capacity check - and stayed on to play some games!

The chess events then wrapped up on Saturday afternoon with a simultaneous exhibition by GM Temur Kubokarov. Again, the turnout was excellent with, at one point, more than 50 spectators taking in the scene as Temur took on 20 opponents. Surely there have been WAFL games with fewer supporters.

Temur Kuybokarov played white on all boards and allowed for plenty of open chess by starting with 1 e4 (best by test). There were some remarkably interesting games with perhaps Derek's being of note when he shook up the Ruy Lopez with 3 ...f5. Unfortunately, the time constraints on the venue meant that most games had to be adjourned after about 20 moves with only the top five boards continuing with clocks. In scenes reminiscent of the Queen's Gambit Temur then dashed between the boards as his time ticked down. He agreed to two quick draws and won the remaining three games with some nice technical play against Jamie at the end.

Temur's pick of the best games were Rebo, Keegan, Jamie, Saminda and Yonal. Well done to all for keeping Temur on his toes.


 Board  White                    Result    Black                 Evaluation  

 1      GM Temur Kubokarov        1-0      David Ellis	
 2      GM Temur Kubokarov      1/2-1/2    Rebo Fu	
 3      GM Temur Kubokarov        1-0      Keegan O'Mahoney	
 4      GM Temur Kubokarov        1-0      Jamie Laubbacher	
 5      GM Temur Kubokarov      1/2-1/2    Alan Wolstencroft	
 6      GM Temur Kubokarov         *       Saminda De Vas              ??
 7      GM Temur Kubokarov         *       Oscar Gao                   ??
 8      GM Temur Kubokarov         *       Derek Roebuck            -0.13
 9      GM Temur Kubokarov         *       Ian McAteer              +0.49
 10     GM Temur Kubokarov         *       Fred Maris               +0.48
 11     GM Temur Kubokarov         *       Iker Hernandez Mendez       ??
 12     GM Temur Kubokarov         *       Dylan Gough              +3.93
 13     GM Temur Kubokarov         *       Anastasia Ploshkina         ??
 14     GM Temur Kubokarov         *       Erick Ng                 +8.25
 15     GM Temur Kubokarov         *       Benjamin Hurst              ??
 16     GM Temur Kubokarov         *       Nick Stevenson              ??
 17     GM Temur Kubokarov         *       Alistair Berry              ??
 18     GM Temur Kubokarov         *       Yonal De Vas                ??
 19     GM Temur Kubokarov         *       Shannon Koh              +4.87
 20     GM Temur Kubokarov         *       Angus Chen               +9.64

An * indicates that the game was adjourned due to the event time running out. Evaluation is by Stockfish 8 on a pretty average PC but it will be close enough.
The PGN of some of the games is available here

More photos and a mash up clip of the photos are available from: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/54kiugbk6kmqnxj/AABxRKwTKtM7nGsQs4of9EO2a?dl=0

Overall, the Fringe World State of Play chess events have been outstandingly successful with incredibly positive feedback from both existing CAWA chess players and the many new faces that have come along to play or just watch. To top it all off, the Check Mate: Courtyard Chess Tournaments was then announced as the winner of the Community & Special Events Weekly Award for FRINGE WORLD Festival 2021. A special thank you to Kaitlin and Alice and everyone at the State Theatre of WA for giving us the opportunity to stage these events and a big thank you to everyone who has taken part in any capacity.

Report by Ian McAteer - Fringe World State of Play chess events CAWA Coordinator