Kudos to Max Windsor for leading the way with this event. Similar in some respects to the very successful “Australian Masters” events from a by gone era. The average rating was not as high, but that will come.

There is a HUGE MARKET for this type of event.

Parents will happily pay for their kids to participate in such events.

People travel from all over the world to play in the First Saturday events in Budapest.

Once this format finally buries the “Monster Swiss”, we can get on with promoting the talents of our emerging stars.

I am hoping the RCC Inc. can work with Max to facilitate a bigger version of this event next year.

The second group pays for the top group. Top two from the second group get to play in the top group next time. Pay a stable of local IMs to put their FIDE points up for grabs and charge the others like wounded bulls. Beats driving cabs – and no runners!

RCC Inc. is currently working on our 2024 calendar.

First I heard of this event was last wed. night and it happened on the weekend.

Max, give us a call and lets change the direction of Qld. Chess.  – Kerry Corker

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Tournament Summary

The primary goal of the 2023 St Lucia Winter Challenge was to facilitate a weekend of competitive play between some of Queensland’s strong players, providing an opportunity that does not exist in most other tournaments. Despite the admittedly short list of participants, I believe the event was a success and that it achieved its objective. It was a privilege to observe the games as arbiter this weekend, with spirited and hard-fought contests taking place on every board without exception. Thank you to all the players for supporting the tournament and for creating a friendly atmosphere this weekend!

The star performer of the event was without a doubt FM Jack Rodgers, who blitzed the field in an impressive display of dominance from start to finish. Jack concluded his weekend with a perfect score of 6/6 and was seemingly never troubled in any of his rounds, boasting a healthy time advantage in every game. Perhaps a more apt name for the tournament might have been the Rodgers Endgame Clinic, with Jack converting everything from materially-equal rook endgames to an opposite-coloured bishop endgame into wins. Congratulations to Jack on his outstanding performance this weekend! – Report by Max Windsor.

Prizes

1st Place ($100): FM Jack Rodgers (6/6)
1st Place U2000 FIDE ($70, shared): Jai Turner and Kiamehr Baneshi (3.5/6)

Player Statistics

Player	Rating	ARO	Performance	Rating Change
FM Sravan Renjith	2123	1791	1930	-40.8
FM Jack Rodgers	2042	1803	–	+29.0
Kiamehr Baneshi	1905	1867	1936	+8.8
CM Tyson Walker	1856	1748	1539	-46.4
Michael D’Arcy	1852	1848	1707	-21.0
Gordon Yang	1844	1773	1458	-50.4
Jai Turner	1694	1870	1942	+33.6
Leon Lee	1665	1902	1902	+32.4
Jeeva Praveen	1635	1777	1701	+15.6
Zerui Xing	1588	1900	1900	+65.8