Happy New Year

by Junta

My time on exchange in Kyōto is approaching its end, and I'll be returning to Canberra in late February. My time here has been an amazing one, but the thing I've maybe missed the most in Japan is playing strong chess tournaments - there were only two FIDE-rated tournaments in Japan in 2013, in May and August. I look forward to playing a lot once I'm back in Australia.

I've been watching some of the games from the current Australian Championships (with three FIGJAM members, Fedja, Andrew and Moulthun playing), and it's been very interesting to follow. With three players in the lead after Round 7 of 11 as below, the finish should be very exciting!

5.5 - Papin, Ly, Cheng
5 - Bjelobrk, Tu
4.5 - Illingworth, Solomon, Johansen, Lane, A. Smirnov, Wohl, Li

Edit: Max Illingworth finished very strongly and became the new Australian Champion.