Rotorua wrap-up: An Oceania obituary

Chess can be the most beautiful of princesses, or the most of the most treacherous of mistresses. Unfortunately, there’s been no fairytale for me this tournament.

Zong-Yuan Zhao convincingly showed why he is clearly the strongest player in Oceania, completing an emphatic tournament victory with an amazing 8.5 out of 9. He put the competition to bed with a marathon win over me in round seven. Handling the black pieces once again, I burned all my bridges in order to create the most complex tactical melee I could… but Yuan was up to the task. His performance over the past week was perhaps the most impressive tournament performance ever by an Australian – certainly the most impressive I’ve ever seen.

But Yuan’s win wasn’t the only highlight from this zonal. Four other names merit serious mention. Max Illingworth’s final round win (naturally, in his trademark black hat) over Bobby Cheng capped off a fearless and clinical display. Mouthan Ly was unlucky not to finish higher, playing some great attacking chess and showing some amazingly professional opening preparation. My last round conqueror, Andrew Brown, played exceptionally well throughout the whole competition and held his nerve against me to earn a well-deserved International Master title. And finally, my housemate Emma lived up to her billing as the brightest star in Australian women’s chess, not only picking up the Women International Master title but jointly winning the women’s competition in the process.

And as for me? I’m writing this from our lake house while the presentation takes place, which is most unlike me. In fact, I usually champion that it’s every titled player’s moral obligation to attend the prize givings, and I can’t remember the last time I missed one. But I just couldn’t face the sight of the tournament hall again, not after my worst chess performance in a decade.

I didn’t play up to my normal level, that’s for sure, but I also didn’t play that badly. The credit must go to my opponents who ‘upset’ me, as they fully deserved their results. No, the most worrying thing about my tournament was that at no point did I enjoy the chess. I didn’t even enjoy the wins – I just didn’t get the same pleasure from the game as I used to. Readers may recall my post on the feeling of losing a big game, so you can imagine the effect of a one-off catastrophe like this.

And the effects of chess, unfortunately, don’t just restrict themselves to the game. This New Zealand trip has been amazing – I’ve had some fantastic times with some fantastic mates, met some amazing people and enjoyed some incredible experiences in this great country. But chess has a way of masking all of that. Right now I’m trying to remember all the good times that I should be taking home with me from this zonal adventure, rather than writing this trip off as a wasted chess sojourn.

Chess really can be the cruelest of mistresses. But like all heartbreaks, the pain will dull with time. And I’ve got one a bunch of great mates, pizza, beer, a spa and some really bad movies to help that happen during our last night here in Kiwi land.