Author: BCC

Day 4 – the heat is on

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GM Sune Berg Hansen looking pensive at the start of his sixth round match with IM Atanu Lahiri

The atmosphere is incredibly concentrated at this stage of the tournament. Mokal Sunil held GM Short to a second draw, while GM Hansen storms into a half point lead with a fine win over IM Atanu Lahiri.

The Indian junior Suri Vaibhav continues his remarkable performance with a win over Siyuan Shen of China, so he is one of 5 players chasing Hansen, with 5/6 points. Perhaps Suri will achieve his final IM norm.

In the Challenger group, defending champion Andrew Horton-Kitchlew, Frenchman Stephane Reinert and unrated Joel Pacuribot share first place with 4/4.

Fight for the #1 spot

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Top seeds GM Nigel Short and GM Sune Berg Hansen

The third day proceeded well. With just one afternoon game per day, the top players were able to prepare for their opponents. The top seeds faced each other and fought tenaciously, but in the end a draw could not be avoided. Going into the 6th round there are 4 players on 4.5 points, so we should continue to see some fine chess.

In the Challenger section there are 6 players with 3/3 points and two more close behind with 2.5

Thailand Open day 2

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Local favourate FM Wisuwat challenges GM Short

More upsets, but not on the top two boards. Leading the field after 4 rounds are GM Nigel Short, GM Sune Berg Hansen and IM Sunil Mokal Prathamesh, all on maximum points, closely followed by IM Jayaram Ashwin, IM Atanu Lahiri and WGM Mohota Nisha on 3.5/4. That will have to end tomorrow as the two top boards face each other (Short has white) – that should be a memorable game as it has got to be too soon for insipid handshakes after 6 moves. Crosstables and pairings at chess-results.com

FM Wisuwat Teerapabpaisit leads the field of local players with 3/4.

The Challenger group kicked off today with two games. Results and board pairings can be found at chess-results.com

1st day complete

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Top boards at the Thailand Open 2010
Top boards at the Thailand Open 2010

The first 2 rounds are complete and there have been a few upsets, with IM Rahul Shetty  beating GM Marat, and Danish IM Torben Sørensen giving a point away to WFM Kulkami Bhakti. Full results and pairings for the next round are available at chess-results.com

Check out the Google search story…

Democrats face dissolution

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Abhisit Vejjajiva, Eton educated PM of Thailand, about to expel his breakfast

The Election Commission on Monday decided by a vote of 4-1 to recommend the dissolution of the ruling Democrat Party for receiving an illegal 258 million baht donation and the alleged misuse of a 29 million baht political development fund provided by the EC. Democrat Party executives, including Prime Minister Abhisit, could be banned from politics for five years if the Constitution Court upholds the Election Commission’s  finding.

If this is upheld then presumably the Redshirts have achieved their objective, and they can all go home. And at this rate there will be nobody left to run a government as all current politicians will be under a 5-year ban.

Anyone want to run for office?

Hiatus

BCC

The Government appears to have backed away from any further confrontation – if their intention was to test the redshirts resolve, I think they have their answer. Now we are in a kind of stand-off while some kind of compromise solution is hammered out. Most likely the government will bring forward the elections without dissolving the house immediately. Time for Songkran festivities.

Meanwhile our star player, GM Nigel Short has arrived in Bangkok, and us organisers have no time for a holiday!