FM Chris Wallis is the highest rated player on the active list who is playing, and good on him as Chris rarely misses the chance to play in this event. In fact, the first time I played in the Victorian Championship I had to play against Chris when he was still a junior, a very strong one, but still a junior. Back then, in 2006 the tournament was arranged as round robin events where each round was played at different clubs in metro Melbourne. As the clubs meet on different days and at different times, it was a cumbersome event, but the top division was always strong, with the lowest rated players rarely dropping below 2000. I came equal first with Chris in the 2006 challengers event, so we both qualified for the 2007 Championship and both played regularly thereafter. This format was the brainchild of Victorian President Gary Wastell, but when he took over the mantel of Australian Chess Federation President and Leonid Sandler became Victorian President, the tournament format changed.
The first change was that the Victorian Championship stopped being shared around the clubs and found a single venue to host. While this is less inclusive and representative of the Melbourne chess scene, it is certainly more convenient for players who can fix a regular time and day and place in their calendar. Box Hill Chess Club has been the regular host of the event for a number of years. As one of the bigger and stronger clubs, this has meant the event has a good turn out, though it certainly favours players who live on the east of the city. I think it is safe to say that no venue will be perfect for all players! The second change was that the event morphed from being a round robin to an elite swiss tournament of 24 players and this year has expanded to 36 players. While this gives more chance for more players to compete, it makes the event less elite. It also makes the tournament less unlike other events that clubs run through their calendar year in Melbourne and Victoria. I'm looking at the field and seeing a strongish open field, but nothing that much stronger than the top events that the stronger clubs are running.
So what is the answer? Actually, is there an answer? I personally feel that if the top players don't want to compete, then tough for them and good luck for those who bothered to turn out. Liren Ding is the current World Champion because he was the best player who bothered to show up for the event. In this respect, and seeing the format if becoming more like open swiss tournaments, I can't see why it isn't a weekend tournament, or perhaps held over 2 weekends. There could even be a minimum rating requirement, like in the Doeberl Cup, and if numbers allowed, a second division could be held. I think Queensland holds an under 1600 event, or something like that. Would top players play in a weekend event? IM and Victorian number 2 played in the recent Victorian Open Championship at the Melbourne Chess Club in June. I would mention an increased prize fund, but the Victorian Open didn't have a significantly larger prize fund than the Victorian Championship has....
This year's Championship isn't bad. It has 2 IM's Stephen Solomon and Mirko Rujevic, and 4 FM's Chris Wallis, Kai Jie Soo, John Nemeth and Nick Ilic. There are 12 players rated over 2000 on the ACF rating list and 11 on the FIDE list, but a lot of the players are young and probably under rated. Because it is a swiss event, the organisers have allowed players to take byes and in the first round, top seed Solomon took advantage of this. Of the games that were played only 3 of the 16 went against the ratings in the first round. IM Mirko Rujevic was held to a draw by Marcus Raine and under rated players Anna Rozuwiecka and Douglas Dias upset Hamish Bassig and James Hartley respectively. Otherwise the top seeds came through, though not always with ease. Top seed Chris Wallis lost a pawn early on to Randheer Thogata, but played on as if nothing had happened until the following position was reached.
