Layla's Classy Finish in the Wellington Open

The 2015 Wellington Open threw up a remarkable result, with 13-year-old Layla Timergazi tying for first place with Maltese expat David Cilia Vincenti for first place, ahead of IMs Dive and Ker and FM Croad.

Layla and David

Layla with visiting Aucklander Rosa Ryu

The climax was a round 6  marathon game against the tournament leader Michael Nyberg (who had a  pretty successful tournament himself, beating Nic Croad along the way). All the other games had finished, Layla was down to less than a minute on the clock, barely surviving on the 30 second increment, and Michael did not have a great deal more time. A large crowd had gathered around the board - the pressure was on!
After 78 moves the following position was reached. Michael has sacrificed a bishop for a couple of pawns, thinking that with Layla pawn-less her chances of winning are minimal. But his king is worryingly trapped at the back of the board by the rook on the 7th, and the bishops are hovering round about ......

Wellington Open 2015

Final Cross Table

No Name                  Feder Loc  Total  1    2    3    4    5    6  

1  Timergazi, Layla            2085 5     24:W  8:W  3:L 19:W 11:W  4:W
2  Cilia Vincenti, David       2110 5     28:W 22:W 14:W  3:D  4:D 10:W
3  Ker, Anthony                2423 4.5   12:W 10:W  1:W  2:D  6:D  5:D
4  Nyberg, Michael             2098 4.5   20:W 21:W  5:W  7:W  2:D  1:L
5  Croad, Nic                  2371 4.5   18:W  9:W  4:L 14:W 15:W  3:D
6  Dive, Russell               2454 4.5   19:W  7:D 11:D  9:W  3:D 15:W
7  Nicholls, Leighton          1883 4     30:W  6:D 17:W  4:L  8:D 18:W
8  Chen, Wei Kai               1688 4     32:W  1:L 23:W 10:D  7:D 13:W
9  Nijman, Arie                1835 4     31:W  5:L 13:W  6:L 25:W 16:W
10 Jackson, Ross               1903 3.5   16:W  3:L 24:W  8:D 21:W  2:L
11 Nijman, Brian               2172 3.5   13:W 17:D  6:D 21:D  1:L 22:W
12 Bongalon, Ray               1656 3.5    3:L 16:L 30:W 17:W 22:D 21:W
13 List, Robert                1629 3     11:L 29:W  9:L 27:+ 19:W  8:L
14 Cunningham, Pat             1705 3     25:W 15:W  2:L  5:L 18:L 26:W
15 Rossiter, Philip            1908 3     26:W 14:L 18:W 22:W  5:L  6:L
16 Nylund, Benjamin            1308 3     10:L 12:W 21:L 20:W 23:W  9:L
17 Brockway, Andrew            1846 3     29:W 11:D  7:L 12:L 24:D 27:+
18 Capper, David               1638 3      5:L 31:W 15:L 26:W 14:W  7:L
19 Gloistein, Bruce            1674 3      6:L 30:W 25:W  1:L 13:L 24:W
20 Rose, Nathan                1466 3      4:L 27:L 29:W 16:L 30:W 25:W
21 Winfield, Alan              1825 2.5   27:W  4:L 16:W 11:D 10:L 12:L
22 Stracy, Don                 1801 2.5   23:W  2:L 27:+ 15:L 12:D 11:L
23 Marko, Helmut N             1000 2.5   22:L 28:W  8:L 24:D 16:L 30:W
24 Murdoch, Steve              1426 2      1:L 32:W 10:L 23:D 17:D 19:L
25 Zinque, Esteban             1000 2     14:L 26:W 19:L 28:W  9:L 20:L
26 Theodosiou, Andreas         1323 2     15:L 25:L 32:W 18:L 28:W 14:L
27 Conlon, Barry               1000 2     21:L 20:W 22:- 13:- 29:W 17:-
28 Asplet, Mike                1614 2      2:L 23:L 31:W 25:L 26:L 32:W
29 Nylund, Timothy             1225 1.5   17:L 13:L 20:L 32:D 27:L 31:W
30 Aumeier, Beate              1227 1      7:L 19:L 12:L 31:W 20:L 23:L
31 Nylund, Henrik              1104 1      9:L 18:L 28:L 30:L 32:W 29:L
32 Ryu, Rosa                   719  .5     8:L 24:L 26:L 29:D 31:L 28:L