The Doeberl Cup attracted a strong, record-breaking entry of 416 national and international chess players. Defending Champion Hrant Melkumyan of Armenia headed a field including current Australian Champion, Rishi Sardana of Australian Capital Territory (ACT), three Indian Grandmasters, in form former title holder Victorian James Morris and Junta Ikeda of ACT.
Players representing Serbia, China, Brazil, Mongolia, Japan, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore joined the contest for their share in the total prize pool of over $25,000. Australian players were vying for selection in the Australian team for the Chess Olympiad in Budapest in September. International Masters were looking for strong performances to advance towards Grandmaster titles.
GM Hrant Melkumyan recorded his 3rd Doeberl Cup tournament win in a row, after a dominant performance in the 2024 edition. Going into the final round a full point ahead, he drew with GM Mitrabha Guha to reach 8/9. IM Peng Cheng also drew on board 2, to take 2nd place on 7/9. IM Arghyadip Das defeated FM Albert Winkleman on board 3 to take a share of 2nd, also ending Winkelman’s chances of scoring an IM norm in the process.
The Major was won by Bryan Yang on 6.5/7. He finished a point ahead of Elliot Wong, Ethan Chang and Daniel Wang. The Minor was shared between Austin Chen and Chee Seng Lue, who both scored 6/7. The Mini saw Aden Power finish with a perfect 7/7, a full point ahead of Alexander Warne. The U1200 event was won by Harry Phillips with 5.5/6.
Anton Smirnov won the 120 player Open blitz with 8/9, ahead of a field that included GM Mitrabha Guha, IM James Morris, IM Mihajlo Radovanovic and WIM Heather Richards.
The U1600 blitz was won by Benjamin Martin with 7/7. Second was Woo Jun Ki on 6, third equal were Kotaro Inukai and Sitong Hao on 5.5. With 60 players.
Based largely on reporting by Paul Power and Shaun Press)