Li Chao Wins Doeberl Cup 2013
The 51st Doeberl Cup took place from 28 March - 1 April 2013. Doeberl is the longest running weekend chess event in Australia. Since 1963 it has been held every year in Canberra.
Li Chao of China won the Premier tournament with a final score of 7½ points from the 9-round Swiss competition.
Jiri Stocek of the Czech Republic took second place on tie-breaks from Dutch GM Loek van Wely after they both finished on 7/9.
The time control used in the Premier competition was 40 moves in 90 minutes, then an additional 30 minutes to finish, with a 30 second increment from the start of the game.
The total prize money for all the events at Doeberl was AU$18,350, with the Premier winner receving AU$4,000.
The official website with more information can be found here.
The top standings in the 2013 Doeberl Cup Premier
| # | Name | Elo | Fed | Pts |
| 1 | Li Chao b | 2686 | CHN | 7.5 |
| 2 | Stocek Jiri | 2557 | CZE | 7.0 |
| 3 | Van Wely Loek | 2684 | NED | 7.0 |
| 4 | Sethuraman S.P. | 2532 | IND | 6.5 |
| 5 | Horvath Adam | 2509 | HUN | 6.5 |
| 6 | Ly Moulthun | 2428 | AUS | 6.5 |
| 7 | Vajda Levente | 2632 | ROU | 6.0 |
| 8 | Li Zuhao Luke | 2285 | NZL | 6.0 |
| 9 | Zhao Zong-Yuan | 2537 | AUS | 6.0 |
| 10 | Smirnov Anton | 2194 | AUS | 5.5 |
| 11 | Lane Gary W. | 2412 | AUS | 5.5 |
| 12 | Johansen Darryl K. | 2430 | AUS | 5.5 |
| 13 | Lei Tingjie | 2232 | CHN | 5.5 |
| 14 | Cheng Bobby | 2425 | AUS | 5.5 |
| 15 | Wallis Christopher | 2261 | AUS | 5.5 |
| 16 | Otgonjargal Sengerav | 2171 | MGL | 5.5 |
| 17 | Stojic Dusan | 2228 | AUS | 5.5 |
| 18 | Illingworth Max | 2423 | AUS | 5.5 |
| 19 | Garner David J | 2150 | ENG | 5.5 |
| 20 | Varga Zoltan | 2446 | HUN | 5.5 |
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There was a tragic coda to the Doeberl Cup when a car accident claimed the lives of two players Andrew Saint and Hannibal Swartz, who were returning from playing in the competition in Canberra to Melbourne. Fellow players James Morris and Dimitri Partsi were also seriously injured.
The local police have described the crash as a tragedy, and said it appears a mechanical fault, possibly a tyre blowout, caused the accident.
More details about the accident can be found here. Our thoughts are with the families of Andrew Saint and Hannibal Swartz, and we wish all the other passengers involved a speedy recovery.
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Games via TWIC.
