Wednesday, July 01, 2009

War Down Under: Smerdon vs Wang

Last week's penultimate round skirmish in the Zonal tournament between Australia's two young talents, Zong Yuan Zhao and eventual winner David Smerdon had us all on the edge of our seats. Well now there is even more reason to be excited. In just over a month, Aussie GM-elect David Smerdon will be taking on New Zealand's hottest talent, IM Puchen Wang!

A chess retailer across the Tasman, Chess Enterprises NZ, is organising a so-called "Australasian Chess Match of the Decade". It will be reminiscent of Chandler v Rogers back in the 80's and that battle between Purdy and Sarapu of the 1950's.

The info I have so far courtesy of CENZ co-founder Joanne Spiller is that the contest will consist of 6 games and take place from 1 to 6 August. It will then be followed by the Waikato Open, in Hamilton, from 7 to 9 August in which both players are also scheduled to compete.

This is very exciting, indeed! Hopefully, we'll get to see the action live. Keep an eye out on the blog for future updates.

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