DAVID SMERDON (born Sep-17-1984, 40 years old) Australia [what is this?] Australia's #2 player. David Smerdon's coach when he was 13 was Lubomir Ftacnik. He became an International Master at age 14, won the Australian Junior Championship in 1999, and won both his Grandmaster title and the Australian Grand Prix in 2009. He lives and works in Canberra, and is that city's first resident Grandmaster, but is currently in Amsterdam completing a PhD in Economics at the Tinbergen Institute. He is also playing in the British 4 Nations Chess League, the Bundesliga and for the Utrecht team in the Dutch teams competition. Tournaments Smerdon won his first GM norm at the Australian Championship in 2006 when he came equal second with New Zealand GM Murray Chandler behind GM Ian Rogers and ahead of German GM Roland Schmaltz and Slovak GM Lubomir Ftacnik. His second norm came at the Bangkok Open (which he won) in April 2007, and the third at the 18th Czech Open Festival in Paraduce, Czech Republic, in July 2007. Smerdon is Australia's fifth home grown Grandmaster after Walter Shawn Browne (who played for Australia in the Skopje Olympiad in 1972 and long played for the USA), Ian Rogers (recently retired from competition chess), Darryl K Johansen, and Zhao Zong-Yuan. 2009 started well with a win in the 2nd Queenstown Chess Classic (2009). When David won the 2009 New South Wales Open, he lifted his rating to 2500, fulfilling the final condition that enabled him to receive his Grandmaster title. Also in 2009, he won the Waikato Open in New Zealand. His efforts in 2009 received national recognition when he was awarded the Lajos Steiner medal by the Australian Chess Federation for Player of the Year. David's best tournament result in a relatively quiet 2010 was third place in the Victorian Open. In 2011, Smerdon competed in the Commonwealth and South African Open (2011) and came third with 9/11, a half point behind the winners Gawain Jones and Nigel Short. In 2012, he competed in the Curacao Chess Fesival 2012, and won with 8.5/9. In July-August 2013, Smerdon finished with 7/10 at the Politiken Cup (2013), scoring slightly above rating expectation and he closed out 2013 with 5.5/8 at the Erfut Masters in December 2013. 2014 started with a win at the 6th Batavia Tournament that was held in Amsterdam in February 2013. In August 2014, he against scored well in the Politiken Cup (2014), this time scoring 7.5/10, placing =6th. In September 2014, he scored 4.5/6 at the 2nd International Tournament in Famalicao, Portugal. Smerdon started 2015 with =3rd at the Australian Open. Matches In the Australasian Match of the Decade that was held in 2009, Smerdon defeated the teenage New Zealand IM Puchen Wang 4-2 (+2 =4 -0). On 2 November 2013, in an internet match styled the <Deathmatch>, Smerdon met British GM Simon Kim Williams in a series of blitz 5+1 and 3+1 and bullet 1+1 games totaling 32 games. With the match poised at 15-15, Smerdon won the last two games to win the 19th Deathmatch. (1) World championship competition Smerdon participated in the 1997 World Youth Championship (U14); in the 2003 World Junior, scoring 7.5/13; and in the 2004 World Junior, scoring 7/13. He won the 2009 Oceania Zonal Championship with a score of 7.5 from 9 rounds, a full point clear of the field, thereby qualifying for the World Cup (2009) where he was seeded number 114. He performed strongly in the first round against Cuba's Leinier Dominguez Perez, the number 15 seed in the tournament, tieing the classic and rapid games, but eventually succumbing in the blitz playoff, drawing one and losing one. (1) Olympiads Smerdon has played in six Olympiads in the Australian team, in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014. He played top board for Australia in the Chess Olympiad (2012) held in Istanbul and in the Chess Olympiad (2014) held in Tromsø in Norway. In 2012 and 2014, he helped Australia to finish 29 places above its seeding, namely 32nd in 2012 and 31st in 2014. Teams He played in the 4NCL (2012/13) in the UK, scoring 8.5/9 to help his team Guildford 1 win silver in the competition and Guildford 2 to avoid relegation. He played for Guildford 1 and 2 teams in the 2013-14 season, with Guildford 1 winning the competition on this occasion. He is still playing for Guildford in 2014-15 and is also playing with SV Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga 2014-15. Rapid In August 2014, Smerdon competed in the 6th Concello De Rianxo International (rapid), scoring 7/8 and placing =1st alongside Arian Gonzalez Perez. He is again playing for Guildford in the 2014-15 season and in the rapid play curtain raiser in October 2014, he helped his team to first place and took individual first place with 6.5/7. Rating Smerdon's peak rating was 2531, achieved in May and November 2010, and January 2011. Other In 2010, Smerdon was awarded the General Sir John Monash Award. (2) References and sources (1) http://www.chessvibes.com/smurfo-be...; (2) http://monashawards.org/scholars/mr... (3) https://omnystudio.com/d/clips/74ff... Smerdon has a blog at http://www.davidsmerdon.com/; Wikipedia article: David Smerdon Last updated: 2017-07-04 17:33:08

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page 1 of 29; games 1-25 of 725  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. V Bhat vs D Smerdon   ½-½ 66 1994 Wch U10 C02 French, Advance 2. D Smerdon vs K Miton   0-1 34 1994 Wch U10 B04 Alekhine's Defense, Modern 3. D Smerdon vs J Chen   1-0 58 1994 Wch U10 B08 Pirc, Classical 4. D Smerdon vs V Jianu   1-0 50 1994 Wch U10 B22 Sicilian, Alapin 5. D Smerdon vs S Karthick   ½-½ 34 1994 Wch U10 B22 Sicilian, Alapin 6. D Smerdon vs A Fama   ½-½ 65 1994 Wch U10 B22 Sicilian, Alapin 7. S Plantet vs D Smerdon   ½-½ 33 1994 Wch U10 C00 French Defense 8. F Aleskerov vs D Smerdon   1-0 47 1994 Wch U10 C02 French, Advance 9. B Juranic vs D Smerdon   0-1 44 1994 Wch U10 C01 French, Exchange 10. A Allen vs D Smerdon   1-0 39 1995 Redcliffe Challenge D02 Queen's Pawn Game 11. N Davidson vs D Smerdon   0-1 37 1995 Gold Coast Open? A51 Budapest Gambit 12. M Bern vs D Smerdon   0-1 44 1995 USA-AUS Telechess D05 Queen's Pawn Game 13. D Smerdon vs B Cameron   1-0 21 1995 AUS-ch Junior U12 & U10 C41 Philidor Defense 14. S Kuhn vs D Smerdon   0-1 44 1995 AUS-ch Junior U12 & U10 C02 French, Advance 15. M Chow vs D Smerdon   ½-½ 58 1995 AUS-ch Junior U12 & U10 A23 English, Bremen System, Keres Variation 16. D Smerdon vs K Tian   1-0 26 1995 AUS-ch Junior U12 & U10 B22 Sicilian, Alapin 17. D Smerdon vs G Baltatgis   1-0 26 1995 AUS-ch Junior U12 & U10 C02 French, Advance 18. M Lip vs D Smerdon   0-1 29 1995 AUS-ch Junior U12 & U10 C02 French, Advance 19. D Smerdon vs A Chevor   1-0 46 1995 AUS-ch Junior U12 & U10 C01 French, Exchange 20. L Humphreys vs D Smerdon   0-1 28 1995 AUS-ch Junior U12 & U10 C14 French, Classical 21. D Smerdon vs J Tan ½-½ 73 1995 AUS-ch Junior U12 & U10 C01 French, Exchange 22. A Chingarev vs D Smerdon   1-0 67 1995 AUS-ch Junior U12 & U10 C02 French, Advance 23. D Smerdon vs C Pearce   1-0 38 1995 AUS-ch Junior U12 & U10 B03 Alekhine's Defense 24. D Smerdon vs C Pearce   1-0 23 1995 Suncoast Open B22 Sicilian, Alapin 25. T Weller vs D Smerdon   ½-½ 41 1995 Suncoast Open A52 Budapest Gambit  page 1 of 29; games 1-25 of 725

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 3 OF 3 ·  Later Kibitzing> Jun-11-09    Chnebelgrind: congratulations to this imaginative player! Jun-11-09    zanshin: <supertimchan: Nothing is official, chessgames shouldn't state that he is a GM> Do you mean in his bio? <CG> doesn't do that - its member volunteers do. Jun-14-09    wordfunph: Congrats to David Smerdon for attaining his GM title in NSW Open! Jun-15-09    gazzawhite: Well done Smerdon, this is great news! Jun-15-09    Benzol: Someone has altered the bio again so the question I have is has FIDE actually conferred the GM title on him? Is it confirmed? Jun-15-09    gazzawhite: He's fulfilled all of the requirements for the GM title, so it's just a case of formalities now. I'm guessing he will officially be recognised when the next rating list comes out? Jun-16-09    zanshin: <Treasury checks mate with chess title PS News June 16, 2009 A policy analyst with Treasury has become king of the chessboard, reaching the highest level in the game following a win at the NSW Open. David Smerdon of Treasury’s Canberra HQ was named Grandmaster by the World Chess Federation FIDE (Federation Internationale es Echecs) after the victory. Mr Smerdon, 24, has been playing chess for most of his life, having started at the age of four. He is Australia’s fourth Grandmaster, but Canberra’s first. “It’s a sense of personal achievement,” Mr Smerdon said on his return to work. For the last 10 years, I’ve been at the second highest level, International Master. It’s taken a long time for me to jump to the top level.” He has represented Australia in four chess Olympiads and nine world junior chess championships, as well as other international events. Mr Smerdon, who has previously fulfilled the performance requirements for the title in various Australian and international tournaments, had six wins and a draw at the NSW Open, which improved his international rating and secured him the title. Back at Treasury, Mr Smerdon joined the Corporations and Financial Services Division’s Market Integrity Unit last year as part of the graduate intake and loves the challenging work environment. “Working at Treasury is similar to chess,” he said. “It’s quite complex. I find it interesting.” He said the Department had been very supportive of his exploits, allowing him time off to compete in events. It’s not all chess and work for Mr Smerdon though. In his spare time he plays sport, is a keen debater and learns languages. He hopes the publicity he gets from chess will encourage other young Australians to give it a go. “It’s important. It’s part of a well-rounded education,” Mr Smerdon said. “People should try it at least once.” Secretary of Treasury, Ken Henry congratulated Mr Smerdon on his achievement.> Sources: http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/ http://www.psnews.com.au Jun-24-09    twinlark: <Benzol> As <gazzawhite> says. FIDE will get around to formally ratifying his title in one of their regular subcommittee meetings. Sometimes it takes its sweet time doing so, but the title is always backdated with effect from when the player meets the final criterion. To all intents and purposes, David is now a GM. Jun-24-09    Benzol: <twinlark> That's great news! :) Jun-26-09    Ken MacGillivray: David has won the 2009 Oceania Zonal Championship; a world championship cycle qualifier; with a score of 7.5 from 9 rounds, a full point clear of the field. Jun-26-09    twinlark: Now the monkey's off his back, let's see what he can do! Jun-27-09    whatthefat: Great work, David! Aug-07-09    Benzol: Congratulations to David who has emerged as the winner ( +2, =4, -0 ) in the six game "Australasian Match of the Decade" against Puchen Wang which finished just yesterday. I have uploaded the games so they should appear sometime in the near future. Nov-21-09    brucejavier: good luck GM david smerdon in the world cup!! do australia proud and good luck in the tornament. Nov-27-09    jon01: GM David Smerdon seems like a really nice guy. You can read his blog http://www.davidsmerdon.com/. Nov-27-09    DCP23: <jon01> Thanks for the link! An entertaining read. Jul-08-10    GrahamClayton: 2009 was a big year for David - as well as gaining his GM title, he was also awarded the Lajos Steiner medal by the Australian Chess Federation for Player of the Year. Sep-21-10    Chnebelgrind: click for larger view 19.Nf6+ 1-0 Smerdon-Bukhalaf world Chess Olympiad 2010 Khanty_Mansisk Sep-29-10    Honza Cervenka: <Czech GM Lubomir Ftacnik.> It's just a detail but Lubo Ftacnik is a Slovak GM. Well, before split of Czechoslovakia in the end of 1992 he was a Czechoslovak grandmaster. Sep-20-12    cro777: GM Lubomir Ftacnik was Smerdon's coach when he was 13. Recently, they met at the Olympiad in Istanbul. In the last round Australia played against Slovakia. "I did my best to forget about chess during the subsequent rest day, got a good night’s sleep, and was confident of holding the fort on board one in the final game against the legendary Slovakian grandmaster Lubomir Ftacnik (who once coached me back when I was 13). I reached an equal endgame where I had a whole-of-board blockade, but just when the draw was in sight, inexplicably I chose to open things up around my king. The loss saw us finish the match tied, saw me finish with three straight losses and go from four out of seven to four out of ten, and will see my rating fall below 2500 for the first time since becoming a grandmaster." (David Smerdon) http://www.chessvibes.com/davidsmer... Jan-28-16    Pyrandus: His Book: SMERDON's SCANDINAVIAN (with Portuguese Gambit) - 2015 Jan-28-16    Pyrandus: Smerdon's Scandinavian (Edited by Everyman Chess)/493 pages!/ = www.everymanchess.com Jan-28-16    FrogC: Highly recommended. Jul-08-21    Albertan: David Smerdon introduces the Fighting Chess index: https://en.chessbase.com/post/david... Apr-14-22    Albertan: The Exchange Forum:Facts And Myths About Gender In Chess: https://www.fide.com/news/1685 Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 3) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 3 OF 3 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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