FM Nicholas Chan wins WCN Masters

The outcome can be surprising only for those who don't know this modest and talented Malaysian junior. FM Chan has been appreciated by WCN members for his nice personality and avid blitz skills. I guess only his college obligations prevented him from achieving higher ratings.

69 players have started the tournament, few of them dropped before the end. Top class GMs Alex Moiseenko and Boris Avrukh have finished with 7.0/12 only. The observers were particularly happy to see GM James Plaskett back after he won big prize in the English quiz. His "plaskettisms" were causing laughers, my favorite was "Kasparov told me I have nice legs".

FM Nicholas Chan

Final WCN Masters Standings:
1. FM Nicholas Chan 9.0 (prize $250 USD)
2-6. GM Sergey Volkov, GM Sune Berg Hansen, IM Miodrag Perunovic, IM Goran Vojinovic and GM Daniel Fridman 8.5 ($30 USD each)
7-10. GM Michael Roiz, GM Ivan Ivanisevic, IM Dusan Popovic and FM Dragan Stamenkovic 8.0
11-14. IM Juan Rohl, GM Victor Mikhalevski, FM Martin Taylor and FM Igor Saric 7.5 etc


FM Nicholas Chan - GM Sune Berg Hansen
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e5 4. Nc3 d6 5. e4 Be7 6. Bd3 Nbd7 7. Nge2 h5 8. Ng3 h4 9. Nf5 Bf8 10. Nb5 Nb6 11. f4 g6 12. fxe5 dxe5 13. Ne3 a6 14. Nc3 Nh5 15. Ng4 Bg7 16. O-O Qe7 17. Be3 Bd7 18. b4 cxb4 19. Bxb6 bxc3 20. c5 O-O 21. Rf3 Qg5 22. Ne3 Nf4 23. Bf1 f5 24. Qc2 fxe4 25. Qxe4 Nh3+ 26. Rxh3 Bxh3 27. c6 bxc6 28. dxc6 Rac8 29. c7 Kh8 30. Bxa6 Rce8 31. Nd5 c2 32. Be3 Qg4 33. Qxg4 Bxg4 34. Rc1 Bd1 35. Nb4 e4 36. Nxc2 Bg4 37. Nd4 Bc8 38. Be2 Re5 39. Nc6 Re6 40. Na7 Bd7 41. Bg4 1-0