ACF Bulletin #1
This email is being sent to a list of approx 250 Australian chess players,
administrators and supporters. One of the aims of the new executive is to
improve communication in Australian chess and we will therefore be
endeavouring to build up this list and send out regular news updates.
The new executive comprises President, Graeme Gardiner
ggardiner@somerset.qld.edu.au ; Vice
President, Gary Bekker
gbekker@mira.net ; Secretary, Andrew Allen aallen@somerset.qld.edu.au ;
Treasurer Norm Greenwood normg@bigpond.com.au
Gary will be continuing to concentrate on International matters as he has
done extremely effectively over the last couple of years. Norm has been
responsible single-handedly for restoring the finances to good order and
good health. Andrew has developed over the last few years to be a very able
and reliable administrator in addition to his playing and coaching skills.
We are very lucky to have this very hard working group involved.
We on the new executive would like to acknowledge and thank Robert
Colquhoun for his efforts over the last two years in what was a difficult
time with the loss of his close friend, Terrey Shaw and without a secretary
for most of the time. Nevertheless Robert always stayed positive and
encouraged all of us to move Australian chess forward. Many thanks, Robert.
We would also like to thank Gail Ransom for all the time and effort she put
into developing the ACF webpage which was a labour of love for her. She was
so committed to helping Australian chess with this important communication
tool that she was fairly reluctant to give it up. We are indebted to you,
Gail!
The new webpage is being maintained by Andrew Allen and is located at
http://www.somerset.qld.edu.au/chess/
The main aims of the page are to
provide a regular and reliable source of the latest local and international
news and to improve communication between Australian players, clubs, states
and administrators. Andrew is currently playing in the Aust Open and will
be further developing the page later this month. Much of the success of the
page will depend on him receiving regular news and tournament results from
various people involved in Australian chess and everyone is encouraged to
help in this regard.
Preparations for the FIDE Zonal tournament are now well advanced and it is
hoped to have entry forms available on the last day of the Aust Open (Thurs
14/1/99). It is likely to be held from 13-21 April at Surfers Paradise
Parkroyal, a 5 star hotel on the Gold Coast. The women's event will
probably be a 10 player round robin and the men's a min 18 player, 9 round
swiss. Each of these events will have some seeded players with conditions
and other players will be able to enter on payment of entry fees. We
believe that a 50% score will provide FM & WFM titles and 66% score IM &
WIM titles. Winners will qualify for the World Championship cycle and there
will be modest prize money.
So far we have only received one expression of interest to hold the Jan
2000 Aust Championships, that being from Central Coast Leagues Chess Club,
Gosford. They have the inside running so any interested clubs should get in
quickly with a detailed proposal.
Entries for the 1999 Grand Prix are still coming in. We welcome more
tournaments particularly from Victoria - for Australian chess to be strong
we need a strong, active Victorian chess scene.
The Australian Championships being held at the Sunshine Coast University
has over 150 competitors. After 7 rounds GM Vadim Milov on 6.5/7 leads by
half a point. The stand out performer is 12 year old Zong Zhao from Coffs
Harbour on 5.5/7 who has some notable scalps and could yet make an IM norm!
GM Joel Benjamin arrived just in time to play in the lightning which he won
on 10/11, his only defeat being to Stephen Solomon. Upcoming events in
January include the QVB GM, IM and Saintly Cup tournaments being superbly
organised by Jason Lyons; also the Aust Juniors at Hervey Bay is being well
organised by David Jaksic.
The new executive was elected on a platform of developing the culture of
chess in Australia with a strong emphasis on the juniors. We aim to develop
the Aust Schools Teams competition and in this regard we will be looking
for a national sponsor along the same lines as the Westpac Maths Comp or
the CRA Science Comp. Nik Stawski aims to try and hold a National Coaching
Accreditation Scheme Level 1 Course in each state involving some of the
nation's senior coaches such as Vladimir Feldman and Michael Gluzman. We
will continue to pressure levels of government to provide funding for the
proposed Australian Chess Academy. We will endeavour to persuade the
Australian Sports Commission to recognise chess as a sport and provide
funding. To bring all of this together we aim to prepare a National
Development Plan with sustainable targets. OK, this seems like quite a lot
to take on but we feel this series of goals will at least keep us honest.
For those involved in running the state associations I certainly intend to
get around the states and talk about issues of mutual concern. ACF meetings
will now be held either by telephone hook up or perhaps by internet
conferencing subject to our internet wizz, Gary Bekker being able to get
each of the states organised.
My apologies if this email is a little long - I'll try and make them much
shorter in the future.
Have a great year for chess in 1999!
Best wishes
Graeme Gardiner
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Graeme Gardiner
President, Australian Chess Federation
C/- Somerset College, Somerset Drive, Mudgeeraba Q 4213
Phone 07 5530 3777 (w) 07 5530 5794 (h) 07 5525 2676 (fax)
Email: ggardiner@somerset.qld.edu.au
http://www.somerset.qld.edu.au/chess/