ACF Bulletin No. 4

CONTENTS

Good communication; ACF webpage; Congratulations; Tournaments; Omission;
Zonal; Thank-you note

GOOD COMMUNICATION

As part of our plan to improve communication in Australian chess we are
going to put up state by state lists of email addresses on the ACF webpage.
This should help individuals to contact each other more easily. If for any
reason you do not want your email address to be included please let me know.
 
ACF WEBPAGE

The ACF webpage has now been updated and development will continue over the
coming weeks. Just a reminder that the address is
http://www.somerset.qld.edu.au/chess

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations go to Irina Feldman on her fantastic performance in the QVB
IM tournament where she scored a WGM norm.
 
TOURNAMENTS

Please send us your tournament results (prefer Swiss Sys files) and any
other info you think would be of interest to the chess community.
 
There have been two additions to the 1999 Grand Prix tournament list during
the past week. They are:

13-14 March - Hervey Bay Open, Hervey Bay Resort Motel - Class 5
2-4 April - Toowoomba Open, Toowoomba Grammar School - Class 5

The full list appears on the ACF webpage (8 of the 13 Class 5 events are
based in Queensland) - We would really appreciate more events from all
around Australia.

The prize list totals nearly $8,000 and the list of prizes will be put up
on the webpage shortly.

OMISSION
 
I'm advised by Robert Jamieson that I inadvertently left the late Eric
Doeberl off the list of ACF Life members last week. My apologies for that
and I'd be happy to receive any other corrections to the webpage especially
the Aust chess records section on which we have quite a bit of work left to
do.

ZONAL
 
Regarding the Zonal we have distributed the entry forms to Aust FIDE-rated
players as best we can but I could really do with addresses of FIDE-rated
players from the states as I can see no other source.

THANK-YOU NOTE
 
Finally this week I include a thank you from the Hervey Bay organisers of
the recent Australian  Juniors, David and Marlies Jaksic:
 
The Australian Junior Chess Championships were held in Hervey Bay during
January 15-25 and the organisers would like to take this opportunity to say
thank-you to all those involved - the participants, their parents and
guardians, coaches, directors of play and our sponsors. Belying our worst
fears, both the players and their often excitable mentors were well behaved
throughout, and not one unpleasant incident occurred during the 11 days of
the tournament. This was due in no small part to the vigilance and
professionalism of Directors of Play Ian Murray, Mike Corner and Nik Stawski.
 
We would also like to say a special thank you to Jacob Edwards and his
assistants Craig Rose and Nik Stawski who did an incredible job preparing
the tournament bulletins. They didn't miss a single issue, and we
understand that this is the first time that every (legible!) game was
published in a junior tournament in Australia. Over 630 games were
painstakingly typed out, and Jacob et al often worked well into the night
to get the job completed.
 
A word of thanks must go to our generous sponsors: Hervey Bay Resort Motel,
Hervey Bay City Council, Bell Dixon Butler solicitors and Chess Association
of Queensland. An additional word of appreciation to Larry Gralow and the
staff of the Hervey Bay Resort Motel for providing inexpensive meals every
day and for allowing us to hold a disco on the premises. Our March and
August weekend tournaments are also held at the Resort and anyone wishing
to stay at the venue can book a room on 07 4128 1555. (Please note that the
August tournament corresponds with the whale season in Hervey Bay, so
bookings must be made well in advance.
 
There are a host of other people who deserve thanks. Laura and Vivian Reid
from Woollongong who polished the perpetual trophies; Jan Norris who gave
Marlies a reprieve from the canteen every afternoon; and Jana Jaksic for
her diligent and unflagging help and support in the canteen. Our apologies
to anyone we might have overlooked.
 
In closing, a word on the girls' tournament. The organisers originally
wanted to abandon the separate girls' tournament entirely, since we hold
the view that separation by gender is nothing short of discriminatory.
However, we were advised not to abandon the separate format for a number of
reasons, primarily that many girls would feel intimidated playing against
boys, and that many girls' parents prefer separate tournaments. None of the
reasons given really holds up under close scrutiny, but without wishing to
make an issue of the matter, the organisers compromised by awarding girls
equal prizes in all categories.
 
As we enter the new millennium, we hope that the new ACF board takes the
initiative and abandons the separate girls' tournament. At best it is
anachronistic, and at worst, it is discriminatory and perpetuates women's
second class status in chess.
 
That said, we had a wonderful time holding the junior championships, and we
hope that the organisers of the next event enjoy the experience as much as
we did.
 
Davd and Marlies Jaksic

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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) Fax 07 5525 2676 (w)
Email: ggardiner@somerset.qld.edu.au    http://www.somerset.qld.edu.au/chess/