Reply-To: "Graeme Gardiner" <ggardiner@somerset.qld.edu.au>

ACF Bulletin No. 13 - 18 April 1999

Just a short Bulletin this week. I have spent much of the last week at the
Surfers Paradise Parkroyal watching the FIDE Zonal and talking with various
players and officials about all sorts of chess issues. The players seem
very pleased with the venue and there have been some fantastic games. It is
good to see so many competitive games and very, very few short draws.

The most impressive thing for me has been the outstanding efforts of the
officials, Gary Bekker and Ian Murray. They have worked very long hours and
set a wonderful example for others in chess administration. Australian
chess cannot move forward without a strong infrastructure of chess
administrators - we need more like Gary and Ian.

Many of the entrants in the Zonal participated because they saw it as a
rare opportunity to compete in a top level tournament with the chance of
earning titles. At the end of round five it was clear that, in David
Smerdon and Zong-Yuan Zhao, we have two juniors of outstanding potential.
They have both played players mainly in the top half of the field and are
on 3.0 and 3.5 respectively. Congratulations also to Andrea Constantinou
who is performing well above expectations. Of the adults, Vladimir and
Irina Feldman have been making their mark and Darryl Johansen is
well-placed to win the event. Full results and games on the ACF webpage at
http://www.somerset.qld.edu.au/chess/

Those involved in the Zonal, especially the New Zealand players Russell
Dive and Alexsei Kulashko, were saddened to learn of the sudden death in
Auckland of a legend in NZ chess, Ortvin Sarapu. His legacy to NZ chess is
enormous. GM Darryl Johansen described Ortvin as a gregarious character and
the Cecil Purdy of NZ chess.

Best wishes

Graeme
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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/