|
Reply-To: "Graeme Gardiner" <ggardiner@somerset.qld.edu.au>
ACF Bulletin No. 14 - Sunday, 25 April 1999
ZONAL
This event concluded on Wednesday - and a sensational final day it was too!
Vladimir Feldman defeated Aleks Wohl to take the title. This appeared to
temporarily distract Darryl Johansen, the favourite for the event, who
immediately made a move that presented Russell Dive with a mate in one.
Darryl described this as the worst move of his career especially as he
appeared to be in a better position.
This was the first ever Oceanic Zonal and it was therefore a little
difficult to know what to expect. What we got was nine days of extremely
competitive chess with very few short draws. Sure, Vladimir Feldman and
Irina Berezina had a short draw and there were a couple on the last day
where the players involved all needed just a half point to achieve the FIDE
Title, but by and large the competition was cut-throat.
My heartfelt thanks go to the arbiters, Gary Bekker and Ian Murray who
worked extremely long hours as they also had to look after the bulletins.
Next time we will have someone else looking after the bulletins.
What were the highlights? Well, Vladimir Feldman and Laura Moylan will be
representing the Oceanic region at the upcoming world championships in Las
Vegas and Moldova respectively - they both had very solid tournaments to
win the open and the women's outright. Who would have thought that
Johansen, Wohl and Solomon would have finished outside the top four?
Fourteen-year-old David Smerdon had an outstanding tournament, finishing on
6/9, playing only players who finished in the top half (apart from Solomon
who finished 4/9) and becoming the youngest Australian to win the IM Title,
with a performance rating of 2469. He defeated Craig Laird in the final
round - a win for Craig would have given him the title after 20 years of
trying. Craig described the tournament as the changing of the guard.
Irina Berezina, playing in the open, made it a double celebration for the
Feldman family by striking a massive blow for women's chess in Australia
and also landing the IM Title with 6/9.
Twelve-year-old Zong-Yuan Zhao had a fine tournament with 4.5/9.
Unfortunately for him he missed a forced mate in the time scramble against
Vladimir Feldman which had an important bearing on the final results in the
tournament. Zhao, Smerdon and Moylan would make fine leaders for the
national academy if we are successful with funding in the Federal Budget
next month.
Some discussion has taken place re the validity of titles earned at the
Zonal. My understanding is that all the titles in the open event are safe -
we checked out the format with FIDE before (and after) the event. In the
women's event we are not so sure. We did check out the format before the
event - but there appears to be some doubt about the titles as there were
no representatives from Fiji or New Zealand. We do have some quite
considerable input on our side, however, and we will be pursuing these
titles with great vigour as far as we possibly can. This may include
presenting our case at the regional conference in Qatar later this year and
appealing if necessary.
It is true that some of the FIDE Master titles may have been a little
"soft" compared with some others, but FIDE are trying to encourage chess in
regions like ours and this won't do any harm. I'm very comfortable with the
decision to open up the event and believe it will have far more benefits
for our region than any possible concern re giving away titles too easily.
Finally, may I congratulate the players on the wonderful friendly 'family'
atmosphere that was most evident as the tournament progressed - I was most
impressed with the good sportsmanship shown in an event where much was to
be gained.
Full results at the ACF webpage http://www.somerset.qld.edu.au/chess/
GRAND PRIX
A new weekender has been added to the Grand Prix. A class five event will
be held at the Ashfield Catholic Community Club on the Queen's Birthday
Weekend 12-14 June 1999.
The upcoming event is the Redcliffe Open, a class 5 event on the Labour Day
weekend in Queensland from May 1-3. This is always an excellent tournament
in which to participate.
My sincere apologies to everyone that I haven't yet posted the 1998 results
and paid the winners and that I haven't posted the latest scores in the
1999 series. I'll try to rectify this asap.
SWISS PAIRINGS PROGRAMMES
During the Zonal Gary Bekker and Ian Murray trialled the pairings
programmes Swiss Sys, Swiss Perfect and Protos. Easily the best was Swiss
Perfect which did almost perfect pairings except where there was a clear
anomaly in FIDE regulations. At this stage we would have to say that we
favour buying a bulk licence from Swiss Perfect to give (as a service) to
all Australian clubs on the basis of usability, reliable FIDE pairings,
cheaper cost and the fact it is Australian.
The idea would be to supply a current version in December each year loaded
up with all Australian players with current ratings. This would help all
clubs to run efficient tournaments with large numbers of players and at the
same time enable an efficient transfer of results for ratings, webpage and
media purposes.
We would appreciate feedback on this proposal before we take it to council.
If you would like to download a demo version go to
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~tourney/
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
The time is coming to sit down and write a draft plan. I have been talking
to all sorts of people about all sorts of issues pertaining to the future
of Australian chess. If you would like input please email me at
ggardiner@somerset.qld.edu.au
When the draft is complete I plan to visit each of the states in order to
discuss ammendments/improvements before presentation to council and
implementation.
CORESPONDENCE
GUY WEST: The reason I'm writing is about the World Junior question. If
it's not going to cost Australia anything to endorse a non-official
representative, then why not? It may be of use to the player involved and
doesn't seem to be any skin off our nose.
I've racked my brains to think of reasons why we shouldn't and the only
thing I could come up with is some kind of "what if a very weak player
disgraced us?" type scenario. But people are going to know that extra
players from countries who are only entitled to one official player are not
the best available and are playing for the experience. We won't be the only
country with sub-standard players wanting to enter by a long shot. And
whether we endorse them or not, they'll still be playing under the
Australian flag.
I think unless there are behavioural issues (a banned player for instance)
or some such extraordinary factor, it would be a bit churlish not to give
moral support to a kid who is keen enough to get their parents to pay all
the expenses for such a venture.
If there are arguments to the contrary that I haven't considered, perhaps
they could be articulated in the next newsletter?
Keep up the good work.
Regards, Guy West <guywest@alphalink.com.au>
******************
Very best wishes to all
Graeme Gardiner
-------------------------------------------
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/
|