ACF Bulletin No. 32 - August 29, 1999

My apologies for this late bulletin - I was very late getting back from
Hervey Bay on Sunday. Sixty players participated in the Hervey Bay Whale
Open and Stephen Solomon tied for first with Nik Stawski on 6/7
(unfortunately Solomon had a car breakdown and missed the first two rounds).

OBITUARY

I have to report sad news. Kevin Jones, the organiser of the upcoming
Australian Chess Championships which will be held at Mingara Chess Club on
the NSW Central Coast, died in England last weekend after a short illness.
The members of the club will be pushing on with the event in his memory.

Kevin's funeral will be held on Tuesday 31st August at 1:30 pm at North
Chapel,  Northern Suburbs Crematorium, Delhi Rd, Macquarie Park, Sydney.

Peter Parr has kindly written this obituary.

"Kevin Jones who was organising the forthcoming Australian Championship and
supporting tournaments at the Mingara Recreation Club, Tumbi Umbi NSW in
Dec 99/Jan 00 died suddenly last Sunday in England.

Kevin had a long association with chess organising and directing numerous
chess tournaments at the Concordia Club, Stanmore, St George Leagues Club
(including a number of Alex Szirt Cups) and many NSW Chess Association
events in the  late 1960s and throughout the 1970s and early 1980s He was a
NSWCA councillor for many years and also organised the inter-club
competitions which was a big job 20 years ago.
 
In 1988 Kevin Jones brought the Australian Championships and supporting
tournaments to the Central Leagues Club, Gosford.  He organised and
directed these events and at the time of his sudden death  he had in
conjunction with the directors of the Mingara Recreation Club arranged
corporate sponsorship of $6,000 together with an excellent free venue at
the large Mingara Recreation Club.

Kevin sent me over 1100 brochures which were posted to 1100 addresses
Australia wide in July 99.

His son Kim Jones and wife Dawn Jones and the Mingara Club are very keen to
ensure that the championships will be an outstanding success in memory of
Kevin Jones.

The championships are fully supported by the council of the Australian
Chess Federation and the council of the  NSW Chess Association.

All chess players Australia wide  are encouraged to participate in the
championships."

The Australian Chess Federation will be represented at Kevin's funeral by
Norm Greenwood and I understand the NSWCA will be represented by President
Charles Zworestine.

The ACF extends its deep sympathy to Kevin's family. 

GRAND PRIX

The Greater Sydney Open, which is being run by Brian Jones and Australian
Chess Enterprises, will be held at the Rooty Hill RSL on 3/4 October. For
more info you can contact Brian at acechess@ozemail.com.au.

The Gold Coast Classic will be held at Somerset College, Mudgeeraba, Gold
Coast, on 18/19 September, with $2,500 in prizes. An innovation is a new
teams' event: players play as individuals but also nominate in teams of
four where the first player is open rating, second is under 1800, third is
under 1400 and fourth is under 1000. Ian Rogers will be playing.

The Redcliffe Challenge will be held on 2/3 October.

All three tournaments are Class 5 events.

CHILDREN'S CHESS OLYMPIAD, ARTEK, UKRAINE 9-21 SEPTEMBER

At the very last moment we iput together a team to represent Australia in
this Olympiad. Zong Yuan Zhao, Chris Page, Rhendon Cook, Gareth Oliver and
Shannon Oliver have been given the opportunity to participate - it's an
event that Australia has not previously entered.

CORRESPONDENCE

BAS VAN RIEL, Ballarat Chess Club Inc.

Some chess news from Victoria's 'outback'.

Probably not too many within the Victorian chess community do know that
Country Victorian Chess is alive and well. During many (tenth of) years the
Country Victorian Chess Championships have been held annually in various
shapes and country towns. And always in that weekend in October, and always
trying to avoid the footy Grand Final weekend. As long as we can remember
it was organised and DOP-ed by Kevin Perrin. After these championships were
held for at least 10 years in conjunction with the Maryborough Wattle
Festival, the Bendigo Chess Club has taken over the organisation of the
event successfully, with a very generous sponsorship by Mercantile Mutual
Insurance. Current Australian Correspondence Champion Stewart Booth is a
regular participant and he has won the event a record times. Apart from a
healthy personal rivalry amongst the Country players, there also exists a
traditional animosity between the country towns, especially between
Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong.

Participation of these teams in the VCA Winter Club competition was not
feasible this year mainly because of the expected commitment on a weekly
basis. They, therefore have organised their own Intercity Country Victoria
competition between the main clubs of Albury, Bendigo, Ballarat and
Geelong. All the matches have to be played fortnightly by telephone. After
two of the three rounds, this format has turned out to be competitively and
socially very enjoyable.

The results so far are (with board 1 of the 'hometeam' playing white):

Round 1.
Albury - Geelong 2.5-1.5
Ballarat - Bendigo 2.5-1.5
1. L.Ryan - A.Anderson 1-0
2. B.van Riel - J.Olle 1-0
3. J.Santavec - S.Fletcher 0.5-0.5
4. P.Cook - J.Lavery 0.5-0.5
5. R.Simmons - I.Boasman 1-0
6. K.Perrin - M.Mollard 1-0
7. S.Urban - O.Grigoryan 0-1
8. P.Lumsdon - D.Schepisi 0-1

Round 2.
Geelong - Bendigo 3.5-0.5
Albury - Ballarat 2-2
1. A.Anderson - J.Olle 1-0
2. L.Ryan - B.van Riel 1-0
3. I.Boasman - J.Lavery 1-0
4. J.Santavec - P.Cook 1-0
5. O.Grigoryan - N.Barrow 1-0
6. R.Simmons - P.Lumsdon 0-1
7. P.Power - M.Mollard 0.5-0.5
8. S.Urban - G.Davis 0-1

The last round will be played next Sunday evening 26/8/99, followed by the
grand final two weeks later.
 
BILL JORDAN:

Some comments have been made on the effect of the internet of club numbers.
Its worth noting that many novices and social players play on the net, who
have never been to a chess club. The net has led to some new club members
in some cases and overall it has had a positive effect on numbers.

There seems to be a shortage of juniors joining the adult club scene. In
1999 Vic Junior there were only 10 players (excluding U12). This is
surprising given that there is so much coaching in schools. A bit more
energy needed here.

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