ACF Bulletin No. 61 - 9 April, 2000

WORLD JUNIOR SELECTIONS

The following have been selected to represent Australia at the World Juniors in Oropesa Del Mar, Spain from 10 to 24 October 2000. Many thanks to MANUEL WEEKS and the selectors for carrying out their task diligently. I understand that JENNI OLIVER has kindly agreed to worry about the logistics such as travel/accommodation for the team and that IAN ROGERS and MANUEL WEEKS will be accompanying the team as coaches.

BOYS U18:

JUSTIN TAN, U16 DAVID SMERDON, U14 ZONG YUAN ZHAO, U12 GARETH OLIVER, U10 RUPERTO LUGO. (GEOFF SAW has been selected for the World Under 20s).

GIRLS U18

LAURA MOYLAN, U16 SYLVIA SHIELDS, U14 CATHERINE LIP, U12 HEATHER HUDDLESTONE, U10 MICHELLE LEE. (JASMINE LAUER-SMITH has been selected for the World Under 20s).

There will be intensive training for Australia's top junior players (maximum 16) by four GMs (NIKOLIC, FTACNIK, ROGERS and JOHANSEN) at Somerset College, Gold Coast from 26-30 June. Those selected above have first refusal. Those who would like to participate (whether selected or not) need to advise me (GRAEME GARDINER ggardiner@somerset.qld.edu.au) as soon as possible but no later than 30 April that they would like to participate (MICHAEL LIP, CHRIS POULTON and MATTHEW SONTER have already shown interest). Somerset College chess students will provide billets where necessary. Those attending will also be able to participate alongside the GMs in the Gold Coast Open 24/25 June and Noosa Open 1/2 July. The coaching has been made possible through a generous donation from JENNI OLIVER.

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NATIONAL COACHING ASSOCIATION MEETING

NIK STAWSKI has advised that he has organised an inaugural meeting for the proposed association for Sunday 23 April, 7.30pm-9pm, during the Doeberl Cup at Fenner Hall. A big turnout would be enormously valuable for Australian chess. Professional and amateur coaches of all standards are most welcome.

Last Thursday I had dinner with three Gold Coast coaches, ANDREW ALLEN, KERRY CORKER and CRAIG DUXBURY and I'm sure that these sort of informal meetings go on regularly around the country. There was a huge exchange of coaching ideas in just a short time. A vibrant national coaching association would have many benefits but the greatest that I see is the professional development opportunities that it would afford to our coaches. It is vitally important that our coaches are well remunerated and that they see chess coaching as a legitimate career path.

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NATIONAL RAPID RATINGS LIST

Tournament organisers please submit all games 15-59 minutes to either your state ratings officer and/or BILL GLETSOS 76702.3153@compuserve.com Please use the Swiss Perfect pairings programme wherever possible. Bill is in the process of expanding this list and will be using some junior lists as starting points. This national rapid list is likely to become an important tool in Australian chess. If you don't yet have your free licenced copy of Swiss Perfect please contact me.

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GRAND PRIX

Upcoming events:

April 21-23 Darling Downs Open, Toowoomba Grammar School, Cat 2, LES LORD 07 4735 7755

April 21-24 Doeberl Cup, Fenner Hall, Canberra, Cat 3, ROGER McCART 02 6251 6190

April 29-May 1 35th Peninsula Open, Clontarf High School, Cat 1, NORM BRAYBROOKE 0418 716374

May 6-7 Hobson's Bay Open, ADASS Centre, Altona North, Cat 1, PETER CAISSA 0411 710900

May 13-14 Adelaide Cup, SACA, 10 Ranelagh St., Adelaide, Cat 1, CHESS CENTRE 08 8211 7189

May 13-15 Basta Shield, Melbourne Chess Club, Fitzroy, Cat 3, MELBOURNE CHESS CLUB 03 9416 3149

May 27-28 NSWCA Open, Ashfield Catholic Club, Cat 1, MICHAEL WALSH 0407 068550

Just a reminder to tournament organisers that if you send me a report, I'll endeavour to include it in this bulletin. Also, the Grand Prix administrator, INGRID THOMPSON snoozdoc@ozemail.com.au, relies on tournament organisers to send her results with the full details immediately after each event.

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STATE AND CLUB WEBPAGES

All affiliated states and clubs are invited to hang their webpage(s) off the ACF site at no charge. You can do this simply by emailing the ACF Webmaster, ANDREW ALLEN aallen@somerset.qld.edu.au and he will provide you with the details and a password. This has got to have a financial benefit for states and clubs as they usually have to pay a hefty fee to an internet service provider.

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2000 NATIONAL JUNIOR OPEN

Come to Canberra in April…play in the Doeberl Cup…then play in the National Junior Open!

When : 26th, 27th and 28th

Round times : 10am, 1pm and 3.30pm daily.

Where : The Burns Club, Kett St Kambah Canberra

Format : It will be a nine round ACF rated tournament, played with one hour each on the clock plus time added on ( DGT setting 12 ). There will be two sections, an Open and a Reserves. Entry to the Open is for all young chess players born in 1979 or later. Entry to the Reserves is restricted to young chess players born in 1979 or later who do not have an ACF rating or who have an ACF rating of less than 1300.

Entry Fees : $30 to play in the Open $20 to play in the Reserves.

Entries close - 9.30am Wednesday 26th April.

Prizes : Open : 1st - $300, 2nd - $200, 3rd - $100 plus trophies.

Reserves : 1st , 2nd, 3rd - trophies Other prizes will be given based on numbers.

***COULD YOU PLEASE HELP WITH PLANNING AND INDICATE YOUR ENTRY BEFORE THE DAY***

Enquiries : Contact GEOFF BUTLER on 02 62966801 or actjc@interact.net.au

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SYDNEY MORNING HERALD ARTICLE JOHN PAUL WALLACE had an article on internet chess published in the Sydney Morning Herald. You can read it at: http://www.smh.com.au/icon/0004/01/review8.html

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CZECH OPEN 13 TO 30 JULY - PARDUBICE The 11th International Chess Festival including the Czech Open will be held in Pardubice. Full details at: http://www.proclient.cz/czechopen

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ADRIAN CHEK has provided valuable information to help chess people understand the new tax rules and to help clear up the confusion caused by unclear statements made by the media and by the ATO:

I set out below my understanding of the position of chess clubs, associations and coaches. Please note that these statements are general, and anyone in any doubt about their own circumstances should see a tax agent. I acknowledge the help of my Brisbane colleague and keen chessplayer, DAVID MARKS.

In summary, the new rules apply to CHARITIES only. Chess clubs are not charities and therefore do not have to apply for an ABN to maintain their tax exempt status. Nor will applying for an ABN give them tax deductibility status. Applying for an ABN probably won't do any harm, but it is doubtful whether chess clubs are entitled to have an ABN anyway, as they probably don't carry on an "enterprise".

1. Australian Business Numbers (ABNs)

(a) Whether tax exempt The typical chess club without an ABN will continue to be income tax exempt. It is exempt from income tax as a club established for the encouragement of a game or sport. It is only charities which have to apply for an ABN and become "endorsed". A chess club or association is not a charity.

(b) Whether sponsorships tax deductible A chess club will not become a tax deductible gift organisation by getting an ABN. Even though a chess club is not a tax deductible gift organisation as such, certain business taxpayers can still get a tax deduction for sponsorships. It has always been the case that a business can claim a deduction under the general deduction provision for sponsorships directed toward gaining assessable income, or directed toward advancing the business which is conducted to gain assessable income. For example, a radio station might get a general tax deduction under s8-1 for a donation of $50 if the club is required to put up banners in the tournament hall and allow a DJ to make the first move on the top board.

(c) Whether to get an ABN – PAYG system At this stage, a chess club will probably not gain anything from registering for an ABN. People will have heard about the new tax collection system called PAYG. It often requires an ABN to be quoted. In many cases, if an ABN is not quoted, the payer must withhold 48.5% of the payment, and send that amount to the tax office. This does not apply if a payment to the club is wholly exempt income. As chess clubs have a tax exemption (see above), PAYG is not an issue.

2. Chess coaches Chess coaches should apply for ABNs now. Some applications may be refused by the ATO in the long run, particularly if the coach is really an employee. However, in the meantime, the ATO says it will issue applicants with an interim ABN. There is no reason to delay, and every reason to apply. Most chess coaches would not pass the GST compulsory registration threshold. If turnover looks like being $50,000 or more, the coach should speak with his/her tax agent.

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STRONG PLAYERS HIDDEN AROUND AUSTRALIA

I'd be interested to hear about any strong players around Australia who are not involved in chess any more. This week I came across former Icelandic player ARNOLD GUDMONDSSON who is now aged 68 and lives in Brisbane. He is not playing at present, but was playing socially for some time at the Logan club. Arnold advised me that he represented Iceland in four consecutive Olympiads: 1956 Moscow (reserve 70%), 1958 Munich (Board 4 45%), 1960 Leipzig (Board 2 72% undefeated) and 1962 Varna (Board 2 60%). In those Olympiads he played five GMs and never lost to one. In those days there were no FIDE ratings and it was much harder to get titles. Arnold reckons he was about half way to an IM title. Iceland now has a higher proportion of GMs on a per capita basis than any nation on earth. Arnold's favourite player was Mikhail Tal and his most famous game (versus Fisher at Reykjavik in 1960) appeared in Fisher's 'My 60 Memorable Games'. If anyone would like to communicate with Arnold, he can be contacted at 27 Veronica Avenue, Daisy Hill 4127 Phone 07 3208 4391.

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CORRESPONDENCE

PETER HANNA: For the sake of a level playing field (chess board) chess authorities are going to issue guidelines as to what constitutes "drug" use by chess players. In the same vein we should consider players calling on God's help. If God does help, the player has obtained an unfair advantage, but if God refuses there is still the attempt of cheating. But a conundrum exists if God were to sabotage someone and we were unaware of it. I think the only answer for these unseen problems is for the arbitrator at the beginning of the tournament to issue an edict barring God from the playing room!

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Best wishes to all.

Graeme Gardiner