THANKS

My sincere thanks to Robert Jamieson for doing the President bit while I was away - Robert, you're a hero! Also, it was great to be kept informed about the chess goings-on in Australia through the weekly bulletins. We had no trouble accessing our email via hotmail wherever we went in the world.

World Juniors in Oropesa Del Mar, Spain - It was good to get the chance to see the junior team in action, although the floods caused some problems. The highlight was DAVID SMERDON'S undefeated 11 rounds in the very tough under 16 competition.

Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey - Wendy and I thoroughly enjoyed the colour and spectacle of this famous event which is so steeped in tradition. All the games were relayed live to the web. FIDE claimed 56 hits per second on their site whilst the London Chess Centre claimed three times as many. Both Australian teams performed slightly ahead of expectations and featured outstanding performances by LAURA MOYLAN and DARRYL JOHANSEN. The FIDE Congress, which lasted several days, was an educational experience for me - and very beneficial in many ways.

New York, USA - Our day at the offices of the United States Chess Federation was extremely useful and loaded me with ideas on how we might help develop Australian chess. The USCF have 41 staff and an operating budget of a cool US$6M! Fruitful discussions also took place with JOEL BEREZ of GamesParlor.com on providing online services to members whilst JOHN FERNANDEZ of the Internet Chess Club is also keen to sign up the ACF.

We are very grateful for the generous hospitality we received wherever we went. In Prague, Czech Republic, our hosts were BRETA and HANA MODR. Breta publishes the well known chess magazine, Schach Info. In Washington DC, USA, we stayed with LUBOS and IRENA KAVALEK. Lubos devotes much of his time to chess and he gave me a whole lot of very useful information on constructing a chess syllabus. In Boston, USA, we stayed with USCF/FIDE delegate BILL KELLEHER and his wife VESNA. We also met up with LARRY CHRISTENSEN. Vesna is a long time friend of Australian Olympiad team member BILJANA DEKIC. A great big thanks to all of them!

Tournaments registered to date are as follows:

3/4 Feb Newcastle Open NSW Cat 2 GEORGE LITHGOW

17/18 Feb Taree RSL Summer Open NSW Cat 1 ENDEL LANE 02 6559 9060

3/4 Mar Dubbo RSL Open NSW Cat 1 ALEXANDER AICH 02 6884 4561

17/18 Mar South West Open WA Cat 1 ALAN PHILLIPS

13-16 Apl Doeberl Cup ACT Cat 3 ROGER MCCART 02 6249 2041

13-16 Apl Sydney Easter Cup NSW Cat ? PETER HANNA

20-22 Apl Univ of Qld QLD Cat 3 DAVID COWLAND-COOPER 0414 498556

5/6 May Hobson's Bay Open Cat 1 PETER CAISSA 0411 710900

5/6 May Laurieton Open NSW Cat 1 ENDEL LANE 02 6559 9060

5-7 May Redcliffe Peninsula Open QLD Cat 1 MARK STOKES 07 3205 6042

19/20 May Adelaide Cup SA Cat 1 ROLAND EIME

9/10 June Queen's Birthday Weekender SA Cat 1 ROLAND EIME

9-11 June Queen's Birthday Weekender TAS Cat 1 KEVIN BONHAM 03 6224 8487

23/24 June Taree RSL Open NSW Cat 1 ENDEL LANE 02 6559 9060

23/24 June Gold Coast Open QLD Cat 3 GRAEME GARDINER 07 5530 5794

30Jun/1Jul Suncoast Weekender QLD Cat 3 ROBERT HOCHSTADT 07 5447 5056

28/29 Jul ANU Open ACT Cat 3 SHAUN PRESS 02 6255 2040

22/23 Sep Gold Coast Classic QLD Cat 3 GRAEME GARDINER 07 5530 5794

29/30 Sep Lidum's Cup SA Cat 1 ROLAND EIME

6/7 Oct Redcliffe Challenge QLD Cat 1 MARK STOKES 07 3205 6042

3/4 Nov Laurieton Open NSW Cat 1 ENDEL LANE 02 6559 9060

17-19 Nov Tasmanian Open TAS Cat 1 NEVILLE LEDGER 03 6431 1280

17/18 Nov Taree RSL Spring Open NSW Cat 1 ENDEL LANE 02 6559 9060

8/9 Dec Tuggeranong Vikings Weekender ACT Cat 1 LEE FORACE 02 9556 3960

May I appeal to the following tournaments which entered in 2000 to enter again in 2001:

Hobart Labour Day Open, Hervey Bay Open, Ballarat Begonia Open, Darling Downs Open, Basta Shield, Vic Open, Mackay Open, North Queensland Open, Hervey Bay Whale Open, Coal City Open, Tweed Open, Central Coast Weekender, Melbourne Cup, Melbourne Christmas Swiss, various NSWCA events. It would also be nice to list two or three more WA tournaments and how about The Gap Open in Queensland. Perhaps there are several other established or new tournaments which might like to enter.

Please email me if you would like to register or ask questions:

Congratulations to ANDREW GREENWOOD and his team for putting this successful event together. This is the first time that the Australia Open or Australian Championships have been held in Canberra.

Results available at:

http://www.lexicon.net/ianandjan/Ian/Chess/AustralianOpen/Default.htm

There are a selection of games and pictures also.

There should also be a link from: http://www.auschess.org.au/centenary/

The ACF National Conference and Council meetings will be held in the Lake Superior Room, Rydges Lakeside Hotel, London Circuit, Canberra on Sunday 7 January. The National Conference will commence at 9am and we hope to complete that meeting by 12 noon when we will break for lunch. The Council meeting will then commence at 1pm and we hope to finish this meeting by 4pm when the lightning competition commences.

Delegates advised to date:

NSW: ROBERT KEAST, NORM GREENWOOD, CHARLES ZWORESTINE, MAL MURRELL, KERRY STEAD, BILL GLETSOS (7 votes).

ACT: DENNIS JESSOP (1 vote).

VIC: GARY WASTELL, DAVID CORDOVER, ROBERT JAMIESON, ARIE MEYDAN, MICHAEL GLUZMAN, NARELLE SZUVEGES (5 votes).

SA: GEORGE HOWARD, JOE TANTI (2 votes).

WA: MICHAEL WILKINS, DANNY DWYER, JAY LACKNER (2 votes).

QLD: IAN MURRAY, VICTOR DAVIDOVICI, CRAIG STEWART (4 votes).

To follow discussions on these significant changes in the running of top level chess, go to http://www.fide.com

11-23 January, Hellenic Club, Matilda St, Phillip, ACT

Late entries will be taken by the organisers up to 8 January and a late fee of $25 will apply, so get your entries in now.

Print out the entry form from: http://www.auschess.org.au/centenary/junentryform.html and return to:

2001 Australian Junior Chess Championships, PO Box 1403, Belconnen ACT 2616

The 2001 Australian Junior Championship will be run in four sections:

Under 18 years of age Open Championship

Under 12 years of age Open Championship

Under 18 years of age Girls Championship

Under 12 years of age Girls Championship

*** If anyone is in possession of a perpetual trophy for any of these events, please contact the organisers immediately (see contacts)

There will be rest days on Monday January 15 and Saturday January 20. The Australian Junior Lightning Championship and the Australian Junior Rapidplay Championship will be conducted on the rest days.

Venue: The venue for the Junior Championship will be the first floor of the Hellenic Club, Matilda St, Phillip. The venue is air-conditioned, carpeted, spacious, has a bistro and is minutes walk from the major Woden Town Centre shopping plaza. It also has ample parking next to the venue and there is a major bus interchange close by. It is 12 minutes by bus to/from the city - buses leave every 5-10 minutes.

More information on the venue: http://canberra.citysearch.com.au/E/V/CANBE/0025/09/77/

Simultaneous matches will be organised by visiting master players coming for the festival.

Refer to website for more information, including full accommodation and travel details: http://www.auschess.org.au/centenary/junmain.html

Almost all accommodation centres are within one bus from the venue. Groups booking accommodation in the city centre can take advantage of the city bus route with buses departing to Woden Interchange every 5-10 minutes, only taking 12 minutes to arrive at the venue (any 3-digit bus number starting with a "3" or "1" takes you to Woden from the City Interchange). It is recommended you buy weekly or 10-fare tickets from local newsagents.

Refer to ACTION local bus network website for maps of the nearest route to your accommodation centre: http://www.action.act.gov.au/

Contacts:

DEBORAH POULTON President, ACT Junior Chess League Inc. PO Box 1403 Belconnen ACT 2617 Telephone: 02 6231-8577 (h) 02 6273-2233 (w) E-mail: Deborah.Poulton@debway.com.au wpoulton@pcug.org.au

JENNY MOYLAN 02-6258-1070 moylan@interact.net.au

TONY FITZPATRICK 02-6254-9103 afitzpat@interact.net.au

Website: http://www.auschess.org.au/centenary/junmain.html

This is the second year that ROLAND EIME and I acted as arbiters for the Australian Schools Chess Championship. (Our first was in Canberra in 1999).

The 2000 event was organised by PATRICIA THEN under the auspices of South Australian Junior Chess League. The venue was St Peter's College Junior School. Evelyn Koshnitsky was scorer.

The hosts are to be congratulated on a job well done. However, there were two minor administrative problems, two appeals against arbiters' decisions and one important issue to be considered for future years. These are documented below for the ACF to consider.

Administrative problems

(1) Based on a favourable weather forecast, it was decided to use an un-airconditioned venue which could comfortably accommodate all players and spectators. Unfortunately Saturday turned out to be very hot and everyone had to put up with uncomfortable conditions. Sunday was cooler and better. Perhaps in hindsight the smaller venue, which was airconditioned, should have been used. (It would however have meant that the coaches and parents would have been excluded from the playing hall.)

(2) There were transport problems on Sunday morning (a driver slept in), which resulted in the late arrival of some teams. See below for more details.

Appeals against arbiters' decisions

(1) At the beginning of Round 2, Worongary State School (K CORKER and D COYLE) protested against the Board order of another girls' primary team, Essex Heights. This relates back to a situation at Canberra last year, when the arbiters ruled that MICHELLE LEE could only play for one team. However, a meeting of interested parties in Canberra decided she could play for more than one team in future years. Based on this ruling, Michelle was accepted as a player in both Open and Girls' teams for 2000. In round 1 she played for the Open team. In round 2 she was switched to the Girls' team (the teams were nominated 15 minutes before the start of the play in accordance with the rules). Worongary objected to the Essex Heights board order and the use of reserves. A disputes committee (E KOSHNITSKY, M WALSH, D DWYER and J SUPTUT) was covened to consider the matter. The Worongary protest was rejected as it appeared to be based on a misunderstanding of the rules relating to board order and use of reserves. It was recommended that these rules be well publicised to avoid misunderstandings for future years.

(2) On Sunday morning, Christ Church Grammar (D DWYER) protested that they were not given the full 55 minutes on their clocks when they arrived late for the start of round 5. This relates to a decision taken by the arbiters to start play at 10.07 when they understood all the teams had finally arrived (following the transport problems). Unfortunately, the Christ Church players were not in the hall at 10.07 and they only had 53 minutes on their clocks when they finally came inside and sat down. Further time was lost by some of their players as they protested the arbiters decision not to restart the clocks. A disputes committee (E KOSHNITSKY, M WALSH, J SUPTUT and M GLUZMAN) was convened to consider the matter. The Christ Church protest was rejected as it was not considered practical to replay all or part of the game(s). It was considered that the arbiters could have waited for the players to arrive before starting the clocks.

Issues

(1) Over the weekend it was observed that some primary school players were much bigger than others. This led to examination of the definition of "Primary" in different states. Some states include year 7 students; others do not and this leads to inequalities which need to be considered and resolved to everyone's satisfaction for the future.

Final results

ASCC - Open Secondary 2000

1. Anglican Church Grammar School (QLD) 15.5/20
2. Sydney Grammar School (NSW) 14.0
3. University High School (VIC) 13.5
4. Prince Alfred College (SA) 6.5
5. Radford College (ACT) 6.0
6. Christ Church Grammar School (WA) 4.5

ASCC - Girls Secondary 2000

1. St Stephen's College (QLD) 15.5/20
2. Glenunga International High School (SA) 14.5
3. Abbotsleigh Girls High School (NSW) 11.0
4. Presbytarian Ladies College (VIC) 10.5
5. Radford College (ACT) 7.5
6. Wilderness School (SA) 1.0

ASCC - Open Primary 2000

1. Essex Heights Primary School (VIC) 19/20
2. Summer Hill Public School (NSW) 13.0
3. The Gap State School (QLD) 10.5
4. Linden Park Primary School (SA) 8.0
5. Weetangara Primary School (ACT) 5.0
6. St Peter's College (SA) 4.5

ASCC - Girls Primary 2000

1. Worongary State School (QLD) 16.5/20
2. Essex Heights Primary School (VIC) 16.5
3. St Monica's Primary School (ACT) 11.0
4. Summer Hill Public School (NSW) 7.0
5. St John's Lutheran Primary School (SA) 5.0
6. Walford College (SA) 4.0


AUSTRALIAN ALLEGRO CHAMPIONSHIP, ADELAIDE

Equal First FM Mark Chapman $700 + trophy
Srboljub Zaric $700
Equal Third Justin Freytag $25 each
Kevin Sheldrick


Rating Prizes
Equal first U1700 Venu Sarma
Sam Memedi $37.50 each
First u1400 Alex Saint $50
Second u1400 Tristan Stevens $25 + trophy
First Unrated Peter Sanders $50
Second Unrated Zenun Zenuni $25


Junior Boys
Under 18 Song Yang $50 voucher + trophy
Under 14 Tristan Stevens $25 voucher + trophy
Prakash Thiyagarajah $25 voucher
Under 10 Syamanandra Heitmann $50 voucher + trophy

Junior Girls
Under 18 Juanita Lauer Smith $50 voucher + trophy
Under 14 Jade Lauer Smith $50 voucher + trophy
Under 10 Diana Davidovic $25 voucher + trophy
Surabhi Heitmann $25 voucher

Women's
First Ngan Koshnitsky $300 + trophy
Second Elizabeth Ports $150
Third Juanita Lauer Smith $50

Veterans
Equal First John Riches $25 + trophy
Asllan Zenuni $25

7 TO 18 JANUARY, BIKANER, INDIA

This is an extremely late call for boys and girls in the under 10, 12 and 14 age groups who would be interested in travelling to India to represent Australia. It is unfortunate that this event is held each year at the same time as our own national junior championship.

This is just a reminder that the Australian Chess Federation is financing free Swiss Perfect licences to all states and clubs in Australia. 72 licences have been taken up by Australian states and clubs to date. In addition several schools are using the Swiss Perfect licences of the respective states under generous arrangements provided by the owner of Swiss Perfect, ROBERT ROZYCKI. Please contact me if your club or school is interested in a copy of Swiss Perfect.

SUNG YEO KOSHNITSKY, wife of Peter, gave birth to a 3.3Kg girl, JANYA DANBI EVELYN KOSHNITSKY on 22 December. Congratulations! Mother and daughter are doing well. We hope to see Evelyn and other members of the Koshnitsky family in Canberra on 9 January.

States $303 each
Clubs with 100 or more members $242 per club
Clubs with 50 to less than 100 members $182 per club
Clubs with less than 50 members $121 per club

To take advantage of this special offer, all you need to do is email NORM GREENWOOD with the following details: Name of club, number of current members, main meeting venue (if any), incorporated or unincorporated, any previous liability incidents, contact name/address/phone/fax/email, interested parties to be noted on policy (if any).

You will then be contacted directly by the insurer, CHRIS ZUCCALA, who will advise you of the pro rata premium to pay to the common renewal date (31 August).

If you wish to contact Chris Zuccala direct please do so on email vicwide@hotmail.com or phone 03 9569 1569 or fax 03 9569 1515.

Paulien van den Andel of the Netherlands is interested in contacting her uncle, Jacque Horringa, who it is understood is an Australian chess player. Can anyone help with this one please?

Mike Walsh has stepped down as President of the NSWCA. The new committee elected recently is:

President: Robert Keast 
Vice President: John Baker 
Secretary: Tom Accola 
Treasurer: Norm Greenwood 
Club Liaison: Kerry Stead 
Country: Keith Farrell 
NSWJCL: Richard Gastineau-Hills 02 9412 4579
Publicity: Nick Kordahi 
Ratings: Steve Carratt 
Registrar: Peter Cassettari 
Tournaments: Charles Zworestine 
Webmaster: Mal Murrell 
Without Portfolio: Bill Gletsos <76702.3153@compuserve.com>

All points based on best 5 scores

Open   138 Players with points
1 Rogers, Ian   NSW 91.5
2 Solomon, Stephen  QLD 74
3 Chapman, Mark  SA 68.5
4 Johansen, Darryl  VIC 64.5
5 Wohl, Alex   QLD 49.5
6 Myers, John   QLD 42.5
7 Reilly, Tim   NSW 39.5
8 Hornung, Michael  TAS 37.33
9 Baron, Michael  VIC 34.5
10 Stead, Kerry  NSW 32.83
11 Coutts, Tama  NSW 32.8
12 Rujevic, Mirko  VIC 32


U/2000   153 Players with points
1 Meyers, John  QLD 72.08
2 Rej, Tomek   NSW 55.12
3 Guthrie, Aaron  SA 41.8
4 Coutts, Tama  NSW 41.7
5 Zhao, Zong-Yuan  NSW 41.56
6 Hornung, Michael  TAS 39.33
7 Sheldrick, Kevin  SA 36
8 Stead, Kerry  NSW 32.83
9 Yang, Song   SA 32
10 Bolens, Jonny  NSW 30.52
11 Edwards, Jacob  QLD 30.25
12 Duxbury, Craig  QLD 26.75


U/1600   183 Players with points
1 Guthrie, Aaron  SA 56.66
2 Bowen, Leon   VIC 37.5
3 Lea, Tom   TAS 37.16
4 Stewart, Craig  QLD 33.45
5 Yang, Song   SA 32
6 Greenwood, Norm  NSW 26.65
7 Lip, Catherine  NSW 26.12
8 Darvall, Anthony  QLD 25.18
9 Carey, Doug   NSW 24.5
10 Keuning, A   NSW 22.96
11 Wongwichit, Phachara QLD 22.45
12 Horwood, Melba  QLD 21.12



Unrated  120 Players with points
1 Prilleltensky, Matan VIC 37
2 Snell, Bryce  QLD 36
3 Horwood, Paul  QLD 34.75
4 Lewin, Peter  NSW 28.83
5 Wedding, Robin  SA 28
6 Takos, Adam   SA 25.25
7 Stojic, Dusan  ACT 22.5
7 Stojic, Svetozar  ACT 22.5
7 Varela, Peter  NSW 22.5
8 Rau, Christian  ACT 20
8 Gill, Geoffrey  VIC 20
8 Whitfield, Mark  VIC 20


Junior  120 Players with points
1 Zhao, Zong-Yuan  NSW 88.16
2 Rej, Tomek   NSW 75.66
3 Xie, George   NSW 68.6
4 Smerdon, David  QLD 65.16
5 Guthrie, Aaron  SA 59.66
6 Chow, Samuel  VIC 53.5
7 Davidovici, Michael QLD 50.5
8 Murray, Luke  QLD 39.2
9 Darvall, Anthony  QLD 36
10 Yang, Song   SA 32
11 Lip, Michael  NSW 31.5
12 Barnard, Casey  QLD 26.5


Female  48 Players with points
1 Szuveges, Narelle  VIC 62
2 Horwood, Melba  QLD 61.5
3 Lip, Catherine  NSW 59
4 Koshnitsky, Ngan  SA 51.5
5 Sharamova, Eugenia NSW 50
6 Zivanovic, Andrelija VIC 44
7 Lee, Michelle  VIC 42
8 Jovanovic, Marija  ACT 41
8 Thompson, Ingrid  QLD 41
9 Martin, Janice  TAS 34.5
10 Moylan, Laura  ACT 29
10 Jones, Nancy  NSW 29


Tournaments Included -

Newcastle Open
Taree RSL Summer Open
Labour Day Open
South West Open
Hervey Bay Open
Ballerat Bergonia Open
Darling Downs Open
Doerbel Cup
35th Peninsula Open
Hobson's Bay Open
Adelaide Cup
NSWCA May W/E
Tasmanian Championship
Queen's Birthday Open (SA)
NSWCA Koshnitsky Mem'l
Taree RSL Open
Gold Coast Open
Noosa Open
ANU Open
Mackay Open
Basta Shield (Open results only at this stage due to computer crash)
Adelaide Checkmate Weekender
Australian Rapid Play Championships
Whale Open
Gold Coast Classic
North Queensland Open
NSWCA W/E August
Lidlum's Cup
Redcliffe Challenge
Victorian Open
Geelong Open
Coal City Open
Tweed Heads Open
Central Coast W/E
Tasmanian Open


Tournament Results Not Included -

Melbourne Cup
November RSL Spring Open


Many thanks to INGRID THOMPSON for compiling these results.




CORRESPONDENCE


KEVIN BONHAM:


With FIDE receiving fresh (and often justified) criticism on a seemingly
weekly basis, it's reassuring to know that some parts of it can still make
correct decisions. I notice from Geurt Gijssen's Arbiter's Notebook" column
(Chess Cafe, Nov 15th) that the FIDE Rules Committee has rejected a proposal
to extend the old blitz rule C4 (the "mating potential" rule) to all time
limits. Furthermore, they've axed that rule from blitz as well. I'm very
pleased by this - as an arbiter I've found that the "mating potential"  rule
is very difficult to explain, is not all that efficient in stopping people
losing on time in good positions, and can require very advanced
problem-solving skills to apply.



All the very best for 2001!


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.auschess.org.au

Chess - the clever sport!

PS - If you do not wish to receive this bulletin in future, please email
wgardiner@somerset.qld.edu.au