ACF Bulletin No. 101 - 28 January 2001 As I am now back in the office after three months long service leave, this is an extended issue. All back issues of the ACF email bulletin are available at http://www.auschess.org.au/bulletins/acfbt.htm. Welcome to several new subscribers who have been added to our email database in the last week or so. If you do not wish to receive this bulletin, or you are receiving duplicates, please advise me on ggardiner@somerset.qld.edu.au ********** IN THIS ISSUE: Australian Junior Championships, 2001 Grand Prix, Northern Territory Chess, University Chess, Swiss Perfect, Oceanic Zonal, $10,000,000 Public Liability Insurance for your Club or State, ACF Online, January 2002 Australian Championships and Australian Junior Championships, Time Controls for Australian Championships, Tax Deductible Fund/Endowment Fund, Third Saturday Belgrade Chess Tournaments from April 2001 in Yugoslavia, Czech Open 2001, Papua New Guinea International Open Chess Championship, FIDE and Karpov settle, FIDE World Championships - Willy Icklicki, Correspondence, 2001 Australian Junior Chess Championships - Minutes of Parents' and Coaches' Meeting. ********** AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS Congratulations to ZONG YUAN ZHAO on winning his first Australian Junior title at the age of 14. He was undefeated. Earlier in the tournament he had looked a little tired, but he hung in there and in the final round DAVID SMERDON, who had led by half a point, overpressed against MICHAEL LIP in the time scramble and lost. Zong Yuan gave a nice speech at the closing ceremony - he and David are good ambassadors for Australian chess. The event was certainly one of the strongest Australian Juniors ever held. Congratulations also to MICHELLE LEE who won the Australian Girls' title at the age of 11 on an undefeated 10.5/12! Also to DUSAN STOJIC who won the Open Under 12 title with a picket fence 11/11. HEATHER HUDDLESTONE also did very well to win the Girls' Under 12 on an undefeated 9.5/11. SAM CHOW should also receive a mention for troubling the leaders in the open section. A high standard of sportsmanship was shown by our juniors. 2001 Australian Junior Lightning 1 IM David Smerdon (Q) 2304 9 2 Kuan-Kuan Tian (N) 2054 9 3 IM Zhao Zong-Yuan (N) 2297 9 4 Sam Chow (V) 1893 8.5 5 Ilya Zvedeniouk (N) 1769 8 6 Michael Lip (N) 1984 8 7 Shervin Rafizadeh (A) 1874 7.5 8 Leon Taylor (W) 1809 7.5 9 Benjamin McPhee (Q) 1489 7.5 10 WIM Laura Moylan (A) 1867 7.5 11 Julian McDonald (V) 1546 7.5 12 Gareth Oliver (A) 1523 7.5 13 Keiron Olm-Milligan (Q) 1503 7.5 DAVID SMERDON won the title of Australian Junior Lightning Champion after a three way play off. 87 players, 11 rounds Full details at http://www.lexicon.net/ianandjan/Ian/Chess/AustralianJunior/Default.htm A big thank you to all the organisers for an extremely well run tournament. The team was ROLY EIME, CHARLES ZWORESTINE, SHAUN PRESS, MANUEL WEEKS, LEE FORACE, DENIS JESSOP, ANDREW GREENWOOD, TONY FITZPATRICK, EVELYN FITZPATRICK, PAUL DUNN, JENNY MOYLAN, CLAIRE MOYLAN, BRUCE PINK, BARBARA PINK, JEROME PINK, ELIZABETH SMITH, DEBBIE POULTON, WAYNE POULTON, IAN ROUT, GARY WASTELL, PHIL O'CONNOR, BRIAN JONES, TONY OLIVER and all the players who helped with inputing games. ********** 2001 GRAND PRIX Please support the Newcastle Open next weekend. Tournaments registered to date are as follows: 3/4 Feb Newcastle Open NSW Cat 2 GEORGE LITHGOW <george.lithgow@bigpond.com> 17/18 Feb Taree RSL Summer Open NSW Cat 1 ENDEL LANE 02 6559 9060 <endel@fasternet.com.au> 3/4 Mar Dubbo RSL Open NSW Cat 1 ALEXANDER AICH 02 6884 4561 <sjaich@tpg.com.au> 17/18 Mar South West Open WA Cat 1 ALAN PHILLIPS <alanglo@tpg.com.au> 13-16 Apl Doeberl Cup ACT Cat 3 ROGER MCCART 02 6249 2041 <roger.mccart@anu.edu.au> 13-16 Apl Sydney Easter Cup NSW Cat ? PETER HANNA <rational@mpx.com.au> 20-22 Apl Univ of Qld QLD Cat 3 DAVID COWLAND-COOPER 0414 498556 <uqchess@hotmail.com> 5/6 May Hobson's Bay Open VIC Cat 1 PETER CAISSA 0411 710900 <pcaissa@melbpc.org.au> 5/6 May Laurieton Open NSW Cat 1 ENDEL LANE 02 6559 9060 <endel@fasternet.com.au> 5-7 May Redcliffe Peninsula Open QLD Cat 1 MARK STOKES 07 3205 6042 <mstokes@bne.catholic.edu.au> 19/20 May Adelaide Cup SA Cat 1 ROLAND EIME <eimes@senet.com.au> 9/10 June Queen's Birthday Weekender SA Cat 1 ROLAND EIME <eimes@senet.com.au> 9-11 June Queen's Birthday Weekender TAS Cat 1 KEVIN BONHAM 03 6224 8487 <k_bonham@utas.edu.au> 23/24 June Taree RSL Open NSW Cat 1 ENDEL LANE 02 6559 9060 <endel@fasternet.com.au> 23/24 June Gold Coast Open QLD Cat 3 GRAEME GARDINER 07 5530 5794 <ggardiner@somerset.qld.edu.au> 30Jun/1Jul Suncoast Weekender QLD Cat 3 ROBERT HOCHSTADT 07 5447 5056 <toothfairy@spiderweb.com.au> 28/29 Jul ANU Open ACT Cat 3 SHAUN PRESS 02 6255 2040 <shaun.press@cs.anu.edu.au> 4/5 Aug Mackay Open QLD Cat 1 STAN LONG HONG 07 4953 4573 <computer5000@hotmail.com> 22/23 Sep Gold Coast Classic QLD Cat 3 GRAEME GARDINER 07 5530 5794 <ggardiner@somerset.qld.edu.au> 29/30 Sep Lidum's Cup SA Cat 1 ROLAND EIME <eimes@senet.com.au> 6/7 Oct Redcliffe Challenge QLD Cat 1 MARK STOKES 07 3205 6042 <mstokes@bne.catholic.edu.au> 3/4 Nov Laurieton Open NSW Cat 1 ENDEL LANE 02 6559 9060 <endel@fasternet.com.au> 17-19 Nov Tasmanian Open TAS Cat 1 NEVILLE LEDGER 03 6431 1280 <nlchess@tassie.net.au> 17/18 Nov Taree RSL Spring Open NSW Cat 1 ENDEL LANE 02 6559 9060 <endel@fasternet.com.au> 8/9 Dec Tuggeranong Vikings Weekender ACT Cat 1 LEE FORACE 02 9556 3960 <ljforace@hotmail.com> May I appeal to the organisers of the following tournaments which were entered in 2000 to enter them again in 2001: Hobart Labour Day Open, Hervey Bay Open, Ballarat Begonia Open, Darling Downs Open, Basta Shield, Vic 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: <ggardiner@somerset.qld.edu.au> I hope to have final results for the 2000 Grand Prix very shortly. I understand that INGRID THOMPSON is just waiting for the results of one tournament. ********** NORTHERN TERRITORY CHESS It looks as though things are getting going in the Northern Territory. TERRY O'NEILL and his team in Darwin have been preparing to incorporate the Northern Territory Chess Association. Now NORMAN TAYLOR, who used to be President of the Kelmscott Chess Club in Perth and CAWA Office Bearer in the 80s, has advised that he is forming the Alice Springs Chess Club. We wish Terry and Norm all the very best in getting the NTCA off and running. ********** UNIVERSITY CHESS ALLAN RICHARDS of Hobart, Tasmania who is studying at the University of Sydney, is working on running an Inter Varsity Teams Chess Championship to coincide with the Inter Varsity Games which will be held at the University of Sydney later this year probably in September or October. I'm sure that Allan would love to receive registrations of interest. He can be contacted at <allan_richards@hotmail.com>. More information will be put out in the coming weeks. ********** SWISS PERFECT A reminder that the ACF is paying for Swiss Perfect pairings programme licences for all states and clubs in Australia. This is in the interests of encouraging more large tournaments, easier administration of tournaments and standardised format for the transfer of files etc. To date 75 free licences have been given out. Also, many schools have taken advantage of the special offer of the owner of Swiss Perfect, ROBERT ROZYCKI, of free use of the relevant state licence. If anyone would like a free copy of Swiss Perfect, please email me at <ggardiner@somerset.qld.edu.au>. ********** OCEANIC ZONAL I have got down to the serious business of trying to put together the 2001 Oceanic Zonal. The biggest worry as far as I'm concerned, of course, is having sufficient sponsorship in hand to ensure that I can run the event at a break even. I'm working on that right now. The event will have to be run in late April or early May to meet FIDE's timetable. If anyone wishes to assist with sponsorship, please let me know. Also, if there is any other experienced organiser who would like to run the event, I'd be interested to talk with you. I'd also be interested to receive registrations of interest from players who are thinking of participating. ********** $10,000,000 PUBLIC LIABILITY INSURANCE FOR YOUR CLUB OR STATE? I've been receiving favourable comments from states and clubs who have saved plenty of money by taking up the ACF insurance deal. Has your state or club considered the following deal? 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 I think that you will find these quotes hard to beat. Compare them with what you are paying now. To take advantage of this special offer, all you need to do is email NORM GREENWOOD <normg@bigpond.com.au> 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. ********** ACF ONLINE The ACF is seriously considering an online service for registered subscribers. This may include a games playing service similar to that provided by the Internet Chess Club. The United States Chess Federation have successfully introduced such a scheme. In order to provide an enhanced service such as special promotional games, commentary, seminars, lightning/blitz/bullet events etc we will need volunteers. In this regard I would be keen to receive expressions of interest. ********** JANUARY 2002 AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS AND AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS The ACF Council will consider bids for these two important events at its meeting in March. It looks like we will receive a bid (through the VCA) from Melbourne in respect of both events and from the NSWCA in respect of the juniors. If you wish to make a bid, it needs to be done through your state association. I understand that the Box Hill Chess Club (through the VCA) are interested in bidding for the Jan 2003 Australian Open. The CAWA have expressed an interest in hosting the Australian Juniors in January 2004. ********** TIME CONTROLS FOR AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS You will be aware that FIDE have approved new time controls. Instead of the existing format (40 moves in 100 minutes, 20 moves in 50 minutes, 10 minutes for the remainder of the game with an increment of 30 seconds), the new time control to be used in all FIDE events and international title tournaments will be 40 moves in 75 minutes, 15 minutes for the remainder of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move from move 1. I would be interested to hear the views of Australian players (preferably for publication) on this change as the matter is likely to be an agenda item at the next ACF Council meeting. ********** TAX DEDUCTIBLE FUND/ENDOWMENT FUND Over many years, administrators of Australian chess have been unable to find any way to have donations for chess made tax deductible. Bearing in mind the tax deductible status of the arts and the Australian Sports Foundation, and also the educational, sporting and social benefits of chess, it hardly seems right that chess is not supported in this way by government. I'm pleased to say that DEBBIE POULTON (accountant) and DENIS JESSOP (retired lawyer), both of Canberra, have kindly offered to look into the possibility of setting up some sort of tax deductible fund for chess and also an endowment fund. There is no time limit on their work. It may not be possible to achieve the tax deductible status under existing legislation and therefore this may have to be added to the lobbying work we are doing to have chess recognised as a sport. ********** 2001 WORLD YOUTH CHESS FESTIVAL I am advised by MANUEL WEEKS that this event for the under 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 age groups will once again be held in Oropesa Del Mar and the dates are 20 October to 3 November. National Junior Coordinator, BRETT TINDALL will be organising the selections this year. The Oliver family have generously agreed to fund once again the successful team training programme which was commenced last year. We are most grateful to them. ********** "THIRD SATURDAY" BELGRADE CHESS TOURNAMENTS FROM APRIL 2001 IN YUGOSLAVIA A few days ago NAGY LASZLO, the organizer of the FIRST SATURDAY Budapest Hungary chess tournaments and the Belgrade Chess Federation, agreed that from 21st of April and every second month /April-June, August, October, December this year/ they will organize together: 1. GM-closed tournaments category VII-VIII., 10-14 participants, 2. IM-closed tournaments cat. I-II-III, 10-14 players. Accommodation in a 3 star hotel close to the venue, bed and breakfast 25,-DM per day. Venue: Belgrade Chess Federation, Deligradska 27, 3rd floor With this action we wish to help to the Yugoslav chessfriends to come out from the 10 years of isolation and start a new wave of norm chess tournaments. The people there are very friendly and cooperative. If you wish to make a norm shot there, it is sure you will enjoy the conditions. Entry fees in the 21st of April - 3rd of May tournaments - half, as in the First Saturday events in Budapest /www.elender.hu/~firstsat More info: Nagy Laszlo, phone: /361/-263-28-59 mobile: /36/-30-230-19-14 e-mail: firstsat@elender.hu. ********** CZECH OPEN 2001 12th anniversary International Chess Festival, Pardubice 12. - 29.7. 2001 A) open grand master tournament with credit for FIDE - participation of players with ELO FIDE 2200 min., 9 rounds by Swiss system, speed 2 h/40 + 1 h/20 + 30 min; B) open rating tournament with credit for FIDE - players with ELO FIDE or ELO national 1950 min., 9 rounds by Swiss system, speed 2 h/40 + 1 h/20 + 30 min; C) open performance tournament - players without ELO FIDE with ELO national 1700 min., 9 rounds by Swiss system, speed 2 h/40 +1 h/20 + 30 min; D) open amateur tournament - players without ELO or with ELO national 1949 max., 9 rounds by Swiss system, speed 2 h/40 + 1 h/20 + 30 min. Plus several other events. You may obtain more detailed information at the following address: AVE-KONTAKT, Sukova 1556, 530 02 Pardubice, Czech Republic, tel/fax + 420 - 40 - 65 35 200 e-mail: j.mazuch@avekont.cz , http://www.proclient.cz/czechopen. ********** PAPUA NEW GUINEA INTERNATIONAL OPEN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 13th April to 16th April, 2001 - Proudly sponsored by Airways Hotel, Port Moresby, capital city of PNG. Chief Arbiter: IA GARY BEKKER Prizes: 1st - PGK 600, 2nd - PGK 400, 3rd - PGK 300 Best Junior - PGK 200. 7 round FIDE-rated tournament. Pairings will be conducted by computer. Round 1 Fri April 13th 10.00am Round 2 Fri April 13th 3.00pm Round 3 Sat April 14th 10.00am Round 4 Sat April 14th 3.00pm Round 5 Sun April 15th 10.00am Round 6 Sun April 15th 3.00pm Round 7 Sun April 16th 10.00am Prizes: Sun April 16th 3.00pm Contact is GARY BEKKER <gbekker@mira.net> ********** FIDE AND KARPOV SETTLE At the instance of the Court of Arbitration for Sport at its hearing of the case of Karpov vs. FIDE, on Tuesday, 9 January 2001, an agreement was reached by both parties to withdraw their respective claims. The terms which formed the basis of the Arbitration award by the three-man Arbitration Panel chaired by Mr. Jan Paulsson, were as follows: 1. "In the interest of chess, the parties unreservedly agree to withdraw all claims and counterclaims made in this arbitration with prejudice. 2. Both parties acknowledge the effectiveness of the decision of FIDE to change the World Championship cycle from a two-year to a single year. 3. Mr. Anatoly Karpov has no objection, and undertakes not to object, to FIDE's conferring of its World Championship title to Alexander Khalifman in 1999 and Viswanathan Anand in 2000. 4. Both FIDE and its officials and Mr. Anatoly Karpov undertake to cease all forms of criticism against each other through any medium, including but not limited to print and electronic media, in respect of any of the allegations or claims made in this arbitration. 5. In the interest of goodwill and in order to correct the misunderstanding arising out of the agreement which led to this dispute, FIDE shall make a single payment to Mr. Anatoly Karpov of US$50, 000 (fifty thousand United States dollars) within 14 days of the date of this Consent Award. 6. Each party shall bear its own expenses, and will share equally the costs of CAS." Emmanuel Omuku Executive Director, FIDE ********** FIDE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - WILLY ICKLICKI Following the decision of the last Presidential Board meeting December 2000, I write to inform you that the qualifiers for the 2001 World Chess Championship will come from the Continental Championships, which shall be organised the Continents by end of July 2001. The number of the qualifiers per Continent for the 2001 World Chess Championship is as follows: Europe - 46 Americas - 19 Asia - 19 Africa - 6 The number of the qualifiers for the 2001 Women's World Chess Championship will be announced by the end of January 2001 after final consultations with the Chairperson of the Committee on Women's Chess, Ms. Nana Alexandria. The complete new Regulations for the 2001 World Chess Championship and Women's World Chess Championship shall be released by the end of February 2001. Willy Iclicki Chairman, World Championship Cycle Committee ********** CORRESPONDENCE ERIC SCHILLER: You mean ACF intends to cooperate in drug testing? Shame on you! If there exists any substance which can help mental activity, bring it on! But since other than mild effects of gingko biloba and the like, nothing is known to enhance performance, FIDE has no right to impose tests, which will in any case be rejected by the players. In physical sport there is a legitimate reason to test, but not in mind sports. I'm disappointed to see that ACF is even thinking of complying! I agree we want chess in the Olympics, and general recognition of mind sports. But to ban coffee, caffeinated chocolate bars? And what business is it of the IOC or anyone else if a player wants a pint or two after the game? Perhaps such draconian restrictions can be imposed at the Olympic Games, but FIDE wants to apply it in all major events. I can't think of a single substance that might be banned for a legitimate reason, so why test at all? The Olympics instituted drug testing purely to stop cheating. At the Kasparov - Kramnik match, all we had to do was search the players thoroughly and examine their food and beverage. The concern that motivated the IOC does not apply to chess. ********** 2001 AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS - MINUTES OF PARENTS' AND COACHES' MEETING (Many thanks to WAYNE POULTON for taking the minutes) Minutes of Parents' and Coaches' Meeting held at 1:30pm on Sunday 21st January 2001 in the Aegean Room at the Hellenic Club, Canberra Australia. The meeting was chaired by GRAEME GARDINER - President of the ACF. The meeting was intended to be an open forum for discussion and did not have a detailed agenda. For the most part, these minutes attempt to record the issues in the order in which they were discussed during the meeting, rather than re-arranging them into a formal structure. Introduction A Parents' and Coaches' meeting is traditionally held during the running of the 2001 Australian Junior Chess Championships each year. This year the meeting was convened by Graeme Gardiner. The meeting has no formal authority but can make recommendations to the ACF. (The next ACF meeting is due to be held at the end of March 2001.) Graeme opened the meeting and stated the purpose of the meeting - viz. · to solicit suggestions for improving the Australian Junior Chess tournament; · to conduct discussion on Australian Junior Chess in general. Graeme invited meeting attendees to leave their e-mail IDs with him if they wished to be included on the mailing list for ACF correspondence. Graeme said that the ACF web page contained lots of information about the ACF activities, and also the Constitution and By-Laws. He encouraged attendees to access the web site regularly. 2002 Australian Junior Chess Championships Bids for the next tournament are due in March 2001. The ACF has been asking for bids since June 2000. The following bids are currently being 'constructed': · in Melbourne as part of a combined Australian championship; · in Sydney (it is the 'turn' of NSW to host the Junior championship). 2001 Australian Junior Chess Championships Graeme invited attendees to raise issues about the current tournament. The following issues were raised: 1. Start times; 2. Change in format of the U18 Girls tournament; and 3. Tie breaks. Start Times Various options were considered ranging from 9am to 2pm. (The 2001 tournament is using a start time of 1pm except for a start time of 12 noon on the last day.) Advantages and disadvantages of each option were mentioned. Graeme asked meeting attendees to indicate whether or not they were happy with the 1pm start time. There was overwhelming support for this start time. Change in Format of the U18 Girls tournament As there were only 13 entries in the U18 Girls' tournament, organisers decided to run the tournament as a round robin rather than as an 11 round Swiss tournament, which would have resulted in some 'strange' pairings towards the end of the tournament. This meant that the girls had to play two games on Sunday 14th and Friday 19th (the days before the rest day). Having to play two games on the same day was difficult for the girls. Although not everyone was happy with the change, the meeting was generally sympathetic to the problem faced by the organisers. Due to the relatively low number of girls who enter this tournament, this is likely to be an ongoing problem. Suggestions included: 1. have a Girls U15 age group; 2. older girls to play in the U18 Open tournament; 3. cull the numbers if more than, say, 13. It was stated that the girls prefer to play each other rather than play in the U18 Open. Primary school girls tend to drop out of playing chess. Anything which encourages them to continue playing chess is worthwhile. It was agreed that it was not possible to make a firm decision about what to do for future tournaments, as it depends very much on the number of players. Tie Breaks The rules for tie breaks had been discussed at a recent ACF meeting. Graeme had been asked by the organisers to provide details of the revised requirements. These were not available at the time of the meeting, but were believed to be: Ø play offs for titles Ø tie breaks for the rest. Attendees asked why tie breaks were necessary. The answer was that it was mainly to decide titles - eg Australian Junior champion. FIDE does not have joint winners for the World Junior title - this is decided by tie-break. The big problem is time. The tournament is played with 6hr (or more) time controls. It is hard to hold play-offs with the same time control. Using shorter time controls for play-offs means that the main tournament is decided by playing games from a 'different' tournament. The suggestion was made that the players should be asked what they preferred. (Later in the meeting it was stated that the players had been consulted at the time the tie break rules had been formulated a few years ago.) It was suggested that the rules should be the same for Juniors and Seniors. It was also suggested that FIDE rules should be used if possible, although different rules might be appropriate for the younger age groups. Discussion followed on the method used to decide tie breaks (ratings; sum of opponents scores). It was stated that Swiss Perfect favours a higher rated player to win a tie-break. It was agreed that all tie-break methods have failings. In Morwell, play-offs using shorter time controls were used in every age group where it was necessary to determine tie breaks for 1st place. Graeme asked attendees to look at the ACF by-laws on the Web (although he was not sure that the revisions from the last ACF meeting had been reflected on the Web pages) and put submissions in writing and submit them to the ACF. Junior Chess in General Future Australian Junior Championships Discussion took place on the pros and cons of holding the Juniors at the same time as the Open (ie. a Combined event). Normally the two tournaments are held separately (one after the other) in different cities. In 2001 both had been held in Canberra as part of the 2001 Centenary of Federation celebrations. The Melbourne 'bid' for the 2002 tournaments was proposing that Junior and Senior tournaments be run concurrently with the format: Ø Juniors from 9am to 1pm; Ø Seniors from 2pm to 8pm. Pros: Ø larger numbers mean it is easier to get a better venue; Ø easier to get sponsorship if have combined event; Ø better from a financial perspective; Ø total workload for organisers is lower. Cons: Ø organiser burn-out; Ø a venue suitable for Seniors is usually not suitable for Juniors and vice versa; Ø Juniors have to decide whether to play in the Seniors or the Juniors; Ø very few Juniors would choose to play in both (compared to the current situation were a significant number of juniors play in both); Ø there would be problems for coaches who wished to play in the Seniors at the same time as coaching juniors; Ø the Juniors tournament would diminish in stature as the better juniors would play only in the Senior tournament; Ø Juniors tournament must use shorter time controls (4 hours max); Ø a 1pm start time for the Juniors is preferred. Ø It would be possible to hold both tournaments with the same start time, but this would absolutely rule out Juniors being able to play in both. Graeme asked for a show of hands for those totally opposed to holding both concurrently (a large number of attendees raised their hands), and then asked for a show of hands of those in favour of a combined tournament (nil response). Therefore the minutes record that the meeting is strongly opposed to the idea of a combined concurrent tournament. Sponsorship and Chess Reporting It was stated that Newspapers do not cover Chess well (if at all). It is hard to get sponsorship if there is little media exposure. Graeme pointed out that the position of ACF publicity officer was currently vacant - volunteers welcome! Nearly every chess journalist in the country has access to e-mail, and all of them get every ACF bulletin. Format of Junior Tournament (Note. The following discussion was concerned primarily with the Open tournaments rather than the Girls tournaments, but similar issues probably apply for the girls.) It was pointed out that there is a large gap between the U12 and U18 tournaments - ie. when players move from the U12 tournament to the U18 tournament, they suddenly find themselves playing opponents much stronger than themselves. As a result, a lot of players 12-13 years old do not want to play in the Australian Juniors. The suggestion was for an U14 tournament. That is, there would be three separate tournaments (U18, U14, U12) rather than two. Players could choose to play in a higher age group, but this would debar them from receiving a title for a lower age group (ie. if a player aged 13 played in the U18 tournament, that player could not win the U14 title). After a short discussion of pros and cons, the meeting was asked to indicate support or otherwise for the idea of an U14 tournament. The meeting was slightly in favour of such a tournament provided that there were sufficient numbers to support separate tournaments. It was then suggested that separate tournaments could be held for each age group - eg. in World junior chess the age group split is U18, U16, U14-U12, U10-U8. Graeme suggested that this issue could be discussed via e-mail. The concept is only viable if there are sufficient numbers for each age group tournament. Chess as a Sport and Chess in Schools It was important to change the perception of chess in schools. Chess needed to be included on the Sports agenda rather than the 'cultural' agenda. FIDE is trying to get chess considered as an Olympic sport. There are FIDE guidelines on the use of drugs. In order to get funding for such drug tests, Chess has to be a Sport. National Schools Competition Currently, the players get trophies (to keep), but the school itself doesn't get a permanent trophy which it can keep. It was suggested that the school should be given such a trophy (in addition to the perpetual trophy which has to be given back the following year). This would raise the profile of chess within the schools. Chess Syllabus A Chess Syllabus is required for chess coaching - especially in schools. Any such syllabus must be developed within the National Syllabus Guidelines (so that they meet Australian Education curriculum requirements. Brett Tindall is developing National Chess Coaching Accreditation requirements. Graeme urged everyone to support Brett in the preparation of these requirements. It was suggested that the ACF should sell a Chess Syllabus to schools (not give it away for free). The profits could go to the ACF. Graeme said that it was first necessary to prepare a syllabus. Other Junior Events It was suggested that there should be more separate events for Juniors (other than the Australian Juniors). This would raise the number of players and the standard of junior players. Currently juniors have to play in senior events. Some suggestions: Junior Masters. Top 14-16 juniors invited to attend. Problem is that school holidays in different states do not coincide. Junior Development team events. (Similar to those held for Bridge players.) Individual State Juniors titles. Grand Master coaching. (Similar to that arranged by the Oliver family during the last two school holiday periods. The Oliver family is prepared to provided ongoing sponsorship for such coaching if the ACF thinks it is worthwhile.) Invitational Event. Juniors have to qualify to play in the tournament (rather than the current arrangement which is based on those who are able to participate). Graeme pointed out that the entire annual ACF budget is $12,000 - far smaller than the budget of many individual chess clubs. The ACF relies on volunteers 'creating activity'. Other Suggestions Czech IM Peter Pisk made the following points: Ø In the Czech Republic, they have monthly Chess magazines. (In Australia, the 'Australian Chess Forum' is produced monthly by SHAUN PRESS and PAUL DUNN - but it is not an ACF publication. Some States - eg NSW - also have a magazine.) Ø a number of good Junior players here do not have coaches; Ø the players need to know how to go about self coaching because lots of juniors don't know how to go about studying chess by themselves; Ø a series of chess lectures could be arranged for Junior players. Graeme asked Manuel to write an article on how to go about self coaching. Close Graeme thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting. ********** All the very best. 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