From: "Graeme Gardiner" To: "Graeme Gardiner" Subject: ACF Bulletin # 139 - 4 November 2001 Date: Sunday, November 04, 2001 9:23 ACF Bulletin # 139 - 4 November 2001 IN THIS ISSUE Australian Championships, Australian Junior Championships, World Youth Festival, 2002 Oceanic Zonal, Deputy President's new email address, 2001 Grand Prix, 2002 Grand Prix, NSW AGM and State Lightning, Queensland Veterans and Disabled Championships, Suncoast Schools Teams Tournament, Correspondence. AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 28 DECEMBER 2001 TO 9 JANUARY 2002 A webpage is expected to be up and running by around next Thursday. The URL will be supplied to the ACF webmaster asap and it will also be included in next week's bulletin. The entry booklets plus coloured posters will be sent around to all the various state distribution points very shortly and in this regard Gary Wastell is reminding states that if they have not already done so please email him urgently on gwastell@netspace.net.au with the postal addresses of suitable distribution points. Venue: Melbourne Town Hall, cnr Collins and Swanston Streets. 11-round swiss. One game per day except Tues 1 Jan and Sun 6 Jan. Games begin 1pm (possible early start on 9 Jan). FIDE recommended rate: all moves in 90 minutes plus 30 secs per move. Presentation of Prizes on Jan 9. More information was given in last week's bulletin http://www.auschess.org.au/bulletins/acfb137.txt AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS CRANBROOK SCHOOL, SYDNEY 12 TO 24 JANUARY 2002 The NSWJCL (courtesy Manuel Weeks and Richard Gastineau-Hills) have produced an excellent webpage for this important event. Go to the site for all the details you could possibly need plus a downloadable entry form. http://www.auschess.org.au/nswjcl/Australian_Junior/Aus_junior_main.htm WORLD YOUTH FESTIVAL OROPESA DEL MAR, SPAIN My apologies to Adelaide Soltysik and Svetozar Stojic for inadvertently leaving them off the list last week. Final scores after 11 rounds: U18 Justin Tan 6 37/83 U16 Zong Yuan Zhao 7 14/101 U16 Svetozar Stojic 2.5 101/101 U14 Gareth Oliver 4 90/104 U12 Dusan Stojic 4 99/117 U10 Khoi Hoang 5 48/86 U16 Shannon Oliver 3 74/75 U14 Sally Anne Richter 4 68/75 U12 Heather Huddlestone 6 26/75 U12 Amy Evans 4.5 59/75 U10 Adelaide Soltysik 5 44/68 U10 Rocheleh Ziffer 4.5 49/68 U10 Natasha Lauder 4 57/68 U10 Tamzin Oliver 4 62/68 Full details at: http://www.worldyouthfestival2001.com/menu.htm 2002 OCEANIC ZONAL After FIDE changed the World Championship cycle from one year to two, I liaised with Dr Virgilio de Asa and various colleagues in our region and Asia regarding whether this important event should be put back. However, on balance, it has been decided that the event will go ahead in 2002 as planned and be the qualifier for the 2003 World Championships. It is unlikely that there will be a zonal in 2003 and even if there is, it will not be a World Championship qualifier. The 2002 Oceanic Zonal will be held from Monday 6 May to Saturday 11 May at the Warwick Fiji Hotel/Resort, a luxury hotel fronting the beach with many facilities. I am advised by the President of the Fiji Chess Association, Dr Virgilio de Asa that May is usually off peak for air travel. Dr de Asa has organised the special room rates of F$67.50 (F$135 per room) or single room at F$125 inclusive of full buffet breakfast. The normal hotel/resort rooms cost between F$200 and F$280 for overseas guests ($1.00AUD = 1.16754FJD). Dr de Asa has provided a comprehensive package which I believe will be very appealing to players. Dr de Asa may be emailed on virgilio_de_asa@hotmail.com with any early enquiries. DEPUTY PRESIDENT'S NEW EMAIL ADDRESS Please note that Robert Jamieson's new address is auschess@ozemail.com.au and not auschess@netlink.com.au as previously advised. 2001 GRAND PRIX - NORM BRAYBROOKE (Norm's email address is chessnut@windsor.net.au and webpage http://crcchess.topcities.com/GP2001.htm) Just a reminder that we welcome more details of Grand Prix events for publication in this bulletin. The remaining events for 2001 are: 3/4 Nov Laurieton Open NSW Cat 1 Endel Lane 02 6559 9060 endel@fasternet.com.au 3-5 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 24/25 Nov NSWCA Cat 1 Robert Keast 02 9649 8614 rkeast@comtech.com.au 8/9 Dec Tuggeranong Vikings Weekender ACT Cat 1 Lee Forace 02 9556 3960 ljforace@hotmail.com 15/16 Dec Melbourne Chess Club Christmas Swiss VIC Cat 2 Malcolm Pyke dexter@labyrinth.net.au 15/16 Dec Fairfield RSL Pre Christmas Cup NSW Cat 2 Rolando Atienza 0421379940 atienzarolando@hotmail.com.au 2002 GRAND PRIX I'm delighted to advise that Norm Braybrooke has kindly agreed to run the Grand Prix for another year. This is great news as Norm has done a fantastic job in 2001. http://crcchess.topcities.com/GP2002.html We have already received ten events for the 2002 Grand Prix. May I encourage clubs and states to start planning their 2002 calendars now and let's see if we can come up with a record number of events for 2002. If WA can come up with (say) five events and Victoria (say) an extra three or four, we could reach 50 GP tournaments next year and players in all member states and territories will have a reasonable opportunity to win prizes. 9/10 Feb Newcastle Open Cat 2 George Lithgow 02 4943 3862 george.lithgow@bigpond.com 16/17 Feb Taree RSL Summer Open Cat 1 Endel Lane 02 6559 9060 endel@fasternet.com.au 29 Mar to 1 Apl Doeberl Cup ACT Cat 3 Roger McCart 02 6251 6190 roger.mccart@anu.edu.au 4/5 May Laurieton May Open Cat 1 Endel Lane 02 6559 9060 endel@fasternet.com.au 22/23 June Taree RSL Open Cat 1 Endel Lane 02 6559 9060 endel@fasternet.com.au 22/23 June Gold Coast Open QLD Cat 3 Graeme Gardiner 07 5530 5794 ggardiner@auschess.org.au 10/11 August Coal City Open Cat 2 George Lithgow 02 4943 3862 george.lithgow@bigpond.com 21/22 Sept Gold Coast Classic QLD Cat 3 Graeme Gardiner 07 5530 5794 ggardiner@auschess.org.au 2/3 Nov Laurieton Open Cat 1 Endel Lane 02 6559 9060 endel@fasternet.com.au 16/17 Nov Taree RSL Spring Open Cat 1 Endel Lane 02 6559 9060 endel@fasternet.com.au It would be appreciated if states avoided two Grand Prix events being run on the same weekend in the same state. NSWCA AGM AND STATE LIGHTNING The NSWCA State Lightning will be held at Ryde-Eastwood Leagues Club 117 Ryedale Rd. West Ryde on Sunday December 2nd. Starting time is 11.00am and the Annual General Meeting of the New South Wales Chess Association Inc will be held on Sunday 2nd December 2001 at 2.30pm also at Ryde-Eastwood Leagues Club, following the Lightning tournament. Details from Peter Cassettari pcass@zeta.org.au QUEENSLAND VETERANS AND DISABLED CHAMPIONSHIPS David Jovejoy became the Queensland Veteran Champion with Chris Flynn 2nd. John Myers is the Queensland Disabled Champion with John Guest 2nd and the U1400 Champions are Gail Young and Wendy Terry. David Lovejoy 1883 5 15.5 Johm Myers 1997 5 13.5 Chris Flynn 1605 4.5 16.0 John Guest 1596 4 13.0 Peter Paterson 1432 4 11.5 Igor Muller 1805 3.5 11.5 Andrew Sag 1418 3.5 9.0 Wendy Terry 1304 3 15.0 Wayne Fraser 1427 3 14.5 Harvey Quaresmini 1417 3 13.0 Gail Young 1150 3 10.0 Gabriel Boross 1414 3 10.0 Vasile Buciu 1479 2.5 14.0 Alan Runciman 1279 2.5 11.0 David Carter 1154 1.5 11.0 Andrew Johnston 1271 1 10.5 Geoff Smith 990 1 10.5 John Stuart 1 10.0 SUNCOAST SCHOOLS TEAMS CHESS TOURNAMENT The Suncoast Chess Club ran the annual Suncoast Schools Teams Chess Tournament. With an Open and Novice Section, 167 school children from Years 1-12 took part in the event. The event was held at the Matthew Flinders School and 10 schools across the Sunshine Coast sent a total of 45 teams to compete. Secondary A Ist Matthew Flinders 2nd Nambour State High Secondary B 1st Caloundra State High 2nd Matthew Flinders Primary A 1st Burnside State =2nd Chancellor State/Nambour State Primary B 1st Nambour 2nd Chevallum State Cheetahs Primary C 1st Bli Bli 2nd Matthew Flinders C2 Primary D 1st Cooroy State 2nd Good Shepherd Lutheran D1 Paul Summers Suncoast Chess Club http://www.sunchess.aunz.org CORRESPONDENCE BRETT TINDALL Hi Graeme. I agree with Tim and Guy. There is no need to have shorter time limits in the Australian Championships. We only get one chance every two years to compete against Australia's best players and it would be a real shame if we were forced to play with the new time limit. There seems to be no benefit in doing so anyway. At the zonal we had to play two games a day so we needed the quicker time control but we have (as Tim pointed out) one game a day with two rest days so why not let the old time limit stand. I noticed in the recent British Championships the normal time limit was used. So why are we adopting the new time limit? Maybe it should be voted on by the players in the championships on which time limit should be used. Regards Brett JOHN PAUL WALLACE Dear Graeme and chess public, I agree with Tim and Guy's statements regarding the time limits! After all, it is our big event and it is one game a day, why not maximise the quality of play? Cheers mate, JP NICK SPECK Dear Graeme, I would like to endorse Tim Reilly's comments regarding the time control for the coming Australian Championship. I for one would like the opportunity to play quality chess in an Australian Championship. Kind Regards, Nick Speck GLENN GIBBS Dear Graeme, As one of the patzers, may I add my voice to those of Tim Reilly and Guy West who have objected to the proposed time limit of 90 minutes plus 30 seconds a move for the Aust Championship. It is simply too fast for a major event and there is no good reason for it as far as I can see. The quality of the games will deteriorate. Could there be some rethinking about this? Sincerely, Glen Gibbs RICHARD VALENTI Hi, Graeme, I was planning to come to Melbourne in December for the chess open but I read in the ACF bulletin that the cadence would be 90 minutes + 30 seconds. I'm disappointed as I won't take holidays if there is only one game per day with this cadence. Is there any probability to go back to a more normal and classic cadence? Thanks and best regards, Richard Valenti. ROLAND BROCKMAN Graeme, In the bulletin of 28/10 Messrs. Reilly and West raised valid concerns about the speed of play proposed for the next Aust Championships, i.e. 90 mins + 30 second increment. Tim's suggestion however that we return to a 40/60 move control together with a guillotine finish, seems like a backwards step. FIDE has steadily moved away from both of these features for good reason. The guillotine finish leads to ludicrous time scrambles and the ever present possibility that players will attempt to win on time. The time control at move 40 (or anywhere else) is completely anachronistic. It only served a purpose in the days of adjournments, but now does nothing except complicate things for everybody. The pure Fischer mode recently endorsed by FIDE smooths and simplifies the entire process and enables the players to concentrate on playing chess. As I understand it the Australian Championship committee had decided some time ago to adopt the FIDE standard control which applied at the time. This recently became 90 mins + 30 secs for both the next World Championship and Olympiad and hence the Aus titles have followed suit. Perhaps however the committee has been a bit rigid on this, considering that only one game per day is being played. Why not just bump the base time up to 2 hours rather than 90 minutes? All the advantages of the Fischer mode are retained and it is certainly in the spirit of what FIDE has been trying to achieve. Players who will go on to play in the Olympiad are scarcely disadvantaged but at the same time we add an extra 'quality' hour of play. A couple of recent examples. At the Vic Open this year three games of 90min/+30sec were managed in one day, albeit with a morning and evening session. The Australian Masters was played at the rate of one game a day with a limit of 2 hours/+30sec. If we want to slow the pace at the Aust championships (and there may well be a case), then it makes sense to keep the 30 second increment and fine tune the base time. This seems much more sensible than returning to the dark ages. With Regards, Roland Brockman With very best wishes to all. Graeme Gardiner President Australian Chess Federation 11 Hardys Road Mudgeeraba Queensland 4213 Phone +61 7 5530 5794 Mobile 0438 305797 Fax +61 7 5530 6959 Email ggardiner@auschess.org.au Chess - the Clever Sport!