From: "Graeme Gardiner" To: "Graeme Gardiner" Subject: ACF Bulletin # 143 - 2 December 2001 Date: Sunday, December 02, 2001 9:41 ACF Bulletin # 143 - 2 December 2001 IN THIS ISSUE World Championships, Australian Schools Teams Championships, Australian Championships, Australian Junior Championships, Footnote to the Tony Miles tribute, Street Chess, Asian Under 16 Girls Championships, 2001 Grand Prix, Fairfield RSL Summer Cup, 2002 Grand Prix, Correspondence, Zong Yuan Zhao's European trip, World Under 20s Girls Championship - report by Catherine Lip. WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Regretably, both Michael Gluzman and Ngan Koshnitsky were knocked out 2-0 in the first round of the World Championships by their much higher rated opponents, Evgeny Bareev and Almira Skripchenko-Lautier. Follow the World Championships at http://wcc2001.fide.com/read.cgi?html=pair1. AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLS TEAMS CHAMPIONSHIPS FINALS WEEKEND, ANGLICAN CHURCH GRAMMAR SCHOOL, BRISBANE 15/16 DECEMBER Full details at http://www.caq.org.au/htm/events.htm. AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, MELBOURNE TOWN HALL 28 DECEMBER 2001 TO 9 JANUARY 2002 A list of people, clubs, shops etc from whom Australian Championships entry forms may be obtained, can be found at www.chessvictoria.com. The official Australian Championships website is at http://chess.weblinks.com.au/austch.htm. The current ACF Bye Laws relating to the Australian Championships can be found at http://www.auschess.org.au/newcon/. AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS, CRANBROOK SCHOOL, SYDNEY 12-24 JANUARY 2002 The official Australian Junior Championships website is at http://www.auschess.org.au/nswjcl/Australian_Junior/Aus_junior_main.htm. FOOTNOTE TO THE TONY MILES TRIBUTE This information was obtained from Malcolm Pein's Daily Telegraph column and kindly pointed out by Jonathan Paxman. Wood Green I and Beeson Gregory I share the lead of the Four Nations Chess League after rounds three and four played at the Grand Hotel in Birmingham. Both teams have won all four matches and it looks like the meeting between the two teams may decide the league as early as January. Wood Green, in particular, have been winning their matches by large margins and in Sunday's fourth round they despatched their old rivals Slough 6-2. However, Slough again played only seven boards as a mark of respect for Tony Miles. In addition a couple of Slough players ventured Miles's famous 1..a6; and Miles's friend GM (!) Alex Wohl, who came from Australia for last week's funeral, had the satisfaction of defeating former British Champion Chris Ward with the St George's defence. Wohl also played 1.a3 with white and won. A Wohl-A Corbett 1.a3 Nf6 2.b4 a5 3.b5 c5 4.c4 e6 5.Nf3 Be7 6.Bb2 0-0 7.e3 b6 8.Nc3 Bb7 9.Qc2 d5 10.cxd5 exd5 11.d4 Nbd7 12.Bd3 cxd4 13.exd4 Ne4 14.Nxe4 dxe4 15.Bxe4 Bxe4 16.Qxe4 Re8 17.Ne5 Nxe5 18.dxe5 Qd7 19.Qe2 Bc5 20.0-0 Re6 21.Rad1 Qe7 22.Kh1 Re8 23.Qd3 Qh4 24.f4 Rh6 25.h3 Rg6 26.Rf3 h6 27.f5 Rg4 28.Qd7! Rf8 29.f6 Rf4 30.fxg7 Kxg7 31.g3! Rd8 32.gxh4 Rxd7 33.e6+ 1-0 STREET CHESS Street Chess, which Shaun Press has now been running on Saturday mornings for several years, continues to try new ideas. The latest, for yesterday's event was as follows: Street Chess is hosting an event for teams of 2 players. Each round is a two game match where each team member plays both members of the opposition team. Players on a team must have a ratings difference of at least 250 points. 5 Round tournament (10 games total). Time Limit: G/10. Prizes: 1st placed team $100 guaranteed. I'm sure that there are all types of tournaments held right around Australia. It would be good to hear the details of some of them. ASIAN UNDER 16 GIRLS CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS 22-29 DECEMBER 2001 Catherine Lip will be representing Australian in the Asian Under 16 Girls Championship which will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 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 always welcome more details of Grand Prix events for publication in this bulletin. The remaining events for 2001 are: 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 CITY OF FAIRFIELD RSL SUMMER CUP Venue: Fairfield RSL Club 14 Anzac Avenue Fairfield NSW 2165 (right next to the Fairfield Railway Station) Dates: 15/16 December 2001. Times: 10:00am (Note: Late Entries not accepted) 6 Round Swiss - 1 Hour per player per game Cat 1 Grand Prix Event (all games rated) Entry Fees: $50 Full Entry, $40 Pensioner/Student, $30 Junior U18, $25 Junior U15. Prizes 1st $800 2nd $500 3rd $300 Director of Play and Enquiries: Robert Keast rkeast@didata.com.au ph:0417-497-258 Entries only accepted on 15th Dec before 10:00 am on entry form. 2002 GRAND PRIX http://crcchess.topcities.com/GP2002.html We have now received 20 events for the 2002 Grand Prix. The ACF is seeking a national sponsor for the 2002 Grand Prix. Any assistance with this matter would be appreciated. 9/10 Feb Newcastle Open NSW Cat 2 George Lithgow 02 4943 3862 george.lithgow@bigpond.com 16/17 Feb Taree RSL Summer Open NSW Cat 1 Endel Lane 02 6559 9060 endel@fasternet.com.au 9/10 Mar South West Open WA Cat 1 Alan Phillips 08 9725 4843 alanglo@tpg.com.au 9-11 Mar Hobart Labour Day Weekender TAS Cat 1 Kevin Bonham 03 6224 8487 k_bonham@tassie.net.au 16/17 Mar Dubbo RSL Open NSW Cat 1 Alexander Aich 02 6884 4561 sjaich@tpg.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 NSW Cat 1 Endel Lane 02 6559 9060 endel@fasternet.com.au 9-11 June Tasmanian Championships Burnie TAS Cat 1 Neville Ledger nledger@tassie.net.au ph 03 6431 1280 22/23 June Taree RSL Open NSW 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 29/30 June Suncoast Open Chess Tournament Noosa QLD Cat 3 Robert Hochstadt 07 5447 5056 robhoch@ozemail.com.au 13/14 July Adelaide University Open SA Cat 3 Robin Wedding 08 8303 3029 chess@smug.adelaide.edu.au 10/11 August Coal City Open NSW Cat 2 George Lithgow 02 4943 3862 george.lithgow@bigpond.com 24/25 August Launceston Weekender TAS Cat 1 Leo Minol 03 6344 7472 leominol@telstra.easymail.com.au ph. 14/15 Sept Hobsons Bay Open VIC Cat 1 Peter Caissa 0411 710900 pcaissa@melbpc.org.au 21/22 Sept Gold Coast Classic QLD Cat 3 Graeme Gardiner 07 5530 5794 ggardiner@auschess.org.au 5-7 Oct Koala Open NSW Cat 3 Brian Jones 02 9838 1529 chessaus@chessaustralia.com.au 2/3 Nov Laurieton Open NSW Cat 1 Endel Lane 02 6559 9060 endel@fasternet.com.au 3-5 Nov Tasmanian Open Hobart TAS Cat 1 Kevin Bonham 03 6224 8487 k_bonham@tassie.net.au 16/17 Nov Taree RSL Spring Open NSW Cat 1 Endel Lane 02 6559 9060 endel@fasternet.com.au CORRESPONDENCE JOHN PAUL WALLACE Hi Graeme, I am glad to see that the ACF decided to respond to what seems like the majority of players concern regarding the time controls. I would also like to mirror your praise towards the organisers of the events in question, we are lucky to have such people sacificing their time for the benefit of chess in Australia. Well done! One thing that I find interesting is that while most people that wrote in to the ACF bulletin agreed on slowing down the time controls, there was hardly any common ground when it came to suggesting exactly which alternative should be introduced. Personally, I love and believe in time controls with more than one 'session'. There is a very important reason for this - in most games there are always 'critical positions' that arise that require perhaps 20 minutes thinking time or more. The beauty of a second time control of significant length is that at the right (critical moment) you can sit there and absorb the position and attempt to hit upon the right continuation. In otherwords, reach the heart of the position. The way I see it, you can't really do this in a one session control like 90 + 60 seconds - you can have a good think in the opening but it is unlikely that you will have such chance in the ending. Therefore, to my mind, the good old " 7 hour session" (40/120, 20/60 1 hour) is ideal, it just needs an extra twist in the last control. For example, when your last second runs out in the final time control, you don't lose on time but rather now, only at the very end, do you receive some sort of increment - even 10 seconds will suffice. My thinking is that this is necessary, for example, in order to just make the draw in an obviously drawn pawn ending or mate with king and queen etc. I am very interested to hear what other players think regarding time controls - and a discussion now could guide decisions for future events. Cheers, John-Paul ZONG YUAN ZHAO'S EUROPEAN TRIP Zong Yuan has kindly provided this full report for the interest of readers. England I left Australia on the 4th of July for England where I was due to play my first tournament. It was the Smith & Williamson Young Masters held in Whitley, a suburb south of London. I was billeted with the tournament organiser, Alec Webster, who kindly drove me down to the venue on the opening day of the event. The event was held in a boarding school where we (all the players) were accomodated. Every day we also got buffet style meals there as well. I shared a dormitory with two Dutchman and a Hungarian, Antal Gergely whom I became very good friends with. It was a nine round tournament and players came from all over the globe including the Netherlands, Russia, Hungary, USA, Australia and of course from England herself. The school was on holidays so we more all less had the facilities to ourselves, which included table tennis, tennis, swimming pool, indoor soccer and many other bizarre and wonderful things (e.g. I think there was also some sort of line dancing club but I'm fairly sure no chess player attended that!). The event started off reasonably well for me and I managed to score 50% after 3 rounds. Then I lost a spectacular game to Simon Williams who then took the tournament lead. However, I was really enjoying myself there as I was playing tennis almost every evening followed by table tennis after breakfast! Towards the end of the tournament we managed to organise a 5 man soccer competition which was won by a team of two Russians, a Dutchman, a Hungarian and ...an Aussie! It was most fun kicking the ball around in the dark and the surprise of it all was that no Englishmen made it to the finals!!! I also had a finishing burst of 2.5/3, which was enough to tie for equal third place on 5.5/9. It was sad that we all had to part company after the tournament but I have made good friends with many of them. For me it was back to London again and for a week or so I was billeted with Stewart Reuben, who is known widely in the chess community as a very good D.O.P! You may even have read his books on the FIDE Laws of Chess! He had a magnificent unit overlooking the Thames River and he kindly for the next week or so showed me around London which is just huge and littered with historical sites which one can visit. I went on a ferry ride on the Thames once and I saw the Big Ben, House of Commons, Kew Gardens and lots more! After my stay in London I had the privilege of meeting GM Murray Chandler who by the way used to be a Kiwi! The three of us drove up to Scarborough where the British Championships was held. Here I had arranged to stay by myself in a youth hostel which was a daunting experience for me! I had to walk 4 km each day carrying all my grocery so I had something to eat each night! Still it wasn't so bad as there were other players at the youth hostel so we all tended to come back together if we could and I got a lot of help from a mum who insisted that I should cook the vegetables before my main course! Anyway, back to the chess I started solidly making two draws with two GM's in the first 6 rounds which I was pleased with. In the last round if I could draw then I could have tied for the British U/21 title but alas I lost a 108 move rook vs. rook and bishop ending to GM Chris Ward which is supposed to be a draw but isn't so easy over the board. I finished the tournament with 6/11. Nevertheless I wasn't too upset and was overall quite happy with what I achieved in England. After Scarborough I came back to London and the following evening I caught a plane to Athens, the venue of the World U20's! Greece Athens is a large and crowded city. All the players stayed at the President Hotel, about 20 minutes from the city and we all got a bus ride to and back from the venue each day. I shared a room with a Brazilian who spoke excellent English and we both decided to visit the Acropolis on the day before the tournament began. By pure chance it was public holiday and all the passes into the tourist areas were free! We saw Dionysus' theatre, Temple of Athena and the crumbled remains of the ancient Greek architecture which nonetheless seemed very impressive. We really enjoyed ourselves and by the time we had come back to the hotel the Australian girl's U/20 representative, Catherine Lip and her mum had arrived! The tournament if I remember well started off well for both of us but I had a really bad stretch in the middle but towards the end I still managed 7/13, a respectable score. Unfortunately I didn't get to visit any historical sites besides the Acropolis but overall the atmosphere was very good and I think most people enjoyed themselves. For me now the tough bit of the trip was just beginning as after Greece I departed for Budapest, the capital of Hungary where I was due to receive coaching from Laszlo Hazai, who is the former trainer of the Polgar sisters. Hungary I was welcomed at the Budapest airport by Laszlo himself who picked me up and showed where I was going to stay for the next month or so. My rented apartment was located near the Danube River, the dividing point between the two old cities Buda and Pest. The apartment was very nice and close to me I had a supermarket which was quite convenient. That evening we walked around Vaci Utca (a street name) which was a popular street for tourists as there was everything ranging from internet cafes to restaurants and boutique shops! Personally my favourite one was the ice-cream shop which offered a huge variety of flavours. Next day the tough work began. We worked six hours a day on chess just like good old school again! We tended to do 4 hours in the morning followed by a 4-hour break for lunch and then another two hours in the afternoon. For the first few days I struggled a bit but after a while I got pretty used to it and I even started enjoying it. The four-hour break in the middle was also the time when I would explore Budapest. We visited countless churches and museums and I saw pretty much everything Budapest could offer to a foreigner. I walked up on Gellert Hill which offered a spectacular view of the city looming behind the sparkling Danube in midday and the Buda castle which had come under many assaults, the most recent being World War II. The people were all usually helpful and I really didn't have too much problems even when I was going around by myself. I met up with my Hungarian friend Antal Gergely mentioned above who I met at the Smith & Willamson Young Masters. Twice I visited his place which was on the other side of the Danube, in Buda. We played a lot of blitz and even studied a little together and discussed the difference in Hungarian and Australian schooling. Guess what? They don't wear school uniforms! I even had an opportunity to play on the second board of the second team for Paks which was the club Laszlo played for. Paks is a town well known in Hungary as it is the home to the only nuclear power plant in the country and I'm told it supplies around 40% of the countries energy needs each year! Overall I really enjoyed my stay in Budapest and I'm sure I have benefited a lot from the one month of coaching I received but now it was time to the Land of Ice and Fire - Iceland! Iceland I was welcomed at the Keflavik (the capital airport located half an hour from Reykjavik) airport by a small blizzard! I was told that whenever an Aussie arrived in Iceland that was bound to be the case! My host was Johann Ragnarsson, who was a very friendly and hospitable host. Our first stop from the airport was straight to the world famous Blue Lagoon! I remember that at first I felt it was very cold (around -2 degrees) but the pool was so warm that after a while Johann convinced me that I should have an ice cream!!! I think I can now boast being one of the few Aussies who have had an ice cream in Iceland! Later on I was taken to a guesthouse where I stayed for my entire time in Iceland. That evening I had quite an exotic dish - pasta with lobster meat and sauce! After that I did a small simultaneous exhibition before going back to rest for the night. The next day I was due to take part in a round robin rapid play tournament with 8 players. I started off rather nervously in game 1 but hang on and had a very successful day from there on scoring 3/3. There was a curious ceremony concerning the drawing of lots for the players - there was 8 music CD cases on a table and we all in turn picked one and on the back was a number which became our pairing number! The next day the tournament really heated up and I made use of some theory I had studied in Hungary and scored a full point in round 4. There was another player, Bjorn Thorfinnsson who was also on 4/4 and therefore our game in round 5 was quite significant for the outcome of the tournament. I was busted on about move 15 and entered an endgame two pawns down with only 7 minutes left whilst my opponent had more than 20! Somehow miraculously I managed to achieve an opposite coloured bishop ending where his extra two pawns wasn't enough to win! The game ended in a draw. I won comfortably in round 6 while my archrival Bjorn made a draw in possibly the most exciting game of the tournament against Halldor who also had chances for first place if he could beat me in the last round. For me a win guaranteed the first prize so I was also very determined. In the game my rook got stuck in the middle of the board and I was almost lost but then my opponent got nervous and allowed me to my run a-pawn all the way down the board and in the final position when we both had 2 or 3 minutes left he missed a tactic and lost. Therefore I finished with 6.5/7 and came first by a margin of half a point from Bjorn. So finally I had won a tournament in Europe! Needless to say I was thrilled with the result and that evening all the players went to a Chinese restaurant to celebrate. That evening I went in a four-wheel drive which took me up a very steep hill and upon the crest I saw all of Reykjavik spectacularly flooded by lights and the coastline clearly marked alongside the city. For the next two days I became a tourist and Johann showed me the main sights of Iceland. I discovered the countryside was as barren as it gets (Johann told me this joke, "What do you do if you are lost in Iceland?" Answer: Stand up, as there are almost no trees in Iceland!) and that on an average day there could be at least be four different weathers! I visited the famous waterfall Gull Foss which I think is one of the biggest in Europe. Then I went to see the geysers. The word "geyser" apparently derives from a certain geyser in Iceland. In a region no bigger than 1 hectare there was about 5 geysers! Some of them were very small but there were at least two quite big ones. I was told not to touch them as they were all quite hot and indeed I even saw the surface of one geyser on the verge of boiling. Unfortunately most of the geysers were inactive and apparently the biggest one only went off once a day. If I remember well the only one which I saw go off was the ''Strokkur" which went off once every 5 minutes due to recent volcanic activities in the region. I was also told there were hundreds of earthquakes in Iceland each month but you don't feel a lot of them as they occur at places where people don't live (people in Iceland apparently only live around the coastline). The next day I was taken to the Icelandic Chess Federation where the table and chess set of the 1972 Fischer-Spassky match was still preserved! Also many photos and various memorabilia still hang upon the walls and a certain chess player said that they awaited the return of Fischer! I think Iceland is one of the most special and unique places on this planet and I'm really happy that I have had a chance to visit it. I would also have to thank Johann for showing me around and entertaining me for the entire time I was in Iceland. Then on the morning of the 17th of October I left Iceland for the World Juniors U/16 in Spain. Spain After transiting through London I arrived in Barcelona quite exhausted. I found a youth hostel first and in the evenings I found where the Oliver family was staying (they had been in Barcelona for a while and Tamzin, Gareth and Shannon were all representing Australia) and I stayed with them for two evenings before leaving for Oropesa del Mar on the morning of the 20th with the Tan family. At the airport where our buses were to take us to Oropesa del Mar I met a lot of the Australian team and we all happily told stories on the bus while the bus drove towards Oropesa. For me I must admit Oropesa was getting a bit boring as I had been there 3 times already! However, I'm sure most of the younger members of the team would have really enjoyed it. The place where we stayed, ate and played at was a seaside resort called Marina D'or which had previously already hosted the same competition three times. The tournament began quite well and I managed to win my first two games without too many problems. In round 3 I think we played around 25 moves or so of sharp Dragon theory and then suddenly my opponent played a new move and I began to think. After thinking for about 10 minutes I only managed to find one way of forcing a draw and I was quite happy with this until my opponent pointed out the winning continuation to me afterwards and I became quite annoyed with myself as it merely consisted of a knight retreat which I had completely overlooked. I was lucky to hold a draw in the next round and in round 5 I had finally met more than my match. I was in an equal or perhaps even slightly better position but somehow psychologically I was always under the impression that I was a bit worse and I went mad spurning complications which turned out well for my opponent. The next round I was paired against a South African who kindly showed me his t-shirt bearing the emblem of their AFL team and joked to me that the Kangaroos were no match for the Spring Deer! However, in the end I emerged victorious after he made a lot of errors which really boosted my confidence, as I was afraid of losing three in a row like last year. The rest day had finally come and I took a walk into the town centre of Oropesa (surprisingly enough although I had come here three times previously I had never gone outside of the hotel!) with the Rogers and we all dined together. It was my first meal outside of the hotel for a week! I even saw a Spiderman cartoon although it was in Spanish so I couldn't quite comprehend it. I managed a draw in the next game as I played imprecisely to convert my advantage. Then in round 8 good preparation gave me a good ending which I duly converted after about 4 hours. In round 9 I drew with Aaron Pixton of the USA but I regretted after the game for not making a bishop sacrifice which would have rendered the game quite unclear. The second rest day came and all morning I just stayed indoors as I was quite tired. Then in the afternoon the Australian team managed to organise a soccer game. At the beginning we had almost exclusively Australians but just to show how popular soccer (in Europe they call it football) is by the end of the session we had the entire team of Argentina playing. It truly was great fun and I really enjoyed it. In the last two rounds I managed two draws despite nearly winning in round 10. In the last round my opponent played the Exchange Variation of the Kings Indian which is notorious for it's solidity. Luckily I had some preparation for another player and here I managed to use it. I gained a good position but nonetheless I couldn't win. In the end I finished with 7/11 which was enough for an equal 9th placing (14th on count back). After the last round finished there was a huge closing ceremony. At first it seemed that the ceremony wouldn't go on as it was absolutely pouring outside but amazingly it all subsided about 2 hours before the closing ceremony started. The ground was incredibly soggy and muddy but nonetheless around a thousand gathered outside to watch the prestigious ceremony. After all the prizes were presented there was a theatrical performance accompanied by sparkling fireworks. We were literally shown the history of beef in Spain, from the nomads hunting cows to beef factories nowadays! I really appreciated the performance and interestingly as soon as the ceremony finished it was starting to drizzle again. Return Journey From Spain I came back to Australia via London and Beijing. I stopped over in Beijing to visit all my relatives before I finally came back to Sydney. It had been nearly four months since I had left Sydney in July. I felt that I had really learnt something about life and I could manage a lot of things independently now. I had benefited from a lot of experience in tournament practice overseas and I have become good friends with many. Foremost I think I would have to thank my parents, as it was them who gave me the original idea of traveling overseas and helped me a lot to keep things going. I also received a lot of support from the ACF, NSWJCL, the Coffs Harbour Rotary Club and a lot of people in the Australian chess community and I would now like to thank all of them. Now I must rest my pen and prepare for my next school year but who knows someday I might travel abroad again... U20 WORLD GIRLS CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2001, GREECE - CATHERINE LIP I hobble off the plane in agony. ‘I’m way too old for flying’, I think to myself, as my leg sends a flood of pain after the strain of sitting on a cramped economy plane seat, continually for 24 hours. This was the beginning of my 3-week adventure to Athens, Greece, and already the smell of Greek detergent nauseated me and I winced at the sound of the squeak my shoes made as is skimmed across the sparkling marble tiles. Anything remotely clean was a teenager’s worst nightmare. Mum and I were able to overcome our pain and collect our numerous pieces of luggage, before heading out towards the flashing exit sign. We remained in the airport complex for another 30 minutes contemplating, screaming and fighting over the idea of catching a bus to our hotel instead of our usual splurge on a taxi. In the end my mum won the argument while I hung my head in shame vowing to improve my debating skills. We stood along the dusty Athens road in search of the right bus amongst the millions of buses that were scattered along the street. Our random guess turned out to be correct, but unfortunately the bus driver forgot to stop at our station so we were given a free tour of Athens. Through complicated matters, we were eventually able to drag ourselves through the glass doors of the President Hotel, my home for the following 2 weeks. A jumping Zong-Yuan Zhao, the U20 Boys representative, immediately ambushed mum and I and helped us through the customary paper work before we were shown to our rooms, situated on the 14th floor. The evening was wasted away through the exchange of gossip and the enjoyment of being able to converse with an English speaking person. The next day it was straight into the chess, with round 1 starting at 3:30pm. Mum decided it was best to make the most of the morning and began complaining to the hotel manager about the noise from our current room. The strained manager gave in to my mother’s forceful nagging and we were given a selection of 2 rooms to choose from. So after a strenuous morning of transferring bags to and fro rooms, it was off for a 30-minute bus ride to the chess venue. To describe the chess hall is slightly difficult. It was actually a used warehouse, which they upgraded with air-conditioning, a few strips of carpet and 4 toilets. At the revealing of the draw, an hour after the scheduled time, I tried to settle myself the best I could on the hard wooden chair. But I felt very out of place on board 15 opposite a Chinese WIM (Women’s International Master), Xiaobing Gu. I managed to struggle for over 40 moves before discovering that I was in an insufferable position that I couldn’t survive through, no matter how many tricks I pulled out of my sleeves. It was then a 15-minute hike through the chaotic main roads and deserted side streets of Athens to our dinner destination, where we were able to have a pick from a variety of what seemed to be thousands of scrumptious dishes from a local Greek restaurant. Early the next day, after sampling a typical hearty European breakfast, I was given the shock of finding out my round 2 opponent, was another WIM, Cristina Moshina, from Moldova! After the discovery was made it was straight to work, both Zong-Yuan and I opened the laptop and started doing vigorous research and revision for 2 hours. It all paid off during the game, with my opponent falling into the oldest opening trap known to any junior, much to my delight. I was able to convert my advantage into a win, steadily munching up all her available pawns until she decided it was best to give me the point. I was up against another WIM, Darja Kaps, for round 3, this time from Slovenia. The game was one of complete originality on my behalf; once again I was able to make up a new opening to turn my opponent into a state bewilderment. My plan ran perfectly, through her confusion of my new opening she blundered, giving me the chance to win an exchange. But of course being the kind-hearted girl I am, and being told by my mother from a young age not to accept gifts from strangers, I refused her offer of extra material and instead opted for the worse endgame. To my luck I was able to hold for a draw, but not without the aging of another 10 years from agitation and worry. In round 4 I was paired against the Czech Republic representative, Katerina Cedikova. I had another one of my ingenious creative sparks at the board deciding that it would be incredibly smart and exciting if I played a mainline opening that I have never played before and didn’t know a move about! This suited my spontaneous chess playing style, which certainly got my opponent in a tangle, sinking herself into a deep 40-minute brainstorm before deciding that I was just stupid. Unfortunately it wasn’t as successful as the previous round, my plan backfiring badly into a worse position. Fortunately my opponent had only a matter of seconds to try and convert her advantage into a win, so she choose to accept my desperate draw offer. Celebrations were high at the dinner table with Zong-Yuan maintaining his high standards having the score of 3 out of 4; I was managing just to keep on the halfway mark, and mum discovering how fascinating the local supermarket was, spending much of her mornings strolling down the aisles. But then it all turned sour for me, with round 5 being the trigger of 3 straight losses. The first was against Bulgarian representative (and Miss. World Champion, being the winner of the U20 Girls beauty competition!), Tatjana Plachinova, where I simply overused my bag full of luck and instead was struck by a good deal of bad luck. First, I completely destroyed my slightly better position, then continued on my losing rampage, giving up a series of pawns until I felt it was best to resign. This shocking display of my efforts was followed by an exciting and more pleasing game against Sofya Zingagirova, from Kazakhstan. Though lifting off into a thoroughly horrible position I was able to create a shield from anything too devastating, which meant I was able to hold on for a few extra hours. The game progressed into a thrilling time scramble, with both my opponent and I playing having just over a minute left on our clocks. Our hands weaved their way through black and white pieces, ending each move with a loud thump then smashing the clock for emphasis. Both our minds were calculating overtime, with knights rebounding within our brains and rooks zooming through open files like mum when she is late for work! Unfortunately it was my exhausted brain that crumbled under the strain and pressure of the overexercise, completely missing the winning move and instead finding the instant losing one! Though a disappointing result, I did enjoy every moment of the game and was happy with the overall performance of my humble mind. In round 7 I was up against Anita Hersvik of Norway, here my coach and I made a huge decision to temporarily change my openings and hope that she would fall into a trap, or else I would just have to be aggressive and attack her with everything. Those plans weren’t as smooth as I had hoped for; in fact they were like mountains, with not a single sign of attack happening from me. Instead I spent 30 moves taking my king for a stroll around the chess board, just to amuse my opponent. Eventually that all ended when I blundered a rook, and I felt that I had served my penance for my poor play. After these shocking exhibits of my chess ability both my self-esteem and confidence had diminished into a pile of ash, it was lucky that a rest day decided to pop up and so we spent the night eating pizza and calzones and drinking coke (the worlds best anti-depressant) with our Canadian friends. During our sole rest day I spent the day doing what makes all girls feel better- go out shopping! Mum and I decided to be a bit more adventurous and hop onto a bus into the city. Being the experienced travellers we are, it only took us 40 minutes to buy the bus tickets and to find the correct bus! A local woman then led the pair of us to the main shopping complex in Athens where my feelings of homesickness and uneasiness were washed away and replaced with enthusiasm and dollar signs. It was back to complete the second half of the competition, and hopefully improve my current success rate. It was a slow and steady start to return myself to my normal carefree attitude, so in my match against Wissam Toubal from Algeria, I decided to play harmless moves that had neither meaning nor threat in them at all. It was 2 hours of circulating our pieces around our half of the board, until we both came to a mutual agreement that it was dinnertime and to be satisfied with a draw. Thoughts of preparation for my round 9 opponent, Brazilian, Paula Delai, were soon demolished with my mind constantly wandering off to the land of soy chickens and lamb curry. So as an alternative for preparation I sang “I ’m a Happy Little Vegemite” to Hippo until lunchtime hunger pains arrived! The game was one of my more spectacular demonstrations of my chess efforts, the game concluding a little over an hour later and in less than 20 moves! It was one of the first games where I played my normal opening with no need for any resourcefulness on my behalf, and instead played sensible moves and found them just as victorious as my innovative ones. A most inconvenient and awkward pairing came in round 10, playing against my Canadian friend, Bojana Mitrovic. It was hard for me to perform at my best standards, but Bojana had no problems developing herself into a chess players dream position, and making me endure in my cramped area of the board. Luckily for me, my opponent fell into a cunning trap of mine, allowing me to transform my horrible position into one that was clearly smashing for me. The flow of points suddenly came to an abrupt halt, losing to English representative and recent British Women’s’ Champion, Melanie Buckley. It was a slightly biased match, my opponent having been specially prepared by her coach GM (Grandmaster) Peter Wells. There was a massive hole in pawn structure by move 10 and my position slowly degraded as each move passed by until I was left with nothing but a vulnerable and helpless king fighting against a colossal kingside bombardment. But I ploughed on, even though I had cruelly suffered through my 5th loss for the tournament. Geidre Ramanauskaite from Lithuania was my opponent for round 12, and after discovering that she played a really boring opening, Zong-Yuan and I felt it was best to liven things a bit by preparing a more exciting and thrilling set of moves. It all went to plan until move 3 where she shocked me with a different move then I had expected, so I stunned her back with another of my imaginative pieces of work. My inventive plan was successful, leading me into a clearly better position with a huge attacking advantage and beautifully developed pieces all ready for battle. Of course I faltered at the sight of a draw offer, sighing with relief at the thought of an extra half point and accepting with pleasure. Being the last round for this exhausting tournament it meant that an early round was scheduled. With my daily routine totally ruined I now had to rely on my alarm clock to give me the early wake up call, but it didn’t have to make the precaution a 4am telephone call from Australia arrived to greet me into the new day! With this magnificent beginning to my day I was ready to accomplish anything, including playing a decent chess game with less than 6 hours sleep! My final opponent for the tournament was El Ghabi Zahira of Morocco, who must also have been suffering from lack of sleep with both of us playing the most terrible chess anyone could imagine! As the game progressed past the opening, our minds went wandering elsewhere, both of us desiring a draw since our concentration had disappeared our of sight. A huge thanks to my temporary coach, IM Zong-Yuan Zhao, who helped me through each game, teaching me many valuable lessons about chess and for constantly exercising his patience throughout the duration of the tournament. Also thanks to my dear mother, without her childish humour and credit card, I cannot think of how I would have survived! Thank you to the ACF, the NSWJCL, and the Woman’s’ Chess Association for all their support they have provided towards me. (Editor's note: Congratulations to Zong Yuan and Catherine who are two very fine representatives for Australia, of whom we should all be very proud). ACF Bulletin # 143a - 4 December 2001 My apologies for this late addition to the bulletin. The Tuggeranong organisers had problems getting this to me on time. 2001 TUGGERANONG VIKINGS WEEKENDER THIS WEEKEND Saturday/Sunday: December 8-9 2001 Tuggeranong Valley Rugby Union and Amateur Sports Club Ricardo St, Wanniassa, ACT (near the Erindale shops). Play will be in the downstairs room. A Category One Australian Chess Federation Grand Prix Event 7 Round ACF-Rated Swiss Event Time Limits: 1 hour + 10 sec/move thereafter (DGTs) Playing Schedule: 10:15am, 1:00pm, 3:30pm and 6:30pm (Saturday) 10:00am, 12:30pm and 3:00pm Sunday with prize-giving at 5:15pm Entries taken until 9:45am on Saturday 8 December Entry Fees: $40 adult, $30 concession, $20 junior Prizes: Total $1000 Open: 1st $300, 2nd $200, 3rd $100 U/1800: 1st $100 U/1600: 1st $100 U/1400: 1st $100 Junior: 1st $100 First Prize in the Open section guaranteed. Other prizes dependent on entries. Two half point byes are available (DOP must be notified in advance). Director of Play: Charles Zworestine Chief Organiser: Lee Forace Players shall be ACTCA or other relevant state association members. If you are interested in playing in this tournament please contact Andrew Greenwood on 0403191777 or e-mail andrew.greenwood@anu.edu.au Supported by the Tuggeranong Valley Rugby Union and Amateur Sports Club 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!