From: "Graeme Gardiner" ggard@auschess.org.au To: ggardiner@auschess.org.au Subject: ACF Bulletin # 157 - 24 March 2002 Date: Sunday, March 24, 2002 10:59 ACF Bulletin # 157 - 24 March 2002 Paid advertisement As chessplayers we are conditioned to use our intelligence. Sports betting and horseracing are vulnerable to intelligent attacks. If you are interested in betting scientifically to win, visit smartgambler.com.au for sports betting, or propun.com.au for horseracing. 10% extra discount for chessplayers on advertised specials, including AFL football! OZmium Pty Ltd. For informed attacks on sports betting and racing. A BUMPER ISSUE THIS WEEK! IN THIS ISSUE Oceanic Zonal, Big Easter events, Kibitz at Australasian Chess Online, British Championships, ACF Rapid Ratings, Olympiad Appeal, Chess Postage Stamp, World Seniors, News from the Northern Territory, ACF Insurance Policy, David Smerdon, GM Alex Baburin interested in visiting Australia, Upcoming Junior Representative Events, 2002 Grand Prix, Free Swiss Perfect Computer Pairings Licences, FIDE Communique, Opening of Bids for the 2006 Olympiad, South West Open Results, Dubbo Open Results, Under 2000 Event at Mingara, Lindsay Knight Dies, Tournaments in NSW for 2002, Correspondence. OCEANIC ZONAL Australia's official representatives for the Oceanic Zonal Chess Championship will be announced this coming weekend. As I will be in Toowoomba for the Darling Downs Open with a group of students, next week's email bulletin will be sent on Easter Monday, not the Sunday as usual. Due to changes in Fiji's telephone system, the new numbers for the organiser, Virgilio de Asa are: 3314-450 (work) 3312-682 (home) 3303-655 (fax) 9979-924 (mobile). BIG EASTER EVENTS Australia's most important and prestigious weekender is on once again in Canberra over the Easter weekend. Of course, it is the Doeberl Cup, now in its 40th year, an Australian Grand Prix class 3 tournament. Information: Roger McCart Ph: 02-62516190 Email: Roger.McCart@anu.edu.au. If you can't get to Canberra there are two very good alternatives, the Sydney Easter Cup and the Darling Downs Open at Toowoomba, Queensland. Enquiries for the Sydney Easter Cup can be made to Paul Sike Tel: 02 9410 5193 (W) 02 9533 1759 (H) Email: psike@energy.com.au Peter Hanna Tel: 02 9728 1272 Email: rational@mpx.com.au. Enquiries for the Darling Downs Open can be made to Keven Duncan 3/14 Buckland Street, Toowoomba 4350. Phone 07 4635 0973. Email kevenduncan@telstra.com. KIBITZ AT AUSTRALASIAN CHESS ONLINE Everyone's invited to join in regular "kibitzing" sessions at Australasian Chess Online. Held every Tuesday night, they feature great games from Australia and overseas. Onlookers can comment on the moves and suggest improvements. Paul Broekhuyse is conducting the sessions, but if anybody else would like to, they're most welcome. See the ACF home page for details www.auschess.org.au. Australasian Chess Online features a dedicated chat channel for Australian players, and participants can also chat privately with anybody there. There's also a steady stream of tournaments in various time limits available. Australian/NZ-only events will begin soon. In addition, Australasian Chess Online provides a great forum for chess teachers to coach remote students online - as well as a convenient facility for collecting fees. Paul Broekhuyse is looking for assistants to help him with the service - especially internet chess "fanatics" who are already familiar with chess servers. Email him at broekhuysep@hotmail.com if you'd like to help. BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIPS Chris Depasquale has been chosen as Australia's official representative for the upcoming British Championships due to be held in Gary Lane's (ex) home town, Torquay, Devon from 28 July to 10 August. ACF RAPID RATINGS All clubs and states around Australia are requested and encouraged to send results of tournaments with time controls from 15 to 59 minutes a side to the ratings officers for rating on the ACF Rapid list. The process is exactly the same as for the ACF main list. Selectors for all adult and junior Australian representatives will now be supplied with rapid ratings as well as the main ratings. OLYMPIAD APPEAL As usual Australia will be sending men's and women's teams to the upcoming Olympiad in Bled, Slovenia. As can be seen later in this bulletin, the dates have been changed slightly to 25 October to 11 November. In the absence of government or commercial sponsorship, the considerable costs of sending our teams overseas are borne by the chess community (that means us!) with the team members themselves having to make up any shortfall. There can be little doubt that if chess involved running, jumping, swimming, riding a bicycle or chasing some type of roughly spherical object around, then governments would be more than willing to channel taxpayer's money into chess. But that is not the case. Physical games are of paramount importance it seems, but intellectual games just don't count! Well, not so far anyway! It may be of interest to note that the Federal Department of Sport has an annual budget of well over $100 million, but not a dollar for chess. So much for the rhetoric about creating a "clever country". I therefore urge all Chess players to consider making a donation towards the cost of sending our Olympiad team overseas. Donations may be sent to the ACF Treasurer, Norm Greenwood PO Box 1840 Hornsby Westfield NSW 1635. (Of course, it is the intention of the ACF to keep lobbying the Federal Government for however many years it takes to have chess recognised and funded as a sport). CHESS POSTAGE STAMP Roy Lawrence of the Correspondence Chess League of Australia is applying to postal authorities on behalf of Australian chess for the issue of a stamp in 2003 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Cecil Purdy's correspondence chess world championship victory in 1953. WORLD SENIORS BAD LIEBENZELL, NAUMBURG GERMANY 20 OCTOBER TO 3 NOVEMBER Nominations to be Australia's official male and female representatives at this event should be in the hands of the ACF Selections Coordinator, Gary Bekker