From: "Graeme Gardiner" To: "Graeme Gardiner" Subject: ACF Bulletin # 180 - 1 September 2002 Date: Sunday, 1 September 2002 7:24 PM ACF Bulletin # 180 - 1 September 2002 IN THIS ISSUE World Children's Olympiad, ACF Presidency, Merdeka Cup, Penrith News, Olympiad Appeal, Queensland Teams Championships, Junior Sportstar award, Free Swiss Perfect licences, 2002 Grand Prix, Launceston weekender, Gold Coast Classic, Correspondence. WORLD CHILDREN'S UNDER 16 TEAMS OLYMPIAD The three Australian teams eventually came up with a quite respectable result in this prestigious event. In fact, the number one team comprising Denis Bourmistrov, Tomek Rej, Catherine Lip and Michelle Lee came 12th finishing ahead of England, the United States and South Africa. I have always found that GM Ian Rogers has a fantastic work ethic in his coaching of juniors, but it must have been very hard coping with 12 players and two games a day. What an outstanding effort. Good on you Ian, and well done teams! Full details at http://www.thechessnetwork.net/index.php?module=PostCalendar&func=view&viewt ype=details&eid=2. ACF PRESIDENCY/EXECUTIVE A reminder that nominations for the ACF Presidency/Executive need to be in the hands of the ACF Secretary, Joe Tanti by 7 October 2002 (90 days before the National Conference scheduled for Penrith on Sunday 5 January). Whilst I have indicated that I will not be standing as President, all four members of the Executive (myself, Robert Jamieson, Norm Greenwood, Joe Tanti) have indicated that they are prepared to stand for the executive once again. Potential nominees may wish to know that ACF webmaster, Paul Broekhuyse, who has done a very fine job with the webpage, has offered to continue the ACF weekly email bulletin if the incoming President is happy for him to do so. It is also good news that Paul has offered to develop it further. Notice of motions/amendments need to be in the hands of Joe in time to go out with the official notice of the meeting by Sunday 10 November. Incidentally, the next ACF Council phone hook up is scheduled for Monday 23 September. MERDEKA CUP - TIM REILLY A team of Ian Rogers, Malaysian IMs Mas and Jimmy Liew, and Tim Reilly played as the "Chess Netwwork" team in the Open Division of the Merdeka Cup teams tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 28-30 August. The event had almost sixty teams competing. We lead (though never by much) most of the way, but dropped our bundle in rd 8 by losing 1-3 to a Vietnamese junior team, to allow a Chinese team to overtake us. We ended up coming second, but at least we were ahead of the all-IM IntChess Asia team who came third. If my memory serves me right, leading final scores were 1. China Ecosem 26 2. Chess Network 25 3. IntChess Asia 24.5. First prize was worth M$10000, second M$5000. Board Scores (again, if my memory is correct): 1. Rogers 7/9 2. Mas 9/9 (!! a fantastic result for Malaysia's brightest chess hope) 3. Liew 6/9 4. Reilly 6/8 5. Ignatius Leong (reserve!) 0/1 My thanks to the organisers, and in particular Hamid Majid for another enjoyable and well organised Malaysian event, and for the invite to play on the team! PENRITH NEWS FROM BRIAN JONES The Pratt Foundation will be the Major Sponsor of the 2003 Australian Open Championships, to be held at Panthers World of Entertainment Penrith 2-10 January 2003. Penrith Rugby League Club and Canon Australia have agreed to be associate sponsors. For the first time, the Australian Open will include the Australian Women's Championship with a prize fund in excess of $1,000 courtesy of the Australian Women's Chess League (AWCL). The details are yet to be sorted out between the AWCL and the ACF as regards any amendments required to the ACF Constitution. The "Coaches Meeting" at Penrith is set for Tuesday 7 January 2003 at 5pm in the Fernhill Room. This will be preceded by an "AWCL Meeting (AGM)" at 3pm in the same room. The official entry form and other information is available at www.chessaustralia.com.au/penrith. Enter early to avoid disappointment. Hard copy entry forms from Brian Jones, PO Box 370, Riverstone NSW 2765 brian@chessaustralia.com.au. OLYMPIAD APPEAL DONATIONS Less than two months to go! The Bled Olympiad runs from 25 October to 11 November. In the absence of Federal Government funding, please show your support for our teams. Apart from the financial assistance, I'm sure your support will give our teams great heart. They are representing their nation in the premier world chess event and I'm sure it means a great deal to our players to know that the chess playing community is united behind them. Donations to the Olympiad Appeal are coming in very well. Manuel Weeks and Jason Lyons are planning fundraising events. If you are able, please support them. You can also help by sending your donation (by cheque or credit card) to the ACF Treasurer, Norm Greenwood PO Box 1840 Hornsby Westfield NSW 1635. Norm's email address is normg@bigpond.com.au and phone 02 9476 4533. All donations will be acknowledged in the bulletin. QUEENSLAND TEAMS CHAMPIONSHIPS SUNDAY 15 DECEMBER The Chess Association of Queensland are promoting an interesting new teams event. They make the important point that our chess life is not solely about ratings points and prizes!! I for one hope very much that this event is extremely well supported. Venue: Queensland Contract Bridge Club, Woolloongabba. Main event: Seniors 18 yrs+, Teams of 8 boards, Round Robin, G/30. Juniors 18 yrs under, Teams of 4 boards (2 teams per club permitted), Round Robin, G/30. Registration 8.45am to 9.15am. Round 1 Commences 9.30am sharp. All players eligible for board prizes or mini trophy. Seniors event includes awarding of perpetual trophy. Entry Fees: $10 seniors, $5 juniors, no concession. Supporters welcome. Featues include: Teams identified by club colour, non-rated games, bar opens during final round. Enquiries: Ian Murray chessqld@optushome.com.au 07 3411 3445, Howard Duggan howard@sceneonline.com.au 0421 061442. Chess Association of Queensland, PO Box 5014, Mt Gravatt East, Qld 4122. DANIEL ANDERSON WINS QUEST NEWSPAPERS JUNIOR SPORTSTAR OF THE MONTH AWARD Daniel Anderson from Brisbane recently attended a dinner put on by 12 regional Quest newspapers at which he was awarded a 'Junior Sportstar of the Month' award. It is great to see a chess player being recognised alongside gymnasts, athletes and baseballers etc. Daniel received a bag of goodies from Pauls, a medallion, posters and a full colour print of Daniel's photo suitably inscribed. Well done Daniel. It would be nice to receive more stories like this one for publication in this bulletin. FREE SWISS PERFECT COMPUTER PAIRINGS PROGRAMME The ACF is still offering free licences for the Swiss Perfect pairings computer programme. This programme is ideal for all club organisers for tournaments of all standards. It is particularly useful for the efficient running of events with large numbers of competitors where rounds need to follow on quickly, one after the other. It is also very useful for quickly producing all necessary records. Swiss Perfect has also helped the ratings officers in their task of efficiently producing ratings lists. There is a reduction in the admin fee for tournaments submitted using Swiss Perfect. To date, 85 licences have been issued to states and clubs right around Australia. I estimate that there are around another 100 clubs in Australia that have not taken advantage of this offer. Even though some of these may be quite small, the Swiss Perfect programme would give clubs an important tool to enable them to increase their numbers. A reminder that the owner of Swiss Perfect, Robert Rozycki, has approved free use of relevant state licences by all schools in Australia. If your club or school would like a free licence, please contact Graeme Gardiner . Robert Rozycki's Swiss Perfect website is at www.swissperfect.com. The following have already taken advantage of this offer: Australia: ACF. Tasmania: TCA, Sandy Bay, Burnie, Launceston, Hobart International. NSW: NSWCA, Rooty Hill, Central Coast, Ettalong Beach, Hakoah Club, Ford Memorial, Woolongong Collegians, Mingara, Newcastle, Canterbury Bankstown, St George, Illawarra Southern, Port Macquarie, Ballina, North Sydney, Koala Club, South Sydney Junior Rugby League Club, Dubbo, Manly Warringah, Fairfield, Univ of NSW, Bega, Coffs Harbour, Parramatta RSL. Victoria: VCA, Elwood, Chess Kids, Hobsons Bay, Geelong, Bendigo, Box Hill, Ballarat, Dandenong, Chess Ideas, Albury, Frankston, Latrobe Valley, Melbourne University. Queensland: CAQ, Qld Juniors, The Gap, Redcliffe, Toowoomba Grammar, Coomera Juniors, Gold Coast, Townsville, Hervey Bay, Northside Juniors, Kin Kora (Gladstone), Suncoast, Coomera Juniors, Queensland Women's Chess League, Northside Juniors, Toowoomba, Bullwinkle, Mackay. Northern Territory: Darwin, Alice Springs. South Australia: SACA, Modbury, Norwood, Adelaide, Adelaide University, Southern Cross. Western Australia: CAWA, WA Juniors, Metro, Perth, Fremantle, Midland, Bunbury. ACT: ACTCA, ACT High Schools, ACTJCL, Tuggeranong, ANU, Canberra, Belconnen, Southside. In the interests of international cooperation the ACF has also organised licences for Fiji, Qatar and New Zealand. 2002 GRAND PRIX Organiser: Norm Braybrooke 19 Trafalgar Drive Kippa-Ring 4021 Email . Webpage http://crcchess.topcities.com/GP2002.html. A reminder that we welcome details of each event for publication in this bulletin. Remaining events in 2002: 7/8 September Launceston Weekender TAS Cat 1 Leo Minol 03 6344 7472 leominol@bigpond.com 21/22 Sept Gold Coast Classic QLD Cat 3 Graeme Gardiner 07 5530 5794 gardiner@auschess.org.au 5/6 Oct Redcliffe Challenge QLD Cat 1 Mark Stokes 07 3205 6042 mstokes@bne.catholic.edu.au 5/6 October Lidums Cup SA Cat 3 George Howard 08 8271 2757 georgeshoward@hotmail.com 6/7 Oct Koala Open NSW Cat 3 Brian Jones 02 9838 1529 chessaus@chessaustralia.com.au 12/13 Oct Tweed Heads Open QLD Cat 3 Audie Pennefather 07 5536 9185 pennefather@iprimus.com.au 19/20 Oct Gosford Open NSW Cat 1 Allen Robinson 0412 607 207 or John Pascoe 02 4369 0449 callmeal@acay.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 9/10 Nov Hobsons Bay Open VIC Cat 1 Peter Caissa 0411 710900 pcaissa@melbpc.org.au 16/17 Nov Taree RSL Spring Open NSW Cat 1 Endel Lane 02 6559 9060 endel@fasternet.com.au 23/24 Nov NSWCA Cat 1 Robert Keast 02 9649 8614 robert.keast@didata.com.au 7/8 December Tuggeranong Vikings Weekender ACT Cat 1 Ian Rout 02 6281 4501 IanandJan@netspeed.com.au 14/15 December Fairfield Winter Cup NSW Cat 2 Rolando Atienza 0421 379940 atienzarolando@hotmail.com NSW 17, Qld 8, Tas 4, SA 4, ACT 3, WA 1, Vic 1. Total 38 events. LAUNCESTON WEEKENDER 7/8 SEPTEMBER A Level 1 ACF Grand Prix Event Hosted by Launceston Chess Club for the Tasmanian Chess Association. Date: Saturday 7 September and Sunday 8 September 2002 Venue: Adult Education Centre, 8 High Street Launceston Rate of Play: 5 rounds S/P. 90 minutes per player for the whole game. Entries close Saturday 7 September 2002 10:45am. Sessions: Saturday: 7 Sep Round 1: 11:00am - 2.00pm, Round 2: 3:00pm - 6:00pm, Round 3: 7:00pm to 10:00pm. Sunday: 8 Sep Round 4: 9:00am - 12:00 Noon Round 5: 1:00pm - 4:00pm Followed by presentation of prizes. 4:10pm. Entry Fee: $45.00 seniors, $40.00 concessions, $25.00 juniors (U18). Early entries: $5.00 discount if paid by Wednesday 28 August. Prizes: 1st: 45% of prize pool, 2nd: 25%, U/1700: 15%, U/1500: 15%. Note: Prize pool is entry fees less running costs, ACF fees and TCA levy. Tiebreak methods will be used. Arbiter: Kevin Bonham plus assistants. FIDE 2001 laws apply. Some billeting may be available. Entries and Enquiries: Leo Minol 11 Docking Court, Newstead, Tas. 7250 Phone. 03 6344 7472, E-mail: leominol@bigpond.com. GOLD COAST CLASSIC 21/22 SEPTEMBER GM Ian Rogers, GM Heikki Kallio (Finland) and IM Laszlo Hazai (Hungary) will all be participating in this tournament. The feature of this event is that although it is primarily for individuals, it doubles as a teams (of 4) competition, with the teams result decided by the sum of net ratings gain/loss as decided by the Swiss Perfect computer programme. Whilst the strong players are much more likely to win the main individual prizes, it is a little harder for them to win the teams prizes. This has proved a very popular tournament, especially since the teams content was introduced. Contact Graeme Gardiner ggardiner@auschess.org.au 07 5530 5794. CORRESPONDENCE IGNATIUS LEONG Dear chess friends, We welcome you to visit our updated website at www.fide-reform.org. We welcome your comments and suggestions through our forum page. We shall try to incorporate your ideas while at the same time, take into consideration the general opinion of our visitors. We hope that through this open forum, we shall be able to construct your ideas in order to Reform for a Better FIDE. Thank you. With best regards, Ignatius Leong NICK KORDAHI Dear Graeme, Recently the NSW chess association decided to run the annual NSW championship as a 14 player 9 round swiss. This means that the eventual winner of the championship could possibly play the bottom seed in the last round to win the tournament. The abysmal 14 player tournmant was a result of the NSWCA stringent policy on not allowing players rated below 2000 entry. As a rule a player needs to be rated over 2000 to play in the title event, however NSWCA makes allowances for special cases such as an improving junior, a previous reserves winner, etc. When deciding eligibilty of players to play in the title event the council has a vote to determine the eligibilty of players. There is not one council member with a rating of over 2000 and worse still a handful have a rating of over 1800. It has become apparent that the NSW council has ignored players with FIDE ratings and stringently declined their entry to the title event based on their ACF rating. An unfortunate player who has won the reserves 3 times and has a Fide rating of 2050 was declined entry purely based on his ACF rating. Another player who has maintained an ACF rating above 2000 for many years was declined entry based on his low ACF rating which was a direct result of performing poorly over a handful of games under the merciless Glicko rating system. This particular player won a very strong state reserves a few years ago. Why are Fide ratings not respected in Australia? A Fide rating is world recognised and should resemble a strong contributing factor when assessing a player's relative strength. At the begining of the year the ACF decided to Fide rate the Australian Reserves for the first time in the history of the event. The ACF reasoned that the more Australian players with Fide ratings the better. NSWCA view seems to differ and to quote a NSWCA council member "Fide ratings below 2050 mean nothing" I ask the question - Why go to the effort of having events Fide rated when people in high places in the chess community have little or no regard for Fide ratings. Regards Nicholas Kordahi With very best wishes to all. Graeme 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!