ACF Bulletin #198, January 6, 2002 ---------------------- In This Issue ---------------------- * Australian Open * ACF Conference * Graeme Gardiner's report * Registering * Letters * Grand Prix 2003 * Upcoming tournaments ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pratt Foundation 2003 Australian Open Championships ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IM John-Paul Wallace leads the field after beating Stephen Solomon in round 6 of the Australian Open now under way in Penrith, west of Sydney. IM David Smerdon is second after disposing of IM Gary Lane. All eyes will be on board 1 today, when Wallace and Smerdon clash. Meanwhile, Australian WFM Slavica Sarai leads the women's table. Leading scores after 6 rounds: 6.0 Wallace 5.5 Smerdon 5.0 Solomon, Pecori, Boyd, Xie 4.5 Lane, Fischer-Nielsen, Samar, Sarai, Hamilton, Wilkins, Hoffman, Stead Live games and details can be found at http://austopen.chesskit.com/ The top-board clash between Solomon and Wallace was an intriguing game with some interesting tactics and inventive play on both sides: Australian Open Round 6 Solomon-Wallace, 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O Ne7 6. Nxe5 Qd4 7. Qh5!? g6 8. Qg5 A novel opening, at least by my lights! 8...Bg7 9. Nf3 Qxe4 10. Re1 Qb4 11. b3!? Solomon's going for the jugular. If now 11...Bxa1 12.Ba3 11...h6 12. Qe3 Be6 13. Ba3 Nd5 14. Bxb4 Nxe3 15. Rxe3 Bxa1 16. c3 The game now hinges on whether the bishop can escape 16...a5 17. Bc5 a4 18. Nd4 axb3 19. axb3 Kd7 20. Nxe6 fxe6 21. Kf1 e5 22. Rxe5 Rhe8 23. Rxe8 Kxe8 24. Ba3 Bb2!! An ingenious resource from Wallace: back-rank pins will ensure he gets his piece back with a winning game. 25. Bxb2 Ra2 26. Ba3 Ra1 27. Ke2 Rxb1 28. Bc5 Rxb3 29. h4 Rb5 30. Be3 h5 31. Kd3 Kd7 32. g3 Ke6 33. Bf4 Rd5+ 34. Kc4 b5+ 35. Kb4 Kf5 36. d4 Ke4 37. Bxc7 Rd7 38. Be5 Kd5 39. Bf4 Ra7 40. Kb3 Ra1 41. Be3 Re1 42. Bf4 Rb1+ 43. Kc2 Rf1 44. Be3 Kc4 45. Kd2 Ra1 46. Bg5 Ra3 47. d5 Kxd5 48. f3 Kc4 49. Bf6 b4 50. cxb4 Rxf3 51. Be5 Kxb4 52. Ke2 Rb3 53. Kd2 Kc4 54. Ke2 Kd5 0-1 --------------------------------------- Riley leads NZ Champs --------------------------------------- Sydney barrister Tim Reilly has set a cracking pace in the 110th NZ Championship, leading the field with 4.5/5. Another Aussie, IM Alex Wohl, is also playing. -------------------------- ACF Conference -------------------------- A plan to establish a more permanent "commission" of chess administrators in place of the existing Council structure has been narrowly defeated at the ACF Conference. Even though the vote was 14-9 in favour, the required 75 per cent majority was not obtained. All seven NSW representatives and two Victorians voted against the motion, but it had the unanimous support of the other states. The motion had called for the establishment of a commission comprising a President and eight Commissioners holding office for two years. The Commissioners would not represent a particular State, and four would retire each year. Supporters of the plan said it would improve the quality of chess administration. Also defeated at the Conference was a motion to give the immediate past president of the ACF a place on the ACF council. A number of other, more procedural motions were passed. As expected, the conference elected South Australian George Howard as the new ACF President, replacing Graeme Gardiner. Among other things, Mr Howard has been outspoken in support of a better deal for the smaller states in the Australian chess scene. -------------- Ex-President Graeme Gardiner deserves the warm thanks of all Australian chess players for his extraordinary efforts over the past few years. There's widespread agreement among chess administrators that Graeme has been one of the most industrious and effective ACF Presidents. He'll now be devoting himself to his new chess centre on the Gold Coast, about which you'll be hearing more in an upcoming bulletin. _ PaulB -------------------- FIDE ratings -------------------- The new FIDE ratings are out, and here are the top Australians. The big movers are Smerdon (up 54 to third among active players), and George Xie (up 50 points over 7 games). Smerdon is up 110 points over the last year. (Thanks to Jonathon Paxman for the info). 2569 Rogers, Ian 2487 Johansen, Darryl K. 2444 Jamieson, Robert M. 2436 Smerdon, David 2421 Lane, Gary W. 2420 Levin, Naum L. 2414 Wohl, Aleksandar H. 2410 Kanikevich, Alexander 2403 Gluzman, Mikhail 2398 Zhao, Zong-Yuan 2395 Sandler, Leonid 2392 Davidovic, Aleksandar 2390 Tao, Trevor 2389 Speck, Nick 2386 Wallace, John Paul 2385 Kontorovich, Michael 2381 West, Guy 2380 Gedevanishvili, Dmitry 2350 Nutu-Gajic, Dana 2349 Chapman, Mark 2347 Solomon, Stephen J. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACF President's (Graeme Gardiner's) report for National Conference ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PENRITH, SUNDAY 5 JANUARY 2003 I'm pleased to present this report on the 2002 calendar year which includes reference to the four years of my presidency. Firstly, I would like to acknowledge and thank a wide range of people who have assisted me in my work, or who have been at the forefront of developing chess in Australia. I particularly thank my colleagues on the ACF Executive. Robert Jamieson has consistently provided sensible advice based upon his many years of experience in administering Australian chess. He also has spent much of the last three years as senior selection coordinator which is never an easy task. Norm Greenwood has worked very hard as Treasurer (whilst also providing a great service to the NSWCA, Manly Waringah Leagues Club and the North Sydney Leagues Club). In my opinion Norm is one of the outstanding contributors to Australian chess. Joe Tanti has carried out the duties of Secretary, in particular meetings, minutes and motions, with great diligence. It seems that the number and length of motions increases meeting by meeting. Norm Braybrooke has done an outstanding job in administering the Grand Prix. He is standing down from the position and there is no doubt that we will miss him. Bill Gletsos and his partner in crime, Graham Saint, continue to do an invaluable job in administering the ratings system. This is a considerable task and we are indebted to them. Their longevity in the job is something to behold! Paul Broekhuyse has become one of Australia's most valuable contributors to the chess scene. His version of the ACF webpage is always dynamic. His bulletin board has always been controversial (which apart from the bad language is good in my opinion) and his Australasian internet challenge was a fine innovation. He has now taken over the additional responsibility of the weekly ACF bulletin. Gary Bekker did a very conscientious job as ACF senior selection coordinator. In addition he looked after all FIDE ratings matters and was on call for advice and assistance with the use of DGT boards for the live transmission of important games. Perhaps Gary's greatest contribution has been to Oceania chess where he brought PNG back into the FIDE fold and was instrumental in having Fiji host the zonal. He has been rewarded for his efforts by taking over the presidency of the FIDE Oceania zone 3.2b. Gary is one of the live wires of Australian chess. Peter Wallman and John Baker (sponsorship), Ashley Rambukwella (publicity), Michael Baron (tournament director), Gary Wastell (Medals), Ross Hamilton (auditor), Brett Tindall and Kerry Stead (junior coordinator) have all provided valuable service. I understand from Peter Wallman that John Baker, who has been ill but now better, is now ready to roll out the pilot coaching/sponsorship programme with "The Smith Family" in term one 2003. Matt Sweeney is an addition to ACF helpers this year and I understand that a draft of his ACF Directory is currently being circulated around the states for checking. I am very grateful to Kevin Bonham and Denis Jessop for the fine job they have done on the 'commission' model alongside Robert Jamieson. Both these individuals have also been a great help to me on various other matters. Gary Wastell also has been of great assistance on constitutional matters. Shaun Press and Paul Dunn have done an outstanding job for Australian chess in producing Australian Chess Forum over the last few years. Additionally Paul is the official ACF archivist. Both these individuals are heavily involved in running one of Australia's premier events, the Doeberl Cup in Canberra each Easter. We wish them well in their difficult task in growing this event in coming years. The NSWJCL is Australia's largest chess organization. Whilst this organization has many volunteer workers, Richard Gastineau-Hills and Margaret Cuckson are the leaders and their outstanding voluntary work has been of immense benefit to Australian chess. Due to pressure of work, I was unable to attend the Olympiad in Bled, Slovenia. Fortunately our FIDE delegate, as usual, was available to attend at his own cost. We are indebted to Phil Viner who has consistently represented Australia with great dignity at Olympiad after Olympiad. Many thanks Phil. My apologies go to the state presidents for not visiting states this year due to pressure of work. I would like to thank all state presidents for their support and for the work that they have done in their own states. It was particularly good to welcome the Northern Territory into the fold during the year. Other movers and shakers in Australian chess include Jason Lyons, Manuel Weeks, David Cordover, Andrew Greenwood, Charles Zworestine, Roly Eime, Ian Murray, Gerrit Hartland, Michael Gluzman and Brian Jones. We are particularly grateful to Jason Lyons for organizing sponsorship from the NSW Government and Ansell for the Australian Olympiad team. Also David Cordover for organizing the Australian Masters and Brian Jones for taking on the Australian Open at very short notice. Brian has also introduced Australian Chess Magazine to replace Australian Chess Forum. Some of the things that happened in 2002: Grand Prix - This continued to be an important series of events that does much for the culture of Australian chess. Olympiad - This was one of the highlights of the year. Thanks to Jason Lyons' efforts, for the first time in memory, the teams had most of their costs sponsored. As per usual, both teams finished fairly close to their seeding. We thank all those that once again supported the Olympiad Appeal, including those that placed paid advertisements in the weekly ACF email bulletin. For the first time drug testing was carried out at the Olympiad. World Youth Festival, Crete - Our juniors as always performed close to the best of their ability. We are indebted to Jenni Oliver who sponsored the pre tournament coaching and to team manager Mona Lee. World Junior Under 20 Championships, Goa, India - David Smerdon was Australia's sole entrant. He played on the top boards throughout the 13 round event and showed that he is clearly now one of Australia's top players. David's performance in this event followed on from his excellent results in the Doeberl Cup, Gold Coast Classic and Victorian Championships tournaments. David also represented Australia at the Asian Junior Championships in Sri Lanka. World Youth Under 16 Olympiad, Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia - Ian Rogers coached Australia's three teams in this event which is growing in importance in the world calendar. A top ten finish from our number one team was an excellent result. Once again we thank team manager Mona Lee for all of her efforts in bringing the Australian teams together. Australian Championships, Melbourne - This was a successful tournament with a good turnout of top players and several supporting events. This was a good opportunity for me to see the MV Anderson chess collection at the Victorian State Library and try to put the history of Australian chess into context. The main event ended in a tie for first place between GM Darryl Johansen and Nick Speck. We are still hoping to organize a play off for this title during 2003. Australian Junior Championships, Sydney - These were held at the Cranbrook School and were an outstanding success. The level of coaching available at this event is a very significant improvement over the last several years, and has resulted in a significantly higher playing standard. Australian Schools Teams Championships, Melbourne - These were held at PLC very recently and once again were an outstanding success. Again there was a significant amount of top level coaching going on, and the standard has improved greatly since the inaugural competition at Sydney Grammar in 1998. Whyatt Medal for puzzle composition - This new medal has been included in the list of ACF medals and will be awarded not more than once every five years. Associated bodies of the ACF - The NSWJCL, CCLA, ACTJCL and the AWCL have all become associated bodies of the ACF thus bringing all sections of the Australian chess community closer together. During the four years of my presidency there have been some bad times: · The death of Garry Koshnitsky, arguably the most important figure in the history of Australian chess. Also those of Jacques Engelander and Evelyn Fitzpatrick. Other obituaries have been given in the weekly bulletin. · The court case involving Chris Depasquale and the ACF over his non-selection in the 2000 Olympiad team. · The dispute between the ACF and the Melbourne Chess Club over the non-payment of fees which resulted in the suspension of services provided by the ACF to the Melbourne Chess Club. · The rejection of recognition of chess as a sport by both the Australian Sports Commission and the Australian Olympic Committee. · Failure of Australasian Chess Online to catch on. Some of the good times: · Success of the Australian Schools Teams Championships. · Success of the weekly email bulletin. · Success of the Swiss Perfect computer programme. · Success of the ACF insurance policy. · Success of the ACF council phone hook ups. · QUT sponsorship of DGT boards. · Success of ACF webpage. · The chess exhibition in the athletes village at the Sydney Olympics. · The ACF Admin fee is now in place and being given a fair go. · The ACF Schools Levy is now in place and being given a fair go. · Many more professional coaches teaching in the schools. · Pre world youth festival coaching of our leading juniors. · Improved financial position of the ACF. Fiscal restraint shown for four years. Some of the things that I would like to see happen: The ACF Commission proposal has been upgraded since last year's conference. Checks and balances requested by the states have been included. I would very much like to see this motion be passed at this conference as (apart from the many arguments given) I simply believe that it will be good for Australian chess. The fight for chess to be recognized as a sport in Australia must be vigorously pursued. It is the best and just about only chance of obtaining government funding. The most important thing about lobbying is to keep on keeping on. The Grand Prix has a lot to offer Australian chess. I would dearly like to see all clubs and states giving it their full support. The Doeberl Cup is an icon of Australian chess. I would like to see the ACF do everything within reason to ensure that this event thrives. We have proposed an Australian Clubs Teams Championship for September 2003 (full details given in the ACF weekly email bulletin). I would very much like to see this inaugural event succeed and develop into an important event in the Australian chess calendar. Endeavours have been made to start an Australian Universities Teams Championship. In fact, the attempt is a revival of the universities teams event that I understand was held regularly in the 1970s. I would like to see this effort continue as this would be an important building block in the attempt to keep young people in chess from high school through university. This will be controversial, but I strongly believe that there should be a minimum game qualification to be selected for an Australian Olympiad team. I believe that it sends all the wrong messages to the chess community when a player who has played very little proper chess is selected over players who have been very active. I realize that we want to select our strongest team, but the present system encourages players to sit pat on a high rating or one good performance. What we want to encourage in Australian chess is activity. We also want to do something effective to ensure that those selected get in plenty of match practice prior to attending the Olympiad. The NSWJCL, CAQ and VCA have been very successful in making their schools teams competitions truly statewide. I would like to see all states make it their top priority to develop their schools competitions statewide and then to consolidate by increasing numbers and improving the infrastructure of administration and coaching. I believe that to have the chess culture more generally accepted in Australia, we have to achieve a cultural change through a whole generation of juniors. So the development of chess in schools has to be the unifying aim of both the states and the ACF. The development of the coaching infrastructure in Australia is also a very high priority in my mind. This can mainly be achieved through the expansion of professional coaching businesses. All those involved have a vested financial interest in seeing coaching extended to as many schools around Australia as possible. The identification of talent in Australian chess through the various junior competitions is not hard. Ensuring that the talent is given every opportunity is the problem. With limited resources it is hard for this talent to be brought on. The ACF is likely to have modestly higher income resulting from the schools levy and the admin fee. I would like to see these resources used in the areas of developing chess in the schools generally and for giving elite talent as much opportunity as possible. I would like to see every effort made by the national junior coordinator to have Australia represented at all Asian and world junior events. Likewise, I would like to see the senior selection coordinator try and achieve the same with adult events. These may seem like obvious aims, but we haven't always succeeded in these areas over the years. The idea has been put forward to have WA host the 2003 Australian Schools Teams Championships immediately prior to the Australian Junior Championships in January 2004. Although WA hasn't supported this event too well so far, I believe that it would be in the best interests of Australian chess generally and the schools event specifically to support the idea of WA hosting the event as soon as possible. Whether this is possible in January 2004 may depend on whether this can be fitted in between the Australian Championships and the Australian Junior Championships. We need WA to be involved in all Australian chess activity for the ACF to be regarded as a truly national body. The problem of cost is always put forward in relation to east/west travel but in the schools competition, in my opinion, no self respecting school which has qualified for national finals will allow their kids to miss out. In the schools competitions the problem of funding travel should be left to the schools and the players involved and not a worry so much for the states. Conclusion At this meeting we welcome the new ACF President George Howard who has done an outstanding job in getting SA chess moving over the last couple of years. George attended the Bled Olympiad and his lobbying has resulted in Australia being in with a real chance of hosting the 2008 Olympiad. Welcome to the job George, and best of luck. Graeme Gardiner Retiring ACF President 4 January 2003 ---------------------------------------------- ACF Bulletin: please register ---------------------------------------------- Another reminder to people to please register for this Bulletin at www.auschess.org.au I've adjusted the webpage so the "Want to receive the ACF Bulletin" registration box should be a little easier to find. ------------- Letters ------------- WOW! PaulB, I never thought that the PLAYERS MEETING at the Australian Open this year would be cancelled. (See previous Bulletin - Ed) It is the only *direct eye-balling* chance that ordinary players have to express their opinions. It is scandalous that this meeting has been cancelled due to the lack of a quorum (9 nominated but 15 were required). As I understand it, quorum is only required for the legitimate passing of motions. The meeting could still have been convened, if only for the chance to voice opinions and suggestions. I for one knew nothing of a quorum being required - I must have missed that bit of information. If I had known, I would have nominated myself to be there. I suggest that the meeting could have been reconvened by "advertising" it during the first two days of the Australian Open chess fest. I am sure that the quorum of 15 would have been reached. Having said this, it is important to note that Australia's competitive chess players have not been "jumping all over each other" - as Graeme Gardiner rightly pointed out to me recently - "to put forward ideas to advance Australian chess". When any player in the Australian Open feels the need to bitch about anything in Australian Chess, from time controls to prize money or ratings to selection processes, they ought to remember that: 1. It is their own pathetic apathy that prevents them from making Australian chess better. 2. That nobody wants to hear from you unless you are a member of a quorum. - Matthew Sweeney xxxxxx Matthew, It's very interesting that you are sure the quorum for the players meeting will be reached. In the past we haven't set a deadline and we've been lucky if two men and a dog turn up. This time we've set a deadline and advertised it through the weekly bulletin and received 9 registrations. Joe advertised well in advance that if the quorum of 15 was not reached by the scheduled date, it would be cancelled. A sensible move in my opinion based upon past experience. As regards the 'powers that be' I would have thought we would be far happier if there wasn't such apathy and we had players jumping all over each other to put forward ideas to advance Australian chess. Alas, this is not the case. As far as I'm concerned, if you can guarantee 15 players, then Joe is welcome to reconvene the players meeting if he sees fit. With best regards - Graeme Gardiner xxxxxxx Do you want to smash the Winawer Variation of the French Defence? Visit the Winckelmann-Reimer Gambit home page at http://home.pacific.net.au/~davidflude/ Best wishes, David Flude xxxxxx Dear ACF, I would like to know the reason why my rating has dropped significantly from subsequent issues published as I haven't played in tournaments which is about a year ago. This is baffling to me as I was inactive for a long period and yet my rating has changed. Could you explain why???? Duncan Bape ----------------------------------------- Upcoming tournaments ----------------------------------------- ============================== NSW 2003 Australia Day Weekender ============================== Category 2 Grand Prix event. $2,000 in prizes North Sydney Anzac Memorial Club Corner Ernest & Miller St, Cammeray Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th January For further information contact Jason Lyons by telephone [0412 907 686], email jasongraham@yahoo.com, or visit the NSWCA website: http://www.ozemail.com.au/~nswca/ ------------------------------------ ACF Grand Prix 2003 ------------------------------------ Australia Day Weekender category 2 NSW Jan 25-26 contact P.Cassettari pcass@zeta.org.au Newcastle Open 2003 category 2 NSW Feb 8-9 contact for info phone (02) 49433862, (02) 49469627, (02) 49612223 Taree RSL Open category 1 NSW Feb 15-16 contact, Endel Lane (02) 6559 9060 endel@fasternet.com.au Tasmanian Open Championship - Burnie Category 1 TAS Mar 8-10 contact, Neville Ledger (03) 64311280 nlchess@tassie.net.au Dubbo RSL Open Category 1 NSW Mar 15-16 contact, Alexander Aich (02) 68844561 sjaich@tpg.com.au Doeberl Cup category 3 ACT Apr 18-21 contact, Roger McCart 'phone (06) 6251 6190 Roger.McCart@anu.edu.au 37th. Peninsula Open category 1 QLD May 3-5 contact, Mark Stokes (07) 32056042 markcstokes@hotmail.com Laurieton May Open category 1 NSW May3-4 contact, Endel Lane (02) 6559 9060 endel@fasternet.com.au NSWCA Mat Weekender category 2 NSW May 17-18 contact P.Cassettari pcass@zeta.org.au Tasmanian Chess Championship category 1 TAS Jun 7-9 contact, K.Bonham (03) 62248487 k_bonham@tassie.net.au NSW Open Championship category 3 NSW Jun 7-9 contact P.Cassettari pcass@zeta.org.au Taree RSL June Open category 1 NSW Jun 14-15 contact, Endel Lane (02) 6559 9060 endel@fasternet.com.au Gold Coast Open(Gold Coast CC) category 3 QLD Jun 21-22 contact, Graeme Gardiner ggardiner@gardinerchess.com (07) 55305794 Caloundra Open 3? QLD Jun28/29 contact, Derrick Jeffries chesswis@australis.aunz.com University Open Category 3 SA JUL 5-6 rwedding@maths.adelaide.edu.au NSWCA August Weekender category 2 NSW Aug2-3 contact P.Cassettari pcass@zeta.org.au Gold Coast Classic (Gold Coast CC) category 3 QLDSep 20-21 contact, Graeme Gardiner ggardiner@gardinerchess.com 07) 55305794 12th. Redcliffe Challenge category 2 QLD Sep 27-28 contact, Mark Stokes (07) 32056042 markcstokes@hotmail.com Tweed Open Category 3 QLD Oct 4-5 Contact, Audie pennefather, pennefather@iprimus.com.au Koala Open category 3 NSW Oct 5-6 contact, Brian Jones chessaus@chessaustralia.com.au Laurieton Open category 1 NSW Nov 1-2 contact Endel Lane (02) 6559 9060 endel@fasternet.com.au November weekender category 1 TAS Nov 1-2 or 1-3 contact, K.Bonham (03) 62248487 k_bonham@tassie.net.au Gosford Open Category 2 NSW Nov 8-9 contact, Lachlan Lee l.yee@unsw.edu.au Taree RSL Spring Open category 1 NSW Nov 15-16 contact, Endel Lane (02) 6559 9060 endel@fasternet.com.au NSWCA November weekender category 2 Nov 22-23 contact P.Cassettari pcass@zeta.org.au Total 20 NSW 14 QLD 6 ACT 1 TAS 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Best wishes to everyone in the festive season, and happy new year. - Paul Broekhuyse