ACF President George Howard writes: "All members of ACF Council are asked to attend as we haven't had an opportunity like this before and we need to make the most out of it. If states'/territories' Council Representatives cannot attend but they have someone else from their team available to make a contribution, that would be much appreciated. Could all states/territories please give me names and numbers of attendees now - it is actually the third time I have asked as we need to cater for lunch, coffees etc."

Ballarat Begonia - report by Bas Van Riel: The 38th Ballarat Begonia Weekender was conducted during the Labour Day long weekend of 6-8 March. The event saw an absolute record-entry (119 players) in the previous year and the organisers of this year's event were very pleased to see 118 players turning up in Ballarat.

In anticipation of the larger than usual crowd, a separate area, remote from the playing hall, was allocated for post-mortem analysis of the games, also allowing the juniors (and others?) to let some 'steam off ' away from the battlefield, without unduly disturbing the games in progress. Another novelty for the tournament, and introduced on a test basis on the last day, was the re-positioning of the lower boards to the second floor, allowing more space.

With these changes, we seem set and hope to aim for our next goal: expanding the tournament towards the next level, eg 150 players and attracting some overseas visitors.

As has now become the practice, at the end of the tournament a small survey was held, asking the participants for their opinions on:

• 1. The penalty (loss of game) imposed on mobile phones ringing during play;
• 2. With the large numbers, would it be advisable to split the tournament into separate rating divisions;
• 3. Were the above (remote) analysis area and the upstairs expansion believed to be improvements to the tournament?; and
• 4. Would it be a good idea to introduce a (one round only, but not the final round) draw-option, to be nominated before the start of the tournament?

IA Kevin Perrin was his usual 'self', conducting a perfect tournament as the director-of-play. The only hiccup was a brief power failure on Saturday night. It was only when (around midnight!) the draw of the next round had to be done, that Kevin discovered that the power surge had corrupted the Swiss Perfect program on his laptop. With the help of some computer- knowledgeable players the files were nearly resurrected after a long fiddle, when the next power failure hit, causing a complete blackout this time. Everything was then packed up way past midnight, and Kevin then had to spend another hour or so working on the draw at his house where luckily the power was again back on. I am sure that not many people have noticed the dark (worry) circles around his eyes the next morning!

Looking at the entry list, we will notice an unusually broad subgroup below the (6) IMs.

I am not in a position to comment on technical chess-matters of the tournament, and I will have to restrict myself to some general observations. Stephen Solomon (top seed) was pretty awesome in the way he steamrolled his way to first place. In his speech, he indicated that he felt most worried in his games against Mirko Rujevic (last round) and Angelo Tsagarakis. Although out of the prizes at the end, Mirko kept up the pace, winning against David Smerdon and defending very well against Guy West in a hard-fought battle.

Anastasia Sorokina made a very strong debut in Ballarat, finishing equal second after beating Peter Froehlich in the last round. Simon Rutherford initially saw a promising return to tournament chess after many years in the 'wilderness', scoring 100% from his first 4 games, but he faltered after that. It also was good to see Jeremy O'Carroll and Joel Mc Donald testing the 'waters' again after a long absence.

Personally, I believe that the surprise packet of this tournament was Ibrahim Ogada-Osir (1744) who defeated the much higher rated Brian Jones, Mehmed Dizdarevic, Milenko Lojanica, and drew against Ian Wright and Denis Bourmistrov. He deservedly won the B-rating prize.

Due to a number of draws in the initial stages, the top finishers didn't play each other at the end. Solomon for instance didn't meet any of the three second prize winners. Probably also a reflection of the broad and strong field?

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the support of ChessWorld, and Gary Wastell.

Visit the Ballarat website at http://www.auschess.org.au/ballarat/bccindex.htm for more details.

- Bas Van Riel

Rogers on fire in Iceland: Australia's top player, GM Ian Rogers, is competing in the very strong Reykjavic Open. He began strongly but was beaten by Swedish GM Tiger Hillarp Persson in round 5.

Leading scores after 7 rounds: 5.5 Dreev, Aronian; 5.0 Timman, Bu, Korneev, Epishin, Hillarp Persson, Erenburg, Sutovsky, Markus; 4.5 Pogorelov, Krasenkow, Rogers, Atalik, Nataf, Romanishin, Miezis, Ehlvest, Zatonskih, Maze, Schmaltz.

This event is leading up to the Reykjavic Rapid, which will feature Kasparov, Karpov and Short - the top four players and best Icelander from the Open qualify to play in the Rapid.

Official Site | View games

Open season on GMs: Six foreign GMs - Shabalov, Ehlvest, Mikhalevski, Wojtkiewicz, Golod and Kosten - are likely entrants in the upcoming Australian Open at Mt Buller in Victoria. And there are active efforts to secure more in what is shaping up as a memorable event.

March 2004 Swiss Perfect files are now available on the ACF Ratings page at http://www.auschess.org.au/ratings/acfrate.htm.

Juniors

NECG Junior Chess Squad finalised: Three have been added to the squad - Rebecca Harris, Ruperto Lugo and Amy Evans - and five reserves named (Casey Hickman, Daniel Anderson, Benjamin Harris, Justin Chow and Andrew Brown).

The full squad is as follows:

Under 18s: Denis Bourmistrov Vic, Michael Wei ACT, Dusan Stojic Vic, Vincent Suttor NSW, Gareth Oliver ACT, Heather Huddleston NSW, Tristan Stevens SA, Rebecca Harris NSW.

Under 14s: Junta Ikeda ACT, Mouthun Ly Qld, Justin Huang NSW, James Obst SA, Ruperto Lugo Vic, Amy Evans Qld.

Under 12s: Angela Song NSW, Max Illingworth NSW, Zhigen Lin Vic, Adelaide Soltysik NSW.

Under 10s: Raymond Song NSW, James Morris Vic.

Reserves list: Casey Hickman Vic, Daniel Anderson Qld, Benjamin Harris NSW, Justin Chow ACT, Andrew Brown ACT.

Congratulations! The first squad session, to be held in Canberra immediately following the Doeberl Cup, is being organised at the moment. Coaches confirmed for the session are GM Ian Rogers, GM Darryl Johansen & IM Gary Lane. The kids should learn a lot from these players, and hopefully this will be the beginning of the improvement of Australian Junior chess on a worldwide scale!

NECG, the Network Economics Consulting Group, has generously agreed to sponsor the new squad, providing $7000 a year to fund coaching and training tournaments. NECG advises corporate and government clients on all economic aspects of regulation, competition policy, trade practices, intellectual property and related issues in many industries. Its clients includeTelstra, Visa, Qantas, Pacific National and CSL.

World Youth Championship - entries: Initial expressions of interest are sought for the World Youth Championship 2004, to be held in Heraklion, Crete, Greece in November. The event has 10 tournaments, Open and Girls sections in the following divisions: U10, U12, U14, U16, U18. Australia can send one selected player in each age division who receives free accommodation, and others may also go, subject to ACF approval, who need to meet their own costs. Formal applications will be called for when more details are known about the event. These applications should be in accordance with paragraph 8 of the ACF Selection Procedures By-law, which can be found at http://www.auschess.org.au/newcon/con7.htm

Please send expressions of interest to Kerry Stead via email kerrys@ihug.com.au

Kerry Stead
ACF Vice President

NSW news

City of Sydney Championship: After Round 6, the lead is shared by 16 year old Jason Hu, George Xie and David Dick on 5/6. Greg Canfell is outright 4th on 4.5. Xie and Dick drew in an exciting game in round 3. Hu meets Xie in round 7, and Canfell plays Dick.

Leading scores:
5.0 Dick, Xie, Hu
4.5 Canfell
4.0 Ilic, Chan, Charles, Ayvazyan, Fell, Huddleston, Capilitan, Schultz-Pedersen, Rachmadi, Lee

Results and other info available at http://members.ozemail.com.au/~nswca/cofsyd04.htm
- DOP Ralph Seberry

The North Sydney Leagues Club Championship, a FIDE-rated event with 77 players in 7 divisions, has begun. NSW Champion Ralph Seberry and Robert Goris are on 3/3.

The Sydney Western Suburbs Premiership inter-club competition has attracted 19 teams in 4 divisions.

- Peter Parr

Synergy Chess: A group of Queenslanders has developed a chess variant that they're commercialising. They write:

"Hello Chesslovers, isn't chess just marvellous? The strategy, the intellect. When you're playing a game of chess with a challenging player & you're feeling confident of a win (especially if you don't have the upper hand). Chess is definitely very exciting indeed.

Now chess has just got a whole lot more exciting, with a 144 square board (extended from 8sq x 8 to 12sq x 12). Now you get 32 pieces each.

With the original game of chess set up in the middle, another 16 pieces has been added to your side ( and theirs). Two complete sets of pieces each on a bigger board. The object of the game is to checkmate 2 Kings, one at a time or both in the one move (not easy). There are no special pieces and no special moves. Synergy Chess simply offers more chess. If you know how to play chess, you already know how to play Synergy Chess. There are only a few explanations necessary to sustain the excitement of playability as set out in the rulebook. The standard rules to chess & piece movement is not included in our rulebook. Synergy Chess is advanced chess.

There are many forms of chess variant games available. We know - we've looked for the best. After many years of research and development Synergy Chess has been played by all forms of chesslover: beginners, teens, adults, ranked and unranked players. When you play a few games you see new strategies open to you. Your normal game of chess will improve greatly. In the near future we will have a fully interactive website for you all to enjoy. We'll keep you up to date. More styles of Synergy Chess will be available soon (they are still being designed), so keep in touch. Synergy Chess is currently available for $265.

To existing Synergy Chess players - we thank you for your interest in our game and we hope Synergy Chess will continue to excite you for many years to come. We would love to hear your comments so please feel free to drop us a line.

To purchase a copy of Synergy Chess, email us. Alternatively you can ph: 07 4093 8147, or ph 07 4093 9310. Snail mail us at P.O. Box 195, Kuranda, QLD, Australia."

World News:

Amber blindfold/rapid: One of the year's most interesting tournaments - the 13th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament - starts March 20 in Monaco. the world's best rapid player (Anand) and the best blindfold (Kramnik) head a stellar line-up: Bareev, Gelfand, Ivanchuk, Leko, Morozevich, Shirov, Svidler, Topalov, Vallejo and Van Wely. Kasparov is missing as usual - he has not played this event for many years.

The event is sponsored by Dutch millionaire J.J. van Oosterom, and offers 193,250 euros in prizes. Each day features two rounds - one rapid, one blindfold. For the latter, the players will make a move on a blank computer screen.

Official Site

Games will be displayed on NetChessNews as they become available.

Karpov tourney: Also starting soon is the 5th Karpov Tournament in Poikovsky, Siberia. The category XVIII event features Grischuk, Sokolov, Malakhov, Bologan, Aleksandrov, Lautier, Rublevsky, Zvjagintsev, Onischuk and Zhang Zhong. Official Site

Reykjavic Open: See above.

Miskolc 2004: Features former candidate Lajos Portisch, Goloshchapov, Varga, Gyimesi and Nevednichy. Scores after 4 rounds: 3.0 Varga; 2.5 Balogh, Gyimesi, Prusikin; 2.0 Nevednichy, Portisch, Goloshchapov; 1.5 Antal; 1.0 Firman, Erdos Official site | View games

Petrosian Memorial: A tournament in honour of a former world champion, the late Tigran Petrosian, reknowned as one of the greatest defensive/positional players in history. Petrosian beat Botvinnik to gain the title in 1963 and lost it to Boris Spassky in 1969. Unsurprisingly, the tournament features several strong Armenians - such as Anastasian, Asrian and Sargissian, and even an IM called ... Tigran Petrosian! Boris Spassky is commenting on the games.

Scores after 7 rounds: 4.5 Asrian; 4.0 Petrosian, Sveshnikov; 3.5 Sargissian, Kobalia, Pashikian, Anastasian, Macieja; 3.0 Ghaem Maghami; 2.0 Pelletier

Site | View games

Closer to home, the 14th Asian Cities Teams Championship will be held in Tagaytay City, Philippines from March 20-28. Sydney and Auckland are among the 35 teams from 25 countries. Peter Parr

Games:

Click here to view these games in Palview

Hillarp Persson, T (2530)    --    Rogers, I (2582)
21st Open  (5)   Reykjavik ISL
2004.03.11     1-0     B06

1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Be3 c6 4.Qd2 d5 5.e5 f6!? 6.f4 Nh6

After e5, the knight has a nice post on f5 or g4

Swapping queens looks good for white, as he has g4-f5 coming, or possibly Nd4 first, with a strong kingside pawn storm.

Preparing g4 by guarding the Rh1, presumably

Restricting both of black's knights

White alternates between attacks on both sides of the board

( Not 27...Nxg5?? 28.Nxc6+! +- )

28.Nxf7 Rxf7 29.a6!

c5 30.axb7+ Rxb7 31.Rxb7 Kxb7 32.Nf3

The ending is good for white because black's Bg7 is very restricted and e6 is weak

Planning Nh4 and Nxg6

( 43...Ne7 holds g6, but white has 44.Rd1! and Rd6+ )

( 47.f5 Kxe7 48.f6+ wins two pieces. Nice play by white )

Bu Xiangzhi (2606)    --    Miezis, N (2525)
21st Open  (6)   Reykjavik ISL
2004.03.12     1-0     A04

Bu Xiangzhi was spoken of as the latest prodigy a few years back, but his results plateaud. Now he's back again, a little bit older and a lot wiser.

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.d4 cxd4 6.Qxd4 Nxc3 7.Qxc3 Nc6 8. e4 a6 9.Bc4 Bg4 10.O-O e6 11.Ne5!? Nxe5 12.Qxe5 Rc8 13.Bb3 Be2

In view of what happens, black might have done better to try ...Qd6 at some stage

( 14...Bc4 15.Bxc4 Rxc4 16.Bf4 leaves black behind in development )

15.Bxe6!! fxe6 16.Qh5+! g6

...Kd7 runs into Rd1+, while ...Ke7 loses to Bg5+

The point! If the rook moves to g8, Qxe6+ skewers it

If ...Rg8 18.Qxe6+

This lets white answer both ...Bd6 and ...Bc5 with Rf3+

25.Rxc4+! and 26.Rc1 is decisive

Timofeev, Ar (2578)    --    Meijers, V (2499)
20th Open  (9)   Cappelle la Grande FRA
2004.03.06     1-0     B42

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Qc7 6.O-O Nf6 7.Qe2 d6 8. c4 Nbd7 9.Nc3 b6 10.f4 Bb7 11.Kh1 g6?!

I don't know the theory, but this looks very suss to me

12.f5! gxf5 13.exf5 e5

14.Ne6!!

An elegant mini combination

White recovers his piece

15...Nc5 16.Rxf6 Nxd3 17.Qxd3

Bxg2+!?

Now black wins the exchange, but it doesn't help

White wastes no time. Now Qxa6 is possible. Qf3 also looks good

Otherwise c6

( 24...Ke7 25.Qd7+ Kf6 26.Qd8+ is obviously hopeless )

25.Bxc7 Qe7

26.Qxa6!

Another sacrifice

Forced

A wonderful attacking game

( 30.Qc6+ Kf8 31.e7+ Qxe7 32.Rxe7 Kxe7 33.Qxh6 +- )

Upcoming tournaments

The Italo-Australian Club 42nd Doeberl Cup A Class 3 ACF Grand Prix Event 9-12 April 2004. Location: The Italo-Australian Club, 78 Franklin Street, Forrest, Canberra, ACT. Total Prizes: $10,000. Premier Division (FIDE-rated; Rated over 1600 only): First $2200 Full details

University Open: 10th & 11th of July 4th Floor Union Building, Adelaide University $4000 Prizes, $1000 first A Category Three Grand Prix event Entry Fees: $40 Adult, $30 concession GM Ian Rogers is a confirmed entrant Details

World Youth Under-16 Chess Olympiad Calicut (Kozhikode), Kerala, India July 1-9 10 Round Swiss. 4-player teams 90 minutes/30 seconds increment Free board and lodging to a team of 4 players and the official, for nine days from 1st July to 9th July. For further details, please contact: P.T. Ummer Koya, Organising Secretary and Secretary General, AICF and Vice President FIDE, Chessindia Complex, Meenchanda, Post Nallalam, Calicut – 673 027, INDIA Phone : (91) 495 – 2420327, 2420727 Fax : (91) 495 – 2422033, 2421005 Email Website

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Wanted: Olympiad Appeal Co-ordinator: The Co-ordinator must fulfil or arrange to have fulfilled the ACF Olympiad By-Laws, specifically para 2. Resources will be allocated to assist the occupant. The ACF Treasurer will assist with accounting tasks if required. Persons interested should not hesitate to send applications to email ACF President George Howard or call me on 0414841575 for a confidential discussion.

Grand Prix 2003 Prizes: All Grand Prix 2003 prizewinners should email ACF President George Howard with their name and address so that he can send them their cheques.