Bids invited for Aust Open, Junior and School Teams championships: The ACF is urgently seeking fresh bids to host the Australian Open, Australian Junior and Australian Schools Teams championships - the deadline is 2pm on 11th July, in time for the next ACF Council meeting.

This request follows a fairly complicated series of events. Initially, the plan was to hold all three events at Mt Buller, organised by Chess Victoria and David Cordover. David Cordover had planned to conduct not just the chess events but some other "mind game" tournaments. A disagreement with the Mt Buller management over the costs for one venue created problems, however, and eventually led to the ACF reconsidering the matter and inviting other bids.

Recently, David Cordover has presented another plan involving holding the events at Melbourne schools; Sydney chess columnist and retailer Peter Parr has proposed holding the Open at the Bridge Club in Sydney; and the Mt Buller management has indicated that it is still very interested in hosting a combined event, perhaps involving another chess organiser. Mt Buller is offering a financial package - main details below.

The ACF Executive met a few days ago to consider the matter, and in particular a new offer from the Mt Buller management. Here's a statement from ACF President George Howard issued after the meeting:

Following the ACF Executive meeting, it was decided that under my authority as the ACF President we would call for fresh bids for all forthcoming events which were scheduled to be run at Mt Buller under the auspices of the Chess Victoria for the ACF - the main organiser for this event was David Cordover. This became necessary when it became obvious in the last few days an agreement could not be reached between the Mt Buller Chalet and the main organiser David Cordover on behalf of Chess Victoria. Before I could take this proposal to all possible Organisers the ACF Executive asked for a financial guarantee if successful from Accor, which was agreed to by Roman Solczaniuk (Events and Tournaments - Mt Buller).

On further investigation and extensive discussion between myself and Roman Solozaniuk it seems that these events proposed at Mt Buller have a proposed sponsorship - cash and in kind - of $136,000. As you can understand, this proposal needed every attempt to be saved. I will not release the full letter given to the ACF by Roman Solozaniuk, as I have taken no legal advice regarding its suitability for release, but I will mention the following financial breakdowns.

Free Venue (differences as to holding capacity and suitability)
$40,000 cash
$10,000 to the Organiser
4 free rooms at Chalet for 26 nights - value $13,000
Free use of Heli House for 26 nights (17 beds) - value $18,000
Other lodge accommodation at $25 a night/bed - 50% discount
Free use of photocopier and Internet facilities
Hotel Vouchers as prizes for any Accor Hotels in Australia
Printing of tournaments programs etc by Independent Distillers - value $45,000

The ACF does not have to guarantee the filling of any rooms as a condition of this sponsorship - but obviously the more rooms occupied the better.

This is a basic rundown of the important financials regarding sponsorship. My own opinion is that if monies etc can be guaranteed as above, then this option needs to be pursued most vigorously and given greatest importance.

The ACF through myself wishes to see possible submissions to run these events at Mt Buller - these submissions need to be sent to the ACF Secretary to reach him no later than 2pm on 11th July in time for the ACF Council Meeting on the evening of the 12th July. If you, as a chess organiser, wish to explore this possibility - please contact me on 0414 841 575 initially.

A possible organiser for a Mt Buller Open, Juniors or Schools need not use a State or Territory as a medium but can act directly with the ACF in bidding.

All other bids for these three Events must reach the ACF Secretary by 2pm on 11th July and must be made by a State or Territory which forms part of our Chess Federation.

I will send more information to you if / when an Organiser is found who wishes to run with the Mt Buller offer - but obviously this will happen close to the deadline as we can all understand certain things need to be in place if one is to take up the Mt Buller possibility.

David Cordover has kindly agreed to make available to a Mt Buller-ACF preferred bidder all preparatory work done to this point on the Mt Buller Chess Victoria bid. The reasons why the Mt Buller Events did not continue with David Cordover as the main organiser can be summed up as "interestingly complex negotiations - many of which one supposes are the normal aspects of commercial life" - any other explanation by myself would be mere speculation.

I am more interested in moving forward!!

- George Howard President ACF

World Youth Chess Olympiad 2004: The Australian team in this event in Calicut, India comprises Vincent Suttor (2022), Dusan Stojic (2038), James Cronan (2095) and Ruperto Lugo. Scores after 5 rounds:

Rank Team           1.Rd.   2.Rd.   3.Rd.   4.Rd.  5.Rd. Pts. MP 
   1 China        15 w 3   7 b 3½  4 b 3½  5 w 3     2 w  13   8 
   2 Hungary      12 b 4   8 w 3   5 b 2  10 w 4     1 b  13   7 
   3 Iran         14 b 3   4 w 0  17 b 4  12 w 4     5 b  11   6 
   4 Kazakhstan   16 w 3   3 b 4   1 w ½  11 b 3     6 w  10½  6 
   5 Uzbekistan   18 w 4   6 b 3½  2 w 2   1 b 1     3 w  10½  5 
   6 India B      17 b 4   5 w ½   7 b 2  16 w 4     4 b  10½  5 
   7 India A       9 b 3½  1 w ½   6 w 2  15 b 4     8 w  10   5 
   8 India D      20 w 4   2 b 1  10 b ½  14 w 3½    7 b   9   4 
   9 India E       7 w ½  16 b ½  20 w 4  19 b 4    10 w   9   4 
  10 India C      13 w 2½ 11 b 2½  8 w 3½  2 b 0     9 b   8½  6 
  11 Turkey       19 b 3  10 w 1½ 16 b 2½  4 w 1    12 b   8   4 
  12 Malaysia      2 w 0  20 b 3½ 13 w 3½  3 b 0    11 w   7   4 
  13 Sri Lanka C  10 b 1½ 14 w 1½ 12 b ½  18 b 3    15 w   6½  2 
  14 Sri Lanka B   3 w 1  13 b 2½ 15 w 2   8 b ½    16 w   6   3 
  15 Australia     1 b 1  19 w 3  14 b 2   7 w 0    13 b   6   3 
  16 Sri Lanka A   4 b 1   9 w 3½ 11 w 1½  6 b 0    14 b   6   2 
  17 SOUTH Africa  6 w 0  18 b 2½  3 w 0  20 b 3    19 w   5½  4 
  18 India F       5 b 0  17 w 1½ 19 b 2  13 w 1    20 b   4½  1 
  19 Sri Lanka D  11 w 1  15 b 1  18 w 2   9 w 0    17 b   4   1 
  20 Sri Lanka E   8 b 0  12 w ½   9 b 0  17 w 1    18 w   1½  0

Rogers 7/7 in Caloundra Open - Report by DOP Charles Zworestine: It was nice, at the tail end of my Queensland holiday, to see so many juniors playing… Nearly half (46) out of a field of 94 players were under the age of 18. Of course, this means more fun: the juniors always seem to enjoy their chess more! It also meant a very happy set of organisers, as the overall numbers were about a dozen more than last year. Who knows - perhaps next year we might even crack 100!

Top seeded GM Ian Rogers was always going to find IMs Smerdon and Solomon his main rivals - but in such a large field, it took a while for them to get to him! Absolutely no upsets in Round 1, so I can go straight to Round 2 - where suddenly there were upsets galore! Fourth seed Andrew Meldrum constructed a fortress and drew in a time scramble (time controls were 60 minutes, plus ten seconds per move at the end: Bronstein) against visiting Victorian Stephen Taylor - with bishop, knight and six pawns against queen and five pawns! Rob Hochstadt's knight and outside passed pawn upset seventh seed Nik Stawski's bishop, to share this round's best upset prize with Tam Goh (who beat Melba Horwood). Other upset wins were scored by Doug Powell over Toshi Kimura, and Andrew Barker against George Flitcroft-Smith; and upset draws were between Alex Jule and newly crowned Queensland Junior Champion Phachara Wongwichit, and Derek Jeffries and Russell Murray.

No special treatment in Round 3, as Ian Rogers defeated wife Cathy. Stephen Solomon won a knight and pawn ending against John Alkin, Smurf (David Smerdon) won quickly, but Terry Krause held John Myers to a draw. Highlights of this round were Sebastian Jule's upset prize win over David Waterhouse and Doug Powell's upset rook and pawn endgame win over Jack Pintarich. Lowlight was my first ever mobile phone forfeiture. Potential offenders take note!

Fatigue seemed to set in during Round 4 - four games does make it a long day, after all - but the top players handled it better! Rogers ground down Casey Barnard in the last game to finish, while Smurf seemed to be worse in his ending against Ben Lazarus, but saw more and ended up winning it. Solo and Jacob Edwards won to join them on 4/4, while Justin Pengelley got to 3½ after his win over local Terry Krause. Alex Jule joined him there by winning the best upset prize for her win over John Myers (nearly a 500 point rating gap there!). Phachara Wongwichit scored a solid upset draw with Andrew Meldrum to join a heap of players on 3/4.

So Smurf was paired with Rogers in the morning round again, just as in the Gold Coast Open! Sadly for David, the result was identical: a bad French as Black resulted in an inferior ending, which Ian won with GM technique. Solo took a while but ground down Edwards, while Justin Pengelley beat Alex Jule in a queen and rook ending to get to 4½. Most other Round 5 results went according to seeding. Best upset prize was shared by Anthony Solomon (for his win over Stan Long Hong) and Elliot Richards (who beat Anthony's brother Michael!).

Stephen Solomon seemed to have a good game against Ian Rogers in Round 6, after the latter sacrificed the exchange; but Ian had good activity for it, won it back and ended up winning (see game below). Many upsets at the top this round, as local Otto Mehltreter won the upset prize for his win over Andrew Meldrum, and Toshi Kimura beat Nik Stawski. Ben Lazarus drew an interesting ending with Tony Weller after his king, two rooks and pawns could not escape the enemy queen's checks. Smurf beat Justin Pengelley and Phachara Wongwichit defeated Cathy Rogers to join a group of 6 players on 5/6 vying for second place. (The others were Solo, Otto, Toshi and Jacob Edwards).

Solomon, S (2466) - Rogers, I (2646) [B33] 2004 Caloundra Open (6), Board 1 04/07/2004
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 f5 11.Bd3 Be6 12.Qh5 Rg8 13.f4 Rxg2 14.Ne3 Qa5+ 15.Kf1 Rg7 16.exf5 exf4 17.Ng4

Jacob Edwards played an excellent last round game against Ian Rogers, who admitted that their minor piece ending should have been drawn; but the GM prevailed eventually in Jacob's time pressure. Phachara Wongwichit drew with Stephen Solomon in a rook and pawn ending a pawn up which he maybe could have won. Smurf won his last round game to share second with Toshi Kimura, who upset Justin Pengelley. Casey Barnard also won to get to 5½ and share the junior prize with Phachara, while Alex Jule and Cathy Rogers got to 4½ to share the prize for best female. Significant final round upsets were scored by Ric Kaspar over Nik Stawski, Michael Finch over Mike Canfell, Alex Jule over Terry Krause and Spencer Richards' upset prize win over John Potts.

Prizes: 1st Ian Rogers 7/7; 2nd = Toshi Kimura, David Smerdon 6; = Best Junior Casey Barnard, Phachara Wongwichit 5½; 1st = Rating Group A and Rating Group B (and pooling Best Veteran Over 60 and Best Local) Mike Finch, Ric Kaspar, Ben Lazarus, Otto Mehltreter, Jack Pintarich 5; = Best Female Alex Jule, Cathy Rogers 4½; 1st = Rating Group C Regina Grenfell, Doug Powell, Matthew Smith 4; 1st = Rating Group D Shayne Hunter, Nigel Thomas 4; 1st Rating Group E Daniel Barrett 4; Best Veteran Over 70 Stan Long Hong 4; Best Cadet (Under 12) Jayden Fisher, Luthien Russell 3½; = Best Unrated Beng Goh, Corey White 3½; Best Suncoast Secondary Student 1st Marcus Bleney 4, 2nd Tam Goh 3; Best Suncoast Primary Student 1st Curtis Teed 3, 2nd Joel Lobwein 2½.

Ratings: FIDE has released its July ratings list. The main news was that Morozevich, who calls himself an "amateur", is now in fourth spot:

G.Kasparov (Russia) 2817
V.Anand (India) 2782
V.Kramnik (Russia) 2770
A.Morozevich (Russia) 2743
P.Leko (Hungary) 2741
M.Adams (England) 2738
V.Topalov (Bulgaria) 2737
J.Polgar (Hungary) 2728
P.Svidler (Russia) 2727
A.Shirov (Spain) 2725

Leading Australians:
I.Rogers GM 2588,
D.Johansen GM 2483,
G.Lane IM 2442,
S.Solomon IM 2432,
T.Tao 2421,
J.Wallace IM 2410,
Z.Zhao IM 2410,
M.Gluzman IM 2403,
D.Smerdon IM 2403,
M.Chapman IM 2388,
A.Wohl IM 2379,
L.Sandler IM 2378.

Women:
I.Berezina IM 2281,
A.Caoili WIM 2250,
A.Sorokina WIM 2188,
N.Phan-Koshnitsky WIM 2183,
B.Dekic WIM 2134

The Tweed Open has been cancelled.

Olympiad captaincies: Expressions of interest are now open for the following positions:

* Non-playing Captain, Australian Open Team
* Non-playing Captain, Australian Women's Team

for the 36th Chess Olympiads to be held in Calvia, Majorca, Spain from October 14th-31st 2004. (Event website: http://www.36chessolympiad.com/uk/index.php).

Applications will remain open until Friday, 16 July to give unsuccessful applicants for playing positions on the two teams some time to apply should they wish to do so.

Applicants may submit any supporting comments they wish to be passed on to either the players or the members of ACF Council. The positions are filled by Council after taking into account the players' stated preferences. Applicants are also free to contact the players and/or the Council regarding their applications as and whenever they wish. For more detail see item 13 of the ACF Selections procedures by-law at http://www.auschess.org.au/constitution/con7.htm

Expressions of interest can be sent by email to k_bonham@tassie.net.au, or call 0421 428 775 if it is necessary to arrange another method, or if an email application has not been acknowledged within three days.

- Kevin Bonham ACF Selections Co-Ordinaror (Senior Events)

Support the Team! All Aussie chess lovers are asked to donate to the 2004 Olympiad Appeal. The monies raised go to providing funds to send the Women’s and Open team to Spain to play in the Olympiad 2004. The Olympiad starts in October but if you are able to donate money please don’t leave it to the last minute! It is essential that our top Australian Players can concentrate on their chess and not financial hassles - so please donate what you can. Cheques/money orders should be made out to "Australian Chess Federation" and sent to the
ACF Treasurer Norm Greenwood
P.O. Box 1840
Westfield Hornsby Post Office 1635

All donations will be publicly acknowledged unless you wish otherwise. I am trying to arrange corporate and government sponsorship but your donations would be both much appreciated and most welcome. Any corporations or businesses wishing to be sponsors please call me on 0414 841575 and I can explain what we can do for you in consideration of Corporate Sponsorships. Could all States and Territories please launch their own drives for funding to assist in this most deserving of causes.

Lets support the teams!

George Howard
President ACF

Applications invited: The World Youth Chess Championships to be held in Iraklion, Crete, in November. Apart from the 10 selected children the opportunity exists for other Australian Juniors to play in the tournament (all entries have to be ratified by the Australian Chess Federation). It is a fantastic opportunity to mix with 1000 children from other countries, play 11 really strong games and get daily coaching and analysis. Can any interested parents please contact Jenni Oliver at jenni@stratagemcc.com.au for more information. The team has to be finalised and all coaching arrangements in place by early August 2004.

Entries are also being invited for the prestigious 2004 Australian Masters. Email Nick Speck at masters@swiftdsl.com.au if you're interested in playing.

Dates & Times: Tuesday 3rd August to Saturday 14th August 2004
Rounds start at 3pm
Format: 12 player round robin and we are aiming for a category 4 event
Games will be FIDE rated, anticipating a category 4 event
Time Control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds increment for the entire game
Venue: Melbourne Chess Club 66 Leicester St. Fitzroy
Prizes: 1st Place $1000; 2nd Place $750; 3rd Place $500.
Entry Fees: Entry fees are only applicable for non-IM players: 2350-2399 $100; 2250-2349 $150; 2150-2249 $250. Appearance Fees: International Masters $200.

Letters: Dear ACF members, Now that the trip to the snowfields in January is off the agenda,* I feel you should consider the wishes of the representatives at the Perth interschool finals about the timing, format and location of the next interschool finals. There was a large meeting of teachers, coaches and parents. There was agreement that the competition worked better early in December, on the eastern states and run at a school with parents helping with organisation. There was an offer from Sydney Grammar (?) which was much more popular than the snowfields. It was also felt that deciding the time and date early made it much easier to field a team. I could go into a lot more detail and bore you to death but there was an ACF committee member present and I imagine you already get the idea. - Peter Carey

Actually, Mt Buller is definitely not off the agenda - as explained above. Also, rest assured that the ACF has extensively debated the optimum timing and location of the schools championship in recent weeks. - Ed

World News:

FIDE World Championship: 24-year-old Uzbekistan player Rustam Kasimdzhanov will play England's Michael Adams for the FIDE World Championship crown. The match will be over six games. Kasimdzhanov scored an upset win over the highly-fancied Bulgarian Veselin Topalov in the semi-finals, drawing the four standard games but winning the rapid play-off 2-0. Meanwhile, Adams nursed an extra pawn to victory in game one of his semi against Radjabov, and then drew the other games to earn his berth in the final.

FIDE Site | View games Round 5 | Round 3-4 | Rounds 1-2

Semi-Finals
1 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam (UZB 2652) - Topalov, Veselin (BUL 2737) 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 playoff: 1-0 1-0
2 Radjabov, Teimour (AZE 2670) - Adams, Michael (ENG 2731) 0-1 1/2 1/2 1/2

Sokolov 4.5/5 in Dutch Championship: Scores after 5 rounds: Sokolov 4.5; Van Wely 3.5; Van der Wiel, L'Ami 3.0; Tiviakov, Van den Doel, Stellwagen 2.5; Bosboom 1.5; Nijboer, Visser 1.0. Site | View games

World Open: GMs Wojtkiewicz, Nakamura, Ivanov, Fridman and IM Varuzhan Akobian lead this stroing US event with 4.5/5. Site | View games

World news including games updated daily at NetChessNews.

Games:

Topalov, V (2737)    --    Kasimdzhanov, R (2652)
FIDE WCh KO  (6.5)   Tripoli LBA
2004.07.05     0-1     E17

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.Nc3 O-O 7.d5

Gaining space

If black grabs the pawn with ...exd5 white plays Nd4 and it becomes hard to develop naturally

Protecting the vulnerable Bb7

White gives up a pawn for a big centre

12...Nxc3 13.Qc2 Na4 14.e4 d6 15.Nd4 Nc5 16.Bb2 Qd7 17.Bh3 Rfe8 18.a4 a5 19.Rfe1 Qe7 20.e5 dxe5 21.Rxe5 Ncd7 22.Re3 Qc5!?

23.Rae1

( 23.dxe6 Ne5!? 24.exf7+ Kxf7 25.Rf1 Nxc4 looks good for black )

23...e5 24.Nb3 Qd6 25.Bxd7 Nxd7 26.f4 f6 27.Nd2 Qf8 28.fxe5 Nxe5 29.Bxe5 Rxe5 30.Rxe5 fxe5 31.Rxe5 Qc5+ 32.Kg2 Rf8

Now black has chances thanks to the open f-file

( 37.Ng6 Qa2+ 38.Kh1 Qa1+ 39.Kg2 looks drawish 39...Qa2+ )

Black has seized the initiative

The combination of the e-file pin, kingside attack and a runaway a-pawn is hard to withstand

( 47...Rxe1?? 48.Nf6+! )

Kasimdzhanov, R (2652)    --    Topalov, V (2737)
FIDE WCh KO  (6.6)   Tripoli LBA
2004.07.05     1-0     B40

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.b3!?

A style of play favoured by Alekhine.

Abandoning earlier plans to put the bishop on b2

7...Qf6 8.c3 Nc6 9.Bc2 Nxd4 10.cxd4 Bb4+ 11.Kf1

Although white can't castle, the rook's easy to activate and he has a good centre

Threatening problems with Bg5

White can't take on g7 because of ...Qxc2 and a back-rank check

16...Nf6 17.Rh3 O-O 18.e5! Nd5 19.Qg4 g6 20.h5 f5

21.Bxf5!!

No mucking around!

The point is that if 22.Qxf4 then 22...Rxf5 is with tempo ... and ...Bxg2+ is also threatened

( 21...Rxf5 22.hxg6! Rf4 23.gxh7+ Kf7 24.e6+ dxe6 25.Qh5+ Kf8 26.h8=Q# )

( 22...Nxh5?? 23.Qxh5 )

Desperately tryingto keep the g-file shut

( 26.Kg1?? Ne2+!! )

26...h4 27.g7!! Rc8

28.Qe4!

White gives back the exchange to retain the initiative

28...hxg3 29.Qxf4 Qc6 30.Qxg3 Qh6 31.Qh3 Qg6 32.Qxd7 Rxc3!? 33. Qd5+ Kxg7 34.Bxc3 Qc2 35.Qd2 Qh7 36.e6+ Kg8 37.Qe3 Qh1+ 38.Kd2 Qh4 39.Qg3+ Bg5+ 40.Kd1 Qh5+ 41.f3 Qg6?? 42.Qb8+

Grand Prix tournaments:

These details are provisional. For up-to-date details of these events, please visit the Grand Prix website

Fairfield Winter Cup NSW; July 10-11; Fairfield; Rolando Atenzia
University Open SA; 3; July 10-11; Adelaide University; Andrew Saint 08-83323752 Website Email
Queensland Open QLD; 2; July 17-18; Gardiner Chess Centre; Graeme Gardiner 07 5522 7221 Email
ANU Open ACT; 3; July 24-25; Canberra; Shun Ikeda 02-61254030; Website; Email
Mackay Open Qld; 1; July 31-August 1; Harrup Park Cricket Club; Stan Long Hong 07 4953 573 Noel Olsen
Coal City Open NSW; 3; Aug 7-8; Newcastle; George Lithgow 02-4943-3862
August Weekender NSW; July 31-August 1; Rose Bay; Website
Gold Coast Classic QLD; 3; September 18-19; Somerset College; Graeme Gardiner 07-5522-7221 Email
Ryde Eastwood Open NSW; 3; October 2-4; Ryde Eastwood; Website
Redcliffe Challenge QLD; October 2-3; Rothwell Grace Lutheran College? Website
Laurieton Open NSW; 1; October 30-31; Laurieton; Endel Lane 02-6559-9060
Coffs Harbour Inaugural Open NSW; 2; November 13-14; Coffs Harbour Catholic Club; Bill Ross 02-6651-8855 Email
November Weekender NSW; November 20-21; North Sydney Leagues Club; Website
Fairfield Summer Cup NSW; 3; December 10-11; Fairfield; Rolando Atenzia

Other tournaments

Full details - see upcoming tournaments on the website.

Hakoah Chess Club Championships July 26-September 20; 61 Hall Street Bondi; Email. Vladimir Feldman 0414 798503Website
North Queensland Open Qld; August 7-8; Townsville; Darren Napier 0412 606213 Website
ASEAN Masters Chess Congress: Several tournaments. Thomas Hoe Tel : (65) 96934049 Fax : (65) 63581483 Email
World Youth Under-16 Chess Olympiad, India. July 1-9. 10 Round Swiss. 4-player teams. Contact: P.T. Ummer Koya, Phone : (91) 495 – 2420327, 2420727 Fax : (91) 495 – 2422033, 2421005. Email Website
NZ North Island chess championship & rapid: July 12-17. Auckland. Contact: Bob Smith.
Festival Schneider Bohemia - Pilsen 2004; August 14-22; Czech Republic; website.
Cesenatico (Italy) Open International September 4-12; Fax +3954786331 Phone +39335.6615956. Website Email
Open Dutch Youth Chess Championships - "Stork": August 9-14; Hengelo, the Netherlands. Website. Participants. Email.

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