1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nxc6

Dubious to modern eyes, since it strengthens black's centre. But everything's easy with hindsight.

With the double-threat of ...a4 winning the bishop, and ...Ba6 winning the exchange.

This gives black a powerful passed pawn in the centre. 14.a4 may be better.

( Or 14.c3 Ba6 )

Breaking the pin.

Black prepares for ...f5 and ...e4. the bishop would be in the way of the rook on e7.

( If 20...Bxc5?? 21.Nxc5 Qxc5 then 22.Bxh7+!! Kxh7 23.Rxc5 )

21.Qc4+ Kh8 22.Ba4

Qh6! 23.Bxe8 fxe4! 24.c6! exf3! 25.Rc2

( 25.cxb7 f2+ ( 25...Qe3+! 26.Kh1 fxg2+ 27.Kxg2 Rf2+ 28.Kg1 Re2+ 29.Kh1 Qf3+ 30.Kg1 Qg2# ) 26.Kh1 Rxe8 27.Qc8 Qg6 28.Qxe8+ Qxe8 29.Rc8 +- )

The pawn is now well stopped.

32.Qc4 Qe1! 33.Rc1 d2! 34.Qc5 Rg8 35.Rd1 e3! 36.Qc3 Qxd1!! 37.Rxd1 e2

A remarkable demonstration of the power of passed pawns.

( 37...e2 38.Qxd2 f1=Q+ 39.Rxf1 exf1=Q# )

The ACF presents:
The Mt Buller Australian Open Chess Championships
Hospitality Textiles Australian Schools Chess Championships
Hospitality Textiles Australian Junior Chess Championships

Where: Mt Buller, Victoria
Details: www.mtbullerchess.com (site will be up in 3-4 weeks)
General enquires: George Howard 0414 841575; georgeshoward@hotmail.com

The Mt Buller Australian Open Chess Championships
Dates: Tuesday December 28th 2004 to Sunday January 9th 2005
Details: 11 round Swiss draw, 1 round per day, 90 min/60s
Prizes: $18,500 in prizes, 1st-10th place, + rating prizes. Top prize is $4500!
Prices: $90 concession, $130 adult (early bird fees) GM, WGM, IM, WIM free
Contact: Garvin Gray, ph 0422993062 garvingray@mtbullerchess.com

The Mt Buller Australian Minor Chess Championships
Full details are being finalised. Please check the website in 3-4 weeks.

Hospitality Textiles Australian Junior Chess Championships
dates: Tuesday January 11th to Sunday January 23rd 2005
prices: $55 all juniors (early fee); GM, WGM, IM, WIM all free
prizes: $5,800 total; 1st-5th, girls and age prizes.
contact: Kerry Stead, kerrys@mtbullerchess.com

Hospitality Textiles Australian Schools Chess Championships
Dates: December 4th and 5th
Contact: Jenni Oliver jenni@stratagemcc.com.au 02 6253 2848

Accomodation: Mercure Grand Chalet, 4.5 Star, Mt Buller, Summit Road.
Adult: $120 twin share per night including full buffet breakfast
$50 for an additional adult
Junior: $90 for three children including a continental breakfast
$20 for an additional child
All accommodation queries and bookings must be directed to:
Ms Natasha Solczanuik Ph: (03) 5777 6566

It is the responsibility of entrants to arrange accommodation. The above Chalet accommodation deal, secured at discounted rates, is highly recommended by the organisers.

Support the Team! All Aussie chess lovers are asked to donate to the 2004 Olympiad Appeal - don't leave it to the last minute! Cheques/money orders should be made out to "Australian Chess Federation" and sent to:
ACF Treasurer Norm Greenwood
P.O. Box 1840
Westfield Hornsby Post Office 1635

Corporations or business sponsors please call George Howard on 0414 841575

George Howard
President ACF

The Australian Clubs Teams Championships is fast approaching, so why not get a team together? This novel event will be held at the Oasis Resort in Caloundra, Sunshine Coast from Monday to Friday 27 Sept to 1 Oct. There's very good, very cheap accommodation available and cheap arifares too. The entry fee is $400 per team of 8 (min 3 females). Perhaps a good opportunity for uni students? Contact Graeme Gardiner on 07 5522 7221 ggardiner@gardinerchess.com

ANU Open: Ian Rogers Doesn't Win!
by DOP Charles Zworestine

Yes, it is certainly newsworthy when Ian Rogers does not win an event in Australia in which he competes! After all, he loses so few games in Australia… I can only think of three this year. The first was in Adelaide in the Australian Championships to Mark Chapman (his loss to Gary Lane in the same event was on the 31st December last year). There followed (and this is over a several month period) two shock losses in Canberra: to Dragicevic in Round 1 of this year's Doeberl Cup, and… I'll keep you in suspense about the other. Canberra has certainly not been a happy hunting ground for Ian this year…

To his credit though, he keeps coming back, and I'm sure his presence played a large part in making this year's ANU Open a success once again. A turnout of 85 players (down only 2 on last year) was a tribute to the great organisation once again by the Canberra team, headed by Shun Ikeda. Great advance publicity again saw players from far and wide: not just NSW and the ACT, but also Queensland, Victoria and Germany! Perhaps not quite as strong as last year (only 6 players over 2000, as opposed to 13 last year); but still very competitive, especially at the relatively fast time controls of 1 hour each, plus 10 seconds per move from the start. Just how competitive we will soon see…

A new venue at the Canberra School of Arts saw a few initial teething problems, with some players having some trouble finding the place! When we eventually got underway about half an hour late, Round 1 was relatively uneventful by Canberra standards - at least in terms of upset wins. Upset draws were another issue altogether! There were more of these than I could count, mostly by underrated ACT juniors. But the top ten seeds all won fairly easily…

Round 2 saw the top seeds win fairly comfortably again, except for fifth seed Ingela Eriksson who was held to a draw by promising ACT junior Jeremy Neeman. A bad opening forced Ingela to bail out into a drawn opposite coloured bishop endgame… More ACT juniors wreaked havoc this round, not only with draws but also a win by Justin Chow over Cathy Rogers, who "unprotected" a critical pawn

A much harder fight for Ian Rogers in Round 3, but in the end he got too many pawns for Joel Harp's extra piece. Easier wins for the other top seeds, except for Lee Jones (who lost to Brian Fitzpatrick) and Kerry Stead (who drew a locked position against Junta Ikeda). The leading players were all happy to thus get to Round 4 and the end of a long day: four games in a day is very tiring. Only one more and the marathon day would be over. What a shock they were in for.

Surely Grandmasters are immune to such mundane things as fatigue? Apparently not, as the first stunning upset in Round 4 saw Ian Rogers being slightly careless and making the wrong king move (h8 instead of g8) in a Dragon against visiting German Oliver Koeller. This turned Oliver's attack along the open h-file into a winning one: the best Ian could do was bail out into an ending a rook down! Only his third loss in Australia for 2004 (see game below)… But he was not alone, as George Xie also made one careless move in a major piece and opposite coloured bishop position against Michael Wei, resulting in mate or a fatal loss of material. The only one not to be upset was second seed Igor (Iggy) Bjelobrk, who beat Brian Fitzpatrick. This left 3 leaders on 4/4 at the end of Day 1: Iggy, Michael and Oliver.

Koeller, O (2225)    --    Rogers, I (2646)
ANU Open  (4)   Canberra
2004.07.27     1-0     B77

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 O-O 8.Bb3 d6 9.f3 Bd7 10.Qd2 Na5 11.h4 Rb8 12.h5 Nxh5 13.g4 Nf6 14.Bh6 Nxb3 15.axb3 e6 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.Qh6+ Kh8

Perhaps expecting merely 18.g5 Nh5, but white has another idea

Looks like the best of a bad lot

( 18...dxe5 19.Ne4!! is the killer, threatening Nxf6 and Qxh7 mate 19...Nh5 20.Ng5 +- )

( 23.Nxg8 should win easily enough )

( 23...Rbd8 24.Nf6! )

More shocks in Round 5, as Gareth Oliver played a sensational positional game against Ian Rogers to come within a whisker of causing Ian to lose two games in a row in Australia for the first time in living memory! In the end he had to settle for a draw: despite forcing the sacrifice of a piece for two pawns, he had too few pawns and too little time left to win. Still, a great result for Gareth… Kerry Stead had the reverse problem of too many pawns, thus leaving his king no entry point in what he had judged to be a won king and pawn ending a pawn up against Michael Wei (it was drawn). Only Iggy seemed to be preserving sanity, as Oliver's attack missed against him to leave him in the sole lead on 5/5.

He maintained this in Round 6 by beating Michael - but only after being very lucky! Knight and one pawn against knight and two pawns (all on the same side of the board) should have been drawn, except that Michael somehow managed to get his knight trapped… Thus Iggy was guaranteed at least equal first; but George could still catch him after his two connected passed pawns proved too strong for Gareth Oliver. Junta Ikeda forced a perpetual check against Oliver Koeller. In another sensation, Angela Song got to 5/6 by beating Kerry Stead in a marathon game after Kerry (unwilling to draw) followed up a piece sacrifice inaccurately.

So to Round 7, and George (who had to win) handled the pressure better than Iggy, winning pawns and eventually the game. Ian Rogers (fighting his way back up) ground down Angela, while Oliver joined him in third after beating Brian Fitzpatrick. Ingela was a bit lucky to join the traffic jam for third after Tor Lattimore, a pawn up in an ending, walked into a knight fork, blundered an exchange and eventually lost. Also in the traffic jam were Michael Wei (who beat Michael Yu in a miniature) and Junta (who upset Lee Jones). Kerry Stead won a very tricky ending against little Raymond Song to put him out of the prizes.

Prize Winners: 1st = George Xie, Igor Bjelobrk 6/7; 3rd = Ingela Eriksson, Junta Ikeda (1st = Under 2000), Oliver Koeller, Ian Rogers, Michael Wei (1st = Under 2000) 5½; Equal Best Junior Gareth Oliver, Angela Song 5; Best ANU Player Brian Fitzpatrick 4½; 1st = Under 1600 Khoi Hoang, Robert Hvistendahl, Stephen Taylor, Pablo Williams, Sunny Yoon 4; 1st = Under 1200 Michael Reading, Yuan Yi 3½; 1st Under 800 Jake Henderson 3.

No Name                    Feder Loc  Total  1    2    3    4    5    6    7  

1  Bjelobrk, Igor          VIC   2393 6     42:W 18:W 26:W 12:W  4:W  3:W  2:L
2  Xie, George             NSW   2319 6     35:W 20:W 13:W  3:L 16:W  9:W  1:W
3  Wei, Michael            ACT   1953 5.5   76:W 30:W 15:W  2:W  8:D  1:L 13:W
4  Koeller, Oliver         OS    2225 5.5   49:W 27:W 25:W  5:W  1:L  6:D 12:W
5  Rogers, Ian             NSW   2646 5.5   34:W 22:W 17:W  4:L  9:D 18:W 10:W
6  Ikeda, Junta            ACT   1819 5.5   71:W 40:W  8:D  7:D 25:W  4:D 14:W
7  Eriksson, Ingela        NSW   2106 5.5   60:W 19:D 23:W  6:D 20:W 13:D 15:W
8  Stead, Kerry            NSW   1977 5     46:W 29:W  6:D 28:W  3:D 10:L 25:W
9  Oliver, Gareth          ACT   1911 5     28:D 53:W 36:W 21:W  5:D  2:L 27:W
10 Song, Angela            NSW   1673 5     64:W 14:L 45:W 17:W 21:W  8:W  5:L
11 Rout, Ian C             ACT   1885 5     31:W 38:D 37:D 30:W 18:D 12:D 26:W
12 Fitzpatrick, Brian      ACT   1880 4.5   54:W 43:W 14:W  1:L 19:W 11:D  4:L
13 Yu, Michael             NSW   1867 4.5   59:W 57:W  2:L 37:W 27:W  7:D  3:L
14 Jones, Lee R            NSW   2035 4.5   55:W 10:W 12:L 44:W 15:D 22:W  6:L
15 Lattimore, Tor          ACT   1803 4.5   58:W 39:W  3:L 34:W 14:D 36:W  7:L
16 Kevork, Chris           NSW   1825 4.5   82:W 36:D 19:D 33:W  2:L 44:W 17:D
17 Harp, Joel              NSW   1906 4.5   50:W 33:W  5:L 10:L 34:W 39:W 16:D
18 Ali, Mosaddeque         ACT   1746 4.5   62:W  1:L 46:W 52:W 11:D  5:L 39:W
19 Neeman, Jeremy          ACT   1710 4.5   63:W  7:D 16:D 26:W 12:L 31:D 47:W
20 Bartlett, Stephen C     ACT   1766 4.5   70:W  2:L 86:W 31:W  7:L 38:D 42:W
21 Retallick, Steven       NSW   1916 4.5   45:W 37:D 24:W  9:L 10:L 67:W 41:W
22 Grcic, Milan            ACT   1798 4.5   67:W  5:L 38:W 42:D 40:W 14:L 37:W
23 Szuveges, Narelle S     VIC   1787 4.5    0:D 47:W  7:L 40:D 35:W 37:D 38:W
24 Mendes da Costa, Alex   NSW   1782 4.5   53:D 75:W 21:L 54:L 51:W 45:W 36:W
25 Song, Raymond           NSW   1903 4     68:W 32:W  4:L 41:W  6:L 43:W  8:L
26 Bliznyuk, Andrey        ACT   1928 4     81:W 41:W  1:L 19:L 54:W 32:W 11:L
27 Kordahi, Nicholas       NSW   1725 4     51:W  4:L 81:W 71:W 13:L 48:W  9:L
28 Williams, Pablo         ACT   1459 4      9:D 56:W 66:W  8:L 38:D 41:D 30:D
29 Hummel, Mark            ACT   1667 4     72:W  8:L 55:W  0:D 39:L 54:W 31:D
30 Oliver, Shannon         ACT   1657 4     77:W  3:L 82:W 11:L 46:D 53:W 28:D
31 Yoon, Sunny             ACT   1370 4     11:L 69:W 32:W 20:L 33:W 19:D 29:D
32 Rosario, Amiel          NSW   1657 4     65:W 25:L 31:L 50:W 55:W 26:L 40:W
33 Hoang, Khoi             ACT   1587 4     78:W 17:L 58:W 16:L 31:L 59:W 55:W
34 Hvistendahl, Robert     QLD   1556 4      5:L 70:W 57:W 15:L 17:L 71:W 52:W
35 Taylor, Stephen         VIC   1515 4      2:L 63:W 71:L 82:W 23:L 57:W 58:W
36 Keuning, Anthony V      NSW   1610 3.5   85:W 16:D  9:L 59:W 42:W 15:L 24:L
37 Tran, Christopher       ACT   1625 3.5   69:W 21:D 11:D 13:L 71:W 23:D 22:L
38 Guo-Yuthok, Sherab      ACT   1560 3.5   80:W 11:D 22:L 51:W 28:D 20:D 23:L
39 Maguire, Jesse          ACT   1560 3.5   79:W 15:L 59:D 66:W 29:W 17:L 18:L
40 Schroedl, Blake         ACT        3.5   48:W  6:L 60:W 23:D 22:L 46:W 32:L
41 Ramakrishna, Gogulapati ACT   1659 3.5   83:W 26:L 50:W 25:L 49:W 28:D 21:L
42 Dick, Graham            NSW   1537 3.5    1:L 73:W 74:W 22:D 36:L 66:W 20:L
43 Forace, Lee             ACT   1643 3.5   84:W 12:L  0:D  0:D 76:W 25:L 49:D
44 Egan, Bill              ACT   1662 3.5   75:D 74:D 68:W 14:L 52:W 16:L 45:D
45 Hoole, Jeyaranjan       ACT   1431 3.5   21:L 64:+ 10:L 83:W 56:W 24:L 44:D
46 Losh, Gary              NSW   1458 3.5    8:L 65:W 18:L 63:W 30:D 40:L 67:W
47 Reading, Michael        ACT   1115 3.5   61:D 23:L 53:L 74:W 68:W 56:W 19:L
48 McCart, Roger           ACT   1581 3.5   40:L 67:L 65:W 57:W 72:W 27:L 50:D
49 Bisson, Danny Wayne     NSW   1510 3.5    4:L 58:L 77:W 62:W 41:L 64:W 43:D
50 Jochimsen, Erik         ACT   1396 3.5   17:L 77:W 41:L 32:L 84:W 62:W 48:D
51 Yuan, Yi                ACT   1114 3.5   27:L 76:W 61:D 38:L 24:L 81:W 68:W
52 Greenwood, Norman       NSW   1513 3     57:L 72:W 67:W 18:L 44:L 63:W 34:L
53 Jaksa, David            ACT   1196 3     24:D  9:L 47:W 56:D 59:D 30:L 60:D
54 Brown, Andrew           ACT   1325 3     12:L  0:D 73:W 24:W 26:L 29:L 61:D
55 Marks, Joe              ACT   1481 3     14:L 62:W 29:L 58:W 32:L 73:W 33:L
56 Tan, Philip             NSW   1653 3     73:D 28:L 75:W 53:D 45:L 47:L 72:W
57 Ung, Thomas             ACT   1263 3     52:W 13:L 34:L 48:L 77:W 35:L 75:W
58 Ikeda, Miona            ACT   1241 3     15:L 49:W 33:L 55:L 83:W 76:W 35:L
59 Beltrami, Matthew       ACT   1300 3     13:L 78:W 39:D 36:L 53:D 33:L 77:W
60 Callaghan, Roseanne     ACT   1507 3      7:L 83:W 40:L 67:D 66:L 82:W 53:D
61 Rogers, Cathy L         NSW   1727 3     47:D 66:L 51:D 68:D 67:L 72:W 54:D
62 Nater, Carl             VIC   1123 3     18:L 55:L 85:W 49:L 65:W 50:L 66:W
63 Lloyd, Aidan            ACT   1034 3     19:L 35:L 78:W 46:L 74:W 52:L 73:W
64 Smith, Kayleigh         ACT   988  3     10:L 45:-  0:D  0:D 78:W 49:L 74:W
65 Henderson, Jake         ACT   769  3     32:L 46:L 48:L 79:W 62:L 78:W 71:W
66 Chow, Justin            ACT   1135 2.5    0:D 61:W 28:L 39:L 60:W 42:L 62:L
67 Mengelkamp, Brian       ACT   1230 2.5   22:L 48:W 52:L 60:D 61:W 21:L 46:L
68 Stankovic, Goran        NSW   1387 2.5   25:L 85:W 44:L 61:D 47:L 69:W 51:L
69 Baines, Casey           ACT   708  2.5   37:L 31:L 70:W 76:L 82:D 68:L 84:W
70 Oliver, Tamzin L        ACT   1133 2.5   20:L 34:L 69:L 78:L 75:D 84:W 81:W
71 McKenzie, Mark          VIC   1247 2      6:L 80:W 35:W 27:L 37:L 34:L 65:L
72 Nguyen, Van             ACT   917  2     29:L 52:L 80:W 81:W 48:L 61:L 56:L
73 Ong, Lara               ACT   726  2     56:D 42:L 54:L 75:W 81:D 55:L 63:L
74 Mitchell, Alexander     ACT   450  2      0:D 44:D 42:L 47:L 63:L 83:W 64:L
75 Xing, Edward            ACT   862  2     44:D 24:L 56:L 73:L 70:D 85:W 57:L
76 Cutting, Luke           ACT   1454 2      3:L 51:L 84:W 69:W 43:L 58:L  0: 
77 Guo, Emma               ACT   808  2     30:L 50:L 49:L 85:W 57:L 79:W 59:L
78 Zhang, Taiyang          ACT   431  2     33:L 59:L 63:L 70:W 64:L 65:L  0:W
79 Setiabudi, Megan        ACT        2     39:L 82:L 83:L 65:L  0:W 77:L 85:W
80 Setiabudi, Allen        ACT        2     38:L 71:L 72:L 84:L 85:L  0:W 83:W
81 Patterson, Phil         NSW   1450 1.5   26:L 84:W 27:L 72:L 73:D 51:L 70:L
82 Dunn, Paul              ACT   1252 1.5   16:L 79:W 30:L 35:L 69:D 60:L  0: 
83 Kilgallin, Bryan        ACT   837  1     41:L 60:L 79:W 45:L 58:L 74:L 80:L
84 Flood, Christopher      ACT   711  1     43:L 81:L 76:L 80:W 50:L 70:L 69:L
85 Van Dijk, Marieke       VIC   691  1     36:L 68:L 62:L 77:L 80:W 75:L 79:L
86 Rafizadeh, Reza         ACT        1      0:D  0:D 20:L  0:   0:   0:   0: 

The second Geelong open rapid play championship took place in Geelong Chess club last weekend, July 24 and 25. Time control was 20 minutes per game for each player plus 10 seconds increment. Twelve players took part in round-robin tournament. Six players represented Geelong chess club and another six we can call a mix - strong, experienced Dandenong chess club matadors M.Dizdarevic (ACF rating 1970) brothers Milenko and Zdenko Lojanica (rating 2023 and 1849), 8-year-old David Toper from Melbourne (rating 719), up and coming juniors T.Letcher and J Kenmure (rating 446).

The tournament was decided in the very last game of the last round. In a very exciting game Geelong chess club champion Alistair Anderson outplayed M.Dizdarevic and deservingly won the tournament with an exceptional score of 10.5 points from 11 games. Well done Alistair! Second was Dizdarevic 9 points, third M.Lojanica 8.5, fourth his brother Zdenko 8 points, Geelong stalwarts I.Boasman 6.5, S.Sopofski and 75-year-old Tom Nemaric 6 points each, B.Stokie 4 points, B.Kerston 3.5, D.Toper 1 and T.Letcher 0 points.

Tournament organizers were very generous with six prizes awarded to 12 players! Cash prizes for 3 winners and best player from 6 lowest rating participants. The best country player trophy went to A.Anderson, J.Kenmure got DOP prize for his exciting game with highest rated player of the tournament M.Lojanica. Despite a huge rating difference of more than 1500! points, the game ended in a draw. Game will follow soon. At the closing ceremony which was attended by all participants of this very friendly tournament we all learnt about Geelong chess club's big plans for the future tournaments.

- IM Leonid Sandler, Director of Play

There is a new chess web site at http://www.arbitrosdeajedrez.com devoted especially to chess arbiters (of all levels) and to all of you eager to improve your knowledge regarding the rules and laws of chess, and to become a chess arbiter, or simply seeking enjoyment out of your favourite game.

This web host Forums, Chats, On-Line Rules (Complete FIDE Handbook), latest software releases, commented games, unedited photo galleries, an easy-to- use system for retrieving news updates, browser, links, downloads, tournament calendar, list of active referees, shop, surveys, opinion letters, International Referees that will answer your queries, etc...

We are open to any suggestions and ideas. We are likewise open to collaborations and receiving new information.

At the moment, the web is in Spanish; but we are projecting this web to be translated into English in the near future. To this end, we will be requiring English-speaking commentators to collaborate in our web.

If you are a Webmaster and want to exchange links or propose any idea, please be welcome!!! If you have any business or develop any activity related to chess and wish to collaborate with us, we will consider all proposals. We hope you enjoy this web and have a spend a great time with us.

- Webmaster, Arbitros de Ajedrez
webmaster@arbitrosdeajedrez.com

Kiwi capers: A. Kulashko is leading the NZ GP with 47 points, ahead of P. Garbett 40.5, A. Ker 37, P. Wang 30.5, L. McLaren 30.14 and P. Green 27.

NZ Junior Championship: P. Wang (6/7) 1, G. Thornton (5.5) 2, J. Watson, D. Baider, M. Zhang, R. Dare, A. Chen (5) 3-7, Jason Wu (4.5) 8 … 31 players.

Aussies may also be interested in some upcoming New Zealand events:
Waikato Open – Class 1 - August 6-8, Hamilton CC. 6 round swiss. Minimum Prizes $1410. William Lynn e-mail: Kenneth.Lynn@opus.co.nz
Otago Spring Rapid, Class 3, Saturday August 28, Otago CC. 5-round Swiss. Billets $10 per night. Tony Dowden (03)4730524, e-mail:dnjrchess@yahoo.co.nz
South Island Championship, anticipated Class 2, September 25-28, Otago CC. 8-round swiss. Expected time control: 40 in 1hr 45 mins, plus 30 mins guillotine. Projected prize-fund $800 plus. FIDE-rated, with NZ Master points at stake. Billets $10 per night. Enquiries: Tony Dowden (03)4730524, e-mail: dnjrchess@yahoo.co.nz
South Island Rapid, Class 3, Friday September 24, Otago CC. 6-round swiss. 30 minutes each. Projected prize-fund $400. Billets $10 per night. Enquiries: Tony Dowden (03)4730524, e-mail: dnjrchess@yahoo.co.nz
All Canterbury FIDE Open, anticipated Class 2, over Labour Weekend, October 23-25. Enquiries Craig Hall chall@inet.net.nz This event will be FIDE-rated.

Thanks to Bob Smith for the info.

Notices

Applications invited:

World Youth Chess Championships Iraklion, Crete; November. Besides the 10 selected children, other other Australian Juniors can play but must be ratified by the Australian Chess Federation. The dates for the World Youth have been confirmed as 3 Nov to 14 Nov. Entries have to be finalised in late August, so the latest date for requesting a secondary entry is 6 August. Please ensure any interested parent has contacted Jenni Oliver by then. E-mail jenni@stratagemcc.com.au

2004 Australian Masters Melbourne; August 3-14; FIDE-rated, category 4 event likely; Email Nick Speck

Details of the XLIII World Junior & XXI World Girls Under 20 Chess Championships (India, November 18-December 1) have been posted on the website. please note that this is a different event to the Youth championships mentioned above.

World News:

Fischer appeal rejected: Japanese immigration officials have rejected former world chess champion Bobby Fischer's appeal against a decision to deport him for trying to travel on an invalid US passport, AP reported. Fischer, 61, has until Friday to take the appeal to Japan's justice minister, and can also seek a court injunction. Fischer is wanted in the US for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by flying to Yugoslavia to play Boris Spassky in a chess match in 1992. US citizens were banned from business or commercial activities in Yugoslavia at the time because of the violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Anand-Leko and Kramnik-Svidler in Dortmund semis: The semi-final matches - starting tomorrow - will be Anand-Leko and Kramnik-Svidler, while the playoff matches for minor positions will be Naiditsch-Karjakin and Bologan-Rublewski.
Anand and Svidler were clear winners in the A division, but the B group all finished on 3/6 - after drawing every game! - and rapid playoffs were needed. Kramnik and Leko finally demonstrated some superiority in the playoffs to make it through to the semis.
Earlier, Anand beat Rublevsky in the only decisive game of round 5. And young Sergey Karjakin almost beat world champion Vladimir Kramnik in round 4.
The famous Dortmund Sparkassen Chess-Meeting 2004 this year features Anand, Naiditsch, Svidler, Rublevsky, Kramnik, Karjakin, Leko and Bologan. The event is in two sections: a round robin followed by a knockout.
Standings after 6 rounds (A): Anand 4.0; Svidler 3.5; Naiditsch 2.5; Rublevsky 2.0. (B): Kramnik, Leko, Karjakin, Bologan 3.0; Playoffs: Kramnik 4.0, Leko 3.5, Bologan 2.5, Karjakin 2.0.
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Morozevich leads Biel: Morozevich beat Sasikiran in round 8 to again take the sole lead, while Ponomariov went down to Pelletier. Sasikiran beat Ponomariov while Morozevich downed Bacrot to remain in the lead in round 7. Sasikiran won in round 6 to join Morozevich in the lead. In round 5, McShane finally won a big game against Ponomariov after a disastrous start, losing his first four games. Scores after 9 rounds: 1. Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2743 7.0; 2. Sasikiran, Krishnan g IND 2666 5.5; 3. Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2722 4.0; 4. Pelletier, Yannick g SUI 2597 4.0; 5. Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2712 4.0; 6. McShane, Luke J g ENG 2643 2.5. Site | View games

Nijboer wins Amsterdam: A great victory by the unpredictable Dutchman ahead of a very strong field. Leading final scores after 9 rounds: Nijboer 7.0; V.Wely, Timman, Lobron, Tregubov, Nikolic, Krasenkow, Sokolov, Ganguly, l'Ami 6.5; Kuzmin, Spoelman, Gagunashvili, Chuchelov, Mchedlishvili 6.0; Acs, Sandipan, Wiersma, Al Sayed, Koster, v.Beek, vd.Doel, Pavlovic, Doggers 5.5; Martens, Bezemer, Solleveld, Blees, Dambacher, v.Delft, Witt, Moor, Vonthron, Wintzer, T.Willemze, de Jong, Tan, Bitalzadeh, Siebrecht 5.0. Site | View games

Short wins Tai Yuan GM: An impressive victory by the Englishman, a point clear of the field. Also iimpressive was Ni Hua's second placing, ahead of Lautier, Dreev and Lputian. Final scores, 9 rounds: Short 6.5; Ni Hua 5.5; Lautier, Dreev 5.0; Bu Xiangzhi 4.5; Xie Jun, Lputian, Ye Jiangchuan 4.0; Zhang Zhong 3.5; Xu Jun 3.0. Site | View games

World news including games updated daily at NetChessNews.

Games:

Svidler, P (2727)    --    Naiditsch, A (2574)
GpA  (3)   Dortmund GER
2004.07.24     1-0     C88

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8. h3 Bb7 9.d3 d6 10.a3 Re8 11.Nc3 h6 12.Nd5 Bf8 13.c3 Nb8 14.Nxf6+ Qxf6 15. Nh2!

Beginning a strong attack

Black tries to open the centre because else he'll be steamrolled by Rg3 and Nh2-g4-h6/f6

Now black has some counterplay against g2

Threatening Bb1! and mate on h7

( 29.Rxc5?? Qxg2# )

White threatened Qg5-h5-h8 mate

The attack continues!

Karjakin, Sergey (2591)    --    Kramnik, V (2770)
GpB  (4)   Dortmund GER
2004.07.25     1/2-1/2     B90

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8. f3 Nbd7 9.g4

Trendy

Very committal, but it has some advantages

( 38.Qxg6?? Qxd5!! )

Black's under pressure, but he activates his big asset

39.Ka2 Kf8 40.Nf6!!

Bxf6!

( 40...Qxf6?? 41.Qc8+!! Ke7 42.Qd8+ Ke6 43.Re1+ Kf5 44. Rf1+ )

Black has hopes of hanging on because of his g-pawn

No time to muck around

The point of black's formation seems to be that (a) he'll keep checking/attacking the pawn forever, unless (b) white protects it with his queen, in which case (c) black plays ...Kh2! and ...Rh3 if needed, followed by queening. Is there a way for white to win against this plan?

75...Rb3+ 76.Kc6 Rc3+ 77.Kd7 Rd3+ 78.Kc8 Rg3 79.Kd7 Rd3+ 80.Ke6 Rc3 81.Kd6 Rd3+ 82.Ke5 Rc3 83.Kf5

Rxc7 84.Qe3+ Kh2 85.Qf4+ Kh1 86.Qxc7

Agreeing to a draw

Anand, V (2782)    --    Rublevsky, S (2686)
GpA  (5)   Dortmund GER
2004.07.26     1-0     B43

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.O-O Bc5 8.Nb3 Be7 9.Be3 d6 10.a4 b6

Trying to forestall the cramping advance a5, but white does it anyway

The beginning of a remarkable attack which exploits white's superior development and the very uncomfortable position of black's queen

15...dxe5 16.fxe5 Nxe5

17.Rxf6!! gxf6 18.Be4

Now white at least regains the exchange - but he wants more

( 19...Qd6?? 20.Qxd6 Bxd6 21.Nxe5 Rb8 22.Nc6 Rb7 is much better for white )

Black's army is in two parts, with very poor co-ordination

It's instructive to see how Anand continually eschews regaining the exchange. The poor co-ordination of black's army is a much more valuable trump for white than a mere exchange. Now Ne4 looms

I don't quite understand this, but some points are obvious. First, it stops ...b4 counterplay. Second, Bc5!? is now possible, threatening both 1. Rd8+!! Bxd8 2. Qf8 mate and the simple Rd1-d3-g3.

( 29...f5?? 30.Qxe6 fxe6 31.Rd7! Bxb4 32.Rxb7 Bxc3 33.Bh6! and white will win the Rh8 with Rb8+ )

( 30...Qg6 31.Qxg6+ hxg6 32.Rd7 ( 32.Bc5!? Bxc5+ 33.bxc5 gives white a dangerous passed pawn ) 32...Bxb4 33.Na2 +- )

Heading for f5 via g3

31...f5 32.Ng3!! f4? 33.Nf5 Qb1+ 34.Kf2 fxe3+ 35.Ke2!!

( 35.Ke2 Bf8 ( 35...Bf6 36.Qxf6 exd2 37.Qd8# ) 36.Qg5+ Bg7 37.Qxg7# )

Naiditsch, A (2574)    --    Svidler, P (2727)
GpA  (5)   Dortmund GER
2004.07.26     0-1     B42

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Bc5 6.Nb3 Be7 7.O-O d6 8.c4 Nf6 9.Nc3 Nbd7 10.f4 Qc7 11.Qe2 b6 12.Bd2 Bb7 13.Rae1 O-O 14.Kh1 g6 15.Nd4 Rfe8 16.Nf3 Rad8 17.Ng5 Bf8 18.Qf2 Bg7 19.b4 Nh5 20.Rc1 Rc8 21.a3 Qd8 22.Nf3 Rc7 23. Rfe1 Nhf6 24.Qh4 Qa8 25.Qh3 Rec8 26.e5!? dxe5 27.Nxe5 Nxe5 28.fxe5 Nd7 29.Bf4 Rxc4!? 30.Bxc4 Rxc4 31.Qg3 h5

Preparing an eventual ...Rg4, targetting g2

( 33.Bxe5 Rg4 34.Qf2 Bxg2+ 35.Kg1 Bxe5 -+ )

Black has two good pawns for the exchange

34.h4 Qd8 35.Bg5 Qd7 36.Nf4 e5 37.Nd3 Qd5 38.Nf2 Nd6 39.Rd1??

Ne4!!

( 39...Ne4 40.Nxe4 ( 40.Rxd5 Nxg3+ 41.Kh2 Bxd5 -+ ) 40...Qxd1+ 41.Kh2 Bxe4 -+ )

Pelletier, Y (2597)    --    Sasikiran, K (2666)
It  (6)   Biel SUI
2004.07.25     0-1     C99

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2 Rd8 13.Nf1 cxd4 14.cxd4 exd4 15.Nxd4 d5 16.e5 Ne4 17.f3 Bc5 18.Be3

( 18.fxe4 Bxd4+ 19.Qxd4 Qxc2 )

( 19.fxe4 dxe4 and black win regain the piece )

19...d4!! 20.Bxd4 Rxd4!! 21.Nxd4 Nxb2!!

The point - the Qd1 is driven away from defence of d4

McShane, L (2643)    --    Ponomariov, R (2722)
It  (5)   Biel SUI
2004.07.23     1-0     B54

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.f3 e5 6.Nb3 a5 7.a4 Nc6 8.Bb5 Be7 9.c4 O-O 10.Be3 Na7 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Qd3 Nh5 13.g3 f5 14.Nd2 fxe4 15.fxe4 Bg5 16. O-O-O Bxe3 17.Qxe3 Nf6 18.Rhf1 Qc7 19.b3 Nc6 20.Nf3 Bh3! 21.Rfe1 Bg4 22.Rd2 Nxe4!? 23.Nxe4 Bxf3

( 23...Rxf3 24.Qg5 and white will get d6 )

24.Bxc6 bxc6 25.Nxd6 e4 26.c5! Rab8 27.Kb2 Kh8 28.Qc3 Qe7 29.Rd4 Qe5??

30.Nf7+ !! Rxf7 31.Rd8+!! Rxd8 32.Qxe5 h6 33.Qc3 Rd3 34.Qxa5 Bd1 35.Qb4

With an outside passed pawn, white isn't afraid of the ending

( 40...Rxa7 41.Rxe2 Bxe2 42.Qe8+ Kh7 43.Qxe2 +- )

Chuchelov, Vladimir (2574)    --    Tregubov, Pavel (2628)
Amsterdam ACT  (6)   Amsterdam
2004.07.22     0-1

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 c6 3.c4 e6 4.e3 Bd6 5.Bd3 f5 6.O-O Nf6 7.b3 Qe7 8.Bb2 O-O 9.Qc1 b6 10.Ba3 Bb7 11.Bxd6 Qxd6 12.Qb2 c5 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.cxd5 Bxd5 15.Rd1 Bxf3 16.gxf3 Nc6 17.Na3 Qe7 18.Nc4 Nd7 19.Be2 Rf6 20.Rd6 Nde5 21.Rad1 Rg6+ 22. Kf1 Qg5 23.Ke1 Qg1+ 24.Kd2 Nxc4+ 25.bxc4 Qxf2!!

A nice sacrifice

( 26.Rxc6 Rd8+ 27.Kc1 Qxe3+ 28.Kb1 Rxd1+ 29.Bxd1 )

( 26.Rxc6 Rg2 27.Re1 Rd8+ -+ )

Avoiding back rank mates

Spoelman, Wouter (2277)    --    Gagunashvili, Merab (2580)
Amsterdam ACT  (8)   Amsterdam
2004.07.24     1-0

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Bg5 c6 5.Qd2 b5 6.Bd3 Bg7 7.f4 O-O 8.Nf3 Bg4 9.O-O-O b4 10.Ne2 Qb6 11.f5 Nbd7 12.Qf4 Bxf3 13.gxf3 c5 14.Bxf6 Bxf6

( 14...Nxf6 15.e5!? )

15.Qg4 cxd4 16.fxg6 Ne5 17.gxh7+ Kh8 18.Qh3 Rac8 19.Kb1 Nxd3

20.Rhg1!!

A fantastic sacrifice, simply "forgetting" to recapture!

An attempt to complicate

( 20...Ne5 21.Rg8+!! Rxg8 22.hxg8=Q+ Kxg8 23.Rg1+ Bg7 24.Qxc8+ +- )

Another "passive" sacrifice

( 27.Rxh4+ Bxh4 28.Qh8+ Kg6 29.Rg1+ Bg5 30.Nf4# )

Nijboer, Friso (2568)    --    Krasenkow, Michal (2632)
Amsterdam ACT  (5)   Amsterdam
2004.07.21     1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Bc4 Be7 5.d3 d6 6.O-O Nf6 7.Ng5 O-O 8.f4 Bg4 9.Qe1 exf4 10.Bxf4 Nd4 11.Qd2 Qd7 12.Be3 h6 13.Nf3 Nxf3+ 14.gxf3 Bh3 15.Rf2 Kh7 16.Kh1 Nh5 17.f4 f5 18.Rg1 Bh4 19.Rf3 Bg4 20.Qg2! Bxf3 21.Qxf3 g6

( 21...Nf6 22.Qh3 corners the bishop )

22.Qg2 Qe8 23.Nb5 g5 24.Nc7 Qe7 25.Nxa8 fxe4 26.fxg5 hxg5 27.Qg4 Nf6 28.Qf5+ Kh8 29.Bxg5 Bxg5 30.Qxg5 e3 31.d4 b5 32.Bd3 Qb7+ 33.Rg2 c4

34.Be4!! Qf7

( 34...Nxe4?? 35.Qh6+ Qh7 36.Qxf8+ )

( 34...Qxe4?? 35.Qg7# )

Xu Jun (2617)    --    Zhang Zhong (2603)
Sanjin Hotel Cup  (4)   Taiyuan CHN
2004.07.20     1-0     E12

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.d4 e6 5.a3 g6 6.d5

The thematic advance, gaining important space

Black's getting completely squashed

( 21...Kg7 22.g4! Qc6 23.Be4 +- )

( 23...Rxe5 24.Bxb7 Rxe1+ 25.Rxe1 Qxb7 26.Qd4 leaves white on top )

( 24...Rxe5 25.f4 gxf4 26.gxf4 Rf5 )

Short, N (2684)    --    Ye Jiangchuan (2681)
Sanjin Hotel Cup  (8)   Taiyuan CHN
2004.07.25     1-0     B85

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be2 a6 7.O-O Nf6 8.Kh1 Be7 9.f4 d6 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Qd3 O-O 12.b3 Bb7 13.Bb2 c5 14.Rae1 Rae8 15.Qh3 Nxe4 16.Bd3 Nf6 17.Re3 g6 18.Nd1 c4 19.bxc4 Qc5 20.f5 e5 21.Rg3 Be4 22.Ne3 Bxd3 23.cxd3 Kh8 24.Bc1 Rg8 25.fxg6 fxg6 26.Nd5! Nxd5

( 27.Qxh7+ Kxh7 28.Rh3+ Bh4 29.Rxh4+ Kg7 30.Bh6+ Kh8 31.Bf8# )

Grand Prix tournaments:

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

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
Nell Van De Graaff Classic (includes a teams event) QLD; 3; September 18-19; Somerset College; Graeme Gardiner 07-5522-7221 Email Website
Ryde Eastwood Open NSW; 3; October 2-4; Ryde Eastwood; Website
Redcliffe Challenge QLD; October 2-3; Rothwell Grace Lutheran College; Website; Contact Norm Braybrooke (07) 3203 3732 Email
Laurieton Open NSW; 1; October 30-31; Laurieton; Endel Lane 02-6559-9060
Coffs Harbour Inaugural Open NSW; 3; 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.

Laurieton One Day Chess July 25; Laurieton United Servicemen's Club; Contact: Endel - 6559 9060.
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
Festival Schneider Bohemia - Pilsen 2004; August 14-22; Czech Republic; website.
International Chess Festival - Open Highlands 18-26 September; Havlickuv Brod, Czech Republic. Website
ASEAN Masters Chess Congress: Several tournaments. Thomas Hoe Tel : (65) 96934049 Fax : (65) 63581483 Email
Open Dutch Youth Chess Championships - "Stork": August 9-14; Hengelo, the Netherlands. Website. Participants. Email.
Cesenatico (Italy) Open International September 4-12; Fax +3954786331 Phone +39335.6615956. Website Email
Malbork Castle Cup: 18-19 September; Poland. Website. Email
Mihail Sadoveanu International Chess Festival; Jassy, Romania; September 20-26; Free entry/accommodation for over-2400s; Contact: iasitel@yahoo.com ; valibmv@mail.dntis.ro ; 0040740277850 - Vasile Manole ; 0040741665384 - Vlad Ungureanu. Websites: iasi.ro; home.dntis.ro; ici.ro/romania/cities; info-turism.ro/ro/iasi

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