David Smerdon - GM Norm

The Australian Junior produced a sensation, with the title taken by a girl for the first time ever. Not only that, but victor Angela Song is only 13 years old! Angela led for much of the event, but lost her last round game, allowing Justin Huang to catch her. But the Women's FIDE Master won the playoff to take the title. (A few years ago, Angela became U/18 Australian Girls Champion at the grand old age of 10!)

Australia's first female Junior Champion: Angela Song

IM Zong-Yuan Zhao scored a sensational 12/13 to win the Australian Lightning Championship.

Alexandra Jule comfortably won the girl's U/18, while Kelvin Finke took out the U/12 title and Emma Guo easily won the Girls' U/12 Championship.

The events were held at Brisbane's Carlton Crest Hotel, and there's general agreement that the facilities, organisation and website coverage were excellent.

The organisers

Australian Championship, 11 rounds

9.0 GM Ian Rogers
8.0 IM David Smerdon, GM Murray Chandler (England)
7.5 GM Roland Schmaltz, (Germany)
7.0 GM Lubomir Ftacnik (Slovakia), IM Gary Lane
6.5 FM Goldenberg
6.0 IM Stephen Solomon, GM Darryl Johansen, IM Zong-Yuan Zhao, Moulthun Ly, Raymond Song
5.5 IM Alex Wohl, FM George Xie, FM Igor Bjelobrk, Vladimir Smirnov, FM Jonathan Humphrey, WIM Laura Moylan, FM Aaron Guthrie
5.0 FM Greg Canfell, Malcolm Pyke, Andrew Bird, Christopher Wallis
4.5 Stewart Booth, Jay Lakner
4.0 James Obst, WIM Arianne Caoili, FM Michael Dougherty (Canada)
1.5 Nigel Frame,
1.0 FM Eddy Levi (withdrew)

Australian Major, 11 rounds

8.5 Neil Wright
8.0 Zvedeniouk, Tredinnick, Lazarus
7.5 Sheldrick, Stojic, Truscott, Norris
7.0 Vijayakumar, Cashman, Krstic
6.5 Marner, Dizdarevic, Lee Jones, Sonter, Mendes da Costa, Lovejoy, Viner, Hvistendahl
6.0 Milligan, Hu, Fry, Cox, Soo, Shannon Oliver
5.5 Davis, Myers, Behne-Smith, Korenevski, Holland, Hackenschmidt-Uecker, Chuang, Canfell, Myers, Guo-Yuthok, Tangimentua, Russell
5.0 Davidovici, Schon, Brockman, Rout, Barker
4.5 Tulevski, Selnes, McKenzie, Feria, Lukursky, Slack-Smith, Behne-Smith, Tang, Guo
4.0 Lilly, Al Zaher, Bielenberg, Hunter, Bhattacharya, Horton
3.5 Duxbury
3.0 Barisic, Humphries
2.5 Sheng
2.0 Long Hong

Australian Minor, 11 rounds

9.0 Andrew Fitzpatrick
8.5 Wilkinson
8.0 Hoving
7.5 Weller, Ali, Messina
7.0 Craven, Lam, Cheung, Poulton, Stokes, Wan, Bisson
6.5 Stokes, Dickson, Alkin, McGowan
6.0 Stewart, Parker, Davidson, Chelebichanin, Mollard, Cooke, Christensen
5.5 Matheson, Kospartov, Gilpin, Duggan, Marks, Booy, Wilkie, Hartley-Holl
5.0 Nutt, Waters, Leskiewicz, Humphrey, Low
4.5 Bender, Goodwin, Marks, Sanderson, Beeley, Fitzpatrick, Williams
4.0 Lau, Moffatt, Hughes, Tanner
3.5 Soul, Rogers
3.0 De Vere, Hurse
2.5 Borrill
0.0 C Thompson, I Thompson

Rapid, 7 rounds:

6.5 Moulthun Ly
6.0 IM Sandler
5.5 IM Solomon
5.0 Pizzato, Casey, FM Sarfati, Dizdarevic, FM Goldenberg, Sheldrick
4.5 Robertson, Guo-Yuthok
4.0 Nataprawira, Wongwichit, Schon, Lazarus, Bailey, Hvistendahl, Reading, Feria, Lewski, Bielenberg, Gilpin, Sretenovic
3.5 Chuang, Frame
3.0 Jabur, Lam, Hunter, Bruck, Hackenschmidt-Uecker, Tulevski, Stewart, Lyons, Buciu, Waters
2.5 Davidovici, Muller, Wan, Thompson
2.0 Fraser, Chandran, Van den Broeck, Durden, Lehane
1.5 McConville
1.0 Soul
0.0 Coghill, Harris, Olm-Milligan

Lightning, 13 rounds, leading scores:

12.0 IM Zong-Yuan Zhao
10.0 Bjelobrk
9.5 Tallaksen (Norway), Ly
9.0 IM Sandler, FM Goldenberg
8.5 Smirnov, Wongwichit
8.0 IM Solomon, Robertson, Pizzato, Tulevski, FM Sarfati
7.5 FM Jones, Byrom, Casey, Lip, WIM Moylan, Guo-Yuthok, Mendes da Costa

Australian Junior, 11 rounds

8.5 Angela Song (winner after playoff), Justin Huang
8.0 Ly, Oliver, Ikeda
7.5 Suttor, Lindberg, Viswanath, Stojic
7.0 Morris, Cronan, Jager, Brown, Van Dijk, Wu
6.5 Lazarus, Muthusamy, Vijayakumar, Guo-Yuthok, Morris, Donaldson, Dalton, Lei
6.0 R Yu (withdrew), Illingworth, McGuirk, Webster, Anderson, Behne-Smith, Grigg, Harris, Zulfic, Beltrami, D Yu, Chow, Muller, Bielenberg
5.5 R Vijayakumar, Gearing, Cohn, Dalton, Papp, Jule, Barrett, McIntyre
5.0 Tang, Liang, Tangimentua, Waters, Lee, Hunter, Fisher, Drew, D'Arcy, Slack-Smith
4.5 Cooke, Lim, Ford, Posner, Humphries, Rozenblat, Bhattacharya, Griggs, Ng, Beilby
4.0 Boyle, Behne-Smith, Setiabudi, Dolan-Bowman, Zhang
3.5 Pedersen-Lee, Sunarjana, Eriksson, Teichert, Selvanathan, Emery
2.5 McGowan
1.0 Reed
0.0 Pretorius

Australian Girls Championship, 11 rounds

9.0 Alexandra Jule
8.0 Yu
7.5 Smith
7.0 Sheng, Ng
6.5 Kinder, McGarity
6.0 Ikeda, Behne-Smith, McGuirk
5.5 Oliver, Eustace, Lyons
4.5 Chibnall, Goh, Heath
3.5 Pathirana, Horton, Williams

Under 12, 11 rounds

9.0 Kelvin Finke
8.5 Yuan, Nakauchi
8.0 McGarity
7.5 Zhu
7.0 Xing, Matheson, Lau, Stahnke, McCook, Horton, Leggett, Grossman, Li
6.5 Nguyen, Anderson, Zhang, Kimura
6.0 Ren, Tsui, Lee, Bishop, van den Bergh, Arase, Chan
5.5 Masle-Farquhar, Baines, Wicks, Williams, Radford, Radford, Xing, Wan, Leggett, Miles
5.0 Wang, Arase, Petracca, Merrett, Gupte, Nakauchi
4.5 Pope, Bristow, Peck, Whish, Louie
4.0 Antolis, Qin, Lam, Moorcroft, Morrison, Louie
3.5 Kendall
3.0 Gupte, Dommersnes, Hopkins
2.5 Doherty
2.0 Lee
1.5 Stich

Under 12 Girls, 11 rounds

10.5 Emma Guo
9.5 Zhang
8.5 Khoo
8.0 Knapp
7.5 Setiabudi
6.5 Shan
6.0 Bogdanic, Kinder
5.0 Kanagarajah, Simmonds
4.5 Zhu
3.5 Campbell, Williams
2.0 Behne-Smith, Bristow

Junior Rapid, 7 rounds, 107 players, leading scores:

6.5 Junta Ikeda
6.0 Morris, Cronan
5.5 Wu, Yu, Jule, Anderson
5.0 Muller, Brown, R Yu, Gearing, Ford, Lei, Yuan, Cooke, Lindberg, Donaldson, Vijayakumar, Liang, Webster

Junior Lightning, 13 rounds, 106 players, leading scores:

10.5 Obst, Ikeda
10.0 Oliver, Vijayakumar, Stojic
9.5 Wallis
9.0 Barnard, Wu, Muthusamy, Jager
8.5 Lindberg, D Yu, Yuan, Anderson, R Vijayakumar, Chow
8.0 Illingworth, Huang, Cronan, Morris, Van Dijk, Finke, Brown, Lei, McGarity ...

Smerdon, David (2421)    --    Xie, George (2340)
Xstrata Australian Championship 2006  (8.2)   Brisbane
2006     1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.d4 e6 6.Be3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Nf6 8.Nc3 Qd6 9.a3 Be7 10.Bd3 O-O 11.O-O b6 12.Qe2 Bb7 13.Rad1 Rad8 14.Bg5 Qb8 15.Bb1 g6 16.Ba2 Rfe8 17.Rfe1 Nh5 18.Qe3 Bxg5 19.Nxg5 Qf4 20.d5 exd5 21. Qxe8+ Rxe8 22.Rxe8+ Kg7 23.Nf3 d4 24.Re4 Qf6 25.Nxd4 Ne7 26.Re3 Nf4 27.Ne4 Qh4 28.Ng3 Kf8 29.Nf3 Bxf3 30.Rxf3 Qg4 31.h4 Nf5 32.Rd8+ Kg7 33.Rd7 Nxg3 34.Rxf7+ Kh6 35.fxg3 Ne2+ 36.Kh2 Qd4 37.Re7 Qg1+ 38.Kh3 Qe1 39.Kg4 Qd1 40. Bg8 Qd4+ 41.Rf4 1-0

Wohl, Alex (2439)    --    Smerdon, David (2421)
Xstrata Australian Championship 2006  (10.1)   Brisbane
2006     0-1

1.a3 e5 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.d3 a5 5.Nd2 Bc5 6.e3 O-O 7.Ne2 Nc6 8.h3 a4 9.g4 h5 10.g5 Nh7 11.h4 Bg4 12.c4 dxc4 13.dxc4 Qe7 14.Qc2 Rfd8 15.Ng3 Nf8 16.Bd5 Na5!? 17.Qxa4 b5!! 18.Qc2

( 18.Qxb5 Bd7! wins the queen )

White tries to find safety for his king rather than grabbing pawns

20...Nxd2 21.Bxd2 Ng6 22.Bxg6 fxg6 23.b4

Bf3!! 24.e4

( 24.bxc5 Qe6! 25.Kh2 Ra4 26.Rh1 Rxh4+ 27.Kg1 Bxh1 28.Nxh1 Qd5! )

( 24...Qe6?? 25.bxc5 Qh3 26.Qb3+ )

( 28.Rh1!? Qxh4+ ( 28...Bxe4!? 29.Nxe4 Rf3!? 30.Qxf3 Qxf3 31.Rae1 Ra4 with a continuing attack ) 29.Kg1 Bxh1 30.Nxh1 Qxe4 )

Rogers, Ian (2556)    --    Johansen, Darryl (2462)
Xstrata Australian Championship 2006  (10.2)   Brisbane
2006     1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nge7 4.c3 a6 5.Ba4 d6 6.d4 Bd7 7.O-O Ng6 8. Be3 Be7 9.d5 Nb8 10.Bxd7+ Nxd7 11.c4 Nh4 12.Nc3 Nxf3+ 13.Qxf3 O-O 14.b4 Bg5 15.c5 Qe7 16.c6

Schmaltz, Roland (2544)    --    Ftacnik, Lubomir (2612)
Xstrata Australian Championship 2006  (10.4)   Brisbane
2006     1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.f4 Nc6 7.Nf3 Be7 8. Bd3 Nb4 9.Be3 Nxd3+ 10.Qxd3 O-O 11.O-O-O b6 12.Nd4 Bb7 13.f5 Ng4 14.Kb1 d5 15.fxe6 dxe4 16.Qe2 Nxe3 17.Qxe3 Qc8 18.Nxe4 fxe6 19.Rhe1 Re8 20.Nb5 Qc6 21.Ned6 Bxd6 22.Nxd6 Re7 23.Qb3 Ba6 24.Nf5 Rd7

( 25...Rxd6 26.Ne7+ )

( 25...Qc7 26.Qxe6+ )

Song, Raymond (2051)    --    Ly, Moulthun (2162)
Xstrata Australian Championship 2006  (10.7)   Brisbane
2006     1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.e5 d5 6.Bb5 Ne4 7.Nxd4 Bd7 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.O-O Bc5 10.f3 Ng5 11.f4 Ne4 12.Be3 O-O 13.Nd2 f5 14.Nxe4 fxe4 15.Qd2 Qe7 16.Nb3 Bb6 17.Qc3 g5!? 18.fxg5 Qxg5 19.Nc5 Qg7 20.Bd4

White has a tight grip on the centre

Threatening the deadly Qe5!

Opening a second front

( 29...Bxb3 30.Rb1 Bxa4 31.Rb8+ Kg7 32.e7 +- )

( 43.Rxd3!? exd3 44.Kxd3 Re8 45.a6 Ra8 46.a7 Kf4 47.Bf2 with the idea of kd3-c4-b3-a4-5-6-b7. But black can resist )

43...Ba6 44.Ra2 Re8 45.Rd2 Bd3 46.Rf2 Rd8 47.Rf7 Bc4 48.Re7+! Be6 49.a6 Rd3+ 50.Ke2 Ra3 51.a7 Ra2+ 52.Ke3 Ra3+ 53.Kf2 e3+ 54.Bxe3 c5 55.Bxc5 Ra2+ 56.Kg3 Kf6 57.Rxc7 Bd5 58.Bf2 Ra3+ 59.Kh2 Ra2 60.Rc5 Bb7 61.Bd4+ Ke6 62. Rg5 Kf7 63.h4 Be4 64.b5 Ba8 65.b6 Be4 66.Kg1 Ba8

67.h5! gxh5 68.b7!

Guthrie, Aaron (2251)    --    Frame, Nigel
Xstrata Australian Championship 2006  (10.14)   Brisbane
2006     1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Bc4 Be7 7.Bb3 a6 8. Be3 Nc6 9.Qe2 Nxd4 10.Bxd4 b5 11.O-O-O Qc7 12.f4 e5 13.fxe5 dxe5 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.Bxd5 Bg5+

( 15...Rb8 16.Qh5 exd4 17.Qxf7+ Kd7 18.Rxd4 with a deadly attack )

16.Kb1 Rb8

17.Qh5! Bf6 18.Bc5!! Qd7

( 18...Qxc5 19.Qxf7+ Kd8 20.Bc6+ Qd4 21.Rxd4+ exd4 22.e5! +- )

Rhf1!?

Song, Angela    --    Ikeda, Junta
Australian Junior Championships 2006  (10.1)   Brisbane
2006     1-0

1.e4

Here's a taste of the new Australian Junior Champion's play:

1...c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 Nc6 4.Nc3 a6 5.Be2 d6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Nf6 8. O-O Qc7 9.Be3 h5 10.h3 Bd7 11.a3 g5 12.Bxg5 Be7 13.b4 Rg8 14.Nf3 Ne5 15. Nxe5 dxe5 16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.Bxh5 Rg7 18.Qf3 Ke7 19.Rfd1 Rag8 20.Bg4 Bg5 21. Qd3 Ke8 22.b5 Be7 23.a4 Rg5 24.a5 R8g7 25.Na4 f5 26.Bf3 Bc5 27.h4

Rg4 28. Bxg4 fxg4 29.b6 Qc6 30.Nxc5 Qxc5 31.Qd6 Qxd6 32.Rxd6 Ke7 33.Rad1 Ba4 34. R1d2 Kf6 35.Rd8 Bc6 36.Re2 Ke7 37.Red2 Kf6 38.Rc8 Bxe4 39.Rc7 Rg8 40.Re2 Bf3!?

41.Re3!

Not 41.gxf3 gxf3+ 42.Kf1 Rg1+!!

The ACF National Conference was held in Brisbane on 6 January 2006. The following motions were passed by the National Conference as recommendations to the ACF Council:

1. "To encourage the use of national rapid rating system by all state associations and other state bodies, CAQ moves that administration fees for events rated under the system be abolished." This motion was passed by 9 votes to 7, with 4 abstentions.

2. A policy statement on Australian and State championships that was distributed by Gary Wastell/ Denis Jessop was unanimously passed 20 votes to 0, (See attached file: ACF Res re Eventnames 3.txt)) with adoption of this policy recommended to all affiliated state and territory chess associations.

3. The SACA proposal for internet chess championship titles was passed 17-0 with 3 abstentions.

The ACF Council meeting was held later on the same day. Council made the following major decisions:

1. accepted the National Conference motion in relation to rapid ratings, but resolved that this would remain in effect till the ACF Council meeting following the next National Conference.
2. unanimously accepted the National Conference motion in relation to the State and National Championships.
3. unanimously accepted the ACT Junior Chess League (ACTJCL) bid, for the 2006 Australian Schools Teams and the 2007 Australian Junior Championships.
4. decided to ask for fresh bids to host the 2007 Australian Open Championships, and set a deadline of 21 February 2006 for the submission of bids.
5. Decided to draft a paper on funding priorities and future directions in Australian chess for Council discussion

Bids invited for 2007 Australian Open Championships

The Australian Chess Federation (ACF) at its 06 January Council meeting decided to call for fresh bids for the Australian Open Championships, in accordance with the ACF's procedures for allocating ACF tournaments.

These rules are viewable at http://www.auschess.org.au/constitution/Proc_for_Allocatg_ACF_Tourns.txt. Potential bidders are advised to refer to these rules and the general by-law for Australian championship events at http://www.auschess.org.au/constitution/By-laws_for_ACF_Tournaments.txt, which also applies to the events concerned. In addition, there are by-laws that apply to the Australian Open Championships ( http://www.auschess.org.au/constitution/By-laws_for_ACF_Tournaments.txt ref clause 7) comprising: Australian Open Championship, Australian Open Rapid-play Championship, Australian Open Lightning Championship, and incorporating the Australian Women’s Open Championships ( http://www.auschess.org.au/constitution/By-law2.txt)

The deadline for submission of the bids is cob 21 February 2006. Pls send your bid for the Australian Open Championships by email to jeydh4@hotmail.com.

Bids from persons other than State Associations should be made through, and with the consent of, the relevant State Association. Your State Association representative will have a copy of the application form that will need to be used when submitting a bid.

If you have any queries, please contact the ACF President, Denis Jessop on (02) 6288 1935 or mobile 0418 278324

- Jey Hoole
ACF Secretary

The Mind Sports festival at The Peninsula School, Mt Eliza (Victoria) featured a range of "thinking games" including chess, scrabble, bridge, poker, sudoku, diplomacy, chinese chess and backgammon. Full details at the www.mindsports.com.au website. The event was organised by David Cordover of Chess World.

Junior Chess
Gold - Thomas Hendrey
Silver - Gordon Barnett
Bronze - Tristan Boelson-Robinson

Chess Weekender
Gold - Cameron Beet
Silver - Matthew Potter
Bronze - Thomas Hendre

FIDE ratings for Australian players can be seen here

Free PDF copy of Australian Correspondence Chess Quarterly

Having taken over the job of editor of the Australian Correspondence Chess Quarterly (ACCQ) I would like to offer everyone who reads this newsletter a present. An electronic copy (in pdf format) of the November 2005 issue of ACCQ. This is the latest issue of the magazine and includes an excellent games column plus the full CCLA Ratings list.

All I need is an email, sent to the address below, asking for a copy, plus proper contact details (Name and postal address). Note these details are for a) making sure each person only recieves one copy (in the case that this offer is repeated for future issues) and b) passing on to the CCLA Marketing Officer for CCLA activities ONLY. These details will not be forwarded to anyone else. Note: The size of the file is 922Kb, which should be OK for most email servers but you may want to check before you ask.

- Shaun Press
shaun.press@apex.net.au
Editor, Australian Correspondence Chess Quarterly

Olympiad selections:

37th FIDE Chess Olympiads., Torino, Italy, May 20 - June 4 2006.

Applications are now open for the Australian Open and Women's Olympiad Teams for the 37th Chess Olympiad to be held in Torino, Italy, from May 20th - June 4th 2006. (Event website: http://www.chessolympiad-torino2006.org/eng/index.php )

Those wishing to be considered for selection as official playing representatives must apply, in writing or by email, as per the ACF Selection Procedures By-Laws, by 22 January 2006. Please refer to item 5 of the ACF Selection By-Laws before applying and for details of material required in an application. The full Selection By-Laws are available at http://www.auschess.org.au/constitution/Selection_Procedures_By-law.txt, except as recently amended (see below).

An Open team (consisting of six players and a non-playing captain) and a Womens team (consisting of four players and a non-playing captain) will be selected to represent Australia at this event. Players and captains will receive accommodation from the host organisation and travel subsidies from the ACF's Olympiad Appeal fundraising efforts.

Please send all applications by email to Dr Kevin Bonham < k_bonham@tassie.net.au> If an emailed application has not been acknowledged within seven days, please phone (03) 6224 8487 or 0421 428 775. Please note that I am only responsible for coordinating the selection process and not for any other queries concerning the Olympiad.

Applicants' supporting statements and results summaries, and ratings and results information made available to the selectors will be published on the ACF website at an address to be announced, and available for public scrutiny. Any corrections or amendments to this material must be made by 5 Feb 2006. Selection results will be finalised and made public shortly after selections are finalised on 19 Feb 2006. Selection of team captains is expected to commence immediately thereafter. Team captains will then be selected by the ACF Council after determining the preferences of the team members. Team captains will then be announced as soon as Council has made its decision. Exact dates for captaincy applications will be announced closer to this stage.

Important note regarding player activity: All potential applicants are strongly advised that Olympiad selectors are sometimes reluctant to select candidates whose recent results provide too little evidence to be confident of sufficient current playing strength. Potential applicants are strongly advised to compete in upcoming ACF or FIDE rated tournaments and demonstrate their current playing strength to the selectors. See new bylaw 7.1.1.

Summary of dates
22 Dec Applications Open
22 Jan Applications Close
5 Feb Deadline for Corrections / Material to Selectors
19 Feb Deadline for Selectors' Votes - results advised ASAP to all applicants and published in next available newsletter.

Recent selection bylaw changes

The following changes to the selection procedures bylaw have just been passed by the ACF Council. Item 1 (new by-law 4.3) does not apply for this Olympiad:

1. By-law 4 (Selection Criteria) is amended by adding the following paragraphs -

4.3.1 In the case of the Olympiad teams, an applicant shall not be eligible for selection unless the applicant has played at least 20 ACF or FIDE rated games in the period of 12 months immediately preceding the date on which applications for selection close.

4.3.2 For the purposes of paragraph 4.3.1 ­

4.3.2.1 a game that is rated by the ACF and by FIDE shall be counted once only; and

4.3.2.2 a rapid play game shall not be counted.

4.3.3 Paragraph 4.3.1 takes effect from and including the selection process for the Olympiad 2008.

2. By-law 6 (Selection) is amended by adding the following paragraphs -

6.5.1 An application for selection by a person, who, at the date on which applications for selection closed, appears to be ineligible for selection either by reason of ACF by-laws, other than paragraph 4.3.1, or FIDE requirements ("an ineligible person"), shall nevertheless be given to the selectors under this by-law unless, in the opinion of the Selection Coordinator there is no possibility of the applicant being eligible for selection by 21 days before he or she would have to leave Australia to compete in the event for which the selection was made.

6.5.2. An ineligible person who is selected under the subsequent provisions of this by-law must become eligible by 21 days before the person is to leave Australia to compete in the event for which the selection was made.

3. By-law 7 (Voting) is amended by adding the following paragraph ­

7.1.1 For the avoidance of doubt, a relevant consideration in determining an applicant¹s playing strength, is the applicant¹s activity as a player preceding the close of applications for selection, in the case of the Olympiad, since the conclusion of the previous Olympiad, and, in any other case, in the previous 2 years.

4. By-law 9 (Appeals) is amended -

a. by substituting the amount "$200" for the amount "$50" in paragraph 9.2; and

b. by adding the following paragraph 9.3.1

9.3.1.1. Paragraph 9.3.1 does not apply to an alleged material error or omission relating to the eligibility of an applicant for selection, other than the eligibility requirement in paragraph 4.3.1.

- Kevin Bonham
ACF Olympiad Selections Co-Ordinator.

Letters

Hi,
I am looking for a programme whereby I can play chess with my grandson in London by email, most of the online programmes seem to be for "have a game variety" not on a one to one more personal basis. Can you help?
Thank you
Jane Rudd

...

Dear FIDE friends,
International Course for FIDE Instructor / FIDE Trainer is scheduled 24 February to 2 March 2006 at the FIDE Trainer Academy in Berlin. A maximum of 16 trainers will be accepted on a first come first served basis. After successful graduation from the educational course, each participant will receive a certificate as FIDE Instructor/FIDE Trainer. Please download Questionnaire in pdf format. Please download Invitation in pdf format.

Please check: http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=913 for more details.

Best regards, IM Jovan Petronic

Keres Memorial Rapid: Final scores after 9 rounds: Ivanchuk, Karpov, Kasimdzhanov 7.0; Berg 5.5; Kosyrev, Vitiugov 4.5; Yemelin 4.0; Liiva 3.5; Agrest 1.5; Shirov 0.5. Site : View games - men : View games - women

Games

Hallerod, R (2178)    --    Rozentalis, E (2585)
XXXV Rilton Cup  (1)   Stockholm SWE
2005.12.27     0-1     E20

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Qd3 c5 7.Bd2 Qh4+ 8.g3 Qxd4 9.Qxd4 cxd4 10.Nxd5 Bxd2+ 11.Kxd2 exd5 12.Bh3 Nc6 13.Rc1 Ke7 14. f4 Kd6 15.Bxc8 Raxc8 16.Nf3 Rhe8 17.Rc2

( 19.Kxd3 Nb4+ )

Fontaine, R (2507)    --    Azizi, H (2145)
XXXV Rilton Cup  (1)   Stockholm SWE
2005.12.27     1-0     D02

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bf4 Bf5 4.e3 a6 5.c4 dxc4 6.Bxc4 e6 7.Nc3 Nf6 8. O-O Be7 9.h3 O-O 10.Rc1 Nb4 11.Be5 b5 12.Be2 Nbd5 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.Nd2 Bb4 15.Bf3 Bd3 16.Re1 Ra7 17.a3 Ba5

Apparently falling into the trap, but

Black saves the piece with the counter-threat of ...c4. White's better, though

20.dxc5 Ba5 21.Bd6 Ne7 22.Nxa5 Qxa5 23.c6 Re8 24.b4 Qd8 25.c7 Qd7 26.Qd4! Nc8 27.Bc6

Qxd6 28.Qxd6

( 28.Qxd6 Nxd6 29.Bxe8 Ra8 30.Bd7 and the pawn queens )

Grand Prix tournaments:

Full details at the 2006 Grand Prix site

Australia Day Weekender; Melbourne; January 21-22; http://home.vicnet.net.au/~chessmel/

Aussie Weekender; Launceston; Jan 28-29;

Australia Day Weekender; Sydney; Jan 28-29; http://www.nswca.org.au/

Other events:

Hakoah Club events, 61 Hall Street Bondi, NSW
January 9 Allegro Tournament. Entry fee - $15.00 15 min. each on the clock. Starts 7.30 pm.
January 30th - Lightning Tournament. Entry fee - $10.00 5 min. each on the clock. Starts 7.30 pm
February 6th - Henry Greenfield Cup - 2006 starts. This 9 round Swiss event will be held on consecutive Monday evenings. Starts 7.30 p.m. Enquiries: To Vladimir Feldman 0414798503 or visit Hakoah Chess Club web page: http://hakoahchessclub.freeservers.com

International events:

Queenstown Chess Classic: Jan 15-24, 2006 with Rapid and Lightning events on Jan 25-26. Total prize fund over $NZ35,000. www.queenstownchess.com Confirmed entries from GMs Rogers and Chandler. NZ's largest ever chess event anticipated.

The International Chess Festival "M. Sadoveanu" 20th Edition, Jassy 20 - 26.08.2005; home.dntis.ro ; Manole Vasile: phone nr. 0040740/277850 ; Fax: 0040232/204454. e-mail: iasitel@yahoo.com . Ungureanu Vlad: phone nr. 0040741/665384 e-mail: iasitel@yahoo.com

Penang International Open: Website

Czech Tour - International Chess Festivals Series - http://www.czechtour.net

6th Bangkok Chess Club Open: April 11-16; Century Park Hotel; www.bangkokchess.com; Email: Kai Tuorila

Singapore Masters: For more details, click here.

4th Parsvnath International Open: New Delhi, 14-23 January 2006; Enter by 1 January. Email: delhichess64@yahoo.com, Web site: www.delhichess.com

Correspondence chess players over the board: July 1-9; Karviná, Silesian University, Czech Republic; Preliminary applications to: Ing. Petr BUCHNÍCEK, Svážná 22, CZ-634 00 Brno, Czech Republic. Phone: 605 578 666. Email: buchnicek@skscr.cz

Best wishes till next time
- Paul Broekhuyse
broekhuysep@bigpond.com
19 Gill Avenue, Avoca Beach, NSW 2251
02 4382 4525
0408 824525

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