There are also plans for an Adult Internet Comp starting in July. A meeting will be held at the upcoming Doeberl Cup If you're interested, email Alex Saint

The SA Championships are under way, with a strong field including Trevor Tao, FM Aaron Guthrie, Srbo Zaric, Bob Cowley and reigning state champion James Obst.

Andrew Saint was re-elected as SACA President at the SA Chess Association AGM on Sunday. Tristan Stevens is the new ratings officer and deputy tournaments officer. SACA is looking for a new webmaster.

The AGM blitz was won by Andrew Saint.

Dandenong Summer Swiss

For this year's Summer Swiss at the Dandenong Chess Club we had a turnout of 56 players.The tournament being an all-in-100 minutes meant that we were going to see some great chess. We had 4 players rated over 2000 with Malcolm Pyke as the top seed. This meant that the lower rated players got a chance to play against some strong players. As usual round 1 didn't start until 8.00 due to late entries coming in. In round 1 it went with the ratings except for on boards 3, 6, 9, 15. On board 3 Ascaro Pecori (2027) lost to unrated player Sujendra Premaka. On board 6 we had Phillip Drew (1320) beating the veteran Richard Voon (1885), a former club champion. I believe this is his biggest scalp to date. On board 9, Craig Baxter (1316) held Pranas Silas (1801) to a draw and Frank Drazzi (1194) held Graham Shaw (1570) to a draw as well. In round 2 we had 4 fortfeits. Another great performance by Phillip Drew and Sujendra Premaka. The in-form Phillip Drew held Sam Biondo (1608) to a draw and Sujendra Premaka won a piece against Miralem Campara (1822) (a former club champion) and the game. There were draws between Nick Vitkovic (1495) v Mendel Armenman (1643), Matthew Potter (1636) v Frank Hewitt (1444), Christopher Potter (1453) v Eddie Kocjancic (1620) and unrated Michael Thang Dang v Milijov Savic (1218). Otherwise round 2 went with the ratings.

- DOP Jamie Kenmure

The initial list for the Ergas Squad has been formed and all children should have been contacted either by me, or in a few cases by their State Association. If anyone has not heard can they contact me urgently (jenni@stratagemcc.com.au).

Nominated Juniors have until the 17th February to confirm their interest in Ergas 2006 and their availability for the training camp in Canberra from 3rd October to 8th October.

Thank-you to Mr Henry Ergas for his continued sponsorship of the Squad.

Nominated Juniors can be seen here

(some of these have already notified me they are not available - the revised list will be published prior to the names going to the selectors)

- Jenni Oliver

Toukley White Knight Open (NSW Central Coast)

This was the third Myer Tan Chess Grand Prix event in quick succession for NSW players and proved to be another very strong affair (all have had at least 9 players over 2000 - in our case 10 of them).

Round 1 saw a number of upsets as lower-ranked opponents took draws on boards 1, 4, 6 and 7. But the result of the round had to be Trent Parker's victory over Johny Bolens. Trent managed to get two passed pawns but still had a long nervous time against 'Mr Swindle'. Junior Jeffrey Young held George Xie to a draw.

Round 2 games went almost entirely as to ratings - yet over half went into the incremental time-warp phase, many players were left with the minimum 10 minute break between games/rounds.

There were still 8 co-leaders at the start of Round 3, before Zvedeniouk upset Jones. Round 4 - the last on the Saturday - began with only 4 leaders. But by the end of the round Tomek Rej had broken clear, beating Broekhuyse. Promising junior Max Illingworth upset Johny Bolens.

In Round 5, played on Sunday morning, Tomek Rej and Gareth Charles drew. Broekhuyse had to fight hard to survive against Illingworth.

Round 6 saw George Xie beat Tomek Rej to break free by a full point. And the celebrated Bolens Gambit - turning up half an hour late and then out-blitzing your bored and frustrated opponent - was finally refuted ... by the clock! ... when Johny Bolens lost on time to Mendes da Costa.

In the Final Round, George Xie spurned Broekhuyse's early draw offer, but the game was eventually drawn anyway. Rej beat Jones to claim second, while Moylan and Zvedeniouk drew, creating a four-way tie for third.

(Report by Keith Farrell and Paul Broekhuyse)

Prizes:

Open
1st George Xie 6 (who had won it back in 2000 at the when he was 14 (rating cap back then was 1800))
2nd Tomek Rej 5.5
=3rd Paul Broekhuyse, Gareth Charles, Lara Moylan, Iia Zvediouk - each on 5 points

Division 1:
Equal 1st Max Illingworth, Alex Mendes da Costa and Neil Wright

Division 2:
Equal 1st Norman Greenwood and Andrew Phillips

Division 3:
1st Zach Berry-Porter Equal 2nd Graeme Decon and Peter Dorhauer
Junior Prize Alex Mehan

No Name Loc Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1 Xie, George 2324 6 22:.5 24:1 6:1 9:1 5:1 2:1 3:.5
2 Rej, Tomek 2243 5.5 19:1 8:1 11:1 3:1 4:.5 1:0 7:1
3 Broekhuyse, Paul 2026 5 15:1 38:1 10:1 2:0 8:.5 4:1 1:.5
4 Charles, Gareth 2105 5 23:1 27:1 9:1 5:.5 2:.5 3:0 10:1
5 Zvedeniouk, Ilia 2001 5 21:1 18:1 7:1 4:.5 1:0 16:1 6:.5
6 Moylan, Laura A 2093 5 24:.5 16:1 1:0 18:1 12:1 8:1 5:.5
7 Jones, Brian A 2151 4.5 25:1 26:1 5:0 17:1 11:1 10:.5 2:0
8 Illingworth, Max 1786 4.5 31:1 2:0 25:1 13:1 3:.5 6:0 16:1
9 Mendes da Costa, Alex 1930 4.5 29:1 36:1 4:0 1:0 15:1 13:1 11:.5
10 Wright, Neil S 1945 4.5 14:1 20:1 3:0 23:1 27:1 7:.5 4:0
11 Castor, David 2008 4.5 28:1 17:1 2:0 26:1 7:0 23:1 9:.5
12 Phillips, Andrew 1564 4 16:.5 22:1 13:0 20:1 6:0 27:1 14:.5
13 Bolens, Johny 2095 4 36:0 29:1 12:1 8:0 25:1 9:0 19:1
14 Berry-Porter, Zach 1447 4 10:0 37:1 16:0 19:.5 24:1 20:1 12:.5
15 Greenwood, Norman 1468 4 3:0 34:1 17:0 33:1 9:0 30:1 23:1
16 Bird, Andrew 2105 3.5 12:.5 6:0 14:1 36:1 26:1 5:0 8:0
17 Hvistendahl, Robert 1701 3.5 35:1 11:0 15:1 7:0 30:1 19:0 21:.5
18 Boyce, Jamie 1665 3.5 32:1 5:0 28:1 6:0 23:0 21:.5 33:1
19 Canfell, Mike J 1648 3.5 2:0 31:1 26:0 14:.5 36:1 17:1 13:0
20 Escribano, Jose 1669 3.5 37:1 10:0 21:.5 12:0 28:1 14:0 31:1
21 Losh, Gary 1456 3.5 5:0 32:1 20:.5 27:0 31:1 18:.5 17:.5
22 Young, Jeffrey 1654 3.5 1:.5 12:0 24:.5 30:0 32:.5 36:1 29:1
23 Dickson, Ian C 1546 3 4:0 33:1 38:1 10:0 18:1 11:0 15:0
24 Tracey, Michael J 1470 3 6:.5 1:0 22:.5 31:.5 14:0 32:1 28:.5
25 Ramachandran, Raj 1602 3 7:0 30:1 8:0 29:1 13:0 28:.5 27:.5
26 Kordahi, Nicholas 1743 3 30:1 7:0 19:1 11:0 16:0 29:0 34:1
27 Kodzoman, Ivan 1732 3 33:1 4:0 36:.5 21:1 10:0 12:0 25:.5
28 Smit, George 1464 3 11:0 35:1 18:0 38:1 20:0 25:.5 24:.5
29 Dorhauer, Peter K 1443 3 9:0 13:0 35:1 25:0 33:1 26:1 22:0
30 Deacon, Graeme 1360 3 26:0 25:0 34:1 22:1 17:0 15:0 36:1
31 Whiteside, Benjamin 1366 2.5 8:0 19:0 37:1 24:.5 21:0 35:1 20:0
32 Mehen, Alex 2.5 18:0 21:0 33:0 34:1 22:.5 24:0 37:1
33 Porter, Leslie 1049 2 27:0 23:0 32:1 15:0 29:0 37:1 18:0
34 Coyle, Mick 632 2 38:0 15:0 30:0 32:0 35:1 0:1 26:0
35 Rajendran, Prem 679 2 17:0 28:0 29:0 37:1 34:0 31:0 0:1
36 Parker, Trent 1490 1.5 13:1 9:0 27:.5 16:0 19:0 22:0 30:0
37 Chiddy, Rory 383 1 20:0 14:0 31:0 35:0 0:1 33:0 32:0
38 Rachmadi, Herman 1701 1 34:1 3:0 23:0 28:0 0: 0: 0:

Apologies for including so many of my own games - it's not vanity so much as having access to the score sheets! - Ed

Herman Rachmadi    --    Paul Broekhuyse
Toukley Open  (2)   Toukley
2006.02.11     0-1     D81

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5

I used this tournament to test out the Grunfeld, which I haven't really played before. I was happy with this first game

passive

6...b5 7.Qb3 c5!? 8.dxc5 Nc6 9.Nf3 Be6 10.Qc2?! Nb4 11.Qb1? Bf5 12.e4

Nxe4!? 13.Nxe4 Qd5 14.Nfd2 Bh6 15.f3 Rd8 16.Be2?

( 16.Nb3!? seems critical, eg 16...Bxc1 17.Qxc1 Bxe4 18.fxe4 Qxe4+ 19.Kf2 Nc2 20.Rb1 O-O 21.Be2 a5 22.Bf3 Qc4 leaves black with an attack for the piece )

Paul Broekhuyse (2026)    --    Tomek Rej (2200)
Toukley Open  (4)   Toukley
2006.02.11     0-1     D13k

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bf4 Qb6 7.Na4 Qa5+ 8.Bd2 Qc7 9.Rc1 e6 10.e3 Bd6 11.Bb5 O-O 12.O-O Ne4 13.h3 Bd7 14.Nc5 Bxc5 15.dxc5 Ne5!? 16.Be2 a5! 17.Nxe5 Qxe5 18.Bc3 Qg5 19.Bf3 Nxc5 20.Bxg7 Qxg7 21.Rxc5 Qxb2 22.e4!

Suddenly white has counterplay

22...Qa3 23.Rc7 Bc6 24.exd5 Qd6

25.Qd2??

( 25.Qc1! f6? 26.dxc6 Qxc7 27.cxb7 Qxc1 28.bxa8=Q )

Gareth Charles (2100)    --    Paul Broekhuyse (2026)
Toukley Open  (6)   Toukley
2006.02.12     0-1     B06p

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be3 a6

a double-fianchetto, but a bit oomphier with ...b5 coming

Nd5 seems better

Now the Na4 is uncomfortable

11.d5 Ngf6 12.Nd2 Rb8 13.f3 e6 14.c4 O-O 15.Qc2 Re8 16.Nc3 Nb6 17. Kf2 Qb7 18.Bd3 exd5 19.cxd5

Nbxd5!? 20.exd5 Nxd5 21.Nxd5 Qxd5

Black has two pawns for the piece, plus an attack. The key is the central pawns which are about to roll

St George Leagues Club Summer Open: NSW. 50 players, 7 rounds. Leading scores: I. Zirdum (2011) and A. Huynh (1800) 6, A. Rose (2092) 5.5. Lloyd Fell, aged 87, scored 3.5. Johny Bolens won the 44-player lightning, scoring 8/9. - Peter Parr

Letters

Dear ACF committee and chess public,

This has been a long time coming but here goes.

I would like to formally apologize to the Australian Chess Federation (ACF), all the state associations, junior leagues and the chess public in general for my tardiness in payments as well as other issues. It was always my intention to pay all the fees but due to health reasons I found this overwhelming. I just needed some space and rest. Throughout this time, I still intended to pay the fees off.

I was quite disappointed with the bombarding of emails and the hate mail I received from the chess public even though it is clear I made some errors along the way. I felt I was trying to do a good thing for Australian chess by picking up the pieces after Cordover's bid fell through. I realize full well that things could have been done better.

Let me make this clear:

1. The $4000 Junior Development Fund was something I promised and will pay for
2. Rating fees will be paid for (like any tournament)
3. Karthick Rajendran was owed some money and I had promised to pay him for that. I apologise to Karthick as I know he needed the money at the time.
4. The Bulletins were a complete disaster - there were errors in keeping records of who paid, errors in backing up files on computers. I intend to pay for the ACFs reimbursement of people who paid for bulletins.
5. Any other fees that have not been listed above.

I know I have a black mark by my name but I hope this letter at least clears some things up. I hope you can accept my sincere apology.

Expect monthly payments shortly.

Cheers,

George Howard
Former ACF President

Michael Grossman - father of Alex Grossman who participated in the Australian Junior Champs - lives in California, and offers the following perspective oin the differences between US and Australian junior chess. The family is associated with the Box Hill Club in Melbourne and they have Australian citizenship.

The Australian Junior Championships was unequivocally the best run tournament in which my son (Alex) has ever participated. It was a truly wonderful experience.

And it reminded us ... to clumsily paraphrase Peter Allen ... that although we currently live in the States ... we're proud to still call Australia home.

I thought you might find it interesting for me to provide a more detailed comparison of our chess experience in Australia vs. our chess experience in the US. So here goes...

1) Cosmetic
a) Soft vinyl boards are used in the US that can be rolled up instead of harder boards that can be folded.
b) Players are generally required to supply their own clocks. When tournament organizers provide clocks ... they're almost never digital.

2) Tournament rules
a) National youth events in the US are played out over 3 days. There are only 7 games (2 on day 1; 3 on day 2; and 2 on day 3).
b) The time control in the US Nationals is G90. This means that time management is a relatively important consideration. (It's also worth mentioning that the vast majority of kids tournaments in the U S have a time control of G30 or G45.)
c) Kids' tournaments in the States are grouped by school grade level (eg, Grades 4-5) rather than age.

3) Playing style
a) Kids in Australian have a much more sophisticated understanding of openings. 95% of youth games in the US start with e4/e5. The Sicilian is almost never played by U10 children. D4 is only rarely used as an opening.

4) Standard of play
a) The average standard of play is higher in the Australian Nationals.
In the US, the competitors split into 3 groups: a) very good players; b) moderately good players; c) weak players. This latter group seemed to be missing from the tournament here in Brisbane. That's likely a reflection of the length of the tournament. Devoting 2 weeks is a major time investment. Devoting 3 days is not.

As a result, very few games at the Australian Nationals are easy. By contrast, in the US Nationals, some of the games are easy and some are hard.

b) The very good players in the US and Australia are roughly comparable. We live in California, which has a population of 30 million. By frame of reference, Alex is the 6th highest rated U10 player in the State ... but there are an additional 12 kids who aren't far behind.

So if Australia competed with California (an interesting notion BTW) ... it would be extremely close ... which is exactly what one would expect based on the relatively similar population sizes.

5) Other
a) In typically insular US fashion...no mention is ever made of FIDE. The only rules to which people are ever referred are the USCF rules.
b) More generally, the attitude toward rules in more lenient in the US. No tournament organizer would ever dream of reading from the rule book to the assembled masses. Kids can write down their moves before or after the move is made, some kids wear head phones to block out noise, etc.
c) The US rating system and Australian rating system seem to be very different for new players. It seems that it takes more time in Australia to earn a high rating. (Or said differently, it takes more time in Australia for a rating to reflect the player's actual level of play.) The top 10 U10 kids in the current Australian Nationals would all be rated between 1,150 - 1,600 in the States. (I had actually anticipated this in advance of our visit...and most definitely did not regard Alex as the pre-tournament favorite despite his higher rating.)
d) In both countries, a strikingly large percentage of child players are Asian.

If you're ever interested in putting together an Australian/California match (in person...or over the Internet) ... I think I could help facilitate...

Best regards,
Mike Grossman

Hi Paul,

I would just like to sincerely thank the whole Australian chess community for their overwhelming support of the idea for an Australian Internet Junior Chess Championships.

The days of the Koshnitskys are far from over.

Kind regards,
Alex Saint
AIJCC Coordinator
www.ausnetchess.org

Olympiad selections:

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

The following have been appointed as selectors for this Olympiad:

IM Guy West, FM Tim Reilly, FM Geoff Saw, Ian Rout (these four for both teams), Ingela Eriksson (Women's team), IA Dr Charles Zworestine (Open team).

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

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 37th Chess Olympiads to be held in Torino, Italy from May 20- June 4th 2006. ( Event website )

Applications will remain open until Wednesday, 22 February 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 here

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.

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.

- Kevin Bonham
ACF Olympiad Selections Co-Ordinator.

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 here. Potential bidders are advised to refer to these rules and the general by-law for Australian championship events here, which also applies to the events concerned. In addition, there are by-laws that apply to the Australian Open Championships ( here ref clause 7) comprising: Australian Open Championship, Australian Open Rapid-play Championship, Australian Open Lightning Championship, and incorporating the Australian Women’s Open Championships ( here)

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

Aeroflot Open: Players include: Akopian, Aleksandrov, Bologan, Dreev, Khalifman, Mamedyarov and Naiditsch. Round 8 leading scores: 1. Eljanov, Georgiev 6.0; Malakhov, Mamedyarov, Naiditsch, Jobava, Bologan, Motylev, Sasikiran, Jakovenko 5.5. Site : View games

German Championship: Leading final scores: Luther, Kunin, Jussupow 6.5; Khenkin, Kritz, Meister 6.0; Henrichs, Prusikin, Tischbierek, Baramidze, Muranyi, Naumann 5.5; Gustafsson, Köpke, Graf, Reipsch 5.0. Site : View games

Ponomariov wins Cuernavaca Young Masters: Mexico. Final standings: Ponomariov, Vallejo Pons 6.5/9; 3. Nakamura 6.0; Dominguez 5.5; Bruzon 5.0; Volokitin 4.5; Cheparinov 4.0; Karjakin 3.5; Leon Hoyos 2.0; Felgaer 1.5. Site : View games

Games

Karjakin, Sergey (2660)    --    Vallejo Pons, F (2650)
Young Masters  (6)   Cuernavaca MEX
2006.02.08     0-1     C83

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 a6 6.Ba4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9.Nbd2 Be7 10.c3 O-O 11.Bc2 f5 12.Nb3 Qd7 13.Nbd4 Nxd4 14.Nxd4 c5 15.Nxe6 Qxe6 16.f3 Ng5 17.a4 Rad8 18.axb5 axb5 19.Kh1 f4 20.Bd2 c4 21.Ra5 Qc6 22.Qa1 Bc5 23.Ra6 Qb7 24.Qa5 Rde8 25.Re1 Bf2 26.Rf1 Be3 27.Bxe3 fxe3 28.Qb6 Qxb6 29.Rxb6 Rxe5 30.Rxb5 e2 31.Re1

Naiditsch, A (2657)    --    Vachier Lagrave, M (2542)
Aeroflot Open  (5)   Moscow RUS
2006.02.12     0-1     B96

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qc7 8. Qf3 b5 9.O-O-O b4 10.Nce2 Nbd7 11.g4 Bb7 12.Bxf6 Nxf6 13.Ng3 Rc8 14.Bd3 g6 15.h4 Bg7 16.h5 Nd7 17.Nb3 Rg8 18.hxg6 hxg6 19.Qe2 Nb6 20.Rhe1 Na4 21.e5 dxe5 22.fxe5 Bh6+ 23.Kb1 Bf4 24.Nf1 Rh8 25.Nbd2 Bd5 26.Nb3 Kf8 27.Bxa6

( 30.Rxd1 Bxe5 )

Sasikiran, K (2670)    --    Landa, K (2597)
Aeroflot Open  (5)   Moscow RUS
2006.02.12     1-0     E46

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Ne2 d5 6.a3 Be7 7.cxd5 exd5 8. g3 a5 9.Bg2 c6 10.O-O Na6 11.b3 Re8 12.Kh1 Bf8 13.Nf4 Bf5 14.f3 h6 15.Ra2 b5 16.Nce2 Bh7 17.g4 Ra7 18.Ng3 Bd6 19.Nd3 c5 20.f4 Ne4 21.Nxe4 Bxe4 22. Ne5 Rc7 23.Qe2 Bxg2+ 24.Qxg2 Bxe5 25.fxe5 c4 26.bxc4 dxc4 27.g5!? Qxg5 28. Qd5 Qg6 29.Rg2 Qc6 30.e4 c3 31.Rfg1 g5

( 35.Rxe8+ Qxe8 ( 35...Kxe8 36.Rg8+ Ke7 37.Qd8+ Ke6 38.Re8+ Qxe8 39.Qxe8+ Re7 40. Qc6# ) 36.Qd6# )

Sargissian, G (2603)    --    Efimenko, Z (2666)
Aeroflot Open  (5)   Moscow RUS
2006.02.12     1-0     E15

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 c6 8. Ne5 d5 9.Bc3 Nfd7 10.Nxd7 Nxd7 11.Nd2 O-O 12.O-O Rc8 13.e4 b5 14.Re1 dxe4 15.Nxe4 bxc4 16.Bf1 Nb6 17.Nc5 Nd5 18.Qf3 Nxc3 19.Qxc3 Qb6 20.b4 Rfd8 21. a4 Bxc5 22.dxc5 Qc7 23.Rab1 Rb8 24.Bxc4 Bxc4 25.Qxc4 Rd5 26.Red1 h6 27. Rxd5 exd5 28.Qd4 a6 29.Kg2 Qe7 30.Rb3 Qb7 31.h4 Re8 32.Re3 Rb8 33.h5 Kf8 34.Qe5 Rd8

( 36...cxb5 37.c6! Qxc6?? ( 37...Qa7 38.c7 Ra8 39.Qe7+ Kg8 40.c8=Q+ ) 38.Qe7+ )

Petrosian, TL (2558)    --    Smirnov, P (2614)
Aeroflot Open  (5)   Moscow RUS
2006.02.12     1-0     B85

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.a4 Nc6 8. Be2 Be7 9.O-O O-O 10.f4 Qc7 11.Kh1 Re8 12.a5!? Nxa5 13.e5 dxe5 14.fxe5 Qxe5 15.Bf4 Qc5 16.Na4 Qa7 17.Be3 Nd5 18.Bg1 b5 19.Bd3!? Bf6

( 19...bxa4 20.Bxh7+!! Kxh7 21.Qh5+ Kg8 22.Qxf7+ Kh7 23. Qh5+! Kg8 24.Qxe8+ Kh7 25.Nxe6 )

20.Nxb5 Qd7 21.Nbc3 Bd8 22.Nc5 Qc7 23.Nxd5 exd5

24.Rxa5!! Qxa5 25.Bxh7+!! Kf8

( 25...Kxh7 26.Qh5+ wins the e8 rook like before )

( 27...Qc7 28.Nd7+ Qxd7 29.Bc5+ Be7 30.Rxf7# )

( 31.Qd5+ Kf8 ( 31...Kf6 32.Bd4# ) 32.Qg8# )

Shariyazdanov, A (2583)    --    Dreev, A (2697)
Aeroflot Open  (5)   Moscow RUS
2006.02.12     0-1     D45

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4 dxc4 8. Bxc4 e5 9.g5 Nd5 10.Bd2 O-O 11.O-O-O exd4 12.Nxd4 Nb4! 13.Qb1 Ne5! 14.Be2 c5! 15.Nf5 c4! 16.Nxd6 Ned3+! 17.Bxd3 Nxd3+ 18.Kc2 Qxd6 19.Be1 Bg4 20.Rd2 Bf3

What a mess! It's heartening to see that even strong GMs make a meal of it some days :)

Bu Xiangzhi (2645)    --    Zhao Jun (2520)
Aeroflot Open  (5)   Moscow RUS
2006.02.12     1-0     D15

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 a6 5.c5 Nbd7 6.Bf4 Nh5 7.Bg5 h6 8. Be3 Nhf6 9.g3 Ng4 10.Bd2 e5 11.e3 e4 12.Nh4 Ngf6 13.f3 g5 14.Ng2 Qe7 15.f4 Bg7 16.Be2 Nf8 17.h3 Ne6 18.Na4 gxf4 19.gxf4 Nd7 20.O-O Bf6 21.Be1 Ng7 22. f5! Qd8 23.h4 h5 24.Rf4 a5 25.Rc1 Ra7 26.Bg3 Kf8 27.Rf2 Kg8 28.b3 Ra8 29. Kh1 Rh6 30.Qg1 b5 31.Nc3! b4 32.Na4 Rh7 33.Qh2 Ra7 34.Bd6 Kh8 35.Nb6!! Ne8

( 35...Nxb6 36.cxb6 Qxb6 37.Bc5 )

36.Nxc8 Qxc8 37.Nf4 Qd8 38.Rg1 Nxd6 39.cxd6 Bxh4 40.Rfg2 Bf6 41.Bxh5 Qf8

42.Bxf7!! Qxf7

( 42...Rxh2+ 43.Rxh2+ mates )

( 43...Kg7 44.Ne7+ Kf8 45.Rg8+ Qxg8 46.Rxg8+ Kf7 47.Qxh7+ Bg7 48.Qxg7# )

A spectacular attack

Sedlak, N (2518)    --    Zhang Pengxiang (2638)
Aeroflot Open  (5)   Moscow RUS
2006.02.12     1-0     B33

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qb6 5.Nb3 Nf6 6.Nc3 e6 7.Bd3 d6 8.O-O a6 9.Kh1 Qc7 10.f4 b5 11.Qe2 Bb7 12.Bd2 Be7 13.Rae1 O-O 14.Rf3 b4 15.Nd1 g6 16.Rh3 Rfd8 17.Nf2 a5 18.e5 Nd7 19.Ng4 Nf8 20.Qf2 a4

( 21...axb3 22.f6 bxa2 23.Nh6+ Kh8 24.Nxf7+ Kg8 25.Nh6+ Kh8 26.fxe7 Qxe7 27.Bg5!! )

Eljanov, P (2655)    --    Alekseev, Evgeny (2634)
Aeroflot Open  (6)   Moscow RUS
2006.02.13     1-0     E15

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Nbd2 c5 6.e4 cxd4 7.e5 Ng4 8.h3 Nh6 9.Bg2 Nc6 10.O-O Nf5 11.a3 Be7 12.b4 Bb7 13.g4 Nh4 14.Nxh4 Bxh4 15.Ne4 Be7 16.Bf4 O-O 17.g5 Qb8 18.Re1 Kh8 19.Qh5 a5 20.Bg3 Rg8

( 20...axb4 21.Nf6 gxf6 22.exf6 Bd6 23.Be4 )

21.c5 bxc5 22.bxc5 Qe8 23.Qh4 a4 24.Nd6

Bxd6 25.Be4 h6 26.cxd6 Qd8 27.Rab1 Rb8 28.gxh6 Qxh4 29.Bxh4 Na5 30.Bxb7 Rxb7 31.Rxb7 Nxb7 32.hxg7+ Kxg7 33. Rd1 Rc8 34.Rxd4 Rc1+ 35.Kg2 Nc5 36.Bg5 Rc2 37.h4 Kg6 38.Be3 Kh5 39.Rf4 Nd3 40.Rxf7 Nxe5 41.Rg7 Nc4 42.Bc5 Kxh4 43.Rxd7 Rd2 44.Rd8 Ne5 45.Re8 Rd5 46. Be3 Rxd6 47.Bf4 Rd5 48.Rxe6 Nd3 49.Re4 Kg4 50.Be3+ Kf5 51.Rxa4 Ne5 52.Kf1 Rd1+ 53.Ke2 Ra1 54.Bc5 Rc1 55.Bd4 Rc4 56.Rb4 Rc2+ 57.Kd1 Rc8 58.Rb5 Rd8 59.Rxe5+ Kf4 60.Kc2 Rxd4 61.Re3 Rc4+ 62.Rc3 Ra4 63.Rd3 Ra8 64.f3 Ke5 65. Kd2 Ra4 66.Ke3 Ra8 67.Kd2 Ra4 68.Kc2 Ra8 69.Kb3 Rb8+ 70.Kc4 Rc8+ 71.Kb5 Rb8+ 72.Kc6 Ra8 73.Rb3 Ke6 74.Kb5 Rb8+ 75.Kc4 Rc8+ 76.Kb4 Rb8+ 77.Kc3 Ra8 78.Kb2 Kd5 79.Rb5+ Kc6 80.Rb4 Rf8 81.f4 Rg8 82.Rc4+ Kd5 83.Kb3 Rg3+ 84.Rc3 Rg8 85.a4 Rg1 86.Rd3+ Ke4 87.Rd8 Kxf4 88.Re8 Kf5 89.a5 Kf6 90.Kb4 Kf7 91. Re2 Rb1+ 92.Kc5 Ra1 93.Kb6 Rb1+ 94.Ka7 Rb3 95.a6 Rb1 96.Ka8 Rb6 97.a7 Rb1 98.Rc2 Ke7 99.Rc8 Kd6 100.Rb8 Ra1 101.Kb7 Rb1+ 102.Kc8 Rc1+ 103.Kd8 Rg1 104.Ke8

Sasikiran, K (2670)    --    Malakhov, V (2694)
Aeroflot Open  (6)   Moscow RUS
2006.02.13     1-0     D15

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.g3 g6 6.Bg2 Bg7 7.O-O O-O 8. cxd5 cxd5 9.Ne5 e6 10.Bg5 h6 11.Be3 Nfd7 12.f4 Nc6 13.Bf2 Ne7 14.Rc1 Nf5 15.e4 dxe4 16.Bxe4 Nf6 17.Bg2 Ne7 18.Qb3 Ned5 19.Rfe1 b5 20.Nxd5 Nxd5 21. Rc5 Qd6

White has a mating attack

Moiseenko, A1 (2657)    --    Savchenko, B (2569)
Aeroflot Open  (6)   Moscow RUS
2006.02.13     1-0     D37

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 b6 7.Bd3 Bb7 8. cxd5 exd5 9.O-O c5 10.Ne5 Na6 11.Qf3 Nc7 12.Rad1 cxd4 13.exd4 Ne6 14.Be3 Bb4 15.Qh3 Bc8??

Tomashevsky, E (2586)    --    Aleksandrov, A (2653)
Aeroflot Open  (6)   Moscow RUS
2006.02.13     1-0     D31

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 c5 6.e3 Qc7 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Ra2!? Nf6 9.Bd3 O-O 10.Ne2 b6 11.O-O Re8 12.f3 Ba6 13.Bxa6 Nxa6 14.Qd3 Qb7 15.g4 Rad8 16.Ng3 Nc7 17.Rg2 Qc6 18.h4 Nd7 19.Nf5 Nb5 20.e4 dxe4 21. fxe4 cxd4 22.cxd4 Nd6 23.e5 Nc4 24.Qg3 Nf8 25.g5 Ne6 26.Qf2 Rd7

( White's main threat is 29...a5 30.Rg7 Nxg7 31.Qxg7+ Ke7 32.Bg5+ Ke6 33.Qf6+ Kd5 34.Qf3+ )

Threatening Rg8+ and Qg7 mate

Sorokin, M (2560)    --    Kazhgaleyev, M (2607)
Aeroflot Open  (6)   Moscow RUS
2006.02.13     0-1     C78

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.a4 Rb8 8. axb5 axb5 9.d3 d6 10.Be3 O-O 11.Nbd2 Bb6 12.c3 Ne7 13.Nh4 Bg4 14.Qe1 Nh5 15.h3 Bd7 16.Ndf3 Kh8 17.g4

Grand Prix tournaments:

Full details at the 2006 Grand Prix site

Drouin Open: Cat 1; Latrobe Valley Chess Club; February 18-19 from 10am; Drouin Secondary College, Main Rd, Drouin (100km East of Melbourne). 7 Round Swiss; 60 min + 10s/move. Fees: $60/$45/$25. Ring 9576-8177. $10 late-fee after 14th Feb. Email drouin@chessworld.com.au . Prizes: $500/$300/$200.

South West Open: WA 11-12 March Details

Ballarat Begonia Open: 11-13 March Details

Tasmanian Championship: Burnie 11-13 March Details

Dubbo Open: NSW 25-26 March Details

Doeberl Cup: ACT 14-17 April Details

Other events:

Gold Coast Tin Cup 2006 for players rated under 1750. Organised by Outreach Chess/Gold Coast Chess Club. February 18-19 at Somerset Sports Pavilion (300 metres West of Somerset College), Somerset Dr, Mudgeeraba. Organiser: Peter Bender 07 5556 0434. Entry forms available from email: outreachchess@bigpond.com

Croydon Chess - 2006 Maroondah Festival Chess Championship (19/2/2006 at 1PM)
This year's Maroondah Festival Chess Championship is coming up on Sunday, 19th February 2006. 1pm start, 15 mins/game, 5 round Allegro. We'll be out in the open air, so start praying NOW for good weather! We had a blast last year and everyone really enjoyed the event, so come and join us. Intent is to have 10 junior boards and 10 adult boards (i.e. 20 juniors and 20 adults). We may vary that depending on entries on the day. Oh, by the way, did I mention that entry is free, so no excuse not to play! Further details on the club's website at www.croydonchess.com

City of Sydney Championship/under 1700: 9 rounds; starts 19 February; NSW Bridge Association, 162 Goulburn St, Sydney. Details Trent Parker 0419 469 764.

Wellington Open (New Zealand): FIDE Rated. Easter weekend Friday 14 April to Sunday 16 April: Details

International events:

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.

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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