ACF NEWSLETTER

The newsletter of the Australian Chess Federation Inc.

Acting Editor: Denis Jessop, ACF President

No. 386

24 October 2006

I was remiss in my first newsletter in not acknowledging the magnificent job that Paul Broekhuyse did in the years that he was the ACF Newsletter Editor. I now take the opportunity to thank Paul on behalf of the ACF and, I believe, the Australian chess community for the time and effort that he put in to making the Newsletter such an impressive piece of work.

It has been said that Paul's is a hard act to follow. So I don't propose to try to follow it in the sense of adopting exactly the same approach and subject matter. I shall concentrate on local news and the activities of Australian players in overseas events. These days almost all of the big overseas tournaments are accessible on overseas websites from which games can be downloaded and, in many cases viewed live. In the bigger events some games are also available annotated by Grandmasters and that's surely not something with which I can compete.

The first two newsletters have been dated Tuesday but my aim is to publish the ACF Newsletter on a Wednesday. Deadline for contributions will be the end of the Tuesday immediately before. I welcome contributions about Australian chess, particularly notification and reports of current events and games played in them

Ergas Junior Development Squad

Jenni Oliver has sent this report of the recent Ergas Squad training camp in Canberra ending on 8 October.

The Ergas training camp had a successful week. In the last round of the training tournament, James Obst had a fairly comfortable win over Andrew Brown to win undefeated on 6.5. James was probably pushed the hardest in his games with Sherab and Ben Harris. He was very fortunate in his game with Thomas Donaldson as he was 20 minutes late arriving. However I had already allowed a late start to his game and Ben’s, to allow their game to be analysed from the previous day. In the end he missed most of the analysis, but didn’t lose any time on his clock. You usually need a little luck to win a tournament. :)

Justin Chow had a fascinating game against Jessica Kinder. Jess grabbed a pawn too many and found herself against a series of tactics that first won back material and then checkmated her. Emma Guo and Molly McGarity also had a very interesting game. Ben Lazarus comfortably took second place to leave Thomas Donaldson, Sam Grigg and Ben Harris tied for 3rd. Sam had a particularly good tournament and has improved hugely since Ergas 2005. A variety of other prizes were given out, including vouchers from Chess Australia, books and chocolate.

I was also rather spoiled with flowers (from the group, although I suspect Mr and Mrs Lazarus had a hand in it :) ) and also chocolates from the Guo family and Tony was given a lovely bottle of wine from them as well.

We managed (just) to finish in time for the 1pm prize-giving. Senator Kate Lundy was the guest of honour and continues to impress as an astute and intelligent politician.

After prize giving a party was held and then people started dispersing to various destinations, while the big clean up commenced. IM Andras Toth proved to be very handy with a broom.

I would have to say the week was a delight to run. Behaviour was immaculate and it was good to see some new friendships being forged.

I billeted Jess Kinder, Deb Ng and Sarah Behne-Smith again and they were a heap of fun to have. On Saturday night they (and Tamzin and Gareth) were practising waltzes and Cha-chas at 11 pm – I wonder where the inspiration came from?

Some thank-yous.

Mr Henry Ergas – without his generous sponsorship none of this could happen.

Ian Rout – for the very essential webpage and daily updates

Our coaches – GM Ian Rogers; GM Darryl Johansen; IM Andras Toth; Cory Middleton

Billet families – Brown; Xing; Chow; Russell; Setiabudi

Canteen – Particularly Mirabelle Guo (and Jamie Lee) who were there every day and Wan Wong and other parents who helped on an ad hoc basis

Equipment – ACTJCL for the chess centre and equipment; Charles Bishop for the projector; Denis Jessop for the screen.

To all the parents who support their children by providing travel and accommodation so their kids can take part.

And finally my husband Tony who for the 12 years of my mad chess administration addiction has been there to support and help me. I know he is happy it has finally ended. :)

I will be very sad to end my association with the squad, but I know the next manager will bring a fresh perspective and take it even further.

[But not as sad as it is for me! Jenni has been responsible for the establishment and growth of the Ergas Squad from the beginning and has done a tremendous job. This year there were representatives from every State and the ACT and Jenni introduced the concept of sessions with a sports psychologist which I don't think has been done in Australia before. It will be very hard to replace her. DJ]

Commonwealth Championships, Mumbai, 19 – 29 November 2006

FM Lee Jones has been endorsed as our official representative in this event. We wish him all the best for a successful tournament.

Australian Open Championships 2006/2007

Latest news from the 2006-07 Australian Open from Shaun Press.

GM's Ian Rogers (AUS) and Dejan Antic (Serbia) are confirmed entries.

We are negotiating with another 6 GM's (1 from Australia, 1 from Canada, 1 from India, 1 from Philippines and 2 from Georgia) and hope to have confirmation of their entries soon.

Due to extra sponsorship the prize fund has been increased by $1000, with the Womens Prize now $750 and an additional Womens prize added.

The Open has budgeted for a field of 150 players and with 21 prizes on offer you have a 1 in 7 chance (minimum) of winning a prize.

So with all the extra players from overseas, extra prize money, and the attraction of extra sponsorship we hope that you can support the efforts of the organisers by entering the tournament as soon as possible. It would be fabulous to have an entry of 150+ for the Open, as well as big fields for the supporting events, so we can go back to our sponsors and say "Support Australian Chess and Australian chess players will support you"..

http://www.actjcl.org.au/ausopen2006

Shaun Press

[I'd remind women players that the highest placed woman in the Open will be the Australian Women's Champion until the next Open, subject to there being sufficient qualifying entries. There need to be at least 6 entries from 3 different States and Territories. DJ]

Australian Junior Championships 2007

The first deadline is fast approaching.  The "extra-early" entry bonus (FREE t-shirt and water bottle) expires on 31 October.  Please make sure the deadline is publicised amongst your local juniors.  We don't want the kids to miss out on their "freebies" and (importantly for us) a clear indicator of predicted numbers for January will assist us in planning the event overall.

Key dates -

31 October - enter by this date for a FREE t-shirt and water bottle

1 December - enter before this date for discounted entry fee of $80 (late entry 1/12-22/12 $95)

22 December - all entries CLOSE.

Copies of the entry form can be downloaded from  

 http://www.actjcl.org.au/ausjuniors2007/downloads/entry_form.pdf

Entries appear on the website once payment is confirmed.  Your entry must be confirmed for you to qualify for your t-shirt & water bottle!

If any players are encountering problems with their entry or are worried about confirmation of their entry they can contact Jenny Wilkinson ausjuniors@internode.net  Please note that sizes 6-16 are children's sizing (narrower fit) and S-XXL are adult (longer, generous sizing) when ordering the t-shirts. 

Libby Smith

Tournament Director

World Youth Chess Championships, Batumi, 18 – 29 October

The Australian team has been having quite a time of it in Batumi. The first problem was getting there which was a long and arduous trip with lots of delays including one at the Georgian border that had to be resolved over a couple of hours in consultation with the event authorities. Then, on arrival in Batumi, it was found that the hotel was barely finished and had virtually no food. Our team was fed cold rice, bread and cheese for dinner. This was too much of a bad thing as reports indicated that our team was not alone in this treatment. Some said it was 100 times worse than Belfort which had set a standard not to be followed last year. I sent a letter to FIDE General Secretary Ignatius Leong drawing his attention to the situation and he acted immediately. In the latest reports from Team Manager, Eunice Koh it appears that the situation is much improved and I have thanked Mr Leong for his prompt action.

Against this background it is not surprising that the Team had a rather flat first round. They have picked up since but the going is always hard in these events. In round 1 the team managed only a win and two draws, the winner being Alex Jule. Since then everyone has achieved at least one win with Raymond Song( Boys u12) being the best performer after round 6 with 5 straight wins after his first round loss. He is in third place. Some idea of the strength of the opposition can be seen from the position of our next best performer Andrew Brown (Boys u14) who has 4/6 but is in 19th place. Yet it's a great effort on his part.

The best site to catch up on the results is http://www.chess-results.com/. The official web site can be reached through the FIDE web site but, though now re-designed to look prettier, it is excruciatingly slow and cumbersome.

Lots of Aussies in Holland

There are four Australian now playing in the Essent Open in Holland – GM Ian Rogers, IM David Smerdon, FM Manuel weeks and Moulthun Ly. I don't know what the record is for individual events (other than the World Youth Championships) outside Oceania but this must be close to it. After 4 rounds GM Gurevich leads with 3 others on 3.5. The Australians are placed 5-18 Rogers (3), 35-49 Smerdon, Ly (2) and 50-69 Weeks (1.5).

In round 1 Moulthun Ly upstaged his compatriots by beating GM Vyacheslav Ikonnikov. Here is the game:

White: Vyacheslav Ikonnikov 2588

Black: Moulthun Ly 2274

1.d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. Qa4 Bb7 6. Bg2 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. O-O Nc6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Bf4 Qe7 11. Rad1 Rfd8 12. Ne5 Na5 13. Bxb7 Nxb7 14. Bg5 h6 15. Bxf6 gxf6 16. Rxd7 Rxd7 17. Nxd7 Bd4 18. Qc6 Rd8 19. Qxb7 Bxc3 20. Rd1 Be5 21. Qc6 Bxb2 22. Rd3 Kg7 23. Kg2 Ba1 24. Kh3 Bb2 25. Kg2 Ba1 26. Kf1 Bb2 27. a4 Bc3 28. Kg2 Bb4 29. Qc7 Kh8 30. Qc6 Kg7 31. e3 Kh8 32. Rd4 Bc3 33. Rd3 Bb4 34. Kf1 Kg7 35. Ke2 Bc3 36. Qc7 Be5 37. Qc6 Bc3 38. Rd1 Qa3 39. Kf3 Qb3 40. Rd3 Qc2 41. Qd6 Be1 42. Kg4 Qe2+ 43. Kh3 Qf1+ 44. Kh4 Qxf2 45. Kh3 Qf1+ 46. Kh4 Qg2 0-1

Full information about the event is at www.essentchess.nl/index2006.htm.

Australian Record Entries on Gold Coast

Here is a bit of news from Graeme Gardiner that came to me during our recess.

1004 students participated in the Gold Coast Primary Schools Teams Chess Finals Day held at Carrara Basketball Stadium on Wednesday 13 September. This is claimed as a clear record for the number of participants at one venue at one time for a chess event of any kind in Australian chess history. Well done Remi Broadway and team. Of course, records are there to be broken,so it will be a good indication of the development of Australian chess if this record is broken as soon as possible. Go for it!! Full details at www.gardinerchess.com .

Elwood Bendigo Bank Championship 4 – 7 November 2006

If you are in Melbourne on the first Tuesday in November (and the weekend before) and are not going to Flemington, why not enter this event.

This is a Cat.1 Myer Tan Chess Grand Prix event and should be a very good one. The tournament web site is http://www.global1t.com/chess for more information.

Myer Tan Australian Chess Grand Prix 2007

Entry forms for the 2007 Myer Tan Australian Grand Prix are now available at http://www.chessaustralia.com.au/grandprix2007/index.cfm.

Please enter by the end of November so that programs can be printed before Xmas.

Brian Jones

Australian Chess Enterprises

www.chessaustralia.com.au

Sydney International Open 2007

SIO Fund Raising Dinner

Parramatta Chess Club is pleased to invite you to a Fund Raising Dinner.

Date: Friday 24 November 2006

Time: 7.00pm for 7.30pm

Venue: Parramatta RSL Club, Macquarie & O'Connell Sts, Parramatta

Tickets: $50 per person, includes 3 course dinner

Bar: available for drinks (pay as you go)

Dress: Smart Casual or lounge suit

Parking: Free carpark opposite the club (Macquarie St)

Silent auction: One week sking holiday at Jindabyne (value $3,500)

Public auction: One week summer holiday at Nelson Bay (value $2,500)

Raffle prizes: Various

RSVP by 17 November 2006

Vasil Tulevski, 2 Wentworth Ave, North Rocks NSW 2151

Or phone Brian Jones on 02-9838-1529

Book online at www.chessaustralia.com.au

All proceeds will go towards the 2007 Sydney International Open and Parramatta Chess Festival 10-14 April 2007.

More information on the Sydney International Open is available at http://www.chessaustralia.com.au/open/index.cfm

The 2006 Myer Tan Australian Chess Grand Prix is still far from over. Here are the events yet to be contested. More information about them can be found on the Grand Prix web page www.chessaustralia.com.au/grandprix/index.cfm.

Laurieton Spring Open NSW Laurieton 28/10/06 29/10/06 Cat.1

Elwood Championship VIC Melbourne 04/11/06 07/11/06 Cat.1

Gosford Open NSW Gosford 04/11/06 05/11/06 Cat.1

Burnie Open TAS Burnie 04/11/06 05/11/06 Cat.1

Coffs Harbour Open NSW Coffs Harbour11/11/06 12/11/06 Cat.3

Ralph Seberry Memorial NSW Sydney 18/11/06 19/11/06 Cat.2

November Weekender QLD Brisbane 18/11/06 19/11/06 Cat.2

Best in the West VIC Melbourne 25/11/06 26/11/06 Cat.1

Tuggeranong Vikings ACT Canberra 02/12/06 03/12/06 Cat.1

Xmas Open WA Perth 02/12/06 03/12/06 Cat.1

Christmas Swiss Weekender VIC Melbourne 16/12/06 17/12/06 Cat.1

Tailpiece

ACF Elections

A reminder that nominations for the elected office bearers other than President will be accepted until the time for the elections at the National Conference on 6 January 2007 in Canberra.. Those officers are Deputy President, Vice President (2), Secretary and Treasurer.

ACF Council

The next ACF Council meeting will be held on Monday, 30 October 2007 and a report on any significant decisions made at that meeting will appear subsequently.

And now I'll say goodbye until next time.

Denis Jessop

E-mail; denis.jessop@netspeed.com.au

Post: 33 Cargelligo Street, Duffy, ACT 2611

02 6288 1935

0418 278 324