From: "Graeme Gardiner" <graemeg@isage.aunz.net>
To: "Graeme Gardiner" <graemeg@isage.aunz.net>
Subject: ACF Bulletin # 148 - 10 January 2002
Date: Thursday, January 10, 2002 7:25
ACF Bulletin # 148 - 10 January 2002
IN THIS ISSUE
Australian Championships, Australian Juniors, National Conference, MV
Anderson Chess Collection, Asian Girls Under 16s, Asian Boys and Girls Under
18s, Asian Boys and Girls Under 10s, 12s, 14s & 16s, Grandmaster event in
India, 2002 Grand Prix, Correspondence, President's Report for National
Conference.
AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
GM Darryl Johansen and Nick Speck have come first equal with a score of
8.5/11 in the Australian Championships which finished yesterday in
Melbourne. Congratulations to both for 'come from behind' performances. A
play off will need to be held. First refusal will go to the organising
committee of the Championships. Other bids may be made to the ACF.
Congratulations to the organising committee. All three tournaments were
hotly contested and were supplemented by a well-attended and high profile
'street chess' scene every day. Of course, the festival continues today with
the Australian Rapid event followed by the Black Opal, All Seasons FIDE
rated and Fischer-Random tournaments.
Championships
1-2 Johansen, Darryl K VIC 2524 2531 8.5
Speck, Nicholas S VIC 2324 2323 8.5
3-5 Gluzman, Michael VIC 2400 2363 7.5
Lane, Gary W NSW 2448 2488 7.5
Wallace, John-Paul NSW 2370 2404 7.5
6-9 Zhao, Zong-Yuan NSW 2387 2294 6.5
Jordan, Bill VIC 2330 2252 6.5
Canfell, Gregory J NSW 2284 2281 6.5
Smerdon, David C QLD 2326 2293 6.5
10-14Solomon, Stephen J QLD 2385 2348 6
Lloyd, Adrian J VIC 2205 2179 6
Tindall, Brett NSW 2259 2240 6
Sandler, Leonid VIC 2404 2382 6
Feldman, Vladimir NSW 2346 2253 6
32 players
Reserves
1 Wright, Neil S NSW 2065 9
2-3 Partsi, Dimitry VIC 1956 8.5
Dizdarevic, Mehmedalija VIC 1912 8.5
4-7 Flitney, Adrian SA 1892 8
Bourmistrov, Denis VIC 1922 8
Lip, Michael NSW 1960 8
Fitzpatrick, Brian ACT 1844 8
8-12 Nemeth, Janos VIC 1873 7.5
Pyke, Malcolm L VIC 1846 7.5
Lojanica, Milenko VIC 1985 7.5
Harp, Joel NSW 1908 7.5
Dragicevic, Domagoj VIC 1856 7.5
114 players
Seniors
1 Dozsa, Paul NSW 2265 2007 8.5
2-3 Viner, Phillip J NSW 2203 2109 7.5
Gibbs, Glen B TAS 1806 7.5
4 Krstic, Slobodan VIC 2040 7
5-7 Partis, Michael T WA 2070 6.5
Ellis, David WA 1925 6.5
Flude, David A VIC 1749 6.5
21 players
The Australian Women's Championships have been amalgamated with the FIDE
Rated tournament which commences this Saturday 12 January. Evelyn Koshnitsky
will be present at the opening ceremony.
STEINER AND KOSHNITSKY MEDALS
The Steiner Medal for player of the year will be awarded to Ian Rogers.
Rogers had important wins in the inaugural ASEAN tournament in Brunei and
the European Masters in Kilkenny. It is a little surprising to find that
Rogers has only won the Steiner medal once in the last 13 years.
The Koshnitsky Medal for chess administration will be awarded to Kevin
Perrin. Perrin has been involved on the administration side of both the
Ballarat Chess Club and Ballarat Begonia Open for some 35 years. His
involvement in chess organisation extends to the Victorian Country
Championships for many years. The citations were compelling.
Our congratulations go to Ian and Kevin. Well done!
Many thanks to Gary Wastell once again for administering the medals.
AUSTRALIAN JUNIORS
These commence on Saturday. Over 150 kids have entered so far which is a
great turnout. It is not too late to enter. Full details at
http://www.auschess.org.au/nswjcl/Australian_Junior/Aus_junior_main.htm
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
This was held at the Melbourne Town Hall last Sunday, 6 January.
The following important restructure motions were passed with a substantial
majority:
"That commencing 1 Jan 2002 the ACF charge a schools' team levy of $3 per
team per annum for every team competing in Australian Schools' Teams
Championships or any state teams' competition which could lead to
qualification to play in the Australian Schools' Teams Championships".
"That effective 1 January 2002 the ACF Administration Fee be 20 cents per
player, per game sent for ratings on both the ACF main list and rapid list".
Once these motions had been passed, the ACF budget was amended so that state
quotas payable to the ACF were scrapped effective 30 June 2002.
The following motion was defeated:
"That this National Conference agrees in principle to the replacing of the
ACF Council with an ACF Commission comprising the ACF President and eight
Commissioners elected by the National Conference and requests that the
Council supplies the necessary constitutional amendments to the next
National Conference to give effect to this resolution".
In discussions after the meeting, it was clear that some of those who voted
against this motion felt that the existing structure was not necessarily the
best for Australian chess and that if state rights can be protected, a
revised motion may be possible at the next conference.
The following motion was also passed with a substantial majority:
"That the ACF revoke its decision on time limits for the Australian Junior
Championships made at its Council meeting on 17 September and instead adopt
the recommendation of the NSW Junior Chess League (the organisers of the
2002 Australian Junior Championships); namely, that the Under 18 time limit
for each player shall be 90 minutes for the game plus 60 seconds per move
(from move 1), and the Under 12 time limit for each player shall be 60
minutes for the game plus 60 seconds per move (from move 1)".
It was gratifying to see Norm Taylor of the newly formed Northern Territory
Chess Association and Ken Allan of the Correspondence Chess League of
Australia at the conference. The NTCA are likely to apply to become the
eighth State/Territory of the ACF very shortly. The CCLA are joined by the
New South Wales Junior Chess League and the Australian Women's Chess League
as Associated Bodies of the ACF. We hope the other junior chess leagues will
take up associated body status in the near future. The plan to bring all
Australian chess bodies together is certainly making strong progress.
A copy of the President's Report to the meeting is given at the end of this
bulletin.
At the ACF Council Meeting held in the afternoon, Romeo Capilitan was
removed from the list of winners in the under 1600 section of the 2002 Grand
Prix as it was agreed that an unrated player should not be eligible to win
the Under 1600 prize. The Council decided that because the rules as shown
were unclear, it would be unfair to Romeo Capilitan if his prize were not
paid and he will therefore receive his prize. The council extended their
most sincere thanks and commended Norm Braybrooke on his very prompt and
efficient running of the 2002 Grand Prix.
The revised list of prize winners in the under 1600 section is therefore:
Under 1600
Forace, Lee ACT 1342 53.83 525 1
Kimura, Toshi Qld 1449 45.99 350 2
Norman, Brendon NSW 1599 42.50 200 3
Thiyagarajah, Anand SA 1325 42.33 150 4
The following motion was passed in respect of the 2002 Grand Prix:
"Players who do not appear on the December 2001 ACF Master List but appear
on the January 2002 FIDE Rating List as rated 2000 and over are only
eligible for open prizes (and junior and women's prizes if eligible).
Players who appear on neither list are only eligible for unrated or open
prizes (and junior and womens prizes if eligible)".
MV ANDERSON CHESS COLLECTION AT THE VICTORIA STATE LIBRARY
For some time I have been urged by several people, including ACF archivist
Paul Dunn, to make a visit to this famous collection which is reputed to be
the third largest chess collection in the world. Ken Fraser who is retired
and who, for several years, has looked after the collection, kindly gave up
his afternoon to show me around and introduce me to Des Cowley, the Rare
Printed Collections Manager who manages the collection on site. ACF Deputy
President Robert Jamieson also came along.
I'm so glad I took the time finally to see the collection, which is a credit
to Ken and Des and all those who have been involved with it since MV
Anderson originally donated his private collection to the State Library and
then worked upon it as a hobby in his retirement.
We would all do well to consider donating to the collection some of our
private collections which may be of value to the Anderson collection or
alternatively considering leaving a bequest in our wills.
If you are responsible for publishing a chess magazine, you may not be aware
that you are required by law to furnish a copy (known as a legal deposit) of
each issue to the National Library of Australia, Canberra. It is also a good
idea to send a copy to your state library and also to the MV Anderson Chess
Collection, State Library of Victoria, 328 Swanston Street, Melbourne Vic
3000. Des Cowley's email is dcowley@slv.vic.gov.au
ASIAN GIRLS UNDER 16 CHAMPIONSHIP
Held at Kuala Lumpar over Christmas. Catherine Lip finished a commendable
fifth.
Nguyen Thi Thuy 6.5
Le Thanh Tu 6.5
Huyuh Mai Phuong Dung 6.5
Dinara Tuitebayeva 6.0
Catherine Lip 5.5
Siti Zulaikha Foudzi 5.5
Lindiawati Evi 5.0
Chandima Wijewardane 5.0
Dinh Thi Quynh Mai 5.0
Anya Sun Corke 4.5
Hazerina Jaafar 4.0
Loh Xiao Wei, Joanne 4.0
Farah Atiyah Zainal 3.5
Neo Xiu Lin, Sherlyn 2.0
Neo Xiu Min, Shermyn 1.5
Leong Wei Zhen 1.0
Pham Le Thao Nguyen 0.0
Full details at http://www.intchessasia.com/asean/2ndage/g16asian.htm.
ASIAN OPEN AND JUNIOR BOYS & GIRLS UNDER 18 CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 19-28
FEBRUARY 2002 BIKANER, RAJASTHAN, INDIA
Here is a great opportunity for strong girls and boys aged under 18 at 1
January 2002; also for players interested in the open event.
Venue: Laxminivas Palace (Lall Garh Palace Campus), Bikaner, India.
Tel : (91) 151 - 202777
Arrival & Inauguration: 19 February 2002
Eleven round Swiss Tournament
Playing Schedule: The playing schedule is 40 moves in 75 minutes, 15 minutes
for the remainder of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move from
move 1 (In the absence of Digital Game Timers, the time control to be used
will be 40 moves in 90 mins and 30 minutes for the remainder of the game)
Mr. S.L. Harsh Vice President, AICF & Secretary, Rajasthan State Chess
Association
2-Vakilon ki Gali, Bikaner - 334 001, India.
Tel & Fax : (91) 151 - 520653
E-mail : rajchess2201@vsnl.com ; Slharsh2000@yahoo.com
Please contact Graeme Gardiner ggardiner@auschess.org.au or Brett Tindall
(juniors) sydneyacademy@iprimus.com.au and Robert Jamieson
auschess@ozemail.com.au (adults) as soon as possible but not later than
Friday 25 January if you are interested in representing Australia in this
big event.
ASIAN YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS UNDER 10, 12, 14 & 16 TEHRAN,
IRAN 28 MARCH TO 4 APRIL 2002
This is another great opportunity for young players to represent Australia
in an international event.
Venue: Chess Palace, Hejab Street, Keshavarz Bvde, Tehran, Iran.
Age at 1 January 2002.
9 rounds swiss. 90 mins plus 30 secs per move from the start.
Contact details: Chess Palace, Hejab Street, Keshavarz Bvde, Tehran, Iran.
Tel (+98)21-8951511-3, Fax (+98)21-8951514. PO Box 14145-463.
Once again, please contact Graeme Gardiner ggardiner@auschess.org.au or
Brett Tindall sydneyacademy@iprimus.com.au as soon as possible but not later
than Friday 25 January if you are interested in representing Australia in
this event.
INTERNATIONAL GRANDMASTERS OPEN CHESS TOURNAMENT 4 TO 15 MARCH 2002
Venue: Hotel Sibbal Palace, Raipur (Telibandha), India
Eleven rounds
Inauguration: 4 March, Evening 5.30 P.M.
Prize Distribution & Departure: 15 March, Evening
Prize Fund: US$7,300
Mr. V.K. Rathi, Vice President, AICF & Gen. Secy. CGSCA, Ramadhin Marg,
Rajnandgaon (C.G.)
Tel : (91) 7744-26075; Fax : (91) 7744-41393
Mobile : 098271-68785
Email : aashish76@mantraonline.com
2002 GRAND PRIX
Entry Form:
Club/Organiser
Dates
Venue
Anticipated Prize Fund
Class
Contact person
Address
Telephone
E-mail
Send Invoice to
Complete and send to (if you have already advised participation, please
complete to ensure correct Class is advertised)
Norm Braybrooke
19 Trafalgar Drive
Kippa-Ring
4021
Email chessnut@windsor.net.au
Webpage http://crcchess.topcities.com/GP2002.html
We have now received 23 events for the 2002 Grand Prix. The ACF is seeking a
national sponsor for the 2002 Grand Prix. Any assistance with this matter
would be appreciated.
9/10 Feb Newcastle Open NSW Cat 2 George Lithgow 02 4943 3862
george.lithgow@bigpond.com
16/17 Feb Taree RSL Summer Open NSW Cat 1 Endel Lane 02 6559 9060
endel@fasternet.com.au
9/10 Mar South West Open WA Cat 1 Alan Phillips 08 9725 4843
alanglo@tpg.com.au
9-11 Mar Hobart Labour Day Weekender TAS Cat 1 Kevin Bonham 03 6224 8487
k_bonham@tassie.net.au
16/17 Mar Dubbo RSL Open NSW Cat 1 Alexander Aich 02 6884 4561
sjaich@tpg.com.au
29 Mar to 1 Apl Doeberl Cup ACT Cat 3 Roger McCart 02 6251 6190
roger.mccart@anu.edu.au
4/5 May Laurieton May Open NSW Cat 1 Endel Lane 02 6559 9060
endel@fasternet.com.au
4-6 May Redcliffe Peninsula Open QLD Cat 1 Mark Stokes 07 3205 6042
mstokes@bne.catholic.edu.au
8-10 June Tasmanian Championships Burnie TAS Cat 1 Neville Ledger
nledger@tassie.net.au ph 03 6431 1280
22/23 June Taree RSL Open NSW Cat 1 Endel Lane 02 6559 9060
endel@fasternet.com.au
22/23 June Gold Coast Open QLD Cat 3 Graeme Gardiner 07 5530 5794
ggardiner@auschess.org.au
29/30 June Suncoast Open Chess Tournament Noosa QLD Cat 3 Robert Hochstadt
07 5447 5056 robhoch@ozemail.com.au
13/14 July Adelaide University Open SA Cat 3 Robin Wedding 08 8303 3029
chess@smug.adelaide.edu.au
10/11 August Coal City Open NSW Cat 2 George Lithgow 02 4943 3862
george.lithgow@bigpond.com
24/25 August Launceston Weekender TAS Cat 1 Leo Minol 03 6344 7472
leominol@telstra.easymail.com.au ph.
14/15 Sept Hobsons Bay Open VIC Cat 1 Peter Caissa 0411 710900
pcaissa@melbpc.org.au
21/22 Sept Gold Coast Classic QLD Cat 3 Graeme Gardiner 07 5530 5794
ggardiner@auschess.org.au
5/6 Oct Redliffe Challenge QLD Cat 1 Mark Stokes 07 3205 6042
mstokes@bne.catholic.edu.au
5-7 Oct Koala Open NSW Cat 3 Brian Jones 02 9838 1529
chessaus@chessaustralia.com.au
12/13 Oct Tweed Heads Open QLD Cat 3 Audie Pennefather 07 5536 9185
pennefather@iprimus.com
2/3 Nov Laurieton Open NSW Cat 1 Endel Lane 02 6559 9060
endel@fasternet.com.au
3-5 Nov Tasmanian Open Hobart TAS Cat 1 Kevin Bonham 03 6224 8487
k_bonham@tassie.net.au
16/17 Nov Taree RSL Spring Open NSW Cat 1 Endel Lane 02 6559 9060
endel@fasternet.com.au
NSW 9, Qld 6, Tas 4, ACT 1, SA 1, WA 1, Vic 1.
CORRESPONDENCE
JEREMY GILLING
Jason Graham (ACF bulletin #147), in discussing chess ratings, maligns the
Duckworth-Lewis system for recalculating targets in interrupted one-day
cricket matches. He suggests it is not sufficiently transparent and cannot
be explained succinctly.
This is unfair. Duckworth and Lewis have made a wonderful intuitive leap in
developing a clean, sound and equitable formula where many before them have
failed. Before they came along, even slightly weather-affected one-day games
lost virtually all resemblance to contests and became purely a matter of
luck: the team that was fielding when the skies opened was usually all
but assured of victory.
The system is clearly explained by the authors at
http://www.cricket.org/link_to_database/ABOUT_CRICKET/RAIN_RULES/DUCKWORTH_L
EWIS_1999.html.
Jeremy Gilling
BARRY COX
Graeme,
Commenting on the recent correspondence on the Glicko rating system as it is
used by the ACF, I would like the make the following points.
Firstly, I believe the ACF has a duty to listen to its member organisations
and the individuals who make up those associations.It would seem to me that
knowledge of the Glicko system is not wide-spread and there is a real desire
to increase that knowledge but a 30 page dissertation by a professor is not
the most accessible of sources for the general public.
I think therefore that Bill, or someone working on his behalf, be charged
with explaining the system to the masses. After all the Glicko system is
reasonably new and (in general) poorly understood but it affects all players
with a rating and those who plan to have a rating which is a good number of
the federated memberships.
Secondly, once knowledge of the Glicko system has been promulgated
throughout the associations it is only natural that people will want to be
able to perform the calculation themselves. This could be to set a realistic
expectation on how their rating will change over the current rating period,
explain unexpected rating changes or even, yes, to check that there has not
been an error in the calculation of a published ACF rating.
I don't believe the ACF should discourage this as doing will only lead to
resentment. Rather I think there is the potential for a win-win outcome if
the ACF encourages players to do this. Allow me to explain.
If the ACF were able to supply software like an Excel spreadsheet or a Java
Applet on their website which had the Glicko calculations programmed into
it. Then stated that questions on rating calculations would only be
entertained if they contradicted the results from these approved resources.
Were this undertaken then it may actually decrease the number of rating
complaints coming from members as complaints based on a misunderstanding of
the system of calculation would be mostly avoided.
You may say that the software development is a discouraging aspect to this
proposal. However, I have already developed a Excel spreadsheet for my own
purposes and have mostly developed a Java applet as well (I'm still adding
name-based rating lookup to this applet) which I would cheerfully allow the
ACF to use and distribute without charge.
Finally, even if the software toolset is not considered appropriate there
still is one stumbling block to overcome if the membership are to be able to
perform the Glicko calculation themselves. That is, the publishing of the
Ratings Deviation (RD). The RD is hinted at in the reliablity punctuation
(!, space, ? or ??) published by the ACF but expressing a number which
varies from 30 to 350 as one of 4 possibilities is insufficiently precise
from which to perform accurate calculations.
I believe that the RDs should be published side by side with the ratings as
this is the only way people have of being able to accurately perform their
own calculations. Concealing these factors (as is currently the practice)
only leads to resentment, distrust and greater confusion over the rating
process. All of which is bad for chess.
So in brief summation: I believe we need to educate the players; publish
RDs; and, provide a controlled toolset - to enable all members to understand
the rating system and perform their own calculations should they wish to do
so. Only once we have actioned all of these items will the rating begin to
be understood and accepted by the chess-playing public.
Yours sincerely,
Barry Cox
BILL GLETSOS
Dear Graeme,
Let me first of all point out to Jason Graham that Nick and I are friends
who just happen to disagree over the rating system. To suggest I overlooked
some of Nick's points on personal grounds and suggesting Nick may often be
full of hot air is wrong on both points.
Jason is correct in pointing out my statement "The current ACF Glicko system
in fact seems to give results similar to the standard ELO system when using
a K-Factor of 30." was incorrect. In my haste to reply to Nick, knowing what
I was trying to say and actually typing it didn't turn out to be the same.
What I should have said was: For the average active player the current ACF
Glicko system in fact seems to give results closer to the standard ELO
system when using a K-Factor of 30 than using the old ACF ELO system with a
K-Factor of 15.
I do however totally reject his implication that I tried to mislead anyone
by my statement.
As regards to the so called numerous inactive players competing in grade
matches who have lost over 100 points per game Jason like Nick has not
provided me with any actual examples to back up his claims. Unlike Nick who
has spoken to me a number of times regarding the ratings of inactive players
Jason hasn't said a word about any effects of the Glicko rating system to me
since its introduction in December 2000.
Jason's example of the 2100 player is misleading and incorrect. If the
player who had been long inactive had been rated 2100 (he wasnt) then his
performance rating was around 1590 and he was given a rating of around 1657.
Jason would do well to not use heresay and overheard conversations then use
them out of context.
His so called "fault" that Graham Saint and I corrected, influenced over the
4 rating periods where the Glicko system was used only 21 players out of
6256 ratings that were updated or less than 0.336%. Nothing has as he put it
"been swept under the carpet". In fact I had mentioned this so called
"fault" to a number of people. The "faults" of the Glicko system are no
worse than the "faults" of the ELO system. Based on available data the
Glicko system has less "faults" than the ELO system previously in use by the
ACF.
Jason states there is no transparency and we don't know how it works and
then in the next paragraph says that he doesn't want to read how the Glicko
system works and does not want to be insulted for his seeming ignorance. The
complete condradiction of logic in those statements just floors me. It also
makes it virtually impossible to have an intelligent discussion. He goes on
and accuses me of failing to grasp that what players want is a rating system
that is fair and understandable yet it is he it would appear who is totally
unprepared or unwilling to even attempt to gain a understanding of the
Glicko system. He is of course still prepared to criticise it. There is
after all no problem of transparency for those who are prepared to read
Professor Glickman's documents on the Glicko system.
If the "I don't care to read about it but I'll criticise it anyway" group
don't wish to be insulted then perhaps they should consider attempting to
gain some understanding of the system they are going to criticise BEFORE
they make uninformed comments.
Players with an already published rating can roughly calculate their new
ratings using the 5 page document on the Glicko system on Professor
Glickman's web page if they use a RD of 70 for players with a ! after their
rating, a RD of 140 for players with a blank, a RD of 205 for players with a
? and a RD of 300 for a player with ??.
I'll repeat for Jason what I said to Nick. If you can provide some arguments
based on something other than heresay or "gut" feel then provide it to your
State Association. If they believe your arguments have any merit then they
can forward it to Graham Saint and I for investigation.
Players who have queries regarding their individual ratings can as always
email me or their State Ratings Officers directly. I should point out that
the number of queries I have received from players or State Rating Officers
about players ratings since the Glicko system was introduced is no greater
than those I received under the previous ELO system.
Regards,
Bill
PRESIDENT’S REPORT FOR AUSTRALIAN CHESS FEDERATION NATIONAL CONFERENCE 6
JANUARY 2002
After my third ‘round Australia’ trip in October, my feeling is that those
involved in running Australian chess are much closer together now, are
pointing roughly in the same direction and perhaps there is a greater level
of trust.
During the year, the Australian Womens Chess League, New South Wales Junior
Chess League and Correspondence Chess League of Australia became ‘Associated
Bodies’ of the ACF. I am hopeful that in due course the SAJCL and ACTJCL
will follow suit and also become ‘Associated Bodies’. I have just heard
that the legal incorporation of the Northern Territory Chess Association is
likely to be finalized within a month and an application will then be made
to the ACF for formal affiliation.
Another area of Australian chess has recently become a little closer to the
mainstream. The puzzle composing group, who are fairly closely aligned to
some Australian chess historians, are keen to have their own medal to be
placed alongside the three ACF medals. They are keen to call it the Whyatt
Medal. It would only be awarded (say) once every five years.
Norm Taylor of the Alice Springs Chess Club is working on an ACF Directory
similar to the one that Bill Powell used to produce. It seems to be
generally accepted that communication in Australian chess is working well,
but in my opinion it could be so much better. Certainly the ACF webpage is
full of news, information and activity and is a tribute to the webmaster.
However, I feel that administrators at all levels need to make it a high
priority to capture as many emails of people in the chess community as
possible. In terms of the new privacy legislation, a statement on entry and
membership forms along the lines of ‘your personal details will be used for
bona fide Australian chess communications unless you advise otherwise’ would
be appropriate.
Swiss Perfect has been very helpful to tournament organizers. I would like
to see the programme developed to include all contact details to make the
collection of membership data a great deal more efficient. This also would
contribute to improving communication in Australian chess even further.
The ACF Grand Prix involved 40 tournaments in 2001 and is looking very
promising for 2002. It was extremely well administered this year, but it is
disappointing that no sponsor for the series has been found so far.
The thorny issue of government recognition of chess is critical to the
development of our sport. The outgoing Minister of Sport, Jacky Kelly was
very unhelpful whilst her shadow, Kate Lundy was more interested and could
perhaps afford to be a little more accommodating. My MP, Margaret May, seems
determined to succeed in having chess accepted as a sport and with her help
I will soon be working on the new Minister of Sport, Rod Kemp. The ACF has
applied to the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) for membership, so far
without a formal response. The ACF would like to comply with the FIDE Drug
Testing policy, but without assistance from the Australian Sports Drug
Agency (ASDA) this is going to be very difficult. It is probable that most
of these problems would be solved immediately should the International
Olympic Committee (IOC) accept chess as a medal sport.
The ACF does have a number of events that would lend themselves to a
commercial sponsorship package but, despite a lot of effort, locating the
right corporate sponsor for this has not yet happened. Any assistance in
this area might be helpful. During the year Queensland University of
Technology provided $8,000 for the purchase of ten DGT Boards which we
acknowledge gratefully. Some of these are currently being used for relaying
the top boards of the Australian Championships to the internet. They will
also be used for Australasian Chess Online. It remains to be seen if this
service will be effective in practical terms, but if so it could be of great
benefit to Australian chess.
The restructure of Australian chess has been painfully slow, but bit by bit
things have been changing. Indeed we have some important motions being put
to the ACF Conference on 6 January. I am hopeful that some or all of these
will be passed so that more progress can be made, however small this may be.
As usual, Australia’s leading players have done us proud in overseas
competition. On occasions they were outclassed, but nevertheless gave it
their best shot. Michael Gluzman and Ngan Koshnitsky represented Oceania in
the World Championships in Moscow, although unfortunately both were
eliminated in the first round. Ian Rogers represented Asia in the big Asia v
Europe match in Georgia which featured Gary Kasparov. Zong Yuan Zhao spent
some months in Europe furthering his chess education and performing well in
various competitions. His performance, and that of Catherine Lip, in the
World Under 20s in Greece was particularly meritorious. Catherine also
represented Australia with distinction in the recent Asian Under 16 Girls
Championships. Australia should be represented in more Asian events.
It was noteworthy to see that our team for the World Youth Festival in Spain
ventured to Europe with little fuss (at their own cost) whilst the highly
paid Australian Rugby League team had to be pushed kicking and screaming on
their ‘all expenses paid’ trip to England. It would be good to see Australia
represented at more overseas teams tournaments.
On the subject of teams events, the Australian Schools Finals weekend was
once again an outstanding success. This is undoubtedly a flagship event of
Australian chess. During the year an attempt was made to resurrect the
Australian Universities Teams Championships. Whilst this was only a very
modest tournament, I believe that it is well worth supporting in future
years. In fact it should be provided with more generous support. I strongly
believe that a major plank in the development of Australian chess should be
teams chess per se. In addition to larger schools and universities
competitions, it would be encouraging to see a national clubs competition
with strong support from the ACF and states.
During the year a great deal of work was done on some of the ACF By Laws. In
particular these related to the schools teams competition, selection
procedures, tie break methods and the code of ethics. We are indebted to
those who took the time and trouble to draft and debate these changes.
In 2001 we have seen greater use of Digital Game Timers (DGTs) in Australia
and this has led to more experimentation with various time controls. In
particular we have seen more use of the Fischer time controls and this has
led to much discussion on the merits or otherwise of several options.
I was saddened to hear recently of the death of Evelyn Fitzpatrick from
Canberra. She was one of the kindest and most helpful people I have had the
good fortune to meet. She was also one of the most effective workers. She
will be sorely missed by the Australian and ACT chess communities.
Looking ahead, I would like to see the ACF taking a more pro-active role in
developing professional chess coaching in the schools and a National
Coaching Accreditation Scheme as well as other junior (and senior) projects
which are yet to be determined.
2002 is an Olympiad year for chess. It will be held in the beautiful
Slovenian city of Bled and I expect competition for places to be very hot.
The ACF Selection By-Laws have been revamped in the hope that disputes can
be avoided in the future. We certainly don’t need any more court cases. As
usual the ACF will be conducting an Olympiad Appeal, and I ask all states to
both support it with donations and to promote it well amongst their own
clubs.
I'd like to thank specifically those who have generously worked with me on
ACF matters.
Robert Jamieson is one of Australia's most experienced administrators. He
has been very helpful in his role as Deputy President, especially in matters
relating to the constitution. VCA, ACTCA and Tasmanian Presidents Gary
Wastell, Denis Jessop and Kevin Bonham have also been very helpful in this
area with Denis drafting some of the new By-Laws. Robert is also involved as
senior selection coordinator, an area in which his experience is much
valued.
Joe Tanti, in his position of ACF Secretary, has effectively looked after
the three 'M's, minutes, motions and meetings. This is no easy task,
especially with the seemingly endless updates to the Constitution and
By-Laws.
Norm Greenwood is a great Treasurer. Several years ago he single-handedly
resurrected the ACF's finances. Now he ensures they tick over like a
well-oiled machine. In addition to the ACF's finances, he looks after those
of the NSWCA, North Sydney Leagues Chess Club and Manly Waringah Leagues
Chess Club while at the same time taking care of much of the NSWCA
tournament programme.
Grand Prix Supervisor, Norm Braybrooke has done an outstanding job, being
right up to date all year and dealing with all matters expeditiously. This
includes the collection of outstanding monies, which is a big help to Norm
Greenwood and myself. Many thanks Norm.
The ACF Ratings Officers, Bill Gletsos and Graham Saint provide one of the
most important services to the Australian chess community. I'd like to thank
them both most sincerely for going about their substantial workload without
any fuss and for quietly dealing with ratings queries. It is probably in the
nature of ratings that players will have more queries than on almost
anything else to do with chess.
The ACF webmaster Paul Broekhuyse has done another outstanding job during
2001 in keeping the webpage both relevant and interesting. In particular the
bulletin board, interstate challenge and Australasian Chess Online have been
areas of development. Many thanks Paul.
FIDE Ratings Officer, Gary Bekker has, as always, been a valuable
contributor to Australian chess not only through his area of FIDE
ratings/titles etc but also through his Oceanic website, development role in
the area of online presentation of Australian chess and promotion of top
level chess. Gary is one of the real go-getters in Australian chess.
Paul Dunn has been quietly beavering away in the role of ACF
Archivist/Historian. Towards the end of the year, after discussions I had
with people like Bob Meadley and Ken Fraser, I gained more of an insight
into the enormity of the role of ACF Archivist/Historian.
Others who have assisted the ACF include Ross Hamilton - Auditor, Peter
Wallman - Corporate Relations, Brett Tindall and David Cordover - Coaching,
Phil Viner - FIDE Delegate, Gary Wastell - Medals Coordinator, Ashley
Rambukwella - Publicity Officer, Michael Baron - Tournament Director. My
thanks to them all.
My thanks also to the state presidents who have been very friendly and
helpful during 2001.
Personally, if I had one wish for 2002, it would be that I could spend less
time on non productive matters such as the ACF Constitution and By-Laws,
including adherence to and breaches thereof, and more time on developing
chess.
Last but not least, a big thank you to my wife, Wendy, who has done a great
deal of background work and who tries to keep me fed, clothed and, most
importantly, relatively sane.
The next bulletin should be out on Sunday 27 January.
With very best wishes to all for 2002!
Graeme Gardiner
President Australian Chess Federation
11 Hardys Road Mudgeeraba Queensland 4213
Phone +61 7 5530 5794
Mobile 0438 305797
Fax +61 7 5530 6959
Email ggardiner@auschess.org.au
Chess - the Clever Sport!
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