The June Ratings have just been released. Leading players:

GM I.Rogers 2646 (-22),
IM J.Wallace 2505(=),
GM D. Johansen 2494(-15),
IM S.Solomon 2466(+20),
IM G.Lane 2463(-30),
IM M.Gluzman 2458(=),
T.Tao 2439(=),
IM Z.Zhao 2424(+44),
I.Bjelobrk 2393(+15),
IM P.Froelich 2389(-11),
IM D.Smerdon 2389(+9),
IM M.Chapman 2381(=)

After a big jump last time, my own rating has come crashing down to earth - by 134 points! The good news is that I'm now eligible for those under-2000 prizes, rather than wandering around like a lost soul in that never-never land - above 2000 but well below the big guys - where there never seem to be any prizes going!! :)

Surfers Paradise Mind Games Festival: Around 600 entrants participated in the inaugural Festival. Events included Chess, Bridge, Euchre, 500, Scrabble, Kaleidoscope and others. Numbers exceeded the organiser's target of 500. They (Surfers Paradise Management Association) are hopeful of renewing the grant from the Queensland Events Corporation in 2005.

The Surfers Paradise Premier Rapid Chess Tournament was held on Saturday, 29 May and a field of 137 assembled under a marquee right next to the beach on the Esplanade. Very nice. Darryl Johansen was pushed by IMs Stephen Solomon and Alex Davidovic but ended up a convincing winner on 7.5/8.

Prizewinners:
1st GM Darryl Johansen $1,000
2nd equal IM Stephen Solomon and Toshi Kimura $375 each
Junior Under 18 1st Moulthun Ly $300
2nd equal Phachara Wongwichit, Ben Lazarus and WIM Arianne Caoili $100 each
Under 2100 Casey Barnard $100
Under 1800 John O'Brien $100
Under 1500 Justin Adams $100
Under 1200 Daniel Ford $100
Under 1000 Shaun Curtis $100
Under 900 David Soul $100
Under 800 Christina Webb $100
Under 700 Curtis Jack $100
Under 600 Kristen Curtis $100
Unrated 1st Daniel Durden $120
Unrated 2nd Marcella Gonzalez $80
Unrated 3rd Karla King $60
Unrated 4th Jack Weitenberg $40

There were 29 participants in the social family competition, which was won by Barry Howard from Stephen Royce and Gene Nakauchi. Jack Rysdyk won the boys under 12, Lachlan Soo the boys under 7, Shae Turner the girls under 12 and Isobel De Leon the girls under 7.

The Fischerandom tournament attracted a filed of 21. Lee Jones took out first place with 6/8 on tie-break and first prize of $125. Toshi Kimura took second on 6/8 $85 and Moulthun Ly also 6/8 took third and $50. The five ratings group prizes of $30 each, went to Matt Sonter, Robert Hvistendahl, Michael Gearing, Leoma Lee and Dave Wright (NZ).

On the Friday evening, Darryl Johansen gave a 30 player blindfold simul in Cavill Avenue. This was quite extraordinary, as play was constantly interrupted by a very loud singer, and two "celebrities" from 'The Block' who didn't seem to endear themselves to anyone. Darryl managed to keep his head and his cool to defeat all eight opponents in fine style. Whilst all this was going on, Stephen Solomon was playing a 40 player simul. There were some quite strong opponents and Toshi Kimura and Phachara Wongwichit both managed wins.

On each of the three evenings - Friday, Saturday and Sunday - play was followed by impressive fireworks displays.

All in all everyone had a great time, and we are told that this is likely to be an annual event.

Full results at www.gardinerchess.com

- Graeme Gardiner

Aussies overseas: Oceania Champion GM Darryl Johansen of Melbourne is seeded 115th in the 128 player World Championship knockout tournament starting on 18th June in Tripoli, Libya.

And Australian number one Ian Rogers (GM 2582) drew both his games against Erik Van Den Doel (NED, GM 2599) and Jeroen Bosch (NED, IM 2445) in the Dutch Team Championship Playoffs last week in Enschede, Netherlands.

- Peter Parr

NSW news: St George Leagues Club scored a hard fought win 26.5-20.5 against North Sydney Leagues Club in the annual big board match held at St George. FIDE Master Max Fuller, who has represented Australia in nine chess olympiads in the last forty years, played his first tournament game since Easter 1996. Seventeen-year-old International Master Zong-Yuan Zhao (St George) played well in a difficult queen and pawn endgame to defeat fifty-nine year old Fuller (North Sydney) on board one. St George scored heavily on the top sixteen boards 12 - 4 with North Sydney ahead on the remaining 31 boards.

38 teams from 12 clubs in 5 divisions are competing in the NSW Chess Association inter-club grade match competition starting tonight. 22 of the teams are from 4 clubs - North Sydney and Rooty Hill 6, St George 5 and Wests 5.

Wests crushed last year's Open winners St. George 4-0 in the first round. FIDE Master Greg Canfell defeated International Master Zhong Zhao on top board.

- Peter Parr

Olympiad Appeal: All Aussie Chess Lovers are asked to donate to the 2004 Olympiad Appeal. The monies raised go to providing funds to send the Women’s and Open team to Spain to play in the Olympiad 2004. The Olympiad starts in October but if you are able to donate money please don’t leave it to the last minute. It is essential that our top Australian Players can concentrate on their chess and not financial hassles - so please donate what you can to:

Australian Chess Federation Olympiad Appeal
cheques/money orders should be made out to "Australian Chess Federation" and sent to the
ACF Treasurer Norm Greenwood
P.O. Box 1840
Westfield Hornsby Post Office 1635

All donations will be publicly acknowledged unless you wish otherwise.

I am trying to arrange corporate and government sponsorship but your donations would be both much appreciated and most welcome. Any corporations or businesses wishing to be sponsors please call me on 0414 841575 and I can explain what we can do for you in consideration of Corporate Sponsorships.

Could all States and Territories please launch their own drives for funding to assist in this most deserving of causes.

Lets support the teams!

George Howard
President ACF

Wake for Ralph Seberry: The chess community is invited to a service in honour of Ralph Seberry, 2004 NSW Chess Champion, who sadly passed away on May 12.

Venue: Upstairs, the Dolphin Hotel, corner of Crown and Fitzroy Streets, Surry Hills, Sydney.
Time: 7pm - 9pm, Thursday 3rd June.
RSVP: Please indicate your attendance by contacting me [Jason Lyons] by PM on this bulletin board, by email [jasongraham@yahoo.com], or by telephone [0412 907 686]. Advice of your attendance will greatly assist preparations with the venue.

Your assistance in communicating details of this service to Ralph's friends is appreciated.

If you are travelling by public transport, The Dolphin Hotel can be reached by walking up Foveaux St from Central Station. When you reach Crown Street [800m], the hotel is 50m to the left.

Ralph's partner Kat will be presented with the Kostich shield, recognising Ralph's State Championship triumph, and the George Kepper Memorial Trophy, awarded to winners of the North Sydney Leagues Club Chess Club Championships.

Olympiad selections: 36th Chess Olympiad, Calvia, Majorca, Spain, October 14th-31st.

Applications are now open for the Australian Open and Womens Olympiad Teams for the 36th Chess Olympiad to be held in Calvia, Majorca, Spain from October 14th-31st 2004. (Event website: http://www.36chessolympiad.com/uk/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 Friday 18th June 2004. Please refer to item 5 of the ACF Selection By-Laws before applying and for details of material required in an application (see below). The full Selection By-Laws are available at http://www.auschess.org.au/constitution/con7.htm .

Full details on the upcoming tournaments page

- Kevin Bonham
ACF Olympiad Selections Co-Ordinator.

Letters:

Re Milan Ninchich's note about the mobile phone blocker, I note that in the current issue of "An Arbiter's Notebook" on the Chess Cafe web site reference is made in the opening item to the use of such a device by an IA in Lebanese chess tournaments for the last 2 or 3 years. Geurt Gijssen seems to think it is a good idea.

I'm not so sure about converting all ring tones to Tchaikovsky as they may all come out as a certain well-known phrase from the 1812 Overture and turn us all off Tchaikovsky instead!

- Denis Jessop

World News:

The Association of Chess Professionals is a newish group of grandmasters and strong players that is beginning to have some influence in world chess. It was formed due to dissatisfaction with the world chess scene, the world chess championship, and playing conditions generally. The group, which includes Vladimir Kramnik, has even hinted that it may become involved in organising the long-sought "re-unification" of the world champoinship. (At present, Ponomariov is the FIDE world champion, but Vladimir Kramnik also claims the title after beating Kasparov in a match a few years ago. FIDE has been attempting to end the two-champions situation without much success so far). Here's the most recent pronouncement from the ACP:

Open letter from the Association of Chess Professionals to the FIDE President, Mr Kirsan Ilyumzhinov

Dear Mr President,

The next FIDE World Chess Championship (WCC), to be held in Tripoli (Libya), between the 18th of June and the 13th of July 2004, is due to start soon and yet, many pressing questions remain unanswered. To begin with, although the deadline for reserve players to submit their undertakings has elapsed on the 5th of May 2004, no announcement has been made by FIDE regarding the final list of participants. Three weeks after the deadline and less than a month prior to the event, you will appreciate that such an announcement is long overdue.

Secondly, the qualified players holding an Israeli passport, some of them representing a different country than Israel, are clearly concerned that they will not be allowed to enter Libya and will, as a result, simply be excluded from the World Championship.

Despite assurances from the FIDE Secretariat that visas will be granted to all participants, several facts have recently cast serious doubts on this claim.

1) On the 6th of May 2004, Associated Press have quoted Mr Mohammed Gadhafi, the President of the Libyan Olympic Committee, who also heads the Organizing Committee of the FIDE WCC, as denying that Israeli participants would be allowed inside Libya. The wording of the statement was very strong and left no doubt as to its meaning: the Israeli players are not welcome in Libya.

2) Upon inquiry at the Libyan embassy in Paris, it has been confirmed that a person applying for an entry visa to Libya should not have "an Israeli visa or a trace of passage on Israeli territory" in his or her passport, let alone have an Israeli passport. This necessarily implies that visas would be granted in exceptional conditions for the sole purpose of the FIDE World Championship, however, at this point in time, Libyan consular authorities do not seem to be aware of such exceptional measures.

3) For unclear reasons, the participants of the WCC will not be able to obtain their visas at any of the Libyan embassies in various parts of the world, but only upon arrival at the Tripoli airport. This effectively compels the Israeli participants to travel to an Arab country without possessing a visa, a most unpleasant condition given the tense geopolitical situation in the Middle East.

4) The Israeli Chess Federation has been informed by FIDE that only Israeli participants would be granted a Libyan visa, whereas accompanying persons holding the same passport, such as trainers or close relatives, will be denied entrance to Libya. This fact alone contradicts all rules of fair and equal treatment to all participants of a major sports event, it is certainly in breach with FIDE's Code of Ethics.

As the President of FIDE, an international sports federation affiliated to the IOC, it is your duty to ensure that qualified competitors from all origins are given equal access to the World Chess Championship. In view of the abovementioned difficulties, the choice of staging the most important event on the FIDE calendar in Libya is a poor one. Despite numerous open letters and press releases emanating from several national federations (namely those from the United States, Russia and Israel) and WCC participants themselves (namely the American player Boris Gulko), FIDE has consistently refused to consider reinstating Malta as a secondary venue.

In the present circumstances, the Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) demands that FIDE provide written evidence from the Libyan authorities, unambiguously stating that Israeli players will be granted a visa upon their arrival in Tripoli. In view of the problems that have arisen since the publication of the official invitation from the Libyan Olympic Committee, general formulas whereby the Libyan government "will pleasantly provide entry visas to all qualified participants" is no longer explicit enough. Unless that document is produced shortly, it is very unlikely that Israeli players will agree on a hazardous journey to Libya and therefore, they will be forced to renounce their participation in the WCC. At present, the assumption prevails in the chess world that this is precisely the way FIDE hopes this embarrassing problem will be settled. Such an outcome, however, would greatly tarnish the reputation of FIDE among other sports federations and would effectively render FIDE's acclaimed motto "Gens Una Sumus" totally meaningless. It is our sincere hope that you, Mr President, will use your power to remedy this situation and will not allow the exclusion of the Israeli players from the World Chess Championship.

Sincerely,
Joel Lautier
President of the ACP
Paris, 26th of May 2004

European Individual Chess Championship: A very strong event under way in Turkey. Round 1 was almost delayed when an electricity generator blew up, but eventually everything was sorted out. Ivanchuk and Naiditsch were both upset losses in round 1. Ivanchuk and Nikolic won after long-time leader Navara lost in the last round. Leading final scores, 13 rounds: 1 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 9 8.000; 2 GM Nikolic Predrag 9 5.000; 3 GM Aronian Levon 8½ 4.000; 4 GM Istratescu Andrei 8½ 3.000; 5 GM Miroshnichenko Evgenij 2599 8½ 2.700; 6 GM Navara David 8½ 2.500; 7 GM Gurevich Mikhail 8½ 2.200; 8 GM Kempinski Robert 8 1.111; 9 GM Krasenkow Michal 8 1.111; 10 GM Agrest Evgenij 8 1.111; 11 GM Milov Vadim 8 1.111; 12 GM Asrian Karen 8 1.111; 13 GM Sargissian Gabriel 8 1.111; 14 GM Macieja Bartlomiej 8 1.111; 15 GM Gashimov Vugar 8 1.111; 16 GM Naiditsch Arkadij 8 1.111; 17 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 7½ 325; 18 GM Radjabov Teimour 7½ 325; 19 GM Guseinov Gadir 7½ 225 100 € deducted for ECU; 20 GM Andersson Ulf 7½ 325; 21 GM Parligras Mircea 7½ 325; 22 GM Stefansson Hannes 7½ 325; 23 GM Iljushin Alexei 7½ 325; 24 GM Stocek Jiri 7½ 325. Site | View games

Russian Championship: St-Petersburg and Tomsk are hosting qualifying events for the 57th Russian Championship. The top three in each event will play in the "Super-final" with Kasparov, Kramnik, Karpov and Svidler, Bareev, Grischuk and Morozevich. St Petersburg Leading final scores after 9 rounds: 1. Dreev, Alexey g RUS 2689 6.5; 2. Epishin, Vladimir g RUS 2610 6.0; 3. Tseshkovsky, Vitaly g RUS 2564 6.0; 4. Khalifman, Alexander g RUS 2668 5.5; 5. Ivanov, Sergey g RUS 2546 5.5; 6. Zvjaginsev, Vadim g RUS 2654 5.5; 7. Najer, Evgeniy g RUS 2606 5.5; 8. Sakaev, Konstantin g RUS 2665 5.5; 9. Popov, Valerij g RUS 2547 5.5; 10. Riazantsev, Alexander g RUS 2556 5.5;.
Tomsk Leading scores after 8 rounds: 1. Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2649 5.5; 2. Timofeev, Artyom g RUS 2591 5.5; 3. Inarkiev, Ernesto g RUS 2595 5.5; 4. Korotylev, Alexey g RUS 2565 5.5; 5. Rustemov, Alexander g RUS 2593 5.5; 6. Smirnov, Pavel g RUS 2601 5.5; 7. Khismatullin, Denis RUS 2537 5.0; 8. Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2582 5.0; 9. Kosyrev, Vladimir g RUS 2529 4.5; 10. Filippov, Valerij g RUS 2639 4.5; 11. Sorokin, Maxim g RUS 2583 4.5; 12. Belozerov, Andrei g RUS 2552 4.5; 13. Kharlov, Andrei g RUS 2593 4.5; 14. Bocharov, Dmitry g RUS 2567 4.5; 15. Dvoirys, Semen I g RUS 2612 4.5; 16. Lastin, Alexander g RUS 2622 4.5; 17. Kobalia, Mikhail g RUS 2630 4.5. St Petersburg Site | Tomsk Site | View St Petersburg games | View Tomsk games

FIDE Women's Championship: Originally planned for Georgia, the event is now being held in Kalmykia. A major first-round upset saw Skripchenko eliminated by Jackova. Kosintseva, Round 4: Koneru, Humpy - Xu, Yuhua 1-0 1-0; Stefanova, Antoaneta - Dzagnidze, Nana 1-0 0-1 Playoff 1/2 1-0; Chiburdanidze, Maia - Cmilyte, Viktorija 1-0 0-1 Playoff 0-1 1-0 1-0; Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina - Kachiani-G., Ketino 0-1 1-0 Playoff 1-0 1/2. Site | View games

Shirov wins Sarajevo: Final scores, 9 rounds: 1. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2713 7.5; 2. Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2647 6.0; 3. Sokolov, Ivan g NED 2690 5.5; 4. Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2665 5.5; 5. Kozul, Zdenko g CRO 2627 5.0; 6. Dizdarevic, Emir g BIH 2520 4.0; 7. Short, Nigel D g ENG 2712 3.5; 8. Predojevic, Borki m BIH 2490 3.0; 9. Atalik, Suat g BIH 2554 2.5; 10. Kurajica, Bojan g BIH 2540 2.5. Site | View games

4NCL: Guilford-ADC 1 won the Division 1 title ahead of Wood Green. Sutovsky beat Morozevich in the last round. Site | View games rounds 11-12

Dutch Teams: Bd. ZZICT Breda featuring Van Wely, Chuchelov and Timman convincingly beat ING/ESGOO Enschede 8¼-1½ to win the event. Site View games

Games:

[Event "Bosnia GM"]
[Site "Sarajevo BIH"]
[Date "2004.05.22"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Shirov, A"]
[Black "Atalik, S"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2713"]
[BlackElo "2554"]
[ECO "C96"]
[EventDate "2004.05.18"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 cxd4 12.cxd4 Bb7 13.d5 Rc8 14.Nbd2 Nh5 15.Nf1 Nc4 16.a4 b4 17.b3 Na3 18.Bd3 a5 19.Nxe5 Bf6 20.Qxh5 Bxe5 21.Ra2 Rc3 22.Qd1 Qf6 23.Re3 Rfc8 24.Bd2 R3c5 25.Rf3 Qd8 26.Ne3 R8c7 27.Ng4 Qc8 28.Bf1 Rc1!? 29.Bxc1 Rxc1 30.Qd2 Ba6

{Black gets two pieces for the exchange ... but white gets a huge passed pawn}

31.Nxe5! Rxf1+ 32.Kh2 dxe5 33.d6 Bb7 34.d7 Qd8 35.Rd3

{Now even Qg5!! is threatened}

35...f6 36.Rd6

{White has a big clamp on the black position}

36...Kf7 37.Qe2 Rc1 38.Qh5+ Ke7

[Event "5th IECC"]
[Site "Antalya TUR"]
[Date "2004.05.27"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Gurevich, M"]
[Black "Naiditsch, A"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2672"]
[BlackElo "2571"]
[ECO "A17"]
[EventDate "2004.05.15"]
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.g4 h6 5.Rg1 b6 6.Qc2 Bb7 7.a3 Be7 8.g5 hxg5 9.Nxg5 Nh5

( 9...Rxh2 10.Nxf7 Kxf7 11.Qg6+ Kf8 12.Qxg7+ Ke8 13.Qg6+ Kf8 14.d4 +- )

10.d4 Nc6 11.Nf3 Bf6 12.d5 Ne5 13.Nxe5 Bxe5 14.Bg5 f6 15.Bg2!? c6

( 15...fxg5 16.Qg6+ Kf8 17.dxe6!! {regains the piece} )

16.dxe6 dxe6 17.Be3 f5 18.c5!? Nf6 19.Bf3 Kf7 20.Qb3 Nd5 21.Nxd5 cxd5 22. cxb6 axb6 23.O-O-O Ba6 24.Bd4 Bxd4 25.Rxd4 Rxh2

( 27...exd5 28.Rxd5 {and the discovered check is deadly} )

28.Qb4+ Qe7 29.Qxb6 exd5 30.Qxa6 Re8 31.Rf4 Qe5 32.Qg6 Kg8 33.Rxf5 Qe4+ 34.Ka1 Re7 35.Qd6 Rh1 36.Rxh1 Qxh1+ 37.Ka2 Rxe2 38.Qf8+ Kh7 39.Qf7 1-0

[Event "5th IECC"]
[Site "Antalya TUR"]
[Date "2004.05.27"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Krasenkow, M"]
[Black "Nikolic, Pr"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2609"]
[BlackElo "2648"]
[ECO "A85"]
[EventDate "2004.05.15"]
1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e6 4.Qc2 Bb4 5.e3 O-O 6.Bd3 d5 7.Ne2 c6 8.Bd2 Nbd7 9.f3 dxc4 10.Bxc4 Nb6 11.Bb3 Kh8 12.O-O-O Qe7 13.h4 Bd7 14.e4 fxe4 15.Nxe4 Bxd2+ 16.Rxd2 Nbd5 17.Ng5 e5 18.Qd3 Rae8 19.Ng3 exd4 20.Qxd4 c5 21.Qd3 Nf4 22.Qc4

{Trapping the queen}

26.Qxe8+ Bxe8 27.Re1 Qf4 28.Ne4 c4 29.Bc2 Nfd7 30.Nc5 Bg6 31.Bxg6 hxg6 32. Nxd7 c3! 33.bxc3 Nxd7 34.Re7 Qa4+ 35.Ke2 Nf6 36.Rc7 Qb5+ 37.Kd1 Nd5 38. Rc8+ Kh7 39.c4 Qd7 40.Rc5 Ne3+ 41.Ke1 Qe7 42.Rc8 Nxg2+ 43.Kd1 Ne3+ 44.Ke1 Nxc4+ 45.Re2 Qb4+ 46.Kf1 Nd6 47.Ra8 a6 48.Kg2 Qc4 49.Rd2 Nf5 50.Rdd8 Nxh4+ 0-1

[Event "5th IECC"]
[Site "Antalya TUR"]
[Date "2004.05.28"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Gashimov, V"]
[Black "Halkias, S"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2565"]
[BlackElo "2541"]
[ECO "B22"]
[EventDate "2004.05.15"]
1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bc4 Nb6 7.Bb3 d5 8.exd6 Qxd6 9.Na3 a6 10.cxd4 e6 11.O-O Be7 12.Be3 O-O 13.Ne5 Nb4 14.Rc1 N4d5 15. Nac4 Nxc4 16.Nxc4 Qd8 17.Ne5 Bf6 18.Qf3 Rb8 19.Ng4 Bh4

[Event "5th IECC"]
[Site "Antalya TUR"]
[Date "2004.05.29"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Milov, V"]
[Black "Parligras, M"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2680"]
[BlackElo "2549"]
[ECO "E12"]
[EventDate "2004.05.15"]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 b6 5.Bg5 Bb7 6.Nd2 c5 7.d5 h6 8.Bh4 exd5 9.cxd5 Qe7 10.Qc2 O-O 11.O-O-O Bxc3 12.bxc3 Bxd5 13.e4 Bc6 14.f4! d6 15. Re1 g5 16.fxg5 Nh7 17.Bg3 Nxg5 18.h4 Ne6 19.Nc4 Rd8 20.Ne3! Ng7 21.Bc4 Nd7 22.Ng4! Rf8 23.Nxh6+ Kh8 24.Qd2 Ne5 25.Bxe5 dxe5 26.Ng4 1-0

{Necessary to stop Qd2 and Bxh6}

11.g5 Nf7 12.Bf4 Qc7 13.Qe2 Nd8 14.Qe3 Ne6 15.h4 Qa5 16.a3 Rd8 17.Nd2 Nd4 18.Rc1 Be6 19.h5 Rd7 20.Qh3 Kf7 21.Qg3 b5 22.hxg6+ hxg6 23.Rh7 Rh8 24.Rxh8 Bxh8 25.Ne2 Qa4 26.Nc3 Qa5 27.Ne2 Bg7 28.Nxd4 cxd4 29.Ke2 c5 30.Rh1 Rd8 31.Rh7 Qa4 32.Qg2 Kg8 33.Rh6! Bxh6 34.gxh6 Kf7 35.b3 Qa6 36.Nf3 Bd5 37. Ng5+ Ke8

[Event "5th IECC Playoff Prelim"]
[Site "Antalya TUR"]
[Date "2004.05.30"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Gurevich, M"]
[Black "Istratescu, A"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2672"]
[BlackElo "2587"]
[ECO "A17"]
[EventDate "2004.05.30"]
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.g4 Bxc3 5.bxc3 d6 6.g5 Nfd7 7.d4 b6 8.e4 Bb7 9.Bd3 Nc6 10.Be3 Qe7 11.Nd2 e5 12.Rb1 O-O 13.Qh5 f6 14.g6 hxg6 15.Qxg6 Qf7 16.Qg3 f5!?

17.exf5 Nb4!? 18.cxb4 Bxh1 19.f3 a5 20.b5 exd4 21.Bxd4 Nc5 22.Bc2 d5 23. Kf2 dxc4 24.Rxh1 Rad8 25.Bc3 Nd3+ 26.Kf1 Nb4 27.Bb1 Nd5

{Black has a strong initiative}

28.f4 Nxc3 29.Qxc3 Qd5 30.Rg1 Rf7 31.Ne4 Qxf5 32.Kg2 Qxf4 33.h3 Rd5 34. Qxc4 Rg5+ 35.Kh1 Qf3+ 36.Kh2 Rxg1 37.Kxg1 Qd1+ 38.Kg2 Qxb1 39.Ng5 Qb2+ 40. Kg3 Qf2+ 41.Kg4 Qf5+ 42.Kh5 Kf8 43.Qd4 Rd7 0-1

[Event "5th IECC Playoff Qualification"]
[Site "Antalya TUR"]
[Date "2004.05.30"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Naiditsch, A"]
[Black "Krasenkow, M"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2571"]
[BlackElo "2609"]
[ECO "C68"]
[EventDate "2004.05.30"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.O-O Qd6 6.Na3 Be6 7.Qe2 f6 8.Rd1 O-O-O 9.d4 Bg4 10.Be3 Qe6 11.dxe5 Re8 12.h3 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 Bxa3 14.bxa3 fxe5 15.Rd3 Nf6 16.Rb3 Qc4 17.Rab1 b5 18.Rb4 Qxc2 19.Rc1 Qxa2 20.Rxc6 Kb7 21. Rc1 c6 22.Bg5 Qe6 23.Qc3 Nd7 24.a4 Rc8 25.Rb2 Nb6 26.Be3 c5 27.axb5 a5 28. Rd2 Rc7 29.Rcd1 Qc4 30.Qxe5 a4 31.Bf4 Rhc8 32.Qf5 g6 33.Qg4 Qxe4 34.Rd6 Nc4 35.Re6 Qc2 36.Qf3+ Kb8 37.Ra6 1-0

[Event "5th IECC Playoff Qualification"]
[Site "Antalya TUR"]
[Date "2004.05.30"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Krasenkow, M"]
[Black "Naiditsch, A"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2609"]
[BlackElo "2571"]
[ECO "A17"]
[EventDate "2004.05.30"]
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.g4 h6 5.Rg1 b6 6.Qc2 Bb7 7.a3 Be7 8.g5 hxg5 9.Nxg5 Bf8 10.d4 Nc6 11.Nf3 d5 12.cxd5 Nxd5 13.e4 Nxc3 14.Qxc3 Qd7 15.Bb5 f6 16.Be3 a6 17.Ba4 b5 18.Bb3 b4 19.Qc2 Na5 20.Ba4 Bc6 21.axb4 Bxb4+ 22. Bd2 Bxd2+ 23.Nxd2 Rxh2 24.Nf1 Rh8 25.Ne3 Bxa4 26.Rxa4 Nc6 27.Qc4 Rd8 28. Nc2

Ne5!! 29.Qb3 Nf3+!! 30.Qxf3 Qxa4 31.Qc3 Qd7 32.Kd2 c5 33.Qxc5 Rc8 34. Qb4 Rh2 35.Ne3 Rxf2+ 36.Ke1 Rh2 0-1

[Event "5th IECC Playoff Qualification"]
[Site "Antalya TUR"]
[Date "2004.05.30"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Milov, V"]
[Black "Macieja, B"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2680"]
[BlackElo "2633"]
[ECO "A40"]
[EventDate "2004.05.30"]
1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 f5 5.Qc2 Nf6 6.g3 d6 7.Bg2 Na6 8.Nh3 Nc7 9. O-O O-O 10.Nf4 Qe8 11.a4 g5!? 12.Nh3 h6 13.f4 g4 14.Nf2 e6 15.e4!

{Black has extended himself on the kingside, so it makes sense to open up the position}

15...fxe4 16.Nfxe4 Nxe4 17.Bxe4 Bxc3?! 18.bxc3 Qf7 19.f5! exd5

( 19...exf5 20.Bxh6 )

20.cxd5 Qf6 21.c4!! Ne8

( 21...Qxa1 22.Bb2! Qa2 23.Qc3 Kf7 24.Qg7+ Ke8 25.f6 Rf7 26.Bg6 +- )

22.Bb2 Qg5 23.Rae1 Nf6 24.Bd3 Bd7 25.Re7 Rf7 26.Re6!?

( 28...Qg7 29.Bb2 )

29.Bxh6 Qd4+ 30.Qf2!!

( 30.Kh1 Ne4!? 31.Bxf8 )

30...Qxd3 31.Bxf8 Rxf8 32.e7! Re8

( 32...Re8 ( 32...Rf7 33.e8=Q+ +- ) 33.Qxf6 +- ) 1-0

[Event "5th IECC Playoff Qualification"]
[Site "Antalya TUR"]
[Date "2004.05.30"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Sargissian, G"]
[Black "Asrian, K"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2614"]
[BlackElo "2605"]
[ECO "D45"]
[EventDate "2004.05.30"]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 b6 7.Bd3 Bb7 8.O-O Bd6 9.b3 O-O 10.Bb2 Qe7 11.Rac1 h6 12.cxd5 exd5 13.Nh4 Bb4 14.Nf5 Qe6 15.Ne2 Bd6 16.Nf4 Bxf4 17.exf4 Rfe8 18.f3 Nf8 19.Qf2 Ng6 20.Rce1 Qd7 21.Qg3 Rxe1 22.Rxe1 Re8 23.Re5!? Kh8 24.Nxg7!? Kxg7 25.f5 Nh5 26.Qh3

( 26.Qg4 ( 26.Qg4 Nf4 27.f6+ ) 26...Nf6 = )

26...Ngf4 27.Qg4+ Kh8 28.g3 Rg8 -/+

{Black's taking over the initiative}

29.Qh4 f6

( 29...Nxd3 30.Qxh5 Kh7 )

30.Kf1 Qg7

( 30...fxe5 31.gxf4 Nxf4 32.dxe5 {leaves swindle opportunities} )

31.Bc2 fxe5 32.dxe5 Ba6+ 33.Kf2 Bd3 34.f6 Qf8 35.e6 Qc5+ 36.Ke1 Qe3+ 0-1

Grand Prix tournaments:

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

NSW Open Championship NSW; 3; June 12-14; Sydney - Ryde Eastwood, Charles Zworestine Website
Mid North Coast June Open NSW; 3; June 19-20 ; Laurieton; Endel Lane 02-6559-9060
Darling Downs Open QLD; 2; June 12-14; Toowoomba; Ross Andrew Mills 07 46340875/0405 382 324. Email
Tasmanian Open 1; June 12-14; Hobart; Kevin Bonham k_bonham@tassie.net.au
Gold Coast Open QLD; 3; June 26-27; Robina Town Centre; Graeme Gardiner 07-5522-7221 Email
Caloundra Open QLD; July 3-4; Caloundra Powerboat Club; Bob Goodwin
Fairfield Winter Cup NSW; July 10-11; Fairfield; Rolando Atenzia
University Open SA; 3; July 10-11; Adelaide University; Andrew Saint 08-83323752 Website Email
Queensland Open QLD; 2; July 17-18; Gardiner Chess Centre; Graeme Gardiner 07 5522 7221 Email
ANU Open ACT; 3; July 24-25; Canberra; Shun Ikeda 02-61254030; Website; Email
Coal City Open NSW; 3; Aug 7-8; Newcastle; George Lithgow 02-4943-3862
August Weekender NSW; July 31-August 1; Rose Bay; Website
Gold Coast Classic QLD; 3; September 18-19; Somerset College; Graeme Gardiner 07-5522-7221 Email
Ryde Eastwood Open NSW; 3; October 2-4; Ryde Eastwood; Website
Redcliffe Challenge QLD; October 2-3; Rothwell Grace Lutheran College? Website
Tweed Heads Open NSW; October 16-17; Tweed Heads Civic Centre;
Laurieton Open NSW; 1; October 30-31; Laurieton; Endel Lane 02-6559-9060
Coffs Harbour Inaugural Open NSW; 2; November 13-14; Coffs Harbour Catholic Club; Bill Ross 02-6651-8855 Email
November Weekender NSW; November 20-21; North Sydney Leagues Club; Website
Fairfield Summer Cup NSW; 3; December 10-11; Fairfield; Rolando Atenzia

Other tournaments

Full details - see upcoming tournaments on the website.

Victorian Open Championship: June 12-14. Box Hill Chess Club, 79 Carrington Road. 7 round swiss. $3000 in prizes. Email website
Mingara May Major: May 29-30. Under 2000. Contact Mal Murrell 02 43923873/0408495323 email or Joe Keaveney 0243322023.
ASEAN Masters Chess Congress: Several tournaments. Thomas Hoe Tel : (65) 96934049 Fax : (65) 63581483 Email
World Youth Under-16 Chess Olympiad, India. July 1-9. 10 Round Swiss. 4-player teams. Contact: P.T. Ummer Koya, Phone : (91) 495 – 2420327, 2420727 Fax : (91) 495 – 2422033, 2421005. Email Website
NZ North Island chess championship & rapid: July 12-17. Auckland. Contact: Bob Smith.
Festival Schneider Bohemia - Pilsen 2004; August 14-22; Czech Republic; website.

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