Australian Open, Junior, Schools Teams changes: Plans to hold the Australian Open, Australian Junior and the Australian Schools Teams Championship at Mt Buller in Victoria have been cancelled because of financial disagreements. The ACF Executive is meeting this Thursday evening and a full Council meeting is scheduled on July 12th.

ACF President George Howard said: "On Friday morning, after the Executive meeting, I will post more information - but anything definitive cannot be assumed until after the Council Meeting on 12 July.

"The three tournaments will be held. The dates, etc, may be changed but they certainly will not be at Mt Buller. Chess Victoria will make a submission that will be addressed at these meetings."

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 36th Chess Olympiads to be held in Calvia, Majorca, Spain from October 14th-31st 2004. (Event website: http://www.36chessolympiad.com/uk/index.php).

Applications will remain open until Friday, 16 July 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 at http://www.auschess.org.au/constitution/con7.htm

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.

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

Gold Coast Open: Now I know what Michael Slater feels like ... Being stranded on 99 is not a good feeling. Especially not when players are suggesting that I should play - you know they must be getting desperate! Not that 99 players in the Gold Coast Open/Under 1600 event can really be considered a failure; but it was very nice when an extra entry on the Sunday got us to 100 (35 in the Open, 65 in the Under 1600). Anyway, we can't really complain: the Gold Coast Open is still one of the most successful weekenders in the country...

Of course, no matter how organised Graeme Gardiner is, these things never start on time - we did well to begin only 25 minutes late. With time controls once more of 60 minutes plus 10 seconds per move from the start, this meant we had to be careful not to fall too far behind schedule. We relied on the top seeds winning their Round 1 games quickly, and they obliged: GM Ian Rogers and IM David Smerdon especially. IM Stephen Solomon's extra exchange took a little longer to subdue Ben Lazarus, while WIM Arianne Caoili was worse against Cathy Rogers until the latter walked into a tactic which cost her a piece. And of course, not everything went according to script, with Australian Junior Champion Denis Bourmistrov the highest rated casualty after miscalculating and ending up a piece down against Alex Toolsie...

Two big upsets in Round 2, as the juniors triumphed over much higher rated opposition. First Moulthun Ly defeated Michael Lip, then James Obst stunned Stephen Solomon (and a large gallery of spectators!). The Ly-Lip game was particularly interesting, with Moulthun's queen triumphing over Michael's three minor pieces (see game below). Justin Pengelley lost to Rogers on Board 1, while David Smerdon won his locked position against John Myers, whom he was playing for the first time since Smurf was 12! The other top seeds all won, except for a struggling Denis Bourmistrov who was held to a draw by John O'Brien.

Ly, M (1838)    --    Lip, M (2061)
Gold Coast Open  (2)   Gold Coast
2004.06.27     1-0     D35

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 c6 7.Bd3 Ne4 8. Bf4 Nxc3 9.bxc3 Qa5

Can't see a lot of point to this

h3 looks better

Bf4!?

16...Bxe3+ 17.Kh1 O-O-O!?

Black's relying on the old mate-em-down-the-h-file trick, eg

( 18.hxg4 hxg4+ 19.Bh2 Qc7 ( 19...Rxh2+ 20.Kxh2 Rh8+ 21.Kg3 Qc7+ 22.Nf4 Nf6 with the idea of ...Nh5+ looks very good 23.Bf5+ Kb8 24.Bxg4!? Ne4+ -+ ) 20.g3 Qd6 with the idea of ...Rxh2+ and Q=h6=h3# 21.Nf4 Rxh2+ 22.Kxh2 )

18...Rdg8 19.Rab1 b5 20.Bxb5!?

An interesting attempt to turn the tables

( 20...cxb5 21.Qxd5! threatens Qa8+ and leaves white with a strong attack )

The point! If the queen evacuates white has Qxa7 and Qc7 mate

more fireworks!

Now white has queen for three pieces

White drives away the defender of d7. If 27...Bxa4 28.Qf4 will pick up a piece

We were thinking of introducing height restrictions after Round 3, where little Moulthun scored yet another upset by grinding down Alistair Compton in a long ending. Ian Rogers beat Jacob Edwards in a queen and pawn ending, David Smerdon came back from a pawn down to win a piece and eventually find a nice checkmate against Kevin Casey, and Stephen Solomon recovered (yet again!) from a losing position to beat Phachara Wongwichit. Arianne Caoili won a messy time scramble against James Obst, then had to take a prearranged half point bye in Round 4 to go to work! In this round Moulthun finally got his comeuppance against Ian Rogers (who just took too many of his pawns), as did a tired James Obst, who lost to Jacob Edwards despite having a good position for much of their game. Time pressure cost Alistair Compton a draw against Justin Pengelley; John Myers upset Michael Lip; and David Smerdon and Stephen Solomon took the long way round to their eventual draw by repetition...

Round 5 saw Ian Rogers get to 5/5 by beating Smurf in a knight and pawn ending, while Arianne drew an even contest ending in a mutual time pressure repetition against Jacob Edwards. John Myers won a tactical slugfest against Moulthun, while Solo, Alistair and Denis all won to stay among the leaders. Another win in Round 6 (against John Myers) saw Ian get to 6/6 and guaranteed at least equal first, Solo and Smurf staying in touch with wins, but Arianne the only one still having the chance to catch him after Denis refused her draw offer and proceeded to get mated by her heavy pieces instead. But Arianne could not then stop Mr. Perfect, who defeated her convincingly in the last round to win outright on 7/7. Solo lost first one pawn, then two, but then activated his pieces and managed to win against Kevin Casey anyway; this got him to 51/2 and equal second with Smurf, who beat John O'Brien.

Prizes: 1st Ian Rogers 7/7; 2nd = David Smerdon, Stephen Solomon 51/2; 1st = Under 2000 Toshi Kimura, John Myers 41/2.

Under 1600 Report: The usual juniors queued up to try to win this one! The first round went largely according to seeding, except for Nathan Fisher's upset draw with Bruce Harris. A few more upsets in Round 2, as Ross Mills shocked visiting ACT third seed Jesse Maguire and another interstate visitor, Adelaide Soltysik (NSW), held sixth seed Dion Sampson to a draw. Things got more exciting in Round 3, despite predictable wins to top seed Craig Stewart and fifth seed Nenad Chelebichanin. Much more interesting were James Morris' lengthy upset win over second seed Nathan Anderson, and Robert Hvistendahl's heart-stopping win over Amy Evans (see game below), where after many fluctuations he got to Amy's king before she got to his...

Hvistendahl, R (1556)    --    Evans, A (1418)
Gold Coast Under 1600  (3)   Gold Coast
2004.06.27     1-0     C13

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4!? c5 7.Bxe7 Qxe7 8.Nb5 Nb6?!

This doesn't work out too well

9.Nd6+ Kf8 10.dxc5 N6d7 11.Nxc8 Qxc5 12.Nd6 Nxe5 13.Ne4!!

13...Qb4+

( 13...dxe4?? 14.Qd8#! )

Why not Nd2?

Maybe 17...Nc6 18.Qxb7 Rb8! and 19...Rxb2+ is better

18.Qxb7 Qxh4 19.Qxa8 Qg5+ 20.Kc2 Qf5+ 21.Kb3 Ke7 22.Nd4! Qf4 23. Bb5 Ng3 24.Re1 Rd8 25.Qxa7+ Kf6 26.Qa8 Qc7 27.Re3 Nd7 28.Qc6 Qb8

29.Nxe6!! fxe6 30.Qxe6+ Kg5 31.Rxg3+ Qxg3 32.Qe7+ Kg6 33.Qxd8 Nf6 34.Be8+ Kh6 35.Bf7 Qxg2 36.Qd6 Qe4 37.Qh2+ Kg5 38.Qg3+ Kh6 39.a4 Qc4+ 40.Ka3 g5 41.Qd6 Kg7 42.Qe7 Qf4 43.Bxd5+ Kg6 44.Bf7+ Kg7 45.Be8+ Kh6 46.Qf8#

Round 4 left us with two outright leaders on 4/4, after Craig beat Howard Chuang and Nenad took care of Robert. James Morris had a longish draw with Dion Sampson to get to 31/2, where he was joined by Bruce Harris and Alex Jule (who upset Jim Laky). So to Sunday morning and Round 5, where Nenad took the outright lead over Craig, but still had James Morris breathing down his neck on 41/2 after the latter won a long ending against Bruce Harris. Draw city on the next three boards: opposite coloured bishops in Alex vs Jesse, Robert unable to break through Howard and a tired Dion drawing with Amy. This left five players on 4/5, a heap on 31/2 and an exciting finish in prospect...

James Morris took the outright lead (51/2/6) by beating Nenad in Round 6, by half a point from Nenad, Mike Duffin (who beat Laky) and Alex Jule (upset winner over Jim Ritchie). Craig Stewart and Kelvin Finke were largely out of contention after their Board 2 draw. It took him a while, but little James then converted his extra piece to beat Mike Duffin in the last round and win outright on 61/2/7. Nenad got second by beating Alex Jule, and Dion claimed third over Craig Stewart.

Prizes: 1st James Morris 61/2/7; 2nd Nenad Chelebichanin 6; 3rd Dion Sampson 51/2; 1st Rating Group A Alex Jule 5; 1st = Rating Group B Sam Grigg, Yitao Lei 41/2; 1st Rating Group C Zane Adams 4; 1st = Rating Group D Daniel Barrett, Shaun Curtis, Mikio Kimura, Oliver McCarthy, Christina Webb, Kantley Wu 3.

No Name                 Loc  Total  1    2    3    4    5    6    7  

1  Rogers, Ian          2646 7     30:W 17:W  9:W 10:W  2:W  5:W  4:W
2  Smerdon, David C     2389 5.5    6:W  5:W 11:W  3:D  1:L  9:W 12:W
3  Solomon, Stephen J   2466 5.5   22:W 20:L 19:W  2:D 17:W  7:W 11:W
4  Caoili, Arianne B    2275 5     24:W 18:W 20:W  0:D  9:D 13:W  1:L
5  Myers, John          1899 4.5   23:W  2:L 32:W  8:W 10:W  1:L  6:D
6  Kimura, Toshi        1730 4.5    2:L 23:W  8:L 34:W 15:W 17:W  5:D
7  Compton, Alistair    2112 4.5   25:W 14:W 10:L 17:D 18:W  3:L 19:W
8  Lip, Michael         2061 4.5   28:W 10:L  6:W  5:L 22:W 19:D 18:W
9  Edwards, Jacob A     2041 4     32:W 19:W  1:L 20:W  4:D  2:L 13:D
10 Ly, Moulthun         1838 4     31:W  8:W  7:W  1:L  5:L 11:L 21:W
11 Casey, Kevin         2022 4     26:W 21:W  2:L 18:D 12:D 10:W  3:L
12 O'Brien, John        1620 4     15:D 13:D 14:D 30:W 11:D 20:W  2:L
13 Bourmistrov, Denis   2079 4     21:L 12:D 27:W 16:W 14:W  4:L  9:D
14 Lovejoy, David       1853 4     29:W  7:L 12:D 21:W 13:L 24:D 22:W
15 Tankel, Alan         1901 4     12:D 33:D 21:L 25:W  6:L 28:W 24:W
16 Hardy, Christopher   1631 4     17:L 30:D 26:W 13:L 25:D 29:W 20:W
17 Pengelley, Justin    1905 3.5   16:W  1:L 22:W  7:D  3:L  6:L 31:W
18 Barnard, Casey T     1840 3.5   35:W  4:L 33:W 11:D  7:L 27:W  8:L
19 Wongwichit, Phachara 1798 3.5   34:W  9:L  3:L 32:W 28:W  8:D  7:L
20 Obst, James          1891 3     27:W  3:W  4:L  9:L 21:W 12:L 16:L
21 Toolsie, Alex        1684 3     13:W 11:L 15:W 14:L 20:L 34:W 10:L
22 Lazarus, Benjamin    1735 3      3:L 26:W 17:L 33:W  8:L 32:W 14:L
23 Ruddy, Alex          1580 3      5:L  6:L 31:L  0:W 33:W 25:D 32:D
24 Rogers, Cathy L      1727 3      4:L 27:D 28:D 31:D 29:W 14:D 15:L
25 Weller, Tony         1725 3      7:L 29:D 35:W 15:L 16:D 23:D 27:D
26 Davidson, Nathan P   1649 3     11:L 22:L 16:L 29:L  0:W 30:W 34:W
27 Anderson, Daniel C   1542 3     20:L 24:D 13:L 35:W 30:W 18:L 25:D
28 Jempson, Ross        1673 2.5    8:L 31:W 24:D  0:D 19:L 15:L 33:D
29 Ross, Bill           1518 2.5   14:L 25:D 30:L 26:W 24:L 16:L  0:W
30 Raham, Akeel         1740 2.5    1:L 16:D 29:W 12:L 27:L 26:L 35:W
31 Bender, Peter G      1251 2.5   10:L 28:L 23:W 24:D 32:L  0:W 17:L
32 Saavedra, Bernard    1672 2.5    9:L 34:W  5:L 19:L 31:W 22:L 23:D
33 Stokes, Mark C       1610 2.5    0:D 15:D 18:L 22:L 23:L 35:W 28:D
34 Blundell, Jian       1094 2     19:L 32:L  0:W  6:L 35:W 21:L 26:L
35 Kaspar, Ric          1473 .5    18:L  0:D 25:L 27:L 34:L 33:L 30:L

U1600

No Name                         Loc  Total  1    2    3    4    5    6    7  

1  Morris, James                1433 6.5   33:W 27:W  6:W  3:D 28:W  2:W  8:W
2  Chelebichanin, Nenad         1546 6     40:W 34:W 11:W  4:W 12:W  1:L  7:W
3  Sampson, Dion                1537 5.5   46:W 51:D 20:W  1:D 17:D 16:W 12:W
4  Hvistendahl, Robert          1556 5     23:W 24:W 17:W  2:L 13:D 15:W 10:D
5  Ritchie, Jim                 1534 5     55:W 21:W 13:L 18:W 11:W  7:L 22:W
6  Anderson, Nathan             1573 5     31:W 16:W  1:L 20:L 25:W 19:W 17:W
7  Jule, Alexandra              1411 5     43:W  0:D 30:W 14:W  9:D  5:W  2:L
8  Duffin, Mike                 1458 5     62:W 18:W 12:L 23:W 20:W 14:W  1:L
9  Maguire, Jesse               1560 5     35:W 15:L 40:W 36:W  7:D 13:D 24:W
10 Finke, Kelvin                1461 5     59:W 20:L 51:W 31:W 21:W 12:D  4:D
11 Cooke, Steven L              1451 5     60:W 41:W  2:L 54:W  5:L 39:W 21:W
12 Stewart, Craig A             1576 4.5   52:W 22:W  8:W 13:W  2:L 10:D  3:L
13 Chuang, Howard               1430 4.5   50:W 38:W  5:W 12:L  4:D  9:D 18:D
14 Laky, Jim                    1497 4.5   56:W 19:W 15:D  7:L 29:W  8:L 32:W
15 Mills, Ross                  1328 4.5   48:W  9:W 14:D 28:L 50:W  4:L 29:W
16 Goodwin, Bob                 1382 4.5   45:W  6:L 35:W 29:D 32:W  3:L 30:W
17 Evans, Amy L                 1418 4.5   54:W 29:W  4:L 55:W  3:D 28:W  6:L
18 Lei, Yitao                   1103 4.5   61:W  8:L 41:W  5:L 54:W 38:W 13:D
19 Grigg-Tondeleir, Samuel      1129 4.5   58:W 14:L 50:D 42:W 30:W  6:L 28:W
20 Grenfell, Regina             1102 4     64:W 10:W  3:L  6:W  8:L 22:L 43:W
21 Wong, Tony                   1169 4     37:W  5:L 56:W 25:W 10:L 44:W 11:L
22 Korenevski, Oleg             1400 4     39:W 12:L 31:L 46:W 23:W 20:W  5:L
23 Chynoweth, Ashley            1053 4      4:L 47:W 34:W  8:L 22:L 42:W 44:W
24 Brown, Andrew                1325 4     63:W  4:L 55:L 62:W 27:W 36:W  9:L
25 Xiao, Colin                  1100 4     29:L 62:W 52:W 21:L  6:L 50:W 45:W
26 Adams, Zane                  990  4      0:D 53:W 28:L 30:L 52:D 47:W 39:W
27 Fisher, Jayden               1094 4     65:W  1:L 54:L 43:W 24:L 56:W 38:W
28 Harris, Bruce                1523 3.5   32:D 42:W 26:W 15:W  1:L 17:L 19:L
29 Ford, Daniel                 1068 3.5   25:W 17:L 38:W 16:D 14:L 51:W 15:L
30 Haron, Peter                 1258 3.5    0:D 32:W  7:L 26:W 19:L 31:W 16:L
31 Chen, Shaun                  1058 3.5    6:L 63:W 22:W 10:L 34:D 30:L 50:W
32 Fisher, Nathan               981  3.5   28:D 30:L 58:W 51:W 16:L 34:W 14:L
33 Baker, Brendan               858  3.5    1:L 39:W 37:D  0:D 36:L 35:D 52:W
34 Long Hong, Stan              1210 3.5   49:W  2:L 23:L 56:W 31:D 32:L 41:W
35 Thompson, Cameron M          1057 3.5    9:L 48:W 16:L 58:W 38:L 33:D 51:W
36 Gray, Garvin                 1133 3.5   41:L 60:W 59:W  9:L 33:W 24:L 37:D
37 Kinder, Jessica              1090 3.5   21:L 45:W 33:D 50:L 42:D 59:W 36:D
38 Buck, Gordon                 1150 3     44:W 13:L 29:L 40:W 35:W 18:L 27:L
39 Russell, Luthien             1108 3     22:L 33:L 61:W 45:W 47:W 11:L 26:L
40 Solomon, John                1027 3      2:L 61:W  9:L 38:L 48:W 43:L 57:W
41 Webb, Christina              610  3     36:W 11:L 18:L 52:W 44:L 55:W 34:L
42 Lee, Leoma                   809  3      0:D 28:L 53:W 19:L 37:D 23:L 54:W
43 McCarthy, Oliver             767  3      7:L 52:L 64:W 27:L 49:W 40:W 20:L
44 Wagner, Luke                 1128 3     38:L 50:L 48:W 59:W 41:W 21:L 23:L
45 Wu, Kantley                  765  3     16:L 37:L 65:W 39:L 58:W 46:W 25:L
46 Webb, Nicholas               1003 3      3:L 58:L 63:W 22:L 57:W 45:L 61:W
47 Curtis, Shaun                650  3     51:L 23:L 60:W 53:W 39:L 26:L 56:W
48 Barrett, Daniel J  	729  3     15:L 35:L 44:L 64:W 40:L 58:W 55:W
49 Kimura, Mikio                674  3     34:L 55:L 62:L  0:W 43:L 60:W 59:W
50 Pedersen-Lee, Lachlan        847  2.5   13:L 44:W 19:D 37:W 15:L 25:L 31:L
51 Soltysik, Adelaide           1160 2.5   47:W  3:D 10:L 32:L 55:W 29:L 35:L
52 Haron, Adric                 1066 2.5   12:L 43:W 25:L 41:L 26:D 54:W 33:L
53 Jule, Sebastian              804  2.5    0:D 26:L 42:L 47:L 60:L 65:W 63:W
54 McGarity, Molly              254  2     17:L  0:W 27:W 11:L 18:L 52:L 42:L
55 Thompson, Ingrid             998  2      5:L 49:W 24:W 17:L 51:L 41:L 48:L
56 Fisher, Ashley               948  2     14:L 65:W 21:L 34:L 61:W 27:L 47:L
57 Yang, James                  750  2      0:D  0:D  0:L  0:L 46:L 63:W 40:L
58 Curtis, Kristen              479  2     19:L 46:W 32:L 35:L 45:L 48:L 65:W
59 Solomon, Anthony             935  2     10:L 64:W 36:L 44:L 63:W 37:L 49:L
60 Davies, Andrew William  	885  2     11:L 36:L 47:L 63:L 53:W 49:L 64:W
61 Moren, Erik                  720  2     18:L 40:L 39:L 65:W 56:L 64:W 46:L
62 Smith, Bradley      	910  1.5    8:L 25:L 49:W 24:L  0:D  0:   0: 
63 Anderson, Todd               685  1     24:L 31:L 46:L 60:W 59:L 57:L 53:L
64 Sawyers-White, Victoria           1     20:L 59:L 43:L 48:L 65:W 61:L 60:L
65 Solomon, Rachael                  0     27:L 56:L 45:L 61:L 64:L 53:L 58:L

- Charles Zworestine
DOP

Tournament for the Common Man, Wollongong, NSW: The smallness of the field at this innovative event was more than made-up for by the congenality of the participants. 1st was Alex Mendes da Costa (1782) who slayed the opposition with 6/7. On the way, he beat the perennial Johny Bolens (2061) and Gareth "Never Draw" Charles (2119) but lost to last year's defending champion David Castor (1934), who came outright second on 5.5/7. Jason Chan was third with 5/7 after defeat at the hands of Wollongong local, Martin Baraket (1683). Local Junior Vaness Reid won the Junior section.

There were 14 players for the first round and 17 in the following 6 rounds. Matthew Sweeney withdrew without permission when he was given a bye in the 2nd round by some fool software, thus creating an even bye-free 16 for the remainder of the event. With the help of some extra funds, it was possible to ensure there were 16 prizes for 16 players!! The smallest prize was $40 which was equil to the flat entry fee for all players.

Other highlights: During a time scramble, Gareth Charles reminded his opponent Scot Nicholson to press the clock - true sportsmanship. Jason Chan (1978) gave a stack of free coaching to Joe Frias (1416) as compensation for savaging him OTB in round 6. One Junior rang another junior during a round because they knew their mobile was not turned off. Having a real Barry Crocker, Gary Losh went into the last round on 0/6, worried that he would set some kind of record with 0/7, but was able to salvage some dignity by beating unrated and returning chess player Gerry Bell. The first round pairings were posted at 10:25, welcome address at 10:30 and clocks started at 10:32. All 16 prizes were calculated and the prize giving started 10 minutes after the last game concluded. Free beer (and fizzy) was on 5 minutes after that.

An anomomous survey form was given to all players, asking for positives and negatives for the event. Overwhelming the responses were positive. Most common were: great atmosphere; pleasant venue, prizes for everyone, cheap food, and the DOP. A few negatives were; Swiss Imperfect draw for the last round, lack of free caffine, small field and someone's personal hygiene. No one wrote that the thin flat prize structure (1st $100 and 2nd $60 in all four rating divisions) was a negative.

The DOP (me) did not have to turn ugly once and will run it again next year, and it may include a Saturday night cheap-eats.

- Matthew Sweeney

Software - Computer gladiators in the Arena: I came across an interesting, free chess program on the internet the other day. Arena, the creation of Martin Blume, allows you to pit two or more chess-playing programs against each other and watch the results. (You need to have the chess "engines", eg Crafty, on your computer first). "Tournaments" between large numbers of programs can be set up to take place automatically. I didn't find the program completely user-friendly at first, but quickly got the hang of it, and it's actually a lot of fun. Here's an example from a blitz match I set up. A nice sacrifice in the opening, though the ending play is pretty terrible - but it was at blitz pace:

Crafty-Yace 1/2-1/2

1.d2-d4 d7-d5 2.c2-c4 d5xc4 3.Ng1-f3 b7-b5 4.a2-a4 c7-c6 5.e2-e3 Bc8-f5 6.Nb1-c3 Qd8-a5 7.Nf3-e5 f7-f6 8.Qd1-f3! f6xe5 9.Qf3xf5 Nb8-d7 10.Qf5-e6 Ra8-c8 11.Bc1-d2 b5-b4

For more information, check out the website and a forum about Arena.

Support the Team! 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. 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

The next ACF Executive phone hookup will be held on Thursday July 1. The next ACF Council meeting will be held on Monday, 12 July, at 1900 AEST by phone teleconference. Pls note that this is a change from the original date of 05 July, that was stated on the ACF Council Minutes of April.

Applications invited: The World Youth Chess Championships to be held in Iraklion, Crete, in November. Apart from the 10 selected children the opportunity exists for other Australian Juniors to play in the tournament (all entries have to be ratified by the Australian Chess Federation). It is a fantastic opportunity to mix with 1000 children from other countries, play 11 really strong games and get daily coaching and analysis. Can any interested parents please contact Jenni Oliver at jenni@stratagemcc.com.au for more information. The team has to be finalised and all coaching arrangements in place by early August 2004.

Entries are also being invited for the prestigious 2004 Australian Masters. Email Nick Speck at masters@swiftdsl.com.au if you're interested in playing.

Dates & Times: Tuesday 3rd August to Saturday 14th August 2004
Rounds start at 3pm
Format: 12 player round robin and we are aiming for a category 4 event
Games will be FIDE rated, anticipating a category 4 event
Time Control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds increment for the entire game
Venue: Melbourne Chess Club 66 Leicester St. Fitzroy
Prizes: 1st Place $1000; 2nd Place $750; 3rd Place $500.
Entry Fees: Entry fees are only applicable for non-IM players: 2350-2399 $100; 2250-2349 $150; 2150-2249 $250. Appearance Fees: International Masters $200.

World News:

FIDE World Championship: Kasimdzhanov upset Grischuk to enter the semi-finals against Topalov, who comfortably beat Kharlov. Radjabov won a long and tough playoff against Dominguez and will now play Adams, who triumphed over Akopian. In game 1 of round 5, Topalov beat Kharlov in an ending, and Kasimdzhanov surprised Grischuk with some endgame tactics. Adams won nicely against Akopian, but the game of the day was Dominguez's amazing sacrificial play to beat Radjabov. In Round 4, Topalov looked to be in trouble against the surprising Kozul, but a rook sacrifice produced a mating attack. Dominguez upset Dreev in a play-off and Kharlov beat the higher-rated Nisipeanu, but other matches were more or less to expectations. Round 3 had some big surprises as Kasimdzhanov beat Ivanchuk in a playoff while Kozul downed Rublevski, Dominguez beat Tkachiev and Nakamura beat Lastin. The favourites advanced into the third round after round 2 produced no big surprises. Among the casualties were Nigel Short, Ivan Sokolov and Pentala Harikrishna. And there were only a few small surprises as Round 1 finished. Notably, Magnus Carlsen is out. Many top players are absent from the event - 2nd seed Morozevich has just withdrawn. And the Israeli Chess Federation, whose players are not attending, is threatening to sue FIDE, claiming its team has been "barred" from the event.

FIDE Site | View games Round 5 | Round 3-4 | Rounds 1-2

Semi-Finals
1 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam (UZB 2652) - Topalov, Veselin (BUL 2737)
2 Radjabov, Teimour (AZE 2670) - Adams, Michael (ENG 2731)

Round 5
1 Topalov, Veselin (BUL 2737) - Kharlov, Andrei (RUS 2593) 1-0 1-0
4 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam (UZB 2652) - Grischuk, Alexander (RUS 2719) 1-0 0-1 1-0 1-0
2 Dominguez, Lenier (CUB 2612) - Radjabov, Teimour (AZE 2670) 1-0 0-1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2
3 Adams, Michael (ENG 2731) - Akopian, Vladimir (ARM 2689) 1-0 1/2

Round 4

Top Half
1 Kozul, Zdenko (CRO 2627) Topalov, Veselin (BUL 2737) 0-1 0-1
8 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter (ROM 2692) - Kharlov, Andrei (RUS 2593) 1/2 1/2 Playoff 1-0 0-1 1/2 1/2 0-1
4 Grischuk, Alexander (RUS 2719) - Beliavsky, Alexander G (SLO 2667) 1/2 1/2 Playoff 1/2 1-0 1/2
5 Almasi, Zoltan (HUN 2631) - Kasimdzhanov, Rustam (UZB 2652) 0-1 0-1

Bottom Half
2 Smirnov, Pavel (RUS 2601) - Radjabov, Teimour (AZE 2670) 1/2 1/2 Playoff 1/2 1/2 1/2 0-1
7 Dreev, Alexey (RUS 2689) - Dominguez, Lenier (CUB 2612) 1/2 1/2 Playoff 1/2 0-1
3 Nakamura, Hikaru (USA 2580) - Adams, Michael (ENG 2731) 0-1 1/2
6 Krasenkow, Michal (POL 2609) - Akopian, Vladimir (ARM 2689) 1/2 0-1

Young Stars of the World: An interesting event featuring top juniors from around the world. Leading final scores: 8.5 Khairullin, Zhigalko, Kuzubov; 7.5 Andreikin, Nepomniachtchi; 6.0 Howell 6, etc. Site | View games

World news including games updated daily at NetChessNews.

Games:

A nice attack from Topalov:

Topalov,V - Movsesian,S 1-0

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Qc7 5. Nc3 e6 6. Be3 a6 7. Qd2 Nf6 8. O-O-O Bb4 9. f3 Ne5 10. Nb3 b5 11. Kb1 Be7 12. Qf2 d6 13. Bb6 Qb8 14. Bd4 Nc6 15. Be3 Nd7 16. g4 O-O 17. g5 b4 18. Na4 Nce5 19. Rg1 Bb7 20. Na5 Rc8 21. b3 Bc6 22. Nxc6 Nxc6 23. f4 Nc5 24. Nxc5 dxc5 25. f5 Ne5 26. Bh3 exf5 27. exf5 Re8 28. Bf4 Bd6 29. g6! hxg6 30. fxg6 Ra7 31. Qg2 Nc4

32. Rxd6! Nxd6 33. Qd5 Rd8 34. gxf7+ Rxf7 35. Be6 Qb7 36. Qg5 1-0

Kozul,Z--Topalov,V 0-1

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Nbd2 dxc4 6. Bg2 b5 7. O-O O-O 8. a4 c6 9. e4 c3 10. Nb3 Ba6 11. a5 Nxe4 12. Qc2 cxb2 13. Bxb2 Nf6 14. Ne5 Nd5 15. Rfc1 Bb7 16. Nc5 Bxc5 17. dxc5 f6 18. Nd3 Na6 19. Re1 Bc8 20. Be4 h6 21. Rad1 Qc7 22. Qe2 e5 23. f4 Be6 24. fxe5 f5 25. Bxd5 cxd5 26. Nf4 Qc6 27. Qh5 Nc7 28. Qg6 Qe8 29. Ba3 Rb8 30. Rd4 Bf7 31. Qd6 Ne6 32. Nxe6 Bxe6 33. c6 Rf7 34. Rc1 Rc8

35. Rxd5 f4 36. Rxb5 fxg3 37. hxg3 Rd8 38. Qb4 Rf3 39. c7 Rxg3+ 40. Kf2 Qf7+ 41. Kxg3 Rd3+ 42. Kg2 Qf3+ 0-1

Smirnov,P--Radjabov,T 0-1

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 Bg7 11. Bd3 Ne7 12. Nxe7 Qxe7 13. c4 f5 14. O-O O-O 15. Qf3 d5 16. cxd5 fxe4 17. Bxe4 Rb8 18. Rad1 Rb6 19. Qd3 Qd7 20. Bxh7+ Kh8 21. Qe3 Rh6 22. Bc2 Qd6 23. g3 Bh3 24. Rfe1 f5 25. f4 exf4 26. Qe7 Qb6+ 0-1

Dominguez,L--Radjabov,T 1-0

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Qc7 5. O-O Nd4 6. Re1 a6 7. Bf1 e5 8. Bc4 d6 9. Ng5 h6 10. Nxf7 Rh7 11. Nd5!? Nxd5 12. c3!? Nf4 13. cxd4 Be6 14. Nxe5!? dxe5 15. d5 b5 16. d4 bxc4 17. Bxf4 exf4 18. dxe6 O-O-O 19. d5

19...Qe5 20. Rc1 g5 21. Rxc4 Rb7 22. b3 Kb8 23. Ra4 Ka7 24. Qe2 Rb6 25. Rc4 Bd6 26. Qh5 Rb7 27. Qd1 f3 28. Qxf3 Qxh2+ 29. Kf1 Qe5 30. Qc3 Rb5 31. Qxe5 Bxe5 32. Rec1 Bd6 33. Ke2 h5 34. g3 Rb7 35. Rh1 Rh7 36. Ke3 Rf8 37. b4 cxb4 38. Rc6 Bb8 39. d6 Kb7 40. Rhc1 Rfh8 41. e5 h4 42. e7 h3 43. Rc8 Rxc8 44. Rxc8 h2 45. Rc1 1-0

Grand Prix tournaments:

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

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
Mackay Open Qld; 1; July 31-August 1; Harrup Park Cricket Club; Stan Long Hong 07 4953 573 Noel Olsen
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.

North Queensland Open Qld; August 7-8; Townsville; Darren Napier 0412606213 Website
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.

Cesenatico (Italy) Open International September 4-12; Fax +3954786331 Phone +39335.6615956. Website Email Back to Top