1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be3 a6 5.f4 b5 6.Nf3 Bb7 7.Bd3 Nd7 8.a4 b4 9.Ne2 Ngf6 10.Ng3 c5 11.c3 Qa5 12.Bd2 bxc3 13.bxc3 Qc7 14.e5 Nd5 15.O-O O-O 16.e6 fxe6 17.Ng5 cxd4 18.Nxe6 Qc6 19.cxd4 Ne3!! 20.Qe2 Nxf1 21.Rxf1 Qxa4 22.Kh1 Rf7 23.f5 Nf8 24.Ng5 Bf6 25.fxg6 hxg6 26.Nxf7 Kxf7 27.Qg4 Qa2 28.Rf2 Rc8 29.h4 Qe6 30.Nf5 gxf5 31.Bxf5 Qc4 32.Qh5+ Kg8 33.Rf4 Bg7 34.Rg4 Qf7 35.Qh6 e6 36.Bd3 Rc7 37.Qg5 Bd5 38.Qd8 Qe7 39.Qb8 Rb7 40.Qc8 Qc7 41. Qe8 Qf7 42.Qd8 Qh5 43.Be2 Qf5 44.Bf4 Qb1+ 45.Kh2 Rd7 46.Qe8 Qf5 47.Bh6 Qf6 48.Qh5 a5 49.Bb5 Rb7 50.Be8 e5 51.Rg5 Be6 52.dxe5 dxe5 53.Rg3 e4 54.Bc6 Rc7 55.Bxe4 a4 56.Bg5 Qe5 57.Qf3 Rc3 58.Be3 Rc4 59.Bh6 Rc3 60.Be3 a3 61.h5 a2 62.h6 Rxe3 63.Qxe3 Qh5+ 64.Kg1 a1=Q+ 65.Kf2 Qf6+ 66.Bf3 Qhxh6 0-1

IM Irina Berezina-Feldman of Sydney, the Oceania Women's Champion, will be competing in the 64-player Womens World Championship in Ekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk in Russia next month. The event has a prize fund of over $600,000. - Peter Parr

Blacktown Centenary: Is chess a sport or just a pastime? The answer to that question probably depends where you live, but at Blacktown (in Sydney) it's definitely a sport. Blacktown Council have invited Rooty Hill Chess Club to participate in their Centennial Sports Festival, commemorating 100 years of local government in Australia.

On March 4 club champion and four-time Chess Olympian Tony Bouchaaya will be giving a simul at Westpoint Blacktown and the following week a Centenary Junior Tournament has been organised at Blacktown under DOP Richard Gastineau-Hills.

Full details from the Rooty Hill web site.

Fascinating Talk by IM Robert Wade: IM Robert Wade, now 84 years old, born in Dunedin, New Zealand and for many years resident in England, is the author or co-author of over 30 chess books and an internationally acknowledged openings expert. I was privileged to attend a fascinating talk/ lecture given by Bob at the Otago Chess Club, Dunedin, on Sunday 30 January. This was Bob’s first trip back to NZ for over 40 years! (The talk followed the Queenstown Classic in which he played and even drew with the tournament winner, also NZ-born GM Murray Chandler. See http://badbishop.com/queenstownchess/ . Bob demonstrated several games and positions, discussed his life in chess and his involvement in Bobby Fischer’s matches for the world chess championships. This consisted of being paid by Bobby to write out longhand every game played in all the matches from the ones against Taimanov and Larsen (both won by Fischer 6-0) to the famous match he won against Spassky.

- Jonathon Adams

Newcastle Open: George's joyful jaunt

by DOP Charles Zworestine

I was surprised: I realised it was three years since I had directed this event... Lucky then that George Lithgow, originally listed as DOP, agreed to play and instead let me be the one to take over from Allan Wright (arbiter for the past two years)! After the Brisbane and Queenstown events and the Australia Day weekender (all very successful), I was keen and in the mood for more chess; and this tournament did not disappoint... 47 players descended upon Newcastle (well, Cardiff actually) for the 21st Newcastle Open, with a strong field of 9 over 2000. With time controls of 1 hour plus 10 seconds per move from the start (Fischer), the usual interesting and high standard chess was played, with upsets even as early as Round 1...

Fourth seed Gareth Charles was the first upset victim, miscalculating a tactic and losing piece and eventually game to Norm Greenwood after he forgot that his knight was pinned! He was closely followed by Max Illingworth, who seemed to misplace several pawns in his upset loss to Ian Hendry. WIM Laura Moylan (seed 7) had to struggle before overcoming unrated (but dangerous) young Victorian Dennis Au: at one point a rook for three pawns down, Laura made her connected passed pawns count to eventually win a very tricky ending...

So by Round 2 some natural attrition of the top seeds had already taken place, especially as second seed Ronald Scott had arrived late and had to take a half point bye in Round 1... No trouble for top seed IM elect George Xie, however, as he won a piece then got his rooks doubled on the seventh rank to convincingly defeat Segopotso Hlabano. Third seed Brett Tindall succeeded with his mating attack against Robert Hvistendahl, while fourth seed and NSW State Champion Andrew Bird won a long game against Victor Liuga. Upset draws were achieved by Andrew Phillips against ninth seed Ilia Zvedeniouk, and NSW Junior Champion David Behne-Smith after he forced a dead drawn opposite coloured bishop ending against Adrian Chek. Good wins were achieved by two juniors this round, as Jonathan Behne-Smith beat Bela Nemeth and Alex Mehan (in his first adult event) defeated Andrew Robinson.

In Round 3 the games got tougher, although George Xie was able to win tactically against Laura Moylan, in the end sacrificing a rook to force mate. Brett Tindall sacrificed the exchange and a pawn and seemed worse against David Castor, but generated enough counterplay to cause David to lose on time in an inferior position. Andrew Bird ground down Alex Mendes da Costa. Johny Bolens was much luckier to beat Arthur Huynh, somehow conjuring up a win from a lost position where Arthur had two rooks and a piece for a queen, two beautiful bishops and a winning attack! Biggest upset this round was scored by David Behne-Smith, who won the exchange and eventually the game against Ilia Zvedeniouk.

A big battle occurred on top board in Round 4, where George Xie was out for revenge against Andrew Bird after his upset loss the weekend before at the Australia Day weekender. As it happens, George played beautifully, winning a rather nice game where he trapped Andrew's bishop, thus leaving him playing effectively a piece down, and then forced his resignation when he was about to queen a pawn (see game below). Board 2 saw Johny Bolens join George on 4/4 with an upset win against Brett Tindall; after surviving Brett's attack, Johny forced an ending with two beautiful bishops for a rook, then won with his last pawn (which happened to be a passed e-pawn). Ronald Scott got to 3.5/4 by beating Adrian Chek, where he was joined by David Behne-Smith who pulled off a stunning upset against Laura Moylan, winning pawns to tactics and then surviving her attack to force a winning endgame. Scott Nicholson upset Arthur Huynh to join a large group on 3/4.

Bird, A (2105)    --    Xie, G (2324)
2006 Newcastle Open  (4)   Newcastle
2006.02.04     0-1     A46o

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.O-O Qb6 7.Nxc6 dxc6 8.Nd2 e5 9.Nc4 Qc7 10.Bg5 Be6 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Ne3 Rd8 13.Qb1 Bc5 14. Be4 Bxe3 15.fxe3 Ke7 16.Qe1 h5 17.Qb4+ c5 18.Qxb7 Qxb7 19.Bxb7 Rb8 20.Bf3 Rxb2 21.Rfb1 Rhb8 22.Rxb2 Rxb2 23.Bxh5 e4!

Trapped!

There is no defence to ...c2 and ...Rd1+

Round 5 saw George Xie take the outright lead on 5/5 by winning the exchange to beat Johny Bolens. Ronald Scott took longer, but still reached 4.5/5 by beating David Behne-Smith with a nice Nxg2 pseudo-sacrifice. Both Brett Tindall and Gareth Charles won rook and pawn endings pawns ahead, while the difficult bishop ending between David Castor and Alex Mendes da Costa ended up drawn. Upset wins were scored by Brendon Norman over Ilia Zvedeniouk, and Jonathan Behne-Smith against Andrew Robinson's Grob. The longest game of the round was won by Andrew Bird over Segopotso Hlabano. Andrew was winning with strong pressure for much of the game, but in time pressure his opponent should have drawn the queen and pawn ending by perpetual check; instead he went pawn grabbing, eventually allowing his opponent a nice checkmate by underpromoting to a knight with check!

At least equal first was wrapped up for George Xie after Round 6, where he beat Ronald Scott as Black after the latter missed a Qxg3+ tactic based on a pin. Brett Tindall won a long struggle against Gareth Charles to reach 5/6, in the end winning a queen and rook ending with a picturesque mate (see game below). He was joined there by Andrew Bird, who beat Johny Bolens in another long game where Andrew's superior position was eventually converted into a won bishop ending. Many players were still in contention for the minor prizes on 4.5/6, among them David Castor whose kingside attack (having castled on opposite sides) was faster against David Behne-Smith's Dragon. Upsets this round were Andrew Murdoch defeating Segopotso Hlabano, and Jonathan Behne-Smith drawing with Mike Weltner.

Tindall, B (2214)    --    Charles, G (2105)
2006 Newcastle Open  (6)   Newcastle
2006.02.04     1-0     B33r

1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 c5 3.e4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bf4 e5 8.Bg5 a6 9.Na3 b5 10.Nd5 Be7 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.c3 O-O 13.Nc2 Bg5 14.a4 bxa4 15.Rxa4 a5 16.Bb5 Ne7 17.Nce3 Bxe3 18.Nxe3 Bb7 19.O-O Qb6 20.Qe2 d5 21. exd5 Nxd5 22.Nxd5 Bxd5 23.c4 Bc6 24.Qxe5 Bxb5 25.cxb5 Rab8 26.b4 axb4 27. Rxb4 Rfe8 28.Qb2 Re6 29.h3 g6 30.Rc4 Rbe8 31.Qb4 Re5 32.Rb1 Rb8 33.Rbc1 Qxb5 34.Rc8+ Rxc8 35.Rxc8+ Kg7 36.Qf8+ Kf6 37.Qd8+ Kg7 38.Qf8+ Kf6 39.Qh8+ Kf5 40.Rc1 Qe8 41.g4+ Kf4 42.Qf6+ Ke4 43.Qd6 Kf4 44.Qd2+ Kf3 45.Rc3+ Ke4 46.f3# 1-0

George Xie was Newcastle Open Champion for the very first time after Round 7, where he accepted Brett Tindall's early draw offer after both players claimed they were too tired to play on! Andrew Bird had to work much harder to claim outright second, but eventually did so after beating Ronald Scott when the latter (as Black) overlooked a pin and hence blundered his d2 bishop. David Castor beat Brendon Norman to share third place with Brett. Among those causing upsets to share the Under 1900 prize were Max Illingworth (in a long draw with Johny Bolens) and Paul Reynolds (who stunned Ilia Zvedeniouk). Best local was pooled in with this prize by David Behne-Smith, whose two rooks and five extra pawns were more than enough to beat Jose Escribano's queen.

Prize Winners: 1st George Xie 6.5/7; 2nd Andrew Bird 6; 3rd = David Castor, Brett Tindall 5.5; 1st = Under 1900 + Best Local David Behne-Smith, Max Illingworth, Brendon Norman, Paul Reynolds 4.5; 1st Under 1550 Andrew Murdoch 4; 2nd = Trent Parker, Michael Weltner 3.5; 1st = Under 1400 Jonathan Behne-Smith, Ian Hendry, Alex Mehan, Mary Wilkie 3.

1 Xie, George 2324 6.5

2 Bird, Andrew 2105 6

3-4 Tindall, Brett 2214 5.5
Castor, David 2008 5.5

5-7 Moylan, Laura A 2093 5
Chek, Adrian 1990 5
Charles, Gareth 2105 5

8-13 Bolens, Johny 2095 4.5
Scott, Ronald 2248 4.5
Behne-Smith, David 1585 4.5
Norman, Brendon 1843 4.5
Illingworth, Max 1786 4.5
Reynolds, Paul J 1597 4.

14-20 Mendes da Costa, Alex 1930 4
Hvistendahl, Robert 1701 4
O'Riordan, Bernard 1821 4
Hlabano, Segopotso 1798 4
Huynh, Arthur 1800 4
Murdoch, Andrew 1452 4
Phillips, Andrew 1564 4

21-25 Zvedeniouk, Ilia 2001 3.5
Escribano, Jose 1669 3.5
Keuning, Anthony V 1624 3.5
Weltner, Michael 1481 3.5
Parker, Trent 1490 3.5

26-35 Greenwood, Norman 1468 3
Bonjekovic, Tom 1480 3
Hendry, Ian L 1267 3
Au, Dennis 1450 3
Nicholson, Scott 1591 3
Dickson, Ian C 1546 3
Behne-Smith, Jonathan 974 3
Nemeth, Bela L 1410 3
Wilkie, Mary E 1249 3
Mehan, Alex 3

36-39 Lithgow, George 1404 2.5
Whiteside, Benjamin 1366 2.5
Koutnik, Matthew 1251 2.5
McCook, Jake 941 2.

40-44 Deacon, Graeme 1360 2
Rowston, Bruce 1303 2
Robinson, Andrew 1367 2
Boyd, Alex 2
Liuga, Victor 1679 2

45 Parsons, Colin J 1426 1.5

46-47 McIlveen, Trevor 195 1
Surya, Jai 1

Another report on last week's Launceston weekender is available here. It's by Leo Minol.

Simultaneous Blindfold Chess Exhibition: Former New Zealand Champion FM Dr Jonathan Sarfati will play a simultaneous blindfold exhibition at Croydon Chess on Saturday, 11 February 2006 at 4pm. If time permits this will be followed by a regular simul.

Venue: Croydon Christian Church (industrial estate near the corner of 2 / 34 Research Drive Eastfield Road and Dorset Road)
South Croydon Victoria 3136
For further information please see the Croydon Chess website at www.croydonchess.com

Letters

Fide Presidential Elections are coming soon. For the first time in many years, there is some real opposition to Kirsan Illumzhinov. The international chess community finally has a chance to get rid of the corrupt Fide officials and to restore law and order in the chess world by supporting Bessel Kok. Lets show our support for the change by giving Oceania votes to Bessel!

- Michael Baron

Dear All,

My summer reading this year included Eric Campbell's Absurdistan (Harper Collins 2005). Eric Campbell is an ABC foreign correspondent who has spent many years in various parts of the world that most of us avoid for good reason. He was injured in Iraq in 2003 by a suicide bomb which killed an ABC colleague.

Some of you may recall his interview in Kalmykia with Kirsan Ilyumzhinov - it was televised on the ABC program Foreign Correspondent a little over five years ago. The book contains a chapter on Ilyumzhinov which is illuminating and very disturbing – it goes further than the interview as it covers events that took place afterwards, including the murder of Larisa Yudina, a Kalmyk journalist who had been critical of Ilyumzhinov. If any of you had any thoughts of supporting Ilyumzhinov, I suggest you read this book, or at least the chapter titled "Checkmate".

- Richard Gastineau-Hills

Olympiad selections:

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

The following have been appointed as selectors for this Olympiad:

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

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

Olympiad captaincies

Expressions of interest are now open for the following positions:

* Non-playing Captain, Australian Open Team
* Non-playing Captain, Australian Women's Team

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

Applications will remain open until Wednesday, 22 February to give unsuccessful applicants for playing positions on the two teams some time to apply should they wish to do so.

Applicants may submit any supporting comments they wish to be passed on to either the players or the members of ACF Council. The positions are filled by Council after taking into account the players' stated preferences. Applicants are also free to contact the players and/or the Council regarding their applications as and whenever they wish. For more detail see item 13 of the ACF Selections procedures by-law here

Expressions of interest can be sent by email to k_bonham@tassie.net.au, or call 0421 428 775 if it is necessary to arrange another method, or if an email application has not been acknowledged within three days.

Summary of dates
22 Dec Applications Open
22 Jan Applications Close
5 Feb Deadline for Corrections / Material to Selectors
19 Feb Deadline for Selectors' Votes - results advised ASAP to all applicants and published in next available newsletter.

- Kevin Bonham
ACF Olympiad Selections Co-Ordinator.

Bids invited for 2007 Australian Open Championships

The Australian Chess Federation (ACF) at its 06 January Council meeting decided to call for fresh bids for the Australian Open Championships, in accordance with the ACF's procedures for allocating ACF tournaments.

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

The deadline for submission of the bids is cob 21 February 2006. Pls send your bid for the Australian Open Championships by email to jeydh4@hotmail.com.

Bids from persons other than State Associations should be made through, and with the consent of, the relevant State Association. Your State Association representative will have a copy of the application form that will need to be used when submitting a bid.

If you have any queries, please contact the ACF President, Denis Jessop on (02) 6288 1935 or mobile 0418 278324

- Jey Hoole
ACF Secretary

Lastin wins Moscow Open: Leading final scores after 9 rounds: Lastin, Grachev 7.5; Rychagov 7.0; Maslak, Nikolenko, Najer, Smikovski, Czarnota, Kosyrev, Iskusnyh, Amonatov, Khismatullin, Yandemirov, Novikov, Chebotarev, Aleksandrov, Belov 6.5.
Site : View games

Aeroflot Open: Starts Feb 8. Players include: Akopian, Aleksandrov, Bologan, Dreev, Khalifman, Mamedyarov and Naiditsch.
Site

Cuernavaca Young Masters: Mexico. Round 4 Standings: Nakamura 3.0; Ponomariov, Karjakin, Vallejo Pons 2.5; Bruzon, Dominguez 2.0; Cheparinov, Felgaer, Leon Hoyos 1.5; Volokitin 1.0.
Site : View games

Fibertex Cup - blindfold: Double-round blindfold event in Denmark with GMs Magnus Carlsen, Peter Heine Nielsen, Lars Schandorff and Nicolai V. Pedersen. Final scores: Peter Heine Nielsen 5.0; Magnus Carlsen 4.0; Schandorff, IM Nicolai V. Pedersen 1.5.
Site

Georgian Championship: Final Standings: Kacheishvili 8.5/11; Arutinian, Gelashvili 7.5; Jobava 7.0; Gagunashvili 6.5 etc.
View games

Georgiev wins Gibtelecom Masters: Players include Akopian, Short and Bologan. Leading Final Round 10 Standings: Georgiev 8.5; Short, Sutovsky 7.5; Akopian, Areshchenko, Efimenko, Gurevich, Gyimesi, Shirov, Volkov 7.0 ... Speck (Australia) 5.5.
Site : View games

Games

Maslak, K (2529)    --    Njubin, V (2301)
Open  (1)   Moscow RUS
2006.01.29     1-0     C14

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4 Bxg5 7.hxg5 Qxg5 8.Qd3 g6 9.Nf3 Qe7 10.O-O-O Nf8 11.Rh6 Nc6 12.Qe3 Bd7 13.Bb5 O-O-O 14.Bxc6 Bxc6 15.Qg5!? Qxg5+ 16.Nxg5 Be8 17.Rdh1 b6 18.Nd1 Kd7 19.Ne3 Ke7 20.Kd2 c5 21.c3 Rc8 22.Nxh7 Nxh7 23.Rxh7 Rxh7 24.Rxh7 Ba4 25.b3 Bb5 26.Ng4 a5 27.Nh6 Rf8 28.a3 Bf1 29.Ke3!? Bxg2 30.Kf4 cxd4 31.cxd4 g5+

( 31...Bf1 32.Kg5 Bd3 33.Rg7 Be4 34.Ng8+ Ke8 35.Kf6 )

32.Kxg5 Be4 33.Rg7 Bc2 34.b4 axb4 35.axb4 Bg6 36.Ng8+ Kd8 37.Kf6 Ke8 38.f3 Kd8 39.f4

Bh5 40.b5 Ke8 41.Rg1 Kd8 42.Ra1 Kc7 43.Ne7 Kb7 44.Nc6 Re8 45.Ra2 Bg6 46.Ne7 Bh5 47.Rh2

Amonatov, F (2564)    --    Maslak, K (2529)
Open  (4)   Moscow RUS
2006.02.01     0-1     C10

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Nbd7 6.Nf3 h6 7.Nxf6+ Nxf6 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 9.Bb5+ c6 10.Bd3 Bd7 11.c3 O-O-O 12.O-O c5 13.Qb3 Bc6 14. Ne5 Bd5 15.c4

( 17.Nf3 Rg4+ )

( 17.Rfe1 Bd6 )

( 20.Nf3 g5 21.Be4 b6 22.Qe3 Qg4+ )

Tihonov, J (2492)    --    Najer, E (2652)
Open  (6)   Moscow RUS
2006.02.03     0-1     E12

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 c5 5.d5 Ba6 6.Qc2 exd5 7.cxd5 g6 8. Nc3 Bg7 9.g3 O-O 10.Bg2 d6 11.O-O Re8 12.Re1 Nbd7 13.h3 b5 14.e4 Qc8 15. Bf1 b4!? 16.Nb5 Qb8 17.Nc7!? b3 18.Qd1 Qxc7 19.Bxa6 c4 20.Be3 Nxe4 21.Bd4 c3! 22.Bxg7 Kxg7 23.bxc3 Qxc3 24.Bb5 Qc5! 25.Qd4+ Qxd4 26.Nxd4

Ivanov, Vic (2494)    --    Vorobiov, E (2543)
Open  (6)   Moscow RUS
2006.02.03     1-0     B22

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Bc4 Nb6 5.Bb3 c4 6.Bc2 Nc6 7.Nf3 d6 8. exd6 e5 9.O-O Bxd6 10.d3 cxd3 11.Qxd3 Qe7 12.Re1 f5 13.Bg5 Qc7 14.Bb3 h6 15.Bf4 Qe7 16.Na3 Kf8 17.Rad1 g5

Grachev, B (2510)    --    Ivanov, Vic (2494)
Open  (7)   Moscow RUS
2006.02.04     1-0     D45

1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.e3 a6 5.d4 e6 6.b3 Bb4 7.Bd2 O-O 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.O-O Bd6 10.Rc1 Re8 11.e4 dxc4 12.bxc4 e5 13.d5 Nc5 14.Bg5 h6 15.Bh4 g5 16.Bg3 Bg4 17.Qe2 b5 18.dxc6 b4 19.Nd5 Ne6 20.c5!? Nxd5 21.exd5 Nxc5

22.Rxc5!? Bxc5 23.Qe4 f5 24.Qc4 Bd6

25.Nxe5!! Rxe5

( 25...Bxe5 26.Bxe5 Rxe5 27.d6+ Kg7 28.Qd4 Qf6 29.d7 Re6 30.Qxf6+ Kxf6 31.c7 )

Amonatov, F (2564)    --    Tihonov, J (2492)
Open  (7)   Moscow RUS
2006.02.04     1-0     B90

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8. Qd2 Nbd7 9.O-O-O Be7 10.f4 Ng4 11.g3 Nxe3 12.Qxe3 O-O 13.Kb1 Nf6 14.f5 Bd7 15.Rg1 h6 16.h4 Ne8 17.Nd2 Rc8 18.Nd5 Nf6 19.Nxe7+ Qxe7 20.g4 h5 21.gxh5 Nxh5

Smikovski, I (2538)    --    Gabrielian, A (2490)
Open  (7)   Moscow RUS
2006.02.04     1-0     B84

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.Be2 Qc7 8. Qd2 Be7 9.O-O-O b5 10.a3 O-O 11.g4 Bb7 12.f3 Nc6 13.g5 Nxd4 14.Bxd4 Nd7 15.h4 Rfc8 16.Kb1 e5 17.Be3 b4 18.axb4 d5 19.Nxd5 Bxd5 20.exd5 Bxb4 21.c3 Bd6 22.h5 Nb6 23.Rh4!? Qd8 24.Rg4 Rab8 25.Bxa6 Rc7 26.g6 f5 27.gxh7+ Kh8 28.Bxb6 Rxb6 29.Ra4 Qd7 30.Ra2 Qe7 31.Bd3 Qf6 32.Kc2 Bc5 33.Qg2 Kxh7 34. Qh3 Rf7 35.Qg3 Qe7 36.Re1 Rbf6 37.Ra8 Qd7 38.Rxe5 Bd6

( 39.Rxf5 Bxg3 ( 39...Rxf5 40.Qg6# ) 40.Rxf6+ g6 41.hxg6+ )

Aleshin, O (2412)    --    Novikov, St (2520)
Open  (7)   Moscow RUS
2006.02.04     0-1     B90

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8. Qd2 Be7 9.f3 O-O 10.O-O-O a5 11.Bb5 Na6 12.Qe2 Qb8 13.Na4 Nc7 14.Nb6

Nakamura, H (2644)    --    Volokitin, And (2665)
Young Masters  (2)   Cuernavaca MEX
2006.02.04     1-0     E29

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.Bd3 Nc6 8.Ne2 b6 9.e4 Ne8 10.O-O Ba6 11.f4 f5 12.exf5 exf5 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.Ng3 g6 15.Be3 d6

Bologan, V (2661)    --    Korchnoi, V (2608)
Gibtelecom Masters  (6)   Gibraltar ENG
2006.01.29     1-0     C11

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 Rb8 8. Qd2 Qa5 9.a3 b5 10.Ra2 c4 11.f5 Be7 12.fxe6 fxe6 13.g3 O-O 14.Bg2 Nb6 15. O-O Na4 16.Ne2 Qxd2 17.Bxd2 Nb6 18.Bh3 Na8 19.Bg4 Nc7 20.h4 a5 21.c3 Bd7 22.Nf4 Nd8 23.Raa1 Nf7 24.Bh3 Ra8 25.g4 Nd8 26.g5 Nc6 27.Nh5 Kh8

28.Nf6!! gxf6 29.gxf6 Rg8+ 30.Kh2 Bf8 31.Ng5 Nd8 32.Bg4 h6

33.Bh5!! hxg5 34.hxg5 Be8 35.Bxe8 Nxe8 36.f7 Nxf7 37.Rxf7 Bg7 38.Raf1 Kh7 39.Re7 Ra6 40.Kg3 Kg6 41.Kg4 Rc6 42.Rff7 Rc8 43.Rb7 Rh8 44.Rfe7 Rc6

Now black is completely paralysed

Grand Prix tournaments:

Full details at the 2006 Grand Prix site

Toukley Open: Class 1 GP; Toukley RSL Club, Holmes Avenue, Toukley; Feb 11-12; Registration 9.30am Sat; Estimated prizes: Open $300/$200/$150; $150/$100 in three ratings divisions; Under 16 $50, Under 14 $50, Under 12 $50; Unrated $50. Entry fees: $45/$30. Cash only. Contact Gary Losh (02) 4390 8176 (most evenings, not Mondays). http://www.whiteknights.centralcoastchess.com/UpcomingEvent.htm http://www.nswca.org.au/06ToukleyAd.htm

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

Other events:

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

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

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

International events:

Penang International Open: Website

Czech Tour - International Chess Festivals Series - http://www.czechtour.net

6th Bangkok Chess Club Open: April 11-16; Century Park Hotel; www.bangkokchess.com; Email: Kai Tuorila

Singapore Masters: For more details, click here.

Correspondence chess players over the board: July 1-9; Karviná, Silesian University, Czech Republic; Preliminary applications to: Ing. Petr BUCHNÍCEK, Svážná 22, CZ-634 00 Brno, Czech Republic. Phone: 605 578 666. Email: buchnicek@skscr.cz

Best wishes till next time
- Paul Broekhuyse
broekhuysep@bigpond.com
19 Gill Avenue, Avoca Beach, NSW 2251
02 4382 4525
0408 824525

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