ACF News 09/12A

In addition to the ACF medals for which nominations have previously been invited, the ACF Council has approved details of a new medal to be presented each year, to be known as the Arlauskas Medal for Australian Junior Player of the Year.

The winner of each Arlauskas medal will also receive a Romanas Arlauskas Award in the form of assistance with the cost of travel to a major international or national chess event using interest generated by the investment of a $10,000 trust fund, which has been created thanks to the generosity of Jurate Naujalis, widow of Australian correspondence Grandmaster and former South Australian champion Romanas Arlauskas.

Romanas passed away in Adelaide in September, aged 92. Some details of his life and achievements in chess are set out below and additional information is in his Wikipedia entry at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanas_Arlauskas

Nominations for the first Arlauskas Medal and Award are now invited. Nominations must be sent so as to be received by 6 January 2010 and must comply with the same requirements as those for the other ACF medals.

Details of the Arlauskas medal and award, to be added to the ACF's rules governing other ACF medals are:

"The Arlauskas Medal is awarded annually to the Junior Australian Player of the Year, on the same basis as the Steiner Medal, but limited to nominees who at one time or another during the year of the award satisfied the ACF’s age-limit criteria for eligibility to participate in the Australian Junior Championship in the year concerned.

The winner of the Arlauskas Medal in each year is to be the recipient of a single grant by the ACF to assist the winner to meet costs related to his or her participation in a significant international or Australian chess event scheduled to begin or likely to begin within two years of the announcement of the name of the winner of the award.

The ACF Executive committee will have discretion to determine the significance of an event for the purposes of the award, to extend the 24-month period in exceptional circumstances, and to determine the amount of the grant in any year.

The Arlauskas Medal and Romanas Arlauskas Award may be won by the same person more than once."

Gary Wastell

ACF Medals Selections Coordinator

Romanas Arlauskas 1917 - 2009

The following information, kindly provided by Jurate Naujalis, is extracted from the eulogy presented at the funeral of Romanas Arlauskas.

Romanas Arlauskas was born in Lithuania on 11 June 1917. By age 13, his mother and father had both died, leaving him and his siblings to be raised by housekeeper and carer.

At age five, he was taught chess by an aunt and was soon recognised as having an intelligence suited to intellectual pursuits.

In 1942, he obtained a degree in architecture, a profession he sought to practice throughout his life and which suited his meticulous ways.

His achievements in chess were outstanding: a Lithuanian Master in 1935; in 1936, aged 18, he played for Lithuania in the Munich Olympiad without losing a game. He played chess in many countries, including Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Germany, as well as international correspondence chess.

Towards the end of World War II, at the age of 27, he travelled to Vienna, then Berlin, and was able to meet the cost of basic needs by playing chess for money in coffee houses.

In 1948 he was able to migrate to Australia. He landed in Fremantle and soon travelled to Barmera, via Adelaide, where he picked grapes for two years to serve out the contract under which he was given passage to Australia, after which his qualifications as an architect were recognised and he secured a position with the Department of Housing and Construction that led to a career from which he retired at age 65.

He won the State championship of South Australia in 1949 and, in 1965, attained the title of International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) Grandmaster after finishing third in the World Correspondence Championship.

In 1983, he met Jurate Naujalis, who became his partner and soulmate until his death from prostate cancer on 22 September 2009.

Nominations for ACF Medals

(This notice first posted in 09/10A)

All ACF affiliates are reminded of the opportunity to nominate potential winners of the following ACF medals, to be awarded in January 2010 in accordance with the ACF Medals Procedures by-law, which may be viewed at the ACF website at

www.auschess.org.au/constitution/ACF_Medals_Procedures.txt

Medals

– Steiner Medal – Australian ‘Player of the Year’ 2009

To be awarded to the player who has made the greatest impact – not necessarily the highest-rated – for the most notable achievement during 2009. The Steiner medal is an annual award and may be won by a previous recipient.

– Koshnitsky Medal – Chess Administration

This is a lifetime achievement award, not limited to accomplishments or services during a particular period, and cannot be awarded more than once to the same person. It is awarded for an outstanding contribution to Australian chess administration at national or state level.

A link [Chess Medals] to lists of previous ACF medal winners is at www.auschess.org.au/acfrec.htm

Nominations

Separate documents containing the following should be provided in respect of each nominee:

· name (correctly spelt);

· contact details (phone, email, postal address);

· a citation describing relevant achievements, suitable for reading and/or publication when the medal is presented;

· anything else relevant to the nomination.

A person submitting a nomination must retain at least one complete copy of each document submitted in connection with the nomination and must phone (03) 9787 7974 or 0409 525 963 to confirm that it has been received if delivery has not been acknowledged 24 hours after expected delivery time.

Nominations for the Koshnitsky medal must be sent to one of the following addresses so as to be received on or before Friday 18 December 2009:

— email: gwastell@netspace.net.au
— post: 22 Bruarong Crescent, Frankston South Vic 3199Nominations for the Steiner medal must be sent to one of the above addresses as follows:

— if sent by post – to be received on or before Wednesday 23 December 2009;
— if sent by email – to be received on or before Wednesday 6 January 2010.

Presentations

The announcement of winners and presentation of medals will take place at 5pm Wednesday 13 January 2010 in the Norths Celebrity Room, 12 Abbott Street, Cammeray, Sydney, immediately prior to the presentation of prizes for the forthcoming Australian Championship.

Distribution of This Notice

Recipients of this notice are asked to ensure that it is distributed as extensively as possible to maximize nominations in respect of the most suitable nominees.

Gary Wastell

ACF Medals Selections Coordinator

Previous Notices

The following notices from prior issues remain in force

2010 Olympiad: Activity Requirement and Application Deadline

- previously reported 09/09A

11th World University Championships - seeking informal expressions of interest

- previously reported 09/10A

Position Vacant – ACF Advertising Manager

The ACF invites expressions of interest from any reader who might be willing to oversee the appearance of suitable advertising material in ACF publications, principally this Newsletter, and on the ACF website.

For additional information please email gwastell@netspace.net.au with cc to secretary@nswca.org.au

Table of Contents

MAJOR EVENTS

2010 Australian Chess Championship

Venue: norths, 12 Abbott Street, Cammeray, NSW.

2^nd to 13^th January 2010 plus various supporting events: a Major Tournament, a Minor tournament, a shorter seven-round event and the Australian Lightning Championship.

More information at the official site
http://www.australianchesschampionship.com/

Entries for the Championship have been received from, among others, GM Zong Yuan Zhao, GM Gawain Jones (Eng), GM Darryl Johansen, IM Alex Wohl (the current Australian Open Champion), IM Stephen Solomon, IM Gary Lane, IM George Xie, IM James Morris and IM Vladimir Feldman.

GM Ian Rogers will be giving commentaries throughout the tournament and will judge the best game prize.

All entrants in all divisions are offered a 25% discount on all goods at sponsor Chess Discount Sales at 72 Campbell St, Surry Hills (near Central Station) for the month of January 2010.

The organisers have announced that three copies of the latest Chessbase Magazine have been provided as additional lucky door prizes (4, 5 and 6), to be drawn at the tournament, for entries submitted on-line through the above web site. The first three prizes are listed as: 1st a top of the range DGT-XL clock donated by tournament sponsor Chess Discount Sales; 2nd $100 cash courtesy of PayPal; 3rd Fritz 12, rrp ~$95, courtesy of ChessBase.

2010 Australian Junior Chess Championships

The Tasmanian Chess Association will be hosting the Australian Junior 2010 in Hobart on behalf of the Australian Junior Chess League at The Hutchins School, Sandy Bay, Hobart from January 14^th to 25^th 2010. Equipment and scoresheets will be provided by Chess Kids.

In addition to the age group events there will be national rapid and lightning championships and a problem solving competition.

Details were previously reported in newsletter 09/09A.

More information at the official site
http://www.chesstasmania.org.au/AJCC/index.html

Table of Contents

2009 SCHOOL TEAMS FINALS

The Australian Primary and Secondary Schools Chess Team Finals were held at Scotch College, Hawthorn, Victoria on December 5 and 6, 2009. Winners were:

Scotch College Vic (Secondary open): Zhigen Lin, Eugene Schön, Derek Yu, Nicholas Liu and Richard Owen.

Somerset College Qld (Secondary Girls): Jessica Kinder, Danielle Kinder, Sophie Tan and Grace Bennett

Mount View Primary Vic (Primary Open): Michael Chan,

Allen Yu, Zachary Loh, Kevin Fan and Alec Yu.

Somerville House Qld (Primary Girls): Leteisha Simmonds, Jenny Yum, Manasi Hegde and Hannah Triscott.

Congratulations to all the winners and participants.

http://chess.geniusprophecy.com/astc/

The scores are in the next column. The following is quoted from the Chesschat bulletin board.

First, I would like to thank all the participants, their families, coaches and teachers who travelled from all over from Australia to compete in the 2009 Australian Schools Teams Chess Championships at Scotch College, Hawthorn, Victoria.

I would like to acknowledge our sponsors – the Numberworks N’Words – who provided the pens and to Northern Star Chess who provided the scoresheets. Thank you to both these companies.

In addition, I am very grateful to the individual donations by the following people:

- Jenni Oliver

- Charles Zowerstine

- Michael Loh

- FM Geoff Saw

Thank you to all the Victorian parents who brought such a lovely morning tea this morning – I think it was a wonderful spread and everyone enjoyed it very much.

Thank you to all the parents (both from Victoria) but from interstate as well who have helped especially with the serving of food, helping to pack up last night after the meal and with the chess pieces this afternoon.

In addition, I would like to specifically thank the following volunteers:

- Jim Flood

- Cassandra Moore

- Trevor Stanning – who took all the money for the tournament which was a very time consuming task

In the tea room

- Jenny Fan

- Stephanie Ang

- Susan Sheng

- Vanja Rozenblat

- David Flude and Roger Croft who helped bring and return all the chess boards and pieces from the Box Hill Chess Club and also for David – who picked up our arbiter and drove Charles here both mornings and on to Box Hlill Chess Club this afternoon.

- Elliot Renzies for helping pack up this afternoon

- Gladys Liu – who helped with publicity for the tournament and for obtaining the Shadow Minister for Sport, Youth Affairs and Veterans’ Affairs to present the prizes.

- Chris Wallis, Vanja Rozenblat and Geoff Saw who entered games which will be available on the website shortly.

- Charles Zworestine – our arbiter for the tournament – who did a fabulous job arbitering this weekend.

I could not have managed without the help of two special dads from the Mount View Primary School. Both Howard Chan and Michael Loh have spent many hours over the last few months helping with the preparations and organisation of the tournament. A very special thanks to Howard and Mike.

- Michele Linosier – who was instrumental in obtaining the wonderful venue for the championships.

- Last but not least, I would like to thank a very talented young man – Zhigen Lin who created the wonderful website for the championships. Zhigen has been so prompt in updating data – especially the names of competitors so promptly – and he was been studying for exams at the same time!

Kerry Lyall

Organiser

Australian Schools Teams Championships

Hawthorn 2009

See here for some photographs of the winners.

Secondary Open

1	Scotch College	VIC	19
2	North Sydney	NSW	13
3	Kings	QLD	12.5
4	Prince Alfred	SA	8
5	Radford	ACT	6.5
6	Seton	WA	1

Secondary Girls

1	Somerset	QLD	16
2	PLC	VIC	15
3	Radford	ACT	12.5
4	Hornsby	NSW	8.5
5	St. Peter's	SA	8

(scores include 4-point bye)

Primary Open

1	Mount View	VIC	18
2	Kings	QLD	12.5
3	Carlingford West	NSW	9.5
4-5	Spensley St	VIC	7.5
	Kaleen	ACT	7.5
6	Magill	SA	5

Primary Girls

1	Somerville House	QLD	18
2	Curtin	ACT	15
3	PLC	VIC	11
4	Mount View	VIC	7
5	Summer Hill	NSW	5
6	Lauriston	VIC	4

Table of Contents

GENERAL NEWS

Bobby Cheng in the Media

Bobby Cheng’s win in the World U/12 Championship was reported in the SMH and The Age (the same article) and The Australian.

Bobby has written a report on his experiences at the World Youth Championships here.

Sydney International Open

Eight GMs have so far entered the 2010 SIO. link

Chess in the Pilbara

The Pilbara Echo recently featured a story on the St Luke’s College, Karratha, chess team. link

(The competition mentioned is a private venture not to be confused with the School Teams Competition in the previous section.)

Beauty and the Geek

Jeremy Reading dodged his third consecutive bullet, narrowly returning home with his Beauty from a mission using clues, Google, GPS and a long black car for collecting eliminated contestants from around Sydney just in time to claim second and last spot in the final against synthetic organic chemist and alleged synthetic geek Corin.

In the final Jeremy and partner Emma each successfully answered two questions about the other, which included revealing Jeremy’s passion for the Spice Girls. Corin had spent much of the first seven episodes chatting up the other beauties, including Emma, and not enough time with his own partner, “aspiring actress” Lisa, who was thus unable to identify the sport in which he had once broken his arm – though for someone in the position of having to guess then the correct answer, rugby, might be a better try than badminton.

Jeremy and Emma win $50k each, which the chessvibes site notes is comparable to an eliminated semi-finalist at the World Cup. And it doesn’t require going to Siberia.

Jeremy is now on the set rehearsing for his role as a schizophrenic GST inspector and surfing champion in the film Australian Werewolf 2: Heir of the Dingo.

Table of Contents

CORRECTIONS AND UPDATES

World U/8 Championship

In the table of results in the last issue Anton Smirnov was erroneously reported as finishing equal fourth. In fact he was equal second, half a point behind the winner, and was overall fourth on tie-break.

Table of Contents

TOURNAMENT NEWS AND RESULTS

2009 Australasian Masters

This tournament is running from 5th to 13th at Box Hill CC in Melbourne.

Participants are GM Darryl Johansen, IM Stephen Solomon, IM James Morris, FM Eddy Levi, FM Bobby Cheng and Domagoi Dragicevic (all Aus), FM Vladimir Smirnov (Rus), FM Eric Teichmann (Eng), FM Roger Nokes (NZ) and Lee Wang Sheng (Sin). 6.5/9 is required for an IM norm.

Sponsors are Hallsteen P/L, FIDE, Chess Victoria and Chess Australia P/L.

Games are being shown from here (official start time is 4:30pm Eastern Summer Time each day) and scores etc are here.

2010 Grand Prix – register on time

GP Co-ordinator Brian Jones has made the following important announcement about the deadline for registering events.

The closing date for GP tournaments is 15 December. Each year I have tried hard to get organisers to meet this deadline so as to publish a full list of GP events in advance to the press and the sponsors. This is also only fair to the players who plan their year ahead.

In recent years I have been kind to organisers who enter late or add an event at short notice. I have not charged the late entry fee.

But this is unfair to players who find there is a new event at a time/location that they cannot play.

So for 2010 I intend to allow 14 days grace (until the 28 December 2009).

After that the late entry fee of $100 will become payable.

Please bring this to the attention of all tournament organisers (including the State Associations!).

See here for the 2010 calendar, which is still developing.

Recent 2009 GP weekend results

Vikings Weekender, Tuggeranong ACT (Nov 28-29) Junta Ikeda won with 6/6 from FM Endre Ambrus and Trent Parker 5. (57 players).

Christmas Open, Perth WA (Dec 5-6) (Results not yet available).

See link for full scores.

2009 Queensland Team Championship

The Queensland Team Championship is open to all players who can organise and enter an eight player adult team (which can include juniors rated over 1600 ACF) in the Premier Division or a four player team in the JUNIOR division.

DATES: Sunday December 13

TEAM NOMINATIONS CLOSE: Sunday December 6

INDIVIDUAL PLAYER NOMINATIONS CLOSE: Saturday December 12

VENUE: Gardiner Chess Centre. 11 Hardys Road Mudgeeraba

FORMAT: Five round team Swiss or round robin depending on number of teams nominated

PLAY STARTS: 10am Sunday December 13

For further information or to register, please contact:

Garvin Gray on 0422 993 062 or graygarvin@gmail.com

Further information available here.

2009 Queensland Lightning Championship

The Queensland Lightning Championship is CAQ title event and is open to all players who are interested in blitz chess.

DATES: Sunday December 13

VENUE: Gardiner Chess Centre. 11 Hardys Road Mudgeeraba

FORMAT: Five round team swiss or round robin depending on number of teams nominated

TIME CONTROL: 3 minutes plus 2 seconds (Fischer)

PLAY STARTS: 5pm Sunday December 13

For further information or to register, please contact:

Garvin Gray on 0422 993 062 or graygarvin@gmail.com

Further information available here.

2009 NSWJCL EOTY Round Robin Weekender

Date: Saturday 19th December (4 rounds) and Sunday 20th December (3 rounds)
Venue: Sydney Academy of Chess, Level 1, 30a George Street, Burwood (approx. 2 minutes' walk from Burwood Railway Stn)
Time control: 60 mins + 10 secs increment (from move 1) (60' + 10" Fischer)
Entry Fee: $30

Eligibility: Players must be members of the NSW Junior Chess League and under the age 18 as on the first day.

Prizes: Chess book vouchers for 1st and 2nd placing in every division (dependant on entries).

Enquiries: nswjcl@hotmail.com or Weng Siow (phone 0422 199 202, email wengnian.siow8@gmail.com). Further information here.

Canterbury Summer Swiss (Vic)

This is the final Grand Prix event of 2009, to be held at Box Hill Chess Club 3 Rochester Road Canterbury from December 27 to 29. It will be ACF and FIDE rated. link contact

Early bird entry fee $40 – pay before Christmas, or after that date full entry fee $60 (special discount of $10 for BHCC and Canterbury Junior members). Free entry for GMs and IMs provided their entries are received during the early bird period. Total prize fund is $1500, forfeit time 60 minutes.

The tournament is financially supported by the friends of the Box Hill Chess Club who aim to contribute $500 towards the tournament expenses.

2010 Redland Summer Cup (Allegro) (Qld)

When: Sunday January 17th 2010
Venue: The Legends Bar at the Redlands RSL, 8 Passage St, Cleveland QLD 4163
Prizes: Trophies for Open Division, Under 1600 and Best Local Player
Medallions for Under 1200, Under 1000, Juniors and Unrated
Entry fee: $5 per person. ottomless tea and coffee available for $2:50 per person.
Register your details by Friday January 15th and go into the draw for lucky door prizes!

Time Controls: 15 minutes. Check In 9:45am – 10:15am
Round One Starts 10:30am Seven Rounds. Presentations 3pm

Entries to be emailed to ang001@tpg.com.au or posted to Redlands RSL Chess Club, Angela Ruhland, 13B Yeo St, Victoria Point QLD 4165. Contact No: 0404 912 284. Payment to be made at check-in. Further information here.

2010 Australia Day Weekender (Qld)

The 2010 Australia Day Weekender is the first ACF rated GP Class 2 weekender in Qld for 2010.

This event is also FIDE RATED.

DATES: Saturday January 23 till Tuesday January 26

VENUE: Queensland Contract Bridge Club, 67 Ipswich Road Woolloongabba

FORMAT: Seven round individual swiss

TIME CONTROL: 90 minutes per player plus 30 seconds per move (Fischer)

PLAY STARTS: 11am Saturday January 23

For further information or to register, please contact:

Garvin Gray on 0422 993 062 or graygarvin@gmail.com Further information here.

Table of Contents

COMING EVENTS

Grand Prix events

Dec 19-20 MCC Christmas Weekender, Melbourne, Vic link

Dec 27-29 Canterbury Christmas Swiss, Melbourne, Vic link

Jan 23-26 2010 Australia Day Weekender, Brisbane, Qld link

Feb 6-7 2010 Ranges Summer Sizzler Upwey, Vic link

Full 2009 GP calendar: link

Register for 2010: link

New South Wales

NSWJCL EOTY Round Robin weekender Burwood. 19-20 Dec link

Australian Capital Territory

ACT Rapid Championship Canberra City; 19 Dec

Victoria

MCC Christmas Swiss (rapid) MCC; 19-20 Dec link

Queensland

Queensland Teams Championship Mudgeeraba. 13 Dec (10am) link

Queensland Lightning Championship Mudgeeraba. 13 Dec (5pm) link

South Australia

December Rapid SACC; 8 and 15 Dec link

Lidums Australian Allegro Chess Championship Glenelg; 26 Dec link

Please notify forthcoming tournaments to auschessnews@gmail.com

Table of Contents

OVERSEAS TOURNAMENTS AND NEWS

World Cup

At the date of the last issue David Smerdon had tied 1-1 in his two-game match against GM Leinier Dominguez (Cuba) and the match was going into rapid tie-breaks.

The tie-break format is a four-game rapid match then a sequence of up to five two-game blitz matches. If there still has not been a winner an Armageddon blitz game is played.

David scored three draws in the rapid but lost the fourth game, on the Black side of another Sicilian Dragon, from what he describes on his blog as a “brain explosion” in a position probably otherwise drawn. Nevertheless this is the best ever performance by an Australian at the World Cup.

GM Dominguez was himself eliminated by GM Caruana (Italy).

At this time the World Cup is reaching its climax with semi-finals being played. Matches are Gelfand (Isr) vs Karjakin (Ukr), which Gelfand has already won, and Ponomariov (Ukr) v Malakhov (Rus) which is going to tie-breaks.

Arianne Caoili in London

The London Chess Classic, the strongest event held in the UK for some time (25 years according to the organisers), is being played from 8 to 15 December. Participants include Kramnik (Rus) and Carlsen (Nor) as well as the top English players Short and Adams. link

In association with the event there is a women’s tournament featuring WIM Arianne Caoili as second seed after IM Susan Lalic (Eng). Arianne starts against WFM Olivia Smith (Wales).

BNBank Blitz

Hikaru Nakamura, one of the world’s leading players of Internet blitz and bullet, won the BNBank Blitz tournament in Oslo, Norway, on 28 November beating Magnus Carlsen 3-1 in the final.

World Youth Championship

Full list of section winners of the World Youth:

Under 18: IM Maxim Matlakov (Rus)

Girls Under 18: WGM Olga Girya (Rus)

Under 16:1 IM S P Sethuraman (India) 9

Girls Under 16: WIM Deysi Cori (Peru) 10

Under 14: IM Jorge Cori (Peru)

Girls Under 14: WFM Marsel Efroimski (Isr)

Under 12: FM Bobby Cheng (Aus)

Girls Under 12: WFM Sara Khademalsharieh (Iran)

Under 10: Bai Jinshi (Chn)

Girls Under 10: Gunayi Mammadzada (Aze)

Under 8: Aryan Gholami (Iran)

Girls Under 8: Chu Ruotong (Chn)

The official site is here.

Pirate chess organisation/tournament

FIDE issued the following warning on 24 November:

Federations and players should note that the World Chess Federation, Inc, based in the USA, is not recognized by FIDE nor is it affiliated to FIDE.

The Delhi All India Open Chess Tournament from 23-29 Dec. 2009, 'sanctioned' by the World Chess Federation, Inc is not approved by the All India Chess Federation and therefore will not be rated by FIDE.

(This should not be confused with the Indian tournaments listed below, which to the best of our knowledge are not connected to the WCF.)

For chess tourists

The ACF receives information about a wide variety of chess happenings in other parts of the world, and it is sometimes difficult to rank the likely levels of interest among Australian players. The following is a summary of events about which information has been received in recent times. In some cases, additional information may be obtained by contacting the Editor or ACF Councillor for your State Association.

The date listed is the start date, see the link for the full schedule.

Asian Schools Festival: 16 Dec 2009, Colombo, Sri Lanka contact

Asian Teams Championship: 20 Dec 2009, Kolkata, India link contact

Hastings international Chess Congress: 28 Dec 2009, Hastings, England link contact

Schachfestival: 1 Jan 2010, Basel, Switzerland link contact

9th Prague Open: 8 Jan 2010, Prague, Czech Republic link contact

Bela Perenyi Memorial: 8 Jan 2010, Budapest, Hungary link contact

Delhi International Open: 13 Jan 2010, New Delhi, India link contact

Marienbad Open: 16 Jan 2010, Marianske Lazne, Czech Republic link contact

2^nd Chennai International Open: 25 Jan 2010, Chennai, India link contact

Gibtelecom International Chess Festival: 26 Jan 2010, Gibraltar link contact

Bermuda International Open: 5 Feb 2010, Southampton, Bermuda contact

Cappelle-la-Grande: 13 Feb 2010, Cappelle-la-Grande, France link contact

1^st Novy Bor Open: 13 Feb 2010, Novy Bor, Czech Republic link contact

26^th Budapest Spring Festival Open: 19 Mar 2010, Budapest, Hungary link contact

World University Chess Ch 2010: 4 Sep 2010, Universitätsstrasse, Zurich, Switzerland link - also refer Notices

Table of Contents

ACF RATINGS

The latest ACF ratings list was released on 1 December. It may seem that ratings come around fairly frequently; this is because there are four ACF rating lists and and six FIDE lists each year. The lists on 1 September and 1 March coincide.

The top ten players (with a reliability of at least “!”) for this list are in the next column.

WIM Arianne Caoili (Qld) followed by Giang Nguyen (SA) and IM Irina Berezina-Feldman (NSW) are the top women. Moulthun Ly (Qld) and Junta Ikeda (ACT) head the top U/20 and U/18 players while WFM Emma Guo (ACT) and Sally Yu (Vic) are the top women U/20.

Most improved player was Enoch Fan (Vic), up 225 to 1075, followed by Nathan Tam (NSW) and Matthew Pyper (Qld).

The ACF ratings page is here.

TQ	LQ	Rating	Pl
1	1	2568	7	GM Zong-Yuan Zhao (NSW)
2	2	2510	13	GM David Smerdon (ACT)
3	3	2479	0	IM Aleksander Wohl (NSW)
4	4	2435	11	GM Darryl Johansen (Vic)
5	5	2424	30	IM George Xie (NSW)
6	6	2386	0	Trevor Tao (SA)
7	7	2365	12	IM Stephen Solomon (Qld)
8	8	2354	7	FM Igor Bjelobrk (NSW)
9	17	2338	12	Moulthun Ly (Qld)
10	15	2336	6	Junta Ikeda (ACT)

Table of Contents

STATE NEWS

Victoria

The AGM of Chess Victoria was held on Sunday 29 November at Box Hill CC. CV differs from other States in that clubs rather than individuals are members of the State association, so the meeting was attended by club delegates.

In an election which attracted considerable discussion on bulletin boards in the weeks leading up to it, and a certain amount afterwards, Leonid Sandler, former Vice-President and director of Chess Australia P/L, was elected President with Darryl Johansen as Vice-President. Other officers are Jamie Kenmure as Secretary, David Grennes as Treasurer and Committee members David Hacche and Victor Kildisas.

Outgoing President Katrin Wills and Treasurer Trevor Stanning did not seek re-election.

In an interview with journalist Elliott Renzies prior to the election, the future President declared his intention to end CV’s premises-sharing arrangement with Box Hill CC and to improve the CV web site.

IM Sandler tied for first in the State Blitz Championship, also on 29 November, with IM Igor Goldenberg on 9.5/11. FM Bobby Cheng 8.5 was third (32 players).

Queensland

The Queensland Veterans Championship (November 28-29 at the Blue Fin Fishing Club, Inala) was won by Tony Weller 3.5/4 from Derek Donoghue 2.5. (5 players).

Melba Horwood won the Queensland Women's Championship (same date and venue) with 6/6 from Winnie Yum 4. (4 players)

Bundaberg Chess Club

Events on the Club program for 2010 are as follows -

13/14 February - Bundaberg Fun Weekender Chess Tournament

8 May - Bundaberg One Day Chess Tournament

21/22 August - Bundaberg Weekender Chess Tournament

20 November - Maryborough One Day Chess Tournament

The Bundaberg Chess Club also runs Sunday Tournaments for school children on the last Sunday of the month, except when the last Sunday of the month is in Queensland School Holidays. Further information is always available from the Club at menhamat@hotmail.com

State associations are invited to submit regular round-ups for inclusion, as are clubs and other bodies.

New South Wales

NSW, like Victoria, had a change of President at its AGM in Rooty Hill, and also on 29 November. Peter Parr, SMH columnist and proprietor of Chess Discount Sales, was elected as President while former President Bill Gletsos continues on Council as Vice-President.

The remainder of the 2010 Council is similar to this year:

Secretary - Tom Accola

Treasurer - Norm Greenwood

Registrar - Peter Cassettari

Tournaments Officer - Lou Damaschino

Ratings Officer - Barry Cox

Publicity Officer - vacant

Club Liason - Shane Burgess

Country Rep - Keith Farrell

Communications Officer - Laura Moylan

Webmaster - vacant

Member without portfolio - Brett Tindall

NSWJCL Rep - Richard Gastineau-Hills

NSWCA announced a profit of $11,683 for the year.

Peter Parr wrote on ChessChat that one of his priorities is to restore the prestige of the State Championship.

Jason Chan won the State Lightning Championship (following the AGM) with 9.5/11 from Stanislav Berezovski 9 and Andrew Bird 8.5 (26 players).

The NSW Country Teams Championship was conducted as a six-round Swiss between three-player teams, hosted by the Central Coast Leagues Club CC in Gosford on 5-6 December.

Newcastle Uni (Heather Richards, John Marsden and Toby Coates) won with 13.5/18 from Gosford 1 12.5 and Newcastle 1 11.5. Thirteen teams took part. See Tournament Reports

Tasmania

The third and final leg of the State Rapid Series was held in Launceston on 28 November. The outcome was a five-way tie on 4/5 involving Tony Dowden, Marcus Bretag, Alastair Dyer, Kevin Bonham and Owen Short.

The Rapid GP overall was won by Marcus Bretag 33.2 from Lawrence Bretag 27 and Alastair Dyer 26.7.

Mason Carter 43 won the U12 from Lenard Lange 22.

State pages (links)

New South Wales

Victoria

Queensland

Western Australia

South Australia

Tasmania

Australian Capital Territory

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

From: Rae Galtsmith-Clarke

Ian

May I congratulate you on the steadily increasing quality of the ACF Newsletter in terms both of information and entertainment. Well done you.

Best wishes,

Rae Galtsmith-Clarke

PS Well done too David Smerdon - my congratulations to him too when you're passing on good wishes from the readership.

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TOURNAMENT REPORTS

NSW Country Teams Championship
(by Gary Russell)

The N.S.W. Country Teams Championship chess tournament was an outstanding success.Teams came from Newcastle, Dubbo, and Bathurst; as well as locally from the Central Coast.

Newcastle University won the tournament with 13.5 points out of a possible 18.

Gosford 1 (Central Coast Leagues Chess Club) came a close second with 12.5 points. The Newcastle University team players were: Heather Richards, John A Marsden, and Toby J Coates.

A special mention must go to David Castor of the Gosford 1 team, who won all of his six games.

Newcastle University has managed to break the Central Coast Leagues Chess Club winning streak in a tight contest. With their performance, Newcastle University deserves their well earned win, and the right to hold next year's N.S.W. Country teams tournament.

Gosford will be eagerly awaiting, with the aim of bringing the tournament back to the Central Coast in 2011.

And finally, a mention for Mingara Chess Club, who won the Reserves Shield with a total score of 10 points.

Gary Paul Russell

Publicity Officer,
Central Coast Leagues Chess Club

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GAMES

Smerdon,D (2525) - Dominguez,L (2719) [B22]

World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk (1.3), 23.11.2009

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.cxd4 d6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Bc4 Nb6 8.Bb5 dxe5 9.Nxe5 Bd7 10.Nxd7 Qxd7 11.Nc3 e6 12.0–0 Rd8 13.Bg5 Be7 14.Bxe7 Qxe7 15.Qf3 0–0 16.Bxc6 bxc6 17.Qxc6 Rxd4 18.Rfd1 Rxd1+ 19.Rxd1 Rc8 20.Qb5 h6 21.h3 Rc5 22.Qd3 Nd5 23.Nxd5 Rxd5 24.Qb3 Qc5 25.Rxd5 exd5 26.Qb8+ Kh7 27.Qe5 Qc4 28.b3 Qd3 29.Kh2 d4 30.Qd5 f5 31.f3 Kh8 32.Qa8+ Kh7 33.Qd5 Kh8 34.Qa8+ ½–½

Dominguez,L (2719) - Smerdon,D (2525) [B78]

World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk (1.4), 23.11.2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0–0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0–0–0 Rc8 11.Bb3 Ne5 12.Kb1 Re8 13.h4 h5 14.g4 hxg4 15.h5 Nxh5 16.Bh6 e6 17.Rdg1 Qf6 18.fxg4 Bxh6 19.Qxh6 Qg7 20.Qe3 Nf6 21.g5 Nh5 22.Ndb5 Bxb5 23.Nxb5 Red8 24.Qxa7 Nf3 25.Rg2 Qe5 26.Qe3

26...Ne1 27.Rxe1 Qxb5 28.c3 Qe5 29.a3 b5 30.Ka2 Kg7 31.Rf1 Rc7 32.Qf3 Ra8 33.Rh1 Rh8 34.Rd1 Rd8 35.Rh1 Rh8 36.Rd1 Rd8 37.Rh1 ½–½

Smerdon,D (2525) - Dominguez,L (2719) [B22]

World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk (1.5), 23.11.2009

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.cxd4 d6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Bc4 Nb6 8.Bb5 dxe5 9.Nxe5 Bd7 10.Nxd7 Qxd7 11.Nc3 e6 12.0–0 Rd8 13.Bg5 Be7 14.Bxe7 Qxe7 15.Qf3 0–0 16.Bxc6 bxc6 17.Qxc6 Rxd4 18.Rad1 Rc4 19.Qd6 Qb7 20.h3 Na4 21.Nxa4 Rxa4 22.Qd7 Qxd7 23.Rxd7 Rxa2 24.Rb7 g5 25.Rc1 Kg7 26.Rcc7 Kg6 27.b4 Rb2 28.b5 h5 29.g3 Rb4 30.Rc5 Ra4 31.Rc6 h4 32.Ra6 Rb4 33.gxh4 Rxh4 34.Kg2 Rb4 35.Raxa7 Rb3 36.b6 Rb2 37.Kg3 f6 38.Rg7+ Kf5 39.b7 Rb3+ 40.Kg2 e5 41.Ra8 Rxb7 42.Rxg5+ Kxg5 43.Rxf8 f5 44.Kg3 Rb3+ 45.Kg2 Kf4 46.Rh8 e4 47.Rh4+ Ke5 48.Rh8 Rb2 49.h4 Kf4 50.Re8 Kg4 51.Re5 Rb6 52.Ra5 f4

53.f3+ exf3+ 54.Kf2 Rb2+ 55.Kf1 Rb1+ 56.Kf2 Rb2+ 57.Kf1 f2 58.Ra3 Kxh4 59.Rc3 Kg4 60.Ra3 Rc2 61.Rb3 Rd2 62.Ra3 Kf5 63.Ra5+ Ke4 64.Ra4+ Ke3 65.Ra3+ Ke4 66.Ra4+ Kf3 67.Ra3+ Kg4 68.Rb3 f3 69.Rb4+ Kg3 70.Rg4+ ½–½

Dominguez,L (2719) - Smerdon,D (2525) [B73]

World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk (1.6), 23.11.2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.Be2 0–0 8.0–0 Nc6 9.Qd2 Bd7 10.Rfd1 Rc8 11.f3 a6 12.a4 Ne5 13.Nd5 e6 14.Nxf6+ Bxf6 15.b3 d5 16.f4 Nc6 17.e5 Bg7 18.Nxc6 Bxc6 19.Bd4 f6 20.exf6 Bxf6 21.Qe3 Bxd4 22.Rxd4 Qf6 23.Re1 Kg7 24.Bd3 Rce8 25.g3 Kg8 26.Qe5 Qxe5 27.Rxe5 Kf7 28.h4 h5 29.Kf2 Kf6 30.Ke3 a5 31.c3 Rb8 32.c4 b6 33.cxd5 Bxd5 34.Bc4 Bxc4 35.bxc4 Rfd8 36.Rb5 Rxd4 37.Kxd4 Rd8+ 38.Kc3 Rd6 39.c5 bxc5 40.Rxc5

40...Rd1 41.Rxa5 Ra1 42.Kb2 Rg1 43.Rg5 Rg2+ 44.Kb3 Rg1 45.a5 Ra1 46.Kb4 Rb1+ 47.Kc5 Ke7 48.a6 1–0

Vaibhav,Suri (Ind) (2344) –

Cheng,Bobby (2202) [C05]

WYCC 2009 U12 Kemer (11), 22.11.2009

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ndf3 cxd4 8.cxd4 a5 9.Bd3 a4 10.a3 Nb6 11.Ne2 Na5 12.0–0 g6 13.Qc2 Nb3 14.Rb1 Bd7 15.g4 Rc8 16.Nc3 Nc4 17.f5 Nxd4 18.Nxd4 Bc5 19.fxg6 Bxd4+ 20.Kh1 hxg6 21.Bxg6 Nxe5 22.Bh5 Bc6 23.Qe2 Bxc3 24.bxc3 d4+ 25.Kg1 Qd5 26.cxd4 Rxh5 27.gxh5 Nd3 0–1

Cheng,Bobby (2202) –

Shafarostov,Artem (Rus) (2012) [D66]

WYCC 2009 U12 Kemer (7), 18.11.2009

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Nc3 0–0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Rc1 c6 8.Bd3 a6 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.Qc2 Nxc3 12.Qxc3 Re8 13.Ne5 f6 14.Nxd7 Bxd7 15.0–0 e5 16.Bc4+ Kh8 17.dxe5 fxe5 18.Rfd1 Rf8 19.Rc2 Bf5 20.Rcd2 Rae8 21.Bd3 Bc8 22.Be4 Qg5 23.Rd6 Be6 24.R1d2 Qh4 25.Bb1 Bd5

26.e4 Bxe4 27.Qc4 Rf4 28.g3 Qg4 29.Rd8 Bg6 30.Bxg6 Qxg6 31.Rxe8+ Qxe8 32.gxf4 Qg6+ 33.Kf1 Qb1+ 34.Ke2 1–0

Webb Liddle, Miranda –

Sethumathavan, Divvya (Ind) [D03]

WYCC 2009 U14 Kemer (9), 20.11.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Bg5 e6 4.e3 h6 5.Bh4 Nc6 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.Bd3 a6 8.a3 b5 9.O-O O-O 10.Ne5 Qd6 11.Ndf3 Bb7 12.Nxc6 Bxc6 13.Ne5 Bb7 14.Re1 Nd7 15.Bg3 Nxe5 16.Bxe5 Qd8 17.Qg4 Bf6 18.Bf4 Bg5 19.Bg3 Rc8 20.h4 Bf6 21.Bf4 Re8 22.Bxh6 Kh8 23.Bf4 Kg8 24.h5 Re7

25.h6 Qf8 26.Bg5 Bxg5 27.Qxg5 Rce8 28.f4 f6 29.Qg6 f5 30.g4 Qf6 31.gxf5 Qxg6+ 32.fxg6 gxh6 33.Kf2 Rg7 34.Rh1 Rf8 35.Rxh6 Bc6 36.Rah1 Rxg6 37.Rxg6+ Kf7 38.Rh7+ Ke8 39.Rxe6+ Kd8 40.Rxc6 1-0

Yuan,Yi (2097) –

Chernyuk,Mikhail (Rus) [B01]

WYCC 2009 U14 Kemer (11), 22.11.2009

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Bc4 c6 6.Qe2 Bf5 7.Bd2 e6 8.d5 cxd5 9.Nxd5 Qd8 10.Nxf6+ Qxf6 11.Nf3 Nc6 12.0–0–0 Ba3 13.c3 Bc5 14.Bg5 Qg6 15.Qd2 0–0 16.Nh4 Qh5 17.Nxf5 exf5 18.f3 h6 19.Bf4 Rad8 20.Qc2 Qh4 21.Qxf5 Be3+ 22.Bxe3 Qxc4 23.Qg4 Rxd1+ 24.Rxd1 Qxg4 25.fxg4 Re8 26.Bf4 Re4 27.Bg3 Rxg4 28.Rd7 f5 29.Bd6 Na5 30.g3 Re4 31.Bb4 Nc4 32.Rxb7 Re1+ 33.Kc2 Rh1 34.h4 a5 35.Ba3 Rh3 36.Kb3 Nxa3 37.Kxa3 Rxg3 38.Rb5 f4 39.Rxa5 f3 40.Rf5 g6 41.Rf4 g5 42.hxg5 hxg5 43.Rf5 Kg7 44.b4 Kg6 45.Rf8 g4 46.b5 Rg1

47.Kb2 Rg2+ 48.Kb3 Re2 49.a4 Re6 50.Kc4 Kg5 51.a5 Re1 52.b6 Rb1 53.Kd3 Kh4 54.a6 g3 55.a7 Rd1+ 56.Kc2 Rc1+ 57.Kxc1 g2 58.Rh8+ 1–0

Diagrams by http://www.chessvideos.tv/

Smirnov,Anton (1853) –

Vasudeva,Tanuj (USA) [B41]

WYCC 2009 u08 boys Kemer (5), 16.11.2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.Qc2 Qc7 8.a3 Bxc3+ 9.Qxc3 Nxe4

10.Nb5 axb5 11.Qxg7 Rf8 12.Bh6 Qc5 13.f3 Nf2 14.b4 Qe7 15.Kxf2 d5 16.cxd5 Na6 17.Bxb5+ Bd7 18.Bxd7+ Kxd7 19.dxe6+ Kc7 20.Qe5+ Kc8 21.Rac1+ Nc7 22.Bxf8 Qh4+ 23.g3 Qd8 24.Rhd1 Qxd1 25.Qxc7# 1–0

Gray, Callum (2097) –

Molnar Saska, Zoltan (Hun) (1694) [B42]

WYCC 2009 U10 Kemer (9), 20.11.2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Be3 Qc7 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.O-O b5 8.Nc3 Bb7 9.f3 Be7 10.Qd2 d5 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Nxd5 Bxd5 13.Ne2 Nd7 14.Qc3 Qxc3 15.Nxc3 Bb7 16.Be4 Bxe4 17.Nxe4 O-O 18.Rfd1 Nf6 19.Nxf6+ Bxf6 20.Bd4 Rfd8 21.Bxf6 gxf6 22.Kf2 Rac8 23.Rxd8+ Rxd8 24.Ke2 Kf8 25.Rd1 Rxd1 26.Kxd1 Ke7 27.Kd2 Kd6 28.Ke3 Ke5 29.f4+ Kd5 30.c3 e5 31.g3 e4 32.g4 a5 33.b3 a4

34.f5 Ke5 35.c4 bxc4 36.bxc4 a3 37.h3 h6 38.h4 Kd6 39.Kxe4 1-0

Ferreira,Jorge Viterbo (Por) (2273) –

Tan,Justin (2011) [D19]

WYCC 2009 U16 Kemer (8), 19.11.2009

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 dxc4 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 e6 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.0–0 0–0 9.Qe2 Bg4 10.h3 Bh5 11.Rd1 Nbd7 12.e4 Qe7 13.e5 Nd5 14.Ne4 f5 15.exf6 N7xf6 16.Ng3 Rae8 17.Bg5 Qf7 18.Qd3 Nd7 19.Nxh5 Qxh5 20.Bc1 Kh8 21.Qb3 a5 22.Be2 e5 23.Qc2 exd4 24.Rxd4 Bc5 25.Rd1 Nb4 26.Qd2 Ne5 27.b3

27...Nxf3+ 28.Bxf3 Rxf3 29.gxf3 Qxf3 30.Bb2 Qg3+ 31.Kh1 Qxh3+ 32.Kg1 Qg3+ 33.Kh1 Qf3+ 34.Kg1 Nd5 35.Re1 Rf8 36.Re5 Bxf2+ 0–1

Ambrus,E (2222) - Ikeda,J (2310) [A38]

Vikings Weekender 2009 (5), 29.11.2009

1.Nf3 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.c4 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.0–0 Nf6 6.Nc3 0–0 7.d3 a6 8.Be3 d6 9.Qc1 Rb8 10.Bh6 Bd7 11.Bxg7 Kxg7 12.Rd1 b5 13.b3 e5 14.e3 b4 15.Ne2 Qe7 16.Qb2 a5 17.Rd2 Kg8 18.Rad1 a4 19.Ng5 h6 20.Ne4 Ne8 21.f3 f5 22.Nf2 Nf6 23.d4 cxd4 24.exd4 e4 25.d5 Ne5 26.fxe4 fxe4 27.Nxe4 Nxe4 28.Bxe4 Ng4 29.Qd4 Nf2 30.Bd3 Nxd1 31.Rxd1 Rbe8 32.Nf4

32...g5 33.Ng6 Qf6 34.Qb6 Rf7 35.Rf1 Qg7 36.Rxf7 Kxf7 37.Qxd6 Kg8 38.Qb6 Bh3 39.Qf2 Qa1+ 40.Bf1 Bxf1 41.Nf4 0–1

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SUNDRIES / LATE NEWS

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Thanks to our contributors to this issue including Gary Wastell, Allen Menham, Milan Ninchich, Rae Galtsmith-Clarke, Garvin Gray, anyone else I overlooked and those whose information I purloined from other sources.

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