It has taken a little longer than anticipated but the Newsletter is back and in better shape than before.

We have new editorial arrangements. There are two editors. Stephen Cannings has become editor in charge of production, distribution and advertising. Denis Jessop continues as editor of content.

It is planned, for the immediate future at least, to produce an issue each fortnight on a Friday.

Contributions are welcome. We intend to concentrate on matters and events of national or major State interest such as the Myer Tan Australian Chess Grand Prix and National and State title events, ratings and representation overseas. We shall also try to include other material of interest. Contributions should be sent to Denis Jessop with a copy to Stephen Cannings as back-up. Our contact details are at the end of the newsletter.

We hope you enjoy the Newletter in its rejuvenated form. Again, feedback on this will be welcome.

- Denis Jessop

New ACF Webmaster & Email producer /editor

Russell Murray has been appointed as the new ACF webmaster. He has already begun to update the website. Eventually it will take on a whole new look. Meanwhile, he sends this message

“Greetings Chess Players!

My name is Russell Murray and I have been appointed the role of replacing Paul Broekhuyse as ACF Webmaster, and I would like to congratulate him for his efforts. For those who don't know me I have been playing for about 12 years, mainly as a member of the Frankston Chess Club, and have been a student of database & web devlopment for the past year. Thus, the opportunity to combine my two favourite pastimes was one too good to resist!

Initially I will be concentrating on getting the site up to date and making a few minor changes, in planning though, and hopefully to be implemented in the coming months, is a complete rebuild of the site with a new-look.

I welcome any comments, ideas, submissions etc. you may have, which can be addressed to me here."

---

Stephen Cannings has put together this new email and will be developing it during the coming weeks. He is interested in anyone who wants to make a regular contribution to the email perhaps through a regular or semi-regular column, match reports, puzzles, etc. Email him here.

ACF Ratings

The March 2007 Ratings list has been published.

The top players – 2300 plus – are:
2621!! 11 NSW Rogers, Ian [GM]
2537!! 11 NSW Zhao, Zong-Yuan [IM]
2479! 0 NSW Wohl, Aleksander H [IM]
2469! 0 VIC Smerdon, David C [IM]
2467!! 20 VIC Johansen, Darryl K [GM]
2452! 6 NSW Lane, Gary W [IM]
2428!! 0 QLD Solomon, Stephen J [IM]
2422!! 7 NSW Bjelobrk, Igor [FM]
2397!! 0 QLD Froehlich, Peter [IM]
2375!! 17 NSW Xie, George [FM]
2368!! 22 VIC Goldenberg, Igor [FM]
2354! 0 SA Tao, Trevor
2345!! 6 VIC Sandler, Leonid [IM]
2332!! 0 NSW Canfell, Gregory J [FM]
2326!! 6 VIC West, Guy [IM]
2319! 0 NSW Reilly, Tim [FM]
2309!! 23 VIC Baron, Michael [FM]
2303!! 21 NSW Smirnov, Vladimir;

The top 10 improvers are:
1760 389 VIC Antolis, Cedric
1476 330 ACT Setiabudi, Allen
764 205 QLD Karibasic, Sabin
1825 161 VIC Ferris, Shaun
1269 153 ACT Li, James
1271 145 QLD Ng, Erich
1386 143 NSW Nguyen, Dominic
978 131 NSW Wan, Kinto
1153 125 NSW Kumar, Sanjesh
996 124 ACT Redpath, Nicholas

The top 10 females are:
2196! 0 QLD Caoili, Arianne B [WFM]
2192! 0 NSW Berezina - Feldman, Irina [IM]
2114! 0 NSW Koshnitsky, Ngan [WIM]
2110! 0 NSW Eriksson, Ingela
2075!! 7 NSW Moylan, Laura A [WIM]
2075! 0 NSW Dekic, Biljana [WIM]
1962!! 0 NSW Musaeva, Aina
1855! 0 NSW Lane, Nancy L [WIM]
1789!! 11 ACT Oliver, Shannon [WFM]
1761!! 6 WA Maris, Natalie A

Full details of all rated players are at the ACF website

April 2007 FIDE Ratings
 
Tournament reports for the April 2007 list have been submitted to FIDE and are viewable here. The calculations for these tournaments should be available at the same link in mid-to-late March. Thanks to all organisers and arbiters for their help in producing the reports. 
 
On or around April 2, the full Australian list will be available here where you can also find the text-file tournament reports, the full Australian lists for previous quarters, and upcoming FIDE-rated events for the July 2007 list. Prospective players are reminded that they must be correctly affiliated with their state association to be eligible to participate.
 
I am happy to announce that FIDE has recently given national ratings officers access to the FIDE Ratings Server, meaning that tournament registrations, reports, player details, and (most importantly) corrections can be uploaded quickly and easily. There are a very few complicated corrections still to be done, involving the merging and/or deletion of some duplications, but I'm hopeful these will be resolved before the April list is published.
 
There are now 415 Australians on the FIDE ratings list, and several hundred more with part-ratings (blocks). Listed players can find their individual histories here, while players who may have blocks towards a FIDE rating can email me if they would like to know their current status.
 
Lastly, all known birth dates of Australian FIDE-rated players have been copied from the ACF master file, but there are still about one third of birth dates missing (the exact date is required but only the year is published). Also, if players would like their photo displayed on the site, FIDE's specs are: "Width 80px - Height 100px OR Width 160px - Height - 200px (preferable)." Please feel free to email me these details, along with any other questions, additions or corrections.
 
Greg Canfell
FIDE Ratings Officer
canfell@tpg.com.au

Upcoming Tournaments

2007 Oceania Zonal Chess Championships

ACF Selection Coordinator, Kevin Bonham has announced the results for the selection of players who will receive free accommodation for this event. They are:

Male representative:
IM Zong Yuan Zhao

Reserves in selection order:
IM David Smerdon
IM Gary Lane
FM Igor Bjelobrk
FM Igor Goldenberg
IM Vladimir Feldman

Female representative:
IM Irina Berezina

Reserve:
WIM Nancy Lane

The selectors for these positions were IMs Stephen Solomon and Leonid Sandler, FMs Geoff Saw and Tim Reilly and IA Dr Charles Zworestine. The ACF thanks them for all their work on these selections.

Other players may enter and pay their own way. Some have already done so. Indeed, even at this stage, Australia is well represented as we would hope, being the largest country in the Oceania Zone.

We are assured that the coup in Fiji has had no significant effect on the event and it will go ahead as planned.

There is a now a website - http://www.oceaniachess.com- for the event. It contains full details of the event, entrants and accommodation arrangements, among other things.

8th ASEAN+ Age Group Chess Championships

Mr Ignatius Leong, President of the ASEAN Chess Conferation, has sent us details of the 8th ASEAN+ Age Group Chess Championships.

The competition, interestingly, is open to juniors and seniors (over 50). Anyone may enter, but, if an entry is endorsed by the ACF, and there are 5 of them, a 6th free accommodation place is available. There is also a free place for one federation official, presumably the team manager.

If anyone wishes to enter, or to act as team manager, I be glad to know. But time is short. Entries close on 1 May 2007 so we need to have a team in place well before then. Expressions of interest should be with me by 31 March. Please note that late entries and people who enter but later withdraw incur a $US25 fee.

Here are the details of the event:

8th ASEAN+ AGE-GROUP CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Pattaya, Thailand – 13th to 22nd June 2007

Regulations

1. Eligibility & Participation:

1.1 Each country may register any number of players to participate. Individuals may also register directly. The players who are entitled to participate should not have reached their relevant age as on 1st January 2007. (See 9.1)

2. Schedule
13th June after 1200 hours Arrival
2000 hours Technical Meeting
14th June 0800 hours Opening Ceremony
0900-1300 Standard Chess Round 1
1600-2000 Standard Chess Round 2
15th June 0900-1300 Standard Chess Round 3
16th June 0900-1300 Standard Chess Round 4
1600-2000 Standard Chess Round 5
17th June 0900-1300 Standard Chess Round 6
1600-2100 Blitz Chess – 9-round Swiss (Team Result)
Followed by 4-game Final Matches
18th June Free Day
1700-2100 Social Evening
19th June 0900-1300 Standard Chess Round 7
Standard Chess Round 8
20th June 0900-1300 Standard Chess Round 9
1600-2000 Rapid Chess Rounds 1 to 4
21st June 0900-1300 Rapid Chess Rounds 5 to 7
1600 hours Closing Ceremony
22nd June before 1200 hours Departure

3. Pairing

In the last 2 rounds, where possible, players from the same country and who have more than 50% shall not be paired together.

4. Time Control

4.1 Standard Chess - The time control shall be 90 minutes with 30 seconds increment after each move starting from the first move.

4.2 Rapid Chess – Each player shall have 30 minutes to complete the game.

4.3 Blitz Chess – Each player shall have 5 minutes to complete the game.
5. Medals

5.1 Medals will be awarded to the top three positions in each event and category.

5.2 Team Medals - will be awarded based on the total score of the top three players of a country. Countries with less than 2 players will not be eligible for a team award. In case of any tie, the tie-break scores of each player shall be considered (see 6.1).

5.3 Individual Medals - Where there is a tie, not more than 3 players will receive the same colour medal. For each category, not more than 5 medals will be awarded.

Examples - if 2 players tie for first and 2 players tie for third, then 2 Gold medals will be awarded, no Silver, but 2 Bronze medals will be awarded. If 3 players tie for first, then no Silver and Bronze medals will be awarded. If more than 3 players tie for first, then the 3 highest based on tie-break will receive the Gold medals and the Silver and Bronze medals will not be awarded.

6. Tie-Break

6.1 Swiss-System : Buchholz, followed by Sonneborn-Berger; Number of Wins with the Black pieces.
6.2 Round-Robin : Sonneborn-Berger; Direct Encounter; Number of Wins with the Black pieces.

7. Appeals Committee

The Appeals Committee will be decided during the technical meeting. An appeal, accompanied by a deposit of US$50, must be submitted within 15 minutes of the completion of the relevant playing session.

8. Entry Fee
Event
ASEAN Countries
Non-ASEAN Countries

Through Federation
Direct Registration
Through Federation
Direct Registration
Standard Chess
US$ 80
US$ 100
US$ 100
US$ 120
Rapid Chess
US$ 30
US$ 40
US$ 40
US$ 50
Blitz Chess
US$ 10
US$ 20
US$ 20
US$ 20

9. Official Hotel & Venue

9.1 The Playing Venue is Jomtien Thani Hotel, Pattaya.

9.2 All players and accompanying persons shall have to be registered through the organisers at Jomtien Thani Hotel. There is no guarantee that rooms are available after the closing date. In this aspect, we urge federations and participants to register as soon as possible

9.3 The organisers shall provide free board and lodging to one official per Federation on twin-sharing basis.

The room rates (inclusive of 3 meals per day) shall apply to all players and accompanying persons:
Single Room - US$ 60 per person per day
Double/Twin/Triple - US$ 40 per person per day

9.4 For every 5 players registered through the Federation, board and lodging shall be waived for the 6th player.

10. Transportation

The transport charge for all players and accompanying persons from Bangkok Airport and Pattaya (two ways) is US$ 30.00.

Details of Flight Arrival must be provided before 5th June 2007.

11. Entry Visas

Participants must get their visas at the Thai Embassy in their respective countries.

12. Payments

All payments shall be made payable by 1st May 2007 to:
Intchess Asia Pte Ltd
DBS Bank
Account Number: 070 - 900154 - 8

13. Registration of Participants and Accompanying Persons

Please send your registration and provide the Name, Sex, Date of Birth, FIDE Rating/ID Number (if any) and type of room to:

Asean Chess Confederation: 7500D Beach Road #03-10 The Plaza, Singapore 199594
Fax : (65) 63581483

Tournament Director: IA Osric Mooi
Tel : (65) 97574465
Email: osric.mooi@intchess.com
Email: intchess@singnet.com.sg

The deadline for registration is 1st May 2007.

Late Registration shall be subjected to a penalty fee of US$ 25 per person.

Players who are absent at the Technical Meeting shall be excluded from the Championships.

For every player or accompanying person who registered but does not turn up, a penalty of US $25 shall be imposed on the federation.

Myer Tan Australian Chess Grand Prix 2007

The Grand Prix is already shaping up as a good contest though only in its early stages.

Grand Prix Director, Brian Jones asks that all organisers please submit Swissperfect files with 48 hours to assist with scoring. Note there are a few changes to the GP calendar later in the year! The website at www.chessaustralia.com.au/grandprix/ has the full details.

Current leaders are:

Open
01 Solomon, Stephen J (QLD 2428 1) 20.00
02 Lane, Gary W (NSW 2442 2) 20.00
03 Baron, Michael (VIC 2318 2) 17.60
04 West, Guy (VIC 2330 2) 16.67
05 Chapman, Mark (SA 2403 1) 15.00

Junior
01 Hendrey, Kevin (TAS 1092 2) 16.00
02 Illingworth, Max (NSW 2096 1) 15.00
03 Wallis, Christopher (VIC 2127 1) 15.00
04 Mehan, Alex (NSW 1368 2) 10.33
05 Antolis, Cedric (VIC 1371 1) 10.00

Women
01 Moylan, Laura A (NSW 2079 1) 15.00
02 Russell, Luthien (ACT 1268 2) 13.50
03 Ang, Stephanie (VIC 0 1) 12.50
04 Webb-Liddle, Miranda (VIC 5 1) 12.50
05 Watson, Jean (VIC 1154 1) 10.00

Girls
01 Russell, Luthien (ACT 1268 2) 18.50
02 Ang, Stephanie (VIC 0 1) 15.00
03 Anton, Sarah (VIC 0 1) 10.00
04 Horton, Nina (TAS 862 1) 10.00
05 Rozenblat, Vanja (VIC 1286 1) 10.00

U2000
01 Ly, Thai (VIC 1869 2) 18.75
02 McGregor, Allan (NSW 1892 1) 12.50
03 Chek, Adrian (NSW 1987 1) 12.50
04 Knight, Peter (TAS 1995 1) 10.00
05 Eccles, Richard (NSW 1589 2) 09.67

U1600
01 Hendrey, Kevin (TAS 1092 2) 18.00
02 Eccles, Richard (NSW 1589 2) 16.67
03 Elgindy, Tarek (NSW 1265 1) 12.50
04 Kloprogge, Ion (VIC 1370 1) 12.50
05 Schneider, David (VIC 1433 1) 12.50

Unrated
01 Oswald, Franz (NONE 0 2) 25.00
02 Rintoul, Max (NONE 0 2) 16.00
03 Campitelli, Guillermo (NONE 0 1) 12.50
04 Hisler, T (NONE 0 1) 12.50
05 Anton, Sarah (VIC 0 1) 10.00

Coming up soon are the following events:

March Madness Open
Cat. 4
Brisbane, Qld
17.03.07 - 18.03.07
Email: Gail Young 0411 704815

Dubbo RSL Open
Cat.1
Dubbo, NSW.
24.03.07 - 25.05.07
Emal: Alexander Aich

Doeberl Cup
Cat. 5
Canberra, ACT
06.04.07 - 09.04.07
Email: Paul Dunn

Queensland Open
Cat. 2
Brisbane, Qld
07.04.07 - 09.04.07
Email: Brian R.Thomas

Sydney International Open
Cat. 5
Parramatta, NSW
10.04.07-14.04.07
Email: Brian Jones 02 9838 1529 i

Gufeld Open
Cat. 1
Perth. WA
14.04.07-16.04.07
Email: Andrew Hardegen

Anzac Day Weekender
Cat. 1
Melbourne, Vic.
21.04.07-22.04.07
Email: Craig Stewart 03 9416 3149

Peninsula Open
Cat. 2
Brisbane, Qld
05.05.07-07.05.07
Email: Mark Stokes 07 3205 6042

Laurieton May Open
Cat. 1
Laurieton, NSW
05.05.07-06.05.07
Email: Endel lane

John Kellner Memorial
Cat. 2
St GeorgeCC, NSW
19.05.07-20.05.07
Email: Brett Tindall

Perth Open
Cat. 1
Perth, WA
19.05.07-20.05.07
Email: Andrew Hardegen

Mingara May Open
Cat. 2
Mingara, NSW
26.05.07-27.05.07
Email: Heath Bonnefin 0405 389024

Some more datails on some of these.

2007 MARCH MADNESS OPEN
Myer Tan Australian Grand Prix Category 4 Event
Dates Saturday 17 March - Sunday 18 March 2007
Organiser Queensland Women's Chess League
Venue Library, Greenbank RSL Club
54 Anzac Ave, Hillcrest
-----------------------
Prizes First $1000 plus trophy
Second $600 plus trophy
Third $500 plus trophy
Fourth $400 plus trophy
Fifth $300 plus trophy
Sixth $200 plus trophy
$100 rating group and unrated prizes to be determined when all entries received
Random draw prize for female players
Players can win only one prize
Prizemoney shared between tied players
Session times Registration 8.00am - 9.00am Saturday
Seven-round Swiss
Round 1 - 9.30am Saturday
Round 5 - 9.30am Sunday
Time controls Game in 60 minutes plus 10 seconds per move from move 1 (Fischer controls)
Entry fees $70 seniors
$60 juniors, pensioners
Early-bird discount
Deduct $10 if you enter by Friday 16 March
Queensland players who are not CAQ members must join - add $10 annual fee
Entries/enquiries QWCL
c/- Gail Young
PO Box 8
Inala Qld 4077
Tel: 07 3372 8077
Mobile: 0411 704 815
email: qwcl@hotmail.com
Direct bank deposits accepted, to:
Account No 30406838
BSB 804-050
Account Name - QWCL
Bank - Credit Union Australia
As reference, quote your name
then advise payment details by phone or email

Dubbo RSL Open
(A Class 1 Grand Prix Event)

Venue:
Dubbo RSL Club
Corner Brisbane and Wingewarra Streets, Dubbo
Dates:
Saturday 24th March 2007
Sunday 25th March 2007
Rounds:
Saturday 10:30am 1:30pm 4:00pm
Sunday 9:30am 12:00pm 2:30pm
Registration:
Saturday 10:00am Ð 10:30am
Prize Money:
$350 first prize guaranteed
Divisional prizes subject to number of entries
A junior prize if enough entries
Entry fees:
Adults $40, Concession $35, Juniors $20
(a $5 dollar discount if paid by 9/3/2007)
Cheques payable to Dubbo RSL Chess Club
Rate of Play:
60 minutes + 10 sec per player.
Contacts:
Alexander Aich 02 6884 4561 email sjaich@tpg.com.au
Trevor Bemrose 02 6884 4096 email trevbec1@tpg.com.au
(come an extra day and visit our famous Zoo)

O2C Doeberl Cup 2007
The Doeberl Cup organising committee are pleased to announce the major sponsor of the 2007 Doeberl Cup is O2C. O2C are continuing their commitment to supporting excellence in chess by adding $6000 to the prize fund for the O2C Doeberl Cup.
This has allowed the O2C Doeberl Cup to offer a first prize of $5000, the largest cash prize ever for an Australian weekend chess tournament. Additionaly, the place prizes for the O2C Doeberl Cup Premier have been increased and expanded, bringing the total prize pool to $16,800

The prize list for the Premier is (subject to final confirmation)

1st $5000
2nd $2000
3rd $1000
4th $750
5th $500
6th $350
7th $250
8th $250
9th $250
10th $250

Under 2150 $300
Best Junior $200
Best Local $100

Prize List for the Major
==================
1st $1000
2nd $700
3rd $500
1700-1799 $300
Under 1700 $250
Best Junior $100
Best Local $100

Prize List for the Minor
==================
1st $600
2nd $400
3rd $300
1350-1499 $250
Under 1350 $200
Best Unrated $100

Prize List for the Senior (Subject to sufficient entries)
=========================================
1st $300
2nd $200
3rd $100
Two other prizes of $100 each

Sydney International Open Chess Tournament
The cutoff date for last entries to The Sydney International Open Chess Tournament
is Friday, March 30, 2007 which is only 2 weeks away.
Check out the website below for details on how to enter or email info@chessaustralia.com.au
www.chessaustralia.com.au/open

The Sydney International Open Chess Tournament will be Australia's strongest ever Open chess tournament with 10 (yes Ten!) Grandmasters, 9 International Masters and a total of 26 titled players
competing for a $14,000 prizefund at Parramatta Town Hall on 10-14 April 2007.

First prize, increased to $5000, is to be known as the "Leon Pratt Prize". Donated by the Pratt Foundation for each of the next three years. Prize is in memory of Mr Leon Pratt (Richard Pratt's father). First prize, increased to $5000, is to be known as the "Leon Pratt Prize". Donated by the Pratt Foundation for each of the next three years. Prize is in memory of Mr Leon Pratt (Richard Pratt's father).

The top seed is Russian Grandmaster Sergey Shipov.

Many challengers will be attempting to gain the coveted Grandmaster title by good performances.
These include young Australian International Masters David Smerdon and Zong-Yuan Zhao.
15-year-old Moulthun Ly from Brisbane will be looking to attain his third and final norm for the International Master title.

We hope to see you there as a player for this exciting competition!
Chess is the world's leading mindsport!

Brian Jones
Australian Chess Enterprises
www.chessaustralia.com.au

2007 Queensland Open
An Australian Grand Prix Category 2 Event
Dates: Saturday 7 April - Monday 9 April 2007
Venue:
Library, Greenbank RSL Club
54 Anzac Ave, Hillcrest
Prizes:
First $450
Second $350
Third $250
Fourth $150
Fifth $100
Two rating groups, each $100
Session times:
Round 1 - 10.00am Saturday
Round 2 - 1.30pm Saturday
Round 3 - 5.00pm Saturday
Round 4 - 10.30am Sunday
Round 5 - 2.00pm Sunday
Round 6 - 9.00am Monday
Round 7 - 12.30pm Monday
Time controls:
60 minutes each clock plus 30 seconds per move from move 1
Arbiter: Garvin Gray
Entry fees
$50 seniors
$40 pensioners, fulltime students, juniors
Entries close Wednesday 4 April
Entries/enquiries:
Cheques &c to:
Chess Association of Queensland Inc
PO Box 5014
Mt Gravatt East Qld 4122
Tel: 3411 3445
email: caq@optusnet.com.au
Direct bank deposit option:
Account name: Chess Association of Qld
A/c No: 20501 7068 BSB: 084-120
Quote player’s name and ref QOPEN
(allow three working days for interbank transfer)
then let us know you've done so by phone or email
Further information can be found here. If you want to enter by paypal, please use the link provided above.

42nd Peninsula Open
Myer Tan Grand Prix Class 2 event

Dates
Saturday 5 May – Monday 7 May 2007

Venue
E block, Grace Lutheran College. Buchanan Street,
ROTHWELL. (UBD map 80).

Prizes
Open Prizes
1st - $600
2nd - $275
3rd - $150

Restricted Class Prizes
(Cannot be added to Open Prizes)
(Cannot be won by underrated player).
Group A - $100
Group B - $100
Group C - $100
Group : - Outreach Chess – (Under 1000 & Unrated)
1st - $100
2nd $50
Minimum 10 per Group.
U 18 and U 12 encouragements Prize $50. (Minimum of 5)

Session times
Saturday
Registration - 9:15- 9:45am
Round 1 - 10am
Round 2 - 1:00pm
Round 3 – 3-30 pm
Sunday
Round 4 – 10 am
Round 5 – 2 pm
Monday
Round 6 – 9 am
Round 7 – 1 pm

Time controls
Rounds 1 & 2, 60 minutes plus 10 seconds per move (Fischer)
Rounds 3 to 7, 90 minutes plus 10 seconds per move (Fisher)

Entry fee and conditions
Adults $50
Pensioners / FTS $45
Junior $40
Cadet $30
Entries Close 4 May 2007. Late entry fee $10.
All players must be members of their states association. Non-members add $10 CAQ membership fee.
Entries/enquiries
Mark Stokes, 20 Melaleuca Drive, Strathpine 4500.
Phone (07) 3205-6042.
Email :tournament@crcchess.com
42nd Peninsula Open (2007)
http://www.caq.org.au/htm/PenOpen2007.htm

2006 Myer Tan Australian Grand Prix

Grand Prix Director, Brian Jones, reports that prizemoney for the 2006 Grand Prix was paid out in January 2007. All prizewinners should bank their cheques without delay. If you have not yet received your money then please contact Brian Jones, ACF Grand Prix Director at info@chessaustralia.com.au
2007 Myer Tan Australian Grand Prix

This issue we have had some catching up to do. We have concentrated on the most pressing matters. Held over are some details of recently completed Grand prix events and some news of Austalians playing overseas.These will appear in the next issue.

Denis Jessop
Editor
33 Cargelligo Street, Duffy, ACT 2611
Phone: 02 6288 1935
Mob. 0418 278 324