ACF NEWS

ACF OFFICE BEARERS

The following ACF non-elected office bearer position remains vacant:

• Olympiad Appeal Coordinator

The ACF is seeking expressions of interest from anyone wishing to fill this position. Please contact ACF Secretary, Jey Hoole             jeydh4@hotmail.com, or ACF president Gary Wastell gwastell@netspace.net.au  as soon as possible if you are interested.

JUNIOR EMAIL LIST

from Jenni Oliver

An e-mail list is planned for 2008. It is for juniors, coaches, parents and interested people. It is envisaged that it will be used for distributing information on events such as overseas selections, Ergas selections, etc. Initially it will also be used as a discussion mechanism for concepts such as the need for a national body to deal with junior affairs (AusJCL). Can interested people please send their e-mail address to jenni@stratagemcc.com.au

APPLICATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR EVENTS

from Shannon Oliver, Junior Selection Coordinator

Applications are now open for the various junior international tournaments. The website is www.australianjuniorchess.org.au. Tournaments for which you can apply are:

• World Youth Age Championships (U8-U18)
• Asean Age Championships (U8-18)
• Asian Youth Age Championships (U8-U18)
• World Junior Championships (U20)
• Asian Junior Championship (U20)

All of these have both an open and a girls division. The World U16 Olympiad is an open teams tournament.

The dates for these event are:

June 12-21
ASEAN Age Group Championships
(Note: Australian players are usually allowed to compete in ASEAN Championships)
Subic Bay, the Philippines

August 2-16
World Junior
Ankara, Turkey

August 15-24
World Youth Olympiad (U/16)
Ankara, Turkey

October 19-31
World Youth Championships (U/8-U/18)
Vung Tau, Vietnam

The dates for the Asian Youth and and Asian Juniors have not been released, and the ASEAN tournament dates have yet to be confirmed by FIDE, however if you are interested in going to either of these tournaments you must apply now (acceptance of these selections will be deferred until after the dates are announced).

The ASEAN tournament is a new tournament for Australia to enter, and the exact regulations and age divisions are still to be announced. In 2007 there were age categories, but unlike World Youths, there is no free accommodation for the first selected player. This may change for 2008. In order to play in this tournament you MUST apply for it and be selected.

There are a few other tournaments held during the year to which Australia is allowed to send players. These are:

April 26 - May 5
World Schools Individual Championships
Singapore

July 9-17
World Schools Championship
Pardubice, Czech Republic

September 1-7
ASEAN Youth U/9, U/12 and U/15 Youth Teams Championships
Venue as yet unknown

If you are interested in playing any of these please let me know. Selections will close on the 9 March 2008.

Email me if you have any queries/problems with the website. If you wish to see the selection procedure by-law please go to www.auschess.org.au/constitution/Selection_Procedures_By-law.txt, or request a copy from me.

Shannon Oliver
Junior Selection Coordinator
shan_o_86@hotmail.com

JUNIOR CHESS NEWS

from Denis Jessop, ACF Vice President & Presiding Member ACF Junior Chess Subcommittee

Australian Junior Championships 2009

To date the Australian Junior Championships 2009 have not been allocated.

A bid was submitted by Chess Victoria. Initially the bid contained three formats for the event but, following a meeting with the ACF President in December, the bid was revised so as to contain only one proposed format. The revised bid was considered at the ACF Council meeting held in Sydney on 6 January 2008.

The Council resolved as follows: "That the revised CV bid for the 2009 Australian Juniors is not acceptable in its current form, and the ACF respond to CV with the concerns that they need to meet in the resubmitted bid to make it acceptable to the ACF."

The motion was carried 9 – 0 with 2 abstentions ( the ACF President and the Chess Victoria delegate).

A further motion: "That CV respond to the ACF by 1 month from the date of the ACF response, and respond positively to the concerns raised by the ACF" was carried unanimously.

On 18 January 2008 the ACF Secretary sent the following message to the then Chess Victoria President:

"The ACF Council has decided not to accept the Chess Victoria bid for the Australian Junior Championships 2009 but to give CV the opportunity to submit a fresh bid after considering the reservations that the Council has with the bid in its present form.

Those reservations relate both to the proposed venue for, and to the proposed format of the Championships.

1. The Venue

On the information submitted the venue appears to be unsuitable for an Australian Junior Championships for the following reasons.

a. The playing area is too small.

b. The venue is not air-conditioned and no amount has been set aside in the draft budget for the hire of air-conditioning, despite the statement that it is available "if necessary". It is unclear how and when the need for air conditioning will be determined. temporary air- conditioning is notoriously noisy and inefficient.

c. There is insufficient space for players and their coaches to work.

d. There is insufficient space for players who have finished their games to discuss them or to socialise with their friends.

e. There is insufficient space for parents to spend their time while their children are playing their games.

f. It is unclear if there will be any space for spectators to watch the games or what arrangements, if any, are proposed for spectators.

g. There does not appear to be a safe area outside, and near, the venue for children to play after they have completed their games.

It is noted that it is proposed that two rounds per day be played so that players will probably need to remain at the venue between rounds, adding weight to points c. to g. (except f.).

2. The Format

It is usual for all events - Open u18, Girls u18, Open u12 and Girls u12 - to be played at the same time and for nobody to be permitted to play in more than one event. The proposed format will allow anyone to play in the open u18 even if they have already played in the Girls u18, the Open u12 or the Girls u12. This gives rise to some difficulties.

a. Though an u12 boy will be able to play in both the Open u12 and the Open u18, a player in the Girls u12 will not be able to play in the Girls u18.

b. The established rule is that no player may win more than one title and a person qualifying for two or more titles must take the highest one. If a player wins a title in the u12 event and then plays in, and wins a title in, the u18 event (for example Open u12 and Open u14) the final result of the event held in the first set of tournaments will not be known until the completion of the second set.

c. The same comment applies to the Rapid and Lightning events. It is noted that there are to be two of each and, though it is not stated in the bid, it is assumed that those in the first set will be limited to those persons who could play in the first set long-time-control tournaments. Any other course would not be acceptable as the Rapid and Lightning events are title events.

d. It is noted that the proposed time control for the u18 and U12 events has an increment of 30 seconds per move (Fischer). The currently approved time control increment is 60 seconds per move.

e. The number of rounds for the Girls events is only 9 rounds. It should be the usual 11 rounds.

f. The proposal to hold the play-offs on the day after the final round adds an unnecessary additional day for those players involved. The play-offs should be scheduled immediately after the last round is completed.

Conclusion

If CV wishes any subsequent bid to be favourably received they need to ensure that the above points are suitably addressed with particular focus on the following:

1) All events are held over the same time period and are to be 11 rounds at a suitable air-conditioned venue (see points 1. a. to g., above).

2) There is only one Lightning and one Rapid event.

3) The time control is the currently approved time controls of 90 + 60 secs for the U18 events and 60 + 60 secs for the U12 events.

To these ends we note that if a venue cannot be found to cater for 160-200 players concurrently then it would seem possible for the above time controls to be used if the U12 Open & U12 Girls start at 10am daily with the U18 Open & U18 Girls starting at 2pm.

The Council resolved that your response is requested within one month of the date of this message."

The ACF was also aware that Chess Victoria would be holding its AGM on 4 February and that the composition of the new Committee, and hence its views about the bid, might be different from the old. But this was not a major concern influencing the substance of the ACF's view as reflected in the motions and the message to Chess Victoria. To date no response has been received from Chess Victoria.

Whatever the outcome, the ACF is confident that it will be able to allocate the event in the near future.

ACF Junior Chess Subcommittee

This Subcommittee was first established in 2004 to advise the ACF Council on Junior Chess matters. It comprises a Presiding Member from the ACF Executive and one person nominated by each State Association after consultation with any affiliated junior chess body. The ACF President is also an ex-officio member.

The Subcommittee was not particularly successful due mainly to lack of interest on the part of many of its members and the failure of some State Associations to nominate a member.

Recently the ACF decided to reconstitute the Subcommittee by calling for fresh nominations. So far these have been received only from Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia. I am the Presiding member.

The value of a successful Junior Subcommittee would be that it would provide specialist knowledge on junior chess matters to the ACF Council that the Council may otherwise lack. State Associations that have not yet made nominations of a member are urged to do so and readers who have a mind to do so are encouraged to urge their State Associations to make a nomination.

Denis Jessop
ACF Vice President
Presiding Member ACF Junior Chess Subcommittee

2008 OLYMPIAD SELECTIONS

chesschat.org/showthread.php?t=7026

ACF SELECTIONS EMAIL LIST

chesschat.org/showthread.php?t=5913

MYER TAN AUSTRALIAN CHESS GRAND PRIX

http://www.chessaustralia.com.au/index.cfm?site=grandprix

Coming Grand Prix Events

EVENTS CALENDAR

March Madness Open

Venue Zillmere & Districts Community Sports Club, O'Callaghan Park, 360 Zillmere Road, Zillmere, Qld, 4034.
Format 7 rounds.
Entry fee Open $60, Under 1000 $50. ($10 discount if paid by 14/2/08. $10 surcharge to unregistered players on 1/3/08).
Prizes Open $600; $500; $400; $300; $200 (+ rating group prizes). Under 1000 $125; $100; $75.
Registration 8.30-9.00am 1/3/08.
Session times 4 rounds on Saturday, 3 rounds on Sunday, starting at 9.30am.
Rate of play 60 mins + 10 secs per move.
Enquiries Gail Young, 0411 704 815, qwcl@hotmail.com
Webpage http://www.caq.org.au/htm/2008MarchMadnessOpen.pdf

Ballarat Begonia Open

Venue Student Amenities Centre (Old Ballarat Gaol Building), School of Mines Ballarat (SMB) Campus of the University of Ballarat (UoB), Lydiard Street South, Ballarat.
Format 7 round Swiss.
Entry fee IMs & GMs free. Adults $70. Pensioners, unemployed and full-time students $55 (on presentation of concession card).
Prizes Open $1200; $600; $400; $300. Rating groups (3 sections) $400; $200.
Registration before 12.30pm, 8/3/08.
Session times Saturday 1.45pm, 7.30pm; Sunday 9.30am, 2.30pm, 7.30pm; Monday 9.30am, 2.30pm.
Rate of play 90 mins + 30 secs per move.
Enquiries Patrick Cook (03) 5331 6658; Kevin Perrin (03) 5331 3711. ballaratchess@hotmail.com
Webpage www.ballaratchess.com

Doeberl Cup

Venue Hellenic Club of Canberra, Matilda Street, Woden, ACT, 2606.
Format Premier Tournament 9 round Swiss. Major, Minor and Senior Tournaments 7 round Swiss. Under 1200 Tournament 6 round Swiss.
Entry fee Premier $140 (Free to GMs, IMs, WGMs and WIMs). Major, Minor & Senior $120 (U/18 $80). Under 1200 $60.
Prizes Premier $4000, $2500, $1500, $800, $500, $400, $350, $300, $250, $200. Major $1,500, $800, $450, $250, $150, $100. Minor $750, $400, $250, $150, $100 & Unr $100. Senior $450, $300, $150, $100.
Registration By midday, 19/3/08.
Session times Premier Thursday 1.00pm, 7.00pm; Friday 1.00pm, 7.00pm; Saturday 10.00am, 3.00pm; Sunday 10.00am, 3.00pm; Monday 9.00am. Major, Minor & Senior Friday 1.00pm, 7.00pm; Saturday 10.00am, 3.00pm; Sunday 10.00am, 3.00pm; Monday 9.00am. Under 1200 Friday 1.00pm, 4.00pm, 7.00pm, Saturday 10.00am, 1.00pm, 4.00pm.
Rate of play Premier, Major, Minor & Senior 90 mins + 30 secs. Under 1200 60 mins + 10 secs.
Enquiries info@doeberlcup.com.au
Webpage http://www.doeberlcup.com.au

Sydney International Open

http://www.chessaustralia.com.au/open/index.cfm

1^st Mumbai International Open

Venue Goregaon Sports Club, New Link Road, Malad, Mumbai.
Format 11 Round FIDE Swiss.
Entry fee Free to GMs, IMs, WGMs and WIMs. Entry fees depending of rating.
Prizes for 1^st to 30^th, Rs. 2,75,000/-, Rs. 1,70,000, Rs. 100,000, etc. and rating prizes. Total cash prizes 11,00,000/-.
Registration by 25/3/08. Late fee of Rs. 500/- by 2/5/08 or Rs. 1000/- by 20:00 8/5/08.
Enquiries venuschessacademy@gmail.com or venuschess@gmail.com
Flyer PDF

COMPLETED EVENTS

Australian Junior Chess Championships

Website

from Charles Zworestine, Chief Arbiter

Having been arbiter for every Australian Junior Championships since 2000 except one (the exception being Perth 2004), I was very keenly anticipating this year’s event, held at Cranbrook School in the heart of Sydney’s eastern suburbs. How would the NSW Junior Chess League, spearheaded by King Richard (Gastineau-Hills), follow up on the record breaking efforts of the ACT last year (210 players)? How would the players react to another dose of “readings from the book of FIDE” of South Australia’s International Arbiter Roland Eime, my partner in crime for every Australian Junior Championship since 2001 (except Perth)? Would the presence of a new arbiter, NSW’s effervescent Brian Allison, make the general arbiter humour better or worse? Would any of the Under 12s actually use their allotted time (Fischer time control of 60 minutes plus a 1 minute increment from Move 1), thus justifying giving them almost as long as the Under 18s (Fischer time control of 90 minutes plus a 1 minute increment from Move 1)?

Answer: it all went brilliantly! (OK, I admit it: the arbiter humour got worse, and the Under 12s still moved too fast…). Just like six years ago, Cranbrook School was a marvellous venue, with the playing hall not only large enough for the 169 players competing in the 4 main events but also naturally suited to keeping out the parents and coaches, while still allowing them to view the games through the windows. A canteen was magnificently run nearby by a large group of able helpers (too many to list here, but you know who you are and thank you!), and drew praise from the vast majority of participants and their cohorts – as did most aspects of the tournament. We even had separate rooms for analysis, bulletin staff and coaching. So everything was set for a great tournament; let’s see how it all panned out:

Day 1: Settling In. After an excellent opening ceremony that featured some pearls of wisdom from GM Ian Rogers (“Chess is only a game, so enjoy it!”), we were underway! It was quite a relaxed start, with few upsets in the 81 player Under 18 Open: we had to go down to Board 20 before we found one, John Papantoniou losing to Ilya Bonch-Osmolovskiy after popping a piece fairly early. Kaidon Anderson drew with Justin Tan, while the only other “upsets” involved unrated players… The 55 player Under 12 Open and 19 player Under 12 Girls saw no upsets at all (again, unless you count those unrated players!). Just like six years ago, the Under 18 Girls was a 14 player round robin (meaning a couple of double round days); Round 1 saw an early upset when Charmian Zhang beat Alana Chibnall in a pawn ending, while Megan Setiabudi won a long and hard fought game (the longest of the day) against Penelope Hoey.

Day 2: Upsets Begin! Under 18 Open eighth seed Derek Yu was the highest rated upset victim so far, lucky to draw against Anthony Milton after sacrificing a piece unsoundly. Meanwhile William Xu’s attack came to nothing, as he lost material and the game for an upset loss against Sebastian Jule. Sam Dalton’s extra piece for two pawns after opening complications should have beaten Zachary Searle, but for some reason Sam let his bishop get trapped and had to give back the piece; he ended up lucky to draw his ending in another upset result. John Papantoniou also suffered another upset, this time drawing from the exchange down against little Justin Tan… The Under 18 Girls saw all results go according to rating, except for Katrina Knapp trapping and winning Shan-Shan Qiao’s queen! But there were big shocks in both the Under 12 Girls, when second seed Caroline Shan lost a piece and then her queen to lose to Joanne Mason; and in the Under 12 Open, when third seed Yi Liu lost the exchange to a tactic to lose to Andrew Pan. Apart from a few draws, everything else kept going according to seedings…

Day 3: Leading Pack Emerges. Yes, the Under 18 Open saw 8 of the top 10 seeds reach 3/3 to share the lead. Yita Choong missed a chance to join them, allowing Sam Grigg to swindle a draw in his rook ending several pawns down! Derek Yu fell for pins and tactics to suffer another upset, this time resigning when about to be checkmated by Sam Dalton… The Under 18 Girls was more sedate, Sally Yu winning third seed Deborah Ng’s queen in Deborah’s time trouble to share the lead on 3/3 with Megan Setiabudi, who upset Tamzin Oliver in a long game. In the Under 12 Girls, fourth seed Clarise Koh pilfered half a point from top seed Abbie Kanagarajah in a rook ending two pawns down – was this meant to be today’s theme? This left third seed Leteisha Simmonds alone in the lead on 3/3. Meanwhile, the Under 12 Open saw the top two seeds Alex Stahnke and Anurag Sannidhanam have to fight very hard to score draws against lower rated opponents Vincent Horton and Oscar Wang respectively; this left three players, Michael Chan, Laurence Matheson and Joshua Lau, equal leading on 3/3.

Day 4: Shocks Abound! Was fatigue setting in already? It looked that way for top seed Junta Ikeda in the Under 18 Open, as he lost queen for rook and bishop against Eugene Schon; he managed to win it back, and then Eugene agreed a draw in a rook ending two pawns up! He could not see how to win it; back to yesterday’s theme… All this left second seed Chris Wallis (who won a wild game against Gene Nakauchi) equal leader on 4/4 with Andrew Brown (who used the two bishops well to win pawns and beat Cedric Antolis) and Yi Yuan (successfully attacked and checkmated Alastair Dyer). Yita Choong (beat Anthony Milton) and Sam Dalton (defeated Sam Grigg) joined Junta and Eugene on 3.5/4… Two shocks in the Under 18 Girls, where Charmian Zhang won Megan Setiabudi’s queen and Winnie Yum won a rook to beat Katrina Knapp. So Sally Yu (beat Alana Chibnall) was outright leader on 4/4… The Under 12 Open also saw an outright leader for the first time, as Laurence Matheson used a knight fork to win the exchange and the game against Michael Chan, leaving him on 4/4 a half point ahead of Alex Stahnke (beat Joshua Lau) and Oscar Wang (defeated Bernard Chau). In the Under 12 Girls Leteisha (4/4) maintained her outright lead by winning a piece early to beat Clarise; but she was only half a point ahead of Abbie, who won pawns to beat Caroline.

Day 5: First “Rest” Day? Not really a rest for most of us, as today was also the day of the Rapid! Congratulations to Junta Ikeda, the Australian Junior Rapid Play Champion on a score of 6.5/7. He drew only with Chris Wallis, who shared second with Yi Yuan after also drawing with Cedric Antolis (Yi lost to Junta). Sally Yu later won a playoff with Alana Chibnall for the title of Australian Girls Rapid Champion. Overall there were 91 players; a successful event…

Day 6: Double Dose of Drama. Today was the first double round day for the Under 18 Girls, but actually there was not much drama: just a couple of Round 5 draws (Shan-Shan with Alana and Amy Brown with Penelope Hoey), and a Round 6 upset when Katrina attacked and beat Alana. This left Sally still outright leader on 6/6, from Megan, Deborah and Tamzin on 5/6… The Under 18 Open saw Chris Wallis defeat Andrew Brown in a hard fought game (he ended up cashing in on an ending two pawns up) to share the lead on 5/5 with Yi Yuan, who beat Yita Choong in a dramatic game where his queen and passed h-pawn were eventually too strong for Yita’s two rooks. Eugene Schon reached 4.5/5 by beating Sam Dalton; he was joined there by Junta, who put paid to Cedric Antolis. With a large group of players on 4/5, the event was still wide open… In the Under 12 Open Laurence maintained his outright lead on 5/5 by defeating Oscar Wang in a long endgame where his passed a-pawn won a piece, which proved decisive. But Alex Stahnke stayed just half a point behind him by defeating Anurag, while a big group of players on 4/5 included Harry Ruan, who upset Michael Chan. As for the Under 12 Girls, would the top board game prove decisive? There Abbie won a piece to beat Leteisha, leaving her outright leader on 4.5/5 from Leteisha and Alannah Byrne (who beat Jenny Yum) on 4/5.

Day 7: Outright Leaders. Indeed! All four tournaments had outright leaders after today, as we were nearing the halfway mark. It was Chris Wallis in the Under 18 Open, as he reached 6/6 by winning a nice game against Yi Yuan where he sacrificed the exchange for a powerful and ultimately triumphant passed c-pawn. Junta was alone on 5.5/6 after beating Alastair Dyer, while Yi was joined on 5/6 by two players: Andrew Brown, who won a superb attacking game against Eugene Schon (finishing off with a nice queen sacrifice leading to mate) and Fedja Zulfic, whose two pieces beat Joseph Nguyen’s rook… The Under 18 Girls saw Sally maintain her outright lead on 7/7 by winning a long game against Megan, but with Deborah (bye) and Tamzin (beat Amy Brown) still breathing down her neck on 6/7. In the Under 12 Open, Laurence Matheson drew with Alex Stahnke to maintain his outright lead on 5.5/6, from a fascinating final position with a rook against five pawns! Joining Alex on 5/6 chasing Laurence were Joshua Lau (beat Jack Ruan), Yi Liu (beat Sean Gu) and Harry Ruan (defeated Vincent Horton). Meanwhile the Under 12 Girls saw a big shock when Abbie blundered into mate in a won position to lose to Jenny Yum. As a result Leteisha regained the outright lead on 5/6 by defeating Alannah, from Abbie and Clarise Koh (both on 4.5) after Clarise beat Tayla Wood.

Day 8: Closing In. It was Sally Yu who must have felt the field was closing in on her in the Under 18 Girls, as her endgame loss to Tamzin Oliver saw a three-way tie for the lead on 7/8 between Tamzin, Sally and Deborah (who beat Alana). The Under 18 Open also received a shake-up, as Junta fought back from an inferior position to end up two pawns up in a rook ending against Chris Wallis. Junta’s win left him outright leader on 6.5/7, from Chris and Andrew Brown (whose two bishops gradually put paid to Yi Yuan’s bishop and knight) on 6/7. Eugene and Fedja reached a drawn rook ending, while Gene’s active pieces won material and game against Yita and Sam Grigg won a drawish ending against Edwin Wu… In the Under 12 Open, Laurence maintained his lead on 6.5/7 by beating Yi Liu in an exchange French, half a point ahead of Joshua Lau (who beat Harry Ruan). Bernard Chau won an exchange to stun Alex Stahnke and move to 5.5/7, while Jack Ruan scored an upset draw with Anurag. The Under 12 Girls saw Leteisha maintain her outright lead on 6/7 by beating Caroline from pawns ahead in a long endgame, by half a point from Clarise (beat Jenny Yum) and Abbie (beat Joanne Mason).

Day 9: Stunning Sam! Definitely appropriate that Sam Grigg should provide today’s headline, as he provided the biggest upset of the Under 18 Open so far when Chris Wallis refused a (probably forced) perpetual check – so Sam went on to beat him instead! As a result Junta reached a full point lead on 7.5/8 with a 21 move attacking demolition of Andrew Brown, from Sam, Gene (who inflicted Yi Yuan’s third loss in a row in a 91 move epic!) and Fedja (who ground down William Xu in a rook ending a pawn up). A similar stunner occurred in the Under 18 Girls, where poor Tamzin was winning easily, three connected passed pawns ahead, against Shan-Shan; but sadly for Tamzin she did not push her pawns fast enough, lost her queenside pawns and was swindled to lose her joint lead. Sally and Deborah stayed in the lead on 8/9 by winning their games… The Under 12 Open saw Laurence increase his lead to a full point as he reached 7.5/8 by positionally refuting Joshua Lau’s attempted kingside attack. Oscar Wang was just a point behind after beating Harry Ruan, while Yi Liu ended Alex Stahnke’s chances with another upset win. But little changed in the Under 12 Girls, with Leteisha, Abbie, Clarise and Caroline all winning to leave Leteisha on 7/8 leading by half a point from Abbie and Clarise.

Day 10: Another “Rest” Day. Again, not really a rest! Instead, the problem solving and lightning competitions kept everyone busy. Too many problem solving winners to list, but special mention to the 100% scorers Chris Wallis, Allen Setiabudi, Yi Yuan and Daniel Lapitan. As for the Lightning, Junta Ikeda won the main event with 11/11; Girls Champion was Sally Yu; and the Under 12 events were won by Alex Stahnke and Leteisha Simmonds.

Day 11: Deborah’s Double Delight! The second double round day for the Under 18 Girls was a delight for Deborah Ng, who won both games to reach 10/11, then had the lead after Sally was stunned in her second game by unrated Amy Brown, who won pawns and then checkmated Sally! Less drama in the Under 18 Open, as Junta beat Gene by forcing him to sacrifice the exchange to save his king. So Junta maintained a full point lead on 8.5/9, with Fedja just a point behind after beating Sam Grigg: despite popping a piece from a pawn up, he made his advanced passed pawn count and won anyway! Only half a point further back were Chris Wallis (who checkmated Eugene Schon) and Andrew Brown (whose central passed pawns crushed Yita Choong)… In the Under 12 Open, Laurence’s powerful positional play won a pawn to beat Harry Ruan. This left him with a 1.5 point lead over Yi Liu (beat Oscar Wang) and Joshua Lau (forced Michael Chan to sacrifice a queen to stop mate). But the most excitement was in the Under 12 Girls, where Leteisha misplayed the opening and lost a rook with an exposed king against Grace Alvares. To her credit she fought back and won anyway to maintain her half point lead on 8/9 from Abbie, while Caroline ended Clarise’s chances with a hard fought win.

Day 12: Main Title Decided. Congrats were already due to Junta Ikeda after today, when he tactically mauled Fedja to reach 9.5/10 and wrap up the title of Australian Junior Champion with a round to spare! Junta had a full 2 point lead over four players: Fedja, Gene (ground down Andrew Brown in a bishop vs knight ending a pawn up), Sam Grigg (beat Alastair Dyer) and Sam Dalton, who surprised everybody by refuting a piece sacrifice and outlasting Chris Wallis for a massive upset win… None of the other events were officially decided, but all had an outright leader. Laurence was coasting home with draws in the Under 12 Open, as his top board draw with Pasan Perera was mirrored by draws on Boards 3 and 4: Alex Stahnke with Oscar, and Michael Chan with Anurag. Only Yi Liu won, beating Joshua Lau from a rook ending a pawn up on Board 2 to reach 8/10 and stay within a point of Laurence. Deborah also maintained a full point lead on 11/12 (from Sally, who had the bye) in the Under 18 Girls, after Tamzin was forced to try and beat her drawish opening and inevitably lost a piece and the game instead! But the Under 12 Girls standings remained the same going into the last round, as all the leaders won except Caroline, who drew a long ending by liquidation of pawns against Alannah Byrne.

Day 13: Hail The Winners. Relief prevailed as we saw hard work finally rewarded with a most enjoyable and dispute-free event coming to a close! All title winners are below. Not too much unpredictable happened in the last round, as Junta ground down Sam Dalton in the Under 18 Open to reach 10.5/11, but Fedja and Gene (8.5/11) had to play off for the Under 16 title after Gene beat Sam Grigg, while Fedja won a big struggle from Andrew Brown, eventually reaching a won king and pawn ending. (Gene won the playoff). The Under 12 Open saw Laurence draw with Harry Ruan to secure his title on 9.5/11, while Yi Liu won an opposite coloured bishop ending two pawns up against Pasan Perera to gain second on 9/11. Harry won a playoff with Anurag for the Under 10 title after Anurag’s last round win. All last round results were predictable in the Under 12 Girls except for Caroline’s draw with Jenny Yum; this left Leteisha champion on 10/11, Abbie second on 9.5 and Kashish Christian winning the Under 10 title after a playoff with Katherine McGregor. Finally, Deborah agreed a draw with Charmian in the Under 18 Girls to win the event on 11.5/13; Sally was second on 11, with Tamzin third on 10.

Main Title Winners:

• Under 8 Open Peter Wallmueller (Vic) (beat Anton Smirnov in a playoff);
• Under 8 Girls Charlie-Rose MacLennan (NSW);
• Under 10 Open Harry Ruan (NSW);
• Under 10 Girls Kashish Christian (NSW);
• Under 12 Open Laurence Matheson (Vic);
• Under 12 Girls Leteisha Simmonds (Qld);
• Under 14 Open Yi Yuan (ACT);
• Under 14 Girls Megan Setiabudi (ACT);
• Under 16 Open Gene Nakauchi (Qld);
• Under 16 Girls Sally Yu (Vic);
• Under 18 Open Junta Ikeda (ACT);
• Under 18 Girls Deborah Ng (NSW).

2008 Gold Coast Tin Cup

from Peter Bender

The players returned in strength to this years 12^th annual Gold Coast Tin Cup with 61 participating which was one less than last year.

This event is very popular because it has an under 1750 rating entry limit. This allows the cusp players to have a chance to seek glory.

Top seeds were Sam Grigg, George Lester and Alex Stahnke. The field also boasted previous winners Kieton Beilby and the effervescent Mark Stokes. No one has ever won the Tin Cup twice so let’s see if that record was broken.

Round 1 was unusually tame with unrated players Brendan Griffen and Albert Hisug earning stripes for victory. The main surprise being that the venue was unexpectedly shared with the Qld rugby union development squad. Lots of fun there as chessplayers and union players scratched their respective heads wondering what the other was doing. Every tournament has a story of it’s own.

Round 2 and oops, last years winner Kieton Beilby is determined to break the hoodoo and upsets top seed Sam Grigg. Also on board 2 Craig Stewart draws with George Lester, on board 4 Laz Sretenovic defeats Louay Al Zaher and Caleb Eriksson disposes of Mike Duffin who was also in the top ten. The pins are already falling.

The day finishes with no major upsets in round 3.

Beginning of the second day and the event of the tournament occurs. Young Alex Stahnke finds himself locked in the disabled toilets but in true champion fashion, climbs through a window, overcomes the distress, loses a piece and still manages to fight back to defeat previous champion Mark Stokes. Mark was asked later what it would take to beat Alex!

Jonas Muller and Nenad Chelebichanin (last years Gardiner Chess Gold Coast U1600 winner) joins Alex as the only undefeated players.

Round 5 and Jonas defeats Alex whilst Nenad can only draw against Craig Stewart who has his second draw against a top ten player.

Final round and Jonas finds that life is tough at the top as he loses in a grueling game against Nenad.

So it’s Nenad Chelebichanin who will have his name engraved on this years Tin Cup (guess it will have to be in small font) and congratulations also to equal second place getters Zhicong Wu (who only lost to Nenad), Jonas Muller, Alex Stahnke and Laz Sretenovic (who won the U1600 rating group).

Caleb Eriksson and Robbie Peck had fine performances to tie equal first in the U1300. This year also saw the introduction of medals for the U1000 divisions. Gold went to Daniel Lapitan in the U1000 division and to Albert Hisug in the Unrated division.

Thanks to all players, sponsors, supporters and volunteers from Outreach Chess. Hope to see everyone again at the Category 5 Gardiner Chess Gold Coast Open in June.

Sam Grigg (1727) - Nick Kospartov (1181)
2008 Tin Cup, Mudgeeraba 17/2/2008 (1)
(Notes by Peter Bender.)

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.d4 e6 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nf3 c5 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5?
  Loose pieces make tactical targets or just drop off. (8... Be7)
9. Nxe6
  9.Bb5+ (Fritz)
9...Qxd1+ 10.Rxd1 Bxe6 11.Bxc5 N8d7 12.Bd6! a6 13.f4 O-O-O?
  That bishop in d6 is just killing black.
14.e5 Rhe8 15.Rc1 Nb8 16.Nd5+ Nc4
  16... Nc6 17.Nxb6#
17.Nb6# 1-0

OVERSEAS NEWS

AUSTRALIA'S THIRD GRANDMASTER!

Zong-Yuan Zhao will be awarded the Grandmaster title at the next FIDE Congress after scoring three GM norms in a short seven weeks. (ABC News, 1 February 2008). Two games from the Masters Tournament at Gibraltar's 2008 Gibtelecom Chess Festival appear below; his win over the tournament's eventual winner and his penultimate round victory to clinch the GM title.

Zong-Yuan Zhao (2487) - Hikaru Nakamura (2670)
Gibtelecom Masters, Gibraltar 26/1/2008 (5)

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.exd6 exd6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.Bd3 Nc6 8.Nge2 Bg4 9.h3 Bh5 10.Be3 O-O 11.d5 Ne5 12.b3 Bf6 13.Rc1 Bg5 14.f4 Bh4+ 15.Bf2 Bxe2 16.Bxe2 Bxf2+ 17.Kxf2 Qf6 18.g3 Rae8 19.Re1 Ned7 20.Bf3 Nc5 21.Qd2 a6 22.Kg2 Qf5 23.Re3 Rxe3 24.Qxe3 Qd3 25.Qxd3 Nxd3 26.Rd1 Nc5 27.Re1 Rd8 28.Re7 Ncd7 29.Be2 Kf8 30.Re3 Nb8 31.Bd3 h6 32.g4 a5 33.Nb5 Na6 34.a3 g5 35.Kf3 Nc5 36.Bc2 Na6 37.Bd3 Nc5 38.Bc2 gxf4 39.Kxf4 a4 40.Nxc7 axb3 41.Bxb3 Nbd7 42.Nb5 Ne5 43.Ba2 Ncd3+ 44.Kf5 Nc1 45.Nxd6 Ng6 46.Nxb7 Rb8 47.c5 Rxb7 48.Bc4 Rb2 49.Ke4 Ke7 50.Kd4+ Kd8 51.c6 Nf4 52.d6 Rd2+ 53.Kc5 Ncd3+ 54.Kb6 Rc2 55.Bxf7 1-0

Zong-Yuan Zhao (2487) - Gildas Goldsztejn (2380)
Gibtelecom Masters, Gibraltar 30/1/2008 (9)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 d5 11.d4 dxe4 12.Nxe5 c5 13.Be3 Bb7 14.Nd2 Nd5 15.Nxe4 Nxe3 16.fxe3 Qd5 17.Nf3 cxd4 18.exd4 f5 19.Ned2 Bd6 20.Qe2 Bg3 21.Qe6+ Qxe6 22.Rxe6 Bd5 23.Re2 Rae8 24.Ne5 Nc6 25.Bb3 Bxb3 26.axb3 Nxe5 27.dxe5 Bxe5 28.Nf3 Bh2+ 29.Kf1 Rxe2 30.Kxe2 Rf6 1-0

TAILPIECE