ACF NEWS

OLYMPIAD CAPTAINCIES

from Kevin Bonham, ACF Selections Director

Expressions of interest are now open for the following positions:

    * Non-playing Captain, Australian Open Team

    * Non-playing Captain, Australian Women's Team

for the 38th Chess Olympiads to be held in Dresden, Germany from 12 - 25 November 2008. (Event website: www.dresden2008.org/)

The deadline for applications is 18 July 2008, which is three days after the intended date for announcement of the selected players. It is expected that the selected captains will be announced by the end of July 2008.

Applicants for playing positions may also apply for captaincies, on the understanding that they will be ineligible for a captaincy if they accept selection to a playing position, and vice versa.

Applicants may submit any supporting comments they wish to be passed on to either the selected players or the members of ACF Council, explaining why they think they should be selected as captains. The positions are filled by Council after taking into account the players' stated preferences (if any). Council has recently tended to follow the players' preferences in most cases, but is not obliged to do so. Applicants are also free to contact the applicants for playing positions and/or the Council regarding their applications as and whenever they wish. For more detail see item 13 of the ACF Selections procedures by-law at www.auschess.org.au/constitution/Selection%20Procedures%20after%2012%20Feb%202008.pdf.

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

This message has been sent to the ACF Selections Info email list, the ACF Newsletter and the bulletin board chesschat.org. Please feel free to distribute it to anyone who may be interested.

MYER TAN AUSTRALIAN CHESS GRAND PRIX

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

Coming Grand Prix Events

EVENTS CALENDAR

Geelong Open

Venue Court House Building (upstairs). Corner Little Malop St & Gheringhap St.
Format 5 Round Swiss.
Entry fee $60 ($50 J/P & Geelong CC members); $10 discount for entries paid by 5/7/08; GMs & IMs free (if notified by 5/7/08).
Prizes $1000, $600, $40; Rating groups: $200.
Registration by 9.30 a.m., Saturday, 19 June.
Enquiries Mario Zoppi 03 5248 7335 or 0421 104 648.
Accommodation For help with accommodation and visitor information contact the Geelong Visitor Information Centre on 1800 620 888.

Malaysian Chess Festival 2008

ChessBase article

ASTRO Merdeka Rapid Team Event, August 15-17.
IGB-5^th Dato' Arthur Tan Malaysia Open Chess Championship 2008, August 18-24.
ASTRO Merdeka Rapid Team Event, August 30 - September 1.
Flyer here.
Enquiries Some financial assistance may be available for interested players. Contact Brian Jones for more information.

IGB-5^th Dato' Arthur Tan Malaysia Open Chess Championship 2008

Venue Ballroom, 5th Floor, CitiTel Mid Valley Hotel, Mid Valley Megamall, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 KL.
Format 11 Round Swiss.
Entry fee Unrated US $200, 1600-1999 $150, 2000-2199 $125, 2200-2299 $100, 2300-2399 $75, 2400-2499 $50.
Prizes See flyer.
Registration 7.30 to 8.30 a.m., Monday, 18 August.
Enquiries aham@pc.jaring.my
Flyer here.

Surfers Paradise Open

Venue Quality Hotels, Mermaid Waters, cnr Markeri Street and Sunshine Boulevard, Mermaid Waters, Gold Coast, QLD, 4218.
Format Three 6 Round Swisses. 'Paradise' August 29 - August 31. 'Surfing' August 30-31. 'Fun' August 30.
Entry fee 'Paradise' $90 (GMs free), 'Surfing' $60, 'Fun' $30.
Prizes 'Paradise' $2000, $1000, $500, $200, $100. 'Surfing' $500, $200, $100 (& rating group prizes). 'Fun' $100 (& runnerup medal).
Registration Entries and payments closing on Monday, 25 August 2008.
Enquiries info@kingsofchess.biz or (0061) 07 5578 5872
Flyer here.

Oceania Zonal Chess Tournament for Men and Women

Website in preparation.

Venue Outrigger Twin Towns Resort
Format Nine round swiss for Men and Women (or a round robin if appropriate).
DOPs Chief Arbiter: IA Charles Zworestine. Assistant Arbiters: IA Gary Bekker & Graeme Gardiner.
Entry fee dependant on rating. See flyer.
Prizes Men: $1500, $1000, $750, $500, $400, $250, $150. 1^st under 2000 $300. 1^st under 1800 $300. Women: $750. $500, $300. 1^st under 1800 $300.
Registration by Friday, 6 June, 2009. The organiser may, at his discretion, accept late entries.
Enquiries to Graeme Gardiner, 11 Hardys Road, Mudgeeraba Qld 4213. Phone 5522 7221. Fax 5522 7760. Email ggardiner@gardinerchess.com.
Flyer here.

COMPLETED EVENTS

2008 Gold Coast Open

from DOP Charles Zworestine

3 in 1 No Guarantee

Yes, sadly having 3 events on the one weekend does not guarantee ideal numbers… The addition of an Under 1000 event last year had the numbers up to 111; but this year, only 74 players turned up for a weekend of inspirational and fun chess! (This might have had something to do with the Under 1000, which this time had no prize money but only trophies and medallions; the numbers there dropped from 45 last year…). Still, a high class field in the Open, closely rated top seeds in the Under 1600 and many juniors in the Under 1000 did at least guarantee an interesting event… The 74 players comprised 26 in the Open, 30 in the Under 1600 and 18 in the Under 1000 – hopefully the latter will get more again next year. All three events were played at the standard weekender time controls of one hour plus 10 seconds per move from the start (Fischer). And like last year, they all produced many chessic thrills and spills; you have to read on to find out more!

Open Event

Top seeds here on ACF rating were 1. GM Dejan Antic, 2. IM Stephen Solomon, 3. IM Peter Froehlich, 4. Moulthun Ly and 5. FM Jesse Sales. There were no real upsets in Round 1, as the titled players all took care of their lower rated opponents. However, Andrew Brown was rather lucky to beat Jessica Kinder: having abandoned his queenside he sacrificed a rook unsoundly for an attack, and was very lucky to get this attack through and mate after some help from Jessica!

This event’s competitive nature was shown in Round 2, which was already interesting at the top. First on Board 1 Gene Nakauchi, as Black, got into a fascinating position against Antic: four pawns for a piece in a wide open position with both kings exposed! Sadly for Gene, time pressure hit; he missed chances, may have missed a perpetual check and lost on time. Then on Board 2, Ben Lazarus gave Australian Champion Stephen Solomon all he could handle, starting with a slight positional pull in an ending; Solo fought back and may have been better, but then time pressure set in again; and after a couple of random pawn pushes, it liquidated to rook and knight vs rook and pawn and a draw! On Board 3, Peter Froehlich ground down John Wu in bishop vs knight; while on Board 4, Moulthun Ly won a blundered rook to beat Andrew Brown. Meanwhile Jesse Sales got at Alex Jule’s king and won material to win a miniature on Board 5.

Round 3 saw Sales and Antic have a quick draw on Board 1; but there was much more excitement on Board 2! Peter Froehlich was lucky to beat Jason Hu, who was a pawn up with a powerful f3/e4/d5 pawn chain as White; but Jason allowed things to be randomised with both kings exposed and ended up losing in mutual time pressure. Board 3 saw Magic Moulthun (MM) grind down Sam Grigg, winning a pawn in good knight vs bad bishop. Then on Board 4, Solo did a Solo! Again in a mutual time scramble, a queen and pawn ending with a manifold repetition of position was not claimed by Gene Nakauchi, who ended up breaking a checking sequence and losing to an advanced passed d-pawn. As for Andrew Brown, he was a rook down for the third game in a row; this time it was blundered, and he was upset by Jonas Muller.

Conserving energy, Peter Froehlich and MM drew on top board in 9 moves in next to no time in Round 4! On the other hand, the game on Board 2 between Antic and Solo was a thriller, with Solo winning a pawn but Dejan fighting back into a very tricky rook and minor piece endgame. In the end, after losing on time once due to a faulty clock, the game continued with a new clock; and Dejan lost on time again to leave Solo joint leader on 3½/4 with MM and Froehlich! While Jason Hu checkmated Jonas Muller in a miniature (see game below), he was joined on 3/4 by Emma Guo (beat Alex Stahnke), Robin Wei (upset Sam Grigg after the latter pushed too hard to win a drawn ending and lost instead!), Ben Lazarus and Jesse Sales. The latter two drew a long game when they ended up in a rook ending where neither player could make progress.

 Jonas Muller (1679) - Jason Hu (2141)
Gold Coast Open 2008 (4) 28/06/2008

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Be3 e6 5.Nd2 Nd7 6.Nb3 a6 7.f4 Nh6 8.Be2 Be7 9.Nf3 Ng4 10.Bd2 c5 11.dxc5 Nxc5 12.Nfd4 Nxb3 13.Nxb3 Bh4+ 14.g3 Nxh2 15.Kf2 Qb6+ 16.Be3 Bxg3+ 17.Kxg3 Qxe3+ 18.Kxh2 Qf2# 0–1

Sunday dawned to see Solo win an exchange to triumph in a messy two rooks and bishop vs rook and two bishops ending against Peter Froehlich; but his subsequent win was not enough for the outright lead after MM beat Sales. This was a good victory by MM, winning tactically by getting his pieces in against Jesse’s uncastled king (see game below). Jason Hu won pawns and an ending to beat Robin Wei; he was joined on 4/5 by Ben Lazarus, who quickly beat Emma Guo after she walked into mate in one! Dejan Antic joined Peter Froehlich on 3½/5 after grinding down Alex Jule. Upsets saw Sebastian Jule win a piece to beat Jonas Muller, Jessica Kinder grind down John Alkin and Sally Yu convert superior activity into two bishops for a rook and a win against Michael Gearing.

 Moulthun Ly (2345) - Jesse Sales (2307)
Gold Coast Open 2008 (5) 29/06/2008

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nf3 e6 6.cxd4 Nc6 7.Bc4 d6 8.0–0 Nb6 9.Bb3 dxe5 10.dxe5 Qc7 11.Qe2 Nd7 12.Re1 a6 13.Nc3 b5 14.Bf4 Nc5 15.Ne4 Nxb3 16.axb3 Bb7 17.Rac1 h6 18.Nd6+ Bxd6 19.exd6 Qd7 20.Ne5 Qxd6 21.Nxf7 1–0

Despite the best efforts of both players to win (playing on for what seemed like forever in typical fashion!), MM and Solo ended up in a dead drawn pure opposite coloured bishop endgame on top board in Round 6! Their draw enabled Jason Hu to catch them in the lead on 5/6 after Ben Lazarus swapped off into a lost knight vs bishop ending (a pawn down) against him. Dejan Antic kept his chances alive by beating Peter Froehlich to reach 4½/6.

Solo had the White pieces on top board against Jason Hu in the last round, and took advantage of this with a sharp sacrifice of a piece for two pawns which gave him a strong initiative; in the end he got a third pawn, and his three connected passed pawns (once the queens came off) then killed Jason’s passive pieces! Meanwhile MM fought very hard despite a pawn minus to draw with Dejan Antic, leaving Solo the champion outright on 6/7 and MM outright second on 5½/7. A three way tie for third on 5/7 included Dejan Antic, Jason Hu, Jesse Sales (who beat Gene Nakauchi in an ending) and Ben Lazarus (who defeated Alex Jule). Sam Grigg’s upset draw with Peter Froehlich (after they swapped all the way down to a pure opposite coloured bishop ending) secured him first in the Under 2000. Of course, Peter Froehlich is Sam’s coach; as a result, he will never hear the end of it…

Prize List: 1^st IM Stephen Solomon 6/7; 2^nd Moulthun Ly 5½/7; = 3^rd GM Dejan Antic, FM Jesse Sales, Jason Hu, Ben Lazarus 5/7; = 1^st Under 2000/Under 1700 Sam Grigg, Emma Guo, Jonas Muller 4/7.

Gold Coast Under 1600

Here Mark Stokes (1581) was the top seed, then Mike Duffin (1563), Axel Stahnke (1554), Craig Stewart (1553), Daniel Ford (1526) and Vaness Reid (1496). They all won in Round 1; and indeed all games went according to rating, except Brent Winston upset Bill Ross in a long game where his more aggressive rook and king won in the endgame in a mutual time scramble. Danielle Kinder also drew with Caleb Eriksson in another upset result. Things were similarly predictable in Round 2, where the games all went to rating on the top boards – with one notable exception. Vaness Reid always seemed to be winning against Brandon Leggett, whose pawns were very weak in a rook ending; a shame then for Vaness that she walked into mate in one and lost (see game below)! Other upset wins were scored by Brent Winston against Peter Haron, Martin Jack vs Caleb Eriksson and William Bay over Gordon Buck.

 Vaness Reid (1496) - Brandon Leggett (1268)
Gold Coast Under-1600 2008 (2) 28/06/2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qb3 c5 5.dxc5 Qa5 6.Bd2 Qxc5 7.e3 Nc6 8.a3 Bxc3 9.Bxc3 Rg8 10.Nf3 d5 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.cxd5 Qxd5 13.Qxd5 exd5 14.g3 Ne5 15.Nd4 a6 16.Ke2 Be6 17.f4 Nc6 18.Bg2 Ke7 19.Rac1 Rac8 20.Rc3 Rg6 21.Nxc6+ bxc6 22.Rhc1 Kd6 23.e4 Rh6 24.exd5 Bxd5 25.Bxd5 Rxh2+ 26.Kf3 Kxd5 27.Rd3+ Ke6 28.b4 Ke7 29.Re1+ Kf8 30.Rd7 Re8 31.Rc1 Rhe2 32.Rc3 h5 33.Ra7 c5 34.bxc5 Ra2 35.Rxa6 Ree2 36.Re3 Rec2 37.Rxf6 Kg7 38.Rc6 f5 39.Re5 Rxa3+ 40.Re3 Raa2 41.Re7+ Kf8 42.Rh7 Ra3# 0–1

The top board in Round 3 saw Craig Stewart win a long game to beat Mark Stokes and reach 3/3, ending up in a won knight vs bishop endgame a pawn up and with an unstoppable advanced passed a-pawn. Daniel Ford also won a long game against Mike Duffin to join Craig in the lead on 3/3. Axel Stahnke and Brent Winston drew to reach 2½/3; but Brandon Leggett went one better to get to 3/3 and the joint lead, actually winning rook and bishop vs queen after his opponent overstepped the time limit!

Swapping all the way down to liquidation of material in a long game meant that the top board Round 4 game between Brandon Leggett and Daniel Ford was doomed to end in a draw! Craig Stewart’s complicated win against Axel Stahnke thus snared him the outright lead on 4/4, from Daniel and Brandon on 3½/4. Many of the top seeds recovered this round to 3/4 – for example, Stokes, Reid and Duffin – where they were joined by juniors Daniel Lapitan (who stunned Amir Karibasic) and Abbie Kanagarajah (who beat Martin Jack).

Ignoring his weak pawns, Daniel Ford attacked the life out of Craig Stewart on top board in Round 5 – he ended up winning a queen and a rook to take the outright lead on 4½/5! Craig was joined on 4/5 by Mike Duffin (who defeated Brandon Leggett), Mark Stokes (who took care of Abbie Kanagarajah) and Vaness Reid (who beat Daniel Lapitan). William Bay’s huge upset win over Axel Stahnke enabled him to join Brandon Leggett on 3½/5.

Another change of lead took place after Round 6, when Vaness Reid defeated Daniel Ford by converting a strong pawn centre into a powerful passed d6 pawn and a win. Vaness was joined in the lead on 5/6 by Mark Stokes (who beat Mike Duffin) and Craig Stewart (who accounted for Brandon Leggett). Daniel Lapitan’s win over William Bay enabled him to join a group on 4/6, which included Amir Karibasic after he won a miniature against Abbie Kanagarajah with a smothered mate!

Vaness Reid could not cash in on Craig Stewart’s cramped position on top board in Round 7, eventually enabling him to swap off into a drawn rook ending. This enabled Mark Stokes to win the tournament outright on 6/7, after he won a piece and hence his game against Daniel Ford. So Craig and Vaness had to be content with equal second on 5½/7, while Martin Jack’s upset win over Hans-Peter Muller won him first Under 1350 and William Bay’s upset win in rook and pawn vs rook against Lachlan Pedersen-Lee earnt him first Under 1000 (both on 4½/7).

Prize List: 1^st Mark Stokes 6/7; = 2^nd Vaness Reid, Craig Stewart 5½/7; 1^st Under 1350 Martin Jack 4½/7; 1^st Under 1000 William Bay 4½/7; = 2^nd Under 1350/Under 1000 Daniel Lapitan, Rohan Pyne, Kyle Ringrose 4/7.

Gold Coast Under 1000

A swag of juniors played in this 6 round event – 15 of the 18 players here were juniors, but not the top seed Allan Menham! The top seeds all won their games in Round 1, with the nicest win probably being a miniature by 17 year old Anthony Solomon (son of Australian Champion Stephen Solomon – see game below). A junior, David Warner, did upset Allan Menham in Round 2; other than that, there were still no real surprises.

 Anthony Solomon (899) - Zayne Clarkson
Gold Coast Under 1000 (1) 28/06/2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nge7 5.0–0 0–0 6.Nc3 Ng6 7.Ng5 Qf6 8.Qh5 h6 9.Nd5 Qd8 10.Nxf7 Rxf7 11.Qxg6 Bxf2+ 12.Rxf2 Rxf2 13.Nf6+ 1–0

Round 3 saw Anthony Solomon and Callum Gray in the joint lead on 3/3 after beating Bradley Begaud and David Warner respectively. Callum and Anthony then played a good opening in Round 4, where both developed their pieces well; it looked set to be a very interesting game! Sadly for Baby Solo, eventually Callum got to an ending where his rooks were doubled on the seventh rank; and he soon won a rook to take the outright lead on 4/4. Meanwhile Bradley Begaud upset Allan Menham on Board 2. Bradley Begaud and Baby Solo were joined in second place on 3/4 by Matt Pyper (who upset Callum Leggett), Kenji Nakauchi and Scott Dimmock.

Callum Gray maintained his outright lead on 5/5 after Round 5 by beating Matt Pyper; but Kenji Nakauchi was just a point behind on 4/5 after attacking and beating Baby Solo. Scott Dimmock was also still in contention on 4/5 after he took care of Bradley Begaud. Alex Seeto’s win over Callum Leggett enabled him to reach 3½/5, still in the running for a minor prize… Callum then scored a quick victory over Kenji in the last round to win the event outright on 6/6; Kenji resigned when he thought it was forced mate in one for Callum, missing the one defensive move that stopped mate and would have kept the game equal! (See game below). Matt Pyper’s extra pawns then beat Scott Dimmock’s extra piece to leave these two and Kenji in a 6-way tie for second place on 4/6. Also up there was Bradley Begaud, who beat Alex Seeto in a king and pawn ending; Baby Solo, who won material to win an endgame against David Warner; and Allan Menham, who finally beat a junior when he accounted for Jason Dinh.

 Kenji Nakauchi (786) - Callum Gray (877)
Gold Coast Under 1000 (6) 29/06/2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.g3 0–0 6.Bg2 e5 7.Nf3 Nc6 8.0–0 Bg4 9.d5 Ne7 10.Bg5 Nh5 11.Qc2 f6 12.Be3 f5 13.Nd2 f4 14.f3 Bd7 15.Bf2 fxg3 16.Bxg3 Nxg3 17.hxg3 Qc8 18.b4 Bh3 19.Nb3 b6 20.Ne2 Rf6 21.Bxh3 Qxh3 22.Rf2 g5 23.Raf1 Rh6 0–1

Prize List: 1^st Callum Gray 6/6; = 2^nd Bradley Begaud, Scott Dimmock, Allan Menham, Kenji Nakauchi, Matthew Pyper, Anthony Solomon 4/6.

TAILPIECE