ACF NEWS

2009 LIDUMS AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS

from the Organising Committee

The 2009 Lidums Australian Junior Chess Championships will be held in Adelaide from 2nd January 2009 to 13 January 2009. Information on the Championships can be found on the SA Junior Chess League website. Entry forms are now available on the website, http://www.sajuniorchess.org.

Please note that
    (a) if there are not enough entries in the Girls Championships for a viable 11 round tournament, the number of rounds may be reduced.
    (b) special novice tournaments (under 18, under 12) will be held from 6th January 2009 to 9th January 2009.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR ACF PRESIDENT and other Executive positions

from Jey Poole, ACF Secretary

The annual National Conference of the Australian Chess Federation (ACF) elects members of the ACF Executive each alternate year. The 2009 National Conference which will be convened on 6 January 2009 during a rest day of the 2009 Australian Open in Sydney, will elect members of the Executive, including the ACF President.

Pursuant to the ACF Constitution, nominations are now called for the offices of ACF President, Deputy President, Vice President (two positions), Secretary and Treasurer.

The ACF Constitution specifies that candidates for ACF President shall be limited to persons who have “advised the Federation in writing of their willingness to serve as President (with) such advice having been received by the Federation not less than 90 days before the date on which the annual National Conference at which elections are due is scheduled to start”. The ACF’s rules regarding the election of the ACF President can be viewed at the ACF website.

Nominations for the other members of the Executive, unlike the nomination for the ACF President, can be received up to the time the election to fill each office is due to be held. Also, if there is no nomination for President within the prescribed period, nominations for President may be received as for the other Executive members.

How to submit your nomination for the office of ACF President or for other positions in the ACF Executive.

Email is the preferred medium for the submission of nominations. You can submit your nomination by email to the ACF Secretary (email: jeydh4@hotmail.com).

Should you be unable to transmit by email, the address for the submission of hardcopy nominations is as follows:
    Jey Hoole, ACF Secretary
    25 Carlile Street,
    Evatt ACT 2617.

Nominations for the position of ACF President must be submitted and received by midnight 07 October 2008.

All nominations will be formally acknowledged within 72 hours. If you have not received an acknowledgement of your application by this time, please contact me on 0403 126 181.

COACHING AT THE AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS for NSW players

from Charles Zworestine, NSWJCL President

The NSW Junior Chess League is seeking experienced coaches to coach for NSW at the Australian Junior Championships, at Saint Ignatius' College, Athelstone, Adelaide, SA, January 2-13 2009.

A package of information including job description/expectation and application form can be obtained from Charles Zworestine, at his email address: charlesz@ozemail.com.au.

Expressions of interest should be sent to charlesz@ozemail.com.au by Monday, 8 September 2008. Only those who submit expressions of interests will be considered for coaching. Deadline for the actual applications will be emailed to those who have expressed interest together with the information package. Applications will then need to be received by this deadline. Late applications will not be accepted.

MYER TAN AUSTRALIAN CHESS GRAND PRIX

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

Coming Grand Prix Events

EVENTS CALENDAR

Nell van de Graaf Classic & teams event

Come and celebrate the last Outreach Chess run tournament at the Nell van de Graaff Classic and teams event. There are prizes for individuals and teams. Saturday will also include a free sausage sizzle at lunchtime. The event will be held on September 20th and 21st at Somerset Sports Pavillion at Mudgeeraba on the Gold Coast. We'd love to see you at Australia's 'funnest' tournament so we can say thanks and goodbye.

Venue Somerset College Sports Pavilion, Somerset Drive, Mudgeeraba (300m west of Somerset College).
Format 6 Round Swiss.
Entry fee $50. $10 discount if paid by 18 September. Second and subsequent members of the same family receive a $10 discount. Non-CAQ members add $10.
Prizes $500, $200, $100. Rating groups $100. U/1000 medals. Team prizes $300, $200, $100.
Registration 8.30 - 9.00 am, Saturday, September 20.
Enquiries outreachchess@bigpond.com or Peter Bender, 5556 0434
Flyer here.

Lake Woodcroft Festival 2008 One Day Chess (Allegro Play)

Venue Woodcroft Neighbourhood Centre, Woodcroft Drive, Woodcroft NSW.
Format 7 Round Allegro (15 minute) Swiss.
Entry fee $10.
Prizes $200, $150, $100 guaranteed. U1900, U1600 and Junior trophies, depending on entries.
Registration 10.00 am, Saturday 27 September.
Enquiries Jess Arranz, 04-1816-3625; Jun Cayanan, 9-676-6500; Levi Descallar, 9-675-1252.
Flyer here.

2009 Australian Open Chess Championship

Venue Manly-Warringah Rugby League Club, 563 Pittwater Road, Brookvale.
Format 11-Round FIDE-rated swiss. “Fischer” 90 minutes + 30 seconds per move.
DOPs Chief Arbiter: Nick Chernih.
Entry fee if received by 9 December $145 ($105 concession). After 9 December $170 ($130).
Prizes $2500, $1750, $1000, $750, $500, $250, $200, $150. Under 2100 $250, U2000 $250, U1900 $250, U1800 $200, U1700 $200, Best Senior $250, Best Woman $250.
Registration from 11.00 a.m. Friday, 2 January, 2009.
Enquiries to Chris Dimock. Phone (02) 9221 5380. Fax (02) 9221 5282. Email enquiries@australianchessopen.com.
Website here.

Manly Chess Classic

Venue Manly-Warringah Rugby League Club, 563 Pittwater Road, Brookvale.
Format 11-Round swiss for players rated under 1600. “Fischer” 90 minutes + 30 seconds per move.
DOPs Chief Arbiter: Nick Chernih.
Entry fee if received by 9 December $100 ($75 concession). After 9 December $125 ($100).
Prizes $600, $450, $300, $200. Under 1400 $150, U1300 $150.
Registration from 11.00 a.m. Friday, 2 January, 2009.
Enquiries to Chris Dimock. Phone (02) 9221 5380. Fax (02) 9221 5282. Email enquiries@australianchessopen.com.
Website here.

Australian Open Lightning Championship

Venue Manly-Warringah Rugby League Club, 563 Pittwater Road, Brookvale.
Format 5 minutes per player per game.
DOPs Chief Arbiter: Nick Chernih.
Entry fee $25 ($20 concession).
Prizes TBA.
Enquiries to Chris Dimock. Phone (02) 9221 5380. Fax (02) 9221 5282. Email enquiries@australianchessopen.com.
Website here.

Oceania Zonal Chess Tournament for Men and Women

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 website.
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.
Website here.

COMPLETED EVENTS

2008 Surfers Paradise Open

from DOP Charles Zworestine

Variety is the Spice of Life!

It’s a cliché, I know, but true – variety is indeed the spice of life… And I like variety as much as the next man; so I was thrilled when tournament organiser Amir Karibasic asked me if I would like to DOP the second Surfers Paradise Open! I missed the inaugural event last year, won by Dejan Antic; so of course I said yes, as it was nice to be able to take a break from my university teaching commitments to DOP another nice interstate chess tournament. It was also a chance to visit many Gold Coast friends, including Graeme and Wendy Gardiner with whom I stayed as always. I must thank them again for the opportunity to enjoy the company of their beautiful dogs Chesster and Fritzy; oh yes, and the human company and hospitality wasn’t too bad either…

There was actually another degree of variety added to this event, that I only realised when I got there: it actually comprised three tournaments, each of a different length! A six round FIDE rated event was run over all three days, and was the only event on the first day – the Friday, a public holiday on the Gold Coast. At the standard FIDE Fischer time controls of 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move from the start, this was a strong event, featuring as it did in a 24 player field one GM (Darryl Johansen), 3 IMs (top seed Stephen Solomon, David Smerdon and Peter Froehlich), 2 FMs (Gene Nakauchi and Nik Stawski) and 3 WIMS (Arianne Caoili, Alex Jule and Narelle Szuveges). Not bad – half the two Australian Olympiad sides, including Boards 2, 3 and 4 for the men and Boards 2 and 3 (Giang Nguyen) for the women! An extra touch of class was also added to the event by the presence of three more females, all juniors: Sally Yu, Emma Guo and Leteisha Simmonds. A lovely plush carpeted venue at Quality Hotels Mermaid Waters, and a brilliancy prize judged by Super GM Alexei Shirov completed the package. I’ll tell you more about the other events later; for now, let’s see what happened on the first day…

Tough games abounded even in Round 1, as Solo struggled to beat Fijian Sam Goundar; sadly for Sam “all endings are winning for Solomon”, who eventually broke through with his advanced pawns to force a passed pawn and win a rook and pawn ending. Peter Froehlich had similar work to do against Sam Grigg, who may have initially been drawing their rook ending despite being a pawn down; but the IM’s technique was better, and he ground down Sam for a victory to avenge a recent draw. Darryl Johansen’s positional exchange sacrifice got the better of Sebastian Jule, whose pieces got tied in knots as Darryl’s knights ran riot and won pawns; while on the next three boards the higher seeds all won, but Smurf had to concede a half point bye due to his flight from Canberra arriving too late. A big upset was scored by Emma Guo, whose pieces eventually got in to checkmate Giang (see game below). Little 11 year old Yi Liu also registered an upset, a draw with fellow junior Jonas Muller; if only he had realised how powerful his connected passed pawns were in compensation for his exchange deficit, Yi may even have won…

 Emma Guo (1732) - Giang Nguyen (2127)
Surfers Paradise Open (1.7) 29/08/2008

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.c4 Nb6 4.d4 d6 5.exd6 cxd6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Nf3 Bg4 8.h3 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 Nc6 10.Be3 Bg7 11.Rd1 Nb4 12.Rd2 Qc8 13.c5 dxc5 14.dxc5 Nd7 15.Bb5 Nc6 16.0–0 0–0 17.Nd5 Re8 18.Nb4 Nde5 19.Qe4 f5 20.Qd5+ e6 21.Qb3 Nf7 22.Rfd1 Re7 23.Qa4 Rc7 24.Bxc6 bxc6 25.Na6 Rb7 26.Nb4 Rb5 27.a3 a5 28.Nd3 Rab8 29.f4 h6 30.Bd4 Qf8 31.Bxg7 Qxg7 32.Qc4 g5 33.Qxe6 gxf4 34.Nxf4 Rxb2 35.Rxb2 Rxb2 36.Rd8+ 1–0

Although most of the titled players won, fighting chess was definitely played in Round 2 – there was not even a single draw! On the top three boards, the titled players actually played each other; and intriguing games ensued, as first Solo then Arianne tried to positionally outmaneuver their opponent in an endgame on Board 1. In the end Arianne became yet another to be “Soloed”, as Stephen sacrificed a pawn to get a rook on the seventh; it should not have worked, but Arianne misplayed it, and Solo’s king and bishop got in to force mate. Darryl ground down Gene by exploiting his weak pawns, eventually winning a pawn and forcing the Lucena position; while Froehlich did something similar to Alex Jule, who defended well against her opponent’s bishop pair but then got into trouble in a rook ending, losing two pawns and the game. Smurf’s active pieces got into Jonas Muller’s position for a decisive advantage, as he won first a pawn and then Jonas resigned when about to lose a piece. Meanwhile the female juniors continued to cause upsets, as Emma Guo fought out of difficulties to eventually win the exchange and stun a disappointed Matthew Sonter, who missed many far more advantageous continuations; and Sally Yu shocked Sam Goundar, her active major pieces finally winning pawns and their game.

So to the Saturday, the second day; and a grand total of another 68 players descended upon our tournament! One of these was just a one-day tournament, labeled as the “fun tournament”, with no clocks and just for unrated players; this five round event was won on the Saturday by Chris Vieira. More conventional was a two-day weekender, run at the standard Fischer time controls of one hour each plus ten seconds per move from the start. This event attracted 53 players – not a bad turnout at all! The top seed here, Phachara Wongwichit (1949), was rated almost 200 points higher than the next seed, Michael Cashman (1754) – some sort of Australian record?

Anyway, this six round event was fairly predictable in the first round – apart, of course, from the usual juniors causing chaos! Anthony Solomon (OK, he’s 18, so technically no longer a junior!) upset Derek Elkington on Board 5 by winning a bishop ending a pawn up, while one board lower Sabin Karibasic stunned Louay Al Zaher by getting his rooks to the seventh rank. The only other upset was scored by Luke Toda over Axel Stahnke. In Round 2 things were almost equally predictable, with the higher rated players winning most games; although the juniors still scored upsets, with Robbie Peck drawing with John Alkin, Luke Toda beating Peter Haron and Matthew Cervenjak getting a shock win over Peter Mulholland. In the last game to finish, Brandon Leggett was a bit unlucky to lose in a time scramble to fourth seed Nenad Chelebichanin; but in the end Nenad’s initiative was decisive in a major piece and opposite coloured bishop endgame.

While all this was going on, thrills and spills on the top boards were the order of the day in the FIDE rated section. The thrills were the time scrambles, which occurred on Boards 1, 2, 5 and 7; the spills astoundingly belonged largely to Stephen Solomon, who proved he was human for once! In his very tough top board game against the ever dangerous Domagoj Dragicevic, Solo was the one who blundered in a drawn position, losing rook and game to a bishop fork. In the meantime, the Board 2 game between Johansen and Froehlich eventually settled into a draw after a fascinating struggle that featured errors from both players (see game below). The other time scrambles saw Arianne Caoili eventually get at Narelle Szuveges’ king, and Gene Nakauchi’s three minor pieces and passed pawn beat George Lester’s two rooks. All this left Domagoj outright first on 3/3, from 4 players on 2½/3: Johansen, Froehlich, Smurf (beat Sonter) and Nik Stawski (defeated Emma Guo). Sam Grigg registered another upset to reach 50%, this time playing well in a difficult rook and pawn endgame to hold Giang Nguyen to a draw.

 Darryl Johansen (2452) - Peter Froehlich (2362)
Surfers Paradise Open (3.2) 30/08/2008

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 c5 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 e6 6.0–0 Be7 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 d6 9.Rd1 a6 10.Ng5 Bxg2 11.Kxg2 Nc6 12.Qf4 0–0 13.Be3 Ne5 14.Qd4 Nfg4 15.Nf3 Nxe3+ 16.fxe3 Qb8 17.a4 Qb7 18.b3 f5 19.Rac1 Rad8 20.Rf1 Bf6 21.Qd2 Bg5 22.h3 Ng4 23.hxg4 fxg4 24.Qd4 gxf3+ 25.exf3 d5 26.Qe5 d4 27.Qxe6+ Kh8 28.Nd5 Bxe3 29.Rcd1 b5 30.Nxe3 dxe3 31.Qxe3 Rde8 32.Qd3 bxa4 33.bxa4 h6 34.Rfe1 Rc8 35.Re6 Rxc4 36.Rb1 Qc8 37.Rbb6 Rc2+ ½–½