ACF NEWS

LAST CHANCE FOR OLYMPIAD BULLETINS

from Ian Murray, ACF Olympiad Appeal Coordinator

The proceeds from the ACF Oltmpiad Appeal will be distributed to the Australian teams shortly, before they fly out to Dresden to be ready for the start of the Olympiad on 12 November.

If you would like to receive daily email bulletins from our players during the event, time is running out. Join those supporters who have already donated $50 or more to the appeal to be included in the mailing list.

Donations can be made online - see www.caq.org.au/olympiad/index.htm.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR ACF 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 for the offices of Deputy President, Vice President (two positions), Secretary and Treasurer, remain open up to the time of the election.

How to submit your nomination for a position 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.

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.

YULGILBAR-THINK BIG AUSTRALIAN CHESS GRAND PRIX 2009

from Brian Jones, ACF Grand Prix Director

The 2009 Australian Chess Grand Prix will be jointly sponsored by two famous horse studs. Yulgilbar is one of Australia's oldest Quarter Horse Studs and is situated at Elgee Park in Victoria.

Think Big Stud, situated in the NSW Southern Highlands, is named after the winner of back-to-back Melbourne Cups in 1974 and 1975.

The total prize fund for the 2009 Australian Chess Grand Prix will be $16,000, including cash prizes and four economy class airfares to Malaysia.

Stud owners Sarah Myer and Dato' Tan Chin Nam wish all competitors the best of luck for 2009!

MYER TAN AUSTRALIAN CHESS GRAND PRIX

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

Coming Grand Prix Events

EVENTS CALENDAR

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.

2009 Australian Junior Chess Championship

Eligibility For male and female players born in 1991 or later.
Venue The Dennett Centre, Saint Ignatius' College, 2 Manresa Court, Athelstone, SA.
Format 11-Round Swiss. 90 minutes + 60 seconds per move.
DOPs IA Charles Zworestine & IA Roland Eime.
Entry fee if received by 25 November $70. If received by 23 December $80. If received after 23 December $95.
Prizes U18 $800, $300, $100. U16 $300, $100. U14 $300, $100.
Enquiries to Chief Organiser Alan Goldsmith, 0401 672 481, alang@chariot.net.au, or to George Howard, 0414 841 575.
Website here.

2009 Australian Girls Chess Championship

Eligibility For female players born in 1991 or later.
Venue The Dennett Centre, Saint Ignatius' College, 2 Manresa Court, Athelstone, SA.
Format depending on entries. 90 minutes + 60 seconds per move.
DOPs IA Charles Zworestine & IA Roland Eime.
Entry fee if received by 25 November $70. If received by 23 December $80. If received after 23 December $95.
Prizes U18 $400, $200, $100. U16 $150, $50. U14 $150, $50.
Enquiries to Chief Organiser Alan Goldsmith, 0401 672 481, alang@chariot.net.au, or to George Howard, 0414 841 575.
Website here.

2009 Australian Junior Under 12 Chess Championship

Eligibility For male and female players born in 1997 or later.
Venue The Dennett Centre, Saint Ignatius' College, 2 Manresa Court, Athelstone, SA.
Format 11-Round Swiss. 60 minutes + 60 seconds per move.
DOPs IA Charles Zworestine & IA Roland Eime.
Entry fee if received by 25 November $60. If received by 23 December $70. If received after 23 December $85.
Prizes U12 $300, $100. U10 $100, $50. U8 $100, $50.
Enquiries to Chief Organiser Alan Goldsmith, 0401 672 481, alang@chariot.net.au, or to George Howard, 0414 841 575.
Website here.

2009 Australian Junior Under 12 Girls Chess Championship

Eligibility For female players born in 1997 or later.
Venue The Dennett Centre, Saint Ignatius' College, 2 Manresa Court, Athelstone, SA.
Format depending on entries. 60 minutes + 60 seconds per move.
DOPs IA Charles Zworestine & IA Roland Eime.
Entry fee if received by 25 November $60. If received by 23 December $70. If received after 23 December $85.
Prizes U12 $150, $50. U10 $50, $25. U8 $50, $25.
Enquiries to Chief Organiser Alan Goldsmith, 0401 672 481, alang@chariot.net.au, or to George Howard, 0414 841 575.
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.

OP ED

Deregistration of the Monash University Chess Association
BY LINDEN LYONS, President, Monash University Chess Association

On Wednesday 17 September, the Monash University Chess Association (MUCA) was deregistered by Monash Clubs & Societies (C&S). This was a result of the failure of one of the club’s audits, which are completed bi-annually. An appeal failed to change the result.

Audit failure is a serious offence, but it’s not the first time that a Monash club has failed an audit. In most cases these clubs survive, even after multiple audit failures. There have even been cases of clubs losing thousands of dollars, after which their continued existence was allowed. Yet MUCA, which requires only a small amount of funding and spends little, was deregistered.

What deregistration means for MUCA is no advertising or exposure by Monash, which means little chance of signing up new members year to year. It also means no funding for events. This is unfortunate, since we’ve held some great events this year, including a simultaneous exhibition with Darryl Johansen, and there’s also the upcoming intervarsity tournament to be hosted by Melbourne (see below). We’ll be unable to book rooms at Monash (necessary for tournaments), and the club’s sets, which are owned by C&S, have been taken away. All we can do now is meet casually in the Monash Sports Café, where a few sets are kept.

MUCA is a small club, so what this deregistration reflects is the unwillingness of C&S to support small clubs, as opposed to large, ‘popular’ ones. Smaller, specialist clubs are looked upon as being less important. This may have its origins in Voluntary Student Unionism (VSU), whereby student organisations have, in recent years, received less funding. There are fewer student clubs today than there were a few years ago.

This is quite serious, not only for small clubs, but also for the chess community. To my knowledge, Monash and Melbourne Universities were the only two universities in Victoria to have organised chess clubs, recognised by their respective universities. With MUCA’s deregistration, this leaves only Melbourne Uni.

This shows that support for chess clubs at universities has been lacking. Yet this is paradoxical. Universities are intellectual environments, and chess is the ultimate intellectual game. The two should go hand in hand. This is crucial if we want to encourage and maintain interest in chess for young people, especially in their late teens and early twenties.

I’ll be doing my best to keep MUCA alive, one way or another. I’ve set up an email account for the club at monashchess@gmail.com, so anyone with thoughts or suggestions is welcome to contact me there.

2008 Intervarsity Chess Tournament

Despite the bad news above, the University of Melbourne, on Sunday 12 October, will be hosting the first intervarsity tournament to take place in almost a decade. Any students or staff members at Melbourne, Monash, Latrobe, RMIT, Victoria, Curtin and ACU Universities may enter. For more details, email monashchess@gmail.com.

TAILPIECE