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ACF

ASIAN JUNIORS (Under 20)

from Jenni Oliver

Six juniors were endorsed to go to this competition, but unfortunately, either due to clashes or having already been overseas this year, none of them are able to go.

Thus the event is being reopened as a matter of urgency.

As a guideline anyone over 1600, would be eligible to play in the Open section and a female over 1400 in the girls section.

Our Junior selections coordinator is in Dresden, playing at the Olympiad, so anyone who is interested can contact me urgently for more details.

Basic information
Venue Chennai, India
Dates 5 Dec to 14 Dec
Free accommodation and food!

NOMINATIONS FOR ACF MEDALS

from Gary Wastell, Medals Selections Coordinator

State Associations are reminded of the opportunity to nominate persons for ACF medals as detailed in the ACF Medals Procedures by-law which may be viewed at the ACF website here. The by-law includes the following guidelines for medals to be presented in January 2009.

Steiner Medal for Australian ‘Player of the Year’ 2008
This is to be awarded to the player who has made the greatest impact, not necessarily the highest-rated – it is for the most notable achievement during 2008 and may be awarded to a previous recipient.

Koshnitsky Medal
This is awarded annually for an outstanding contribution to Australian chess administration at a national or a state level. This is a lifetime achievement award, not limited to accomplishments during a particular period.

CJS Purdy Medal
This is awarded in odd-numbered years for an outstanding contribution to Australian chess as a journalist at a national or state level. This is a lifetime achievement award, not limited to accomplishments during a particular period.

Nominations
Nominations need not be from among a State's own members or residents.
A separate document or set of documents containing the following should be provided in respect of each nominee:
— name (correctly spelt);
— contact details (phone, email, postal address);
— a citation describing relevant achievements, suitable for reading and/or publication when the medal is presented;
— anything else relevant to the nomination.
Nominations may be forwarded as follows:
— email: gwastell@netspace.net.au
— post: 22 Bruarong Crescent, Frankston South Vic 3199
A person submitting a nomination must retain at least one complete copy of each document submitted in connection with the nomination and must phone (03) 9787 7974 or 0409 525 963 to confirm that it has been received if delivery has not been acknowledged 24 hours after expected delivery time.

Previous Winners
The Koshnitsky, Purdy and Whyatt medals may not be won more than once by the same person. A link [Chess Medals] to lists of all previous medal winners is at www.auschess.org.au/acfrec.htm.

Deadlines
— Koshnitsky medal: Sunday 14 December 2008
— Purdy medal: Sunday 14 December 2008
— Steiner medal: Friday 2 January 2009

Presentation
It is intended that the announcement of winners and presentation of medals will take place as part of the presentation ceremony following the forthcoming Australian Open Championship, currently scheduled to begin at 4.30pm on Sunday 11 January 2009 at the Manly-Warringah Rugby League Club, 563 Pittwater Road, Brookvale, Sydney.

Distribution of This Notice
All recipients of this notice are invited to distribute copies of it to affiliated clubs, members and others to maximise the possibility of nominations being received in respect of the most suitable nominees.

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

2008 DRESDEN CHESS OLYMPIAD

This exciting event has started! You can follow Australia's progress here.

2008 MYER TAN AUSTRALIAN CHESS GRAND PRIX

Complete 2008 calendar. 3 events remain for 2008.

Coming Grand Prix Events

2009 YULGILBAR-THINK BIG AUSTRALIAN CHESS GRAND PRIX

Complete 2009 Calendar. 11 events currently registered for 2009.

Coming Grand Prix Events

COMPLETED EVENTS

2008 Elwood Open

from DOP Charles Zworestine

New Venue a Slight Downer

Chess players really are creatures of habit… A loss of last year’s venue at St. Kilda Town Hall meant a necessary move to Box Hill Chess Club – and 27 players less! Yet despite being down from last year’s 86 players to only 59 this year, the fourth annual Elwood Bendigo Bank Open could still be considered a success – especially given the strength of the playing field. A fantastic field of 8 players FIDE rated over 2200 was headed by Olympiad Boards 2 and 3, IMs David Smerdon and current Australian Champion Stephen Solomon (both 2470), followed by Endre Ambrus (2380), IM Guy West (2342), Michael Baron (2327), IM Mirko Rujevic (2281), Ronald Scott (2252) and David Hacche (2207). With Barboros Kara and Igor Goldenberg again at the helm organising the event, they once more attracted players from far and wide, including the Philippines, the ACT, NSW and Queensland. Extra interest was even added this year by 5 juniors hopping straight off a plane from the World Youth Championships in Vietnam to play the event; with 90 minutes each plus 30 seconds per move from the start, how would (in rating order) Bobby Cheng, Eugene Schon, Justin Tan, Sally Yu and Thomas Feng fare on next to no sleep?

The answer was provided as early as Round 1, when Sally Yu stunned 8th seed David Hacche by winning a piece after David made a tactical blunder (“he tried to be tricky, and got out-tricked”), and Sally consolidated to score a comprehensive upset victory! But even this was not the highest board to see an upset, as Stephen Myers drew on Board 6 with Mirko Rujevic; the latter was even lucky to score a perpetual check from a queen and minor piece ending a pawn down… A somewhat rusty Michael Baron had to fight hard from an exchange for a pawn down against Sebastian Jule, but eventually won his material back to reach a won king and pawn endgame a pawn ahead; but the other top seeds were all rather more convincing, although Stephen Solomon did play his usual long game before winning! Upset draws were scored by Roland Brockman, who had the advantage but could not quite break through against Dean Hogg; Nicholas Liu, who drew with Douglas Lindberg; and Jake Kostrzewa, who easily drew a pure opposite coloured bishop ending a pawn down against Mehmedalija Dizdarevic. Another big upset win was scored by Thomas Feng, who stunned Ian Rout with a back rank mate in a slightly superior ending – maybe all of us should hop off a plane from Vietnam straight to our next chess tournament!

Interesting things were already happening on top board in Round 2, as the ever sharp Adrian Flitney used the White pieces to attack David Smerdon; but having missed a more accurate continuation a piece sacrifice in Adrian’s time pressure did not quite work, and David eventually cashed in the full point when Adrian resigned a rook and a piece down! (See game below). Solo and Ambrus were very convincing on the next two boards; but Michael Baron was a bit lucky to get away with a win after Angelo Tsagarakis missed a golden opportunity to score an upset. Sam Grigg kept things fairly even for a long time against Guy West; but sadly for Sammy he made a tactical blunder, losing a key pawn and the game. Efrain Tionko also held on for ages against Ronald Scott’s raging attack, only to lose in a long endgame two pieces for a rook down. The girls did well, with Luthien Russell hanging on for an upset draw with Ian Birchall; Sally Yu winning a tough rook endgame a pawn ahead to upset Tony Davis and reach 2/2; and Filipino visitor Carmela Galve winning a piece to upset Narelle Szuveges in a very long game (the last game to finish). The dangerous Felix Wyss also pulled off an upset against Eugene Schon; while Ian Rout continued to struggle with the local juniors, this time being held to a draw by Gene Lai.

 Adrian Flitney (1878) - David Smerdon (2502) [C02]
2008 Elwood Open (2.1) 1/11/2008

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.Bd3 Nh6 7.0–0 a5 8.Qe2 Bd7 9.Bxh6 gxh6 10.dxc5 Bxc5 11.Nbd2 a4 12.b4 Bf8 13.a3 Bg7 14.Rfe1 0–0 15.Nf1 f6 16.exf6 Rxf6 17.Ng3 Raf8 18.Nh5 Rxf3 19.gxf3 Bxc3 20.Qc2 Bxe1 21.Bxh7+ Kh8 22.Rxe1 Be8 23.Rxe6 Qd8 24.f4 Nd4 25.Qc3 Kxh7 26.Qxd4 Bxh5 27.Qd3+ Kg7 28.Qd4+ Rf6 29.f5 Bf7 30.Rb6 Qxb6 0–1

Only four players were left on 3/3 after some intriguing struggles in Round 3 – and David Smerdon was not one of them! Ronald Scott got an excellent position with the black bits against the Smurf on top board, appearing to be much better with his two beautiful bishops and passed pawns; but fighting hard as always, David was able to force a perpetual check and a draw. In on of his tougher games, Solo eventually won an exchange to a knight fork to beat Sam Dalton and reach 3/3, where he was joined by Ambrus after Endre won a rook ending a pawn ahead to beat Edsil Dilla. The other two players on 3/3 were Michael Baron, who took care of Felix Wyss; and Guy West, who was too good for Sally Yu. Joining Smurf and Bon Scott on 2½/3 were Rujevic, who defeated Doug Lindberg; Dizdarevic, who upset Bobby Cheng; Hogg, who took advantage of a poor opening to beat Luthien Russell; and Birchall, who beat young Justin Tan. Apart from a couple of draws, there were not as many upsets from the juniors this round; the exception was Michael Chan, who did register an upset victory in a topsy turvy game against Tony Davis.

A classical Solo victory with White on top board against Guy West left us with an outright leader on 4/4 after Round 4; sadly for Guy, he got into just the sort of position you should not get into against Solo… Initiative and a space advantage was converted to a weakened Black kingside; and although Guy managed to simplify with a nice combination based on a knight fork, all this did was get him into a dead lost ending with an offside knight which could not stop Stephen’s passed a-pawn! (See game below). A quick draw on Board 2 between Baron and Ambrus left them just half a point behind on 3½/4, where they were joined by Rujevic (who beat Birchall) and Bon Scott (who defeated Dizdarevic). In a major shock on Board 3, David Smerdon failed to join them after he could only draw his locked position against Dean Hogg. They thus joined a group of 7 players on 3/4, which included Hacche who outplayed Doug Stones into a won major piece ending a pawn ahead, then blundered a rook to a pinning tactic – but sadly for Doug he did not see it, so he went on to lose anyway! Angelo Tsagarakis was lucky to steal a draw from a lost ending pawns down against Stephen Davies; but tournament organiser Barboros Kara was not so lucky, missing many draws before eventually going down in a topsy turvy game to Paul Bearup.

 Stephen Solomon (2431) - Guy West (2299) [B76]
2008 Elwood Open (4.1) 2/11/2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0–0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.0–0–0 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Bd4 e5 13.Bc5 Be6 14.Ne4 Re8 15.h4 h6 16.g4 Qc7 17.g5 h5 18.Bc4 Red8 19.Bb3 a5 20.a4 Rab8 21.Qf2 Bf8 22.Rhe1 Nf4 23.Rxd8 Qxd8 24.Nf6+ Kg7 25.Bxf8+ Qxf8 26.Bxe6 Qb4 27.Bb3 Qxb3 28.cxb3 Nd3+ 29.Kc2 Nxf2 30.Rxe5 Nh3 31.b4 axb4 32.a5 b3+ 33.Kd2 Nf4 34.Re8 Rxe8 35.Nxe8+ Kf8 36.Nc7 1–0

An amazing number of highly competitive games ensued on the Monday night round, a new innovation from last year; five of the top ten board games were drawn! In another shock, David Smerdon was one of these, offering Eugene Schon a draw (which was gratefully accepted!) on move 18 in an unbalanced position. Guy West and Ronald Scott had a much more strategic draw on Board 3, after both managed to prevent their opponent’s breaks; at least they had a hard fight, which could not be said for Mirko Rujevic and Michael Baron’s 10 move draw on Board 2! All this left Solo with the outright lead by a full point on 5/5 after his top board win against Endre Ambrus, who sadly misplayed his opening and ended up a pawn down in a bad position; he sacrificed further pawns for counterplay which never ensued, as Solo gave him the exchange for more pawns and mopped up when his extra pawns were too much in the ending. Joining Baron, Rujevic and Scott on 4/5 were Sam Grigg, who won a piece but then made very hard work of an attack before upsetting Dean Hogg in a time scramble; and Edsil Dilla, who upset David Hacche after the latter misfired tactically in time pressure. Lower down, up and coming junior Michael Chan benefited from Doug Stones’ endgame errors to swindle an upset draw; Gene Lai upset Luthien Russell, as did Jake McCook with Nicholas Liu; Micah Dalton was himself swindled in his upset draw with Roland Brockman (missing an easy win); and poor Carmella Galve missed mate in one before going down in the last game to finish (a thriller!) against Jake Kostrzewa.

More classical play as White netted Stephen Solomon another full point after his top board Round 6 victory against Mirko Rujevic; superior development and a raging attack saw him win pawns and force a won ending… Amazingly, his 6/6 was already enough for outright tournament victory for Solo after the other results saw 7 players in equal second place on 4½/6! Smurf was the leading one of these after he beat Bobby Cheng; while Baron drew yet again, this time with Edsil Dilla. The other four on 4½/6 were Guy West (defeated Flitney), Eugene Schon (beat Mijatovic), Sam Grigg and Ronald Scott. The latter two drew a thrilling game on Board 3 after Ronald waited until both players had less than 5 minutes, then took a huge risk to try to break through their locked position; from there Sam missed some wins in time pressure, and ended up having to settle for a draw after at one stage getting down to only one second left on his clock! (See game below). The juniors wreaked havoc this round, with Sebastian Jule winning pawns then refuting Tony Davis’ unsound piece sacrifice for an upset win; Gene Lai stunning Angelo Tsagarakis; Jake McCook upsetting Stephen Myers; and Micah Dalton scoring a shock win over fellow junior Luthien Russell. Sally Yu was also in a state of shock after her upset loss to Kyle Gibson: having been a whole rook ahead, poor Sally ended up walking into mate!

 Ronald Scott (2212) - Sam Grigg (1828) [E11]
2008 Elwood Open (6.3) 4/11/2008

1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 b6 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 Bb7 7.g3 Ne4 8.Qc2 d6 9.Bg2 d5 10.Bf4 c6 11.0–0 Nd7 12.b4 0–0 13.Rab1 Qe7 14.c5 g5 15.Bc1 h6 16.Ne1 f5 17.f3 Nef6 18.Nd3 Qg7 19.a4 a6 20.Bb2 Qg6 21.Rfc1 b5 22.Bc3 h5 23.Nf2 Kg7 24.e4 h4 25.exf5 exf5 26.Bh3 Nh5 27.Nh1 Bc8 28.Re1 Ndf6 29.Re7+ Rf7 30.Rxf7+ Kxf7 31.Bf1 g4 32.f4 Ne4 33.Be1 hxg3 34.hxg3 Bd7 35.Ra1 Rh8 36.axb5 axb5 37.Ra7 Ke6 38.Qe2 Qh7 39.Qh2 Qg7 40.Qb2 Rh7 41.Bg2 Qh8 42.Qa1 Qf6 43.Qb2 Qh6 44.Qe2 Kf6 45.Nf2 Nexg3 46.Qe5+ Kg6 47.Nd3 Ne4 48.Bh4 Nhf6 49.Bxf6 Qh2+ 50.Kf1 Nd2+ 51.Kf2 g3+ 52.Ke1 Qxg2 53.Qe2 Rh1+ 54.Kxd2 Qxe2+ 55.Kxe2 g2 56.Ne5+ Kxf6 57.Nxd7+ Kg6 58.Nf8+ Kf6 59.Nd7+ Kg6 60.Ne5+ Kh6 61.Nf3 Rf1 62.Ng1 Rxg1 63.Kf2 Rf1+ 64.Kxg2 Rxf4 65.Ra6 Rxd4 66.Rxc6+ Kg5 67.Rb6 Rxb4 68.c6 Rc4 69.Rxb5 d4 70.Rd5 Kf4 71.c7 Rc2+ 72.Kf1 Ke4 73.Rd7 f4 74.Ke1 f3 75.Re7+ Kd3 76.Rf7 Re2+ 77.Kf1 Re8 78.Rd7 Rc8 79.Kf2 Kc3 80.Kxf3 d3 81.Ke3 d2 82.Rd3+ Kc4 83.Kxd2 Kc5 84.Rc3+ ½–½

Round 7 saw the top 2 seeds finally meet, with Smurf winning a pawn early and seemingly the only one pushing for a win; but Solo fought as ever till a trick saw him nearly trap David’s knight in the endgame! Smurf saved the knight, but his resultant discombobulated pawns made his win problematic; Solo was actually the one then pushing to win, but Smurf also fights, and he did so to eventually draw their rook ending… There was more interest in the minor places, with Ronald Scott a convincing winner against Dilla to claim equal second on 5½/7; he was joined there by Baron, who was dead lost against Sam Grigg (5 pawns down!) until Sam blundered a rook to a queen fork and a mating trick and lost instead! Guy West missed a chance to join them, drawing with Eugene Schon from a knight and pawn ending and then a queen and knight ending both of which looked better for Guy, but he could not quite convert into a win. Guy and Eugene (first Under 2000) thus had to be content with equal fourth with Smurf, Ambrus (beat Hogg), Rujevic (beat Sam Dalton) and Hacche (beat Voon). Meanwhile Jake McCook’s upset win against Felix Wyss saw him win the Under 1600 prize on 4/7: a worthwhile trip from Canberra for Jake!

A fabulous closing ceremony followed, with most of the field exceptionally staying on to create a very pleasant atmosphere… All in all a very successful event, even if the numbers were a bit down on last year. I cannot close without thanking Trevor Stanning, who provided marvellous help with setting up everything for each round so nothing was forgotten and I did not look bad! Also to the canteen staff, who made sure everyone was well looked after and did their usual excellent job. And of course Barboros and Igor – you did a great job again guys – let’s hope we can get the numbers back up again next year!

2008 Fisher's Ghost Open

from DOP Charles Zworestine

32 Resurrect The Spook

Many years ago, when I first started getting involved with chess, I remember an excellent tournament that used to run out Campbelltown way, coinciding with some sort of festival out there. Back then it seemed like miles away, although now the M5 motorway makes it a hop, skip and a jump from almost anywhere… I am talking of course about the Fisher’s Ghost Open, which was happily resurrected as a weekender this year after a lengthy absence. The Fisher is not Bobby (who spells it differently anyway – sad for chess players!), but some sort of local hero; and the festival is held every year to coincide with this. You know, street fairs, fireworks and the like; plenty of things to keep people entertained away from the chess board…

There were 32 players this year who had other things on their mind, though: they wanted to resurrect a chess spook, and I’m not talking about the recently deceased Bobby Fischer! No, I am referring to a tournament making a comeback to the NSW chess circuit, and offering fantastic prize money that did attract some very strong players. Trent Parker did a great job of organising the event, luring such recent NSW chess luminaries as (in seeding order based on ACF ratings) Vladimir Smirnov, Jesse Sales, Krishna Thapa (with no ACF rating but FIDE rated nearly 2150), Johny Bolens and Angelito Camer. Plus more local lights, such as Duncan Peters and Kerry Lee; and visitors from Wollongong, the ACT and even a Queenslander (Aurel-John Buciu)! At the usual weekender Fischer time controls of 60 minutes plus 10 seconds per move from the start, it would be interesting to see how they all went; could they challenge Vlad and Jesse?

The answer was a definitive “no” in Round 1, as Vlad ground down Mark Baterowicz in a rook and bishop endgame, winning from a superior position after Mark blundered his pawns. All the other top seeds also won pretty quickly and easily, with the sole exception of Herman Rachmadi who lost his queen and was lucky to draw with 8 year old Jamie-Lee Guo! There were a couple more upsets in a rather more eventful Round 2, although Vlad Smirnov’s Trompovski easily accounted for Kerry Lee and Jesse Sales tactically outplayed Arthur Huynh. Johny Bolens lost a pawn early, after which Nick Kordahi accepted his equally early draw offer; Angelito Camer suffered a shock loss after shedding too many pawns against Peter Abbott; and Ahmed Faris took a poisoned pawn, then lost a piece to a couple of checks and a discovered attack to be upset by Emma Guo. Tony Baldwin stole a draw from two pawns down in Mark Baterowicz’s time pressure; while Nick Beare upset Norm Greenwood, winning a key central pawn early and using tactics to simplify into a won ending.

Some very interesting things were happening already in Round 3, not least of which were in the game on top board; there a sharp opening by Duncan Peters (White) netted him a huge advantage against Vlad Smirnov, who had to bail out into an ending several pawns down! But Duncan was too greedy, missing many chances to simplify and giving Vlad counterplay in the form of an aggressive king; despite at one stage being five pawns ahead, Vlad ate the pawns one by one until Duncan was forced to agree to a draw. This left only Sales and third seed Krishna Thapa in the lead on 3/3; Sales won on time in a locked position where he had the initiative as White against Emma Guo, while Nepalese Number 1 Thapa (a recent visitor to these shores) won a fascinating and difficult rook and opposite coloured bishop endgame a pawn ahead against Peter Abbott. Joining Vlad and Duncan on 2½/3 were Kordahi (beat Trent Parker in a king and pawn ending a pawn ahead) and Bolens (defeated Rachmadi), both of whom took previously requested half point byes for Round 4. In other upsets, Buciu’s attack got through against Faris; Beare won an exchange and eventually ground down Joshua Christensen; Tony Baldwin beat Daniel Gray; and Lance Chiddy defeated Norm Greenwood.

There was even more excitement on top board in Round 4, as Krishna Thapa upset Jesse Sales in a double-edged queen and minor piece ending where both kings had to be careful, but Thapa’s passed a-pawn proved decisive! Amazingly, Jesse resigned prematurely when he thought he was being checkmated or the a-pawn was queening; he could have just taken the a-pawn, as it was not mate… Vlad Smirnov made light work of Camer, winning pawns and an ending; while Arthur Huynh upset Duncan Peters in a nice positional game where he made his beautiful bishop pair count (see game below). Emma Guo also registered an upset, beating Kerry Lee in a tricky wide open position after the latter popped a piece… All this left Thapa in the outright lead after the first day on 4/4, followed by Vlad Smirnov on 3½/4 and a bag of 7 players on 3/4.

 Arthur Huynh (1835) - Duncan Peters (1907) [E40]
2008 Fishers Ghost (4.3) 8/11/2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 d5 5.Qa4+ Nc6 6.Nf3 0–0 7.Bd3 Re8 8.0–0 Bxc3 9.bxc3 Bd7 10.Qc2 dxc4 11.Bxc4 Ne7 12.Ne5 Ng6 13.Nxd7 Qxd7 14.Rb1 c6 15.f4 h5 16.Bd3 Ne7 17.a4 Rad8 18.Kh1 b6 19.a5 b5 20.c4 a6 21.Bd2 c5 22.cxb5 cxd4 23.e4 Rc8 24.Qb2 Rb8 25.b6 Red8 26.Rbc1 Rdc8 27.Qb1 Qb7 28.h3 h4 29.Rxc8+ Rxc8 30.Rc1 Nc6 31.Qa2 Nb4 32.Rxc8+ Qxc8 33.Qc4 Nc6 34.Qxa6 Qd8 35.Qb5 Nxa5 36.Qxa5 e5 37.b7 Qb8 38.Qa8 Nd7 39.Bb5 1–0

Day 2 saw a change of lead, as Vlad Smirnov claimed the outright lead on 4½/5 with a solid win as White against Krishna Thapa. After Vlad won Krishna’s a-pawn, the latter’s search for some counterplay led to him losing a knight; he then tried in vain to complicate, but Vlad consolidated to victory (see game below). Thapa thus joined 4 players in equal second place on 4/5, led by Sales who was a convincing winner against Kordahi. Also there were Bolens, who won a long and tough rook and minor piece ending against Joseph Nguyen when his passed pawn was faster than Joseph’s and so netted him a whole rook; and Arthur Huynh, who won a pawn and ground down Peter Abbott in a knight vs bishop ending. Emma Guo stole an upset draw from a rook down against the luckless Duncan Peters; another junior, Daniel Gray, upset Kaz Kulpa; while yet another junior, Jamie-Lee Guo (Emma’s little brother!), relegated poor NSWCA and ACF Treasurer Norm Greenwood to 0/5 with an upset win on time in a drawish endgame.

 Vladimir Smirnov (2309) - Krishna Thapa (2144) [A45]
2008 Fishers Ghost Open (5.1) 9/11/2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 Ne4 3.Bh4 d5 4.f3 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.e4 dxe4 7.fxe4 Be7 8.Bf2 Nc6 9.Be2 Bb4 10.Bf3 e5 11.d5 Ne7 12.a3 Bxc3+ 13.bxc3 0–0 14.Ne2 Ng6 15.0–0 b6 16.Ng3 Nf4 17.Be3 Qd6 18.Qd2 g6 19.Kh1 Ba6 20.Rfe1 Rae8 21.a4 h5 22.a5 Bb5 23.Reb1 Bc4 24.Rb4 b5 25.Bxa7 h4 26.Nf1 Bxf1 27.Rxf1 Ra8 28.Qf2 Nd7 29.Rfb1 Qa6 30.Be3 Qxa5 31.Qxh4 Qa2 32.g3 Ra3 33.gxf4 Rxc3 34.R4b2 Qc4 35.Qf2 Nf6 36.Rb4 Qa2 37.R1b2 Qa1+ 38.Kg2 Ra8 39.fxe5 Raa3 40.R4b3 Raxb3 41.Rxb3 Rxb3 42.cxb3 Qxe5 43.Bd4 Qg5+ 44.Kh1 Qc1+ 45.Qg1 Qf4 46.Qe3 Qh4 47.e5 Ng4 48.Bxg4 Qxg4 49.e6 Qd1+ 50.Kg2 Qg4+ 51.Kf1 Qf5+ 52.Ke2 Qc2+ 53.Ke1 Qb1+ 54.Kd2 Qa2+ 55.Kc1 Qa3+ 56.Kb1 Kh7 57.Qh3+ 1–0

A fairly quick and boring simplifying draw took place on top board in Round 6 between Vlad Smirnov and Jesse Sales; this left Vlad in a share of the lead on 5/6, with Arthur Huynh who made rather short work of Emma Guo. Johny Bolens also joined in a share of the lead with an upset win over Krishna Thapa, checkmating him in the end in a time scramble after Thapa missed some chances earlier on. (To paraphrase Vlad Smirnov, Johny really is a bit of a limpet; not only does he hang on well in difficult positions, but if he gets the advantage against you he will not let go, and you are usually doomed!). Nick Kordahi also missed a good chance before going down to Camer; his rook, bishop and advanced passed b-pawn should have been better than Angelito’s queen, and he could probably have won with more accurate play… Upset draws were registered by Peter Abbott with Ahmed Faris and Nick Beare against Gary Losh; poor Gary stalemated Nick’s king in a won king and pawn ending! But Norm Greenwood finally managed to register a win, beating Kaz Kulpa on bottom board.

With the White bits, Vlad Smirnov was a convincing winner against Arthur Huynh on top board in the last round, his active pieces and some tactics netting him a piece and a score of 6/7. This was enough for outright first after Jesse Sales won an exchange and then attacked the king to beat Johny Bolens on Board 2. So 5½/7 and outright second for Jesse, with Arthur and Johny in a group of four players in equal third place on 5/7. The others were Krishna Thapa, who won an ending against Duncan Peters; and Angelito Camer, who beat Kerry Lee. Ahmed Faris was outright seventh after winning an opposite coloured bishop endgame pawns up against Joseph Nguyen. Upset winners netting rating prizes were Aurel-John Buciu, who stunned Nick Kordahi after the latter blundered a rook; Tony Baldwin, who defeated Gary Losh; and Nick Beare, who won a longish game against Daniel Gray.

A nice closing ceremony followed, with many players staying around to collect their hard-earned prizes! Indeed more than half the field won prizes – some sort of NSW record? The generous prizes were in fact a feature of this event, ensuring that a number of strong players entered. Perhaps even more would have done so if the event had not been so close to the Olympiad this year. So next year could be even bigger and better – come along and support a great tournament!

Prize Winners: 1^st Vladimir Smirnov 6/7; 2^nd Jesse Noel Sales 5.5/7; = 3^rd Krishna Thapa, Johny Bolens, Angelito Camer, Arthur Huynh 5/7; 7^th Ahmed Faris 4.5/7; = 1^st Under 2000 and = 1^st Under 1800 (also incorporating Best Local) Duncan Peters, Kerry Lee, Joseph Nguyen, Peter Abbott, Emma Guo, Herman Rachmadi 4/7; = 1^st Under 1600 Aurel-John Buciu, Mark Baterowicz 4/7; = 1^st Under 1400 Nick Beare, Tony Baldwin 3.5/7.

EVENTS CALENDAR

2008 Queensland Women's Chess Championship

Venue Blue Fin Fishing Club, 24 Lilac St, Inala, Qld, 4077.
Format 7 rounds. 60 minutes + 10 seconds per move.
DOPs Chief Arbiter: Garvin Gray.
Entry fee $50. (plus CAQ $10 membership fee if applicable).
Prizes $150, $125, $100, plus trophies (Best senior rated under 1200, best under 18, best under 12).
Entries close 6.00 pm, Friday, 12 December. Registration from 8.30 to 9.00 am on Saturday, 13 December.
Enquiries to Gail Young, 3372 8077, qwcl@hotmail.com, or Garvin Gray, 0422 993 062.
Website 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.

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.

2009 Queenstown Chess Classic

Venue Millennium Hotel (corner of Frankton Rd and Stanley St), Queenstown, New Zealand.
Format 10 round Swiss, 100 minutes + 1 minute/move.
Entry fee NZ $165 (Juniors NZ $88). Entry free to GMs and, WGMs. Entry free to IMs and WIMs (with $90 deducted from any prize won). Title players claiming free entry must provide organisers with notification of booked flights itinerary by 1st December 2008. Entries received after 1 November add $35; entries received after 1 January add $70; entries received on site add $90, all payable at time of entry.
Prizes $10,000, $7000, $5000, $4000, $3500, $3000, $2500, $2000, $1800, $1700, $1600, $1550, $1500, $1450, $1400. Under 2000 $500, U1800 $500, U1600 $500, plus senior and junior prizes.
Registration 6.00 - 8.00 pm, Wednesday 14 January at the tournament hall.
Enquiries to Helen Milligan, heligan@queenstownchess.com.
Website here.

New Zealand Rapidplay and Lightning Championships

Venue Millennium Hotel (corner of Frankton Rd and Stanley St), Queenstown, New Zealand.
Format Rapidplay: 25-26 January, 9 round Swiss, 30 minutes per player. Lightning: 26 January, preliminary seeded groups leading to a round-robin final, 5 minutes per player.
Entry fee Rapidplay: NZ $80 (Juniors NZ $45). Lightning NZ $35 (Juniors NZ $25). Entry free to GMs and WGMs with the proviso that an amount equal to the appropriate entry fee will be deducted from any prize won.
Prizes Rapidplay: $1650, $1100, $800, $600, $320, $225, $175, $110; best junior $110; best female $110. Lightning: $450, $330, $220, $110; First reserve $110; Second reserve $80.
Enquiries to Helen Milligan, heligan@queenstownchess.com.
Website here.

2009 Doeberl Cup

Venue The Hellenic Club of Canberra, Matilda Street, Woden ACT 2606.
Format Premier (9-13 April, 9-Round Swiss, 90 minutes + 30 seconds), Major, Minor, 50+ (10-13 April, 7-round Swisses, 90+30), Under 1200 (10-11 April, 6-Round Swiss, 20+10) & Chess 960 (11 April, 5+0).
Entry fee free to GMs, IMs, WGMs and WIMs. Premier $140. Major & Minor $120, U/18 $80. 50+ $80. Under 1200 $60.
Prizes Premier $4000, $2500, $1500, $800, $500, $400, $350, $300. Major $1500, $800, $450, $250, $150, $100. Minor $750, $400, $250, $150, $100. 50+ $450, $300, $150, $100. Under 1200 trophies and gift vouchers.
Close of entries for Premier, Major, Minor, 50+ is 12.00 midday, Wednesday 8 April. Under 1200 entries close 12.00 midday, Friday, 10 April. All player sign-ins close 12.00 midday on first day of play.
Enquiries to Charles Bishop, info@doeberlcup.com.au.
Website here.

2009 Sydney International Open Chess Tournament

Venue Parramatta Town Hall, Church Street, Parramatta, NSW, 2150.
Format Open & Challengers (restricted to players rated below 2000) events. 9-Round FIDE-rated Swisses. 90 minutes + 30 seconds per move.
Entry fee free to GMs, IMs, WGMs and WIMs and players rated over 2500. Open 2400-2499 $100, 2300-2399 $125, 2200-2299 $150, 1600-2199 $175, unrated $225. Challengers $90, unrated $100.
Prizes Open $5000, $2500, $1500, $1000, $750, $500, $500, $500, $250, $250, $250, $250, $250 (Best female), $250 (Best under 18), $250 (Best under 12). Challengers $500, $400, $350, $300, $250, $200, $200, $100 (Best female), $100 (Best under 18), $100 (Best under 12).
Close of entries is on Sunday, 12 April. Player registration from 6.30 - 7.45 pm on Tuesday, 14 April.
Enquiries to Brian Jones, phone 61-2-9838-1529, fax 61-2-9838-1614, info@chessaustralia.com.au.
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). In response to several requests, the time controls have been increased to: 40 moves in 90 minutes, 30 minutes to finish, plus 30 seconds per move from the start.
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.
As an added attraction, the Gold Coast Open, a cat 5 Yulgilbar-Think Big Grand Prix event, will take place in the same playing venue, Visions Conference Room, Twin Towns Resort, on the weekend immediately after the Zonal 27/28 June 2009.

OVERSEAS EVENTS CALENDAR

Notice of the following overseas events has been received by the ACF. For more information, please consult the relevant website or contact auschessnews@gmail.com.

13 ^thRakan Muda GACC World Inter-Varsity Chess Championship, University of Malaya , 50603 Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia, 29 November - 6 December 2008. www.gacc-chess.com

Prague Open, Top Hotel Praha, Blazimska 1781/4, Praha 11, Czech Republic, 9 - 16 January 2009. www.czechtour.net/prague-open

7^th Parsvnath International Tournament, Modern School, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi, 10 - 19 January 2009. 10-round Swiss. Rs 11,50,000/- in prizes. Open, U2400, U2251, U2100, U1901, Women, Veteran and Junior prizes. www.delhichess.com

Marianbad Open, Kossuth hotel, Ruska 77/20, Marianske Lazne, Czech Republic, 17 - 25 January 2009. www.czechtour.net/prague-open

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