Newsletter
18/6
30 June 2018
Editor: Frank Low
newsletter_editor@auschess.org.au
ALTIBOX NORWAY CHESS 2018
Asks Hungarian WIM Anna Rudolph, who runs the world?
Well, we can tell who ran the Altibox Norway Chess 2018 super tournament held at Stavanger Norway, 27 May – 8 June 2018.
Juga di Prima: singer, songwriter
IA Anemone Kulczak: chief arbiter
Benedicte Westre Skog: main organizer
WFM Maria Emelianova: photographer
WIM Anna Rudolph: commentator
WGM Anastazia Karlovich: press officer
For more, see under Recent Events.
ACF NOTICES
ACF APPLICATIONS
Inquiries, applications and registration of interest concerning the following opportunities should be sent by separate email to each of the following addresses:
ACF Secretary, Mr Rob Watson: secretary@auschess.org.au with cc to: president@auschess.org.au .
Please phone 0409 525 963 or (03) 9787 7974 if an application is not acknowledged within two days.
DELEGATION MANAGERS
The following events to be held in coming months include those in which Australian players have frequently participated, thanks to the cooperation of accompanying persons who have volunteered to assist with related management responsibilities.
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World Cadets Rapid and Blitz Championships (Minsk, Belarus) June 21 to 25 [completed]
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Asian Junior & Girls Championships (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia) August 17 to 26
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World Junior & Girls Championships (Gebze, Kocaeli, Turkey) September 4 to 16
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World Youth (including Rapid and Blitz) Championships (Halkidiki, Greece) October 16 to 31
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World Cadets Championships (Galicia, Spain) November 3 to 16
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FIDE Youth Olympiad (Manavgat-Antalya, Turkey) November 24 to December 3
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Oceania Youth & Junior (under-20) Championships (Auckland, New Zealand) January 5 to 13
Persons wishing to express interest in the management and registration of Australia’s representatives in one or more of these events are invited to do so by separate email to the above addresses. In some but not all cases, complimentary accommodation is provided for appointed managers.
The registration of Australian representatives and any necessary selection procedures for each event will follow the appointment of the relevant Manager.
FORTHCOMING AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Applications are invited from affiliated Associations, clubs and other organisations interested in presenting the following Australian Championships. Interest in presenting one or more of these events on behalf of the Federation may be registered by contacting the State Association of the State in which the event would be held.
2018 Australian Schools Teams Championships
This event comprises the following separate teams championships:
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Australian Primary Schools Teams Championship 2018
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Australian Primary Schools Girls Teams Championship 2018
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Australian Secondary Schools Teams Championship 2018
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Australian Secondary Schools Girls Teams Championships 2018
These four tournaments are normally held simultaneously on a two-day weekend in early December.
Each tournament is a round-robin contest, limited to teams that have qualified via State schools teams championships and/or have been nominated by the relevant State chess association.
As reported in previous issues, offers to conduct this event close on 30 June 2018.
2019 Australian Open Championship & Associated Events
The biennial FIDE-rated Australian Open is normally an 11-round swiss, conducted during the first half of January.
Subject to the submission of proposed arrangements acceptable to the ACF Council, a guarantee against loss of up to $5000 would be provided to the organisers through the relevant State association.
2019 Australian Junior & Girls Championships & Associated Events
In recent years, these championships have spanned nine days in mid-January, normally commencing one or two days after the Australian Open, but not necessarily at the same venue or location.
Separate swiss tournaments have awarded Australian under-age national titles to players in open and girls-only classical-rate tournaments for even-numbered age groups from under-8 to under-18. Additional events have included one-day blitz and problem-solving tournaments. The older age-group tournaments are normally FIDE-rated.
ANNUAL COUNCIL-APPOINTMENTS
The ACF’s annual appointment of Council-appointed officers is currently scheduled for Sunday 22 July, when the current term of office of all annually appointed Council officers terminates.
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Advertising Manager
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Archivist (General)
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Archivist (Games)
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Assistant Secretary
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Assistant Treasurer
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Equipment Coordinator
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FIDE Delegate & Administrative Officer
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FIDE Trainers Contact
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FIDE Ratings Officer
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Government Relations Director
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Grand Prix Director
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Medals & Awards Convenor
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National Ratings Officer
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Newsletter Editor
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Public Officer (incorporation)
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Publicity Director
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Selections Director
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Selections Coordinator
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Webmaster
Interest in serving in any of those positions may be registered by email, to be sent by 12 July 2018 to president@auschess.org.au with cc to secretary@auschess.org.au
OLYMPIAD APPEAL – Join the Team!
The ACF’S appeal for funds to assist participation of Australian teams in the forthcoming FIDE Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia, is now underway and in need of urgent support.
Players (in board order):
Open Team
GM Anton Smirnov (NSW) F2529 A2579!!
GM Zong-Yuan Zhao (NSW) F2533 A2610!
GM Max Illingworth (NSW) F2524 A2683!!
IM Bobby Cheng (Vic) F2496 A2546!!
IM James Morris (Vic) F2503 A2575!!
Women’s Team
WIM Heather Richards (Qld) F2259 A2287!
WGM Julia Ryjanova (Vic) F2337 A2231!
WGM Jilin Zhang (NSW) F2225 A2194!
WFM Giang Nguyen (SA) F2128 A2186!!
IM Irina Berezina (NSW) F2112 A2183!!
Officials:
Chief of Delegation: IA Cathy Rogers
Open Team Captain: GM Darryl Johansen
Women’s Team Captain: GM Ian Rogers
For a chance to be listed in the team of donors that made Australian chess history by supporting our first fully funded Olympiad teams, visit the appeal site.
To date, $8,636 (to be matched from ACF funds) is needed to achieve Appeal Coordinator Ian Murray’s current target of $23,600.
RECURRING NOTICE: REGISTRATION of ARBITERS for TITLE NORM EVENTS
When an arbiter is seeking a norm for the titles of FIDE Arbiter or International Arbiter for an event, it is vital that they be registered as an arbiter for that tournament as part of the tournament registration process. This applies even if they are not the Chief Arbiter. It is the joint responsibility of the arbiter seeking the norm and the event organiser to ensure that this is done.
RECURRING NOTICE: FIDE RATING SUBMISSIONS
Note that events for FIDE ratings that are completed in the last seven days of the month need to be submitted to ACF FIDE Ratings Officer Bill Gletsos for ratings immediately so that any issues with them can be resolved in time for events to be rated in that month. Also note that intended changes of names or dates of FIDE-rated events need to be notified immediately as they may affect the event's rating status. Note also that all FIDE rated events must be submitted for ACF ratings – no exceptions.
RECURRING NOTICE: FIDE RATED EVENT REGISTRATION
Australian tournaments to be FIDE rated must be advised to the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer at least 40 days prior to the start of the tournament for tournaments where norms are available and at least 14 days prior to the start of the tournament for all other tournaments. Where these conditions are not met, the decision whether to register it or not is solely at the discretion of the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer.
RECURRING NOTICE: FIDE ID NUMBER REGISTRATION
FIDE have issued a warning that they will not accept tournaments for FIDE rating where those tournaments contain players who do not have FIDE ID numbers. Although new Australian players can be registered by the ACF national ratings officer, this does not apply to new players from overseas. Therefore, organisers should not immediately accept the entries of overseas players who lack FIDE ID numbers to FIDE rated tournaments; instead, those players should be required to first obtain a FIDE ID from their own national federation.
Tournaments submitted that include foreign players who do not have ID numbers may be rejected. Players without ID numbers should only be submitted as Australian if they are citizens or long-term residents; if a player is registered under the wrong country they may incur transfer costs later. For further information/clarification contact the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer Bill Gletsos <bgletsos@optusnet.com.au>
OBITUARY
VALE LACHLAN BENSON
Born 21 February 1938 - Died 13 April 2018
Bob Krstic of Melbourne reports the sad passing of Lachlan Benson on 13 April.
He was NSW Junior Champion in 1955. His brother David found all the scores of this tournament in Lachlan’s possession as with a lot of other tournaments, testifying to Lachlan’s meticulous habits. Some of the information for this note came to Krstic via a letter from David.
Lachlan lived in Parramatta, Sydney until about 5 years ago when he moved to the Gold Coast following the death of his mother, a move he later regretted because of the separation from his chess friends and haunts. He numbered among his friends C.J.S. Purdy, Phil Viner and Fred Flatow, and also helped many budding young players to increase their skills.
Photo by Dominica Krstic of the last of many occasions Bob Krstic played chess with Lachlan Benson (right) at their home in Melbourne about Christmas 2017, not then knowing there would be no return match.
Bob treasures particularly an Evans Gambit played by Lachlan in he thinks one of the Greek tournaments. For a player with a classical style, it was pleasing to find he was always alert to the possibility of playing the Evans.
In recent years, Lachlan took up playing in the World Seniors Championships. Writes Bob: “To my knowledge, Lachlan played in 9 World Seniors Championships (Germany 2008, Italy 2010, Greece 2012, 2014, Croatia 2011, 2013, Czech Republic 2016). The 2016 one in Mariánské Lázně was the last one ('too bloody cold')”.
Bob remembers ”I met Lachlan on the Isle of Man in 2004. Phil Viner had invited us both to participate. We got the 'Friendliest Team' prize!. The picture of him remains with me to this day- old-world manners and courtesy to the opponent."
See http://www.saund.co.uk/britbase/worldseniorteam2004/index.html “
Lachlan had published a number of chess problems in chess magazines. He loved classical music and had an extensive collection. A great Australian chess ambassador - he will be missed by his many friends in future tournaments and at the obligatory blitz games in the bar afterwards.
ACF OLYMPIAD APPEAL
43rd Olympiad
23 September - 6 October 2018
www.acfappeal.aunz.org
Australia has a proud record at the biennial Chess Olympiad, one of the world's largest sporting events and the premier teams event on the global chess calendar.
But there's a catch .. the Australian nemesis, the tyranny of distance. Australia is a long way from just about anywhere. Almost 14,000 km from Sydney to Batumi. It takes at least 33 hours to get there, and of course, the airfares aren't cheap. Skyscanner's best fare is $1563 economy return via Qantas to Singapore and Turkish Airways to Istanbul then Batumi.
That's where you come in. The teams need your support to represent us. Please give what you can to the appeal.
All donations will be acknowledged. The Australian Chess Federation will match all donations dollar-for-dollar up to half of the total cost.
With only a couple of months to go, total donations so far are lagging behind compared to previous appeals.
Please add your support to our teams with a small (or not-so-small) donation via the appeal website at this link.
Donations received with thanks:
Progressive total at 27 June 2018 $6328
Australia - national
3,164.00 Australian Chess Federation
Australian Capital Territory
100.00 Bill Egan
50.00 Rong Winkelman
New South Wales
200.00 Bill Ross
100.00 Frank Low, Peter Wong
94.00 Norths Chess Club
50.00 Bob Keast, David Lovejoy, Steven Wentworth
40.00 Rae Galtsmith-Clarke
5.00 John Redgrave
Queensland
1,000.00 Chess Association of Queensland
150.00 Ian Murray
100.00 Graeme Gardiner
70.00 Michael D'Arcy
50.00 Paul Summers
South Australia
100.00 Zdravko Stojkoski
Tasmania
150.00 Kevin Bonham
25.00 David Christian
Victoria
100.00 Roland Brockman
50.00 Abdulwahab Rashid, Vineetha Wijesuriya
25.00 Mentone Chess Club
20.00 Rui Santos
Western Australia
200.00 Hardegen family
105.00 Southern Suburbs Chess Club
100.00 David Barry
50.00 David Ellis, John Pimenov
20.00 Simon Vogel
Overseas
60.00 Peter Frost (Thailand)
PAIRINGS - Accelerate With Care!
By Kevin Bonham
Some Swiss (Dutch) pairings chess tournaments use accelerated pairings in which the top players play stronger opposition earlier in the event. This often seems like a good idea, but it can also often cause more trouble than it's worth.
The main reasons to use accelerated pairings are:
1. To increase the chance of finding a unique winner if there are many players and few rounds. Some people say that if the number of players is more than two to the power of the number of rounds (or some such formula) you should use acceleration to prevent two players tying for first without even playing each other. However, this really only applies if almost every game is won. At middle and higher levels there will usually be some draws, which could both help find a unique winner faster or cause a tie for first to persist for any number of rounds. So there is not really any sound formula for this. However if you have, say, 80 players and only five rounds, then you should at least think about accelerating.
2. To reduce mismatches. When ratings are widely spread, the first round of a tournament often results in almost all the top seeds winning quickly. Acceleration offers a way to avoid this. However, the challenge when using acceleration is to avoid simply delaying the so-called "junk" pairings until the round where the acceleration is removed.
If a tournament is accelerated, this should be declared before the tournament begins, together with what form of acceleration will be used. Ideally, it should be included in pre-event advertising. For FIDE-rated events, failing to declare what pairing system will be used is a breach of the FIDE Competition Rules and could, in theory, result in an event not being submitted for ratings or for arbiter or organiser norms. It could also cause players to fear that decisions are being taken on the fly.
One common form of Accelerated Swiss in Australia is to add a bonus point (or two) to the top half of the draw for the first two rounds and then take it off. This is a very easy method to implement, but it is badly flawed and in my view shouldn't ever be used. Almost always some bottom-half players find their way to 2/2, which then results in round 3 and sometimes round 4 mismatches for some of the top players, while other top players play each other in those rounds. That not only means the system isn't that great at sorting the field out, but also that some top players get an unfair advantage over others. This is an especially bad problem in weekenders, where the energy-saving value of an easy win can carry on into future rounds.
The FIDE Systems of Pairings and Programs Commission meeting at Baku in 2016 received a detailed technical report by IA Otto Milvang. This was based on actual testing of a range of acceleration systems. Milvang found that for tournaments with at least nine rounds, accelerating the top half by 1 point for rounds 1-3 and then half a point for 4-5 worked well. This became known as the Baku System and is the only specifically FIDE-endorsed method. Giving the top half a bonus point for rounds 1-2 and half a bonus point for round 3 (a possible option for shorter tournaments) also worked fairly well.
Stewart Reuben's Arbiter's Handbook series included some worthy options in which the acceleration was removed once all the bottom half players had dropped points, but these are not found in any of the available programs to my knowledge.
Reliable ratings are important. A single strong player in the bottom half (because they are unrated or underrated) can cause havoc in a small accelerated tournament. Use estimated ratings if you can (from other systems or based on performance data) rather than putting players in at zero rating, but if there are many unrated or very underrated players it's better not to use acceleration at all.
My advice to all arbiters is to research the subject of acceleration a bit before deciding to use it. Consider whether you need it, make sure it is right for your tournament, and if in doubt, don't do it.
LIDUMS AUSTRALIAN YOUNG MASTERS
Adelaide 8 - 14 December 2018
We are in full swing to organize the Lidums Young Masters once again.
The dates are:
GM/IM norm event: Saturday 8 - Friday 14 December
Open: Monday 10 - Friday 14 December
Under 1200: Wednesday 12 - Friday 14 December
The event will close with a dinner on Friday 14 December.
GM Timur Gareyev (USA), GM Andrey Kvon (Uzbekistan), GM Vasily Papin (Russia), IM Junta Ikeda (Australia) and FM Patrick Gong (Australia) have confirmed for the GM norm tournament.
IM Eric Rosen (USA), CM Alphaeus Ang (New Zealand), FM Luis Chan (Australia) and Kris Chan (Australia) have accepted and will be playing in the IM norm tournament.
Players can now register and indicate an interest for the Open tournament. Unfortunately, the website is temporarily down. We are working hard on getting this rectified.
Sabrina Koetsier
<chesslife.dk@gmail.com>
FIDE ELECTION
"I don’t see Nigel as a great leadership candidate"
Macauley Peterson in ChessBase News on 25 June reports on an interview with Malcolm Pein under the above heading, discussing rival candidates for the FIDE quadrennial Presidential elections in Batumi, Georgia on 3 October. Despite the overlay of English politesse, the personal differences seem very real: a proven chess administrator who has made a thought-out decision to fly under the banner of FIDE apparatchik and long-time Vice-President Georgios Makropoulos, or an outlier GM not averse to Trump-like populist boots-and-all tactics.
Photo:Malcolm Pein Twitter
“The campaign for President of Georgios Makropoulos got a huge boost of credibility, as a break from the tenure of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, when Malcolm Pein joined his ticket as a candidate for Deputy President. Makropoulos, a FIDE old hand if there ever was one, now embraces limits and so, combined with Pein's avowed interest in running for the top spot on the ticket in 2022, a vote for "FIDE Forward" may indeed lead to a more pronounced "changing of the guard" after two decades of Ilyumzhinov's reign.
“But, although that idiom figuratively means any individual or group in an organisation being replaced, its origin is of soldiers on duty giving way to an equivalent, if not indistinguishable cadre — precisely what Nigel Short argues the Makropoulos campaign (with the exception of Pein) represents...
"there will be twists and turns"
“I spoke with Malcolm in the Leuven City Hall on the last day of the blitz tournament. We discussed the Grand Chess Tour before turning to FIDE governance and the election campaign which is going to be a significant focus for Pein over the coming months. In some ways, it is a logical outgrowth of his work within the English Chess Federation as a delegate, his impressive track record in both scholastic and professional organisation, combined with entrepreneurial success, and journalism credentials. But can he bring his record of bona fides to FIDE?
“What happens now that Ilyumzhinov seems poised to drop out after losing the support of the Russian Chess Federation? While it looks like Short and Pein are very much at odds over who should be the new FIDE boss, they do seem to agree on a lot — so anything is possible. As Pein summed things up at the close of our interview:
"I have someone who advises me — a veteran of many political campaigns — who gives me lots of advice — good advice — and he’s been proved right every time, and he said, ‘there will be surprises, there will be twists and turns that you haven’t anticipated’. And if one of those twists and turns is that Nigel and I end up on the same side, I’d be very happy about that."
Nigel Short Photo: Maria Emelianova Chess.com
Short’s response: [@nigelshortchess Jun 26]
“I don't see Makro as a great leadership candidate. And given all the things @TelegraphChess has said and written about him in the past, I very much doubt his Deputy does either. #cleanhands4fide”
The leadership race is now complicated by the recent candidacy of an establishment Russian bureaucrat thus setting the stage for a geopolitical power showdown between East and West at the FIDE Congress in Batumi.
Photo: The Telegraph UK
On 15 June 2018, Arkady Dvorkovich nominated for the post of FIDE President. Under FIDE rules, candidates must declare their “Presidential ticket” 3 months before the elections, which gives a deadline of only 3 July for any further candidates to the fray.
"The fact that Arkady Vladimirovich Dvorkovich decided to run for FIDE presidency is a joyful and pleasant news for us," Andrei Filatov, president of the Russian Chess Federation, told RIA Novosti in an interview. "Because he is a very good and talented leader and organizer, a great professional. Arkady Vladimirovich rightfully heads the organizing committee of the World Cup, which with such a brilliant result was opened yesterday in Russia."
Dvorkovich was Russian Deputy Prime Minister in Dmitry Medvedev's Cabinet from 21 May 2012 until 7 May 2018.
A further development was reported by ChesscomNews @ChesscomNews on 28 June: “Today, at the Absentee Meeting of the Supervisory Board of the Russian Chess Federation, Arkady Dvorkovich received 22 votes vs 2 for Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Dvorkovich officially supported by Russia now”.
Which is for Ilyumzhinov the end of the road so far as Russian support goes.
President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov & Vice-President Georgios Makropoulos
Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com
LETTER TO EDITOR
Candidate for Zone 3.6 Presidency
Dear respective chess community and fellow Federation Presidents,
For the last eight years, I have been working hand in hand with several federations and have had the great opportunity to learn and contribute towards their chess development.
This has involved organising chess events, assisting them in the Federation setup and organisation, equipment provision and development of arbiters and trainers.
I firmly believe that the time has come for me to step up and take on further responsibilities, with your kind support, and engage myself for the forthcoming elections in FIDE for the post of Zone 3.6 president.
My program will focus primarily on development of the region with our existing members and also for those members who can join our FIDE family and they are:
With our current members and also our future members, my development would primarily focus on junior chess, establish and support (organisational) a chess in schools program and further help give exposure of chess in the media.
Along with this, I would also continue to help where ever possible in the organisation of the Oceania Youth and Junior Championships, Zonal tournaments and any other Zonal events. I endeavour to introduce more events for the Zone.
For all Zonal events and relevant developmental programs, I will work very hard to obtain support from FIDE and the Asian Chess Federation. This isn’t just for developmental programs but also for extension of events. Events would also include training camps and seminars.
Finally, I will work very hard and lobby FIDE to have more direct titles for Oceania for the development of the Zone.
For any further questions about my program can be emailed to me at kenmure2018@gmail.com
Kind regards,
Jamie Kenmure
PRESS RELEASE
Carlsen & Dominguez Accept Wildcard Invitations for Grand Chess Tour Tournaments in Saint Louis
The reigning World Champion GM Magnus Carlsen from Norway and GM Leinier Dominguez from Cuba have both accepted wildcard invitations to participate in the 2018 Grand Chess Tour at its forthcoming tournaments in Saint Louis, USA in August 2018.
GM Magnus Carlsen will participate in the 2018 Sinquefield Cup while GM Leinier Dominguez, currently rated number 2 in the world on the June 2018 FIDE Rapid rating list, will participate in the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament.
During their respective tournaments, they will be joined by the nine tour participants who are:
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GM Fabiano Caruana, (USA)
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GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE)
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GM Wesley So (USA)
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GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA)
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GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA)
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GM Sergey Karjakin (RUS)
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GM Viswanathan Anand (IND)
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GM Levon Aronian (ARM)
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GM Alexander Grischuk (RUS)
The 2018 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz will take place from August 11 until August 15 and offers a prize fund of $150,000. The 2018 Sinquefield Cup will then take place from August 17 until August 28 with the players competing for a prize pool of $300,000. Both tournaments will be held at the Saint Louis Chess Club while the traditional Ultimate Moves tournament will take place between the two events on August 16.
The Sinquefield Cup will be the last scheduled encounter between the current World Champion and contender Fabiano Caruana before their highly anticipated World Championship match in November.
COLLECTING
ANTIQUE CHESS COLLECTING:
The Staunton design
By David Turner
Until the early 19th century, chess was played with handcrafted pieces of local design. Each European country had its own standard patterns which were shared widely when cheap rail travel and postage became available. Sea trade with the Orient saw elaborate sets from India and China arrive in Europe and by mid-century players were faced with a variety of styles to choose from.
Unplayable sets
Not only were there many designs in circulation by 1840, many of them were difficult or impossible to play with! Traditional English pieces were quite tall and could be easily tipped over (no doubt a favourite ploy of losing players). Traditional French pieces had queens and bishops that were almost indistinguishable. Asian sets suffered from both problems, as did figural German sets made for the tourist trade.
A further problem was that no standard existed for tournament play, and players could be disadvantaged by sets they were unfamiliar with.
English pieces from the early 19th century. Barleycorn, Northern Upright and Calvert/Lund patterns: all tall and easily tipped over.
French Regence pieces c1820-40: the queen and bishops are hard to tell apart.
German Charlemagne pieces c1840: the Lutheran bishop and bushwalking pawn are almost indistinguishable.
Indian “Pepys” pieces and Chinese “Puzzleball” pieces c 1840: tall, delicate and easily broken.
A German “Selenus” set and a Dutch “Spindle” set c1840: elegant, fragile and again, not suited to everyday play.
A set from Rajasthan c1840: the bishops are mounted on camels, knights on horses…spot the difference in a game!
Enter the Staunton design
In 1849 a clever designer, Nathaniel Cook, registered the Staunton design in honour of Howard Staunton, a Shakespearean scholar and the strongest player of his day, and equally cleverly it was manufactured to a very high standard by John Jaques and Son of Hatton Garden, London, and marketed as a premium product. Cook and Jaques achieved a stunning success, their design taking the chess world by storm and being accepted internationally as the gold standard for tournament play.
Unofficial world champion in the mid19th century, Howard Staunton, and John Jaques who made and marketed the Staunton design worldwide.
The pieces were simple and easily identified by crowns, coronets, mitres, horses’ heads and crenellated castles. The pieces were evenly graded in size, from kings to rooks, unlike earlier designs where kings and queens towered over the other pieces. The glory of the Staunton design was the knight, modelled on the horses in the Parthenon marbles brought to England by Lord Elgin in the 1840s. The Jaques Staunton design was an instant success and copied by other makers in the UK, although older designs were still produced for a further 50 odd years.
A boxwood and ebony Jaques Staunton set from the 1940s. Stable and practical, a triumph of industrial design.
Collecting Staunton sets
Old Jaques Staunton sets are very collectible and dealers’ websites usually have a whole section devoted to them. They originally came in 2 sizes, 8.9 and 11 cm king, in red and white ivory, boxwood and ebony. Early sets came in “carton pierre” (papier-mâché) caskets with moulded heraldic sides and top and later sets in lockable mahogany polished boxes. From 1850 through to the 1940s there were no less than 20 subtle variations in the design of the knights, which serve as a useful means of dating. Jaques sets always had a crown stamped on top of the king’s knights and rooks.
An ivory Jaques Staunton set from 1849-52 and its decorated papier-mâché casket.
The king’s knights and rooks stamped with their distinctive crowns.
Further reading
There is a considerable literature on this great tradition. One expert is Frank Camaratta in the USA and his website antiquechess.com has a number of excellent articles and sets for sale. Luke Honey and The Antique Chess Shop in London also have good antique sets for sale.
More collecting news next month! In the meantime contact me if you have any old sets you would like to discuss/showcase.
Cheers, David Turner
davidwturner9331@hotmail.com
GM TITLE
YOUNGEST OF THEM ALL
At 12 years, 10 months and 13 days, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has qualified to become the world's second youngest Grandmaster ever reaching the final round of the 4th Gredine Open on 24 June in the small Italian town of Ortisei (in which tournament Australian IM Justin Tan was also pursuing GM norms).
During the Lidums Young Masters in Adelaide last December, Praggnanandhaa had hoped to break Sergey Karjakin’s record of 12 years 7 months, but it was not to be.
Praggnanandhaa at the Lidums Young Masters December 2017. Photo: Sabrina Koetsier of Chesslife
Coach RB Ramesh said "When he came to me three years ago I knew he was a special kid. I work with many talented kids but he was always exceptional. He's aware of his strengths as a player and is willing to work extremely hard and stick it out through everything. That can be a rare combination to find."
From Edward Winter’s note on “Child Prodigies” citing the source page 42 of “Among These Mates” by Chielamangus (Sydney, 1939), the pseudonym of Australian C.J.S. Purdy.
Former prodigy GM Bu Xiangzhi of China will coach at the Australian Junior Elite Training Squad in Melbourne in July. He became a grandmaster at the age of 13 years, 10 months.
VISITING
GM BU XIANGZHI
Photo: FIDE
Grandmaster Bu is in Australia this month [early July] to coach the Australian Junior Elite Training Squad in Melbourne.
His FIDE rating at 2718 makes him the highest rated Chinese player to visit Australia.
In 1999, he became China's 10th Grandmaster at the age of 13 years, 10 months, 13 days, at the time the youngest in history.
In September last year, he created a sensation by defeating Magnus Carlsen in a brilliancy in the first game of the FIDE World Cup's third round in Tbilisi, Georgia.
INTERVIEW
GM HRANT MELKUMYAN
By Thai Ly
Reprinted from ChessChat by kind permission of the author.
Below is an interview I had with the 2018 Victorian Open winner GM Hrant Melkumyan not long after his final round win [11 June 2018]:
With Melbourne Chess Club President FA Simon Dale
TL: Congratulation Hrant on winning the Vic Open 7 out of 7. How did you feel you went during the tournament?
HM: Thank you. I'm pretty satisfied with the level of my play. There were no major mistakes or blunders. The only shaky game was the game against Kanan, where I missed a quite easy win - I mean if it comes to your mind, it's quite easy. I knew I was winning but then I started doubting it and then I end up going for a rook endgame that could have been drawn. Then there was lots of drama but at the end I was lucky I managed to win without him claiming the 50 moves rule. I managed to move my pawn on the 50th move. He could have played a move where I pushed the pawn, it was a draw. It was pretty tricky stuff.
TL: I noticed when you were playing, given that you were a heavy favourite rated almost 200 points above the second seed, you were very ruthless and materialistic and didn't fear lines that to the club player might look threatening - for example, your game against Scott Stewart. How do you explain your fearlessness in that sort of situation?
HM: Normally, I try to just do what the position requires, so against him, he went for an attack which I thought shouldn't be working. It was quite dangerous, but I was hoping to find the right moves and if I do so, it was not going to work. I was a bit worried, but I was just hoping to find the right moves. Yeah, otherwise, I wasn't so fearless, I was forced to go for it (laughs) - he forced me basically to go for the position.
TL: You come from a country, Armenia, that has a lot of chess heritage. The current Armenia number 1 is Levon Aronian. Do you know Lev well?
HM: Yes, we train together. We're very good friends.
TL: Did you help him leading up to the Candidates tournament or give him moral support?
HM: Once, I helped him full time. In general, we stay in touch.
TL: It must have been very disappointing to see him not do well in Berlin this year.
HM: Yes. I was only involved in London 2013 where he was playing his best chess, I think, in that period. He was playing really well and fighting with Carlsen for first place in the beginning of that tournament. There was a turning point where Magnus was completely lost against Radjabov but he drew and Lev was very close to beating Grischuk but he drew. In another scenario, if Lev had won and Carlsen lost, Lev would have been one point ahead going into the second half of that tournament. But after that he lost to Gelfand, he lost the momentum and Carlsen took control.
TL: Hopefully, he's still got more opportunities to compete and challenge for the title again.
HM: Yes, I'm sure he will.
TL: And will you be playing in the Chess Olympiad in a few months' time?
HM: Yes - it's going to be very exciting because it's my first Olympiad.
TL: Oh, really? I didn't know that. Armenia had won the gold medal a few years ago, is that right?
HM: Yes, we won three gold medals. I've won a few medals for Armenia in but only in World and European team championships. But I haven't played in the Olympiad before because in the last Olympiad, we didn't go.*
TL: Well, good luck.
HM: Thank you.
TL: And how have you been finding Melbourne and Australia? I notice you played in Melbourne before in the Best in the West. What keeps you coming back?
HM: Well, my girlfriend lives in Australia, so I visit here every year. I really like Australia - it's a very nice place and I have no bad things to say, it's all good.
TL: I hope it hasn't been too cold this weekend!
HM: Oh no, this is nothing (laughs).
TL: And a final word of advice to the up-and-coming Australia players like Anton Smirnov, Max Illingworth, James Morris, those sorts of players. What advice would you give them to raise their chess to 2500, 2600 level and beyond.
HM: I know these players, they are quite strong. Just, to stay focused and work a lot.
TL: Right. Congratulations and well done on first place. Thanks Hrant.
HM: Thank you
VirtualPieces
ASIA REPORT
RED HOT PEPPERS
Who cannot resist reading IM Alina l'Ami for her unbridled enthusiasm? Born and raised (together but sequentially) in Iasi, Romania, she graduated cum laude in psychology but returned to her first love: chess. Dutch GM Erwin l’Ami is married to her in case you want to know.
Photo: ChessBase News
Her latest tournament report, apropos the traditional JAPFA GM & WGM Indonesian events (25 April - 1 May), which includes red hot chilli peppers as an ingredient, can be read in Chess Base News.
She includes a pen sketch of GM Timur Gareyev who has since returned to Australia for the Gold Coast Open which commenced on 28 June (sensationally losing to the Queensland FM Gene Nakauchi in the first round) and who will return for the Lidums Australian Young Masters GM Norm event commencing 8 December.
“The walking personification of ‘it has never been a better moment than right now’ is not careless but caring and carefree.” Photo & comment: Alina L’Ami
U.K. REPORT
LAKES U.K. OPEN
By David Lovejoy
Echo NetDaily
How they do it over there.
A recent trip to the UK to catch up with relatives gave me the chance to see how amateur chess is played in a foreign environment.
The 22nd South Lakes Open took place in the Cumbrian town of Kendal in June. The weekend seemed cold and drizzly to me, but when I registered for the tournament and said I was from Australia, the TD thanked me without irony for bringing warm weather to the Lake District.
There were roughly forty players in each of the Major, Intermediate and Minor divisions, and 13 in the Premier. What was striking was that there were just three juniors in the whole event and no women at all.
The time limit was two hours each for the game, with no increments, but I didn’t observe any examples of heart-stopping time trouble as a result of this old-fashioned clock setting. Probably just as well, as the vast majority of the players were, like me, well into their senior years.
Kendall U.K.: Wikipedia
Computers are not a problem in Cumbrian chess. Even the TD doesn’t have one: the pairings were done in the traditional manner by shuffling cards together until a satisfactory pattern emerged. I didn’t hear any disputes over the pairings despite the obvious propensity for mistakes to occur.
There was one area which streamlined the process of notifying results: the score sheets were printed with a perforated result strip at the bottom, which both players simply completed and handed in, thus obviating the business of getting everything signed.
When the five rounds were over (one round Friday night, two each on Saturday and Sunday), the South Lakes Open simply faded away without a closing ceremony. The TD explained to me that they used to give out prizes, but they made too many mistakes calculating rating results in haste, so now winners received their rewards via post.
Despite the short schedule, the Premier had a single winner, M Surtees, and the Major (equivalent to our Under 2000) ended in a tie between K Potter and myself. Only the Intermediate and Minor saw multiple winners, with five players sharing first place in each.
If my weekend in Kendal is representative of English chess, then its future is not bright (no juniors!), but no doubt there were stronger, more youth-oriented events happening elsewhere. Come to think of it, a weekender without being ambushed by hordes of underrated juniors is not necessarily a bad thing.
REGIONAL
MICHAEL KALLOUR MEMORIAL CHAMPIONSHIP
By Greg Wilson
My thanks to David Absalom and Ron Groenhout for their games and tournament commentary, which I unreservedly stole for the sole purpose of making my life easier in writing this article!
Originally called The City of Newcastle Championship, this event has another name these days - the Michael Kallaur Memorial Championship. The tournament has been running here in Newcastle for well over fifty years since 1964 when Michael Kallaur became angry and disillusioned with the Newcastle Chess Club and set up his own rival tournament, the City of Newcastle Championship.
2010 Photo: Trophy before the name change
Michael paid for the trophy out of his own pocket which would have cost him a pretty penny in its day. Michael and the Newcastle Chess Club eventually overcame their differences, and the City of Newcastle Championship ran alongside and complemented Newcastle's other chess battleground, the prestigious Newcastle District Championship.
As a tribute to Michael's legacy to Novocastrian Chess, not just as a player, but as an organiser and administrator as well, the tournament was renamed the Michael Kallaur Memorial Championship in 2014.
The 7 Round, 25 strong player tournament, was conducted over consecutive Tuesday evenings on 1 May-12 June at the Wests City Club, Newcastle West, with a time control of 1 hour + 10 Seconds Fischer. Players were asked to contribute their best games from the tournament and some of these are given below.
Bernie O'Riordan played exceptionally well to embrace victory on 6/7 points. Bernie was defeated only by Ron Groenhout in Round 3, but bounced back to win his next four games to secure his name on the silverware for another year! Bernie won the title in 2011 and 2012 respectively. The Championship came down to the last round when Bernie and David Absalom squared off. Both were on 5/6 and this set up a winner takes all match. By David's own admission, he got comprehensively crushed in that final game of the tournament, eventually coming third, after being leapfrogged by Brett Saunders and Leo Martinez, leaving Bernie as the outright winner.
As will happen at club level, Ron Groenhout resigned his game against Jonathon Behne -Smith in Round 4 in a totally winning position! This gross error of judgement at the board basically set Ron back in getting his name onto the trophy and changed the outcome of the tournament. After this loss to Jonathon, Ron never really got back into the swing of things, being down on confidence. Yes, confidence can be a big ticket item at the board, even at club level. I'm sure that most of us will have had an unfortunate game that shattered the outcome of a tournament.
Standings
1 O'Riordan, Bernard 1752 6
2-3 Saunders, Brett 1472 5.5
Martinez, Leo 1476 5.5
4-5 Behne-Smith, Jonathon 1654 5
Absalom, David 1406 5
6 Dickson, Ian C 1542 4.5
7-10 Groenhout, Ron 1624 4
Whelan, Peter 1272 4
Gotzy, Rudy 1360 4
Nemeth, Bela L 1212 4
11-12 Brown, Brian 1178 3.5
Booth, Shaun 1409 3.5
13-19Lenton, James 1200 3
Kestermann, Heinz 1097 3
Cvetanovski, Michael 1220 3
Betts, Terry 1773 3
Kucera, Steven 1461 3
Tan, Philip 1423 3
Connell, Christopher 1084 3
20 Groenhout, Peter 1024 2.5
21 Moore, Elijah 1667 2
22-23 Antes, Ki 858 1.5
Mcilveen, Trevor 290 1.5
24-25Moncur, David 501 1
Meredith, Daryl 1000 1
Shaun Booth (1409) - Rudy Gotsky (1360) [D02]
2018 Michael Kallaur Memorial (4), Newcastle, 22.05.2018
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 h6 3.c4 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.g3 Bd6 6.c5 Be7 7.Bg2 b6 8.b4 Bb7 9.0-0 Nbd7 10.Qa4 c6 11.Bf4 b5 12.Qc2 Ng4 13.e4 Bg5 14.Nxg5 hxg5 15.Bd6 Ndf6 16.h3 Nh6 17.exd5 Kd7 18.dxe6+ fxe6 19.Nxb5 Ba6 20.Nc7 Bxf1 21.Bxf1 Nf5 22.Nxa8 Nxd6 23.cxd6 Qxa8 24.b5 Kxd6 25.Qxc6+ Ke7 26.Bg2 Nd5 27.Rc1 1-0
Ron Groenhout (1624) - Jonathan Behne Smith (1654) [E87]
2018 Michael Kallaur Memorial (4), Newcastle, 22.05.2018
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.Be3 e5 7.d5 a5 This gives up on the common thematic idea of a later a6 to support b5. It has been played 15 times in grand master chess. c6 is most common. 8.Nge2 Na6 9.g4 c6 10.Ng3 Nc7 11.Qd2 Re8 12.h4 Rb8 13.Bb6 Nd7 14.Ba7 Ra8 15.Be3 Nf8 16.h5 Rb8 17.Rd1 In the Sämisch Kings Indian, White is often advised not to castle Q-side. This would have been a different game, but it would have avoided the counterattack by Black on the d-file. 17...cxd5 18.Nxd5 Nxd5 My opponent reckoned 18.cxd5 was better, but Blacks Kingside looks secure and White has good chances of breaking through on the d-file. 19.Qxd5 Be6 20.Qxd6 Qf6 21.Be2 Red8 22.Qb6 Rxd1+ 23.Bxd1 Rd8 24.g5 Trying to be too clever. Be2 was more straightforward. 24...Rxd1+ 25.Ke2 Qd8 And White resigns in a totally winning position! Oh the horror of it all. Somehow or other I managed to miss that my Bishop on e3 guards the Queen. RxRd1 was an easy win for White. 0-1 [Ron Groenhout]
Terry Betts (1773) - David Absalom (1406) [C33]
2018 Michael Kallaur Memorial (5), Newcastle, 29.05.2018
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.f4 exf4 4.Nf3 Bc5 5.d4 Bb6 6.Bxf4 h6 7.0-0 d6 8.Nc3 Bg4 9.e5 Nxd4 10.Qxd4 Bxd4+ 11.Nxd4 Ne7 12.exd6 cxd6 13.Bxf7+ Kxf7 14.Bg5+ Kg8 15.Bxe7 Qxe7 16.Rae1 Qc7 17.Rf4 Bh5 18.Nd5 Qc5 19.Ne7+ Kh7 20.g4 Bg6 21.b4 Qxb4 22.Ref1 Rae8 23.Nd5 Qc5 White resigns 0-1
David Absalom (1406) - Brett Saunders (1472) [B34]
2018 Michael Kallaur Memorial (6), Newcastle, 05.06.2018
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 d6 7.Bc4 Nf6 8.f3 a6 9.a4 0-0 10.Qd2 Qc7 11.Bb3 Bd7 12.g4 Ne5 13.h4 h5 14.g5 Ne8 15.Nd5 Qd8 16.f4 Ng4 17.f5 Kh7 18.Nf4 Ne5 19.Qe2 Ng4 20.fxg6+ fxg6 21.Nde6 Bxe6 22.Nxe6 Qa5+ 23.Bd2 Qe5 24.Nxf8+ Bxf8 25.0-0-0 Rc8 And the game could not be reconstructed after this point. Black resigned on or about move 35. 1-0
Bernard O'Riordan (1752) - David Absalom (1406) [C26]
2018 Michael Kallaur Memorial (7), Newcastle, 12.06.2018
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 Nc6 4.fxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6.Nf3 Bb4 7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0 d6 9.h3 Re8 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Nd5 Ba5 13.Nh2 Re6 14.Qh5 c6 15.Nf4 Nxf4 16.Rxf4 Kf8 17.Qxh6+ Ke7 18.Raf1 Qb6 19.c3 Qxb2 20.Rxf6 Rxf6 21.Qxf6+ Kd7 22.Qxf7+ Kd8 23.Qf8+ Kc7 24.Rf7+ Kb6 25.Qd8# 1-0
Heinz Kestermann (1097) - Bela Nemeth (1212) [D04]
2018 Michael Kallaur Memorial (7), Newcastle, 12.06.2018
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 g6 4.Bd3 Bg7 5.c3 Nbd7 6.Nbd2 e6 7.0-0 0-0 8.Qe2 a6 9.e4 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Bxe4 Nf6 12.Bg5 Qd6 13.Bd3 Bd7 14.a3 Bc6 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Be4 Bg7 17.Bxc6 Qxc6 18.Rfe1 Qd5 19.Rad1 c6 20.Ne5 Rad8 21.Nf3 Bh6 22.Qe5 Bg7 23.Qxd5 Rxd5 24.b4 Rfd8 25.Re4 b6 26.c4 R5d7 27.a4 Bf8 28.Ne5 Rd6 29.g4 Bg7 30.f4 f5 31.gxf5 exf5 32.c5 bxc5 33.bxc5 fxe4 34.cxd6 Rxd6 35.Kf2 g5 36.Ke3 gxf4+ 37.Kxf4 e3 38.Kxe3 Bxe5 39.Rg1+ Bg7 40.Rg4 Rd5 41.Kd3 c5 42.Kc4 Rxd4+ 43.Rxd4 cxd4 44.Kd3 Kf7 45.Ke4 Ke6 46.h3 h5 47.Kd3 Kd5 48.Kc2 Kc4 0-1
Brett Saunders (1472) - Ian Dickson (1542) [E72]
2018 Michael Kallaur Memorial (7), Newcastle, 12.06.2018
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 d6 5.d4 0-0 6.e4 Nc6 7.Nf3 Bg4 8.0-0 e5 9.Be3 Bxf3 10.Bxf3 exd4 11.Bxd4 Nxd4 12.Qxd4 Nd7 13.Qe3 Ne5 14.Be2 Re8 15.Rad1 Qc8 16.Kg2 a6 17.a3 Rb8 18.b4 Ng4 19.Qf4 Nf6 20.Kg1 Nd7 21.Nd5 Ne5 22.Qh4 c6 23.Ne7+ Rxe7 24.Qxe7 Bf8 25.Qg5 Qe6 26.Rfe1 f6 27.Qe3 Kg7 28.f4 Nd7 29.Qd4 c5 30.Qd5 Qxd5 31.exd5 b6 32.Bd3 Kf7 33.g4 Re8 34.Rxe8 Kxe8 and Black lost on time 1-0
Michael Kallaur (deceased) receiving Newcastle District Chess Association life membership plaque from Doug Carey (deceased).
NEWCASTLE JUNE RAPID PLAY
By Greg Wilson
Sunday 17 June saw a 7 Round Rapid Play, 20 Minutes per player guillotine finish, at Wests Newcastle Club. Yes, shunned by FIDE, we still hold guillotine finishes here at Newcastle. Greg Wilson and David Absalom were the arbiters. There were no games scored in this tournament.
A field of 18 players, came from afar to compete. Peter Abbott, Jeff Cabilin and Gary Armstrong trekked from Sydney, whilst Karel Hursky, Liam Clifford, Sean Tehan and Braiden Cox came from the Central Coast.
David and I had our work cut out in each round watching the clocks for the guillotine finish, as there were many hard fought games in time scramble situations at all levels of play, making for a close competition. Plenty of nervous energy was observed on the day, with cries of anguish filling the playing area, as fortunes ebbed and flowed at the boards. With trembling hands hovering over pieces, amid Tal-like stares and nervous twitches, opponent's respiratory functions seemed on the verge of failure on occasions. I'm sure that the Royal Game, and especially guillotine finishes, wipes off about a decade of years from a chess player's life expectancy!
As in keeping with the above paragraph, it was a cliffhanger finish in the final round, with Peter Bradshaw squaring off against Karel Hursky. Karel was going for outright victory but made an inaccuracy under immense time pressure. With Peter only having 4 seconds left on his clock, he checked Karel with his Rook. Karel moved his King but unfortunately kept his Monarch on the same file as Peter's checking Rook (not getting out of check), resulting in an illegal move and a 2 minute time penalty. Karel with only a bare 3 seconds left on his clock resigned graciously, as Peter would have had 2 minutes and 4 seconds on his clock after the time allocation was added. This result from this final game left 3 players tying for outright first in the competition. Final standings are as follows with 3 Divisions for prize money.
Open Division: Equal First were Karel Hursky (Central Coast), Peter Abbott (Sydney), Jonathon Behne-Smith (Newcastle).
Under 1600: Equal First were Shaun Booth (Newcastle) and Brett Saunders (Newcastle).
Under 1200: Equal First were Heinz Kestermann (Newcastle Coalfields), Steve Kucera (Newcastle Coalfields) and Braiden Cox (Central Coast).
Standings
1-3 Hursky, Karel P 2025 5.5
Behne-Smith, Jonathon 1733 5.5
Abbott, Peter 2130 5.5
4-6 Saunders, Brett 1579 4.5
Bradshaw, Peter 1838 4.5
Booth, Shaun 1536 4.5
7-9 Cabilin, Jeff 2061 4
Martinez, Leo 1476 4
Dickson, Ian C 1548 4
10-13 Kestermann, Heinz 1186 3
Kucera, Steven 1176 3
Cox, Braiden 1191 3
Armstrong, Gary 1691 3
14-15 Nemeth, Bela L 1248 2.5
Antes, Ki 933 2.5
16-17 Tehan, Sean 900 2
Clifford, Liam 1559 2
18 Connell, Christopher 1034
RECENT EVENTS
OVERSEAS
27 May-8 Jun Altibox Norway Chess Stavanger Norway
Ding Liren withdrew after three rounds due to a cycling injury sustained during the first rest day. Final standings after 9 rounds: 1 Caruana 5/8, 2 Carlsen 4.5/8, 3 Nakamura 4.5/8, 4 Anand 4.5/8, 5 So 4/8, 6 Aronian 4/8, 7 Mamedyarov 3.5/8, 8 MVL/3/8, 9 Karjakin 3/8. The winner will face the runner-up Carlsen in a match for Carlsen’s title commencing in London on 9 November.
Photo: Altibox Norway Chess
1-10 Jun American Continental Championship Montevideo Uruguay
Top seed GM Sam Shankland won with 9/11 half a point clear of Diego Flores to follow up on his first US Championship title win in April and his Capablanca Memorial win in May. The 26 year-old native of California is now in the ascendant in America, deferring only to Caruana and Nakamura.
Photo: US Chess Champ
6 Jun 19th Anatoly Karpov Tournament Poikovsky Russia
GM Dmitry Jakovenko wins 6.5/9 ahead of GM Ian Nepomniachtchi and GM Boris Gelfand on 2-3 places.
Photo: Evgeny Vashenyak
2-4 Jun 41st Trusts Chess Open Auckland NZ
Won by IM Anthony Ker 5/6 ahead of FMs Michael Steadman, Robert Smith, Ben Hague & Alexei Kulashko all 4.5/6.
2010 Photo: Wikipedia
12-16 Jun Grand Chess Tour Rapid and Blitz YourNextMove Leuven Belgium
Wesley So won from Grischuk, Caruana, Nakamura, Aronian, MVL, Mamedyarov, Karjakin, Anand, and Giri.
Final standings: In the rapid, a win is worth 2 points, a draw is 1 point and a loss is 0. In the blitz, a win is 1 point, a draw is .5 points and a loss is 0
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GM Wesley So triumphant
20-24 Jun Grand Chess Tour Rapid and Blitz Paris France
zThe format of Leuven was repeated in Paris and won by GM Hikaru Nakamura.
Photo: Europe-Echecs
“Finally, after 63 games of chess in 28 days, it is time to take a break from chess and enjoy the summer!!” Hikaru Nakamura @GMHikaru tweet 25 June.
21-25 Jun World Cadets U8, U10, U12 Rapid & Blitz Championships Minsk, Belarus
Photo: FIDE
The 2nd FIDE World Cadets Rapid & Blitz Championships among boys and girls under 8, 10 and 12 years old have finished with more than 750 young chess players from 27 countries taking part in both events.
Head of the host Belarusian Chess Federation Anastasia Sorokina at the opening ceremony. Australia delights at President Sorokina’s soaring international reputation.
AUSTRALIA
2-3 Jun Chess People Open Tarragindi Qld
A warm-up for the Gold Coast Open, the tournament was won by FM Gene Nakauchi with a perfect score:
1st - Gene Nakauchi 6/6
2nd- Brian Kemish 5/6
=3rd - Nizami Ousmand 4/6
=3rd - Tony Weller 4/6
Photo: CAQ Newsletter 26 June 2018
8-11 Jun Victorian Open Fitzroy Vic
Won by GM Hrant Melkumyan on a regular visit to Australia with a picket fence score of 7/7 at the Melbourne Chess Club from a capacity participation of 103, prize winners were:
Open
1st (7): GM Melkumyan, Hrant
2nd (6): IM Izzat, Kanan
3rd= (5.5):
WFM Nguyen, Giang
WGM Ryjanova, Julia
CM Narenthran, Tharmaratnam
Dizdarevic, Mehmedalija
Flitney, Adrian
U1800
1st (5): CM Crowley, Regan
2nd= (4.5):
Kalisch, Tom
Dai, Cheng
Datar, Tejas
CM Plaganyi, Gyula
Middleton, Jody
Mitelman, Boris
Zafirakos, Jesse
Mann, Anthony
Li, Oliver
Hinton, Guy
U1500
1st (4.5): Do,Aaron
2nd= (4):
Srinivasan,Arjun B
Sanusi-Goh,Gavyn
U1350
1st= (4):
Gao, James Lequan
U1100
1st (4): Kannan, Archit
2nd= (3.5):
Prince,AlanChan,Dylan
Unrated
Mahal, Ajay
9-10 Jun Susan Howard Memorial Weekend Tournament Adelaide SA
Alan Goldsmith shared first place with visiting titled players GM Johansen and IM Morris with 36 players to honour the memory of SACA President George Howard’s late wife of 40 years.
Leading scores:
1 Morris,James 2575 IM VIC 5.0
2 Johansen,Darryl K 2414 GM VIC 5.0
3 Goldsmith,Alan D 2086 SA 5.0
4 Tao,Trevor 2408 IM SA 4.5
5 Jordan,William 2297 FM SA 4.0
6 Sheldrick,Kevin 2072 SA 4.0
7 Sanders,Peter J 1708 SA 4.0
8 Thavarajah,Preshaan 1644 SA 4.0
9 Cinco,Dino 1503 SA 4.0
9-11 Jun Tasmanian Open Burnie Tas
Kevin Bonham adds one more to his extensive set of Tasmanian Open wins. Leading scores:
1 K Bonham 5.5
2 A Cox 5
3 I Rout 4.5
4 D McMahon 4
5 I Little 4
Photo: FIDE
In response to a query from the editor, the winner furnished the following statistics:
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11 firsts or equal firsts from 27 attempts (including competing in the last 23 years in a row)
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four outright firsts and seven equal firsts. Four of the seven equal firsts would have been first on countback had it been used for first place.
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outright wins in 1997, 2003, 2006, 2018
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11 is the record for Open titles (no-one else has more than four)
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For Tasmanian Championships, the (much more formidable!) record is Otto Weber's 13 from 16 attempts. The Open did not exist in Weber's day.
Some history: There was a once-off Tasmanian Open in 1933 but the modern event dates from 1975. From about 1990 it has tended to clash with bigger events in other states and so has mainly attracted Tasmanian players in this time. To avoid the confusion that arises in some jurisdictions between "Open Champions" and "Closed Champions", the title of the event is simply Tasmanian Open. It is a TCA title that can be won by anyone in the world but it is not a state Championship.
9-11 Jun NSW Open Strathfield NSW
Held at the Russian Club, FM Raymond Song and IM Junta Ikeda tied for first place with 6/7. Ikeda lead going into the final round but was held to a draw by Australian Champion GM Max Illingworth while Song was able to catch Ikeda by beating IM Gary Lane. Illingworth finished in 3rd place, alongside FM Kevin O'Chee on 5.5. A number of prominent players ended up in a tie for 5th place on 4.5 including GM Anton Smirnov, IM Gary Lane and WGM Jilin Zhang.
Photo: Alana Chibnall
The Minor event was won by Frank Low 6/7 with Stephen Jago Gary Armstrong and Lachlan Lee tied for second on 5.5/7. This year's event with 136 players was considerably aided by the addition of a third arbiter NA Nick Kordahi assisting IA Shaun Press and IA Alana Chibnall.
16 Jun Noble Park Chess Club Open concluded. Noble Park Vic
There was a three-way tie for 1st place with Leon Leontyev, Eugene Schön and John Nemeth sharing on 6/7 with 12 starters in the top group.
16-17 Jun Wendy Terry Memorial Rothwell Qld
The Queensland Women's Chess League ran a strong tournament including 9 players rated over 2000. IM Brodie McClymont was unwell on the Sunday morning so unfortunately had to withdraw. Leading scores with 46 players:
1-3 Williams, Bruce 2227 5/6
Stojic, Dusan 2328 5
Balague Camps, Marc 2174 5
4-6 Solomon, Stephen J 2417 4.5
Dowden, Tony 2006 4.5
Renjith, Sravan 1795 4.5
COMING EVENTS
OVERSEAS
25 Jun-4 Jul Commonwealth Championships Delhi India
Paul Glissan is representing Australia in the Seniors division and Aleksy Ginovic in the Under 16 Open.
7-15 Jul George Trundell Masters Auckland NZ
Invited players:
1Lane, Gary W AUS IM 2388
2Hague, Ben NZL FM 2353
3Sareen, Vishal IND IM 2346
4Kulashko, Alexei NZL FM 2339
5Wohl, Aleksandar H. AUS IM 2335
6Wallis, Christopher AUS FM 2320
7Gong, Daniel Hanwen NZL FM 2298
8Ang, Alphaeus Wei Ern NZL CM 2272
9Garbett, Paul Anthony NZL IM 2201
10Polishchuk, Kirill NZL 2128
7-15 Jul World Team Championship 50+, 65+ Radebeul (near Dresden) Germany
7-15 Jul 14th Asian Schools Chess Championships Open & Girls under 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 & 17 Kaluthara, Sri Lanka
6-16 Aug Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival Abu Dhabi UAE
10-17 Aug Asia Pacific Youth International Open Taoyuan Taiwan
11-15 Aug Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz Saint Louis USA
17-26 Aug Asian Junior and Girls Championships Ulaanbaatar Mongolia
17-28 Aug Sinquefield Cup Saint Louis USA
17-27 Aug 15th Malaysian Chess Festival Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
19-26 Aug 12th Asian Dragons International Tournament Taipei City Taiwan
4-16 Sep World Junior and Girls U20 Championship Kocaeli-Gebze Turkey
Entry forms must be filled from the National Federations and returned to the Organizing Committee no later than 31 July 2018. This date is the registration deadline. Full board accommodation will be offered in a 4* and 3* Hotels in Kocaeli.
Kocaeli Province (Turkish: Kocaeli ili, pronounced [kodʒaˈeli]) is a province of Turkey. Its capital is İzmit, which is sometimes referred to as Kocaeli itself. Its capital is İzmit, which is sometimes referred to as Kocaeli itself. The largest towns in the province is now İzmit and Gebze. The city is a giant natural harbour.
23 Sep-6 Oct 43rd World Chess Olympiad Batumi Georgia
26 Sep- 6 Oct 89th FIDE Congress Batumi Georgia
1-11 Oct NZ Chess Festival Palmerston North NZ
Ten tournaments, including North Island, NZ Senior and NZ Junior championships for all three disciplines (classical, rapid and blitz).
3 Oct FIDE Presidential Election Batumi Georgia
14-21 Oct 1st World Team Championship for Disabled Dresden Germany
16-19 Oct World Youth U14, U16, U18 Rapid and Blitz Championships Halkidiki Greece
19 Oct-1 Nov World Youth U14, U16, U18 Championships Halkidiki Greece
1-25 Nov Women’s World Championship Khanty-Mansiysk Russia
2-12 Nov Asian Seniors Championship Tagaytay Philippines
3-16 Nov World Cadet U8, U10, U12 Championships Santiago de Compostela (Galicia) Spain
9-28 Nov World Championship Match London UK
The venue is as yet unknown. FIDE’s contractual organizer is Agon.
17-30 Nov World Senior Championship 2018 Bled Slovenia
Photo: Lake Bled Wikipedia
24 Nov-3 Dec World Youth U-16 Olympiad Manavgat-Antalya Turkey
5-13 Jan 2019 2019 Oceania Youth & U20 Championships Auckland NZ
President of the Oceania Chess Confederation Paul Spiller advises: “The 2019 Oceania Youth & Under 20 Championships will be the inaugural such event for the Oceania Zone and will be able to award direct titles (as long as we get 3 federations represented). The Under 20 is a direct IM title with even the possibility of a GM norm! The organisers are providing accommodation for official representatives in each division as well as for the team captain as appointed by the Australian & other Oceania federations.” The entry form is on this link.
14-29 Jan 2019 New Zealand Chess Congress Auckland NZ
Over NZ$10,000 in prizes. The Australian Open is expected to finish on 13 January if tradition is followed, so you can follow that with this (if you wish). See entry form here.
18-24 Feb 2019 Oceania Zonal Tournament [to be confirmed] Guam
AUSTRALIA
28 Jun-2 Jul Gold Coast Open Arundel Qld
The Australian Olympiad Open team in its entirety have entered, now in progress.
29 Jun-1 Jul Gold Coast Major U1800 Arundel Qld
30 Jun-1 Jul Gold Coast Minor U1200 Arundel Qld
30 Jun-2 Jul Victorian Junior Championships Wantirna South Vic
3-6 Jul Queensland Junior Championships Boondall Qld
6-8 Jul Checkmate Open Adelaide SA
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7-8 Jul Checkmate Challengers Adelaide SA
8 Jul NSW Rapid West Ryde NSW
10 Jul July Blitz Adelaide SA
10 Jul Holiday Coaching Clinic [junior] North Ryde NSW
10 Jul Girls Fun Day [junior] North Ryde NSW
11 Jul Sydney Winter Fun One Day Tournament [junior] North Ryde NSW
12-13 Jul Sydney Winter Fun Two Day Tournament [junior] North Ryde NSW
16-20 Jul NSW Junior Championships North Ryde NSW
17 Jul Newcastle District Blitz Newcastle West NSW
17 Jul July Allegro Adelaide SA
19 Jul Orange Winter Junior Tournament East Orange NSW
20 Jul NSW Junior Lightning Championships North Ryde NSW
21 Jul SACA Quiz Night Adelaide SA
21-22 Jul Mackay Open South Mackay Qld
21-22 Jul WA School Chess League Finals Leeming WA
28-29 Jul ANU Open Canberra ACT
There are $3300 in prizes, with $1000 first prize in the open.
29 Jul Newcastle Winter Family Tournament Broadmeadow NSW
5 Aug South Australian Rapid Championship Adelaide SA
11-12 Aug NSWCA August Weekender Cammeray NSW
11-12 Aug North Queensland Open Qld
12 Aug Multicultural Allegro Adelaide SA
18 Aug Tasmanian Lightning Championships Hobart Tas
18-19 Aug Tasmanian Rapid Championships Hobart Tas
18-19 Aug Willeton Open Leeming WA
25-26 Aug Cairns Open White Rock Qld
26 Aug WA Junior Allegro Championship Leeming WA
26 Aug Wollongong Winter Tournament [juniors] Fairy Meadow NSW
1-2 Sep Best in the West Altona Vic
8-9 Sep Bundaberg Open/Queensland Open Bundaberg Qld
8-9 Sep Gufeld Cup North Woodvale WA
22-23 Sep Nell Van de Graaff Classic Gold Coast Qld
23 Sep WA Lightning Championship North Woodvale WA
27 Sep-1 Oct Queensland Championships Brisbane Qld
29 Sep-1 Oct Ryde-Eastwood Open West Ryde NSW
29 Sep-1 Oct Hosworth FIDE Open Adelaide SA
29 Sep-1 Oct Hosworth Foundation U1600 Weekender Adelaide SA
13-14 Oct Queensland Women & Girls Championship East Brisbane Qld
13-14 Oct KIngsley Open North Woodvale WA
27-28 Oct Leo Wilkinson Memorial Redcliffe Qld
2-6 Nov MCC Greg Hjorth Open Weekender Fitzroy Vic
17-18 Nov Queensland Veteran Championship Bracken Ridge Qld
24-25 Nov Christmas Open Leeming WA
25 Nov NSW Blitz Championship West Ryde NSW
27 Nov Lidums November Allegro Adelaide SA
1-2 Dec Australian Schools Team Final Canberra ACT
8-9 Dec Brisbane Open Brisbane Qld
8-14 Dec Lidums Australian Young Masters GM/IM Norm Event Adelaide SA
10-14 Dec Lidums Australian Young Masters Open Adelaide SA
11 Dec Lidums December Allegro #1 Adelaide SA
12-14 Dec Lidums Australian Young Masters Under 1200 Adelaide SA
16 Dec Brisbane v Gold Coast Shield Qld
18 Dec Lidums December Allegro #2 Adelaide SA
26 Dec Lidums Australian Allegro Championship Adelaide SA
VirtualPieces
FESTIVALS
SUMMER NOSTOS FESTIVAL
Athens 17 - 24 June
Nigel Short & Garry Kasparov were in Athens 22 June on the big screen at the Festival supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
Photo: https://twitter.com/nigelshortchess
The SNFestival “invites us to find something of ourselves, bringing together—under a single roof and on the same stage—all those that surprise, excite us and “take us back to our favourite summers.”
PRIMARY EDUCATION
QUEENSLAND INTER-SCHOOL CHESS
A massive 410 players at the Gold Coast North Primary event, held at Pacific Pines State School on 5 June by Gardiner Chess. This smashed the previous record by more than 100.
Photo: Gardiner Chess
HANDICAP CHESS
LAUNCESTON
CHESS
CLUB
Last week Esther Nebreja Beeton observed a new development in the long history of handicap chess:
Photo: Launceston Chess Club
Aidan Cox playing handicapped against Sara who remains unperturbed.
STYLE
GM FABIANO CARUANA
The anointed challenger for Carlsen’s world crown: GM Fabiano Caruana of the USA (born 30 July 1992) as seen by worldchess.com.
Problem of the Month – No.27
Selected by Peter Wong
Nils Bakke
Dagbladet 1985
White mates in 2
Visit OzProblems.com for an introduction to chess composition and more problem examples.
For solution see end.
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CLUBS
Clubs without individual websites may be listed under their state associations
Australian Capital Territory
Belconnen/University of Canberra Bruce
Canberra Canberra City
Tuggeranong Wanniassa
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Canterbury Lakemba
Central Coast Leagues Gosford
Dubbo RSL
Ettalong
Harbord Diggers Freshwater
Newcastle District Chess Association Newcastle West
Norths Cammeray
Port Macquarie
Rooty Hill
Ryde Eastwood West Ryde
St George Kogarah
Sydney Burwood
Tamworth
Wagga Wagga
Wilton Community
Wollongong Balgownie
Queensland
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South Australia
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Adelaide University North Terrace
Ingle Farm Library
LeFevre Queenstown
Marion Cultural Oaklands Park
Modbury Modbury North
Norwood
West Torrens North Plympton
Tasmania
Burnie Havenview
Devonport East Devonport, in recess
Hobart Sandy Bay
Launceston Newnham
Victoria
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Bandicoot Craigieburn
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Geelong
Hobsons Bay Altona
Melbourne Fitzroy
Noble Park
Serbian North Fitzroy
Wyndham
Western Australia
Metropolitan Nedlands
Perth Woodvale
Southern Suburbs Leeming
AUSTRALIAN CHESS FEDERATION
The Australian Chess Federation is an incorporated association (association number A 01325) under the Associations Incorporation Act 1991 of the ACT
President Gary Wastell: president@auschess.org.au
Deputy President Bill Gletsos: deputy_president@auschess.org.au
Vice-president Kevin Bonham: vice_president1@auschess.org.au
Vice-president Leonid Sandler: vice_president2@auschess.org.au
Treasurer Bob Keast: treasurer@auschess.org.au
Secretary Rob Watson: secretary@auschess.org.au
Delegates
ACT - Cam Cunningham: actcouncillor@auschess.org.au
NSW- Richard Gastineau-Hills: nswcouncillor@auschess.org.au
Queensland- Mark Stokes: qldcouncillor@auschess.org.au
SA -George Howard: sacouncillor@auschess.org.au
Tasmania- Tom Saltmarsh: tascouncillor@auschess.org.au
Victoria- Chris Wallis: viccouncillor@auschess.org.au
WA- Norbert Muller: wacouncillor@auschess.org.au
VirtualPieces
Solution to Problem of the Month – No.27
Try 1.Qc7? (waiting).
1…N~ 2.Qxb7/Qb8, 1…B~ 2.Qb8, but 1…Ka7!
Key 1.Kc4! (waiting).
1…N~ 2.Qxb7/Bxb7, 1…Nxa5+ 2.Qxa5, 1…Nd8 2.Qa6, 1…Ba6+ 2.Qxa6, 1…Bc8 2.Qb8.
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