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Gardiner Chess Bulletin # 30 - 8 May 2005
In This Issue
Surfers Paradise Mind Games Promotion Sat/Sun 28/29 May
Players of all standards and abilities will be heading to Surfers Paradise for this unique and very well sponsored event. Last year this was big, and this year it promises to be bigger and better. There will be three chess events over the weekend. The total prize list is up to $4,650. Not bad for a weekend.
Gold Coast Rapid Championship - next Sunday 15 May at the Chess Centre
This is always a very popular event in its own right, but on this occasion the timing will be excellent practice for the Mind Games events. Be at the chess centre by 9am for a 9.15am start. Entry fees are adults $40, Concession $35 and Juniors $30 (third and subsequent members of same family play free of charge). There is a $10 discount for everyone entering and paying by midnight on Saturday 14 May. As usual the cafe will be open all day.
Prizes are: 1st $125 + Trophy, 2nd $85 + Trophy, 3rd $50 + Trophy and five ratings prizes of $30 each. An entry form is available via our webpage (under what's coming up soon). Perhaps the easiest way to enter is at our webpage (pay online) with your credit card.
Queenstown, NZ Adventure 13 to 25 January 2006 - Get in quick! Arrangements for the big trip are firming up. We now have a group of 12 who have paid non-refundable deposits. We have also persuaded Air NZ to hold an extra 8 seats for others who may wish to join our group, and extra rooms on hold at the Queenstown Lodge http://www.qlodge.co.nz/index2.htm. So if you are interested in joining in on what may be the chess holiday of a lifetime, please contact Graeme Gardiner on 5522 7221 or ggardiner@gardinerchess.com.
The main details are:
Queenstown is simply a magnificent destination, surrounded by mountains and situated next to a lovely lake. There’s lots to do and see on spare days. Billed as the adventure capital of the world. Many scenes from Lord of the Rings were filmed in this region. There are no traffic lights in Queenstown, just roundabouts. If you don't want to do the adventure things, then three excursions (though not included in our package) that may appeal to you are a day trip to the stunning Milford Sound (including cruise), a trip across the lake to the sheep station in the famous steamer TSS Earnshaw, and a trip up the mountain in a gondola for indescribable views and a fantastic seafood smorgasbord. For more information on Queenstown go to http://www.everythingqueenstown.com/.
The tournament will be located at the very well-appointed Millennium Hotel http://www.millenniumqueenstown.co.nz/. NZ$35,000 in prizes. Lots of hefty ratings prizes. 10 rounds starting at 3pm daily. 100 mins a side plus 60 secs a move (Fischer).
Our package, with three choices of accommodation at the Queenstown Lodge, includes return air fares Brisbane/Queenstown with Air NZ, Queenstown airport transfers, 12 nights accommodation at the Queenstown Lodge, cooked breakfasts daily, tournament entry fee and travel insurance. It does not include meals (other than breakfast) and excursions. Depending upon whether you choose bunk accommodation with en suite, hotel rooms or luxury self contained apartments, the cost per person varies between $1,300 and $1,970.
To register, simply reply to this email ggardiner@gardinerchess.com. We will need a non-refundable $100 per person holding deposit, with the full balance payable by 31 October 2005.
Chess Coaches Required
Gardiner Chess is constantly trying to fill demand for chess coaches in schools in South East Queensland. Many of our coaches like to teach at just a couple of schools per week. Others do more. We provide training and orientation through our very active Professional Development Manager, Nik Stawski. In some areas we are short of coaches. If you are interested in joining our ranks, please contact Graeme Gardiner on 5522 7221 or ggardiner@gardinerchess.com.
Gold Coast Open, Robina Town Centre, Sat/Sun 18/19 June - $3,000 in Prizes
This event is rated by our national magazine 'Australian Chess' as Australia's third most important weekender after the Doeberl Cup and Ballarat Begonia. Reigning champion, Grandmaster Ian Rogers will be playing, as he has done for the last 12 years. He is unlikely to get it all his own way as our visiting GM from Germany, Roland Schmaltz is very likely to be playing. And of course our local star IM Stephen Solomon never lets the GMs get off easily.
In recent years we have had sufficient players and playing strength to split the event into open and under 1600 sections. This has worked very well, with a lot of much closer games and less mis-matches. We very much hope to get a good turnout of adults in addition to the strong contingent of juniors who always gain much from the experience.
The Gold Coast Chess Club looks forward to welcoming you all to its flagship tournament. An entry form can be found at the Gardiner Chess webpage, and entry can be made using your credit card via 'pay online' at www.gardinerchess.com.
Caloundra Open, Sat/Sun 25/26 June - $3,000 in Prizes
The Caloundra Open had a dramatically larger field last year and they expect to improve upon this once again. Gardiner Chess will, as usual, be taking a contingent from the Gold Coast. Details of accommodation and transport will be made available shortly.
Queensland Junior Championships, 21-24 June
These are being held at the Marymac Centre, Annerley on Tues to Fri 21-24 June. This is for all age groups from under 8 to under 18. Apart from being the most important event in the state for our juniors, this is the best possible preparation for the upcoming Australian Junior Champiosnhips being held from 28 December to 9 January at the Carlton Crest Hotel, Brisbane.
Grandmaster Ian Rogers will be available on all four days to provide post-game analysis to all players, one of the very best ways of learning and improving playing strength. The Gold Coast Chess Club, the Chess Association of Queensland and Gardiner Chess are sponsoring Ian for this important task.
2005/2006 Australian Championships and Australian Junior Championships
Venue: Carlton Crest Hotel, Brisbane
Dates: Wed 28 December 2005 to Mon 9 January 2006
Both of these events have very proud traditions, especially the Australian Championships which go back to 1885. A search back through the records of venues for these events makes very interesting reading. The Australian Juniors have only ever been held five times in Brisbane, the last being in 1989. The Australian Championships have only been held three times in Brisbane, the last being in 1967! Amazingly, the only Australian Open ever held in Brisbane was the 1980/1981 event!!
So from this very surprising information we can see that Brisbane has been virtually starved of official Australian Championship events for 16 years in the case of the juniors and 25 years in the case of the adults. Even longer in the case of the Australian Championships - 38 years!!!
By putting on both the Australian Championships and Australian Juniors at the one venue at the same time, we believe that we are giving locals a very rare opportunity to spoil themselves and get right into the spirit of the tradition of these very important tournaments. Please, support the event by entering yourself, but also encourage all of your chess friends to indulge themselves too. And let's show the rest of Australia that we have a very strong local chess scene. We might even surprise ourselves.
Webmaster and fellow organiser Ian Murray and Wendy Gardiner have been putting in a lot of hours behind the scenes preparing our website for the events, and this will be up very soon now. The web address will be www.ozchess2006.com.
We are putting a lot of effort into the webpage, and this will be our main method of communication both before the big event, and during it. In order to have all games available on our website in pgn format late on each playing day, we have money in our budget to pay people to enter games. We will need staff to commit to working regular four-hour shifts just entering games from scoresheets either 10am to 2pm, or 5 to 9pm on all 11 playing days. Ian Murray has organised a LAN connection for a bank of 6 computers. If you think you might be interested in being one of the 'games enterers', please contact Ian Murray on 3349 2745 or chessqld@optusnet.com.au.
We are also looking for an audio-visual specialist to help put together a very slick presentation at the closing ceremony. Please contact Graeme Gardiner if you are able to help with this 5522 7221 or ggardiner@gardinerchess.com.
World Youth Championship 2005
Locals Moulthun Ly (Brisbane), Luthien Russell (Toowoomba) and Molly McGarity (Gold Coast) will be representing Australia at the World Youth Championship in Belfort, France from 18 to 29 July. It is a way off yet, but it might be worth bookmarking the official website now http://www.belfort-echecs.com/ We wish all three the very best of luck at this very important event.
School Holiday Chess Camps
We will be holding our usual school holiday daytime chess camps from 27 to 29 June and 1 July at the Gardiner Chess Centre (Gold Coast) and Marymac Centre (Annerley, Brisbane). An entry form is available on our webpage. On the Thursday, 30 June we will be holding a one day junior tournament at the Runaway Bay Shopping Village (see below).
Runaway Bay Shopping Village Junior Tournament, Thursday 30 June
We will be holding a one day junior tournament at Runaway Bay Shopping Village on Thursday 30 June. Entry fee is $5 for Gold Coast Chess Club members and $10 for non-members. There will be $500 in cash prizes, and of course it will be QJ rated. An entry form is available on our webpage www.gardinerchess.com
Highlands Tavern Chess Club, Toowoomba
Henry MacLennan has commenced a chess club at the Highlands Tavern, O'Brian Street, Toowoomba. It meets every Wednesday at 6.30pm. Come and have a fighting game of chess in an excellent venue. All equipment, including chess clocks supplied. Friendly company. Need more players now. Phone Henry on 4615 5580. Or just turn up and play.
Gold Coast Inter-School Teams Round Two at the Tarcoola Ballroom, Holiday Inn, Surfers Paradise
Gold Coast Primary Northside, Monday 30 May Gold Coast Primary Central and Championship, Tuesday 31 May Gold Coast Primary Southside, Wednesday 1 June
Gold Coast Secondary, Tuesday 31 May from 4 to 9pm
The top four teams in these competitions qualify for the state finals on 8/9 October
Brisbane Inter-Schools Teams Round Two at the Marymac Centre, Annerley
Brisbane Primary Teams Inter-School Round Two, Wed 25 May Brisbane Secondary Teams Inter-School Round Two, Thurs 26 May
The top four teams in each of these competitions qualify for the state finals on 8/9 October
Beaudesert Inter-School Teams Event
This will be held at the Beaudesert Community Sports Club on Monday 6 June.
Somerville House Primary School Teams Autumn Invitational
Organised by Patrick Byrom and Connie Pizzato, it is on Sunday, May 22nd, starting at 11.30 am, with registration closing at 11.00 am. There final event for the year will be held on 7 August.
Blackwater to host Queen's Birthday Chess tournament and workshop
The Queen's Birthday weekend this year will see an influx of players from all over Queensland for a chess workshop and tournament.
Organized by the Blackwater Chess Club, the tournament looks set to become a regular yearly event. Craig Dodd, the spokesman for the club and the facilitator for last year's tournament said that the occasion had grown remarkably from the first event held in 2003. “We had about 8 players for the 2003 tournament, mainly from the Gladstone and Rockhampton area, and 20 players turned up last year, some from as far away as Longreach and Winton. This year we are advertising with the various clubs and schools from Longreach through down to the Gold Coast and Brisbane. Interest has been expressed from various clubs and based on the response so far we don't think that it would be unreasonable to expect about 40 players to turn up.
Sponsorship has been sought from various local businesses and organizations for the event and letters have been posted. The Chess club would like to thank those who have already indicated their willingness to provide assistance. If there are other businesses or groups that feel they can assist, please contact the Club.
This year’s tournament will differ from last year's in the fact that all players will be separated into grades. There will be an intermediate grade for high school players and a junior grade for primary school players with the junior grade splitting again into two categories. Category 2 will be for players aged between 6 and 9 years and category 1 will be for players aged between 9 and 12. The reason for this is that the levels of play and concentration between a 6 year old and a 9 year old are vastly different. We want the players competing as much as possible against other players of similar ability. There was also a lot of interest last year from adult players wanting to participate. This year we are looking at running an open grade as well. Primarily, the open grade is for players over 18 years but will also include any players from the other grades who have chess rankings of 1000 or higher. The aim here is to have the more experienced players all within one group. This will be more of a challenge for these players than if they were restricted to their respective age groups. There are some very good players in the Kin Kora club who are young and no doubt there are also other young players from other clubs who would benefit from the challenge of playing adult players.
The Chess Club started officially last year with only two players. The club, which has close ties with the Kin Kora Junior Chess Club in Gladstone, was formed with the aim of promoting chess within the Blackwater area, focusing especially on younger players and youth of the town. Now the club has 10 permanent members of whom 7 are students. We are currently in the process of becoming affiliated with the Australian Chess Federation. This means that players' games (wins, losses or draws) are recorded and a national chess rating for each member is formed. This is good for the players as they can see themselves improving with every game they play. It also allows players to play against other similar rated players in tournaments.
Chess is a great way to exercise the mind in strategy and logic. Not only that, but it helps develop reasoning skills and being part of a club develops social skill. There are many opportunities to participate in different regional tournaments held every year.
The Blackwater Chess club meets every Thursday at the Salvation Army Hall from 7:00 until about 9:30 and welcomes all players of any age or experience. For any information about the workshop, tournament or just to join, please feel free to pop in on any meeting night, E-mail blackwater_chess@westnet.com.au or contact Craig on 49 861 687.
Bridge
There was a good turnout for this year's congress which was a Swiss Teams Novice event, with 12 tables taking part. We are sad to farewell John Dennis and Shirley Mazzer, our Directors since the Mudgeeraba Bridge Club formed 2 years ago. We wish them every happiness in their new life in northern NSW. They will be missed by the members of our friendly little club.
Webpage
There are a number of upcoming events promoted in this bulletin. Entry leaflets can be downloaded and printed from our webpage at www.gardinerchess.com. All events can be entered online with your credit card number using the secure 'pay online' button.
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With very best wishes to all
Graeme and Wendy Gardiner
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