Gardiner Chess Bulletin #44

In This Issue

Chess Olympiad, Australian Reps, Gold Coast Rapid, Queensland Champs, Gold Coast Open, DGT Easy Clocks, Chessbase 9 Starter Packs, Australian Junior Champs, Queensland Junior Champs, Skittles Comp, Suncoast Charles Sims Memorial, Day of Knights, Chess Camps, Runaway Bay Junior Tournament, CAQ Newsletter, Reports and Tournament Notices, Webpage.

Follow the Chess Olympiad

The Chess Olympiad, arguably the most important event in the world of chess, which is held bi-annually, starts today in Turin. Follow all the games and results at the official website www.chessolympiad-torino2006.org/eng/ The site for results is a little confusing at the time of writing - it looks like it could be http://schach.wienerzeitung.at/. The Queensland representatives are IM David Smerdon playing on board two for Australia in the open event with IM Alex Wohl on board five, WIM Arianne Caoili on board three for the Australian women's team, and WFM Kieran Lyons who is playing on board two for Fiji women. Australia is 50th seed in the open event, and 37th in the women's event.

Alexandra Jule and Jessica Kinder to represent Australia

Alexandra Jule, the current Australian Girls' Champion, and Jessica Kinder, the current Australian Girls' Masters Champion have been selected to represent Australia at the World Youth Championships, scheduled to be held at Bat'umi, Georgia from Oct 20-31. Alex will play in the under 18 event, and Jessica in the under 16s. Congratulations to both girls on this fine achievement (they are good friends and live just down the road from each other). This event was originally scheduled for Turkey, but the current FIDE (world chess federation) board controversially moved it to Georgia. As there is no official webpage available for the world youth championships yet, there is some speculation that the event may be moved back to Turkey if the Bessel Kok team manage to defeat the incumbents at the FIDE Congress on 2 June. The battle for control of FIDE is hotting up, so stay tuned to the Olympiad for developments.

Gold Coast Rapid Championship next Sunday 28 May at the Chess Centre

All players, young and old are most welcome to participate in the Gold Coast Rapid Championship next Sunday. These regular Sunday events at the centre are very popular, averaging around 70. Enter early to gain the discount. Full details on our webpage www.gardinerchess.com.

Queensland Championship and Reserves

This important tournament will be held at Ferny Grove State School on the Queen's Birthday weekend, 10-12 June. The main championship event, which is being run as a round-robin tournament, is limited to 8 players based upon CAQ selection criteria. This event starts with a round on Friday evening, 9 June. All other players participate in the Reserves event commencing on the Saturday. Full details on our webpage www.gardinerchess.com or www.caq.org.au

Gardiner Chess Gold Coast Open Sat/Sun 24/25 June at Carrara Community Centre, Gold Coast

In order to ensure that this event retains its status as one of the three top Grand Prix events in Australia, Gardiner Chess is sponsoring the event for $2,000. This has enabled the organiser, Peter Bender of Outreach Chess, to increase prize money to a massive $5,400. As usual GM Ian Rogers will be participating, and we have already heard of several interstate players coming along to raid our coffers. So let's turn up in big numbers to repel the southern invaders. But let's also show some true Queensland hospitality. If you are happy to billet anyone travelling and needing accommodation, please let us know. Our aim for the event is an absolute minimum of 100 entrants. And don't forget, big Grand Prix points up are up for grabs, and $16,000 Grand Prix prizes at the end of the year include cash and four return tickets to the 2007 Malaysian Chess festival to be held in Kuala Lumpar. For an entry form go to www.gardinerchess.com.

We've just received this information from Peter Bender: It is one of only three Category 5 GP events; $4000 prize money for Open; Supporting U1600 event with 1st and 2nd for 5 divisions. Some free accommodation available. New venue at Carrara Community Centre, Neilsons Road, Carrara. contact outreachchess@bigpond.com or Peter Bender 07 5556 0434. Please visit www.nationalrides.com.au for an electronic entry form.

DGT Easy Clocks

The new slimline, sexy looking, easy to use 'Easy' clocks have arrived from Germany. We have been testing samples at the chess centre for the last couple of months, and they are great value. At $50 they are cheaper than the old analogue clocks, and whilst they don't have all the options of the DGT 2000 fairly widely used in Queensland, they still have various options, that make them far more versatile than analogue clocks. They only need two batteries, and these are very easy to change. The demand in Europe is so great, that the suppliers had to restrict our order. To see what they look like, go to www.dgtprojects.com/clock_easy.htm. Gardiner Chess has a wide range of chess products available, at prices cheaper or comparable with other suppliers in Australia. We will be running a chess shop at the Gold Coast Open. See you then.

Chessbase 9 Starter Packs

We have a few remaining copies of Chessbase 9 Starter Pack. The normal price is $275, but our price whilst stocks last is $190. Students playing in the Gold Coast Junior Masters and Brisbane Young Champions series can purchase it for the ridiculous price of just $150, also whilst stocks last.

Australian Junior Championships Canberra 14 to 26 January 2007

Gardiner Chess has organised a complete package deal for this important event. We will be flying with Virgin on 13 Jan returning on 27 Jan, which is just before the start of term one on 29 Jan. All Queensland juniors are welcome to be part of our 'team'. The package includes return air fares, accommodation at Sundown Motel Resort, Narrabundah www.sundownvillage.com.au/, insurance, all meals (mostly home-cooked), entry fees to the main, rapid and lightning events and excursions (eg movies, ice skating etc). Our accommodation is 5-10 mins walk from the playing venue Hotel Heritage. Parents are welcome to stay as part of the 'team'.

Prices: Kids $1,500, Adults $1,300. Note: A discount of $200 will apply if a deposit of $200 is paid by 30 June 2006, and the full amount is paid by 15 November 2006. This will be strictly applied.

Optional Extra: For best results, daily preparation by one of our coaches is highly recommended. Each coach will be responsible for coaching approximately 8 kids. Each kid is guaranteed a minimum of 8 hours 'one on one' coaching during the event. Cost of Optional Coaching $300. This needs to be booked at the same time as the package, as we have to know how many coaches to take as part of the 'team'.

The full amount is payable by 30 November latest.

Payment can be made at the chess centre, or via our webpage.

Queensland Junior Championships Tuesday to Friday 27-30 June at Gardiner Chess Centre, Mudgeeraba, Gold Coast

All juniors under the age of 18 on 1 January 2006 are eligible to participate in the Queensland Junior Championships, which is an important lead-up event to the Australian Championships. The under 8s play just on the Tuesday, the under 10s and 12s play on the Thursday and Friday, whilst the under 14s, 16s and 18s play on all four days. The under 8s may play in the under 8 event, and also the under 10s if they wish. GM Ian Rogers will be providing post game analysis for all players on all four days. Gold Coasters please let us know if you would be prepared to billet players travelling for the event.

Gold Coast Adult Club Wednesday evenings - Upcoming Skittles Competition Wed 21 June

Numbers for the adult club at the chess centre have been up in recent weeks. The club championship is currently in progress, with Alex Ruddy leading after 6 of 8 rounds. On the evening of Wednesday 21 June, GM Ian Rogers has suggested, and he will participate in, a Skittles competition. Rules are as follows:
(i) 5 minutes per player per game, tournament running from 7-10pm

(ii) Players are eliminated after they have dropped a certain number of points. Players get more points to lose depending on their rating. A possible chart might be:

Above 2200 1.5 points

2000-2200 2 points

1800-2000 2.5 points

1600-1800 3 points

1400-1600 3.5 points

1200-1400 4 points

1000-1200 4.5 points

Below 1000 5 points

Thus a loss and a draw would see the top players eliminated. Most players are eliminated between rounds 5 and 9, with tournaments generally lasting about 13 rounds, possibly less. We might extend the points down a bit further (to U/1000 and U/800) but then the tournament would likely be a couple of rounds longer.

(iii) Pairings according to normal Swiss rules until everyone left has played each other; then just drop the rule about people not being able to play twice. Similarly, everyone can only have the bye (full point) once, until everyone has had it.

The rounds don't need to be scheduled beforehand - as players get eliminated everything seems to speed up.

The handicapping system works quite well. In theory the top players who survive the middle rounds should win but if you have, say, Peter, Ian and Nell all with half a point left going in to round 12, Nell could easily win by getting the bye while Ian and Peter eliminate each other through a draw. Get the idea? All players would be most welcome to come along to the club for this interesting, and fun event.

Suncoast Charles Sims Memorial Challenge Sunday 4 June

The Suncoast Chess club will be holding this junior individual and schools teams challenge at Chancellor Secondary College in a fortnight (time 11am to 5pm). This is an allegro tournament with time controls of 15 mins a side. Don't miss out. Contact Tony Powell 5494 7586 or Rebecca Bleney 5445 6435 mob 0409 066639 email becharte@austarnet.com.au. The club has just launched a new website www.sunchess.org.au/

Logan City Chess Club - Day of Knights Sat 1 July

This is an early warning to get ready for the Day of Knights Active Chess Tournament being hosted by the Logan City Chess Club at Sunnybank Bridge Club, 69 Nathan Road, Runcorn on Saturday 1 July from 9.15am to 3.45pm. Guaranteed prize fund $720. Numbers limited to 64. Entry form available at www.gardinerchess.com (calendar for 2006, 1 July). The entry fee of $20 includes lunch. Editor's note: You'd better get in quick, because we'll bet that there will be many more entries than 64, especially with the free lunch thrown in.

Chess Camps Gold Coast and Brisbane Mon, Tues, Wed and Fri 3, 4, 5 and 7 July

As usual, we will be holding school holiday, daytime chess camps for juniors of all ages and abilities. The Gold Coast camp will be held at the chess centre, whilst the Brisbane camp will be held at the Marymac Centre, Annerley. The Gold Coast camp will have a minimum of three coaches in attendance, and the Brisbane camp will have at least two coaches, irrespective of numbers.

Runaway Bay Shopping Village Junior Tournament Thursday 6 July

The shopping centre junior tournaments are always extremely popular, with turnouts nearly always well exceeding 100. There will be $500 in guaranteed cash prizes, plus various encouragment awards. Last year the event coincided with a massive storm that dumped around 400mm on the Gold Coast in just 10 hours. Many turned around unable to make it through the floods. But still an amazing 42 turned up. We hope to see you there, rain or shine.

CAQ Newsletter

If you wish to subscribe to the new CAQ newsletter, please contact Bill Powell wpo32528@bigpond.net.au

Reports and Tournament Notices

Reports and tournament notices are most welcome for inclusion in this bulletin. Please email info@gardinerchess.com.

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 Gardiner Chess events can be entered online with your credit card number using the secure 'pay online' button.