Grant Szuveges has been a major factor in the Melbourne Chess Club's resurgence over the past 2 years. I worked along side him on a committee for 2 years and know first hand that Grant is full of innovative ideas and the energy to implement them. This year Grant has extended his activities to include a role on Chess Victoria's (CV) committee. Grant has not been shy about criticising CV in the past but it is all done constructively even if it isn't always taken that way!
I remember talking to Grant about the CV constitution before a previous election and we both agreed that there were problems with the processes. In the meantime, I have had similar conversations with a number of people and nothing has happened. Grant on the other hand, has got on the front foot and proposed a motion for constitutional change. To me it makes a lot of sense, but I won't be one of the people to vote on this.
Anyway, good work Grant on getting this moving.
"MOTION ABOUT ARTICLE 8.2
I have submitted a motion to the Chess Victoria executive to be voted upon at the upcoming 2012 Chess Victoria AGM. The motion has been submitted by me (Grant Szuveges) in my role as a CV executive member. It has not been submitted by Melbourne Chess Club (the club of which I am the president) and does not necessarily reflect the views of the MCC or the CV executive.
The motion regards Article 8.2 of the Chess Victoria constitution and reads as follows:
“That in the Constitution, Section 8 (Meetings), Rule 8 (2) be changed to read:
8 (2) The right to vote at a General Meeting shall be limited to:-
(a) Delegates; and
(b) Honorary life members
who are present at the meeting.”
Rule 8 (2) previously read:
8 (2) The right to vote at a General Meeting shall be limited to members of the Association as defined in rule 3 who are present at the meeting.
(Rule 3 specifies that members of the executive, as well as delegates and honorary life members are ‘Members of the Association’.)
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The purpose of the motion is to remove the AGM votes of the 6 person CV executive. Currently, at an AGM, the right to vote is limited to delegates from CV affiliated clubs, honorary life members and the members of the CV executive – of which I am a member.
WHY HAS THIS MOTION BEEN PROPOSED?
This problem with the CV constitution is not the fault of any current CV executive member and the motion is not directed against any individual on the CV executive. It is directed against what I believe to be a problem with the voting system itself. I believe that voting at AGMs should be the right of CV member clubs – not those people elected to run CV – myself included.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
CV is the umbrella body of Victorian chess clubs. It is an organisation which is supposed to represent the interests of its affiliated member clubs. Under the current constitution however, the CV executive have the right to 6 votes (one per executive member). However while the executive are allowed 6 votes, affiliated clubs have the right to 5 votes at the most. Currently, clubs have the following number of votes, depending on their membership numbers;
10-25 members: 1 vote
26-40 members: 2 votes
41-60 members: 3 votes
61-80 members: 4 votes
81 or more members: 5 votes
Therefore, the CV executive has more votes than even the largest clubs – thus holding disproportionate levels of power. The CV executive have DOUBLE the amount of votes (and thus double the amount of say in CV matters) as an average sized club!!! For example, in an AGM consisting of 30 voters (numbers at AGMs differ annually depending on the size of clubs, numbers at meetings etc), the CV executive’s 6 votes represent 20% of the entire vote (1 fifth). A club with 3 votes only has 10% (1 tenth). Without the votes of the executive, only 24 votes would be allowed and thus the club with 3 votes would increase its voice to 12.5% (1 eighth) of the vote.
HOW DOES THIS WORK IN REAL TERMS?
As well as being on the CV executive, I am also the president of the Melbourne Chess Club (MCC). It could be argued therefore, that I may vote in the interests of the MCC at CV AGMs. This would give MCC a 6th vote at these AGMs and thus a very powerful position. It could also be argued that other CV executive members who represent other clubs or coaching companies could vote in the interests of those organisations. The main problem is that clubs without their own members on the CV executive risk having less representation at CV AGMs.
While the current CV executive is extremely diverse, with multiple clubs and coaching bodies represented, this may not always remain the case: For example, should the CV executive be dominated by MCC members, this could in theory give MCC 11 votes at CV AGMs! (6 executive votes and 5 ‘proper’ MCC votes). 11 votes in a meeting of 30 voters amounts to over 33% of the vote and thus no constitutional change is ever possible without part of this bloc providing votes (a 2 thirds majority is needed for constitutional change). Even an average sized club dominating the CV executive would mean that that club would effectively have 9 votes! A CV executive dominated by one club would also be extremely difficult to vote out of power! While CV has a diverse executive, the opportunity is now available to correct this serious problem with the CV constitution.
WHO STANDS TO GAIN FROM THIS CHANGE?
CV affiliated clubs all stand to gain from this change. As mentioned earlier, by eliminating the votes of the CV executive, clubs increase their percentage of the vote, thus giving each and every club more power over their own destiny. Small clubs in particular stand to gain the most from this change.
HOW DOES THIS AFFECT HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS?
CV currently has 4 honorary life members. Regardless of the outcome of this vote, honorary life members will all retain their right to a vote at CV AGMs.
HOW WILL THIS AFFECT MY/YOUR CLUB?
Regardless of which club you belong to, this change will affect your club in a positive way – by giving it more say and a larger voice at CV AGMs. It will also safeguard its future voice by ensuring that no club can dominate CV by dominating the executive.
SEE YOU AT THE CV AGM!
If this vote is to succeed, 2 thirds of the voters at the AGM must vote for it. I do not know whether it will be passed, but to give it the best chance of succeeding, make sure that your club sends the maximum number of delegates allowed to the CV AGM. If you care about your clubs future voice at the state level, supporting this motion is the way forward for a more democratic, more representative and more just CV.
I am a member of the CV executive, and at the CV AGM, I am sincerely hoping that I am able to vote my own vote out of existence! Please support me to do so!
FM Grant Szuveges, CV executive member."
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Chess News
It's been an action packed week in Melbourne with plenty of chess being played. Probably the most important event was the conclusion of the Box Hill Championship, while the inaugural Noble Park Weekender was a huge success and a strong schools tournament was run by chesskids.
FM Bobby Cheng is the 2012 Box Hill Club Champion. It is a prestigious Championship to win dating back to 1952 with a number of strong and influential players having won the title. The tournament did have some controversy with Bobby being awarded a half point bye in round 8 of the event when the byes were supposed to have stopped being given after round 6. The reason for this was that Bobby was representing Australia at the World Youth Olympiad in Turkey and only knew of the dates after the start of the Box Hill Championship and was committed to playing both. Taking the clash into account the organizer's awarded him a half point bye for the round he missed. I don't really want to make too much of this, but I will say that the club was put into a very difficult situation and chose one of a number of decisions and the decision of the organizing committee is final. So congratulations to Bobby, who is champion for the second time, though first outright.
The Noble Park Classic is a new weekend event on the Victorian circuit. If it continues in the way it started it will put itself right up there with the premier weekenders of Ballarat and the Victorian Open. The event was won by the ever popular FM Domagoj Dragicevic, who has been a tireless worker for the club since its creation. As I played in the event I will be writinf a much fuller report in the next couple of days :)
Victorian schools are lucky to have 2 organisations running interschool tournaments in the state, and both are getting towards the business end of proceedings. Chesskids ran a secondary schools final event last week with a number of strong players present. Top individual scorer on the day was Ari Dale, but his school could only manage second. Top school was defending champions Glen Waverley Secondary.
FM Bobby Cheng is the 2012 Box Hill Club Champion. It is a prestigious Championship to win dating back to 1952 with a number of strong and influential players having won the title. The tournament did have some controversy with Bobby being awarded a half point bye in round 8 of the event when the byes were supposed to have stopped being given after round 6. The reason for this was that Bobby was representing Australia at the World Youth Olympiad in Turkey and only knew of the dates after the start of the Box Hill Championship and was committed to playing both. Taking the clash into account the organizer's awarded him a half point bye for the round he missed. I don't really want to make too much of this, but I will say that the club was put into a very difficult situation and chose one of a number of decisions and the decision of the organizing committee is final. So congratulations to Bobby, who is champion for the second time, though first outright.
The Noble Park Classic is a new weekend event on the Victorian circuit. If it continues in the way it started it will put itself right up there with the premier weekenders of Ballarat and the Victorian Open. The event was won by the ever popular FM Domagoj Dragicevic, who has been a tireless worker for the club since its creation. As I played in the event I will be writinf a much fuller report in the next couple of days :)
Victorian schools are lucky to have 2 organisations running interschool tournaments in the state, and both are getting towards the business end of proceedings. Chesskids ran a secondary schools final event last week with a number of strong players present. Top individual scorer on the day was Ari Dale, but his school could only manage second. Top school was defending champions Glen Waverley Secondary.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
A Melburnian in Moscow
I work with Michael Pahoff who is one of the millions of hobby chess players worldwide. Michael told me he was off on holiday to Moscow, so I suggested a chess related visit. Michael followed up on that, and sent me this story! Thanks Michael.
Hi Carl,
In early September, I visited Moscow for the primary purpose of witnessing Russia's 200th anniversary celebrations and reenactment of the Battle of Borodino 1812 / 2012. With 3,000 participants and over 100,000 spectators the reenactment was marvellous. Whilst in Moscow, on your suggestion, I visited the Moscow Central Chess Club, near the city centre, which was also a very worthwhile experience.
The building that houses the Moscow Central Chess Club was built around 1820, coincidentally, as part of Moscow's restoration after Napoleon's 1812 Invasion of Russia, where the Muscovites burnt down their own city, rather than giving it up wholly. It is two stories high, with a third currently being constructed as a further restoration to the entire building. The second floor has a central plaza, where the parents wait for their children, with wings / rooms on both sides for tournament play. There are lots of old photographs on the walls of Moscow Central Club Members who have been National and World Champions. While I was there, one of the wings was being used for junior Chess lessons.
I was given a very warm welcome by the Manager, Anton Kuzin, and would recommend the Moscow Central Chess Club to anyone visiting that wonderful city.
Hi Carl,
In early September, I visited Moscow for the primary purpose of witnessing Russia's 200th anniversary celebrations and reenactment of the Battle of Borodino 1812 / 2012. With 3,000 participants and over 100,000 spectators the reenactment was marvellous. Whilst in Moscow, on your suggestion, I visited the Moscow Central Chess Club, near the city centre, which was also a very worthwhile experience.
The building that houses the Moscow Central Chess Club was built around 1820, coincidentally, as part of Moscow's restoration after Napoleon's 1812 Invasion of Russia, where the Muscovites burnt down their own city, rather than giving it up wholly. It is two stories high, with a third currently being constructed as a further restoration to the entire building. The second floor has a central plaza, where the parents wait for their children, with wings / rooms on both sides for tournament play. There are lots of old photographs on the walls of Moscow Central Club Members who have been National and World Champions. While I was there, one of the wings was being used for junior Chess lessons.
I was given a very warm welcome by the Manager, Anton Kuzin, and would recommend the Moscow Central Chess Club to anyone visiting that wonderful city.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Chess Info Sites
The best place to find out about chess in and around Victoria are at the club websites. Chess Victoria's website has some information, but it is tough to navigate and focuses mainly on events that Chess Victoria runs itself. However, there are useful sites to find out about chess news in Victoria.
At least 2 clubs that I know of create excellent newsletters. Box Hill Chess Club has been producing it's newsletter under the editorship of Gerrit Hartland for quite a while now (though I'm not sure exactly how long....at least 5 years I would say). This is a weekly publication, which is a truly remarkable effort by the Box hill and Canterbury Junior chess clubs! As club newsletters are a combination of voluntary contributions put together by a devoted editor, the content can vary. There will always be club information in Box Hill's newsletters, including recent results and upcoming tournaments. There are sometimes games, and sometimes analysis. I think IM Michael Gluzman was annotating some games, though perhaps that was last year? A great benefit of this newsletter is that anyone can subscribe to it by joining the Box Hill mailing list and the newsletter will be sent directly to your email for free. Just contact the club by email.
Noble Park Chess Club also produce a newsletter. So far this has been one of the outstanding publications in Australian chess, at least to my mind. The newsletter will give results and detailed tournament reports including games analysis. It is a very attractive publication, colourful and with plenty of photos. It is produced about 5 times per year, roughly coinciding with the start of each of their main tournaments (though I wouldn't be surprised if there is a special newsletter for the club weekend event next week!).
IM Robert Jamieson also produces a newsletter, called "On The Move". Working with the Chesskids organisation, Robert has revived a publication that the Victorian Chess Association formerly published. This is published every 2-3 months in pdf form but hard copies are produced and sent to clubs. Hopefully some of you would have seen some of them. Robert also produces a junior newsletter for chesskids, called Knight Times. While the articles are directed at Juniors this is still a newsletter for everyone. Like Box Hill's newsletter, the main distribution of these newsletter's is by email, so contact chesskids and get these for free!
A couple of other places to find out news and information about Victorian Chess are the ACF newsletter and the Australian Junior Chess League's newsletter, both of which can be subscribed to for free. The ACF newsletter is currently not being produced while a new editor is sought, and the AJCL's bulletin is not a regular publication. However, when produced, both of these give excellent information, some of which is pertinent to Victoria.
I very much enjoy reading these local publications and especially seeing photos. I wonder if any other clubs are producing newsletters in Victoria?
At least 2 clubs that I know of create excellent newsletters. Box Hill Chess Club has been producing it's newsletter under the editorship of Gerrit Hartland for quite a while now (though I'm not sure exactly how long....at least 5 years I would say). This is a weekly publication, which is a truly remarkable effort by the Box hill and Canterbury Junior chess clubs! As club newsletters are a combination of voluntary contributions put together by a devoted editor, the content can vary. There will always be club information in Box Hill's newsletters, including recent results and upcoming tournaments. There are sometimes games, and sometimes analysis. I think IM Michael Gluzman was annotating some games, though perhaps that was last year? A great benefit of this newsletter is that anyone can subscribe to it by joining the Box Hill mailing list and the newsletter will be sent directly to your email for free. Just contact the club by email.
Noble Park Chess Club also produce a newsletter. So far this has been one of the outstanding publications in Australian chess, at least to my mind. The newsletter will give results and detailed tournament reports including games analysis. It is a very attractive publication, colourful and with plenty of photos. It is produced about 5 times per year, roughly coinciding with the start of each of their main tournaments (though I wouldn't be surprised if there is a special newsletter for the club weekend event next week!).
IM Robert Jamieson also produces a newsletter, called "On The Move". Working with the Chesskids organisation, Robert has revived a publication that the Victorian Chess Association formerly published. This is published every 2-3 months in pdf form but hard copies are produced and sent to clubs. Hopefully some of you would have seen some of them. Robert also produces a junior newsletter for chesskids, called Knight Times. While the articles are directed at Juniors this is still a newsletter for everyone. Like Box Hill's newsletter, the main distribution of these newsletter's is by email, so contact chesskids and get these for free!
A couple of other places to find out news and information about Victorian Chess are the ACF newsletter and the Australian Junior Chess League's newsletter, both of which can be subscribed to for free. The ACF newsletter is currently not being produced while a new editor is sought, and the AJCL's bulletin is not a regular publication. However, when produced, both of these give excellent information, some of which is pertinent to Victoria.
I very much enjoy reading these local publications and especially seeing photos. I wonder if any other clubs are producing newsletters in Victoria?
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Chess in Melbourne 3/9/2012-16/9/2012
My posts about weekly events have previously just been lists, but these can be seen easily on the Calendar so I am changing to more of a commentary based weekly report.
We are coming to the end of a school term and both Chess Victoria and Chesskids are conducting a number of interschool tournaments around the state. School chess in Victoria is flourishing though the clubs are only seeing a small minority of these players going through their doors.
The clubs are active with Melbourne Chess Club's Open tournament about to start on Mondays nights starting on the 10th. Big events at Box Hill and Noble Park are coming to a conclusion. Box Hill Club Championship is arguably the premier event at this moment in Victoria. It is a tournament affected by the Olympiad as top seed, FM Bobby Cheng is representing Australia U-16 in Turkey (he is not the only player from this tournament). I'm not too sure what is happening with the postponements as it seems that Bobby, and Ari Dale, Savithri Narenthran and Jack Puccini will all be absent for 2 rounds. Though not a club championship, Noble Park's Masters and Challengers tournaments bring an elite group in round robin format. This had also been affected by the Olympiad, but the round robin format has allowed the players the flexibility of playing their games in advance. Justin Tan, who is on duty in Turkey currently leads the tournament, though he can be caught and overtaken by Dusan Stojic if he wins his outstanding games. The Challengers event is great as a qualifier for the following year's Masters. This year, Jimmy Ying moved up into the Masters and would have gained invaluable experience. This year's Challenger's is currently being led by a comeback player, Anurag Sannidhanam.
Box Hill Chess Club is also running its Masters round robin event on Tuesdays, with this event also nearing its conclusion. The details of this event are a bit sketchy, but I'm guessing that field was assembled but someone dropped out. Organiser David Flude jumped in to fill up the spots, and is having to play some catch up games. I'm not sure of the exact scores, but it looks as if top seeds FM Bill Jordan, Marcus Raine and Max Chew Lee are fighting it out for top place.
Croydon Chess Club runs a varied and interesting Calendar in the Eastern suburbs. After their Frost tournament which is being led by Franz Oswald, they have a chess 960 allegro. For those of you that have never played this variant of chess, the major pieces are mixed up on the back rank to start a game, bringing a random element into each game. Openings experts don't get their favourite positions in chess 960!
On a Tuesday evening in the Western suburbs, Hobson's Bay Chess Club meet (my first club in Australia!). They are currently coming to the end of their 5 round swiss, the 'Koshnitsky'. Tony Davis won his forst 3 games to take the lead, though I haven't seen the results from last night. The tournament finishes next week, and on September 18th they have an allegro night, which would be a great time for new players, or old players looking for a new venue, to check the club out.
Of course, if it's blitz that you are interested in then probably the MCC is the place to be every Saturday! Or Box Hill on Sunday for their Rookies cup!
We are coming to the end of a school term and both Chess Victoria and Chesskids are conducting a number of interschool tournaments around the state. School chess in Victoria is flourishing though the clubs are only seeing a small minority of these players going through their doors.
The clubs are active with Melbourne Chess Club's Open tournament about to start on Mondays nights starting on the 10th. Big events at Box Hill and Noble Park are coming to a conclusion. Box Hill Club Championship is arguably the premier event at this moment in Victoria. It is a tournament affected by the Olympiad as top seed, FM Bobby Cheng is representing Australia U-16 in Turkey (he is not the only player from this tournament). I'm not too sure what is happening with the postponements as it seems that Bobby, and Ari Dale, Savithri Narenthran and Jack Puccini will all be absent for 2 rounds. Though not a club championship, Noble Park's Masters and Challengers tournaments bring an elite group in round robin format. This had also been affected by the Olympiad, but the round robin format has allowed the players the flexibility of playing their games in advance. Justin Tan, who is on duty in Turkey currently leads the tournament, though he can be caught and overtaken by Dusan Stojic if he wins his outstanding games. The Challengers event is great as a qualifier for the following year's Masters. This year, Jimmy Ying moved up into the Masters and would have gained invaluable experience. This year's Challenger's is currently being led by a comeback player, Anurag Sannidhanam.
Box Hill Chess Club is also running its Masters round robin event on Tuesdays, with this event also nearing its conclusion. The details of this event are a bit sketchy, but I'm guessing that field was assembled but someone dropped out. Organiser David Flude jumped in to fill up the spots, and is having to play some catch up games. I'm not sure of the exact scores, but it looks as if top seeds FM Bill Jordan, Marcus Raine and Max Chew Lee are fighting it out for top place.
Croydon Chess Club runs a varied and interesting Calendar in the Eastern suburbs. After their Frost tournament which is being led by Franz Oswald, they have a chess 960 allegro. For those of you that have never played this variant of chess, the major pieces are mixed up on the back rank to start a game, bringing a random element into each game. Openings experts don't get their favourite positions in chess 960!
On a Tuesday evening in the Western suburbs, Hobson's Bay Chess Club meet (my first club in Australia!). They are currently coming to the end of their 5 round swiss, the 'Koshnitsky'. Tony Davis won his forst 3 games to take the lead, though I haven't seen the results from last night. The tournament finishes next week, and on September 18th they have an allegro night, which would be a great time for new players, or old players looking for a new venue, to check the club out.
Of course, if it's blitz that you are interested in then probably the MCC is the place to be every Saturday! Or Box Hill on Sunday for their Rookies cup!
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Victorian Top 10
September 1st sees a new ACF rating list published, though the list hasn't actually been made public yet! FIDE also publishes a rating list on Septemebr 1st, as it has now moved to a monthly revision of its lists. I'll keep a review of any changes in the top places.
Victorians in the FIDE top Australian list September 2012 (national ranking in brackets)
1. GM D. Johansen 2446 (3)
2. IM I. Goldenberg 2376 (11)
3. IM J. Morris 2372 (12)
4. FM B. Cheng 2358 (14)
5. FM M. Baron 2352 (15)
5. IM G. West 2335 (16)
7. FM D. Dragicevic 2302 (19)
8. IM L. Sandler 2272 (21)
8. FM C. Wallis 2272 (21)
10. FM D. Stojic 2262 (23)
Top 10 Victorians in the ACF list September 2012
1. (1) GM D. Johansen 2493 (4)
2. (2) IM I. Goldenberg 2396 (14)
3. (4) FM B. Cheng 2388 (15)
3. (7) IM J. Morris 2388 (15)
5. (6) IM G. West 2353 (19)
6. (5) FM E Teichmann 2350 (21)
7. (8) FM C. Wallis 2307 (25)
8. (9) FM D. Stojic 2304 (26)
9. (10) FM D. Dragicevic 2301 (28)
10. (-) J. Tan 2297 (30)
There are some changes from the last list. FM Michael Baron has dropped off the top players list, I presume due to inactivity. The biggest riser is James Morris, while Justin Tan is new to the top 10!
Mirko Rujevic continues as number 1 in the seniors list, while Olympian Sally Yu is number 5 on the women's list. Victoria has plenty of representation in the junior list. Here are players in the top 5 with thei position in brackets:
Under 20: B. Cheng (2), J. Morris (2), J. Tan (5)
Under 18: B. Cheng (1), J. Morris (1), J. Tan (3)
Under 16: B. Cheng (1), J. Tan (2), L. Matheson (4), K. Zelesco (5)
Under 14: K. Zelesco (1), A. Dale (4), M. Chan (5)
Under 12: E. Fan (2), E. Lim (5)
Under 10: E. Lim (1), K. Chan (4)
Victoria also has 2 girls in the top 10 nationwide: S. Yu (2), S. Narenthran (6)
Victorians in the FIDE top Australian list September 2012 (national ranking in brackets)
1. GM D. Johansen 2446 (3)
2. IM I. Goldenberg 2376 (11)
3. IM J. Morris 2372 (12)
4. FM B. Cheng 2358 (14)
5. FM M. Baron 2352 (15)
5. IM G. West 2335 (16)
7. FM D. Dragicevic 2302 (19)
8. IM L. Sandler 2272 (21)
8. FM C. Wallis 2272 (21)
10. FM D. Stojic 2262 (23)
Top 10 Victorians in the ACF list September 2012
1. (1) GM D. Johansen 2493 (4)
2. (2) IM I. Goldenberg 2396 (14)
3. (4) FM B. Cheng 2388 (15)
3. (7) IM J. Morris 2388 (15)
5. (6) IM G. West 2353 (19)
6. (5) FM E Teichmann 2350 (21)
7. (8) FM C. Wallis 2307 (25)
8. (9) FM D. Stojic 2304 (26)
9. (10) FM D. Dragicevic 2301 (28)
10. (-) J. Tan 2297 (30)
There are some changes from the last list. FM Michael Baron has dropped off the top players list, I presume due to inactivity. The biggest riser is James Morris, while Justin Tan is new to the top 10!
Mirko Rujevic continues as number 1 in the seniors list, while Olympian Sally Yu is number 5 on the women's list. Victoria has plenty of representation in the junior list. Here are players in the top 5 with thei position in brackets:
Under 20: B. Cheng (2), J. Morris (2), J. Tan (5)
Under 18: B. Cheng (1), J. Morris (1), J. Tan (3)
Under 16: B. Cheng (1), J. Tan (2), L. Matheson (4), K. Zelesco (5)
Under 14: K. Zelesco (1), A. Dale (4), M. Chan (5)
Under 12: E. Fan (2), E. Lim (5)
Under 10: E. Lim (1), K. Chan (4)
Victoria also has 2 girls in the top 10 nationwide: S. Yu (2), S. Narenthran (6)
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Victorian Olympians Part 1
The current chess Olympiad sees only one current Victorian representative, Sally Yu, board 3 for the women's team. Sally started off with a good win in the first round playing black Rivera Borg of Malta. The game was an Exchange Queen's Gambit where Sally was able to nullify any threats that her opponent came up with, while creating her own threats which won her an exchange. Sally is the fist Victorian representative in the women's team since Anastasia Sorokina played in 2004 and that was the only Victorian appearnace this century in the women's squad!
In the men's team, there has been more Victorian representation:
In the men's team, there has been more Victorian representation:
2010 D. Johansen
2008 D. Johansen
2006 N. Speck
2004 D. Johansen
2002 D. Johansen, N. Speck, M. Gluzman
2000 D. Johansen, G. West, L. Sandler
To be fair, GM Darryl Johansen could have played this time, but he ruled himself out of contention. I'll have a look further back into the twentieth century later on during this Olympiad!
Anyway, here's Sally's first game from the 2012 Istanbul Olympiad.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Victorian Women's Championship
The revamp of the Victorian Women's Championship has been a success story for Chess Victoria and Box Hill Chess Club. The tournament has an interesting format with games taking place over 2 consecutive weekends, 29/30 September and 6/7 October. Sponsorship for the tournament has been found and at the time of writing this there are already 14 entrants.
While Victoria's top female player will be absent (Sally Yu will be at University in America when the tournament is being held) there will be plenty to play for. The top seed is currently Sri Lankan born Vineetha Wijesuriya who has played a number of times for Sri Lanka at Olympiads and currently lives in Ballarat. A large part of the field is made up of young players, pointing to the potential for a great future for women's chess in the state.
I am unable to find any history of this event, so if anyone has any information such as who the last champion was, how long the championship has been established, and any details of previous winners, that would be greatly appreciated.
While Victoria's top female player will be absent (Sally Yu will be at University in America when the tournament is being held) there will be plenty to play for. The top seed is currently Sri Lankan born Vineetha Wijesuriya who has played a number of times for Sri Lanka at Olympiads and currently lives in Ballarat. A large part of the field is made up of young players, pointing to the potential for a great future for women's chess in the state.
I am unable to find any history of this event, so if anyone has any information such as who the last champion was, how long the championship has been established, and any details of previous winners, that would be greatly appreciated.
Sources of Information
This blog will only ever be as good as the information it presents. At the moment, I am trawling through club websites, the State Association website and other organisations to try to find information to put on the calendar, and to write posts about. But I'm only one person, and this site would be a whole lot better if others contributed information about events, stories, news or anything related to chess in Melbourne and Victoria. Last week I received an email from Nigel Barrow about a school tournament in Bendigo which I immediately put up here. As long as the material is not offensive (there isn't usually much offensive to do with chess tournaments or hangouts) I will happily promote Victorian chess events here.
Today, I met with Chess Victoria President Leonid Sandler for a coffee and a chat. We regularly meet up to talk about the local chess scene, and chess generally. The upcoming Olympiad was the main subject of discussion. Leonid and I are both immigrants to this country and will both be following our countries of birth closely (Latvia and England), but we will of course be hoping for Australian success. While there are no Victorians represented in the men's team, we have Sally Yu representing the women's team and many of our youngsters representing Australia at the youth Olympiad which is being run alongside the main event. We wish good luck to all Australian Olympians!
Leonid and I did have a mild disagreement about this site, and the Chess Victoria website. I have been very critical of the CV website and Leonid explained that their website had been hacked 3 times and they were having difficulty recovering after these attacks. I don't know why anyone would want to attack a chess site or whether it was part of a hack on a wider scale. But at least for the moment, Chess Victoria's website is suffering a little. He assured me that all the necessary information can still be found on website, and that was where the main disagreement occurred! Look, I hope that CV get a good website together, and I would certainly be willing to pass on all the information from this site AND still write a news blog here.
Leonid also pointed out that FM Nick Speck has made a comeback to competitive chess in Malaysia. Nick scored 6.5/9 on board 1 in the Rapid teams event, and will hopefully be another Victorian IM soon. Nick didn't play for the Australian team in the tournament, but played in a team with fellow Victorian resident Wang Sheng Lee (Singapore).
Today, I met with Chess Victoria President Leonid Sandler for a coffee and a chat. We regularly meet up to talk about the local chess scene, and chess generally. The upcoming Olympiad was the main subject of discussion. Leonid and I are both immigrants to this country and will both be following our countries of birth closely (Latvia and England), but we will of course be hoping for Australian success. While there are no Victorians represented in the men's team, we have Sally Yu representing the women's team and many of our youngsters representing Australia at the youth Olympiad which is being run alongside the main event. We wish good luck to all Australian Olympians!
Leonid and I did have a mild disagreement about this site, and the Chess Victoria website. I have been very critical of the CV website and Leonid explained that their website had been hacked 3 times and they were having difficulty recovering after these attacks. I don't know why anyone would want to attack a chess site or whether it was part of a hack on a wider scale. But at least for the moment, Chess Victoria's website is suffering a little. He assured me that all the necessary information can still be found on website, and that was where the main disagreement occurred! Look, I hope that CV get a good website together, and I would certainly be willing to pass on all the information from this site AND still write a news blog here.
Leonid also pointed out that FM Nick Speck has made a comeback to competitive chess in Malaysia. Nick scored 6.5/9 on board 1 in the Rapid teams event, and will hopefully be another Victorian IM soon. Nick didn't play for the Australian team in the tournament, but played in a team with fellow Victorian resident Wang Sheng Lee (Singapore).
Melbourne's Chess Week 27/08/2012-2/09/2012
Winter is a great time to be playing chess, and there is a lot of chess happening around the Melbourne area at the moment. The clubs are all active, junior chess is flourishing, and some of our players are representing Australia at the Olympiad in Turkey starting Monday 27th.
Find links to where you can play chess in Victoria here, and check out the calendar to see if there are upcoming events near you. I will be trying to update these regularly, but please tell me if there are things missing or wrong by email on carl.coffeehousechess@gmail.com.
Thanks
Carl
Mon 27 Aug 2012
19:00 - 23:30 E. Malitis Memorial
Where: 66 Leicester St, Fitzroy
Tue 28 Aug 2012
09:00 - 14:00 chesskids interschool Pakenham
09:00 - 14:30 chesskids interschool, Bacchus Marsh
19:30 - 23:00 HBCC Koshnitsky Cup
Where: Hobson's Bay Chess Club
19:45 - 23:45 Box Hill Masters
Where: Box Hill Chess Club
Wed 29 Aug 2012
09:00 - 14:00 chesskids interschool, Melton
Thu 30 Aug 2012
09:00 - 14:00 chesskids interschool, Williamstown
18:00 - 19:00 Croydon Junior Club Cahmpionship
Where: Croydon Chess Club
19:30 - 23:00 Frost, Croydon Chess Club
Where: Croydon Chess Club
Fri 31 Aug 2012
09:00 - 14:00 chesskids interschool, Cheltenham
19:45 - 23:45 Box Hill Club Championship
Where: Box Hill Chess Club
Sat 1 Sep 2012
10:00 - 12:00 Junior Coaching
Where: 66 Leicester St, Fitzroy
14:00 - 17:45 Allegro
Where: 66 Leicester St, Fitzroy
15:00 - 19:00 Noble Park Masters and Challengers
Where: Noble Park Chess Club
19:00 - 20:30 Blitz!
Where: 66 Leicester St, Fitzroy
Sun 2 Sep 2012
Fitzroy Skittles
Where: 66 Leicester St, Fitzroy
Find links to where you can play chess in Victoria here, and check out the calendar to see if there are upcoming events near you. I will be trying to update these regularly, but please tell me if there are things missing or wrong by email on carl.coffeehousechess@gmail.com.
Thanks
Carl
Mon 27 Aug 2012
19:00 - 23:30 E. Malitis Memorial
Where: 66 Leicester St, Fitzroy
Tue 28 Aug 2012
09:00 - 14:00 chesskids interschool Pakenham
09:00 - 14:30 chesskids interschool, Bacchus Marsh
19:30 - 23:00 HBCC Koshnitsky Cup
Where: Hobson's Bay Chess Club
19:45 - 23:45 Box Hill Masters
Where: Box Hill Chess Club
Wed 29 Aug 2012
09:00 - 14:00 chesskids interschool, Melton
Thu 30 Aug 2012
09:00 - 14:00 chesskids interschool, Williamstown
18:00 - 19:00 Croydon Junior Club Cahmpionship
Where: Croydon Chess Club
19:30 - 23:00 Frost, Croydon Chess Club
Where: Croydon Chess Club
Fri 31 Aug 2012
09:00 - 14:00 chesskids interschool, Cheltenham
19:45 - 23:45 Box Hill Club Championship
Where: Box Hill Chess Club
Sat 1 Sep 2012
10:00 - 12:00 Junior Coaching
Where: 66 Leicester St, Fitzroy
14:00 - 17:45 Allegro
Where: 66 Leicester St, Fitzroy
15:00 - 19:00 Noble Park Masters and Challengers
Where: Noble Park Chess Club
19:00 - 20:30 Blitz!
Where: 66 Leicester St, Fitzroy
Sun 2 Sep 2012
Fitzroy Skittles
Where: 66 Leicester St, Fitzroy
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Warrnambool Weekender announced
President of Chess Victoria, Leonid Sandler has just announced the Warrnambool Weekender will be run on the weekend of 17-18 November in partnership between Warrnambool Chess Club and Chess Victoria. Details of the event and online registration can be found on Warrnambool Chess Club's website.
Chess Victoria President Leonid Sandler, as seen on his website
More country chess
Yesterday saw an Interschool tournament in Bendigo, today was Ballarat's turn. The Secondary competition saw 44 players competing from 3 schools with Thumula Gamage winning 7/7 for the top performance of the day. Full results can be seen here.
A nice group shot of Kerang Technical High School Team, courtesy of chesskids
Live Chess at the MCC
The Melbourne Chess Club has been holding a play off match for its Club Championship between IM Guy West and FM Dusan Stojic. These 2 ties for the Championship earlier in the year, and are now playing a 4 game match for the title. Tonight is the last game with the score standing at 2-1 in favour of Dusan Stojic. So a draw will guarantee Dusan the title, while a win for Guy will take the match into faster games play off. The game can be seen here, and I'll post it later.
Great chess poster, courtesy of Jean Watson
Well, it was a tense finale. Guy tried to unbalance the situation, but Dusan was always up to the task of countering Guy's threats. Perhaps there were some chances that Guy missed, but nothing so obvious or seemingly much better. So finally, Dusan came out the victor of the game, and the winner in the match and is the 2012 Melbourne Chess Club Champion.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Local (chess related) film
At the local cinema in Elsternwick, director Clayton Jacobson (director of "Kenny") has put together some excellent short films called 8K radius dealing with people who live within an 8 kilometre radius of Elsternwick. Luckily for us chess fans, one of the people he filmed was local young talent Charlotte Dilnutt. I have had the pleasure of working with Charlotte at chess, and count myself a close friend to all the family. Anyway, here's the film, which is beautifully shot. Enjoy!
Chess Statewide
It can be too easy to think of Melbourne as being Victoria. However, there is plenty of country chess going on at all levels, and the premier annual tournament in the state is held in Ballarat. Well, I received an email from Nigel Barrow pointing out that a junior chess tournament was held in Bendigo and received local media coverage.
Here's what Nigel had to say about the event.
Yesterday (21st August) separate Primary and Secondary School Zonal tournaments were conducted at Girton Grammar, Bendigo.
52 students contested the Secondary tournament, which featured teams from Girton Grammar, Catholic College and Maryborough Education Centre (MEC). The tournament was seven rounds with time limits of 15 minutes each.
85 students competed in the Primary tournament, which featured teams from Winters Flat, Castlemaine Primary, Girton Grammar, Maryborough Education Centre and Eaglehawk North Primary. The tournament was only for 6 rounds as many of the students were delayed for the scheduled start of the first round due to travel and bus issues.
Congraulations to Alan Zhou (Secondary) and Joe Flexmore & Lloyd Butcher (Primary) for finishing first in their tournaments.
Overall, the two tournaments were played in a friendly atmosphere, with no disuptes, and ran quite smoothly. This was due to both the attitude of the students and the organisational and managemennt skills of the various teachers and volunteers (I only had to put the results into the computer).
52 students contested the Secondary tournament, which featured teams from Girton Grammar, Catholic College and Maryborough Education Centre (MEC). The tournament was seven rounds with time limits of 15 minutes each.
85 students competed in the Primary tournament, which featured teams from Winters Flat, Castlemaine Primary, Girton Grammar, Maryborough Education Centre and Eaglehawk North Primary. The tournament was only for 6 rounds as many of the students were delayed for the scheduled start of the first round due to travel and bus issues.
Congraulations to Alan Zhou (Secondary) and Joe Flexmore & Lloyd Butcher (Primary) for finishing first in their tournaments.
Overall, the two tournaments were played in a friendly atmosphere, with no disuptes, and ran quite smoothly. This was due to both the attitude of the students and the organisational and managemennt skills of the various teachers and volunteers (I only had to put the results into the computer).
Please note the Girton secondary team names are based on which of the six "school house" the students were from:
JE/RI indicates students from the Jenkin and Riley houses,
JO/FR indicates students from the Jones and Frew houses,
M/AH indicates sudents from the Millward and Ahearne houses.
Team Standings - Secondary:
Place Name Score
1 GIRTON GRAMMAR SECONDARY JE/RI 20.5
2 GIRTON GRAMMAR SECONDARY JO/FR 19
3 CATHOLIC COLLEGE BENDIGO A 18
CATHOLIC COLLEGE BENDIGO B 18
5 GIRTON GRAMMAR SECONDARY M/AH 17
6 MEC SECONDARY 16
JE/RI indicates students from the Jenkin and Riley houses,
JO/FR indicates students from the Jones and Frew houses,
M/AH indicates sudents from the Millward and Ahearne houses.
Team Standings - Secondary:
Place Name Score
1 GIRTON GRAMMAR SECONDARY JE/RI 20.5
2 GIRTON GRAMMAR SECONDARY JO/FR 19
3 CATHOLIC COLLEGE BENDIGO A 18
CATHOLIC COLLEGE BENDIGO B 18
5 GIRTON GRAMMAR SECONDARY M/AH 17
6 MEC SECONDARY 16
Team Standings - Primary
Place Name Score
1 WINTERS FLAT PRIMARY A 26.5
2 MEC PRIMARY A 21
3 WINTERS FLAT PRIMARY B 19
4 CASTLEMAINE PRIMARY B 18.5
5 CASTLEMAINE PRIMARY A 18
6 GIRTON GRAMMAR PRIMARY 17.5
7 ST MARYS PRIMARY A 16.5
8 ST MARYS PRIMARY B 14
9 MEC PRIMARY B 13.5
10 EAGLEHAWK NTH PRIMARY 9
Place Name Score
1 WINTERS FLAT PRIMARY A 26.5
2 MEC PRIMARY A 21
3 WINTERS FLAT PRIMARY B 19
4 CASTLEMAINE PRIMARY B 18.5
5 CASTLEMAINE PRIMARY A 18
6 GIRTON GRAMMAR PRIMARY 17.5
7 ST MARYS PRIMARY A 16.5
8 ST MARYS PRIMARY B 14
9 MEC PRIMARY B 13.5
10 EAGLEHAWK NTH PRIMARY 9
Individual Standings - Secondary:
Place Name Club Score
1 Zhou, Allan Girton Grammar Secondary JE/RI 7
2 Hartshorn, Finn Girton Grammar Secondary M/AH 6
3 Eenjies, Tavish Girton Grammar Secondary JO/FR 5.5
4 Henrickson, Sullivan MEC Secondary 5
5 Bevan, Fin Girton Grammar Secondary JO/FR 5
6 Myres, Michael Girton Grammar Secondary M/AH 5
7 Berryman, Will Catholic College Bendigo A 5
8 Babovic, Milos Girton Grammar Secondary JE/RI 5
9 Mann, Stephanie Catholic College Bendigo B 5
10 Knight, Joshua Catholic College Bendigo A 5
11 Brown, James Catholic College Bendigo A 4.5
12 Brennan, Riley Girton Grammar Secondary JE/RI 4.5
13 Goffin, Rowan Catholic College Bendigo B 4.5
14 Pitson, Jack Catholic College Bendigo B 4.5
15 Caltibianco, Paul Girton Grammar Secondary JO/FR 4.5
16 Lyons, Charlotte Catholic College Bendigo B 4
17 Smith, River Girton Grammar Secondary JE/RI 4
18 Woodhatch, Riley Catholic College Bendigo B 4
19 King, Simon MEC Secondary 4
20 Price, Lewis Girton Grammar Secondary JO/FR 4
21 King, Jordan MEC Secondary 3.5
22 Exell, Ayden Catholic College Bendigo A 3.5
23 Reilly, Blake Girton Grammar Secondary JO/FR 3.5
24 Jayasekera, Rani Girton Grammar Secondary JE/RI 3.5
25 Swanson, Bianca Catholic College Bendigo B 3.5
26 Smagas, Spencer Girton Grammar Secondary JO/FR 3.5
27 Walton, Holly Catholic College Bendigo B 3.5
28 William Fraser, Travis MEC Secondary 3.5
29 Howell, Harrison Catholic College Bendigo B 3.5
30 Smith, Roy Catholic College Bendigo B 3.5
31 Brewin, Tom Girton Grammar Secondary M/AH 3
32 Neilsen, Alexander Girton Grammar Secondary M/AH 3
33 Morrison, Tom Girton Grammar Secondary M/AH 3
34 Pianta, Zachary Catholic College Bendigo A 3
35 Kelly, Gnaden Catholic College Bendigo A 3
36 Jonny, Joel Catholic College Bendigo B 3
37 Smagas, Nelson Girton Grammar Secondary JO/FR 3
38 Edwards, Bailey Girton Grammar Secondary M/AH 3
39 Carmeron, Riley Catholic College Bendigo A 3
40 Ilagan, Rajan Girton Grammar Secondary JE/RI 2.5
41 Hartigan, Chelsea Catholic College Bendigo A 2.5
42 Killick, Mia Catholic College Bendigo B 2.5
43 Nassar, David Girton Grammar Secondary JE/RI 2.5
44 Enever, Harry Catholic College Bendigo A 2
45 Haythorne, Patrick Girton Grammar Secondary JO/FR 2
46 Weaver, Harry Girton Grammar Secondary JE/RI 2
47 King, Zac Girton Grammar Secondary M/AH 2
48 Cooper, Sharni Catholic College Bendigo A 1.5
49 Marshall, Zac Girton Grammar Secondary JO/FR 1.5
50 Johnston, Jai Girton Grammar Secondary M/AH 1.5
51 Douch, Connor Girton Grammar Secondary JO/FR 1
52 Wild, James Catholic College Bendigo A 1
Place Name Club Score
1 Zhou, Allan Girton Grammar Secondary JE/RI 7
2 Hartshorn, Finn Girton Grammar Secondary M/AH 6
3 Eenjies, Tavish Girton Grammar Secondary JO/FR 5.5
4 Henrickson, Sullivan MEC Secondary 5
5 Bevan, Fin Girton Grammar Secondary JO/FR 5
6 Myres, Michael Girton Grammar Secondary M/AH 5
7 Berryman, Will Catholic College Bendigo A 5
8 Babovic, Milos Girton Grammar Secondary JE/RI 5
9 Mann, Stephanie Catholic College Bendigo B 5
10 Knight, Joshua Catholic College Bendigo A 5
11 Brown, James Catholic College Bendigo A 4.5
12 Brennan, Riley Girton Grammar Secondary JE/RI 4.5
13 Goffin, Rowan Catholic College Bendigo B 4.5
14 Pitson, Jack Catholic College Bendigo B 4.5
15 Caltibianco, Paul Girton Grammar Secondary JO/FR 4.5
16 Lyons, Charlotte Catholic College Bendigo B 4
17 Smith, River Girton Grammar Secondary JE/RI 4
18 Woodhatch, Riley Catholic College Bendigo B 4
19 King, Simon MEC Secondary 4
20 Price, Lewis Girton Grammar Secondary JO/FR 4
21 King, Jordan MEC Secondary 3.5
22 Exell, Ayden Catholic College Bendigo A 3.5
23 Reilly, Blake Girton Grammar Secondary JO/FR 3.5
24 Jayasekera, Rani Girton Grammar Secondary JE/RI 3.5
25 Swanson, Bianca Catholic College Bendigo B 3.5
26 Smagas, Spencer Girton Grammar Secondary JO/FR 3.5
27 Walton, Holly Catholic College Bendigo B 3.5
28 William Fraser, Travis MEC Secondary 3.5
29 Howell, Harrison Catholic College Bendigo B 3.5
30 Smith, Roy Catholic College Bendigo B 3.5
31 Brewin, Tom Girton Grammar Secondary M/AH 3
32 Neilsen, Alexander Girton Grammar Secondary M/AH 3
33 Morrison, Tom Girton Grammar Secondary M/AH 3
34 Pianta, Zachary Catholic College Bendigo A 3
35 Kelly, Gnaden Catholic College Bendigo A 3
36 Jonny, Joel Catholic College Bendigo B 3
37 Smagas, Nelson Girton Grammar Secondary JO/FR 3
38 Edwards, Bailey Girton Grammar Secondary M/AH 3
39 Carmeron, Riley Catholic College Bendigo A 3
40 Ilagan, Rajan Girton Grammar Secondary JE/RI 2.5
41 Hartigan, Chelsea Catholic College Bendigo A 2.5
42 Killick, Mia Catholic College Bendigo B 2.5
43 Nassar, David Girton Grammar Secondary JE/RI 2.5
44 Enever, Harry Catholic College Bendigo A 2
45 Haythorne, Patrick Girton Grammar Secondary JO/FR 2
46 Weaver, Harry Girton Grammar Secondary JE/RI 2
47 King, Zac Girton Grammar Secondary M/AH 2
48 Cooper, Sharni Catholic College Bendigo A 1.5
49 Marshall, Zac Girton Grammar Secondary JO/FR 1.5
50 Johnston, Jai Girton Grammar Secondary M/AH 1.5
51 Douch, Connor Girton Grammar Secondary JO/FR 1
52 Wild, James Catholic College Bendigo A 1
Individual Standings - Primary
Place Name Club Score
1 Flexmore, Joe Winters Flat Primary A 6
2 Butcher, Lloyd Winters Flat Primary A 6
3 Lanfranchi, Jackson MEC Primary A 5
4 Vella, Regan Winters Flat Primary A 5
5 McCoy, Kaspar Winters Flat Primary A 5
6 Showell, Sidney Castlemaine Primary B 5
7 Coventry Brownrigg, Henry Castlemaine Primary A 4.5
8 Gamage, Sankalpa Girton Grammar Primary 4.5
9 Melton, B.J. MEC Primary A 4.5
10 Van Domburgh, Shem St Marys Primary A 4.5
11 Stroek, Felix Winters Flat Primary A 4.5
12 Tremlett-Davies, Henry Winters Flat Primary A 4.5
13 Saunders, Cohen Winters Flat Primary B 4
14 Killeen, Caspar Winters Flat Primary B 4
15 Dodson, Courtney St Marys Primary A 4
16 Lyell, Jenson MEC Primary A 4
17 Berry-Smith, Jaspar Winters Flat Primary A 4
18 Munn, Travis Castlemaine Primary B 4
19 Pattern, Lewis MEC Primary A 4
20 Byrne, Martineau Castlemaine Primary B 4
21 Hinrichson, William Winters Flat Primary A 4
22 Marsden-Sweeney, Dylan Winters Flat Primary B 4
23 Kennard, Ben Winters Flat Primary A 4
24 Russell, David Girton Grammar Primary 3.5
25 Maroudas, Stefan Winters Flat Primary B 3.5
26 Rogers, Eli Winters Flat Primary B 3.5
27 O'Brien, Lucas St Marys Primary B 3.5
28 McMahon, Dylan MEC Primary A 3.5
29 Denk Rai, Fabian Castlemaine Primary B 3.5
30 MacKinnon, Callum Castlemaine Primary A 3.5
31 Bailey-Banks, Jaxon Girton Grammar Primary 3.5
32 MacDougal Di Manno, Reuben Winters Flat Primary B 3.5
33 Jennings, Finley Castlemaine Primary A 3.5
34 Wellard, Macklin Eaglehawk Nth Primary 3.5
35 Chaffey, James Castlemaine Primary A 3.5
36 Lohmann, Jacob MEC Primary A 3.5
37 McCoy, Gabe Winters Flat Primary B 3
38 Reed, Justin St Marys Primary A 3
39 Casley, Jack St Marys Primary A 3
40 Ragg-Hansen, Rama Winters Flat Primary A 3
41 Hutchings, Ben Girton Grammar Primary 3
42 Chapman, Bailey Castlemaine Primary A 3
43 Nies, Miriam Girton Grammar Primary 3
44 Tokovic, Malakai Castlemaine Primary A 3
45 Marshall, Zed Castlemaine Primary A 3
46 Freudenberg, Ryan Winters Flat Primary B 3
47 Ford, Riley MEC Primary A 3
48 Walker, Brendan St Marys Primary B 3
49 Rose, Freddie Winters Flat Primary A 3
50 Parker, Nathan MEC Primary A 3
51 McCaig, Connor Girton Grammar Primary 3
52 Aldridge, Declan MEC Primary B 3
53 Leathan, Aiden MEC Primary B 3
54 Bird, Austin St Marys Primary B 3
55 Lawrence, Sophie Winters Flat Primary B 2.5
56 Cheema, Alayvir Girton Grammar Primary 2.5
57 Tolland, Xavier St Marys Primary B 2.5
58 Lang, Bailie MEC Primary B 2.5
59 Muirson, Sergio MEC Primary B 2.5
60 Polinelli, Coby MEC Primary B 2.5
61 Broughton, Tom Castlemaine Primary A 2.5
62 O'Connor, Niamh Castlemaine Primary B 2
63 Jones, Kyle St Marys Primary B 2
64 Rolands, Campbell St Marys Primary B 2
65 Reed, Kirrilly St Marys Primary A 2
66 Pollard, Jy St Marys Primary B 2
67 Kelly, James St Marys Primary A 2
68 Maroudas, Evia Winters Flat Primary B 2
69 Zi Chia, Ri Girton Grammar Primary 2
70 Loughan, Michael Girton Grammar Primary 2
71 Jumpertz, Gabriel St Marys Primary A 2
72 Shobanan, Harrishma Girton Grammar Primary 2
73 Leevers, Padric Castlemaine Primary B 2
74 Meadows, Lloyd Castlemaine Primary B 2
75 Trew, Hayden Eaglehawk Nth Primary 1.5
76 Attwater, James Eaglehawk Nth Primary 1.5
77 Marshall, Tobiah Castlemaine Primary B 1.5
78 Lumsdon-Hill, Adam Eaglehawk Nth Primary 1.5
79 Poradi, Max St Marys Primary A 1.5
80 Shaleah, Gahan Eaglehawk Nth Primary 1
81 Wellard, Elliot Eaglehawk Nth Primary 1
82 Mundy, Charlotte Eaglehawk Nth Primary 1
83 Diss, Shane Eaglehawk Nth Primary 1
84 Diss, Jasmine Eaglehawk Nth Primary 0.5
85 Trew, Stephanie Eaglehawk Nth Primary 0
Place Name Club Score
1 Flexmore, Joe Winters Flat Primary A 6
2 Butcher, Lloyd Winters Flat Primary A 6
3 Lanfranchi, Jackson MEC Primary A 5
4 Vella, Regan Winters Flat Primary A 5
5 McCoy, Kaspar Winters Flat Primary A 5
6 Showell, Sidney Castlemaine Primary B 5
7 Coventry Brownrigg, Henry Castlemaine Primary A 4.5
8 Gamage, Sankalpa Girton Grammar Primary 4.5
9 Melton, B.J. MEC Primary A 4.5
10 Van Domburgh, Shem St Marys Primary A 4.5
11 Stroek, Felix Winters Flat Primary A 4.5
12 Tremlett-Davies, Henry Winters Flat Primary A 4.5
13 Saunders, Cohen Winters Flat Primary B 4
14 Killeen, Caspar Winters Flat Primary B 4
15 Dodson, Courtney St Marys Primary A 4
16 Lyell, Jenson MEC Primary A 4
17 Berry-Smith, Jaspar Winters Flat Primary A 4
18 Munn, Travis Castlemaine Primary B 4
19 Pattern, Lewis MEC Primary A 4
20 Byrne, Martineau Castlemaine Primary B 4
21 Hinrichson, William Winters Flat Primary A 4
22 Marsden-Sweeney, Dylan Winters Flat Primary B 4
23 Kennard, Ben Winters Flat Primary A 4
24 Russell, David Girton Grammar Primary 3.5
25 Maroudas, Stefan Winters Flat Primary B 3.5
26 Rogers, Eli Winters Flat Primary B 3.5
27 O'Brien, Lucas St Marys Primary B 3.5
28 McMahon, Dylan MEC Primary A 3.5
29 Denk Rai, Fabian Castlemaine Primary B 3.5
30 MacKinnon, Callum Castlemaine Primary A 3.5
31 Bailey-Banks, Jaxon Girton Grammar Primary 3.5
32 MacDougal Di Manno, Reuben Winters Flat Primary B 3.5
33 Jennings, Finley Castlemaine Primary A 3.5
34 Wellard, Macklin Eaglehawk Nth Primary 3.5
35 Chaffey, James Castlemaine Primary A 3.5
36 Lohmann, Jacob MEC Primary A 3.5
37 McCoy, Gabe Winters Flat Primary B 3
38 Reed, Justin St Marys Primary A 3
39 Casley, Jack St Marys Primary A 3
40 Ragg-Hansen, Rama Winters Flat Primary A 3
41 Hutchings, Ben Girton Grammar Primary 3
42 Chapman, Bailey Castlemaine Primary A 3
43 Nies, Miriam Girton Grammar Primary 3
44 Tokovic, Malakai Castlemaine Primary A 3
45 Marshall, Zed Castlemaine Primary A 3
46 Freudenberg, Ryan Winters Flat Primary B 3
47 Ford, Riley MEC Primary A 3
48 Walker, Brendan St Marys Primary B 3
49 Rose, Freddie Winters Flat Primary A 3
50 Parker, Nathan MEC Primary A 3
51 McCaig, Connor Girton Grammar Primary 3
52 Aldridge, Declan MEC Primary B 3
53 Leathan, Aiden MEC Primary B 3
54 Bird, Austin St Marys Primary B 3
55 Lawrence, Sophie Winters Flat Primary B 2.5
56 Cheema, Alayvir Girton Grammar Primary 2.5
57 Tolland, Xavier St Marys Primary B 2.5
58 Lang, Bailie MEC Primary B 2.5
59 Muirson, Sergio MEC Primary B 2.5
60 Polinelli, Coby MEC Primary B 2.5
61 Broughton, Tom Castlemaine Primary A 2.5
62 O'Connor, Niamh Castlemaine Primary B 2
63 Jones, Kyle St Marys Primary B 2
64 Rolands, Campbell St Marys Primary B 2
65 Reed, Kirrilly St Marys Primary A 2
66 Pollard, Jy St Marys Primary B 2
67 Kelly, James St Marys Primary A 2
68 Maroudas, Evia Winters Flat Primary B 2
69 Zi Chia, Ri Girton Grammar Primary 2
70 Loughan, Michael Girton Grammar Primary 2
71 Jumpertz, Gabriel St Marys Primary A 2
72 Shobanan, Harrishma Girton Grammar Primary 2
73 Leevers, Padric Castlemaine Primary B 2
74 Meadows, Lloyd Castlemaine Primary B 2
75 Trew, Hayden Eaglehawk Nth Primary 1.5
76 Attwater, James Eaglehawk Nth Primary 1.5
77 Marshall, Tobiah Castlemaine Primary B 1.5
78 Lumsdon-Hill, Adam Eaglehawk Nth Primary 1.5
79 Poradi, Max St Marys Primary A 1.5
80 Shaleah, Gahan Eaglehawk Nth Primary 1
81 Wellard, Elliot Eaglehawk Nth Primary 1
82 Mundy, Charlotte Eaglehawk Nth Primary 1
83 Diss, Shane Eaglehawk Nth Primary 1
84 Diss, Jasmine Eaglehawk Nth Primary 0.5
85 Trew, Stephanie Eaglehawk Nth Primary 0
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Round Robin Tournaments
The majority of chess events held in Melbourne are run under the swiss system. However, at the present moment, 2 of the biggest clubs in Melbourne are running round robin events. Box Hill Chess Club are running their Masters tournament which is a 10 player FIDE rated tournament. The games are being broadcast live via Box Hill's excellent DGT coverage. Noble Park Chess Club are also running their Masters event which is again a 10 player FIDE rated tournament. One game from this event is also being played at Box Hill and the moves are being shown live.
These tournaments are identical in format but different in nature. Box Hill's tournament is an opportunity for players to gain ratings, so all that is needed is 3 players with FIDE ratings and all in the tournament should come away with a rating. Actually, I noticed David Flude (the main organiser) played tonight though he wasn't in the starting list. The Noble Park Masters is more of an elite event attracting a very strong field. One player who is in both tournaments is Jimmy Ying. Jimmy is finding it tough at Noble Park, but he scored a fantastic win against FM Domagoj Dragicevic.
Anyway, I've updated the game database to include the games from tonight, and will continue to upload games into this database.
These tournaments are identical in format but different in nature. Box Hill's tournament is an opportunity for players to gain ratings, so all that is needed is 3 players with FIDE ratings and all in the tournament should come away with a rating. Actually, I noticed David Flude (the main organiser) played tonight though he wasn't in the starting list. The Noble Park Masters is more of an elite event attracting a very strong field. One player who is in both tournaments is Jimmy Ying. Jimmy is finding it tough at Noble Park, but he scored a fantastic win against FM Domagoj Dragicevic.
Anyway, I've updated the game database to include the games from tonight, and will continue to upload games into this database.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Best in the West
Hobson's Bay Chess Club ran the 30th edition of their Best in the West Weekender in the Western Melbourne seaside suburb of Altona this past weekend. It was also the biggest turn out for this event with just under 50 players competing in the 5 round event. The tournament was arbited by David Cordover who had a trouble free weekend as the tournament was played in friendly fashion.
Top seed was visiting FM Greg Canfell from Sydney, and Greg won the tournament with a picket fence 5/5.
Young MCC member Jack Puccini had a great tournament finishing clear second on 4.5, ahead of a group of very strong players: FM D. Dragicevic, FM D. Stojic, Tan, Matheson and Penrose. The top local player was Dean Hogg who was among the next group on 3.5.
Most of the games were collected using the tornelo management system, and I've collected them together. My favourite game from the event follows, but you can see all the games here. You can then download them using the "export" button
Top seed was visiting FM Greg Canfell from Sydney, and Greg won the tournament with a picket fence 5/5.
 |
| Tournament winner, FM Greg Canfell |
Most of the games were collected using the tornelo management system, and I've collected them together. My favourite game from the event follows, but you can see all the games here. You can then download them using the "export" button
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Melbourne Chess Week 21/08/2012
Here's a list of what's happening around the state this week, or at least all I could find. If anyone wants to publicise events or activities, then contact me at carl.coffeehousechess@gmail.com.
My aim is to produce a comprehensive weekly round up of upcoming events and activities in Melbourne and Victoria. So far I have the been helped by Melbourne Chess Club, Noble Park Chess Club, Chess Kids, Australian Junior Chess League, Hobson's Bay Chess Club and I have trawled the net to find out information myself, but I've no doubt missed much and for that I'm sorry. Please help to keep this up to date by sending me information that should be here.
Thanks
Carl
These events and future ones can be found on the Calendar while news is available from various organisations which can be found on the links page.
Chess Events 20/08/2012-26/08/2012
Mon Aug 20, 2012
9am - 2pm Chesskids Interschool
Where: Hampton Primary School
12pm - 5pm Chess Victoria Interschool
Where: Scotch College
7.15pm-11.30pm MCC Edwin Malitis Memorial
Where: MCC
Tue Aug 21, 2012
7.30-11.00pm HBCC Koshnitsky Cup
Hobson's Bay Chess Club
7:45pm - 11:45pm Box Hill Masters
Where: Box Hill Chess Club
Wed Aug 22, 2012
9am - 2pm Chesskids Interschool
Where: Kerrimuir Primary
7:30pm - 11:30pm MCC Championship play off
Where: MCC
Thu Aug 23, 2012
9am - 2pm Chesskids Interschool
Where: Ballarat
6pm-7pm Croydon Junior Championship
Croydon Chess Club
7.45pm-11pm The Frost Winter Warmer
Croydon Chess Club
Fri Aug 24, 2012
9am - 2pm Chess Victoria Interschool
Where: Weedon Primary
9am - 2pm Chesskids Interschool
Where: Yinnar, Gippsland
7:45pm - 11:45pm Box Hill Championship
Where: Box Hill Chess Club
Sat Aug 25, 2012
2pm-5pm MCC Allegro
MCC
3pm - 7:30pm Noble Park Masters and Challengers
Where: Noble Park Chess Club
Sun Aug 26, 2012
1pm - 5pm Chesskids RJ Shield
Where: Doncaster
1pm - 5pm Chesskids RJ Shield
Where: Bentleigh
My aim is to produce a comprehensive weekly round up of upcoming events and activities in Melbourne and Victoria. So far I have the been helped by Melbourne Chess Club, Noble Park Chess Club, Chess Kids, Australian Junior Chess League, Hobson's Bay Chess Club and I have trawled the net to find out information myself, but I've no doubt missed much and for that I'm sorry. Please help to keep this up to date by sending me information that should be here.
Thanks
Carl
These events and future ones can be found on the Calendar while news is available from various organisations which can be found on the links page.
Chess Events 20/08/2012-26/08/2012
Mon Aug 20, 2012
9am - 2pm Chesskids Interschool
Where: Hampton Primary School
12pm - 5pm Chess Victoria Interschool
Where: Scotch College
7.15pm-11.30pm MCC Edwin Malitis Memorial
Where: MCC
Tue Aug 21, 2012
7.30-11.00pm HBCC Koshnitsky Cup
Hobson's Bay Chess Club
7:45pm - 11:45pm Box Hill Masters
Where: Box Hill Chess Club
Wed Aug 22, 2012
9am - 2pm Chesskids Interschool
Where: Kerrimuir Primary
7:30pm - 11:30pm MCC Championship play off
Where: MCC
Thu Aug 23, 2012
9am - 2pm Chesskids Interschool
Where: Ballarat
6pm-7pm Croydon Junior Championship
Croydon Chess Club
7.45pm-11pm The Frost Winter Warmer
Croydon Chess Club
Fri Aug 24, 2012
9am - 2pm Chess Victoria Interschool
Where: Weedon Primary
9am - 2pm Chesskids Interschool
Where: Yinnar, Gippsland
7:45pm - 11:45pm Box Hill Championship
Where: Box Hill Chess Club
Sat Aug 25, 2012
2pm-5pm MCC Allegro
MCC
3pm - 7:30pm Noble Park Masters and Challengers
Where: Noble Park Chess Club
Sun Aug 26, 2012
1pm - 5pm Chesskids RJ Shield
Where: Doncaster
1pm - 5pm Chesskids RJ Shield
Where: Bentleigh
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Victoria's top rated players
Chess in Victoria is not just about quantity but quality also. A look through the Australian rating lists shows a number of highly rated players in Victoria.
Top Victorians
1. 2473 D. Johansen (GM)
2. 2412 I. Goldenberg (IM)
3. 2385 M. Baron (FM)
4. 2375 B. Cheng (FM)
5. 2350 E. Teichmann (FM)
6. 2342 G. West (IM)
7. 2339 J. Morris (IM)
8. 2311 C. Wallis (FM)
9. 2311 D. Stojic (FM)
10. 2307 D. Dragicevic (FM)
Also IM Mirko Rujevic heads the lists of Senior players, Sally Yu is 5th in the women's list and 2nd in the girls list, Bobby Cheng is 2nd in U-20, 1st in U-18 and U-16, Karl Zelesco is 2nd in U-14, Enoch Fan is 2nd in U-12 while Ethan Lim is 2nd in U-10.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Features of the site
Check out both the Calendar and the Links. I'll do my best to update these, but I'm only one person so bear with me!
Calendar
You can access this from the tab at the top of the page, and it will eventually give a comprehensive guide to all chess events happening in Melbourne and Victoria. I'll even throw in some Australian and New Zealand tournaments, and some World events that may hold interest for Australians. Sorry if an event isn't on the calendar that you know of or are organising, but just send me the details and I'll put it on.
Links
Again, I'm looking for a comprehensive listing of links to do with chess. I'm starting with clubs and organisations, but I'll add individuals and other chess interest sites that are important to Melbourne and Victoria. If I've missed something, then please feel free to message the link to me and I'll put it on.
Calendar
You can access this from the tab at the top of the page, and it will eventually give a comprehensive guide to all chess events happening in Melbourne and Victoria. I'll even throw in some Australian and New Zealand tournaments, and some World events that may hold interest for Australians. Sorry if an event isn't on the calendar that you know of or are organising, but just send me the details and I'll put it on.
Links
Again, I'm looking for a comprehensive listing of links to do with chess. I'm starting with clubs and organisations, but I'll add individuals and other chess interest sites that are important to Melbourne and Victoria. If I've missed something, then please feel free to message the link to me and I'll put it on.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Melbourne Chess News
Welcome to my new guide to chess in Melbourne and Victoria. The aim of this project is to provide players old and new with comprehensive details of upcoming events, places to play chess, news and information about chess in Melbourne and Victoria.
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