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Knight Times February 2012
www.chesskids.com.au Page 1
Message from the GuruWelcome to the first edition of Knight Times for 2012. Wow, the year has started quickly and as usual we have lots of new things planned.
Firstly the RJ Shield Finals format has changed - qualifying for the Finals this year is even easier! You just need to score 15 points. Youcan enter as many tournaments as you like (I think technically possible to play 7 events) and once you have scored your 15 points you are into the finals with a chance to win some great cash prizes.
The Chess Centre in Ormond is bursting at the seems even after we've added 3 extra classes a week. We are excited to be starting a Doncaster Chess Centre very shortly and already we've got nearly 20 on the waiting list. We expect to start with 7 classes a week and grow through the the year to 10 or 12 sessions per week.
Training Squad has probably been this biggest launch of the year with 3 squads in Melbourne (one for U8s only), 1 in Hobart and 1 in Perth.We will also be starting a Doncaster Training Squad once the Chess Centre opens. These Squads take kids rated around 1000 and prepare them for Australian Junior Championships, Open Weekender events andState Titles. By the end of the year we promise they will all have improved at least 200 rating points, but hopefully 400 or more!
Well done to all the players in the Aust. Junior, particularly our ex-students Miranda and Alistair who won the U18 girls and open events!
Keep an eye out for the Chess Kids cars driving around town, we've just got some new signage on our fleet - so if you see us, wave!
I look forward to seeing you at a tournament in the very near future.
DavidCordover,Managing Director,Chess Group of Companies
Knight TimesChess World Australia Pty. Ltd. ABN 41 118 087 862
Chess Kids Contacts:www.chesskids.com.au
Coaching: [email protected]: [email protected]:[email protected]: [email protected]
1300-424-377
Miranda Webb-liddle
and alistair cameron
Aust. Girls Chess Champion 2012 andAust. Junior Chess Champion 2012 respectively.
Deepdene Dominate!
Aust. Junior Champions
RJ Shield
Chess Tournaments for Everyone
The RJ Shield events are the longest running series of junior chess tournaments in Australia. They were first started by Hilda O'Callaghan in 1994 and known simply as "Novice
Tournaments". They were later named after legendary International Master and former Australian Chess Champion, Robert Jamieson. Robert is still involved with these events.
This year we will run a number of smaller RJ Shield "grand prix" events in various locations - points scored in these events go towards end-of-year awards.
The Novice Tournaments are mass-participation events (in age-groups), designed to be an enjoyable first tournament experience for anyone learning about chess. But they aren't just for beginners, you'll find that beginners right through to Training Squad kids take part in these fun tournaments.
Most of Victoria's top junior players started out at RJ Shield events; so why not come along and see where you end up - who knows, like many before, you might Conquer the World!
Next RJ Shield EventsFeb. 19 - Tucker Rd Primary.Feb. 26 - Doncaster Gardens PrimaryMarch 25 - Sacred Heart Mildura
The RJ Shield now has its own website - www.rjshield.com
Check it out!
Knight Times February 2012
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RJ
The Chess Kids CentreActivities
Sessions for all standards are held during the week and on weekends.
Please contact us on 1300 424 377 for enquiries or bookings.
chesstempo.com
Are You Tired of Blundering?
Then you should do what the Australian Junior Training Squad
is doing and train your tactics on
Chess TempoA great website with thousands of puzzles
to solve and each player receives a tactics rating to monitor his progress.
The Australian Junior Championship were held at Spencley Street Primary School and were organised by the Melbourne Chess Club.
The event was a huge success attracting record entries and was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. Special thanks go to Chief Organiser, Simon Dale, Chief Arbiter Charles Zworestein and David Cordover from Chess Kids which sponsored the tournament.
All the tournament details are available on the Australian Junior 2012 website and the results and nearly all the games are available on the Tornelo website. Thanks to all the players who did a great job recording their games on Tornelo.
Next year the Championships will be held in Queensland.
Knight Times February 2012
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Chess sensation, 10 year-old Anton Smirnov, Aust. Junior Lightning
Chess Champion 2012.
Australian Junior Championships
Kashish Christian (3rd in the Open U/12) and Alana Chew Lee (Girls U/12 Champion).
DAILY BULLETIN
2012 Australian Junior
Chess Championships
Daily Bulletin produced and sponsored by Chess Kids � 1300 424 377 www.chesskids.com.au
The Biggest Australian Junior Ever!
Message from Simon Dale (Tournament Organiser)
“Melbourne Chess Club took on the responsibility to host
the 2012 Australian Junior Chess Championships less than
9 months ago when it became clear that this prestigious
event did not have a home. This was made possible
because Spensley Street Primary School offered their new
school hall as a venue. Since then we have been working
furiously to get everything in order for a fantastic
competition including help from Spensley Street parents
who don't even have kids participating.
With over 250 competitors this will be one of Australia's
biggest chess competitions, with particularly large
numbers in the U10, U12 and U14 divisions. We are most
excited to see how many juniors are playing in the event
for the first time and for many of them this will be their
first Australian Chess Federation (ACF) rated competition.
Regardless of how the kids do, participating in a national
tournament is an amazing experience and will hopefully
strengthen their chess enthusiasm and establish
friendships with their peers from around the country.
There are plenty of great Melbourne cafes a short drive
from Spensley Street Primary School, but better still, a
small group of parents are working at bring Melbourne
cafes to Spensley Street. There will be plenty of
refreshments, lunch food and snacks for sale from the
school canteen. We have even hired a fabulous coffee
machine to provide excellent fair trade organic coffee for
those parents who will need their daily dose.”
Comooooonication During the Event
Each day we will print (and email) a Daily Bulletin like this.
This is where arbiters will tell you of any changes, give
reminders and report on tournament progress.
Plus, you get lots of juicy gossip, pictures, chess stuff,
player profiles and maybe even the occasional joke.
Welcome to all players!
Of the 231 players registered so far a massive 137 (60%)
have never played in an Australian Junior before, so
welcome to all these new players!
The most experienced players (all in the U/14s) are
playing in their 6th Aus Junior!
Are chess players getting younger?
This tournament is wide-open with most of the top
players away in New Zealand at the Queenstown Classic.
My money is on 10-year-old Anton Smirnov (pictured
below) to win the U18 event and become the youngest
Australian Junior Champion in history!
Can it be possible? We have a girl, Stella Cameron,
entered – according to her entry form, she will be eligible
for an Under 4 prize in this tournament! Don’t worry,
we’ll be lenient about the recording her moves rule…
Check out the tournament bulletins at:http://www.2012ausjuniorchamps.com/bulletin
Game of a Life-Time
14 year-old Jimmy Ying did not win the Australian U/14 Championships. He finished in a creditable tie for 4th place.
He did however produce the most amazing game of the championships, featuring a truly “once in a life-time” finish. Well done Jimmy!
Australian Junior Championships - U/14Peter Gregoric 1141Jimmy Ying 1500Two Knights Defence1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Be2 h6 9.Nh3 Qd5 10.f3? (10.0-0) Bxh3 11.gxh3 Bc5 12.Nc3?
12...Qd4 13.Ne4 Nxe4 14.Rf1 Nf2 15.c3 Qh4 16.Qc2 Nd3+ 17.Kd1 Qe1+ 18.Rxe1 Nf2# 0-1
The other game that appealed to me was also in the U/14 Championship. Tom Maguire had a very interesting attack going with Victoria’s Jason Chew defending tenaciously. The finish was nice but could have been even better!
Australian Junior Championships - U/14Jason Chew 1162Tom Maguire 1231Sicilian 3 Bb51.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.c3 g6 6.O-O Bg7 7.d3 Ne7 8.Be3 d6 9.Na3 Ba6 10.Re1 Rb8 11.Rb1 Qa5 12.Qd2 O-O 13.Rec1 Rb7 14.Nc2 Rfb8 15.Nce1 f5 16.a3 Rb3 17.Qc2 Qb6 18.d4 Qb5 19.Nd2 Qe2 20.h3 R3b7 21.dxc5 dxc5 22.Bxc5 Rd8 23.Be3 fxe4 24.Nxe4 Qf1+ 25.Kh2 Be5+ 26.g3 Nf5 27.Nc5 Nxe3 28.fxe3 Rf7 29.Ne4 Be2 30.Ng2 Qf3 31.Nh4 Qxe3 32.Re1
Black to move and win!
32...Rd2 33.Qxd2 Rf2+ 34.Ng2 Bxg3+ 35.Nxg3 Qxd2 Missing a beautiful finish with 35...Rxg2+ 36 Kxg2 Qf3+ 37.Kh2 Qf2+ 38.Kh1 Bf3#. What a pity!36.Ne4 Qf4+ 37.Ng3 Rxg2+ 38.Kxg2 Qf3+ 0-1
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Aust Junior games
Chess Kids is running an exciting Junior Training Program in 2012 for aspiring juniors...
Program Outline ...Students will take part in as many of the following activities as they are able. We understand kids have lots of commitments to sport, music, school and have different amounts of time to devote to chess.
Everything we do will be posted on the website www.chesstraining.com.au for students to download and review. This makes it a valuable experience for players who are in regional areas and cannot get to any weekly in-person squad-meets.
✦ 75 minute formal training session each week (in-person)
✦ 45 minute online lesson each week (with IM Robert Jamieson)
✦ 4 days, 3 nights at an Intensive Training Camp
✦ Play and receive coaching at approved weekend events during the year (adult/open events)
✦ Coaching at the 2013 Australian Junior Chess Championships (Qld)
✦ Online resources and copies of all lessons for review
✦ Squadlings will be encouraged to contribute articles to Knight Times
For the first lesson on 9th Feb. we went through one of Lachlan Martin’s games from the Australian Junior.
Aust. U/14 Chess Championships 2012Kevin Ren ACF 739Lachlan Martin ACF 725Ruy Lopez1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.d3?5.d4 is better to attack the centre.5... a6 6.Bxc6+ bxc6 7.O-O Be7 8.Ne2?White is struggling to find a middle-game plan as he didn’t play d4.8...Bg4? A bad pin as Black does not want to exchange his B.9.Ng3 O-O 10.h3 Be6 11.b3 c5 12.c4
12...Re8 13.Ng5 Qd7 14.Qf3 h6 15.Nxe6 Qxe6 16.Nf5 Kh7 17.Qg3 Rg8 18.Qh4 Kh8 19.g4? Missing 19.Bxh6! gxh6 20.Qxh6+ Nh7 21.Qxe6 fxe6 22.Nxe7+-19. ... Nxg4?? Panics under pressure. 19...Bd8 was OK.20.Qxg4 Kh7 21.h4 g5 22.Kh2 (22.h5!) gxh4 23.Qh5 Bg5 24.f4 Bxf4+ 25.Bxf4 exf4 26.Rxf4 Rg5 27.Qxh4 Qf6 28.Rg1 Rag8 29.Rxg5 Rxg5 30.Rg4 Rxf5? 31.exf5 Qb2+ 32.Rg2 Qe5+ 33.Qg3 1-0
Knight Times February 2012
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The Junior Training Squad
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In Chess, as in Life, the Queen is the most powerful piece.
This piece beats a Queen any day!
“A Queen's sacrifice, even when fairly obvious, always rejoices the heart of the chess-lover” - Savielly Tartakower
Two chess players are playing a correspondence game. White lives at the South Pole. Black lives at the North Pole. The postal service is rather slow and play proceeds at the rate of one move per year. After 15 years of play, white makes a daring queen sacrifice, the consequences of which are by no means clear. A year later, as he sees the postman returning, he is very excited. He thinks "Will black take my queen ?", "Is the sacrifice sound ?". He tears open the reply and sees "Jadoube" (I adjust).
"It's always better to sacrifice your opponent's queen." - Savielly Tartakower
“Every pawn longs to become a Queen” - Anon.
On Queens....
Queen Victoria
Many years ago, when I was flying to Athens to play in the World Junior Chess Championships, guess which chess book I took to read on the plane.
I took “Rook Endings” by Smyslov and Levenfish, which was the most comprehensive book available on that subject. Why Rook Endings? Well rook endings are by far the most common form of endgame and if you could chose to be good at any part of chess, skill at rook endings would be the most useful to you. Openings come and go, but rook endings will always be there!
Even endings with just R+P v R can be quite tricky. We all know that if you are the side with just the R you must try to get your King in front of the pawn to stop it queening, but where do you put your rook? There is a saying “rooks belong behind passed pawns” which is often the best spot, but sometimes you need to defend with your rook from the side or even from in front of the pawn. If instead you go by the saying “rooks operate best from a distance” you can’t go too wrong.
What happens however if your King can’t get in front of the pawn? Can you still draw? Have a look at the first diagram and see how you go. Can Black find a way to draw, even with his King cut-off, or will White still emerge victorious?
White to Play
White can try to win with 1.Rb7 Ka5 2.Kc4 Rc8+ 3.Kd5 Rd8+ 4.Kc5 Rc8+ 5.Kd6 Rd8+ 6.Rd7 Rb8 7.d5 Kb6 8.Rf7 Rd8+ 9.Ke6 Rh8 10.d6 Re8+ 11.Kd7 Rh8 12.Rf1 Rh7+ 13.Ke6 Kc6 14.Rc1+ Kb7 15.d7 Rh6+ 16.Ke7 Rh7+ but Black achieves a draw using his Rook defending from the side.Instead White plays 1.d5!! so that if 1…Rxd5+? 2.Kc4 threatens both mate and the R so White wins immediately. Black therefore cannot take the pawn and with the pawn on the 5th rank the White K can easily escort the pawn through to queening.
The defence of Rook in front of the pawn only works if the pawn is on the second, third or fourth ranks. If you don’t follow this perhaps I should lend you my copy of “Rook Endings.”
Now we all know that chess players are good at “pattern recognition”. You have just learnt a little bit about rook endings from playing through the example above. Can
Knight Times February 2012
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Are you good at Rook Endings? With IM Robert Jamieson
you apply this knowledge to the position in the second diagram. Can White queen his pawn or will Black get back in time to stop it?
White to Play
What was your conclusion? White can try 1.Rb1 but after 1...Kf6 2.h6 Rf4+ 3.Kh3 (or 3.Kh5 Rf5+) 3...Rf5 its a draw.
Instead 1.h6 Kf6 2.h7 Kg7 3.h8=Q+!! Kxh8 4.Kg4+ wins the R and the game. A similar pattern to the previous example. Well done if you recognised it!
Endings of one rook and pawns are about the most common sort of endings arising on the chess board. Yet though they do occur so often, few have mastered them
thoroughly. They are often of a very difficult nature, and sometimes while apparently very simple they are in reality extremely intricate. chess quote by Jose Capablanca
Knight Times February 2012
www.chesskids.com.au Page 8
758 North Rd, Ormond www.chessworld.com.au Ph. 1300 424 377
Chess Worldfor all your chess requisites.
Can you do better than an international master?
IM S.Solomon - IM V.SmirnovAustralian Championship 2012
Black has chances to win as his passed pawn is well advanced, but he needs to get
his King in front of the pawn.
He therefore chose 1...Ke4.
Can you spot a small problemwith this move?
