June 2012SpecialEditionISSUE 7

FEATURES:• JustinTan’spublicationinChessInformant• NobleParkClubChampionship• 2012DoeberlCup• PlayerProfile:FranzOswald• JCP&Reservesprogram• CVInterclubChampionships

noble park chess club

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CONTENT2 Editor’s address

3 Justin’s Game

4 2012 Club Championship

7 2012 Doeberl Cup

8 Player Profile: Franz Oswald

10 JCP & Reserves

12 CV Interclub Championships

Club CalendarMay 5 to Jun 23 Noble Park Open

Jun 30 Lightning

Jul 7 to Sep 8 Masters and Challengers

Jul 14 Lightning

Sep 15 Open Day

Sep 22-23 Noble Park Classic

Sep 29 Lightning

Oct 6 to Nov 24 Noble Park Swiss

Dec 1 AGM & Lightning

Editor: Michael Loh

Contributions: Justin Tan, Domagoj Dragicevic, Dusan Stojic, Franz Oswald, Reginald Chong, Thai Ly, Omar Khaled, Michael Loh

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All rights reserved. Reproduction in part or whole without permission is prohibited.

EDITOR’S CORNER

- by the Rolls Royce engine of the brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Welcome to the 7th edition of the Noble Park Chess Club newsletter. Each edition has been bigger and better than the last one. This one is no different - starting and finishing with annotated games. It is a reflection of the hard work of the committee and the members of the club.

On a personal basis, it has been incredibly fulfilling to have contributed towards the growth of the club through this little newsletter. The readership has grown to the point whereby Noble Park Chess Club has had to increase the bandwidth of our club website. Very, very exciting...

I’ve appreciated the many words of encouragement from club members and readers of the newsletter. However, all good things must come to an end. This will be my last newsletter as editor. Work and family commitments preclude me from being able to put aside the necessary time to support this activity. I urge you to continue to support the club as I will in my limited capacity.

Michael LohEditor

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[22... Nc4 23. Bxc4 Rxc4 24. b3 Rc5 25. Ng3 Nxg3 26. Rxg3 Rec8 27. Rgh3 e5 28. Rh4 exd4 29. Qh2 Kf8 30. Qxd6++- 1-0 J.Polgar - Kaidanov, Hilton Head Sicilian Theme 2010. ]23. Ng3 a5 A desperate counter-attack which runs into a brilliant refutation (Rogers). [23... Nxg3 24. Rxg3 Nc4 25. Qf2! e5 26. Nb5! Bxb5 (26... Rxb5 27. Bxc4 Rc5 28. Bxf7+! ) 27. Rgh3!+- (Informant) ]24. Ndf5!! (Rogers) [24. Nxh5!? gxh5 25. Nf5! Qg6 26. Nxd6+/- (Informant) ]24... exf5 25. Nxh5 gxh5 26. g6! (Rogers) Nxg6 27. Qxd6! Suddenly Black is attacked from all angles and cannot hold his position together (Rogers). Be6 28. Qxc5 fxe4 29. Bxe6 Rxe6 30. Qc8+ Qf8 31. Qxe6! fxe6 32. Rxg6+ Kf7 [32... Kh7 33. Rg5+- is no better ]33. Rf1+ Kxg6 34. Rxf8 Kg5 35. Kc1 1-0

<Click here for playable games>

Justin is also an accomplished gymnast as many of you may know. Here’s a 1st place performance on the pommel horse.

<Click here for YouTube video>

Noble Park Chess Club would like to start this newsletter with heartiest congratulations to Justin Tan who just had a game published in the Chess Informant. Obviously, he is really pleased since the Informant does not accept non-GM submissions and apparently has approximately 5 times more games submitted than published. Well done, Justin.

[Event “Australian Championships 2011”][Site “Geelong”][Date “2011.12.31”][Round “5.10”][White “Tan, Justin”][Black “McClymont, Brodie”][Result “1-0”][ECO “B78”][WhiteElo “2160”][BlackElo “2049”][Annotator “GM Ian Rogers and Justin Tan”][PlyCount “69”]

This game was selected for publication this month in the prestigious magazine, Chess Informant (113), with annotations by GM Ian Rogers. Rogers also kindly published the game in his Sun Herald column on 8 Jan 2012. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 Nc6 8. Qd2 O-O 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. O-O-O Rc8 11. Bb3 Ne5 12. Kb1 Re8 The modern main line of the sharp Dragon variation, used by Australia’s GM David Smerdon with success at the 2009 World Cup (Rogers - Sun Herald). I was very happy to see this because my coach (Hungarian IM Tibor Karolyi) and I had just recently worked on it and we had produced some new analysis together. 13. h4 h5 14. g4! (Rogers) hxg4 15. h5 Nxh5 16. Bh6 e6 17. Rdg1 Qf6 18. fxg4 Bxh6 19. Qxh6 Qg7 20. Qd2! 20.Qe3 had previously been thought best before this game (Rogers). Nf6 21. g5 Nh5 22. Nce2! (Rogers). All the moves until now had been part of my home analysis. As a result, by now I had gained 10 minutes on the clock! It is not surprising that in my database, White hasn’t lost a single game from this position. It was also funny that in the morning before the game, I had shown Domagoj the whole line until this point! Rc5 My opponent thought for a very long time before playing this move. In my analysis, I was also familiar with the following game

JUSTIN TAN’S GAME

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Club record!By Domagoj Dragicevic and Michael Loh

A recap from the previous newsletter - Omar reported a club record of 38 players for the Club Championship. It is a healthy sign of a rejuvenated club. Particularly pleasing is the broad spectrum of new players including a number of Australian Junior representatives - Laurence Matheson, Karl Zelesco, Ari Dale, Michael Chan and Zachary Loh.

Round 1 of the Club Championship pretty much went according to ratings, with a small number of byes. There were a few surprising results in Round 2 with Zach holding

Dusan to a draw on Board 1, Laszlo and Karl drawing in a rescheduled game and Michael Chan losing to Richard Voon, in one of the last games to finish on the day. On Board 2, Bosko Mijatovic played an excellent game against FM Domagoj Dragicevic but lost the endgame due to an oversight.

ROUND 3

This round did have quite a few surprising results. The biggest upset of this round was on board 13 where a young Hamish Jones defeated the “intrepid reporter” Elliott Renzies. Hamish was rated 649 points below his opponent. That win gave Hamish the special prize for the biggest upset of the tournament. On board 11, an

improving Jason Chew defeated Franz Oswald and on board 14 Baris Girgin defeated a higher- rated Jamie Yung. There were also a few “upset” draws this round with Jimmy Ying holding Omar Khaled to a draw, Ari Dale drew with Laurence Matheson on board 2, whilst Zachary Loh had another good result, drawing with John Nemeth on board 4.

ROUND 4

This round was the first time in the tournament where no-one took a bye so all the players were there. This round saw the battle of top two seeds on board 1 where FM Domagoj Dragicevic defeated FM Dusan Stojic. It was not a “good loss” for top-seed Dusan as he was already half a

<Click here to download photos>

2012 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP

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point behind. Svetozar Stojic found himself on unfamiliar board 13 against Carl Dingfelder because he had been away travelling in Europe for the first 3 rounds. The biggest upset was Ege Girgin holding Richard Voon to a draw, with Richard being rated over 450 points higher. In the battle of the juniors on board 3, Ari Dale defeated Karl Zelesco.

ROUND 5

FM Domagoj Dragicevic continued his fine tournament by defeating Laurence Matheson and moving to 5/5. Zachary Loh continued to impress by defeating Ari Dale. Another improving junior over the years, Kyle Gibson, produced an impressive result drawing with top seed Dusan Stojic. On board 8 Jimmy Ying caused an upset by defeating Richard Voon who really hasn’t had a very good tournament thus far. The juniors continued to produce striking results: Baris Girgin defeating Khadem Jahid on board 12 whilst Jason Chew drew with club regular, Kevin Cron.

ROUND 6

FM Domagoj Dragicevic continued his winning ways, this time defeating John Nemeth to move to 6/6. Kyle Gibson followed up his draw against FM Dusan Stojic with another draw; this time against Dusan’s brother, Svetozar. After a slow start to the tournament due to competing demands, Justin Tan is catching up and is on 4/6 after defeating Franz Oswald. Ari Dale matched that with a win against Omar Khaled to move to

4.5/6 as did Laurence Matheson by defeating Karl Zelesco. Jason Chew is looking the goods for the Under-1600 prize with another good result (draw) against Laszlo Nemeth.

ROUND 7

A very lucky win for FM Domagoj Dragicevic against Zachary Loh moved him to 7/7 with a back-to-back title in sight. (Editor: Dom is usually the cool and collected player but this is the first time I’ve seen him run to the bathroom! :-))

In preparation for the Northern Star Noble Park Chess Classic, Mike Loh blogged this game and a couple of others live. It was reminiscent of Kathy Rogers “flying” between the tournament and analysis rooms to bring the latest moves to GM Rogers in the Doeberl Cup! Results can be seen here.

Dusan mounted a large charge in the tournament with a win against Laurence Matheson to keep in touch with Dom. On board 3, Ari Dale had an upset win against Justin Tan to move to 5.5/7 and second place. Another upset occurred on board 9 where Phong Huynh defeated Laszlo Nemeth. In the junior derby, Jason Chew and Cameron Yung drew, whilst Hamish Jones defeated Carl Dingfelder.

ROUND 8

The championship continued after the hiatus due to the Doeberl Cup tournament in Canberra and Sydney International Open. On board 1, FM Domagoj Dragicevic wrapped up his second straight

championship with a win over Ari Dale. On board 2, FM Dusan Stojic defeated John Nemeth in an entertaining game. Zachary Loh and Karl Zelesco have played each other many times. Zach prevailed this time in a Grünfeld: Russian System opening, thus moving on to 6 points from 8 matches.

The game between Svetozar Stojic and Michael Chan was interesting with Michael playing 1...a6, which I have never seen before, and ended up winning. Jason Chew continued his great tournament with another upset, this time against another up-and-coming junior, Jimmy Ying. Not to be outdone, Cameron Yung defeated Laszlo Nemeth.

ROUND 9

With lots of prizes up for grabs, it was an exciting last round. On board 1, Kyle Gibson blundered in a drawish position to give Domagoj Dragicevic a picket fence tournament. On board 2, Dusan Stojic defeated Ari Dale in an exciting game to finish second with 7/9, whilst Zachary Loh finished third on 6.5/9 after drawing with Laurence Matheson in a game where he had good chances to win. A further half point back on 6/9 were Justin Tan, Laurence Matheson and Michael Chan. The Under-1600 champion went to Jason Chew who finished on 5.5/9 and also collected a prize for best junior Under-1800 after his opponent unfortunately had to forfeit. Jason did have a great tournament, and I am sure that his rating of 1162 will rapidly increase after the performance in this tournament.

2012 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP2012 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP

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There was another trophy to be won, which was best junior Under 2000 and that was won by Zachary Loh who had a great tournament. Baris Girgin, who also had a good tournament with good results against higher rated players won best junior under 1300 prize with 5/9. Carl Dingfelder’s win against fellow junior Shevin Mendis ensured he came second in best junior Under-1300 whilst Ege Girgin was assured of second place for best junior Under-1800 with a last round win over Shanaya Mendis. Cameron Yung’s upset win over Jimmy Ying in the last round got him over the line to share in 1st position in Rating Group A with Kyle Gibson. Finally, in rating group B, Cam’s elder brother, Jamie Yung, finished first with 4.5/9 followed by Phong Huynh on 4/9.

FINAL RESULTS:1st Domagoj Dragicevic (FM)2nd Dusan Stojic (FM)3rd Zachary Loh

RATINGS GROUP A:Equal 1st Kyle Gibson and Cameron Yung

RATINGS GROUP B:1st Jamie Yung2nd Phong Huynh

UNDER-1600 TROPHY:Jason Chew

JUNIOR UNDER-2000 TROPHY: Zachary Loh

JUNIOR UNDER-1800:1st Jason Chew2nd Ege Girgin

JUNIOR UNDER-1300:1st Baris Girgin2nd Carl Dingfelder

BIGGEST UPSET:Hamish Jones

Here’s Dom’s game against Dusan.[Event “Club Championships”][Date “2012.05.08”][Round “4”][White “Dragicevic, D.”][Black “Stojic, D.”][Result “1-0”][ECO “B90”][Annotator “Dragicevic,Dom”]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Qf3 not the most common move, but I thought the move would surprise Dusan!! more common moves are Bc4,Bg5, Be3 or Be2 e6 7. Be3 7.g4 is tempting, but I thought after 7... Nc6 I probably have to play 8. Nxc6 8... bc6 and didn’t think that was anything special for white Nbd7 8. Be2 not 8.g4? due to 8...Ne5 winning pawn on g4 Qc7 9. g4 Ne5 10. Qg2 interesting move.. normally queen is better placed on g3, but queen on g2 means black has to be careful about pushing b5, for example 10.. b5 11. f4 nc4 12. bc4 12.. qc4 13. e5 Nc4 developing a piece eg. 10.. Be7 makes more sense as after white’s 11. f4 the knight will go to c4 anyway 11. Bxc4 Qxc4 12. O-O-O Be7 13. Rhe1 an ambitious move! i was ambitously lookng at somehow sacrificing a knight by playing Nd5. but in this position it shouldn’t work. more accurate would have been something like 13. f4 looking at playing something like f5 O-O after black’s 0-0 i was slightly annoyed about playing 13. rhe1 as that move hasn’t done too much.. 14. Kb1 Nd7 15. g5 b5? a mistake by black, the diagonal for queen on g2 and rook on a8 should be too strong for white. more accurate was 15.. rb8 followe by b5.. 16. e5? i have to say this looked like a great move( there is actually nothing wrong with the move) but white actually missed 16. Nf5!!! after 16.. ef5 17. ef5 rb8 white plays 18.Rd4!! folowed by Rh4 and Qh3 or even f6 dxe5?? a losing mistake, when i played 16. e5, i was calculating 16.. d5, then 17. Nf5 17.. Bc5( 17.. ef5 looses to 18.Nd5) 18. Nh6+ Kh8 and then 19. Bc5 Qc5 20. Ng4 gives both sides chances [16... d5 17. Nf5 Bc5 18. Nh6+ Kh8 19. Bxc5 Qxc5 20. Ng4 ]17. Nc6! a winning move, white just has too many threats for example 17.. Bc5 18. Rd7! Bd7 19. Ne5 attacks queen on c4 and bishop on d7 1-0

<Click here for playable games>

2012 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP

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By Dusan Stojic

The 2012 Doeberl Cup was, as with every year, an annual gathering of Australia’s top players, dedi-ated enthusiasts as well as strong foreign players. This edition, however, was special as it marked the 50-year anniversary of the prestigious weekender. In all, 255 players (a new record), including 21 for-eigners, took part in four tournaments (Premier, Major, Minor and Under-1200) during the Easter break.

Australian hopes took a severe blow early as GM Zong-Yuan Zhao, seeded third, was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to illness (scoring 2/4). The baton was passed on to the young guns, with FM Bobby Cheng, who defeated Zhao in round 2, leading the charge. Meanwhile the foreign players gradually monopolised the top boards, and Indian IM Karthikeyan lead most of the race.

The Noble Park CC contingent of 19 (!) members performed well, although I’m sure that some would have hoped for better. In the Premier, there was an unusually high amount of intra-NPCC duels, and Svetozar Stojic seemed to profit from this, scoring 4/5 against current and former mem-bers. Laurence Matheson also had an impressive performance (draw against GM Attila Czebe, win against IM Moulthun Ly), so it was fitting that Laurence and Svetozar drew their own derby. In the Minor, new Club members Kris and Luis Chan both had great results, finishing on 4.5/7 against solid opposition. Full results of NPCC members in the following tables:

PREMIER (9 ROUNDS):Pos Name Seed FIDE Pts29 Domagoj Dragicevic 25 2328 536 Dusan Stojic 27 2296 4.538 Svetozar Stojic 61 2011 4.548 Justin Tan 38 2179 4.549 Laurence Matheson 44 2141 456 John Nemeth 48 2120 3.558 Karl Zelesco 56 2048 3.559 Ari Dale 59 2020 3.569 Zachary Loh 77 1833 3

MAJOR (7 ROUNDS):18 Richard Voon 11 1852 421 Cameron Yung 61 1351 457 Ege Girgin 65 1420 2.5

MINOR (7 ROUNDS):13 Kris Chan 43 1105 4.517 Luis Chan 54 845 4.523 Jamie Yung 31 1309 443 Carl Dingfelder 52 865 357 Rebecca Strickland 56 738 1.558 Baris Girgin 46 1033 1.560 Hamish Jones 55 780 1.5

The tournament was decided in the last round, and four players shared the top prize on 7/9. GMs Horvath and Szabo drew their game, while IM Karthikeyan’s (also on 6.5 going into the last round) chances were spoilt by his compatriot IM Rathnakaran, who earned a GM norm in the process. Top seed GM Vajda of Romania defeated GM Sengupta of India to join the four-way tie for first, with Horvath winning the title on tiebreak. FM Bobby Cheng needed to win in the last round against IM Khamparia to qualify for an IM norm, but lost in the end.

To coincide with the semi-centennial anniversary of the event, Bill Egan’s “The Doeberl Cup: Fifty Years of Australian Chess History” was launched. The book is thoroughly enjoyable to read and is also useful as a reference of all the past Doeberls. It provides an insightful look into the personali-ties that shaped the history of the event, and the crucial moments that decided winners and losers. It is only right that the most important weekender in Australian chess should be immortalised in such a way.

2012 DOEBERL CUP2012 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP

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PLAYER PROFILE: FRANZ OSWALD

Contribution by Franz Oswald

How did you get involved in chess in the first place?

I have always admired chess but never played more than casual social games, perhaps at a 500-600 level. When I was getting ready for retirement, I worked half-time for a few years and started playing in a smaller club with a good coaching program for juniors but no opportunity for me to develop as an older beginner. So I started thinking about changing clubs. By coincidence, I saw this familiar face in a Malaysian restaurant in the city. “Didn’t I lose a game against this guy in a little weekend tournament?” It was Kai Tan, the Noble Park President (at that time). He convinced me that I would get lots of challenging games at Noble Park. When I retired fully, I decided to play more and joined Noble Park CC in early 2011.

How is the club going?

After not quite one and a half years of playing at NPCC, I don’t know the club that well, but

I’m impressed by the number of players in tournaments and by the atmosphere of friendly efficiency. It is attractive to be in a club with a good number of strong players (although I get thrashed when I meet them in the early rounds of tournaments). It is also good to play 90 minute games most of the time, with a bit of Blitz and Allegro in between. I am playing 60 minute games in another club, but I prefer 90 minute games. When I started club chess I never needed more than 30 minutes. I kept asking myself: “What are they thinking about when they stare at the board for minutes?” As I am learning more about chess, I actually needed more time.

What do you do for a living?

I’ve retired since late 2010. A long time ago in Germany, I was a sport journalist, but when I heard that daily paper journalists don’t live longer than underground miners (on the average) I was ready for a change. When I met my Australian wife, we decided to

go to Australia. I studied a bit more, got a PhD and ended up teaching International Relations and European Politics in a University.

Who was important in teaching you chess?

I learned from books more than from people. About forty years ago I bought four volumes of an eight volume “Modern Theory of Chess Openings” (translated from the Russian into German). These books sat on my shelf for years, and only in preparation for retirement did I start studying some of them. I never got hold of the other four volumes in the series. This explains why my opening repertoire is so onesided. Now I’m playing a lot and I’m learning from books and Fritz11.

How is the Australian chess scene different from Europe where chess is played more often?

I’ve never played chess at club level in Germany, so my only experience is in Australia. I want to make two points here. There is far more money in German chess than in Australia. Some teams in the Bundesliga have grandmasters from neighbouring countries fly in to play Board One against other clubs. Even Second League players earn a bit of money, as I was told by a player now living here. And the other point: I overheard Michael Baron (Melbourne CC) saying that in Australia they dress down but in Moscow they dress up to play chess. US novelist Walter Tevis says something similar.

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PLAYER PROFILE: FRANZ OSWALD PLAYER PROFILE: FRANZ OSWALDIn “The Queen’s Gambit” (1983) he describes local tournaments in the United States as very casual, full of students, eccentrics and Eastern European immigrants. And when finally young Beth, the supertalent from Kentucky, gets to play in a big tournament in Moscow, she is amazed to see all the Russian players turn up in suit and tie. I enjoy the easy-going, casual Australian style, but chess still has to come in from the outer, just like the other world game.

How do you feel about playing some of the younger kids?

I admire the dedicated chess parents who really give their kids a good chance to develop their talents. Most older players, especially those under 1600 rating, whinge about under-rated juniors playing much better than their last ratings indicate. It is a bit of a challenge but it keeps me on my toes. Having lectured university students for many years, it is a strange reversal to be on the receiving end of chess lessons (over the board) by teenage chess masters. In chess, as in music or theoretical mathematics, one can be extremely good at a young age.

Should there be more chess for seniors?

I expect seniors chess to be a growth area as more people live longer. Many will be quite healthy, and chess is a good way of socializing and keeping the brain cells firing. I also play at another club with many older players. There, a rating of 1400 really means 1400, whereas at

Noble Park, 1400 often means an under-rated junior already playing at 1600 level. Seniors chess is more relaxing, and it is easier to pick up a few ratings points. My Victorian role models are Richard Voon and Felix Wyss, both a few years older than I am. My ambition is to reach their level.

What advice would you give to a person thinking about “reviving” his/her chess career?

Many of today’s chess parents are former players putting their chess on hold while they look after family and job. However, when the kids are grown up and when retirement comes closer, it is time to think of yourself again. There must be health benefits in exercising one’s brain. In a hard game the brain cells are really firing. Some older players could be kept from starting again because they fear they won’t be as good, compared to their younger days. Forget about that! Set your own targets and enjoy the challenge. Concentrate on competitions with one game a week, and don’t play in weekend tournaments with three rounds in one day unless you really feel good at the time. One day the government might start funding chess as a prevention for Alzheimer’s.

What is your opinion about the place of computers in learning chess and playing chess?

A Victorian chess coach writes at the bottom of his Chess Chat contributions: “The computer tells you what to do, the coach tells you why”. The computer does not tell you the reasons why a move was good or bad,

and therefore it is harder to learn something from the experience. On the other hand, chess programmes have enormous databases and you can look up what has been played by champions in similar games. And in post-game analysis, the computer tells you which moves were not so good, so you don’t waste your time thinking about moves that were actually fine. Really good players can find past games of their next opponents on databases which helps in preparation for the next round. However, at my level, most opponents are not in any databases.

What was your best result in a chess tournament?

In the recent Anzac Day tournament at the MCC, I managed 4 out of 7, and in the last Canterbury Summer Swiss I won a ratings prize. These are modest achievements but I am quite happy. I am also proud of my draws against former Victorian champion FM Doug Hamilton, IM Mirko Rujevic, and young talent Jesse Jager (rated 2200+) . However, I don’t play that well very often. And I don’t want to mention my losses against players rated 1300. This is all very uneven.

Since I’ve been playing at Noble Park, I’ve been getting so much good practice that my chess will hopefully become a bit steadier and better.

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QUEENSTOWN CHESS CLASSICJCP AND RESERVESBy Reginald Chong - JCP Coordinator

After the initial success of last year’s program, the 2012 Junior Chess Program (JCP) resumed on Saturday, February 11 at 2pm with FIDE Trainer NY Wong at the helm and an initial attendance of 7 members. This is not unusual given it was just after the end of the long summer break. By the following week, it has doubled and by end of the school Term 1, it has grown to 20.

It is indeed heartening to note that this attendance is in spite of a very low fee imposed this year to help offset the costs of running this program. The turnout and support being given by the many parents is still strong.

An analysis of the various juniors present has shown that they come from various schools both near and far and also of varied age and skill levels of chess exposure. The common thread is that they all wish to be better and to improve their skills.

To this end, some of the juniors in the JCP who are more experienced and who have played in other clubs chose to participate in club tournaments whilst the less experienced joined our Reserves (formerly Novice tournament). The Reserves program is still in its infancy with only 7 players. It is hoped that over time, this will increase as more new JCP members find the confidence to “spread their wings and leave the nest”.

We also welcome all parents or adults to join the Reserves. Join the fun and challenge their kids to a game of chess!

We spoke to some parents about JCP and the Reserves program. Here are some snippets from the interviews:

How do you think the Junior Coaching Program is going?

Greg Dingfelder: It is going well. Carl is still finding out things when he thought he knew the material. NY is a great coach and a wealth of chess information. He can explain chess theory in a way that makes sense to kids. He makes the kids go through different options and not play the first move that pops in their head. He encourages the kids to try hard and play well.

Michelle Ea: I think the program is doing great, especially for Ethan. Although he is barely 6 yrs old, he loves coming to this club as he has a lot to learn. He plays by himself at home on the PC on Chess.com and does not have personal coaching.

All the coaches are great and very professional. NY is a great teacher and coach and his ability to impart his knowledge and skills in a simple and yet effective manner helps the kids to understand and want to learn the game. He also gives Ethan chess exercises to help him improve his game more rapidly.

Fiona Hau: I think the program is doing great. Matthew is 7 but he loves coming to this club and enjoys playing against other kids his age. NY is a great teacher and coach and his exercise workbooks help Matthew to improve on his game.

Mrs Vijayan: Vishnu loves coming to this club as he has a lot to learn. I think the coaches are great and very professional. However, having observed the coaching, I think sometimes the lessons could be slower as not all the kids can understand the moves that quickly.

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QUEENSTOWN CHESS CLASSICJCP AND RESERVES JCP AND RESERVESWhat do you think of the Reserves tournament?

Greg: It is a difficult transition to go from learning and practising games to games in a tournament environment. This is a difficult transition to manage for many kids. The Reserves program is great because it allows kids to be playing in the same room as the adult players. It will be much easier for the kids to take the next step and transition to club tournaments. The numbers are a bit low at the moment and it would be great to see higher numbers.

Michelle: Ethan loves playing in these tournaments even though he may lose. However, exposure to a tournament environment is great because it allows kids to be playing in the same room as the adult players.

Fiona: Matthew tends to move without thinking too much which causes him to lose. However, the exposure is fantastic. After game analysis is

also a great help.

Mrs Vijayan: Vishnu is currently not in the Reserves as I don’t think he is ready to join in yet. I will have to assess his knowledge and understanding before deciding.

How did you find out about Noble Park Chess Club?

Greg: It was at the Guy West Classic at Croydon Chess Club. NY was the arbiter and suggested Carl should play in more tournaments. Perhaps look at Noble Park Chess Club. At the same time, there was another club that was just starting up. Carl was invited to play there as well but he enjoyed it more at Noble Park. I have not regretted bringing Carl here.

Fiona: I learnt about it during the Australian Junior Chess Championship (AJCC) held at Billanook College, Mooroolbark a year ago.

In general, most other parents identified that they learnt about

Noble Park Chess Club through word of mouth.

Did you know that NY analyses games with the Reserves kids after their games?

Greg: I didn’t know that! You should publicise that more. Let the parents know about that. It is great that NY is doing that. The kids will improve very quickly.

What do you think of the coaching and membership fees?

All the parents were unequivocal that the fees were affordable and reasonable.

How is Carl doing in the club tournament?

Greg: It has been very challenging. He hasn’t had much success yet but that’s an indication of the strength of the club members. Carl enjoys playing at Noble Park -- he likes the challenge even if he loses the game. It is a great mental

stimulation. He’s had to play some very strong players like Svetozar.

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This year’s Chess Victoria Interclub Teams Championship began on May 6 at Melbourne Chess Club. A smaller number of teams than last year but expectations are just as high. In total, Noble Park Chess Club is fielding 3 teams: 2 in A division and 1 in B division. Noble Park Chess Club has 2 teams in the A division by virtue of Team 2 winning last year’s 2nd division tournament. If you wish to play for a Noble Park Team, please contact the team manager or a club committee member. Places are still available.

TEAM 1 (A DIVISION):Domagoj DRAGICEVIC (FM) (manager)Dusan STOJIC (FM)Justin TANJohn NEMETHSvetozar STOJIC

TEAM 2 (A DIVISION):Thai LYOmar KHALED (manager)Bosko MIJATOVICRichard VOONZachary LOH

TEAM 3 (B DIVISION):Serif TUGLACIFranz OSWALD (manager)Elvis ESPEJOJoseph SYMilan STOJIC

Team 2 started the tournament with a win (2.5:1.5) against the Canterbury Junior Chess Club team led by FM Bobby Cheng.

BOARD 1: BOBBY CHENG (FM) 2352 2362 (CJCC) .5-.5 THAI LY 2008 2030 (NPCC2)Commentary & annotation by Thai Ly:The final game to finish in the match was on board 1 where Thai Ly, playing black, held reigning Victorian Chess Champion Bobby Cheng to a draw. Playing against the Catalan Opening, Thai’s position always seemed a little bit passive, but it proved difficult for Bobby to crack. Thai was able to swap down to a rook ending; he was pawn down, but had good drawing chances. Bobby may have missed an opportunity to push for win in the ending when he exchanged pawns instead of penetrating with his king on move 47 after which Thai secured the draw with relative ease.

As usual, I came late to my game. I wasn’t sure who I would play or on what board, so I had no time to think about what to play as black against Bobby. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 In my past two games as black, I had chosen the King’s Indian. I got positions with good counter-chances in both games, but in the end ultimately both games were lost. So now something more solid. e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 I was quite happy to play the Catalan against Bobby. A very solid opening for white - maybe too solid. Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 I have had good results with this line - in last year’s Vic Teams’ competition, I had the better of a draw against Justin Tan. 8. a4 Bobby deviates from what is considered the main line (played by Justin in the above-mentioned game), namely [8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 ]8... Bd7 9. Ne5!? A surprising move. Much more common is [9. Qxc4 Bc6 ]9... Nc6!? 10. Qxc4 I thought Black was ok after [10. Nxc6 Bxc6 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. Qxc4 Qd5 ]10... Nxe5 11. dxe5 Nd5 Forced - I had envisage this possible position after 9...Nc6!?, offering a pawn for the two bishops and some lead in development. 12. Rd1 Qc8 13. Nc3 Maybe a slight inaccuracy, as black get the chance to exchange off a pair of minor pieces and relieves some of the cramp in his position. Nxc3 14. Qxc3 c5 I felt compelled to stake some space on the queenside, even if it meant that the c pawn is put at danger of loss. 15. Be3 Bc6 16. Bh3 [16. Bxc5 I would have welcomed exchanges at this point, even if I did lose the c pawn. For example Bxc5 17. Qxc5 Bxg2 18. Qxc8 Raxc8 19. Kxg2 Rc2 20. Kf3 Rxb2 21. Rab1 Ra2 22. Rd4 f6 23. exf6 Rxf6+ 24. Ke3 and black has a tenable endgame. ]16... Rd8 17. a5 Bd5 18. Rac1 Qd7 19. Bxc5 Rac8 20. Qb4 Bxc5 21. Rxc5 Rxc5 22. Qxc5 Qa4 23. Qd4 Qxd4 24. Rxd4 After a long forcing sequence, black is a pawn down. But I assessed this as holdable for me - would I be proved right? Rc8 25. f4 Kf8 26. Kf2 Rc5 27. b4 Rc2 28. Bf5!? Bobby relied on a tactic to remanoeuvre his bishop for exchange. Rb2 29. Be4 Bxe4 30. Rxe4 I liked my chances to hold this. At around this point, I had seen Zac and Omar win their games. Bosko was losing, but I felt relieved that the team would not lose the match. Ke7 31. Rc4 Kd7 32. g4 g6 33. Kf3 Rb3+ 34. e3 Rb2 35. h3 Rh2 36. Rd4+ Kc7 37. Kg3 Re2 38. Re4 Kc6 39. Rc4+ Kd7

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40. Rd4+ Kc7 41. Re4 Kc6 42. h4!? He had to pretty much play this if he was to avoid a three-fold repetition. h5?! In hingsight, this may be a mistake as I weaken the dark squares. [42... h6!? ]43. Rc4+ Kd7 44. Rd4+ Kc7 45. f5 Rxe3+ 46. Kf4 Rh3 47. fxg6?! In a short post-mortem, Bobby contended he was winning after [47. Kg5 He may be right, but it is very tricky. Rg3 48. Kf6! (48. Rc4+ Kd7 49. f6 Rxg4+ 50. Rxg4 hxg4 51. Kxg4 Ke8 52. h5 gxh5+ 53. Kxh5 Kf8 54. Kg4 ) 48... Rxg4 49. Rd3 gxf5 (49... Re4?! 50. Kxf7 gxf5 51. Kxe6 f4 52. Rf3 Kd8 53. Kf5 Rxb4 54. Rxf4 Rb5 55. Kf6 Rxa5 56. e6 Ra3 57. Kf7 Re3 58. Rd4+ Kc7 59. e7 Rf3+ 60. Kg7 Re3 61. Kf7 Rf3+ 62. Ke8 b5 63. Rd7+ Kc6 64. Kd8 Re3 65. Rc7+ Kb6 66. Rc8 Rd3+ 67. Ke8 ) 50. Kxf7 f4 51. Kxe6 Rg3 52. Rd1 Re3 53. Rd7+ Kc8 54. Rh7 f3 55. Rxh5 Re4 56. Rf5 Rxh4 57. Rxf3 Kd8 58. Rf8+ Kc7 59. Ke7 Rxb4 ]47... fxg6 48. Kg5 Rg3! Now, the draw is well assured. I offered a draw, which was refused, but it was never in much doubt from this point. 49. Kf6 Rxg4 50. Rd6 Rxh4 51. Rxe6 Rxb4 52. Re7+ Kc6 53. e6 Rf4+ 54. Kxg6 Kd6 55. Re8 h4 56. Kg5 Ra4 57. Kf6 Rf4+ 58. Kg5 Ra4 59. Kf6 Rf4+ 1/2-1/2

BOARD 2: OMAR KHALED 1977 1966 (NPCC2) 1-0 JASON TANG 2080 2132 (CJCC)Annotation by Omar1. d4 e6 2. c4 d5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Be7 5. Be2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Bxc4 a6 8. Nc3 b5 9. Bd3 Bb7 10. a3 Nbd7 11. b4 Bd6 12. e4 e5 13. d5 Qe7? 14. Nh4 g6 15. Bg5 Rfe8 16. Qf3 Kg7 17. Qh3 h5 if 17. Ne2, then 17...Bxd5! 18. Ng3 (in case 18. exd5, then 18....e4, black opens up the centre with getting back the piece).... Be6 and black defends the threat of knight sacrifice at f5 18. Ne2 Rh8 19. Rac1 Qe8 20. Qg3 Kh7 21. Qf3 Ng8 21...Be7 was probably better 22. Ng3 f6 23. Bd2 Ne7 24. Rc2 Qf7 25. Rfc1 Rac8 26. Qe2 c6 at last! 27. Qe3 Bb8 28. Rc3 Kg7 29. d6! white should prevent black from playing cxd Bxd6 30. Bc2 this move seems too simple but it is essential in securing the a2-f7 diagonal c5 black is trying to counter-play by opening up the queen side 31. bxc5 Bxc5 32. Qd3 Bd4 looks Black has solved the positional issue; it has also one extra pawn 33. Bb3 Qe8 34. Rxc8 Bxc8 35. Bb4! securing c5 square and controlling the a3-f8 diagonal Kh7 36. Qf3 Rf8 37. Nxg6! Qxg6 Black was under

time pressure and had only one minute left to complete the game 38. Bxe7 Re8 39. Bb4 h4 40. Nf5 Nb6 too late for blocking the a2-f7 diagonal by placing the knight at c4 41. Rc7+ Bd7 42. Nxh4 Qg5 43. Nf5 Kg6 44. h4 Qf4 45. h5+ Kg5 46. Bd2! eyeing checkmate Qxd2 47. Qg3+ Kxh5 48. Bf7# 1-0

BOARD 4: ZACHARY LOH 1872 1837 (NPCC2) 1-0 ALLEN YU 1945 1850 (CJCC)Analysis by Houdini1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. Nd2 bxc4 5. e4 Bb7 last book move 6. Qc2 g6 7. Nxc4 Bg7 8. Bd3 O-O 9. Ne2 d6 [9... e6 10. Nd6 Ba6 11. Bg5 Qa5+ 12. Nc3 exd5 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. exd5=/+ ]10. O-O Nbd7 11. Nc3 Ne8 12. h3 e6 13. Bf4 Ne5 [13... exd5!? 14. Nxd5 Bxd5 15. exd5 Nb6= ]14. Nxe5 dxe5 15. Be3 exd5 16. Bxc5 Nd6 17. exd5 [17. Nxd5 Bxd5 18. exd5 Rc8+/= ]17... Rc8+/= 18. Ba3 Re8 19. Qb3 e4 20. Nxe4 Nxe4 [The isolani on d5 becomes a target [20... Nxe4 21. Qxb7 Overloading Deflection ;20... Rxe4 21. Bxe4 Nxe4 22. Qb4 Decoy Double attack (22. Qxb7 Overloading Deflection ) [∆20... 21. Nxd6 Wins material ]21. Qxb7 Nc5 22. Bxc5 [22. Qb5 Bd4+/= ]22... Rxc5+/= 23. Qxa7 Rxd5 24. Bc4 Bd4 25. Qb7 Rf5 26. Qb3 [26. Rad1 Qh4 27. Kh1 Bxf2= ]26... Qh4= [The pressure on f2 grows 27. Qc2 Rf3 28. Bd5 [28. gxf3 Qg3+ 29. Kh1 Qxh3+ 30. Kg1 Re5 31. Bxf7+ Kg7 32. Qxg6+ hxg6 33. Be6 Qg3+ 34. Kh1 Rh5+ 35. Bh3 Rxh3# ]28... Rf5 29. Bb3 Re4 30. Rad1 Rg5 [30... Ref4 31. Rd2= ]31. Rd3 [31. Qc7(better) Rf5 32. g3+/= ]31... Qf4? [31... Rf5(better)= ]32. Qd2+- Qe5 33. Rf3 Re2? [33... Rf5(better) 34. Rxf5 Qxf5+/- ]34. Qd3 Rf5 [34... Kg7 35. Rxf7+ Kh6 36. Kh1+- ]35. Rxf5 gxf5 36. Qc4 Kg7 37. Qxf7+ Kh6 38. Qf8+ Kg5?? [38... Qg7 39. Qd6+ Qf6 40. Qf4+ Kg6+- ]39. h4+! Kxh4 40. Qh6+ Kg4 41. Bd1 1-0

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