Victorian Championship 2012. IM James Morris. FM Bobby Cheng. Nimzo-Indian.
On The Move. September 2011 www.chessclub.com.au. Page 4. Dusan Stojic ...
On The Move
September 2011
On The Move Chess World Australia Pty. Ltd. ABN 41 118 087 862
Covering Chess in Victoria, Australia and the World Edited by IM Robert Jamieson
Is Victoria the best? Victoria appears to be the best state in Australia for chess. The most players, the strongest players and arguably the most promising talent. So why is it that Victorian weekenders are so poorly attended? I attended the Best in the West and the Geelong Open weekenders this year and both seemed to have a lot going for them. Strong top seeds, nice venues (particularly Geelong), decent prize money -- but no players. Best in the West had only 35 players and 15 of them were the Chess Kids training squad preparing for the Aus Junior. I think it's all about promotion and politics. Many weekenders just don't do any promotion at all. That's easily fixed. Harder to fix is the "us and them" mentality in the clubs...clubs aren't promoting events run by rival clubs and Chess Victoria isn't doing anything to create a community of chess players in Victoria. Melbourne Chess Club and Tornelo have teamed up to put in an ambitious bid for the Victorian Open weekenders for 2012-2014. The plan is to turn the Vic Open into the #2 weekender in Australia.... which means we have to beat the NSW Open and the Gold Coast Open (both which regularly attract 120-140 players). We'll have to wait and see what Chess Victoria has to say about this bid, but with any luck there will be support and this can be one event that the whole of Victoria gets behind and not only will we get a fantastic weekender happening, but some sense of Victorian chess community might start to be formed again.
David Cordover Chess Guru www.chessclub.com.au
J A M E S M O R R I S
I N
Like all good chess players James Morris keeps a close eye on his opponent and tries not to show any fear...
M A L A Y S I A
In This Issue .... Best in the West Malaysia Chess Festival Vic. Championship Play-off Vic. Championship 2011 Akiba Rubinstein Accidents do Happen Warm up puzzles World Junior Championships John Purdy RIP Mighty Max Letters to Bob Fitzroy Skittles Saucy Chess Limericks Book Review Page 1
On The Move
Best in the West 20th - 21st August The Best in the West Weekender, put on by the Hobson’s Bay Chess Club, attracted a field of 36 players, including many juniors, but some of the regular stars were overseas playing in the Malaysian Open. Greg Canfell came down from Sydney and coasted to victory with a draw in the last round. Leading Scores: 4.5/5 G.Canfell 4 A.Dale, K.Stead, T.Davis & M.Chew 3.5 K.Gibson 3 M.Ilic, S.Hogan, N.Hibberd, R.Brockman, D.Dyson, W.Maligin, J.Kenmure, A.Gray, M.Zoppi & Z.Harrison (36 Players)
September 2011
Particularly well done to cash prize winners: Max Chew Lee for =2nd overall (wow!!) William Maligin - biggest rating increase Zoe Harrison (Mildura) - Best Under 900 rating. Of course it was hard work for the juniors playing players rated over 1000 points above them but they learnt a lot. Hopefully young William Maligin learnt not to waste time moving his rook pawns for no good reason, as Tony Davis demonstrated in the following game. Best in the West 2011 Tony Davis 1876 William Maligin 858 Vienna Game 1.Nc3 Nc6 2.e4 e5 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 h6? 5.f4 exf4? 6.Bxf4 d6 7.Nf3 Be7 8.Qd2 Be6 9.Nd5 a6? 10.O-O Bxd5? 11.exd5 Na7 12.Rae1 b5? 13.Bb3 O-O 14.Nd4 Qd7?
Full results available from http:// auschess.tornelo.com/tournaments/best-inthe-west--2 Chess Kids took their Australian Junior Training Squad to play in this event and most of the children did very well.
White to Play 15.Bxh6! gxh6? 16.Nf5 Ne8 17.Rxe7 Qxe7 18.Nxe7+ Kh7 19.Rf3 (19.Nf5 is mate in 5) 19...Ng7 20.Rh3? (20.Rf6!) Nf5 21.Nxf5 Kg6 22.Qxh6+ Kxf5 23.Rf3+ Kg4 24.h3# 1-0 Tony Davis - shared second place. www.chessclub.com.au
Page 2
On The Move
September 2011 20.Rb1 f5 21.Kd3 Ra2 22.Bg3 g5 23.Ne5 Rd2+ 24.Kc4 f4
8th Dato' Arthur Tan Malaysia Open 2011 18-25 August, 2011 Was won by GM Li Shilong (China) 7.5/9 Australian Scores: 5.5 IM Gary Lane, FM Bobby Cheng 5 FM Junta Ikeda, IM James Morris, FM Chris Wallis 4.5 Karl Zelesco 3.5 Justin Tan, Zachary Loh 1 Emma Goh James Morris did the best of the Aussies, considering the strong field that he played. Here is his draw with a Chinese grandmaster.
White to Play 25.f3?? Nxg3? (Missing 25...c2 26.Rc1 fxg3 -+) 26.hxg3 fxe3 27.Nd3 c2 28.Rc1 Rxg2 29.d5 cxd5+ 30.Kxd5 Bc3 31.c6 Ba5 32.Ke5 Bb6 33.g4 Rd2 34.Ne1 Rd4 35.Kf5 Rd5+ 36.Ke4 Rd4+ 37.Kf5 Rd1 38.Rxc2 Rxe1 39.c7 Bxc7 40.Rxc7 Kf7 41.Ke4 e2 42.Ke3 Kf6 43.Kf2 Ra1 44.Kxe2 Ra3 45.Kf2 h6 46.Ke2 Ra2+ 47.Ke3 Ra3+ 48.Ke4 Ra5 49.Kd4 Re5 50.Rc6+ e6 51.Rc8 Re1 52.Rh8 Kg7 53.Re8 Kf7 54.Rh8 e5+ 55.Kd5 Kg7 56.Re8 Re3 57.Re7+ Kg8 58.Re8+ Kg7 59.Re7+ Kf6 60.Re6+ Kg7 61.Re7+ Kf6 62.Re6+ Kf7 63.Rxh6 Rxf3 64.Ra6 Rf4 65.Kxe5 Rxg4 66.Kf5 Rg1 67.Ra7+ Kf8 68.Kf6 Ke8 69.Rg7 g4 1/2-1/2
Malaysian Open 2011
IM James Morris 2300 GM Wenjun Ju 2515 Kings Indian Defence 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.Nc3 O-O 5.Bf4 d6 6.e3 c6 7.Be2 a6 8.b4 b5 9.c5 a5 10.a3 axb4 11.axb4 Rxa1 12.Qxa1 Na6 13.Qa3 dxc5 14.bxc5 b4 15.Qa4 bxc3 16.Bxa6 Bxa6 17.Qxa6 Qa8 18.Qxa8 Rxa8 19.Ke2 Ne4 www.chessclub.com.au
FM Brian Jones, playing in the seniors section. Page 3
On The Move
Victorian Championship 2010 Play-Off The long-awaited play-off has finally been played with Dusan Stojic winning 1.5 - 0.5. Here is the amazing second game. Chris Wallis Dusan Stojic Grunfeld Defence Dusan Stojic 1.d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O Bd7 11. Rb1 a6 12. dxc5 Na5 13. Bd3 Qc7 14. Nd4 e6 15. Qe2 Rfe8 16. f4 e5 17. fxe5 Bxe5 18. h3 Bg7
September 2011
Qd6 32. Rf7+ {wins}) 30... Kd7 31. Qd4+ ?! (31. Rf7+ Kc8 32. Rxh7=) 31... Qd6 32. Qg4+ Kc6 33. Rf7 (33. Rxe8 Rxe8 34. Qa4+ b5 35. Qxa6+ {looks better}) 33... Re1+ 34. Kf2 Qd2+ 35. Kg3 Qe3+ 36. Kh4 Qe4 37. Rxh7 Qxg4+ (37... g5+ {wins rook}) 38. Kxg4 Re2 39. g3 Rf8 40. Bd4 Rg8 41. a3 Ra2 42. Kg5 Rxa3 43. Bg7 Kd5 44. Kxg6 a5 45. Kf7 Rc8 46. Rh5+ Kc4 47. Rh4+ Kb3 48. Rh5 Rc7+ 49. Kg6 a4 50. Rb5+ Kc2 51. h4 Ra1 (51... Rb3) 52. c4 Rg1 53. Be5 Rc6+ 54. Kg7 Rh1 55. Rb2+ Kd3 56. Rxb7 Kxc4 57. Ra7 Kb5 58. Rb7+ Kc5 59. Ra7 Re6 60. Bf6 Re4 61. Kg6 Kb4 62. Be7+ Kb3 63. Kf5 Rhe1 64. Bd6 Rd4 65. Be7 Rd5+ 66. Kf4 Rf1+ 67. Ke4 Rfd1 68. g4 (68. Rb7+) 68... R1d4+ 69. Kf3 Rd7 70. Rxd7 Rxd7 71. Bf6 a3 72. g5 a2 73. Ke4 Rf7 74. Bd4 (74. Ba1) 74... Kc4 (74... Rc7 75. Kf5 Rc3 {wins} 75. Bb2 Rf2 76. Ba1 Rf1 77. Bb2 Rb1 78. Bf6 (78. Bg7 {only move} Rh1 79. Kf5 Rxh4 80. g6 {draws}) 78... Re1+ 79. Kf5 Rf1+ 80. Kg6 Rxf6+ 81. gxf6 a1=Q 82. Kg7 Kd5 0-1 (notes by Kevin Bonham from Chess Chat)
Victorian Championship 2011
White to Play 19. Rxf7!{Wow} 19...Kxf7 20. Bc4+ Nxc4 21. Qxc4+ Be6 22. Rf1+ Bf6 23. Nxe6 Rxe6 24. e5 Qxe5 25. Bd4 Qe4? (25... Qe2 26. Rxf6+ Ke7 27. Qd5 Rd8 28. Qxb7+ Rd7 29. Rxe6+ Qxe6 {is fairly even}) 26. Rxf6+ Ke7 27. c6! Qxc6 28. Qb4+ Kd8 29. Rf8+ Re8 30. Bf6+ ? (30. Bb6+ Kd7 31. Qd4+ www.chessclub.com.au
The 2011 Championship was a triumph for 14 year-old Bobby Cheng who finished ahead of top seed GM Darryl Johansen to become the youngest Victorian Champion ever. Here is his interesting game against rival James Morris. Victorian Championship 2012
IM James Morris FM Bobby Cheng Nimzo-Indian Page 4
On The Move
1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 3.Nf3 Bb7 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Nbd2 Bxf3 6.exf3 Qf6 7.Bg2 Qxd4 8.OO Nc6 9.Qa4 Nf6 10.f4
September 2011
agreed drawn. Finally here is how Bobby finished off an out-of-form Doug Hamilton. Victorian Championship 2012 FM D.Hamilton FM B.Cheng
10...Bxd2 11.Bxc6 dxc6 12.Bxd2 Qd7 13.Rad1 c5 14.Qc2 O-O 15.Bc3 Qc6 16.Bxf6 gxf6 17.Qc3 Kg7 18.Rd2 Rad8 19.Rfd1 Rd6 20.f5 Rfd8 21.fxe6 fxe6 22.Qe3 Qd7 23.Rxd6 cxd6 24.f4 Re8 25.b3 a6 26.Kf2 Qc6 27.g4 b5 28.Qd3 Rd8 29.g5 fxg5 30.Qc3+ e5 31.fxe5 Rf8+ 32.Kg1 dxe5 33.Qxe5+ Qf6 34.Qxc5 Rf7 www.chessclub.com.au
1. ... Bxg4?! 2.Nxd5 (2.fxg4) 2. ... Nxd5 3.Nxg4 Rg6 4.Kf1 Ne3+ 5.Nxe3 fxe3 6.Rc2 Rxg2 7.Rxg2 Rxf3+ 8.Kg1 Rg3 0-1 Page 5
On The Move
September 2011
Karlsbad 1929
Akiba Rubinstein
H.Mattison - A.Rubinstein
Chess Master 1882-1961 by IM Robert Jamieson
Akiba Rubinstein was a shy man who was possibly the best player in the world just before World War 1, the onset of which prevented him from playing a match for the World Championship against Lasker. His win against Rotiewi in 1907 is acclaimed for containing the best combination of all time, but Rubinstein’s fame rested largely on his ability in the endgame. He seemed to have a unique understanding of endgames, particularly rook endings, and would often convert even endings into victories for Rubinstein. Irving Chernev said “Rubinstein’s games flow along so smoothly and easily, and are so pleasant to play over, that one is apt to forget that they also offer valuable instruction” so I thought that we would see what we can learn from a Rubinstein ending. Let’s see if you have the same “feel” for endings that Rubinstein had. Clearly Rubinstein had confidence in his own powers and was happy to play even or inferior endings in the knowledge that he would probably outplay his opponent. Have a look at the following example and try to guess the moves of the master. www.chessclub.com.au
Black to Play Here many players would say: White: “I offer a draw.” Rubinstein: “No Thanks!” White: “But the position is even.” Rubinstein: “So?” “Let’s play.” 20. ... Kd7 Bringing his K into the action at e6. 21.c4? Giving Black a target, as White was no doubt thinking in terms of cementing the backward pawn on d6, but is the backward pawn relevant in this position? 21.Kd2 - e3 was simple and solid. 21...g6 Or 21...b5 22.Kc2 Ke6 23.Kc3 23.a4 directed against Black’s b5 was better. 23...f5 24.exf5+ gxf5 Black has weakened his pawn structure but he now has chances for activity on the Kingside and his K is nearer the centre. 25.Rd2 Page 6
The remote passed pawns win again. www.chessclub.com.au
Accidents do Happen White to Play
White to Play
ANSWERS:
Following the principle that “rooks operate best from a distance” but a little move like b3 to solidify the queenside pawns may have been better. 25...b5 Now Black has some play. 26.b3 26.b4 to counter-attack is interesting but 26...Rc8 is an adequate reply. 26...h5 Black has his 4 pawns on the queenside restrained by 3 pawns so he attempts to restrain White’s pawns on the Kingside. 27.g3 f4 28.Re2+ If 28.g4 hxg 29.fxg Rh8 gives Black the initiative. Or 28.gxf Rf8 29.Re2+ Kf5 30.Re4 Rg8 is better for Black also. 28...Kf5 29.Re4? Putting the R out of action. 29.Rd2! was better. 29...fxg3 30.hxg3 Rg8 31.Rf4+ Better was 31.g4+ hxg4 32.Rxg4 as 32...Rxg4? 33.fxg4+ Kxg4 34.cxb5 axb5 35.a4 wins for White so Black must play 32...Rh8 31...Ke6 32.Re4+? It’s tempting to drive the Black King back but this leaves the “f” pawn open to attack as the R is no longer on f4. 32...Kd7 33.g4 Rf8 34.Re3 h4! As in most endings, it’s all about passed pawns, not how many pawns you have. 35.a4? Going down-hill fast. He should have tried 35.Kd2 h3 36.f4 Rxf4 37.Rxh3 Rxg5 and he is only a pawn down. 35...bxa4 36.bxa4 Re8 37.Kd2? Not noticing the the pawn ending is lost. Best was 18.Rd3 h3 19.f4 h2 20.Rd1 Re3+ 21.Kd2 Re4 22.Rh1 Rxf4 23.Rxh2 Rxc4 winning comfortably. 37...Rxe3 38.Kxe3 d5! 0-1
September 2011
#1 White played 1.Kg8?? Kf6! 2.f8=Q+ Kg6 0-1 Instead 1.Kh8! is a draw as 1...Qxf7 is stalemate. #2 White played 1.Qe4! and Black foolishly replied 1...Qxg5+ but after 2.Kc6!! it’s forced mate for White.
On The Move
Page 7
On The Move
September 2011
Warm-Up Puzzles Two puzzles to tune up your brain for your next game. (Answers below)
world junior chess championships Australian beats GM! World Junior Chess Championships FM J.Ikeda AUS 2349 GM J.Cori PERU 2514 Closed Sicilian 1.e4 e6 2.Qe2 c5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d6 5.Bg2 g6 6.d3 Bg7 7.0-0 Nge7 8.c3 0-0 9.Na3 Rb8 10.d4 cxd4 11.cxd4 b5 12.Nc2 b4 13.Rd1 Qa5 14.Ne3 Ba6 15.Qd2 Rfd8 16.d5 exd5 17.exd5 Ne5 18.Nxe5 dxe5 19.b3 Nc6 20.Bb2 Nd4 21.Re1 Rbc8 22.Kh1 h5 23.f4 exf4 24.gxf4 Ne6 25.f5 Bc3 26.Qf2 Nc5 27.fxg6 fxg6
White to Play
Black to Play #1 1.Rxg8 Kxg8 2.f7+ Kf8 3.Bg7+ 1-0 #2 1...Ng2!! 2.f3 Ne3+ 0-1
ANSWERS: www.chessclub.com.au
28.Bxc3 bxc3 29.Qg3 [29.Nf5 apparently wins, if 29...gxf5 30.Re7] 29...Qc7 30.Qxg6+ Qg7 31.Qxh5 Nd3 32.Rf1 [32.d6] 32...c2 33.Nf5 Nf4 [33...Nf2+ apparently draws.] 34.Rxf4 Qxa1+ 35.Bf1 Kf8 36.Nd4+ Ke7 37.Qf7+ 1-0 Page 8
On The Move
September 2011
John Purdy RIP by IM Robert Jamieson In a sad blow for Australian Chess John Purdy passed away unexpectedly on 27th August 2011 bringing to an end the Crakanthorp/ Purdy dynasty of Australian chess players. Our condolences to his wife Felicity and family. Imagine the pressure he was under as a boy. His father is the Australian Chess Champion. His grandfather was Australian Chess Champion. Even his greatgrandfather was a top chess player. Despite this John Purdy decided to learn to play chess and by age 20 he too had climbed to the summit of Australia chess. He however had the advantage of seeing how his father struggled to earn a living as a professional chess player/journalist and so studied part-time to qualify as an accountant and then as a lawyer. In 1980 he was appointed as a judge on the NSW Family Court, a position he held with distinction until his retirement in 2005. I’m writing this from Sydney, having just attended Purdy’s funeral along with around 400 family, friends, chess-players and members of the legal profession. It was a great send off for a very popular man who’s humanity, humour and self-depreciating character (despite all his achievements) were noted by all the speakers. Ian Rogers summed up Purdy’s chess achievements and playing style and how he invariably attributed his wins more to good luck than good play so as to console his defeated opponents. Purdy’s mother, Anne Purdy, is still with us (aged 96) but is in poor health, but Purdy is www.chessclub.com.au
survived by two children, Colin (a barrister) and Michael (a sculptor). There are even a few Purdy grandchildren around so there is always the chance that one of them may decide to take up chess and continue the tradition. I had a very pleasant dinner with the Purdys after the Australian Open in January and it was great exchanging yarns with John and talking about the “good old days.” He looked very well but, alas, has now been taken from us. Cecil Purdy started off by teaching his son tactics and planned to get around to positional play in due course. Unfortunately studies somehow intervened before the younger Purdy had a chance to complete his chess “education” but his tactical skill Page 9
On The Move
was still enough to gain many fine victories such as the following game against a young Stephen Solomon. Australian Champs 1981
Stephen Solomon John Purdy Sicilian Defence 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 Qc7 9.OO-O Nbd7 10.g4 b5 11.Bg2 Bb7 12.Rhe1 OO 13.a3 Rab8 14.Qg3 Rfc8 15.f5 e5 16.Bxf6 Nxf6 17.Nb3 a5 18.Re2 b4 19.axb4 axb4 20.Nd5 Nxd5 21.exd5 Bg5+ 22.Kb1 Ba6 23.Rf2 Ra8 24.f6
Black to Play 24...Be2! 25.Rxe2 Qa7 26.c3 Qa2+ 27.Kc2 bxc3 28.Kd3 Qa6+ 29.Ke4 Qxe2+ 30.Kf5 Qxd1 31.Kxg5 h6+ 32.Kh5 Qxb3 33.Be4 c2 34.Qf3 Qxf3 35.Bxf3 c1=Q 36.Be4 Qg5# 0-1 Purdy’s son noted that his father had a heart condition that nearly took his life 8.5 years ago, so we were all lucky in a sense to have him for those additional years. A great loss to Australian Chess. www.chessclub.com.au
September 2011
MIGHTY MAX by Robert Jamieson I was speaking to Ian Rogers at John Purdy’s funeral and he was bemoaning the fact that Bobby Cheng has taken his record as the youngest Victorian State Champion. Ian mentioned that NSW too has a young state champion, 18 year old Max Illingworth, who has remarkably just scored a GM norm in Hungary. I thought readers may be interested to find out more about him. Ian advised me that: (i) Max is 18, and finished HSC last year before taking a year off to play chess. He plans to study economics at university next year. (ii) He reads chess books voraciously, both buying his own and borrowing from me. (iii) Max's first IM norm came this year at the Thai Open, after missing a norm by half a point at the 2009 Commonwealth Championship in Singapore (where he came third overall). (iv) He won the 2011 NSW Championship very easily, ahead of Xie, Smirnov, Canfell and Feldman (the strongest field for many years). His rating after winning that tournament went to about 2410, though he played badly in NZ soon afterwards and has not yet had a published 2400 rating. However that temporary 2400+ means he needs only one more norm to get the title. (v) He scored an IM norm with two rounds to spare at the ongoing First Saturday tournament in Budapest and then won his final two games to score a GM norm. Page 10
On The Move
(vi) Ian has worked with Max on a semiregular basis for three or four years (never by internet so only when Ian was in Australia). Ian was suggested as a coach for him by his previous coach Brett Tindall who felt that he had not much more to offer Max. Now Max has started working with (Ian’s former coach) Laszlo Hazai in Budapest and that may continue (by internet). (vii) Max stopped playing in junior tournaments a few years ago - his decision not Ian’s - in an attempt to try to play the strongest possible opposition.
September 2011
Qc6 19. Qg3 Bd6 20. Qh4 Bf5 21. Kg1 Rae8 22. Nbd2 Nf4 23. Re3 Ng6 24. Qh5 Bf4 25. d5 Qxd5 0-1 An impressive display of building up your pieces to attack. In the second diagram White is clearly better but Black seems to have all the threats covered. Max however has other ideas! M.Illingworth 2357 v Z.Varga 2474
Here is the game that Max need to win to secure his GM norm. First Saturday GM Rafael Rodriguez Lopez 2313 Max Ilingworth 2357 Ruy Lopez 1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 d5 11. exd5 e4
White to Play 35.h5! Qf7 36.hxg6+ Qxg6 37.f4 Re8 38.Qc7+ Qf7 39.Rh2 Qxc7 40.Rxh6+ Kg8 41.Rh8+ Kf7 42.Rh7+ Kg6 43.Rxc7 Re4 44.Be5 a5 45.Kf2 a4 46.Rg7+ Kh5 47.Rh7+ Kg4 48.Rd7 Kh5 49.Rd6 a3 50.bxa3 Ra4 51.Rxd5 cxd5 52.c6 Kg6 53.c7 Ra8 54.a4 Kf7 55.a5 Ke6 56.g6 Kd7 57.g7 Kc6 58.Ke3 Rg8 59.Kd4 Re8 60.a6 Rg8 61.a7 Re8 62.Bf6 1-0
White to Play 12. Ng5 Nxd5 13. Nxe4 f5 14. Ng3 f4 15. Ne4 f3 16. d4 fxg2 17. Kxg2 Qd7 18. Qg4 www.chessclub.com.au
I hope this gives our Victorian juniors some idea of what they need to do to become a strong chess player! Page 11
On The Move
September 2011
Fitzroy Skittles
By Grant Suveges GM Darryl Johansen has won the Fitzroy Skittles outlasting another 38 players to finish with 15.5/16! While all the others gradually knocked each other out, at the end of the day, Johansen was still there... THE RUN HOME: Round 13 saw Michael Van Zyl Smit, James Brennan and Daniella Van Zyl Smit all get knocked out leaving only 6 players remaining. While missing the prizes, James, Michael and Daniella should all be extremely happy to have lasted so long. Father and son Jim and David Cannon exited the following round at the hands of Morris and Johansen respectively. However it all could’ve been so different if the biggest upset of the event actually occurred the previous round! James Morris played what looked like a Kings Gambit against Sam Gluzman yet Sam just kept the pawn and converted one advantage for another until he reached a completely winning ending material up - then all of a sudden whilst trying to convert the final advantage of the game, he blundered his bishop and Morris lived to fight another day! Gluzman also caused a huge scare for Justin Tan in round 14 but once again fell short - but only just. THE FINAL TWO ROUNDS: In the second last round, Johansen still had a whole point left, whilst Morris, Tan and Gluzman all survived with half a point. Johansen easily accounted for Gluzman ending his tournament whilst Tan and Morris www.chessclub.com.au
went right down to the wire - with Morris blundering a rook when thinking it was on b1 instead of a1. This left the final round Johansen vs Tan. A draw would be enough for Johansen so Tan had to win with black against the GM - not an easy task... To sum the final game up, Tan got hit by a truck with Johansen playing a nice dominant game to win the tournament outright as the sole survivor - still with a whole point up his sleeve...
Leading Survivors! Round Eliminated, Name, Starting Points 17: 16: 15: 15: 14: 14: 13: 13: 13: 12: 12:
Darryl JOHANSEN (GM) 1.5 Justin TAN 3.5 James MORRIS (IM) 1.5 Sam GLUZMAN 6 David CANNON 6.5 Jim CANNON 7 Daniella VAN ZYL SMIT 7 James BRENNAN 7 Michael VAN ZYL SMIT 7 Tomas GOMEZ 4.5 Rod NOVY 7
What should Black Play?
Did you chose 1...a4??? Can you see why the ???s. Page 12
On The Move
More Letters from Readers for you to enjoy...
Letters to Bob... This letter is from Carl of canterbury
Dear Bob, I’m only 11 years old and I want to be a good chess player but I don’t think that I’m tall enough. I often make mistakes because my view of the board is obstructed by my own pieces and I’m hopeless in endings because I can’t reach to the back rank to promote a pawn. What should I do? Dear Carl, You have two options to overcome your problem. Option one is to bring a cushion to all your tournaments to sit on so that you can get a better sight of the whole board. This will intimidate your opponents and you could also try sucking on a big lollipop to put them off. This is what Bill Jordan did in the early 1970’s although I note that Ian Rogers preferred a green apple to a lollipop. Your second option is that when you want to promote a pawn you walk around to your opponent’s side of the board and do your queening from there. This has the added benefit of putting off any opponents who happen to be paranoid as they will see it as you invading their space. In chess this is known as a “space advantage.” Cheers, Bob www.chessclub.com.au
September 2011
This letter is from SAMMY of BOX HILL
Dear Bob, I am 6 years old and my daddy tells me that he is a famous Russian chess player and that he once drew with you in a lightning game at the Melbourne Chess Club when he first arrived in Australia. I know my daddy would never lie to me, and I want to grow up to be famous like him, so can you suggest a good chess coach I can go to to help me become a champion like my dad? Dear Sammy, Yes, I know your daddy well, but whilst daddies would never lie, sometimes they only tell part of the truth. He did hold me to a draw once at the MCC but he should have mentioned that I won the other 12 games! You see I had the big advantage of coming from the “Australian School of Chess” whereas your daddy was brought up in the Soviet Union where he didn’t have the opportunities that we had. Over there you can rarely get to play in good chess tournaments because the grandmasters take all the places in these events. That’s why players like your daddy had to come to Australia to improve their chess. As to finding you a good chess coach from the “Australian School of Chess” may I suggest Doug Hamilton who is a three-time champion of Australia and had a big role in assisting our better junior players over the years. He even beat me once, although I was very young at the time. Cheers, Bob Page 13
On The Move
SAUCY CHESS LIMERICKS! by Robert Jamieson These days most people obtain their chess news from the internet. If you want to play through a few grandmaster games you just pull out your iphone or ipad and chose any of the hundreds of thousands of games that are immediately available to you. When I was a youngster searching for my chess fix I invariably grabbed a chess magazine and eagerly devoured the contents. I subscribed to about 30 magazines from all around the world but also enjoyed going through old magazines like Purdy’s “Chess World”. The other day I was busy in the office at Chess Kids typing away on my iMac when I happened to glance around and noticed a box of old magazines lying on the floor. I grabbed one of the magazines from the pile which turned out to be “Chess in Australia” February 1981 issue. Flicking through the magazine my gaze fell upon an article headed “Result of the 1980 Christmas Chess Limerick Competition.” I began reading a few of the prize-winning entries such as the following: “Chess is a game for all ages, from children to wily old sages. Some say that it’s slow, But I say, “Oh no, The speed of some games amazes”. This one was written by Ms.Jean Jamieson (Victoria). “That’s funny” I thought. “I have a sister named Jean Jamieson”. The next section of the article was headed “Spicy Section”. Under the heading “Highly Commended” was the following limerick: “A bashful young maiden called Tess, Usually beat her boyfriend at chess. On her wedding night www.chessclub.com.au
September 2011
She put up quite a fight But he mated her never-the-less!” This too was by Ms.Jean Jamieson (Victoria). Then the horrible truth dawned on me! My mother’s name is also Jean. In 1981 my mother was writing rude limericks and sending them to “Chess in Australia”. How embarrassing! I quickly returned the magazine to its dusty box and got out my ipad. Some things are best forgotten.
POSTSCRIPT Whilst I may be attempting to erase the above limerick from my memory bank, I do have one chess poem permanently locked in my long-term memory. It dates back to 1994 when the Australian Mrs.K .... clearly delighted Chess at her impending elevation Federation to sainthood. was honouring Evelyn Koshnitsky (Mrs.K) for her many services to chess. It’s a little topical today following the recent elevation of Mary McKillop to sainthood. The poem goes as follows: Mother Mary McKillop may be a saint But a Mrs.K she ain’t. Our Evelyn works night and day Teaching Kiddies how to play. We think she’s more like Mother Therese But would make her a saint it that’d please her! Page 14
On The Move
Book Review Kasparov vs Karpov 1975-1985 Reviewed by IM Robert Jamieson
September 2011
Of course the KvK rivalry is the greatest in the history of chess. Between 1984 and 1990 they contested 5 world championship matches over 144 games with only a point or two separating them in the finish. If Kasparov is the greatest player ever then Karpov is not far behind. Here is one concept that I picked up from the book.
Karpov v Kasparov 1984
I don’t read many chess books these days as I prefer to play through games on my iPad but I recently noticed some new books in the chess shop and stopped for a look. I was particularly attracted to five volumes by Garry Kasparov on “My Great Predecessors” followed by the books on his matches with Karpov and I ended up buying the lot!
White to Play
Kasparov (and his computer) certainly are great analysts and each game is examined in great detail. I wish these books were available when I was a junior. Reading Kasparov’s thoughts would either have made me a much better player or persuaded me that top level chess was far too hard and I should take up something else.
Play continued 27.h3, h5 28.a3, g6 29.e3 Kg7 30.Kh2 and White ended up winning on the 70th move. It struck me that neither player was in a hurry and they both just made “little” moves to improve their position until someone “blinked” and actually did something! Perhaps we can learn from that......
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On The Move
September 2011
Jammo’s Chess PuzzleS Want to fine-tune your brain for your next chess tournament? Have a go at
”Jammo’s Chess Puzzles” appearing weekly at www.chesskids.com.au A bit of chess chat, news, advice, reminiscences and a puzzle!
Chess Quote: “Strategy requires thought, tactics require observation” (Max Euwe)
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Chess World for all your chess requisites. 758 North Rd, Ormond www.chessworld.com.au Ph. 1300 424 377 www.chessclub.com.au
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