Knight Times
September 2012
Knight Times Chess World Australia Pty. Ltd. ABN 41 118 087 862
The Future of Tournaments! I'm excited! The Victorian Youth Championships, October 20-21, will give you a glimpse of what chess tournaments of the future may well look like.
Chess Kids Camp
What will be different, you ask? Chess hasn't changed much in 3000 years, how can you hope to improve it? Well. We aren't changing chess, but we are changing the way you interact at tournament venues. Firstly each game will be given an iPad to record moves (no more scoresheets!). These games will then be broadcast LIVE on the internet, so fans (or parents) from around the world can tune in and follow any of the 60 games in progress. Then, we're going to make the event all about learning - not just playing games. You can explore new strategies on interactive touch-screens around the room, talk to coaches on duty or sit back and relax in the video room! We'll also have commentators discussing games in progress with the audience, so it will be a great experience for parents as well! Check out ChessTournament.com.au for details and pictures!
DavidCordover, Managing Director, Chess Group of Companies www.chesskids.com.au
The winning team at the chess camp with their prizes and camp organiser, David Cordover Chess Kids Contacts: www.chesskids.com.au Coaching: info@chesskids.com.au Retail: info@chessworld.com.au Interschool: interschool@chesskids.com.au Newsletter: rj@chesskids.com.au
1300-424-377 Page 1
Knight Times
RJ
September 2012
RJ Shield
Novice Tournament Results of 1st July event at Monash University. Under 8 (46 Players) 7 5.5 5
Shaun Zillman Mason Roberts Akshayan Manivannan
The Chess Kids Centre Activities
Under 10 (32 Players) 7 Daniel Pobererovsky 6 Yehonatan Chui 5 Ollie Stevens
Sessions for all standards are held during the week and on weekends.
Under 12 (24 Players)
Please contact us on 1300 424 377 for enquiries or bookings.
6.5 6 5
William Lai Alexander Csendes Henry Bayliss
RJ Shield Finals Have you achieved the 15 points necessary to qualify for the RJ Shield Finals on 25th November? Scores are on the website.
The RJ Shield now has its own website - www.rjshield.com Check it out!
July Doncaster RJ Shield (19 players) 6.5/7 Ryan Lumpreiks 5.5 Matthew Zillman 5 Henry Lai
July Mildura RJ Shield Open (35 players) 6/7 Liam Harrison & Zoe Harrison 5 Brody Tanner Under 12 (14 players) 6.5 Samuel Barclay 5.5 Finley Japp 4 John Nghien
July Bentleigh RJ Shield Open (26 Players) 6.5/7 Lachlan Martin 6 Rebecca Strickland 5 Jaime Fay Under 10 (26 players) 7/8 Yoni Chui 6.5 Oliver Cordover 5.5 Rakith Kodikara
RJ & Lachlan Martin - winner of the July Bentleigh RJ Shield. www.chesskids.com.au
There was one interesting result at Bentleigh with 4 year-old Oliver Cordover winning the Under 10 section and finishing second overall. It was worth coming to the tournament just to see the smile on little Oliver’s face at the prizegiving! Page 2
Knight Times
September 2012
Vic Under 12 Championships by Robert Jamieson
Bd7 10.Bc4 Ne5 11.Bb3 Rc8 12.Bh6 Nc4 13.Bxc4 Rxc4 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.g4 Qa5 16.h4 b5 17.Nb3 Qa6 18.Kb1 Rfc8
This year’s Victorian Under 12 Championships, held at the Box Hill Chess Club, attracted a huge field of 118 players surely a record. Unfortunately there were only 7 rounds (and no accelerated pairings) to find a Enoch Fan winner, but that just U12 Champion proved adequate with top seed Enoch Fan scoring a picket fence 7/7. White to play.
Leading Scores: Enoch Fan David Cannon Etham Lim Kris Chan Tristan Krstevski Gary Lin, Ryan Kam Nethum Devendra
1722 1486 1463 1310 1236 585 830 750
u12 7 u12 6 u10 6 u10 6 u12 6 u12 6 u12 5.5 u12 5.5
19.e5 Ne8 20.h5 b4 21.hxg6 fxg6 22.Qh6+ Kf7 23.Ne4 Ke6 24.Ng5+ Kxe5 25.Rhe1+ Kf4 26.Ne6+ Kg3 27.Rg1+ Kxf3 28.Qh3+ Kf2 29.Qg3+ Ke2 30.Rge1# 1-0 There was a very interesting position on the top board in the second last round: Ethan Lim v Enoch Fan
Title Winners: Under 12 Champion - Enoch Fan Under 12 Girls Champion - Alanna Chew Lee Under 10 Champion - Ethan Lim Under 10 Girls Champion - Amelia Mendes Under 8 Champion - Bobby Yu Under 8 Girls Champion - Emily Lin Chess Kids’ top student, Gary Lin, did well to tie for second place and finished with a nice King chase against Ari Dale’s younger brother, who is also a good player. Vic U12 Championship
Gary Lane 585 Finlay Dale 1395 Sicilian Dragon 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 O-O 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.O-O-O www.chesskids.com.au
Black to Play Page 3
Knight Times
September 2012
White has just played 1.g5 and Black repied with the spectacular 1...Qc3. Spend a couple of minutes and decided what you would play as White. The game continued 2.gxf6? Rxb2+! 3.Ka1 Rb1+!! 4.Kxb1 Rb8+ 0-1. I set up the position on my computer at home and it came up with 2.Qe2! Be5 3.Bxe5 dxe5 4.Rc1 and White is a bit better. Just proves that backwards (defensive) moves are hard to find.
IM James Morris, Victorian Junior Champion and Victorian Champion
Vic Under 18 Championships A big field of 54 players contested this year’s Victorian Junior Championships at the Box Hill Chess Club. IM James Morris easily added the Vic Junior title to his Vic. Champion title scoring a perfect 9/9 although he did look like a giant among a field of pygmies, having a huge edge in age and experience on most of his rivals.
Flawed combination! Gary Lin v Ari Dale
Prize-Winners:
U18 Open: IM James Morris 9/9 Title and Trophy $500 U18 open 2nd: Ian Choi 6.5/9 $300 medallion [also eq first u14 open] U18 Girls: Savithri Narenthran 6/9 Title and trophy $150 U16 Open: Karl Zelesco 7/9 Title and trophy $400 U16 Open 2nd: Enoch Fan 6/9 medallion $50 U16 Girls: Zoe Harrison 5/9 Trophy and title $150 U14 Open: Ari Dale 6.5/9 Title and Trophy $300 [also eq 2nd U18 open] U14 Open 2nd: Joseph Wong 6/9 Medallion $50 [also eq 2nd U16 Open] U14 Girls: Denise Lim 5/9 Title and Trophy $150 www.chesskids.com.au
Black to Play In the above position, Black played the neat combination: 1... Bxc3 2.bxc3 Nxb3 3.Rxd8 Rfxd8 4.Bg5 Nxa1 5.h3 and Black went on to win. Unfortunately there was a flaw in his analysis as White could have played 4.Qxb8! Rxb8 5.axb3 and it’s White who is winning. Page 4
Knight Times Karl Zelesco v Cedric Antolis
September 2012 In chess we’d all like to play the right moves but sometimes we end up playing the Wong moves. Sorry, I mean wrong moves. Take the above diagram. All juniors love swapping pieces and capturing pieces so Black naturally played 1...Bf3+ Kxh6 2.Bxd1. Presumably he then stopped to think, though perhaps his opponent’s laughter gave him a clue as to what had just happened.
Chess KIds Camp 14-17 July by Robert Jamieson
Black to Play Looks a bit drawish doesn’t it? Were it me, I’d play 1...h5 followed by 2...Bh3 and shake hands. Black however had other ideas... 1. ... Bh3 2.h5 f4+ 3.Ke7 f3 4.Kf6 Bg4 5.Kg5 Be6 6.Kf4 Bf7 7.g4 Be6 8.g5 Bf7 9.g6 hxg6 10.h6 Bg8 11.Kg5 Bh7 12.Kf6 g5 13.Kg7 Bf5 14.h7 Bxh7 15.Kxh7 g4 16.Kg6 g3 17.Bxg3 Kxc5 18.Kf5 Kd5 19.Be5 c5 20.Bf6 c4 21.Bc3 1-0.
I’m exhausted! Four days of chess camp in Hobart with up to six hours coaching per day is hard work …. but also good fun, particularly our trip to Richmond Zoo and a chess simul at Salamanca Market. The kids and parents all seem to have had a good time so well done to the Chess Guru for this new venture. I’m looking forward to next year’s camp which could be at a resort on the Great Barrier Reef!
Max Chew-Lee v Joseph Wong
Joe Flexmore giving a Chess simul in Salamanca market.
Elijah Cordover Visiting the Zoo at Richmond. Black to Play www.chesskids.com.au
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Knight Times
September 2012
What to do after the Opening If my students don’t want to learn lots of opening variations by heart I suggest to them that they play an opening “system” such as the Colle System or King’s Indian Attack instead. With a “system” White just plays the same 8 or 9 moves to set up a nice safe position without having to know theory On-Line game
G.Lin R.Jamieson Latvian Gambit
With IM Robert Jamieson
Now White has a bit of a problem finding something to do. He could just play 10.Qc2 or perhaps 10.exf5 although that gives up the centre. Instead he tries... 10.b4 axb3 11.Qxb3+ Kh8 12.Bb2? If 12.exf5 Na5 13.Qc2 Bxf5 and Black is clearly better. 12...fxe4 13.Nxe4 13.fxe4 was slightly better. 13...Nxe4 14.dxe4 The automatic reply as 14.Rxe4 is answered by 14...Bf5 but 14.dxe4 turns out to be even worse! 14...Bg4! 15.c4 Qf6 0-1
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.d3 Nc6 4.g3 Nf6 5.Nbd2 Bc5 6.Bg2 d6 7.O-O O-O 8.c3 a5
This is the basic “King’s Indian” position for White ... but what to do now? 9.Re1? The normal spot for the R in this opening, but as Black has the possibility of opening the ”f” file the R should have stayed on f1. 9.a4 was better. 9...a4 Gaining a bit of space whilst waiting to see what White does. www.chesskids.com.au
White resigns. If 16.Re3 Bxe3 17.fxe3 Qf7 (not 17...Bxf3 18.Rf1) 18.Rf1 Na4 is pretty horrible for White. So where did White go wrong? His position was clearly fine after 8 moves but then he didn’t really know what to do and came up with some inferior moves. When studying openings it is not only important to remember the correct lines but also to UNDERSTAND what one is trying to do moving from the opening to the middlegame. Page 6
Knight Times
Let’s try attacking...
September 2012
With IM Robert Jamieson
I spent the best part of 2 weeks in July trying to persuade the JETS Squad and the Chess Kids Squad players not to attack, but instead to just wait for their opponents to self destruct. Alas, I fear that playing solidly may be a dying art. I tried using sarcasm, threatening to chop off their hands if they attacked, and even offered them chocolates as a bribe but still they kept attacking! Oh well, if you can’t beat them you’re meant to join them, so the other day I thought that I’d try to play an attacking game myself and see what happened. On-Line Game
J.Chew R.Jamieson Centre Counter 1.e4 d5 This is the Centre Counter Opening, something a little different. 2.exd5 Nf6 Black can take with the Queen and play like it is a Caro Kahn if he wishes. 3.Bb5+ This is the greedy line where White tries to keep his extra pawn. Instead he could just play c4, ...c6 and d4 and let Black get back his pawn. 3...Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.c4 c6 6.dxc6 Nxc6 As compensation for the pawn Black has 3 developed pieces and White has a backward “d” pawn. Sounds like a good deal if you want to attack. 7.Nf3 e5 8.Qe2 The first little mistake. 8.0-0 was safer. 8...e4 9.Nc3 O-O-O Now White must retreat the N as 10.Nxe4? Nxe4 11.Qxe4 Re8 wins. 10.Ng1 Nd4 11.Qd1 Bc5 12.Nge2 www.chesskids.com.au
Black to Play
12...Nf3+! This was too tempting to resist. Black’s pieces are all ready to go so sacrificing a piece to pursue the attack seem logical. 13.gxf3 exf3 14.Nf4 Qg4?! This attacking is not so easy when you have too many good-looking moves to choose from. 14...Rhe8+ 15.Kf1 g5 was good for Black. 15.d3 g5 16.Nfd5? Better was 16.h3! and White can take on f3 next move, returning the sacrificed piece. 16... Nxd5 17.Nxd5 Rxd5! 18.cxd5 Bb4+ 19.Qd2 Forced, unfortunately. 19...Re8+ 20.Kd1 Bxd2 21.Bxd2 Re2 22.Be3 Rxb2 23.Rc1+ Kd7 24.Re1? Qa4+ 0-1 See how easy it is to play a brilliant attacking game, with just a little help from your opponent. I might even try it again one day. Especially if someone offers me a chocolate if I win! Page 7
Knight Times
September 2012
National Interschool Chess Championships November 25-27
Primary, Middle-Years, Open Secondary and Girls Only 120 places open to any school This event is the most highly regarded chess event of the year. With the best teams from all over Australia and New Zealand competing; the best chess coaches from Chess Kids providing individual feedback and coaching and a fantastic social atmosphere. You'll want to be part of NICC 2012! Entries are now open! Only 120 places open to any school - others are allocated by qualification through State events. Just a stone throw from the Melbourne CBD, The University of Melbourne's Queen's College is proud to host the 2012 National Interschool Chess Championships. They have very comfortable on-site accommodation (single rooms) at Queen's College and next-door at Trinity College and lots of space on site for stretching your legs!
Victorian Youth Chess Championships 2012 20th and 21st October 2012 Swinbourne University, KIOSC Trade Training Centre 369 Stud Rd, Wantirna South. Saturday 2pm - 6pm followed by free pizza and transfer chess. Sunday 10am - 4.30pm presentations. Entry Fee $75 (save 10% early bird entry by 20th September). www.chesstournament.com.au/vic-youth www.chesskids.com.au
Enquiries: 1300 424 377 Page 8