This important event has just started in Cebu, The Philippines. It looks very strong and there are spots in the FIDE World Cup up for grabs. Coverage of the event (apart from the results) is patchy so the best place to go is to chess-results.com.
As the Oceania sub-zone is part of the Asian Confederation, all countries were invited to send a representative (full board provided) to the tournament. The only country that seems to have accepted the offer is Papua New Guinea, with Stuart Fancy in a sense representing the entire zone. Hopefully I will be able to get some games and reports from him in the next couple of days.
Related to this is Alex Wohl's comments on The Closet Grandmaster blog. It does seem pretty poor that no Australian representative could be found to go. While I'm not saying that blame lies with the ACF (as Alex does) I do feel that it indicates that Australian players (all of who could apply) are happier in the smaller Oceania pond then the bigger Asian one. So for those that think the Oceania zone should be abolished, you may have to think again.
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2 comments:
The response to the Asian Championships invitation was par for the course these days and there will no doubt be a like response to that for the Commonwealth Championships as there was last year. It's idle for Alex Wohl to whinge about the ACF as he plays almost all his chess overseas now anyway and is out of touch. Moreover, why complain about lack of response to invitations to play overseas when we can't even get many of our top players to play in the Australian Open/Championships.
Denis Jessop
I only just noticed this comment so apologies for my late response.
Perhaps Mr Dennis Jessop should consider why I play most of my chess oversees. Could it be because there are no tournaments in Australia where one has a chance to make GM norms?
I am out of touch? With what? The weekender circuit?
I would prefer to live in Byron bay but then I´d just have to find another way to make a living as most Australian players have had to do.
And why don´t many top players play in the open/championships? We cannot afford it. We need to win just to break even for the pleasure of spending two weeks in Parramatta
Alex Wohl (aka the whinger)
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