Boris Spassky (1937 - 2025)

 Former World Champion Boris Spassky has passed away, at the age of 88. He was the World Junior Champion in 1955 and World Champion from 1969-1972. For most casual chess players he was most famous for losing the 19821972 World Championship title to Bobby Fischer, but for more serious players, he was an incredibly strong player who chess career was far more than one match. He was a serious tournament competitor up until the early 1990's, but still played exhibition matches and tournaments after that.

He visited Australia in 1989, touring the country and playing simuls. I was fortunate to handle the Canberra leg of his visit, showing the sights of the nations capital and other tourist spots. He was very taken by his trip to the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve where he was able to see native wild life and plants. He said it reminded him of his time working in the forests of the USSR, before he became a full time chess player.

Long considered one of the chess world's true gentlemen, his passing will be mourned by the chess community.

FIDE website redesign

 The FIDE website ( fide.com ) has undergone a bit of a redesign. Certainly the look has changed (to a 'flatter' style), but more importantly, things like the Ratings and Directory pages have improved how information is displayed. The previous version of the Ratings page (ratings.fide.com) had some technical issues re searching for information and events, but at least at first glance, these seem to have been fixed. There are also a couple of extra tools for calculating ratings (new and changed) although my initial test did find a flaw in one of them.

I've already received feedback (in my capacity as Secretary of the Qualification Commission), but I probably should explain, we 9QC) weren't involved in this project, so any issues should go straight upstairs!

An arbiting first for me

 One of the strangest rules in the Laws of Chess is 

"A.5.4    If the arbiter observes both kings are in check, or a pawn stands on the rank furthest from its starting position, he/she shall wait until the next move is completed. Then, if an illegal position is still on the board, he/she shall declare the game drawn."

This applies to Rapid and Blitz games (without adequate supervision). I have always thought it a silly rule, even when I was at the meeting where the rule was drafted.

However at todays ACT Junior Chess League Lightning Championship I enforced this rule for the very first time. I was wandering past one of the top board games, and both players were engaged in a pawn race in an ending. At some point previously (I assume), one of the players had moved his king out of the way of his rook pawn to let it run. But in doing so he had moved it next to the opponents king. But the opponent was so intent on pushing his own pawn, he did not claim (or even notice), and I witnessed both players play not 1 but 2 pawn moves before I stepped in. Informing of the rule (and convinced that neither would have taken action until after they had both promoted), I explained the rile to them, and declared the game a draw. 

Afterwards I kind of realised why the law kind of makes sense, although I'm still not convinced it is necessary. My decision in this specific case was probably influenced by 2 factors. Firstly, the position was materially even, and the pawn race was unlikely to change that. Secondly, if I did not take action now, the position would have been more chaotic later (and someone was going to come off worse).

The system hacked

 Another lesson for players who overly rely on "Hot to beat the ..." opening books. Up against a GM, white tries the formula hack against the Pirc. This usually involves an early Bh6 (after Qd2) and long castling. Black cleverly avoided castling too early, instead launching queenside counterplay with the annoying c6-b5 plan. It turns out that Whites 'attack' didn't amount to much, but in failing to realise this, failed to defend against the attack on the other side of the board.

Kothari,Jai (2070) - Chatalbashev,Boris (2489) [B07]
Isle of Wight Round 1 2025

2025 Dubbo Open

 An early shout out for the 2025 Dubbo Open. It will be on the weekend of the 29th & 30th March at the usual venue of the Dubbo RSL Club, Corner Brisbane and Wingewarra Streets, Dubbo NSW 2830.

It will be a 6 round swiss with a time control of 60m+10s. Entry fees are Adults $45, Concession $35, Juniors $25, and the 1st prize will be at least $450

The event usually gets a good mix of players from country NSW, Canberra, and Sydney. While the occasional GM and IM have dropped in to play, the majority of players are below 2000 (ACF). There is also a novelty blitz event on the Saturday night, after the tournament dinner.

Further information can be found at  www.facebook.com/DubboOpenChess

Chess and Bach

 I ran across the following on ABC Classic FM. It is from a video game (It Takes Two) , but is also based an earlier work by JS Bach. No animation, just music. Enjoy.

More found scoresheets

 This is what happens when you leave your scoresheet lying around at the chess club (although i suspect it is the winners discarded copy)

White v Black
Gungahlin Chess Club 2025

2025 O2C Doeberl Cup - Entry update

 The 2025 O2C Doeberl Cup is starting a little later this year (17th April), due to the phases of the moon. I normally start tracking entries 8 or 9 weeks out, so as to prepare for how much equipment, arbiters, furniture etc are needed. As of today the total entries have just passed the 100 player mark, which is a good start for the tournament. Last year we had over 400 players (in the main events), and increasing that number would be fantastic.

The other thing I start tracking around this time are the emails that ask us to ignore the rating restrictions so they (or more commonly their child) can be admitted into the Premier.  The number seems to be up this year from previous years, including emails from people who were told no last year, but thought they'd give it another shot (in one case the player concerned then simply refused to play in a lower section). Again, the rules here are quite clear. No exceptions :)

No books for me

 For the first time ever, I managed to walk out of the Lifeline Bookfair without any books. Not just chess books, but any books at all. The reason was a scheduling conflict meant I missed the Friday morning opening, and when I got their on Saturday, all that was left was the detritus of what had been there before. Then having no chess books in my bag, I felt uninspired to  purchase any books (including any of the bridge titles, which were legion in number). 

So empty handed I left the hall, hoping for better finds later this year.

Failed Experiments

 With all the brouhaha in the chess world over Freestyle Chess (Chess 960, Fischer Random, the thing invented by David Bronstein chess), it is worth remembering that it was once held as part of the Doeberl Cup. However it turned out to be less popular than the blitz, so the experiment was not repeated.

I suspect one of the reasons was: Players love Chess960 because their opponent can't rely on opening theory. Players hate Chess960 when they realise they can't rely on opening theory

But if you want to see it played at the top level (although it is missing Wesley So) you can at https://lichess.org/broadcast/freestyle-chess-grand-slam-tour-2025-weissenhaus--round-robin/round-1/SjKjf4b0

Stewart Reuben (1939 - 2025)

 Legendary chess arbiter and organiser Stewart Reuben has passed away, while on a cruise in Jamaica. Born in 1939, Stewart began playing and organising events in the 1950's and was a leading figure in the world of chess for over 60 years. Although he started his working career as an Industrial Chemist, he worked as a school teacher before becoming a chess author and organiser. He served on various FIDE Commissions, either as Chairman or Secretary, and made significant contributions to the authorship of the Laws of Chess.

He was also a talented player, with a peak rating above 2200 (and possibly 2300), as well as earning the Candidate Master title in later years (a title he created as Secretary of the Qualification Commission). One of his proudest playing moments was drawing with Bobby Fischer in a blitz event in 1963. His authorship of "The Chess Organisers Handbook" provided an invaluable resource for many aspiring chess arbiters, including myself.

I first met Stewart at the 2000 Chess Olympiad, and he was always an engaging and entertaining companion. Indeed I earned my FIDE Arbiter title after bumping into him at breakfast during the 2008 Olympiad, when he mentioned he was running a FA course, and invited me to attend. He also encouraged me to put myself forward for the FIDE Rules Commission and we had a very productive working partnership from 2008 to 2014. 

He was also a generous host to many chess players visiting London. A number of players were a guest at his flat in London, including myself and my son in 2016. He was also a very successful Poker player writing books on the topic, including his own speciality of Omaha.

He passed away while on a cruise to the Caribbean, something he did regularly in later years. His contribution to the chess world as an arbiter, organiser and author is enormous, and he will be sadly missed.

Back to club chess

 The 2025 club chess season is up and running, at least for Canberra clubs. My home club (Eastlakes Gungahlin) is running two events to start the year. Although they are both 60m+30s 1 round per week tournaments, they have been split into Under 18s and Over 18s. Normally such a split would be to encourage the younger players, but in this case it is the older players we are looking at to join. 

The junior event has attracted a healthy field of 27 players, with some of Canberra's strongest juniors taking part. On the top board, there was an interesting opposite coloured bishop ending reached. Often these can end in draws (as this one did), but only because White missed a nice idea in the diagrammed position. A couple of spectators spotted it, but can you?

Don't threaten me with a good time

 The final round of the Tata Steel event is starting shortly. As I have been busy with other chess events, I've only caught up with the some of the games from the tournament. Unlike the 'high altitude' Super-duper GM events, the make of the field in this event does lend itself to more exciting (but possibly less correct) chess. 

In the following game, Black allows White to build up quite the attacking position, but it doesn't really kick off until 22, after Black allowed White to kick off the final attack with a piece sacrifice. While it could be argued that Black missed the strength of the sacrifice, a more sensible strategy would have been to avoid the position all together. But then we would not have seen the queen sac at the end!

Praggnanandhaa R (2741) - Sarana,Alexey (2672) [D36]
Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2025 Masters Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands (12.3), 01.02.2025