Schools in, for winter

 The local (ACT) school term is starting again, which also means a return to chess coaching activities (for me and others). The ACT Junior Chess League runs a few after school coaching programs suitable for new and improving players. Most are only open to students of the host school, but not all.

The school based ones are

• Rosary primary (Tuesday)
• Kaleen Primary (Wednesday)
• Ainslie Primary (Thursday) https://www.trybooking.com/DDOLY
• Canberra Chinese School - Gold Creek (Sunday 11:30am)

So if your child attends any of these schools, see if they can enrol (some schools have age restrictions, so check first)

Open to all junior players is the Norths Junior Chess Club, which meets at 4pm Friday at Radford College. You can register here https://www.trybooking.com/DDHDH

Ideas worth stealing

 At last years Chess Olympiad, I picked up a small book on World Champions, written by Meszaros Andras. The book itself was pretty simply, in that it each chapter consisted of (a) a picture of the world champion featured (b) 2 example games with very light symbolic annotations and (c) 16 tactics puzzles from each champion.

I suspect the book was self published, as I purchased my copy from the author himself (and he even signed it). And although books are on the way out (even in chess) books of this type are probably easy enough to produce and distribute to interested buyers (such as myself). All you probably need is an interesting, but original topic (e.g. top Australian players, or World Junior Champions etc)

 

2025 ANU Open - Entry List

 https://www.vegaresult.com/vr/4080

A public service announcement - re Titles and Ratings

 Anyone who is hoping to gain a title in the near (or far) future, or is planning to organise such an event, needs to read the latest articles from the FIDE Qualification Commission. They are published at https://qc.fide.com/category/news/ and cover the latest regulations on titles, as well as ratings. 

I am highlighting this for 2 reasons. Firstly, I wrote most of these articles (spelling an grammar errors are mine btw), and secondly, organisers and players are still invalidating norms by making basic mistakes in organising and running events. Some of the cases have been highlighted in the Case Studies sections of both, and the "You shouldn't punish players for arbiters mistakes" excuse isn't working any more. What does work instead, is players making sure that the tournaments they are playing in follow the correct regulations. It shouldn't be that hard.

Chess to enjoy, without the burden of study

 Not every chess game is a lesson. Sometimes you can lust enjoy the moves (even if it just a blitz game)

Abdusattorov,Nodirbek - Firouzja,Alireza [B55]
SuperUnited Croatia Blitz 05.07.2025

It pays to study the (new) classics

 To be fair the following game isn't really a classic. But it is an instructive handling of the Centre Game, a very much underrated opening (IMHO). 8.Qf4 is an interesting alternative the usual 8.Qg3, in that it allows a quick g4 and h4. The downside is that  8 ... Bxc3 allows Rxe4 with  complications to follow. White even allows (provokes?) Nxa3 getting enough compensation for the sacrificed wing pawn. However, the real interest is later in the game, where White provides a clear cut example of how to convert a position when an exchange ahead. At the club level, there might be enough inexact moves to save Black, but clearly not here

Duda,Jan-Krzysztof - Gukesh,D [C22]
SuperUnited Croatia Rapid, 02.07.2025

Always take the first pawn

 For myself, rapid chess is a lot more 'hit and hope' than standard chess. Although winning is still important, the path to victory is a lot looser, and often depends on who gets it right when short of time. Example no 1297 is below. I was looking for aggressive moves (21 ... Rd3) even if they weren't the soundest moves. But I guess pressure counts for something as while my opponent was hoovering up my stray pawns, my pieces ended where I wanted them to be. Nonetheless, the win was due to my opponent missing a threat or two, rather than his position become too hard to defend.

 

Madoc,James - Press,Shaun [C68]
Winter rapid, 01.07.2025