Australian Open 2006-07 Finances

In the most recent Australian Chess Federation Newsletter, the ACF has called for bids for the 2007-08 Australian Championship. Of course this is not the first time the ACF has called for bids for this event, an technically the bids for this event closed 12 months ago (ie 30 June 2006).
But as of this moment no one has shown any real interest in hosting this event, and the ACF has offered to underwrite to event to the tune of $2,000 and allow the organisers too keep all the profit. This is a change from previous years where the ACF has insisted that organisers carry all the losses, but split the profit 50-50 with the ACF. Desperate times, desperate men I guess.
Of course the last Australian Open (2006-07) ran under the model of the ACF carry all the risk, but retain all the profit, which I think is the model the ACF should have always had.
For those thinking of putting in a bid (as well as those lying in wait to criticise whatever bid is accepted), here are some figures from the 2006-07 Australian Open. The initial bid based based on a total of 230 players entering. This was made up of 150 in the Open plus 40 players each in the Major and Minor. The Seniors event was not part of the bid and was therefore a self funded event (as was the Lightning event). In the end the event attracted less than 50% of that estimate, with only 104 players entering the 3 events. Consequently there was always going to be a shortfall, especially as the total budget came to $30,442
So how much was that loss. In the end it was only $4,719 which isn't bad considering the low entries. If we had had the budgeted numbers of players (ie an extra 126 players) then the tournament would have run at a considerable profit.
And that is what a poorly attend (but well run) national tournament cost the ACF. Although curiously the ACF themselves could have reduced the loss a lot further. At the Australian Schools Teams Championship in December 2006, incoming ACF President Gary Wastell asked me what the ACF could do to help make the tournament a success. "Simple" I replied. "Just get each member of the ACF Council to enter the tournament". In the end only 2 council members (IIRC) actually entered the event (ACTCA President Mos Ali and CAWA President John Fedec) meaning that at least 11 did not. This could have reduced the ACF's loss by $1,980. Gary Wastell didn't seem to take my suggestion seriously, and I assume it wasn't followed up.
But a word of caution to any prospective organisers. The ACF has very high standards you need to meet. During the Australian Open Gary Wastell called me "incompetent" not once but twice. So I guess the ACF won't be looking for my help in the future.

Harry Potter teaches Chess

As part of the relentless "Harry Potter" marketing machine, there is the "Harry Potter Chess" magazine. It is one of these magazine series where each issue builds into an entire collection of encyclopedias/handy man library/killer robot. In this case not only do you get a magazine but you also get part of a "Harry Potter Chess Set". The only catch is that the set consists of 47 issues, costing a total of $462. Nonetheless I bought the 1st and 3rd issues.
Why don't I have the second issue? Basically I couldn't find it in the newsagents. At first I assumed it was because they only stock issue 1 and then you have to sign up for the rest over the phone/web, but this wasn't the case. The newsagents where I got issue 3 said that they "sell like hot cakes", and they had no issue 2 in stock.
This then is hopefully good news for generating for chess players in this country. Instead of the "Fischer" generation of the 70's we may end up with the the "Potter" generation of the 10's, although it doesn't have quite the same ring.

And by the way. For those that want to know what happens at the end of the next Harry Potter book, a reliable source tells me he gets killed in a skateboarding accident.

Dortmund and Aerosvit

Two big international events are taking place, although there is an overlap between the two. Dortmund 2007 is half way through, while the Aerosvit tournament in the Ukraine, is almost complete.
While both events are probably Category 100 or so, the Dortmund event is probably the "A" event due the participation of Anand, Carlsen, Kramnik, and Leko, although a "B" event containing Ivanchuk, Karjakin, Shirov and Svidler isn't too shabby.
Click on the above links for current standings.

Fellow ANU Chess Club member Andrey Bliznyuk tipped me off about the following game between Karjakin and Van Wely from the Aerosvit tournament. As I believe the Sicilian Defence only exists to give 1.e4 players a chance to practice their King-side attacks, I found it quite enjoyable.

Karjakin,S (2686) - Van Wely,L (2674) [B90]
Aerosvit Foros UKR (7), 25.06.2007

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nf3 Be7 8.Bc4 0-0 9.0-0 Nc6 10.Re1 b5 11.Bf1 Rb8 12.Bg5 Ng4 13.Bc1 Qb6 14.Qd2 Nf6 15.h3 Re8 16.Qd1 h6 17.b3 Bf8 18.a4 b4 19.Nd5 Nxd5 20.exd5 Na5 21.Be3 Qc7 22.Nd2 f5 23.Nc4 Be7 24.Qh5 Rf8 25.Nxa5 Qxa5 26.Bxh6 gxh6 27.Qg6+ Kh8 28.Qxh6+ Kg8 29.Qg6+ Kh8 30.Re3 f4 (D)
31.Rxe5 dxe5 32.Qh6+ Kg8 33.d6 Rf7 34.Bc4 Bf5 35.dxe7 1-0

Choose your (opponents) move

I'm a big fan of the "Choose Your Move" magazine articles. I find that they are a fun exercise, both as a player and a coach. The only difficulty is having someone to do it with. I know that they are intended to be done as a solo exercise, but the mechanics of covering up future moves can be a little annoying, and difficult to always get right.
Even if you have a partner, one person often feels left out, as the solver seems to have all the fun. But there is a related exercise that can involve both players.
The following coaching technique was shown to me by Julian Mott, who ran the first junior chess club that I joined as a teenager.

Simply play a normal game of chess, either without clocks, or with a reasonably generous time lime (G/20 or above). When you write down your move, also write down what you expect your opponents reply to be as well. Both of you can do this for every move of the game. At the end you can compare who got the most predictions right.
For experienced players this just may be a function of knowing the other persons game. But for newer players it helps build up the discipline to anticipate an opponents reply to your move. Too many beginners go for the "hit and hope" strategy, rather than the "if I go here, then he goes there" approach. By using this method, hopefully new players will build a more all-round understanding of the game at an earlier age.

ANU Open 2007 - Venue

The organisers of the ANU Open (28th & 29th July 2007) have confirmed that this years event will be held at Fenner Hall, 210 Northbourne Ave, Braddon. For those that played in the ANU Open or Doeberl Cup around the turn of the century (doesn't that sound old!), this will be a familiar venue for you, but for those that haven't, it is located on the main avenue to Canberra City, as you approach from the north.
Fenner Hall is located close to accommodation with the Canberra Rex Hotel across the road. It is less than 5 minutes drive from Canberra City, or at most 15 minutes walk. There are plenty of places to stay in Canberra City, including the City Walk Hotel, or the Novotel.
The main reason for the venue change was that hailstone damage to the previous venue
(Canberra School of Art) meant we were unable to access parts of the building that we had previously used. Nonetheless the move to Fenner Hall will allow us to provide better facilities not only for the chess tournament, but also for the Go and Backgammon events.

ACT Under 10's Championship 2007

Congratulations to Bevan Lee, Lucinda Flood and Niranjan Gupte for finishing equal first in the ACT Under 10's Championship. It was a close tournament with half a point separating the top 6 players.
The level of chess was quite high, and before the start of the tournament I felt that any one of the top 8 seeds could win it. In the end the performance that impressed me most was by 9th seed Lucinda Flood. She managed to come back from some dire positions to not only save games, but also win games that I thought were simply lost.
Full results from the event are here. Thanks must go to the organising team headed by Rebekah Gupte, not only for putting the event on, but for getting the results up so quickly.

Best Chess Movie Ever

To be honest, there haven't been that many movies about chess. "Searching for Bobby Fischer" is an obvious example, while "Knight Moves" is an abysmal one. If only Milos Forman (Amadeus) would make the Bobby Fischer bio-pic the world is waiting for.
However, based in what is currently out there, my vote for best chess movie ever is the German film "Black and White, like Day and Night". Made for German TV in 1978 it is the story of a mathematician/computer programmer, Thomas Rosemund (played by Bruno Ganz) who develops a chess playing program, only to have it humiliated on live TV by the World Champion. Vowing revenge, he becomes a chess professional himself and tries to become World Champion.
There are a couple of interesting facets to the story. One is the opening that Rosemunds program tries against the World Champion. After 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2, the program plays 3. ... a6 and the World Champion, followed by the studio audience, begin to laugh. Of course this is a perfectly respectable line, played by Bronstein amongst others.
The other is that the film makers gave Rosemund every documented psychosis in chess history. From fear of his food being poisoned (Morphy), playing God with pawn and move odds (Steinitz), and paranoid conspiracy theories (Fischer), Rosemund appears to be an amalgam of various mad chess players. But rather than detract from the movie, this made it more interesting.
The only problem is getting to see it. The only time I saw it was in 1983 or 84, when it was shown on SBS television in Australia, and I haven't seen it since. If you are fortunate enough to spot a copy, I do recommend you watching it.