Blitz boost

 One thing that I overlooked when planning the 2022 Doeberl Cup was to increase the prize money for the Blitz event. There were over 120 players in 2021, although almost all the top players gave it a miss. Based on (a) the size of the field and (b) attracting stronger players, the prize pool for the 2022 Kinford Consulting Doeberl Cup Blitz has been increased 50% to $890. First prize is now $250 (up from $150), while other prizes have bee added (or increased).

Once again the tournament will take place on Saturday night (16th April) and will be both FIDE and ACF rated.

Junior chess back on in Canberra

 The ACT Junior Chess League held the first face to face junior chess event of the year, the ACT Junior Lightning Championship. An enthusiastic group turned up to play in the 11 round event, with a mixture of experienced players, and newcomers trying the event for the first time.

In the end Charles Huang proved unstoppable, with a perfect 11 from 11. In second place was Larry Cheng, with Connor Amoore in outright third. 

The tournament ran smoothly (with no crying!), and the event followed the required health protocols. As we were playing at one of local Canberra High Schools, we did require masks for all players, but this don't seem to be a problem. Hopefully there will be a few more events on the calendar, especially as a warm up for this years Doeberl Cup.

2022 Chess Olympiad in serious doubt

 As a consequence of the Russian invasion of The Ukraine, FIDE are looking at whether it is appropriate to hold any major chess events in Russia in the foreseeable future. A brief statement was released by FIDE on this matter, indicating that they plan to consult with the relevant commissions and federations.

Already there has been a number of comments by leading players (and other chess identities) asking that the Moscow Olympiad either not take place, or be moved (which is less likely). A few have gone as far as to ask for the resignation of FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, based on his connections with the Russian government. 

At this stage Federations have not been asked for their opinions. However I am aware of at least a few officials (including myself), who would find it impossible to attend the Olympiad under the present circumstances. Of course if Russia remains under sanctions, it may be impossible for a substantial number of teams to attend anyway, as travel to and from Russia may be blocked.

*** Update ***

Soon after this post was made, FIDE have decided that the 2022 Olympiad will not take place in Moscow. Where it will be instead is to be determined

Slow start, strong finish

 Modern Opening Chess Theory (MOCT) was a publication that covered various events in the 1960's and 70'. I picked up a copy of issue No. 104, which covered the 1969 Palma de Mallorca tournament, and was written by Bob Wade. The tournament was probably the strongest event in 1969 ( it included Spassky, Petrosian, and Korchnoi), but was won by Bent Larsen. What was remarkable about this was that he started with 2 losses and was only on 2/5, after losing a 3rd game. He then scored 10/12 to finish outright 1st on 12/17. Petrosian finished 2nd on 11.5, although the 14 move final round draw showed he was content with 2nd, rather than fighting for 1st

Here is the 1st game for Larsen in the event, where he was beaten by the enigmatic Henrique Mecking

Larsen,Bent - Mecking,Henrique [A08]
Palma de Mallorca Palma de Mallorca (1), 1969

Regional Representation

 Mark Scully, sometime chess player, sometime lawyer, once wrote that in times long past, the earth consisted of at least 10,000 independent territories. This has now been reduced to around 195, give or take a few self declared/non recognised territories (eg Principality of Hutt River) FIDE have slightly less member nations, although they have extended membership to a number of non-country federations

The International Correspondence Chess Federation follow a similar model. However, with Correspondence Chess less constrained by travel, they also organise events for 'States and Regions'. A multi divisional championship of these bodies is currently running, and has attracted a large entry. Australia has a NSW team, as well as an Australia East, and Rest of Australia Team. And although the Rest of Australia Team isn't doing that well, it has scored some nice individual wins. 

Freire,Daniel J. (1787) - Eade,James V. (2243) [E45]
WLS/SRCCC/21/D4 (WLS) ICCF, 28.01.2021

2022 O2C Doeberl Cup - 7 weeks out

 Just a quick update on the 2022 O2C Doeberl Cup. Entries for the tournament have already passed to 100 mark (in fact 120 at the time of this post). The Premier already has 5 GM's, 1 WGM and 4 IM's registered. With overseas visitors now allowed into the country, a number of OS players have already registered.

To try and balance the numbers in each section, the entry requirements have been relaxed a little. Having a FIDE rating above the ACF cutoff now qualifies you for a section as well, meaning that it is easier to get into a higher section. The rule about using your rating at the time of entry still applies, so some players may wish to enter before the end of this month (before new ACF rating are published).

If you are planning to enter, head over to https://www.doeberlcup.com.au/ to register. All the event details are there, including accommodation options for the Easter weekend.

(** I am the chief organiser for this event ** )

ACT v SA - Junior Challenge

 The ACT and South Australia played a junior challenge tournament today, over 18(+2) boards. Using the Tornelo platform, and zoom supervision, the event was over 6 rounds, with a time limit of 15m+5s. It was played as a team swiss, which is like a normal swiss except players from the same team do not play each other. As the ACT had 18 players, and SA ended up with 20, a separate 2 player team (SA2) was required.

Having played under this format a few times, the ACT team shot out to quite a large lead. However, once the South Australian players got used to the format, the margin narrowed over the last two rounds. In the end the ACT scored 59 points, and SA scored 53. The top scorers were James Boyd-Norman (SA) and Minchen Yang (ACT), who both scored 5.5/6

Although players were asked to treat it like a normal event, there was still some games that dragged on for two long (either by failure to resign or agree to draws in drawn positions), and the issue of offering a draw when facing a sure loss still arose. In one incident a game reached K+R v K+R and as both players had plenty of time on the clock. One player even offered a draw, but his opponent refused, and played on instead. So when the second player blundered a rook (instead of exchanging rooks a few moves earlier), the cry of "Yes" that was clearly heard by all the other players could be excused!

Boyd-Norman,James (1479) - Cheng,Larry (1626) [B21]
ACTJCL v SAJCL Tournament Canberra ACT, Australia (5.1), 21.02.2022