The Toowoomba Chess Club invites you to participate in the 2022 Darling Downs Open!
Meet up with like minded chess players and compete to win part of a prize pool over $4000!
21 and 22 May 2022 | Toowoomba, QLD
Date: 21 and 22 May 2022
Venue: Toowoomba Grammar School Junior Hall,
Herries Street, Toowoomba
Time Control: 60 minutes + 20 seconds per move
Ratings: ACF & QJ Rated
Full details and online entry at the Toowoomba Chess Club website
The 2022 BBC Painting Gold Cup Open is being held over the long weekend from 29th April to 2nd May 2022
The venue is the Lone Star Tavern, cnr Sunshine Blvd & Markeri St Mermaid Waters 4218
The event is a 7 Round FIDE rated 90 minute plus 30 second from move 1 and is limited to 100 players.
Covid-19 mandates have now been eased. From 1am AEST Thursday 14 April 2022, the requirement to check-in and to be fully vaccinated in a range of venues and events will end. There is now NO requirement to be vaccinated to be able to play in this event.
Your assistance is requested to assist researchers Professor Luke van der Laan, GM Dr David Smerdon and doctoral candidate Graeme Gardiner with an important research project in the field of chess and education which we believe will have worldwide implications.
For a successful outcome, we need as many people as possible who had a Queensland Junior Chess rating at any stage during the 14-year period from January 2008 to December 2021 to provide consent for either their school or QCAA (Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority) to provide their NAPLAN literacy and numeracy scores data, date of birth, gender and school attended, for matching with their chess ratings data before de identifying prior to analysis.
Please click this link to complete your consent. It takes less than two minutes.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Y3NPCGK
Those providing consent will go into a random draw for a beautiful wooden Staunton chess set valued at $470.
Please forward this to any of your friends you believe may have had a Queensland Junior Chess rating at any time during the said period.
Brilliancy Prize – Arianne Caoili Memorial FIDE Rapid, Nov 27 2021
Round 2 GM David Smerdon Vs Rhys Rakauskas 1-0
The Brilliancy Prize – $100 has been awarded to GM David Smerdon for his game in Round 2 with Rhys Rakauskas.
Congratulations David on your beautiful creation, ideas and attack!
1.e4 c5 2.c3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.cxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Bg5 Bg7 7.e5 dxe5 8.dxe5 Nfd7 9.e6 fxe6 10.Nf3 O-O 11.Bc4 Qb6 12.Qe2 Nf6 13.O-O Kh8 14.Rfe1 Nd5 15.Bxd5 exd5 16.Bxe7 Rxf3 17.Qxf3 Qxb2 18.Ba3 Qxa3 19.Re8+ Bf8 20.Rxf8+ Kg7 21.Qf6+ Kh6 22.Rf7 Bg4 23.Qf4+ Kh5 24.Rxh7# 1-0
GM Smerdon has provided a personal account of this game at the following web address for all to enjoy :
https://lichess.org/study/noYhObaq/vyyVHU8K
Posted by Gold Coast Chess Club on Monday, 29 November 2021
The Churchie Chess Festival 2021 features 3 events –
Featured this year is the rollout of the Churchie ACE system – Advanced Chess Education
DGT e-boards are used to not only broadcast the games virtually live; but are linked into a players’ game storage area where their games are engine analysed. The player then has real-time feedback on the best lines and moves. Coaches can login and provide timely lessons to their students between tournament rounds!
More info on the Churchie DGT ACE System on the Churchie Chess Festival website
2021 QLD SENIORS CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP By Mark C Stokes
On Saturday October 23 and Sunday October 24 twenty-three keen chess players fifty years of age and older contested the 2021 Queensland Seniors Chess Championship at Saint Josephs’ Primary School in Bracken Ridge. Three games were played on each day at 60 minutes each plus 10 seconds a move. In each of the six rounds a number of games lasted more than two and half hours and many games went right down to the wire. There was no place for the faint-hearted in this Seniors Championship!
The upsets started in round 1 when George Warta, rated 1380, defeated former Queensland Chess Champion Bruce Holliday, rated 1760, on time – George, seconds earlier, had almost lost on time himself! The other top seeds, George Lester (1888), Tony Dowden (1831) and another former Queensland Chess Champion, John Myers (1753) all recorded hard fought victories. Tony Dowden complimented his opponent Jim Ritchie on his very good play, Jim only going astray late in the game in time trouble.
In round 2 Oleg Korenevski (1551) staged an incredible fightback to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat against the top seed George Lester, with his three or four kingside pawns boldly marching up the board, even though he was a couple of pieces down. It was the game of the round!
With George Lester taking a half point bye in round 3, and Allan Fossey (1624) holding John Myers to a draw, it was just multiple Queensland Senior Champion Tony Dowden on a perfect 3/3 at the end of the first day’s play, after Tony tamed Bruce Littleboys’ (1653) eccentric but tricky opening play. With Myers, Fossey and Korenevski on 2.5/3 and five other contenders on 2, the Title race was still tense as round 4 began on Sunday morning with 20 of the 23 players – John Myers, George Warta and Donny Hamilton had all requested half point byes for the 9:30am Sunday morning game.
The highlight of round 4 was no doubt the top board clash between Allan Fossey on 2.5 and Tony Dowden on 3. In a memorable encounter, this time Allan emerged victorious and with Oleg Korenevski winning on board two over Bruce Littleboy, we had two new leaders at the end of R4, Allan and Oleg. Tony Dowden would now be forced to work very hard in round 5 to remain in contention, and some well rested players were about to join the party too. Tony Weller’s (1450) upset win over Bruce Holliday should not go unmentioned either. It was also rumoured by many in the playing hall that one Mark C Stokes missed a checkmate in one or two against Gympie’s unrated David Haylett and David went on to win in fine style!
In the key round 5 match ups, Oleg and Allan drew on board 1, Tony Dowden came back from a very shaky position to defeat a rather unlucky George Lester, and long time friends Tony Weller and John Myers split the point on board 3 in a well contested game. It was going to come down to final round to determine the 2021 Queensland Seniors Chess Champion.
At the beginning of round 6, there were three equal leaders, Allan , Tony and Oleg, all on 4 out of 5, with two more players, John and Peter Cronin (1550) on 3.5, still hoping the other results might go their way.
The top board encounter between Oleg and Tony was tense but even throughout, but the other co-leader Allan Fossey was soon in trouble after making an opening error in one of his favourite systems against Tony Weller’s Sicilian. But Allan kept fighting and managed to save what turned out to be crucial half point. With John Myers hopes of all the other results going his way if he won coming true, we finished the tournament with not one, but four Queensland Seniors Chess Champions!
A hearty congratulations to Allan Fossey, John Myers, Tony Dowden and Oleg Korenevski for all finishing equal first on 4.5/6. They will share the first, second and third prize between themselves equally. The best score by players 65 years of age and older, (who had not already won a major prize), was shared by Bruce Holliday and Tony Weller, both on 4/5. Tony Dowden sponsored this prize once again and he will do so until he reaches that age. Thank you very much Tony!
The 2021 Queensland Seniors Chess Championship was a fun event to be part of and we hope to make the 2022 Seniors in October next year even bigger and better, as a great warm up the huge Oceania Seniors at Noosa in November. Peter Cronin kindly took some action shots of the players too – thanks very much Peter. Finally, a big thank you to Gail Young from the Queensland Womens Chess League for organizing this event for so many of us to enjoy so much, win, lose or draw.
Final-standings
The Queensland Women’s and Girls Championships was held in the Croci Building of Loreto College, Coorparoo over the weekend of the 16th and 17th October 2021.
A 6 round Swiss ACF and QJ rated event with a time control of 60 minutes and 10 seconds per move incremented from move 1.
QLD Women’s Champion for 2021 is WIM Alexandra Jule
equal 2nd were Regina Edwards and Leteisha Simmonds
QLD Girls Championships was shared by Xintong Zhang and Mia Jigando Balan; and Stephanie Yuan was 3rd.
Best Cadet was Xintong Zhang
Best Junior was Mia Jigando Balan
Best Senior u 1200 was Aditi Sharan
Under 18 was Mia Jigando Balan
Under 16 was Xintong Zhang
Under 14 was Stephanie Yuan
Under 12 was tied between Chloe Wang and Sophia Xu
Under 10 was a three way tie between Ojal Khare, and Alex and Alice Yu
Under 8 a four way tie – Bella Liu, Hamsini Dudipalli, Grace Zheng and Taisiia Starykh
standing-final
Micah Young, Zerui Xing and Alexavier Ly-Liu – photo Claire Liu
The Under 18 completed with a clear 2021 Queensland Junior (U18) Champion Shafiuddin Aanan with 7/8.
Congratulations also to 2021 Queensland Under 16 Champions: Alexavier Ly-Liu and Kiamehr Baneshi.
And congratulations to Under 14 Champions: Micah Young, Harvey Zhu and Benjamin Leong.
Thanks to major sponsor Midea!
Calen Tang, Zerui Xing, Noah Rose and Elaina Quiang
Another close finish: Under 12s came down to the wire in the last round, with four co-champions emerging: Xing Zerui, Noah Rose, Calen Tang and Elaina Qiang. Congratulations to all!
Thanks to major sponsor Midea!
The Queensland Juniors Under 10s Championship was played on the 7th July 2021.
Thanks to sponsors Midea and to the fantastic venue SunPAC – The Sunnybank Performing Arts and Cultural Centre.
Under 10 Champion for 2021 is Calen Tang
Ian Li, Charles Fu and Xin Tong Zhang shared 2nd.
rpt
The Queensland Juniors Under 8s Championship was played on the 6th July 2021.
Thanks to sponsors Midea and to the fantastic venue SunPAC – The Sunnybank Performing Arts and Cultural Centre.
photos thanks to Peter Xing
The U8s wrapped up with a 3-way tie for first! The title of 2021 U8 Queensland Champion is shared between Zeqi Xing, Stephanie Yuan and Justin Tong. Interestingly, they didn’t get to play each other due to a large field and all of the joint-champions losing early.
Best girl was Xin Tong Zhang
The Queensland Junior Chess Championships 2021
The Junior Championships this year comprise 4 separate tournaments…
Live games ( 15 minute delay )
Under 14 to 18 Pairings and Results
Thanks to major sponsors Midea and the fantastic venue Sunnybank Performing Arts and Cultural Centre (SunPac) .
GM Daniel Fernandez keeping a close eye on his future opponents!
The Gold Coast Open 2021 has been cancelled.
CAQ VP and Gardiner Chess Operations Manager Andrew Fitzpatrick released a short statement on Chesschat shortly after the Queensland Government announced the 3 day lockdown. He said ” Given a lockdown is being implemented from 6pm tonight in South-East QLD, we have no option but to cancel this year’s Gold Coast Open. “
The 56th 2021 Peninsula Open Chess Tournament
This weekend tournament was hosted by the Redcliffe Chess Club (RCC) which was established in 1960 and continues the promotion of chess development in Queensland through such regular events. The RCC now boasts an active membership of 60 plus, with mid week club events hosting between 24 to 30 regular attendees.
Chief Organiser was Mark Stokes (RCC and CAQ President)
Arbiters were FA Max Kershaw and NA David Esmonde.
Major sponsors were BBC Painting (this company has been a long term and valued contributor to the promotion of chess in Queensland); Grace Lutheran College and the RCC.
There were 6 rounds held over Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th May, 2021. Time control was 60 minutes each, plus 20 seconds a move from move 1. The tournament was run using Vega (there needs to be more on-line and face to face training for this program – a challenge for the ACF to show some leadership). There were 71 entrants, with top seed being IM Brodie McClymont. Of the entrants – 14 were unrated and about 60% were juniors.
All relevant tournament data – list of players; round by round pairings and results were posted to chess chat.
The top 6 boards were televised live to the internet at:
https://livechess.aunz.net
Prize money on offer was $2,500.00.
The event was run with a strict covid plan in place. All entry fees, as well as prize distributions were done via bank transfers.
1st – IM Brodie McClymont
=2nd – FM Yi Liu and FM Gene Nakauchi
Rating Group A – 3 way tie Aiden Brady, Jayden Ooi and Benjamin Leong
Rating Group B – Joshua Cooper
Rating Group C – Austin Chen
Rating Group D – Dario Tsai
Rating Group E – Mathew Smith
Best unrated – Christian Barkley
Just some general observations:
Overall, the collective playing strength of the juniors continues to improve. Jayden Ooi and Sravan Renijith are now seasoned tournament players at the top level and are pushing the higher rated players to their limit. There are no easy round 1 and 2 wins for the higher rated players – quick wins through blunders and early draws are a thing of the past. Christian Barkley, from the unrated group, is an extremely strong player whose rating, once calculated, should be high to reflect his astute playing technique.
Renowned chess stalwart David Lovejoy had a medical incident during round 6 when he was playing Mark Stokes. Fortunately a qualified nurse (Brodie’s girlfriend Josie) was on hand to help David as an ambulance was on the way. When asked how he was by the ambulance officers he said that he had 3 pawns for the exchange!!! All wish David a speedy recovery and return back to the chess scene.
The tournament continued the friendly and supportive atmosphere of the Queensland chess scene and augers well for the future as we move to a post covid society.
final-standings
Prominent Queensland chess player Josef (Joe) Tarnawski passed away peacefully in late May 2021 aged 93 years.
Joe was a Queensland Lightning Chess Champion and a respected property developer, who, over 40 years, contributed to the shaping of communities in both Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Family and friends are invited to attend a Prayer Service for Joe to be held at St Peter Chanel Catholic Church, 41 Chaprowe Road, The Gap on Tuesday June 8 at 12 noon. In a lovely gesture, the family is asking that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made in support of Womens and Girls Chess to the Chess Association of Queensland using the reference Vale Joe BSB:084391 ACCOUNT NUMBER:205017068
Everyone from the chess community who knew Joe is invited to attend the Prayer Service if they wish to.
Queensland Seniors Championship
Starts: November 13, 2021
Ends: November 14, 2021
Location: St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School Bracken Ridge, 30 Eldorado St, Bracken Ridge QLD 4017, Australia
Description:
The Queensland Seniors Championship is turning into a fantastic event with plenty of strong players taking part each year.
Join the group this year for what will be another fantastic event.
2021 Seniors Champ
4 tournaments make up the The Queensland Juniors 2021.
U8s U10s and U12s will be separate events. The U14s to U18s will be a combined event.
All the news from the latest CAQ Council Meeting including new Arbiter tournament requirements and up and coming events.
NEWS FROM THE CAQ Number 1
The Wendy Terry Memorial was held last weekend in the picturesque grounds of Grace Lutheran College, Rothwell.
IM Brodie McClymont and FM Gene Nakauchi shared 1st place; and tied for 3rd were IM Stephen Solomon, Sravan Renjith, FM Dusan Stojic and Nicholas Paetsch.
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Starts: November 27, 2020
Ends: November 27, 2020
Location: Marist College Ashgrove, 142 Frasers Rd, Ashgrove QLD 4060, Australia
Description:
The Annual Marcus Porter Memorial organised and run by The Gap Chess Club is back for another two nights of entertainment.
Get special prizes for playing the Grob (or reverse Grob!) in your games and enjoy the celebration of Marcus.
This year the event will be held on Friday 27th November and Friday 4th December.
We hope you can make this great event! 🙂
Marcus Porter Memorial 2020 - flyer
The Chess Association of Queensland Presents: 2020 Queensland Junior Chess Championships FIDE, ACF, and QJ rated events. When: Dec 7th-11th Where: Anglican Church Grammar School (Morris Hall) East Brisbane Registration: 9.00-9.30am Monday Dec 7 Organiser: Hughston Parle Chief Arbiter: Michael D’Arcy
While this tournament is typically hosted in the June-July school holidays, it had to be moved to December due to the Queensland Government’s Covid-19 guidelines.
Covid-19 regulations mandate a fixed number of participants in the venue as of the 14th October 2020. Unlike previous years, this tournament faces a potential limit on numbers. However, it is hoped that this cap will be lifted prior to the start of the event. Nevertheless, each respective flyer states the maximum number of players that will be accepted. This is subject to change depending on the most recent government regulations two weeks prior to the tournament’s commencement. Participants will be accepted from 12pm the 21st October until the respective cap is met. For any queries/concerns, please contact queenslandjuniorchamps@caq.org.au
Confirmed! The annual Seniors Championship of Queensland always attracts a strong and friendly field and should be another great event.
2020 Seniors Champ
Another great tournament, the Wendy Terry Memorial has shifted weekends. A limit of 90 players can take part in this event so check out the flyer to see all the registration information and to book your spot!
The Queensland Women’s and Girls Championship ran over the weekend of October 10th and 11th at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School Bracken Ridge. The tournament was organised by Gail Young of the QWCL, and the arbiters were FA Max Kershaw and NA David Esmonde.
CAQ President Mark C Stokes presented each of the section winners with a trophy.
Michelle Lin is the new Queensland Women’s Champion – winning the tournament with a full 1.5 points over the rest of the field.
The Queensland Girls Champion title was shared 5 ways – with Anastasia Cooper, Elaina Qiang, Bridgette Watkins, Elizabeth Williams and Yuehan Xu all scoring 4.0 / 6
| Title | Name |
|---|---|
| Under 16 | Michelle Lin |
| Under 14 | Yuehan Xu |
| Under 12 | Anastasia Cooper |
| Under 10 | Elaina Qiang |
| Under 8 | Elizabeth Williams |
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