State Junior Championships

The annual round of State Junior Chess Championships is about to begin.

New South Wales

U18: Sunday-Friday 11-16 July [except Tuesday – rest day]

U12: Wednesday-Friday 14-16 July

LIGHTNING CHAMPIONSHIPS: Friday afternoon 16 July

(information here)

Victoria
U12, U10, U8, Boys and Girls Saturday June 26th and Sunday June 27th

U18, U16, U14, Boys and Girls Monday June 28th to Thursday July 1st.

(information here)

Queensland

U8 Monday June 28th

U10 Tuesday June 29th

U12 Monday June 28th and Tuesday June 29th

U14, U16, U18 Wednesday June 30th to Saturday 3rd July

(information here)

Australian Junior Chess Championships, 15-23 Jan

I have also previous blogged on the 2011 Australian Juniors to be held in Victoria (near the Dandenong Ranges and the Yarra Valley wineries (I can recommend Roche Winery)), here is more news from the organisers and the link to the website for online entry. Do start thinking about this event and if you are serious about the title, then now is the time to begin your preparation.

I am happy to announce that the Australian Junior Chess Championship 2011 web site is now up and running. The address is ajcc2011.com.au.

Quick Details:

* Championship events held over 15-23 Jan 2011, held at Billanook College, Mooroolbark, Victoria
* 9 days for U18/U16, 5 days for U14/U12, 3 days for U10/U8, so 12 divisions in open and girls sections
* Lightning and problem solving events (U18/U12) on the Tuesday rest day, in open and girls sections
* $5,000+ prizemoney, plus trophies and medals
* Entrants with payment by 1 Nov can order 1 free T-shirt
* More information now on the web site, including: some accommodation options, playing schedule, local transport options, AJCC history, things to do, sponsorship
* The web site allows you to register and/or sign up for the newsletter

Scott Humphreys

11th Asean Age Group Chess Championship June

Referring to my previous blog (here), Denise and Ethan's parents have sent me their results:

ETHAN - Under 8 Open

1. Standard tournament - Ranked 8 / 21
Score : 5/9 (3 wins, 1 Bye, 2 draws and 3 losses. One of his draw was against the unbeaten gold medalist Nguyen Anh Khoi with a rating of 1985 from Vietnam)

2. Rapid Chess - Ranked 4 / 21 (missed out on the bronze medal as there were 2 silver medalist)
Score 5.5/7 (5 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss)

3. Blitz Chess - Ranked 6 / 21 (also just missed out on being one of the 4 semifinalist)
Score 5/9 (5 wins & 4 losses)


DENISE - Under 12 Girls

1. Standard Tournament - Ranked 11 / 22
Score 5/9 (4 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses)

2. Rapid Chess - Ranked 19/21
Score 2/7 (1 win, 1 Bye, 5 losses)

3. Blitz Chess - Ranked 18/21
Score 3.5/9 (2 wins, 1 bye, 1 draw and 5 losses)

2010 NSW Open

New South Wales Open and U1600 started today with a total of 148 players. In Round 2 there was huge upset with Sydney junior, John Papantoniou, with the White pieces, defeating GM-elect George Xie. Congrats! Other Open results are to be found here.

I am not at the tournament and am unable to tell you what happened in the U1600. I may drop in tomorrow and get some news.

11th Asean Age Group Chess Championship June 5th - 12th, 2010, Philippines

The 11th Asean Age Group Chess Championship is happening from June 5th to 12th, 2010 in Subic Bay, Philippines. We have two juniors representatives, siblings, Denise and Ethan Lim competing in the U12 Girls and U8 Open respectively.

The U12 Girls results can be followed here and Denise is ranked 13th out of 23 girls. She unfortunately lost her first Round against an opponent rated 1785, WCM Anastasia Patrick from Indonesia. She is paired against unrated Diana Cruiz form Philippines for Rd 2.

The U8 Open results are here. In Rd 1, Ethan was paired against Eric Yngayo and looks like he won on forfeit. In Rd 2 he is paired against Hui Buy Duc from Vietnam.

The Game from the 2010 US Championships

Further to my earlier blog about the Nakamura-Shulman game, here is the webcam footage of the game. Watch Nakamura's facial expression and body language especially from 4:15 onwards. Note that there is a background story to the defeat of Nakamura. Going into the Quad finals of the Championship, Nakamura, typically of his brash attitude, announced that Shulman will be the 4th GM the three GMs contenders, namely Nakamura, Kamsky and Onischuk will be looking to score a full point. Or in Aussie parlance, Shulman in Nakamura's view was the "bunny" or "patsy"! Well, the gods have a sense of humour ......

Additionally, ask yourself, how long will you take to resign in this position?

Further, persevere to the discussion of the Shabalov-Stipunsky game where Black blundered badly giving Shabalov the game, the 1st placing in the Consolation tournament and USD10,000 at wround the 18:20 mark.



For more videos from the US Championship, check out the link from Chessvibes here. Also the cartoon from José Diaz is very apt and funny.

Interview with Viswanathan Anand_India Echo and Indian NDTV

Thanks to Chessdom for drawing my attention to this video of TV interview with World Champion GM Viswanathan Anand. I thought I will embed here for blog readers to watch. In the first video there is a question from the youngest Indian GM, Pamarijan Negi and other young chess players across India including a 6 year old asking a question on zugszwang (!!). In Part 2, we have the interesting situation where Anand's wife, Aruna, joins the interview and gets to ask Anand questions. For those who play a supportive role to a chessplayer, Aruna's comments are quite revealing. Also you get to meet Anand's parents. For the record (and encouragement to all chess mums out there), Anand learned chess from his mother. His mother recorded the chess programme on Philippines TV for Anand to replay after school.