AusJCL Application for Selection for 2011 International events (Updated 28 April)

For the second group of events (Updated 28th April 2011 and please note I have corrected my previous error re WYCC dates):

1-16 August World Junior Championships (U\20) Chennai, India

12-23 August FISU University Olympiad Shenzen, China

23 October - 1 November World U/16 Olympiad Sanliurfa, Turkey

17 Nov – 27 November World Youth Championships (U\8 – U\18)
Caldas Novas, Goias, Brazil

Deadline is 2nd May 2011.

I have received to date the following applications:

World Youth Chess U8
Kevin Willathgamuwa

World Youth Chess U10
Glen Qi
Rowan Willathgamuwa

World Youth Chess U12
Daniel Lapitan
Jamie-Lee Guo

World Youth Chess U14 Girls
Clarise Koh

World Youth Chess U14
Cedric Koh
Andrew Pan
Justin Tan

World Youth Chess U16 Girls
Leteisha Simmonds

World Youth Chess U16
Justin Tan

World Youth Chess U18 Girls
Emma Guo
Miranda Webb Liddle

World Youth Chess U18
Justin Tan

World Junior Championships (U20) Girls
Emma Guo
Miranda Webb Liddle

World Junior Championships (U20)
Frank Lekkas

AusJCL_Applicants for Selection for International events (Updated 14th April)

For the second group of events (Updated 14th April):

1-16 August World Junior Championships (U\20) Chennai, India

12-23 August FISU University Olympiad Shenzen, China

23 October - 1 November World U/16 Olympiad Sanliurfa, Turkey

12 Nov – 22 November World Youth Championships (U\8 – U\18)
Caldas Novas, Goias, Brazil

Deadline is 2nd May 2011.

I have received to date the following applications:

World Youth Chess U8
Kevin Willathgamuwa

World Youth Chess U10
Glen Qi
Rowan Willathgamuwa

World Youth Chess U12
Daniel Lapitan

World Youth Chess U14 Girls
Clarise Koh

World Youth Chess U14
Cedric Koh
Andrew Pan
Justin Tan

World Youth Chess U16 Girls
Leteisha Simmonds

World Youth Chess U16
Justin Tan

World Youth Chess U18
Justin Tan

World Junior Championships (U20)
Frank Lekkas

2011 Thailand Open_News Flash!

Rounds 4 and 5 have been played and Max Illingworth drew with GM Jan Gustafsson! (game here) and James Morris defeated IM Guy West! and drew with GM Niaz Murshed! Game here. Ari Dale lost in Rd 4 to a Elo 2063 player.

A Passionate Chess Coach speaks ......

Chessbase has run an excerpt of a magazine article from the British chess magazine, CHESS Magazine latest issue focusing on FM Emine Yanik Süral. Emine originally hailed from Germany but moved to Turkey in 2001. She has started a chess school without much governmental support. [I find this puzzling and both Chessbase and CHESS Magazine do not explain. Why? Because the news coming out of Turkey in the last few years has been of an explosion in chess in Turkey, how it is a compulsory school subject, and how much support the government is giving to chess in schools and communities.]

Excerpts:

WFM Sabrina Chevannes:
The school focuses on children aged 5-13 years old but welcomes people of all ages. Emine trains the children from beginner up to intermediate level. As well as teaching chess technique, she also ensures that they play chess in a sporting way and with the right attitude.

Emine takes the children on trips to tournaments for a day or two at a time. In addition to coaching, the children get to eat out and have fun: Emine has found that the social aspect of trips produces better results and happier children.

The centre’s main problem is lack of funding. Low fees are charged so it doesn’t take in much revenue. Emine runs two classes a week, an hour and a half long each. In wealthier places in the world this would rake in substantial fees, but Salihli (about 100km inland from Izmir, which the middle of the west coast – ed) is a small place and people are not prepared to pay a lot for chess.

Turkish schoolchildren also have a lot of exams. Schools focus on these, as the better the grades, the more respected the school is. Thus time for studying chess is much reduced.

Despite these problems, plus competition from another rival chess school nearby, the centre is very successful, with 25 pupils attending regularly every week. However, Emine’s concerns are not about money, or making the children into champions, but about encouraging as many children as possible to play and love chess. Even so, Emine still believes there are students at her school who can become chess masters.

[The interview:]

Did you always want to become a teacher?

Not a chess teacher, no. At the time I was just a player, but now I love and enjoy it very much.

Did you ever want to become a professional chess player?

No, not professional, but I would like to become a Women’s International Master.
Do you have much time to study chess on your own?

I am married with a six-year-old daughter as well as being involved in some complications with my mum since my father died, so things are not easy for me. However, I still try to study and still play actively.

Do you think your chess standard has deteriorated since you began teaching?

Yes, of course! Working with kids is absolutely different. You completely forget all your chess theory!

Describe a typical day at your chess centre.

First I have to plan what I am going to do that day. I work alone so I have to think about absolutely everything. Is everything in order? Chess sets, prizes (when the children are successful, I sometimes give them candy or chocolate), etc. You cannot believe what a child needs during just one hour! Water, tissues, pens, exercise book. I then have to go through all my notes. I have a dossier for each study group – what level are the children at now? Who learned everything last lesson, who did not? When the children arrive, I greet them with a big smile and begin the teaching. Sometimes I am their teacher, sometimes their mother, sometimes a comedian! I try and do my very best for them. This is just an ordinary day for me.

What do you think has made the chess centre so successful?

Love and hard work. I love the game and the children. Teaching chess to children is the best combination for me. And of course, I work very hard when needed.

Do you think about teaching adults as well?

Yes. I have thought about it and have told the parents of the children I teach to come along to learn to play chess as well, so that they can play against their children. However, they prefer going shopping and doing nothing!

Chess can be a brutal game. What do you do when a child gets upset?

I always try to teach them that losing is not a bad thing and that it is a part of chess. I show them that I often lose games and nothing bad happens to me. We just have to work hard to get better at it.

Do you prefer teaching boys or girls?

I don’t see any difference between boys and girls, but boys are more active when making trouble! When I look at either a boy or a girl, I see only their shining eyes and raw brains. When I see their improvement, they are very excited and this makes me very happy. Especially in Turkey, boys are liked very much and always have priority. That is why Turkish girls are very important to me. I show them how I feel about chess and how many opportunities chess has given me.

What is your ultimate goal for the school?

I want to make my school an attractive chess centre in Turkey. I do not want to earn more money – I just want more children to catch chess fever, and to enjoy the game. I want to see the happiness in their eyes when they play chess.

Do you think there is anything holding you back from achieving your ultimate goal?

Time and money, of course. When I was young I had more time for playing and talking to people about chess. Now I am married, I have a daughter in school – I have more responsibilities. Also, I do not want to earn more money from chess but of course I need money in order for my school to stay open. Opening the school and maintaining it are very costly.

What do you think could be improved about the school?

I live in a small district. I don’t have many opportunities to test my students’ progress. I have some promising students but I can’t find suitable tournaments for them near my school. Maybe I should try to find people to organise tournaments in my district because it is not easy for the children to travel to other places, stay in a hotel and take part in tournaments. Also, I hope to invite some good players to come to my school and talk with my children. They need heroes.

Hmmmmm...... so can we conclude that chess coaching is hazardous to your chess strength, chess parents prefer to shop and holiday and not learn chess ...... :) :) :)

Perhaps we can conclude that we actually need more passionate chess coaches who truly love the game and who love to teach children to appreciate and play the game well.

My favourite player speaks ......

Yes, my favourite chess player, who is none other than GM Judit Polgar, gave an interview to the Russian Chess-News after her remarkable comeback at the 2011 European Individual Chess Championship where she finished joint first but third on tiebreaks. The interview has been translated and posted at Chess in Translation here. Excerpts:

Judging by what you said about your main aim being to qualify for the World Cup, that seems to explain why you decided not to fight Potkin for first place in the final round?

[In the last round Judit played the eventual winner, GM Vladmir Potkin, and the games ended in a draw after White's 12th move, see here.]

Yes, the last round is always tough, when you’re considering what to do, how to play. It depends on whether you’ve got enough energy left. I’d previously won four games in a row, and didn’t have much energy left for the last round. I didn’t know how exactly to play for a win in those conditions, to fight for 4-5 hours. Meanwhile, I could see that Potkin was in very good form. When someone wanted to beat him… for example, in the ninth round Jobava really wanted to win but things went badly and he lost in a very beautiful manner. So I felt that perhaps this wasn’t the tournament in which to play sharply for a win against Potkin. Maybe ten years ago I’d have played for a win, but now I realised that the tournament had gone well, and if I played for a win with Black then it would in any case be a very long struggle. Losing definitely wasn’t something I wanted, and somehow I felt that in the given circumstances a draw was a good result. After the tournament it would become clear if that was enough for second or third place. I was very pleased with how I’d played my games, and therefore I felt that such a result could be considered good.

You said that ten years ago you’d maybe have played for a win in the last game.

Maybe!

Does that mean that as time’s gone by – ten years or even more have passed – you’ve perhaps become a wiser player, or you’ve somehow matured?

No, I think experience is very important both in my own life, and that of other chess players. I now spend more time wondering what’s going to happen next. When I was young – 16-18-20 years old – back then I didn’t think a lot about how I’d feel if something didn’t work out. And now I wonder: what can I lose and what can I win in the last round? Of course, if I’d won it would have been fantastic both for me and for the press, and so on. But I felt that given the way I’d played recently, it was enough for me that I’d previously won four games in a row in good style. And I thought there was no need to take risks in the last round. It’s simply experience. Perhaps it’s good, but sometimes, of course, it can also have a negative effect.

Tell me, Judit, your sisters are also famous players, but nowadays they no longer play chess. Or at the very least we don’t see them in strong tournaments. While you’ve given birth to two children, are a mother, and now probably have a lot of other concerns, but nevertheless you don’t only play chess but, as we can all see, you’ve practically returned to your previous level. Why? Why put yourself through that?

I think it’s because I love chess. I love chess and I love to play. Of course, in 2007, 2008 and to a degree in 2009, I perhaps didn’t love chess quite as much given that I’d started playing badly. The quality of my games was low, and my results were bad. After that, of course, it was tough to play a lot. But then my children grew up a little – my youngest, Anna, is now 4.5 years old, while Oliver’s 6.5. Anna’s about to go to kindergarten, and in September Oliver’s starting school. And somehow I’ve started to work more in the last year and a half. It started with preparing for the World Cup, where I managed to win an interesting game against Gelfand. And then after that I wanted to play more. Perhaps it wasn’t noticeable as I haven’t played in a lot of tournaments. But then when I do play, I feel I’ve got a hunger for the game.

Tell me, Judit, in your day you’ve beaten chess players of all levels, including both Kasparov and Karpov. I’m curious simply in human terms: what does a woman feel when she’s beaten Kasparov and Karpov? What did you feel at that moment? Can you express it in words?

I don’t think it’s entirely right to talk about “as a woman”. When I played them I was already a good player. I was very small when I looked at the games of Karpov and Kasparov in the 80s. Of course, at that point I never thought that I’d get to play them. Yes, it was a very good feeling when I won, for example, a rapid chess match 5-3 against Karpov in Hungary. And, of course, I was very pleased when I beat Kasparov at rapid chess in Moscow. But for me the two games against him in Linares 2001 were much more memorable. With Black I played what he was playing himself – the Najdorf line with 6. Be3 Ng4 – and made a draw. And with White things were going badly, I sacrificed a piece, but Kasparov didn’t feel good and went for a draw. Those two games, for instance, have left a much greater imprint on my memory. Though of course it’s always nice to win, and particularly against legends.

I like the way Judit smashes the way she has been typecast as just a woman! I urge you all to head to Chess in Translation where Judit games (7 wins from 11 games)from the European Individual Championships are replayable as well as the two games with Kasparov mentioned in the interview. In addition, you should check out GM Sergey Shipov's annotations of Judit's spectacularly played game with GM Levan Pantsulaia, also translated and posted on Chess in Translation here.

14 year old IM-elect relaxes after a tough tournament playing computer games all day ......

Fourteen year old Darwin Yang from the USA, whom some Australian juniors may remember from World Youth CC campaigns (see my previous blogs here), recently completed two tough tournaments back-to-back (18 games in 2 week period). But it was worth it as he managed to achieve his final IM norm. His first IM norm was achieved at the 2010 SPICE Spring Invitational and his second norm at the 2010 SPICE Cup. Now his third and final norm came at the 2011 SPICE Spring Invitational after he came third with 5.5/9 (TPR=2525). This came after he competed at the 2011 Saint Louis Invitational where he finished with 4/9 in a very strong field and he was the lowest rated player (but did not come last).

ChessCafe's Scholastic Chess column has a piece on him where Darwin shared some of his experience in getting to this achievement as well as annotations to two of the games.

Excerpts:

Before the tournaments, I understood that the St. Louis Invitational and the following SPICE Invitational were incredibly important especially considering the lack of strong competitions upcoming. The preparation was conducted accordingly. This was a good opportunity to gain an excellent result. Nonetheless, in my previous tournaments I had played below my typical strength, and my trust in myself was shaky. As the St. Louis tournament began, I managed to surprise my opponent GM Perelshteyn in the opening and finish the game in good style.

I was satisfied with my level of play despite the large numbers of draws. When I arrived in Lubbock for the SPICE, I once again found myself not quite confident in my ability. There was no doubt that a similar start was vital for my tournament performance. In the first round I faced GM Anatoly Bykhovsky with White in what would surely be a tense and difficult battle. In this respect, the game did not disappoint.

After this emotional booster [Darwin won the game with Bykhovsky], I found in myself the strength to arrive at the last round in a tie for first and with a chance for a GM norm with the IM title already secured. Playing for a win, I lost. Despite this setback, this tournament and the St. Louis one were immensely successful. I emerged with my final IM norm, valuable experience, and reinvigorated motivation to improve, which is more than anyone could ask from two tournaments.

I suggest you head to ChessCafe and go through the annotated games. To play the same games, go to TWIC here and here.

Thailand Open Chess Championship 2011 begins the "Silly" Season ......

The "silly" chess season has started and for some young (and maybe not so young) fool-hardy chess player, they might actually aim for the Triple-slam*** consisting of the Thailand Open (11th-17th April), the Doeberl Cup (21st-25th April) and the Sydney International Open (27th-1st May).

There are a number of Australians including Australian juniors competing. Well, the chess parents can enjoy the beach whilst their offspring plays in the air conditioned rooms. But that is only if you are that special species of chess parents who can actually relax whilst their children plays.

The juniors are spearheaded by IM James Morris and Ari Dale in the main event, the Open, and Finley Dale and Jack Puccini in the Challenger section. (Note FM Max Illingworth is playing in the Open as well but Max is now a newly minted-ex-junior. Sorry, Max, cannot comment about your tournament success anymore. :) :))

Today is Round 4 and James is doing well on 2.5/3 but faces fellow Australian IM Guy West in Rd 4. James drew with GM Abhijit Kunte in Rd 2 and defeated IM Torben Sorense in Rd 3. Ari is struggling a bit in this very strong field losing his first two games but won in his 3rd Round game.

Results are here. More up-to-date results from TWIC here.

There is no link that I can see to the results in the Challenger section.

But I really have to do this last plug for Max as he faces GM Jan Gustafsson in Rd 4 which game is being streamed live (should be at http://bangkokchess.com/round4/tfd.htm). (Max defeated GM Gerhard Schebler in Rd 3 and you can catch the game here).

To replay the action on top 4 board games only, click below:
Round 1;
Round 2 (Australia's FM Tim Reilly in action against GM Jan Gustafsson);
Round 3.
More games and summary are available at TWIC, see here.





***I won't call it the Grand Slam. Not sure whether anyone has said or written about this before but following Tennis, we could have a similar Grand Slam in Australian Chess. Surely the obvious present candidates are the Australian Championships/Open (in alternate years), Doeberl Cup and the SIO. Any others you think merit as being included in the Grand Slam list, the main criteria being, playing strength and prestige?

There is an official Grand Slam in International Chess organised by Fide which has been mostly successful but encountered problems when the GFC hit the financial world. There is an unofficial Grand Slam, much more in the spirit of the Grand Slam in Tennis, consisting of the Wijk Aan See (now the Tata Steel Chess Tournament), the Linares, the Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting chess tournaments, the so-called chess super-tournaments. However, Linares is not on this year. Hmmmm ...... wonder whether any chessplayer has managed to grab the Grand Slam in any single year or in any consecutive sequence?

AusJCL Johns-Putra JETS 2011

Here are the 30 selected AusJCL Johns-Putra JETS for 2011:
David Cannon
George Carolin-Unkovich
Michael Chan
Alanna Chew Lee
Max Chew Lee
Ari Dale
Finley Dale
Callum Gray
Emma Guo
Jamie-Lee Guo
Eddie Seong Hun Han
Harry Hughes
Martin Jack
Michael Joseph Kethro
Clarise Koh
Cedric Koh
Daniel Lapitan
Zachary Loh
Alex MacAdam
Joanne Mason
Stuart Mason
Savithri Narenthran
Matthew Pyper
Glen Qi
Caroline Shan
Leteisha Simmonds
Anton Smirnov
Justin Tan
Miranda Webb-Liddle
Karl Zelesco

And on the Reserves List(in no particular order):
Ethan Derwent
Joshua Devarajh
Ege Girgin
Emily Lin
Janaki Narenthran
Ryan O'Rourke

Thanks everyone for your patience.

14-22 May Asian Youth Championships (U\8 to U\18) Subic Bay, the Philippines

Dear All,

I am re-opening the selections for the Asian Youth Championships (U8 to U18) Subic Bay, the Philippines (14-22 May 2011) for the following categories:

Under 12 Open

Please submit your applications by 5 pm AEST Friday 8th April 2011. For applications please see here.

AusJCL Application for Selection for 2011 International events

For the second group of events:

1-16 August World Junior Championships (U\20) Chennai, India

12-23 August FISU University Olympiad Shenzen, China

23 October - 1 November World U/16 Olympiad Sanliurfa, Turkey

12 Nov – 22 November World Youth Championships (U\8 – U\18)
Caldas Novas, Goias, Brazil

Deadline is 2nd May 2011,

I have received to date the following applications:

World Youth Chess U8
Kevin Willathgamuwa

World Youth Chess U10
Glen Qi
Rowan Willathgamuwa

World Youth Chess U12
Daniel Lapitan

World Youth Chess U14 Girls
Clarise Koh

World Youth Chess U14
Cedric Koh
Andrew Pan

World Youth Chess U16 Girls
Leteisha Simmonds

AusJCL Application for Selection for 2011 International events

For the first set of tournaments:

30 April – 8 May World Schools Individual Championship Krakow, Poland;
14-22 May Asian Youth Championships (U\8 to U\18) Subic Bay, the Philippines;
1-11 June Asian Junior Championships (U\20) Colombo, Sri Lanka
12-21 June ASEAN+ Age Group Championships (U/8 – U/20) Tarakan, Indonesia
24 June – 4 July Commonwealth Championships (Open and Junior) Johannesburg, South Africa;

(with the exception of the Commonwealth Championships, of which see later in the post below) which are earlier in the year, these are the endorsed (and primary selections)AusJCL representatives:

14-22 May Asian Youth Championships (U\8 to U\18) Subic Bay, the Philippines
Savithri Narenthan U14 Girls

12-21 June ASEAN+ Age Group Championships (U/8 – U/20) Tarakan, Indonesia
Daniel Lapitan U12 Open
Cedric Koh U14 Open
Clarise Koh U14 Girls

On the Commonwealth Championships, on a re-reading of the Regulations, please note the following:only one male and one female player from each Commonwealth country is entitled to be nominated as "official entrants to the tournament. All official entrants will be exempt from paying entry fees. [......] Official entrants [......] may then apply to the tournament convenor, Mr Graham Jurgensen (gjurgensen@deloitte.co.za) to be considered for further
conditions, including free accommodation or contributions towards travel expenses." This condition applies to the Championship section and applies to both adults and juniors as medals are awarded in the Championship section to best U20, U18, U16 and U14 players. Medals are awarded to U12, 10 and U 8 juniors when they participate in the B-section. But no conditions are granted to player sin the B-section.

Please check the full Regulations here: http://www.chessa.co.za/tournament_websites/CWCC2011/index.html, click on Tournament Information under Useful link to the right menu bar and you get a zip file of the Regulations. Or click here to view.

I have received the following applications for Commonwealth Championships:
Kevin Willathgamuwa U8 Open (B-section)
Rowan Willathgamuwa U10 Open (B-section)
Miranda Webb Liddle U18 Girls (Championship section)
Thomas Feng U16 Open(Championship section)

Please note that ACF Selector has opened the Selections procedure for the Commonwealth Games at this thread here. I will be forwarding the latter two applications to him for consideration.

AusJCL Johns-Putra JETS 2011

Update: I have a draft final selection of 30 and reserves list of 6. Once I have confirmed with selectors, I will release the lists. Thank you for patience.