Well done to all the participants on a great chess-&-fun-filled three days! Thank you to the organisers, Jenny Mason and Celine Derwent, and to the coaches, Andras, Simon, Tamzin, Alana and Emma. Here are the results for each of the competitions:
Lightning (Trophy) 1st Overall - Yi-Ying Zeng Runner Up - Joanne Mason 1st Under 14 - Lucinda Flood 1st Under 12 - Zalia Lai 1st Under 10 - Aislinn Smith 1st Under 8 - Hannah Macri
Rapid (Trophy) 1st Overall - Lucinda Flood Runner Up - Yi-Ying Zeng 1st Under 14 - Joanne Mason 1st Under 12 - Maxine Beaumont 1st Under 10 - Yi-Jing Zeng 1st Under 8 - Rhiana Kelaart
Transfers (Trophy) 1st Gala Huang & Bronte Bell 2nd Emma Guo & Rhiana Kelaart 3rd Maxine Beaumont & Sze-Yin Lim
Full results will be posted up onto the ACTJCL website soon.
- Miona Ikeda
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2008 Girls' Allegro
Congratulations to the almost 40 girls who participated in a very exciting Girls' Allegro Championship on Sunday 30 March. Especially to the 9 little U8 participants there on the day - it was really exciting to see some bright new faces making their first competition moves! And even without it being a record entry for the event (which stands at 48) it was still the biggest all-girl weekend event in Australia. Maybe this goes some of the way towards explaining why ACT girls continue to do well in national events!
We squeezed 10 exciting rounds into our day in the Campbell High School library. A big thank you to the school for accommodating us in the Library while to Hall is refurbished and a thank you to the participants themselves for behaving so responsibly while they were there. Thanks are also due to the parent helpers - Lesley Dunstone, Jim Flood & Agus Setiabudi - it makes the day run so well with many willing hands around the place.
With the top two seeds meeting by Round 5, with Megan prevailing on time with an incredible 1 second advantage, it looked like the winner had been decided early. But that was before Gala Huang pulled off the day's biggest upset in Round 7 to topple Megan over the board. However Megan & Alana were careful not to let any more points slip in some very tense encounters and finished tied on 9/10 in =1st place. Tiebreaks and the head-to-head result went the way of Megan Setiabudi and she was awarded the Girls' Allegro title for 2008! Congratulations Megan!
Alana finished 2nd overall with the fast improving Yi-Ying Zeng continuing her good form to finish a clear 3rd on 8/10 - only losing to Megan & Alana.
We had lots of exciting prizes to give away. Prizewinners were:
Encouragement Award: Madeleine Cooke 6/10 (also the Top Unrated player) A final bit (of almost bragging) from the organiser who is often asked why Curtin Primary does so well at the Girls' Primary School events. More than a quarter of the competition entries came from Curtin Primary - 11 girls - and they took out 8 of the 16 prizes - 50%!!! Having the girls play regularly builds confidence, friendships and competence. If your child competes alone at these events, try to encourage others from their school to come along and have-a-go. Nobody improves overnight but sticking with it because you enjoy the fun and friendship (along with the chess) will take you a long way!
Thank you everyone for making it a great day!
- Libby Smith
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2008 Dubbo Open
A number of ACT juniors competed in the 2008 Dubbo Open. Here are their results:
1. Weller, Tony [QLD] 1759 - 6 2. Castor, David [NSW] 2038 - 5 3. Setiabudi, Allen [ACT] 1591 - 5 4. Canfell, Mike J [NSW] 1754 - 4 5. Ali, Mosaddeque [ACT] 1750 - 4 6. Press, Shaun P [ACT] 1775 - 4 7. Van Der Wal, Fritz W [NSW] 1759 - 4 8. Guo, Emma [ACT] 1598 - 4 9. Bemrose, Trevor [NSW] 1757 - 3.5 10. Rowlison, Colin N [NSW] 1839 - 3.5 11. Hendricks, Michael [QLD] UNR - 3.5 12. Parker, Trent [NSW] 1533 - 3 13. Mann, Garry [NSW] 1517 - 3 14. Egan, Bill [ACT] 1565 - 3 15. Setiabudi, Megan [ACT] 1232 - 3 16. Bourke, Phil W [NSW] 1468 - 3 17. Wilkie, Mary E [NSW] 1265 - 3 18. Russell, Murray [ - ] UNR - 3 19. Losh, Gary [NSW] 1511 - 3 20. Aich, Alexander [NSW] 1496 - 2.5 21. Kojic, Slavko [NSW] 1679 - 2.5 22. Aich, Ramon [NSW] 1025 - 2.5 23. Davidson, Jamie [NSW] 1465 - 2 24. Heap, Edd [NSW] UNR - 2 25. Tran, Jordan [NSW] 278 - 2 26. Mason, Joanne [ACT] 563 - 2 27. Dennis, Roy E [NSW] 995 - 2 28. Aylwin, Helen [NSW] 974 - 1 29. Momot, Alex [NSW] 879 - 1 30. Guo, Jamie-Lee [ACT] 202 - 0
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Committee Positions
The ACTJCL continues to gradually spread our volunteer base to ensure that no high level of workload falls on any one person. The following people were selected for the key positions on the committee at the last AGM:
President: Charles Bishop Secretary: Mira Searle Treasurer: Jenny Wilkinson ACTCA Rep: Shun Ikeda
Please don’t hesitate to contact Charles at ceb@o2c.com.au or on 6231 6428 if you would like to help out on the committee.
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Junior Chess Clubs
+ Souths Junior Chess Club + Where: Holy Trinity Primary School, Theodore Street, Curtin When: Thursdays from 4:00pm until 6:00pm, during school terms Enquiries: Ella Rosso (rosso@netspeed.com.au)
Term 1 Results: 1st Fred Litchfield (7/8) 2nd Aelfric Gardiner-Garden (6/8) 3rd Zalia Lai (5/8) [won on countback [27.5] against Mark Glanville [25.0], Annabel Litchfield [21.5] and Aidan Zellner [21.0]]
Encouragement Awards: Aidan Zellner (also our Top Unrated player, with an excellent score of 5/5 [joining the Club in Week 4]) & Max Kenneby
Transfers Results: 1st Zalia Lai & Isabelle Spooner (6/6) 2nd Justin Chow & Aidan Zellner (5/6) 3rd Kayleigh Smith & Raffael Dal Pozzo (4/6)
I would like to briefly express my appreciation to all the parents who helped out (especially to Ella!) during the Term, and also thank the coaches - Justin, Kayleigh and Savannah - for all their hard work. Having worked at Souths Club since 2004, watching the kids not only advance in their chess, but also grow as an individual as the years passed by, I am sad to be leaving such a wonderful club. However, I know the Club is in good hands, so I hope many of you return, and I hope to hear about some new faces soon, too.
- Miona Ikeda
+ Norths Junior Chess Club + Where: Hawker Primary School, Erldunda Circuit, Hawker When: Fridays from 4:00pm until 5:45pm, during school terms Enquiries: Jenny Mason (jennymason99@yahoo.com.au)
Term 1 Results: 1st Josh Walker (5.5/7) 2nd Gregory Rostov (5/7) [won on countback [22.0]] 3rd Ethan Derwent (5/7) [won on countback [21.5] against Stefan Qin [20.5], Edmund Goldrick [20.0] and Jack Carty [19.5]]
Coach’s Award (Senior) - Jack Carty Coach’s Award (Junior) - David Tian
Most Improved - Sunny Yarlagadda Encouragement Award - Stefan Qin Top Unrated - Dong-Hoon Shin
Well done to Josh Walker for winning the Term 1 Rapid tournament and the Term 1 Transfers tournament. It was a very, very close competition, as you can see from the results - most likely due to half of the field having ratings of 300+!
Should you have any queries, or would like more information about joining/having a trial at either of the Clubs, please contact Miona Ikeda (miona-ikeda@hotmail.com).
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Private Coaching
International Master David Smerdon is available for coaching. He is one of Australia's top players and has extensive coaching experience, including Head Coach for the Australian team at the 2007 World Youth Festival.
David has coached numerous Australian junior champions across age levels, as well as twice coach of the Australian junior team, coach of the ACT and QLD state teams, and coach of the ERGAS and NECG development squads.
He can be contacted on 0439 677 560 or via email smerds@hotmail.com.
+
Hi, my name is Endre Ambrus.
I have been a professional chess player for more than 10 years (1991 - 2002), mostly playing in European tournaments such as the Romanian Super League. My current rating is 2378, although I have reached 2407 while I was playing in Russia.
I would like to start chess coaching, at the charge for $30 an hour. It would be preferable if there are 2-3 people per coaching session, as this makes more profoundly preparation possible during 2-3 hours for $30 from each person for this time.
Should you be interested, please contact me at endre.ambrus@gmail.com or on 0413 198 044.
+
Hi, my name is Andras Toth. I am an International Master from Hungary. I have been working with a number of pupils including a few of the best ACT juniors for more than a year. I am looking to expend my involvement in ACT coaching and have room in my schedule for more private pupils. I am also available for teaching school groups on a term by term basis.
If you are interested, please feel free to contact me. Email: atothfadd@yahoo.com Phone: 6254-9137
+
Hi, my name is Shaun Press.
While the Gungahlin Junior Chess Club will not be running for the moment, it will be replaced by small group coaching for interested students in the Gungahlin area. There will probably be 1-2 groups consisting of 4-6 students (ages between 8 and 14 years). If you are interested please contact me at Shaun.Press@apex.net.au to discuss suitable times etc.
+
*Why take on a private coach?* - It’s really no different to your private lessons in music, tennis or ballet. One-on-one is a great way to learn, particularly if you have a good rapport with your teacher and really want to kick your game along. A coach will be able to analyze your games and spot your strengths and weaknesses. You (or your mum and dad) might see your losses as the result of careless play or lack of thought, whereas your coach may spot a gap in your knowledge of an opening line, or a tactical weakness, or inexperience in the endgame which can be easily remedied with some well planned lessons and a little homework practice.
Not everyone needs the "best coach" or the "best player" as their coach - please don't base your choice on rating alone (we have lots of good, older juniors who are very capable coaches for younger players). Make sure you find someone who has a great rapport with your child, prepares a lesson for your child (not just a generic lesson trotted out to all students) and don't be afraid to change coaches if things aren't working out or if your child (and they do!) catches up to their coach!
Note: ACTJCL does not promote or endorse individual coaches. All we do is provide the names of people interested in coaching. We do not provide names unless we know players to have sufficient understanding of the game, but schools & parents are expected to use their own procedures to vet candidates.
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Miona Ikeda Bulletin Keeper ACT Junior Chess League
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