by Miles Patterson

Welcome to the August ACF Newsletter. Thanks for all the contributions for this issue. Please note the advance information about the Australian Championship, under the Northern Territory Chess Association section.

Please note: The ACF Newsletter is a long post. If you are reading this in email, please scroll down to the end and open the entire message, so you can enjoy the full content.

ACF Notices

Selection Opportunities

Please address registrations of interest and other inquiries concerning forthcoming events to selections_director@auschess.org.au and phone 0499 996 559 or 0409 525 963 if not acknowledged within 48 hours. Copies of inquiries relating to events limited to Junior, Youth, Cadet or other under-age categories must also be sent to juniors_coordinator@auschess.org.au

To enable time for local selection procedures and related purposes, ACF application deadlines can be significantly earlier than deadlines indicated in organisers’ published regulations.

AUSTRALIAN REPRESENTATIVE INTERNATIONAL JUNIORS CHESS TOURNAMENTS

Any inquiries can be sent to ACF Juniors Coordinator, Mr Hui Lam Teh tehhuilam@gmail.com, with cc to ACF Selections Director Tom Saltmarsh selections_director@auschess.org.au.

FIDE RATING SUBMISSIONS

Note that events for FIDE ratings that are completed in the last seven days of the month need to be submitted to ACF FIDE Ratings Officer Bill Gletsos for ratings immediately so that any issues with them can be resolved in time for events to be rated in that month. Also note that intended changes of names or dates of FIDE-rated events need to be notified immediately as they may affect the event's rating status. Note also that all FIDE rated events must be submitted for ACF ratings – no exceptions.

FIDE RATED EVENT REGISTRATION

Australian tournaments to be FIDE rated must be advised to the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer at least 40 days prior to the start of the tournament for tournaments where norms are available and at least 7 days prior to the start of the tournament for all other tournaments. Where these conditions are not met, the decision whether to register it or not is solely at the discretion of the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer.

FIDE ID NUMBER REGISTRATION

FIDE has issued a warning that they will not accept tournaments for FIDE rating where those tournaments contain players who do not have FIDE ID numbers. Although new Australian players can be registered by the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer, this does not apply to new players from overseas. Therefore, organisers should not immediately accept the entries of overseas players who lack FIDE ID numbers to FIDE rated tournaments; instead, those players should be required to first obtain a FIDE ID from their own national federation.

Tournaments submitted that include foreign players who do not have ID numbers end up not being FIDE rated. Organisers need to confirm prior to the start of the tournament that all players without a FIDE ID number are either Australian citizens or have a permanent residency visa.

Players without ID numbers should only be submitted as Australian if they are citizens or are a permanent residency visa holder; if a player is registered under the wrong country, they may incur transfer costs later. For further information/clarification contact the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer Bill Gletsos via fide_ratings@auschess.org.au.

ACF FUNDING SUPPORT PROGRAM

The application deadline for activities commencing between 1 March 2027 and 31 August 2027 is 31 December 2026. Application forms and related information are available on request to executive@auschess.org.au.

News from the States / Territories

Australian Capital Territory

Australian Capital Territory Chess Association (ACTCA)

Recent Events

ANU Open and Minor

By Shaun Press

Now well into its fourth decade, the ANU Open continues as a popular winter weekend event in Canberra. The field of 90 players (36 Open, 54 Minor) saw a mixture of strength in the top section, and enthusiasm in the minor. Top seeds for the open were IM Junta Ikeda, FMs Michael Kethro and Fred Litchfield, along with Harry Press, CM Lalit Prasad and CM Hui Li.

Although the prevailing expectation is that events like this are won by talented junior players, the 2026 edition saw experience and wisdom come out on top. Although the top seeds (all in their 20s and 30s) were challenged by their younger opponents, the older players’ ability to find resources under pressure proved to be the difference.

A couple of early examples involved top seeds Ikeda and Press. In round one Press played a Ruy Lopez in the Karpov/Keres style, building pressure until his opponent buckled under the pressure.

Press, Harry - Yang, Teng 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.0-0 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.Re1 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.Nbd2 Re8 12.Nf1 Bf8 13.Ng3 g6 14.h3 Bg7 15.Bg5 Qc7 16.Qd2 Nc6 17.Rac1 Nd8 18.d4 Ne6 19.Be3 Bb7 20.d5 Nf8 21.Nh4 N6d7 22.Rf1 Nb6 23.b3 Nbd7 24.Bh6 Qd8 25.Bxg7 Qxh4 26.Bh6 Qe7 27.Rce1 Bc8 28.Bd1 f6 29.h4 c4 30.bxc4 bxc4 31.Ba4 Rd8 32.Be3 a5 33.Bc6 Rb8 34.Ba7 Ba6 35.Bxb8 Rxb8 36.Rb1 Rd8 37.Bb7 Nc5 38.Bxa6 Nxa6 39.Qe2 Rc8 40.Rb6 Nb8 41.Rfb1 Nfd7 42.Rb7 Qd8 43.Qg4 Nc5 44.Qxc8 1-0

In round two, Ikeda faced promising Canberran nine-year-old Sanat Hegde on the top board. Keeping his composure against his higher rated opponent, Hegde built up an advantage, and after an exchange of blunders, reached a winning ending. However, Ikeda refused to give in and found enough tricks to eventually turn the result on its head. A good win for Ikeda, and a valuable lesson for Hegde.

Ikeda, Junta - Hegde, Sanat 1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.d3 dxe4 4.dxe4 Qxd1+ 5.Kxd1 Bg4 6.Be3 Nd7 7.c3 e5 8.Nbd2 Bc5 9.Bxc5 Nxc5 10.Kc2 f6 11.b4 Nd7 12.Nc4 Ke7 13.Na5 Rb8 14.Nd2 Nh6 15.Ndc4 Nf7 16.Ne3 Be6 17.Bc4 g6 18.Rhd1 Rhd8 19.Bxe6 Kxe6 20.a4 Nf8 21.Rxd8 Nxd8 22.Nb3 Ke7 23.c4 Nfe6 24.Kc3 Nc7 25.c5 Nde6 26.Nc4 b6 27.Rd1 bxc5 28.bxc5 Nd4 29.Nxd4 exd4+ 30.Rxd4 Ne6 31.Rd6 Rc8 32.f3 Nxc5 33.a5 Nb7 34.Rd1 Nc5 35.Rb1 Rd8 36.e5 Rd3+ 37.Kc2 Rd4 38.Kc3 Rd3+ 39.Kc2 Rd4 40.Nd6 Rd3 41.Nc4 Rd4 42.Nd6 Ra4 43.Nb7 Na6 44.exf6+ Kxf6 45.Rd1 Ke7 46.Kc3 Ra2 47.Nd6 Rxa5 48.Nc8+ Ke8 49.Nxa7 Nc7 50.Re1+ Kf8 51.Nc8 Ra2 52.Rg1 Nd5+ 53.Kd4 Nf4 54.Ke5 Nd3+ 55.Kf6 c5 56.Rb1 Ke8 57.Nd6+ Kd7 58.Nc4 Kc6 59.Rd1 Nb4 60.Rg1 Kd5 61.Ne3+ Kd4 62.Ng4 c4 63.Kg7 Ra7+ 64.Kh6 Rf7 65.Rb1 Nd3 66.Rb8 c3 67.Rd8+ Kc4 68.Ne3+ 1-0

Day two of the event consisted of three rounds. While the 60m+30s time control is ideal for this format, a full day of chess does take some management. For a few players a draw wasn’t a bad result, but for those vying for 1^st place, every game was important.

After round three, there were only three players left on 3/3. IM Junta Ikeda, Harry Press, and FM Fred Litchfield. The last round of the day saw Ikeda and Press meet in a game that essentially decided the tournament. Press built up a strong attack against Ikeda’s king, but in a familiar case of “the wrong rook”, over committed in the position and lost after a speculative, but unsound sacrifice.

Ikeda, Junta - Press, Harry 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d3 g6 6.h3 Bg7 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Be3 b6 9.Qd2 e5 10.Bh6 Qd6 11.Bxg7 Kxg7 12.0-0-0 a5 13.Ne2 Ne8 14.Nh2 Nc7 15.Ng4 f6 16.Qh6+ Kg8 17.Ne3 Ne6 18.c3 b5 19.g3 a4 20.f4 Ng7 21.Kb1 Be6 22.Qh4 a3 23.b3 c4 24.dxc4 Qc5 25.Nc2 bxc4 26.b4 Qf2 27.Rde1 Qf3 28.Rhf1 Qxe4 29.Ned4 Qd3 30.Rf3 Qd2 31.Nxe6 Nxe6 32.fxe5 Rfd8 33.Rc1 Nd4 34.cxd4 Rab8 35.Qf4 Qg2 36.exf6 1-0

Round four saw not one but two father-son pairings. In both cases it was a win for the younger player, with the following game being a drastic example.

Fasakin, Olamide - Fasakin, Oladoyin 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.e5 d5 6.Bb5 Nd7 7.0-0 Be7 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.Nxd4 Nb8 10.c4 dxc4 11.Nc3 0-0 12.Be3 c5 13.Ndb5 Nc6 14.Qf3 Bb7 15.Rad1 Qb8 16.Nd5 Bd8 17.Qg3 Nxe5 18.Qxe5 c6 19.Qxb8 Rxb8 20.Bf4 Bh4 21.g3 Rbd8 22.Nd6 1-0

Ikeda continued his winning run in round five (beating FM Litchfield) while the other leading contenders remained at least a point behind. The final round pairings saw Ikeda play CM Lalit Prasad on the top board, while FM Michael Kethro faced Harry Press on the 2^nd board. While the challengers had hopes of reaching a tie for 1^st place, Ikeda dashed their hopes with a win over Prasad.

Ikeda, Junta - Prasad, Lalit 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.Qe2 e5 6.0-0 Be7 7.c3 0-0 8.Na3 Re8 9.d3 Bf8 10.Nc4 g6 11.a3 d6 12.Ne3 Bg7 13.b4 a6 14.Bb2 h6 15.Nd2 b6 16.f4 exf4 17.gxf4 Bb7 18.Rad1 Nh5 19.Nb3 Qh4 20.Qf3 f5 21.Nd5 fxe4 22.dxe4 Rf8 23.Qh3 Qxh3 24.Bxh3 Rae8 25.Nd2 g5 26.Bd7 Nxf4 27.Nxf4 gxf4 28.Bxe8 Rxe8 29.Nc4 Rxe4 30.Nxd6 Re7 31.Nxb7 Rxb7 32.Rxf4 cxb4 33.axb4 a5 34.Rd2 Re7 35.b5 Ne5 36.Ba3 Rc7 37.Rd8+ Kh7 38.Bb2 Rc5 39.Kg2 Rxb5 40.Bc1 Rb3 41.Be3 b5 42.Bd4 Nc6 43.Rd7 Nxd4 44.cxd4 Kg6 45.Rg4+ Kf5 46.Rgxg7 a4 47.Rge7 a3 48.Rd6 a2 49.Re5+ Kg4 50.Rg6+ Kh4 51.Rxh6+ Kg4 52.Rg6+ Kf4 53.Ra6 Rb2+ 54.Kh3 Rb3+ 55.Kh4 Kf3 56.Rf6+ Kg2 57.Re2+ Kg1 58.Rxa2 Rd3 59.Rb2 Rxd4+ 60.Kg3 Rd3+ 61.Rf3 1-0

With first place decided, all eyes turned to board 2. This was the last game to end and could be described as “wild” from start to finish. A bizarre variation of the Benko Gambit led to a middlegame where both players seemed to be on the verge of both winning and losing. Eventually a knight ending was reached where most spectators thought it was drawn, until one last trick decided the game in Press’s favour.

Kethro, Michael - Press, Harry 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 e6 6.Nc3 exd5 7.Nxd5 Nxa6 8.Bg5 Be7 9.Nxe7 Qxe7 10.Nf3 h6 11.Bh4 Rb8 12.b3 Rb6 13.e3 Bb7 14.Be2 g5 15.Bg3 h5 16.h3 Ne4 17.Be5 Rg8 18.Bb2 g4 19.hxg4 hxg4 20.Ne5 g3 21.f3 Nf2 22.Qc2 Nxh1 23.Qh7 Rf8 24.0-0-0 Rd6 25.Rxd6 Qxd6 26.Qxh1 Nb4 27.a3 Ba6 28.Bxa6 Nxa6 29.Qh4 Nc7 30.Nc4 Qd3 31.Qxg3 Ne6 32.Nd6+ Ke7 33.e4 Qxb3 34.Nf5+ Kd8 35.Qd6 f6 36.Qe7+ Kc7 37.Qd6+ Kd8 38.Bxf6+ Rxf6 39.Qe7+ Kc7 40.Qxf6 Qxa3+ 41.Qb2 Qd3 42.Qe5+ Kc8 43.Qh8+ Kc7 44.Qe5+ Kc8 45.Qh8+ Kc7 46.Qh2+ Kc6 47.Ne7+ Kb5 48.Qb8+ Kc4 49.Nf5 Qf1+ 50.Kb2 Qxg2+ 51.Ka3 Qxf3+ 52.Kb2 Qc3+ 53.Ka2 Qa5+ 54.Kb2 Qb4+ 55.Qxb4+ Kxb4 56.Ne3 Ng5 57.Nd5+ Kb5 58.Nf6 d6 59.Kc3 Kc6 60.Kd3 Nf7 61.Kc3 Ne5 62.Kb3 Kc7 63.Kc3 Kd8 64.Nd5 Kd7 65.Kd2 Ke6 66.Nb6 Nc6 67.Nc4 Ne5 68.Nb6 Nf7 69.Nc4 Kf6 70.Ke3 Kg5 71.Nb6 Ne5 72.Nc8 Nf7 73.Kd3 Kf4 74.Kc4 Ke5 75.Kb5 Ng5 76.Kc6 c4 77.Nxd6 c3 78.Nc4+ Kd4 79.Na3 Kxe4 80.Nc2 Nf3 81.Kc5 Kd3 82.Na3 Nd4 83.Kb6 Nb3 84.Kb5 Nd2 85.Kb4 Nb1 86.Nc4 c2 0-1

Ikeda finished on 6/6, winning the $1200 first prize. Although he was worse in at least three games, he showed the tenacity and resourcefulness required to win events like this. Press finished 2^nd on 5/6 while Litchfield was 3^rd on 4.5.

The 54-player Minor (ACF Under 1600) ended in a three-way tie between Felix Tan, Rithvik Yendluri and Charles Huang. Tan and Yendluri we both undefeated (drawing in the final round) while Huang recovered from a Round two loss to win his final four games. One other notable performance was Eric Tian who won the Under 800 prize, scoring 4.5/6. After losing his round one game he scored 4.5/5 to finish a full point clear of the players in the next higher rating group.

The 90-player field was a good turnout for this event and allowed the organisers to increase the advertised prize pool. Once again, the ANU proved to be a great venue, with the players enjoying the break between rounds, using the time to visit the coffee shops and take-aways in the precinct. The event ran smoothly with no disputes of note. Feedback from the players was positive and many are already looking for next year’s event.

Open: 1st IM Junta Ikeda 6/6, 2nd Harry Press 5/6, 3rd Fred Litchfield 4.5/6, 1800-1999 (FIDE) Olamide Fasakin (+ Best Junior), Oladoyin Fasakin 4/6,
Under 1800 (FIDE) Yueyue Rui 4/6

Minor: =1st Felix Tan, Rithvik Yendluri, Charles Huang 5/6,
800-1199 (ACF) Noah Jones, Prakarsha Paudel, Dhyan Nair, Rithvik Arvind Sai, Shrihari Prabhu, James Madoc 3.5/6,
Under 800 (ACF) Eric Tian 4.5/6, Unrated Jianwei Huang 4/6

Upcoming Events

ACT Junior Rapid Championship

Sunday 9 August, Corroboree Park Hall, 47 Paterson St, Ainslie.

Details and entry here

Street Chess

Every Saturday. From 10.45 to 2.30. King O’Malley’s in Civic. More information here and results/photos here

New South Wales

New South Wales Chess Association Inc (NSWCA)

Recent Events

2026 NSW Rapid

1st Aleksandr Domalchuk-Jonasson, =2nd Yifei Hu, Taifeng (Matt) Lyu
Under 2000 – 1800 =1st Marcus (Shing Hei) Li, Lucas Ni, Jonathan Si Seng Ong, Ashley Rambukwella, Nikolaus Van and Alaina Vincent
Under 1800 – 1600 1st Kamal Jain, Under 1600- 1400 1st Aarav Shahriar
Under 1400 =1st Hosea Jiang, Nicolas Philbert, Walton Tran and Quy Ung

Upcoming Events

2026 NSWCA August Weekender

15-16 August, Norths Leagues Club,12 Abbott Street Cammeray, NSW

More details here

2026 NSW Seniors Championship

20 September, Details TBN

Northern Territory

Northern Territory Chess Association

Upcoming Events

2027 AUSTRALIAN OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

Dates: 2-11 January 2027

Supported by: NT Government Business Events Support Fund

Venue: The Grand Ballroom, Doubletree by Hilton, 116 Esplanade, Darwin. Accommodation at the venue: $150/night per room (King bed or two singles), so just $75/night per person on a twin share basis. Other recommended accommodation options: $140/night at Rydges Darwin Central Hotel

ACF National Conference Thursday 7 January 2027 at the venue. 9:00 am to 11:30 am. This will be followed by morning tea. Those attending in person are requested to stay for a meeting immediately afterwards on the development of chess in the NT which will be attended by members of NT parliament and bureaucrats from 12 noon to 1 pm.

The Blitz tournament will take place on the afternoon of 7 January 2027.

Venue capacity: 200 players. Proposed entry fee AUD $200/$120. We are live on TryBooking.com

Chief Arbiters: Anastasia Sorokina, Peter Tsai.

Prizemoney: AUD $15,000 minimum guaranteed; First $5,000 minimum guaranteed.

Sponsors: North West Constructions Pty Ltd, Inpex, Santos, Rotary, NT Government Depart of Business Events, Doubletree by Hilton, Rydges Darwin Central, Ray White Real Estate, others pending.

https://ntchess.org.au/event/australian-open-chess-championships/

Queensland

Chess Association of Queensland

Recent Events

2025 UQ July Classic

= 1st, 2nd, & 3rd: Ryan Liaw, Isaac Liu, Oscar Kirby
Rating Group: Chee Seng Lue

2026 Gold Cup FIDE Open

1st Jayden Ooi 5.5/6, =2nd Neil fu, Je Praveen 5,

Upcoming Events

Mackay Open

15-16 August, CQ University, 90/92 Sydney St, Mackay

More information here

2026 Great Barrier Reef Open

5-6 September, Newman Catholic College, Smithfield, James Cook University Campus (JCU) Cairns. More information here

2026 Byron Capital Darling Downs Open incorporating the QLD Champs

Thursday 1 October to Monday 5 October 2026, Toowoomba Grammar School, Toowoomba QLD 4350. More details here

2026 Queensland Seniors Championship

14-15 November, F and J Blocks Grace Lutheran College, Buchanan St, Rothwell.

Details here

The Bundaberg Classic

21-22 November, Middle School, St Luke’s School Mezger Street, Kalkie, Bundaberg.

More details here

2026 Christmas Special

12-13 December, F and J Blocks Grace Lutheran College, Buchanan St, Rothwell.

Details here

South Australia

South Australian Chess Association Inc (SACA)

Recent Events

July Allegro #1 1st Edgar Mdinaradze

Winter Rapid 1st Tarush Jindal

Upcoming Events

13 August August Allegro

20 August August Blitz

23 August SA Rapid Championship

27 August August Chess 960

Tasmania

Tasmanian Chess Association Inc (TCA)

Upcoming Events

Tasmanian Rapid

22nd-23rd of August at Guilford Young College in Hobart Details here

2026 Huon Valley Chess Festival

5-8 November Details TBN

2027 Australian Junior Chess Championships
12-20 January 2027. Host: The Hutchins School, Sandy Bay, Hobart, Tasmania
Venue: The N J Edwards Hub, Nelson Road. Details here

Victoria

Chess Victoria Inc (CV)

Recent Events

2026 Hobsons Bay Juniors Rapid Championship
1st: FM Rheyansh Reddy Annapureddy 8/9, =2nd CM Khushal Lingineni, Krishna Manthan Bodke 7.5. 101 players!

Upcoming Events

2026 Victorian Championship
Saturday Evenings 7.15pm
August 22 - 24 October (29 August skipped due to Best in the West)
Melbourne Chess Club, 66 Leicester St, Fitzroy, VIC
Details here

2026 Best in the West
29-30 August, Finnish Hall, 119 Pier St, Altona. More details here

Victorian Women's Championship 2026
12 and 19 September, Hobsons Bay Chess Club, 108 Queen St, Altona VIC.
More details here

2026 Victorian Junior Rapid and Blitz Championships
3-4 October, Bacchus Marsh Grammar – Maddingley Campus
37 South Maddingley Rd, Maddingley. More information here

2026 MCC Greg Hjorth Open Weekender
Friday 30 October – Tuesday 3 November, Melbourne Chess Club. 66 Leicester St. Fitzroy, 3065. More information here

2026 Australasian Masters
Saturday 12th - Sunday 20th December, Melbourne Chess Club. 66 Leicester St. Fitzroy, 3065. More information here
2026 Australasian Masters is a round robin system chess tournament of 9 rounds with 10 players. Chess players for the event are selected and chosen to make International Master norms possible. To be one of the 10 players, contact the organiser, Leonid Sandler on email: leonidsandlerchess@gmail.com or mobile phone: +61 412201891

Western Australia

Chess Association of Western Australia Inc (CAWA)

Recent Events

2026 WA Blitz Championship
IM Patrick Gong - 2026 WA Blitz Champion
WFM Kathryn Hardegen - 2026 WA Women’s Blitz Champion
Tim Hare - 2026 WA Seniors’ Blitz Champion

2026 South West Chess Open and Allegro

GM Temur Kuybokarov (6.0/6) - 2026 South West Open Champion
Dylan Gough (8.0/9) - 2026 South West Allegro Champion

Upcoming Events

National Arbiters' Seminar

Sunday 16th and 23rd August, at Palms Community Centre in Subiaco. Details here

Perth International Open

25-28 September, Manning Hall Community Center Details here

New Zealand

New Zealand Chess News (newzealandchess.nz)

Recent Events

• 10 - 12 July Peter Stuart Memorial 2026

1st Open: FM Alphaeus Ang
1st Reserve: Felix Mountfort

• 17 - 19 July NZ Senior Championship 2026

1st equal: Ralph Hart (Joint NZ Seniors Champion)
1st equal: FM Stephen G Lukey (Joint NZ Seniors Champion)

• 19 July Auckland Rapid 19 July 2026

1st: FM Alphaeus Ang

• 26 July Hobby Chess Rapid July 2026

1st Group A: FM Alphaeus Ang
1st Group B: Krithin Shetty
1st Group C: Nguyan Tuan Minh

Upcoming Events

• 8 - 23 August Auckland Double Weekends August 2026

• 23 August Hobby Chess Rapid August 2026

• 28 - 30 August NZ Women’s Championship 2026

• 30 August Auckland Rapid 30th August 2026

• 5 - 13 September Auckland Double Weekends September 2026

• 30 September - 3 October South Island Championships 2026

• 4 October South Island Rapid 2026

• 24 - 26 October Merv Morrison Memorial 2026

• 7 - 15 November Auckland Double Weekends November 2026

• 28 November NZ Fischer-Random Championship 2026

• 5-6 December Papatoetoe Rapid 2026

International News

Paul Summers reports on the activities of Australians overseas in classical games (i.e. generally excluding rapid and blitz events). All ratings are FIDE. Except where otherwise noted, Australian games from these events, usually with crosstables, can be found on the Australian Chess web page.

Aussies Overseas #9 and #10

(Editor’s note: Unfortunately, #9 was accidentally omitted from the July issue, so a double issue this time.)

June

FM Albert Winkelman (ACT 2366) & IM-elect Yi Liu (QLD 2401) competed in the strong (34 GMs) Asia Championships #21 in Ulan Bator in Mongolia. Both scored 5/9 placing 39=, with Winkelman a nudge ahead on tiebreak. Winkelman defeated IM Amilal Munkhdalai (IND 2463) and GM Dai Changren (CHN 2552) lost to both Australians.

GM Bobby Cheng (VIC 2571) took part in the French Top 16 Team Championship in Chartres. Playing on top board in the A group for Les Tours des Hauts de France, Bobby faced tough opposition scoring 3.5/7 with his team placing third of the eight teams in his group. In what was assumed to be the final, Bobby then scored 1/4.

Playing in the 12-round Swiss for the World Rapid Team Championships in Hong Kong were nine Australian players across two teams:

1) Street Chess Canberra was represented by: Harry Press (ACT 2173) scoring 3/11, FM Frederick Litchfield (ACT 2145) 3.5/10, CM Ryan Lane (NSW 2143) 4/11, WIM Heather Richards (QLD 2097) 3.5/10, WFM Chao Xin Cheng (VIC 1993) 4.5/11, Miles Patterson (ACT 1800) 1.5/5, Matt Radisich (ACT 1758) 2.5/9, Lee Forace (ACT 1683) 0/1

2) Playing for Beijing Yijia Chess Club was WCM Linda (Zhiling) Qian (NSW 1678) 2/8.

From the 48 teams which entered, Linda’s team was seeded 47^th and finished 42^nd , while Street Chess Canberra was seeded 45^th but finished in last place.

Then in the round robin for the World Blitz Team Championships again in Hong Kong, a similar team (less Miles Patterson and Linda Qian) competed against 11 other teams. This time Street Chess Canberra managed a little better against the tough opposition finishing 9^th.

July

In Lithuania, unrated Oscar England played in the 78-player Vilnius Open finishing with a creditable 3/8 in 54= place. No games available.

Shaurya Jain (QLD 1865) was seeded 63^rd in the 65-player Llinars International Open #6-A in Llinars del Vallès in Spain. Shaurya scored 4.5/9 finishing well above his seeding in 29= place.

Still in Spain, Shaurya then played in the 2026 Torredembarra International Open. Competing with 141 other players, Shaurya scored 5/9 finishing 31=. No games available.

Clearly enjoying the chess as well as the warmth of the Spanish summer, Shaurya then participated in the 2026 Sant Marti Open #26. Joining him at this event was fellow Queenslander CM Micah Young (2194). Shaurya still on 1865 had a great tournament and performed at 2126. Micah may have been a little disappointed with his 2090 performance.

Last year FM Daniel Melamed (NSW 2112) played in the Paracin Open in Serbia. He returned this year in the 19^th iteration of the event, playing again in Group A. Daniel made the same score as previously, 3.5/9 placing 64=.

FM Sam Chow (VIC 2358) had a bad start in the 2026 Sheffield Masters but turned his 0/2 result to 6.5/9. In so doing, he gained his third and final IM norm. Previous norms were achieved in New Zealand (2009) and during the 2023-24 4NCL season. He now needs to cross the 2400-rating threshold to secure the IM title.

CM Gary Bekker (VIC 1966) competed with 49 other players in the ØBRO & CXU International which celebrated the 90^th anniversary of the Copenhagen chess club ØBRO. With about 70% of participants holding titles, Gary should be pleased with his 2006 performance obtaining two wins and four draws in his 4/9 result.

Amuthan Aran (VIC 1424) participated in the 5-round Southall Congress U1600 finishing on 2.5 in 10= place. No games available.

The 28^th Asia Youth & Cadet Championships saw several Australians participating:

· U18 with 58 players Iker Hernandez Mendez (WA 1966) scored 4/9 finishing 36=.

· U16 with 59 players Ethan Chang (NSW 2089) scored 4.5/9 finishing 25= and Issa Majidi (WA 1962) scored 3.5 and 42=.

· U14 with 108 players Harvey Zhu (NSW 2215) scored 5/9 finishing 31= and Andy Kaiyang Luo (? 1484) 3.0 and 87=.

· U12 with 131 players FM Reyaansh Chakrabarty (NSW 2267) & CM Lucas Zhao (VIC 1924) each scored 6/9 finishing 12=, while Zhu Zane (NSW 1657) obtained 3.5 placing 92=.

· U12 Girls with 71 players Emma Zhou (VIC 1641) scored 5/9 finishing 20=.

· U10 with 138 players Matthew Jia (QLD 1731) scored 6/9 finishing 15=.

FM Daniel Melamed (NSW 2112) was one of 239 players in the 9-round 2026 Serbia Open Masters. Daniel had one win and five draws finishing 163=.

Upcoming Events

Asian Juniors & Girls Chess Championship 2026
16-25 August, Mumbai, India
Blue Chevaliers International Open 2026
 7-13 September 2026, at the Novotel Phuket Resort in Thailand.
Enquiries to peter.frost3@yahoo.com.au
1st Berjaya Global Chess Open
7-14 September 2026, Erjaya Waterfront Hotel: 88 Jalan Ibrahim Sultan, Stulang Laut, 80300, Johor Bahru, Malaysia Details here

Check details via the FIDE Chess Calendar

Study of the Month

White to play and win

Solution at the end of the newsletter.

Book Review

By IM Gary Lane

Win with the French

by Vassilios Kotronias, published by Quality Chess, softback 328 pages.

A black repertoire to give players of the French Defence a fighting chance to not only gain a slight advantage but win.

Kotronias is a high-class writer and a renowned grandmaster, so knows that to build a decent opening repertoire Black has to get his move on the board quickly. After all, it is pointless arguing for the Winawer Variation if your idea does not happen until move nineteen. For instance, against the Advance French he advocates for 5…Bd7 steering White towards his preferred set-up.

The heavily annotated games have plenty of prose to describe what to do in the opening and how this can lead to combative play in the middlegame. The former Greek champion recommends taking on the Tarrasch 3 Nd2 with 3…c5. Once again, he is good at guiding the position towards his favoured lines and any exchange on d5 is met by the lively …Qxd5 which is quite sharp. However, as Black you are more likely to play it all the time and understand the nuances in the position compared to White who only plays against the French occasionally.

After 3 Nc3, the author sensibly avoids the huge complications of 3…Bb4 and opts for the safer choice of 3…Nf6. He makes a convincing argument for Black to hold their own and explains how in the middlegame that White can gradually go seriously astray.

There is still time to examine the Exchange Variation and the various weird early moves that White can try to create mayhem. They are all expertly dealt with by providing solid lines with the chance of creating an active position.

A delight for players of the French who want to improve quickly.

Looking Back

In 19^th century newspapers, while graphic and clearly distinct advertisements were still developing, text-based advertisements were commonplace. They included one-liners or slogans about a product inserted almost randomly in news or other articles, and even informative pieces underpinning an advertising message. This one appeared in Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph on 14^th February 1894. Its historical information is pretty wide of the mark, although Murray’s A History of Chess wasn’t published until nearly 20 years later!

Chess is an extremely ancient game. On the walls of the palace of Amenoph II at Thebes the king is shown playing chess with the queen. This king reigned a long time before the Trojan war. It is known also to have been played in India 5000 years ago, and lately some excavations on the pyramid field of Sakkarra have brought to light a picture representing two people playing the game at the time of the Government of King Teta, who reigned about 3300 years B.C. So that chess must have been known in the once mysterious land of Mizraim, upwards of 5200 years ago! Chess-playing entails a considerable mental strain, some games between clever players lasting for many hours and sometimes days. The simplest and most nourishing food for chess players (as well as for their children, because these biscuits are really more especially prepared for young folks, to make them strong and healthy) will be found to be Arnott’s Milk Arrowroot Biscuits, which are so easily carried in the pocket, easily digested, and containing a vast amount of nutriment in a convenient and palatable form. — Advt.

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ACF Personnel

The Australian Chess Federation Inc is incorporated under the ACT Associations Incorporation Act 1991 and is recognised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs as the governing chess organisation in Australia.

ACF COUNCIL

State Association Delegates

NSWCA Delegate: Richard Gastineau-Hills nswcouncillor@auschess.org.au

CV Delegate: Walter Wolffs walterwolffs.ca@gmail.com

CAQ Delegate: Dr Tony Dowden r.tony.dowden@gmail.com.au

SACA Delegate: Misheck Muza sacouncillor@auschess.org.au

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ACTCA Delegate: Cam Cunningham actcouncillor@auschess.org.au

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Executive Committee

President: Gary Wastell president@auschess.org.au

Deputy President: Bill Gletsos deputy president@auschess.org.au

Vice-President: Dr Kevin Bonham vice president1@auschess.org.au

Vice-President: Dr Andrew Hardegen vice president2@auschess.org.au

Secretary: Rob Watson secretary@auschess.org.au

Treasurer: Bob Keast treasurer@auschess.org.au

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Assistant Treasurer: Bill Gletsos asst treasurer@auschess.org.au

Auditor: Ross Hamilton auditor@auschess.org.au

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FIDE Delegate & Admin Officer: Dr. Kevin Bonham fide delegate@auschess.org.au

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National Ratings Officer: Graham Saint g_saint@tpg.com.au

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Newsletter Editor: Miles Patterson mp19370@gmail.com

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Annual Appointments

All Council appointments terminate each year at the first Council meeting after 30 June, when incumbents and new applicants are eligible for reappointment. Offers to serve in any of the above positions need to be written (email acceptable) and emailed to executive@auschess.org.au.

Applicants should phone 0409 525 963 or (03) 9787 7974 if an application has not been acknowledged within 48 hours of transmission.

Solution to Study of the Month

White to play and win

Solution:

1. Bf5+ Kd8 2 Rd4+ Ke7 3 Re4+ Ke6 4 Bd7 (4 Rxe3 e1(Q) 5 Rxe1 stalemate) 4…e1(Q) 5 Bb5 intending 6 Re8 mate

(Richard Reti - corrected by Henri Rinck, 1928)

Newsletter Article Contributions

Please email the editor if there is something you would like published in the next edition of this newsletter.

Examples of articles:

• Upcoming chess event.

• Results of a chess event that was completed since the last newsletter was published.

• Any information that is chess related, especially Australian chess, that could be interesting.

Article Contribution

by Miles Patterson

Welcome to the July ACF Newsletter. Thanks for all the contributions for this issue. Please have a look at the notice about the ACF Olympiad Appeal 2026. If you would like to make sure your tournament is announced or the results reported, please just send us the details.

Please note: The ACF Newsletter is a long post. If you are reading this in email, please scroll down to the end and open the entire message, so you can enjoy the full content.

ACF Olympiad Appeal 2026 - 46th Olympiad, Samarkand, Uzbekistan

The ACF appeal for support to send the Australian teams to the Olympiad in Uzbekistan in September is well underway. Please visit the Olympiad Appeal site and consider giving what you can.

ACF Notices

Selection Opportunities

Please address registrations of interest and other inquiries concerning forthcoming events to selections_director@auschess.org.au and phone 0499 996 559 or 0409 525 963 if not acknowledged within 48 hours. Copies of inquiries relating to events limited to Junior, Youth, Cadet or other under-age categories must also be sent to juniors_coordinator@auschess.org.au

To enable time for local selection procedures and related purposes, ACF application deadlines can be significantly earlier than deadlines indicated in organisers’ published regulations.

AUSTRALIAN REPRESENTATIVE INTERNATIONAL JUNIORS CHESS TOURNAMENTS

Any inquiries can be sent to ACF Juniors Coordinator, Mr Hui Lam Teh tehhuilam@gmail.com, with cc to ACF Selections Director Tom Saltmarsh selections_director@auschess.org.au.

FIDE RATING SUBMISSIONS

Note that events for FIDE ratings that are completed in the last seven days of the month need to be submitted to ACF FIDE Ratings Officer Bill Gletsos for ratings immediately so that any issues with them can be resolved in time for events to be rated in that month. Also note that intended changes of names or dates of FIDE-rated events need to be notified immediately as they may affect the event's rating status. Note also that all FIDE rated events must be submitted for ACF ratings – no exceptions.

FIDE RATED EVENT REGISTRATION

Australian tournaments to be FIDE rated must be advised to the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer at least 40 days prior to the start of the tournament for tournaments where norms are available and at least 7 days prior to the start of the tournament for all other tournaments. Where these conditions are not met, the decision whether to register it or not is solely at the discretion of the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer.

FIDE ID NUMBER REGISTRATION

FIDE has issued a warning that they will not accept tournaments for FIDE rating where those tournaments contain players who do not have FIDE ID numbers. Although new Australian players can be registered by the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer, this does not apply to new players from overseas. Therefore, organisers should not immediately accept the entries of overseas players who lack FIDE ID numbers to FIDE rated tournaments; instead, those players should be required to first obtain a FIDE ID from their own national federation.

Tournaments submitted that include foreign players who do not have ID numbers end up not being FIDE rated. Organisers need to confirm prior to the start of the tournament that all players without a FIDE ID number are either Australian citizens or have a permanent residency visa.

Players without ID numbers should only be submitted as Australian if they are citizens or are a permanent residency visa holder; if a player is registered under the wrong country, they may incur transfer costs later. For further information/clarification contact the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer Bill Gletsos via fide_ratings@auschess.org.au.

ACF FUNDING SUPPORT PROGRAM

The application deadline for activities commencing between 1 March 2027 and 31 August 2027 is 31 December 2026. Application forms and related information are available on request to executive@auschess.org.au.

News from the States / Territories

Australian Capital Territory

Australian Capital Territory Chess Association (ACTCA)

Recent Events

Street Chess Canberra goes to the World Team Championships

By Miles Patterson

After enjoying the 2024 World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships in Astana as an arbiter, Shaun Press had the idea of sponsoring a team from Canberra to play in the 2026 event in Hong Kong. The team was based on organisers and players from Canberra’s popular Saturday Street Chess, although we co-opted some ‘honorary members’ to get the team composition right.

Teams of between six and nine (six played in each match) had to include at least one female; Xin Cheng and Australian Champion Heather Richards met the requirement admirably. There had to be at least one ‘recreational player’ (never rated above 2000); Miles Patterson, Matt Radisich and Lee Forace all qualified. To boost the team’s top end, in addition to Heather, we had Harry Press, Fred Litchfield and Ryan Lane. Curiously, our team comprised at least one player from every decade from the 1950s to the 2000s. Unfortunately, Shaun couldn’t attend, being called up as an arbiter for the World Youth Championships in Italy.

Lee, Matt, Heather, Harry, Miles, Xin, Fred, Ryan

Held in Hong Kong’s Queen Elizabeth stadium, the two tournaments, Rapid and Blitz, featured 48 teams from all over the world, including the defending champions WR Chess, led by Magnus Carlsen, and other heavyweight teams led by Alireza, Mamedyarov, Hans Niemann, Ding Liren and so on. Star spotting was a feature throughout the event, as we (sometimes literally) rubbed shoulders with dozens of the great names in chess.

Half the playing area at the impressive venue

Day One. Ranked 45th out of 48 teams in the Rapid, we were always going find it hard going, with the top boards in particular usually facing some impressive titles/ratings – Harry ended up playing three GMs and eight IMs on top board. Even so, Day One saw two of the four losses only by the smallest margin. Heather pulled off a nice win over 2247-rated Victor Kurochkin. Ryan was our top scorer with 2.5/4. Individuals had some successes and some near misses, but winning matches would need most of the team to succeed (by design or luck) at the same time.

Day Two was looking like more of the same, as we started with a loss, again by the minimum, but it ended with a heroic effort as Matt (with a Rousseau Gambit) and Xin cleaned up, Ryan drew, and in the last game to finish on top board, Harry made a nail-biting draw against an IM to tie the match and get us on the board.

Maybe Heather could persuade Nigel to sub for us on Board 2

Day Three saw even tougher opposition, but also a dramatic Round 10 match against a much higher-rated Spanish team, which included two grandmasters. After Ryan and Xin kept the bottom four boards level at 2-2, Harry tied down GM Ibarra Jerez (2535) for a well-earned draw, then a crowd gathered to watch Fred outplay the well-known GM, ‘Pepe’ Cuenca (2485), to reach a Q v B+N ending. After lengthy attempts to prove there was no fortress, Fred forced a winning position but was immediately met with a successful 50-move claim, giving us another tied result overall. Video of the end here: When the opponent thinks you are about to resign but you have 1 last trick left!

The Rapid ended with a somewhat disappointing final ranking, but the missed opportunities were balanced by individual successes against significantly higher rated opponents. We were looking forward to the blitz. One of the younger members of the team pointed out that we would do better as older players can’t play blitz! I took the hint and, as Captain, dropped myself for Day Four.

If the Rapid had been hard going, the Blitz tournament looked to be brutal. The lowest-rated of the 48 teams, we were in a round-robin pool of 12, facing teams led by Ding Liren, Hans Niemann, Shirov and Praggnanandhaa, all of whom Heather had the privilege of playing, and she fought well: 2142 Elo vs R. Praggnanandhaa.

Initially, the results were bleak, as Xin’s draw in the first round, and Lee’s win and draw in the next two rounds were our only points. But in round 4, the team clicked and scored our first match win, with wins by Heather (over a 2421 IM) Fred and Ryan, and a draw by Harry.

The highlight of the day, maybe the tournament, was a match on the top board in front of the cameras, against Ding Liren’s Dragon Chilling, winners of the Rapid and fielding five GMs. In the pre-match chat, Ding was asked if he remembered playing Shaun Press in the World Cup. He did and was told Harry was his son. Ding’s response: “He doesn’t look like him.” Most of the games were going as expected but, then Matt won on board 6 and we all watched as the Women’s World Champion, Ju Wenjun, unable to get an advantage against Ryan, slipped up and lost her queen to three swift checks. This was revenge for the Lane family as Ryan’s mother Nancy lost to Ju Wenjun in round 1 of the Women’s World Championship in 2017 in Tehran.

The Street Chess team’s 15 minutes of fame

The 2-4 loss was a better score than Niemann’s Endgame AI could manage against Dragon Chilling in the Final. After the players had left the boards, Magnus walked by and did a classic double-take and jaw drop on seeing the score, before pointing it out to the rest of his team, to general amusement.

On a high, the team drew in round seven and won again in round eight. The last three rounds saw much higher-rated opposition and predictable outcomes, although Fred took down a GM in the last round. We finished ninth in the pool of 12, which was an excellent result for the lowest-ranked team in the tournament.

The whole event was well organised (inevitable minor hitches were resolved), the local organisers were great hosts, the whole atmosphere was relaxed and everyone – players, match arbiters, volunteers – were friendly and helpful. Even the top GMs were happy to chat at the start of games. Everyone enjoyed the opportunity to play in such a prestigious tournament and see a little of Hong Kong, and the team was unanimous in declaring the trip very worthwhile and great fun. Very many thanks to Shaun Press for making it all happen and sponsoring the players.

Postscript: Matt and Miles waiting to cross the road (we were not wearing our team shirts, although Matt was carrying a chess clock). Little local lad in a chess shirt pipes up: “Are you Street Chess Canberra?” “Yes, we are – how did you know?” “You’re old!” Young lad’s horrified mother starts scolding him. Matt and Miles laugh all the way back to the hotel.

Upcoming Events

ANU Open/Minor

31 July (evening) to 2 August, Floor 4, Marie Reay Teaching Centre, ANU. $4000 prize pool ($1200 1st prize Open, $600 1st Minor

ANU staff and students are eligible for free entry. Other ACT players must be members of either the ACTCA or ACTJCL to enter this event (interstate players welcome but must be members of their ACF-affiliated state association). Non-ACTCA junior members who are members of the ACTJCL but have already played in two 2026 ACTCA events will also need to join the ACTCA for this tournament.

More details and booking here

Street Chess

Every Saturday. From 10.45 to 2.30. King O’Malley’s in Civic. More information here and results/photos here

New South Wales

New South Wales Chess Association Inc (NSWCA)

Recent Events

2026 Gosford Winter Rapid Open

1st Place: FM Tri Kien Le, 2nd Place: Jonluke Corona, 60 players

Upcoming Events

2026 NSW Rapid

19 July, Sydney Academy of Chess, Burwood. More details here

Apex Chess Open

19 July, Bonnyrigg Sports Club, 610-618 Elizabeth Dr, Bonnyrigg Hts NSW

More information here

2026 NSWCA August Weekender

15-16 August, Norths Leagues Club,12 Abbott Street Cammeray, NSW

More details here

2026 NSW Seniors Championship

20 September, Details TBN

Northern Territory

Northern Territory Chess Association

Queensland

Chess Association of Queensland

Recent Events

61st Peninsula Open

=1st 5/6: Jayden Ooi, Lachlan Wang, Sravan Renjith, Kiamehr Baneshi
Rating Group A: =1st 5/6: Lachlan Wang and Kiamehr Baneshi
Rating Group B: =1st 4/6: Timothy Lee, Alex Field, Ethan Joseph, Brett Oakley
Rating Group C: =1st 4/6: Noah Zi, Vilem Fichna
Rating Group D: Outright 1st 3.5/6: Joshua Wan
Rating Group E: Outright 1st 3/6: Ameya Sathe
Best Senior 65 years of age or older: 4.5/6: Bruce Holliday
Best Regular Wednesday night Redcliffe Chess Club Players: Jai Turner, David Beaumont and Brett Oakley all on 4/6:
Best ACF Unrated: Fel Masana Sepulveda with 3.5 points
Best Adult Female: 3/6: Susan Li.
Best Junior Female: 3/6: Iris Wang
Best Junior Male: 5/6: Jayden Ooi, Lachlan Wang, Sravan Renjith

Upcoming Events

2026 UQ FIDE Winter Weekender

20-21 June, The University of Queensland St. Lucia More information here

Queensland Junior Championships

30 June - 3 July, Anglican Church Grammar School (Churchie). More information here

2025 UQ July Classic

19-20 July, 01-W431 & 01-W458, Forgan Smith Building (West Wing), UQ

More information here

2026 Gold Cup FIDE Open

1-2 August, F and J Blocks Grace Lutheran College, Buchanan St, Rothwell.

Details here

2026 Great Barrier Reef Open

5-6 September, More information here

2026 Byron Capital Darling Downs Open incorporating the QLD Champs

Thursday 1 October to Monday 5 October 2026, Toowoomba Grammar School, Toowoomba QLD 4350

Registration Opens 1 April 2026. More details here

2026 Queensland Seniors Championship

14-15 November, F and J Blocks Grace Lutheran College, Buchanan St, Rothwell.

Details here

2026 Christmas Special

12-13 December, F and J Blocks Grace Lutheran College, Buchanan St, Rothwell.

Details here

South Australia

South Australian Chess Association Inc (SACA)

Recent Events

Kings Birthday Weekender

1st Place: Weng Yang Joel Su, 2nd Place: CM Tarush Jindal,
Equal 3rd Place: Edgar Mdinaradze, Jamie Charters, FM Bill Jordan & Jack Willoughby
Best U1650 (ACF): Hariharan Ayyar, Equal 2nd Best U1650: Bhanav Shyam Sunitha, Chris Benham, Emmanuel Schiavone, James Bayliss, Charlotte Chen & Mathew Drogemuller
Best U1400 (ACF): Ashmit Dileesh, Equal 2nd Best U1400: Mark Lian, Cindy Chen & Brian Vogt
Equal Best U1100 (ACF): Vittal Balasubramani & Xuan Phuc Lam Nguyen
Best Unrated (ACF): Devensh Dikshit
Equal Best Unrated: Milad Dakka, Carlo Malagar & Devant Dikshit

Upcoming Events

15-17 July State Junior Championships

16 July July Allegro 1

23 July July Blitz

30 July July Allegro #2

6 August August Rapid

13 August August Allegro

20 August August Blitz

23 August SA Rapid Championship

27 August August Chess 960

Tasmania

Tasmanian Chess Association Inc (TCA)

Upcoming Events

2026 Huon Valley Chess Festival

5-8 November Details TBN

2027 Australian Junior Chess Championships
12-20 January 2027. Host: The Hutchins School, Sandy Bay, Hobart, Tasmania
Venue: The N J Edwards Hub, Nelson Road. Details here

Victoria

Chess Victoria Inc (CV)

Upcoming Events

Hobsons Bay Juniors Rapid Championship 2026
18 July, Hobsons Bay Chess Club, 108 Queen Street, Altona.
More details here

2026 Best in the West
29-30 August, Finnish Hall, 119 Pier St, Altona. More details here

Victorian Women's Championship 2026
12 and 19 September, Hobsons Bay Chess Club, 108 Queen St, Altona VIC.
More details here

2026 Victorian Junior Rapid and Blitz Championships
3-4 October, Bacchus Marsh Grammar – Maddingley Campus
37 South Maddingley Rd, Maddingley. More information here

Western Australia

Chess Association of Western Australia Inc (CAWA)

Upcoming Events

2026 South West Chess Open and Allegro

25-26 July, Margaret River Community Centre. Details here

National Arbiters' Seminar

Sunday 16th and 23rd August, at Palms Community Centre in Subiaco. Details here

Perth International Open

25-28 September, Manning Hall Community Center Details here

New Zealand

New Zealand Chess News (newzealandchess.nz)

Recent Events

• 14 June Auckland Rapid 14 June 2026

1st: FM Alphaeus Ang

• 28 June Auckland Rapid 28 June 2026

1st: FM Alphaeus Ang

• 4 July North Island Rapid 2026

1st: FM Kendrick Botong Zhang (North Island Rapid Champion)

• 5 - 8 July North Island Championships 2026

1st equal: FM Alphaeus Ang (Joint North Island Champion)
1st equal: FM Daqi Mao (Joint North Island Champion)
1st equal: WFM Nadia Braganza (Joint North Island Champion)

Upcoming Events

• 10 - 12 July Peter Stuart Memorial 2026

• 17 - 19 July NZ Senior Championship 2026

• 18 July Upper Hutt Rapid 2026

• 19 July Auckland Rapid 19 July 2026

• 26 July Hobby Chess Rapid July 2026

• 8 - 23 August Auckland Double Weekends August 2026

• 5 - 13 September Auckland Double Weekends September 2026

• 30 September - 3 October South Island Championships 2026

• 4 October South Island Rapid 2026

• 24 - 26 October Merv Morrison Memorial 2026

• 7 - 15 November Auckland Double Weekends November 2026

• 28 November NZ Fischer-Random Championship 2026

International News

Asian Individual Championships

By Albert Winkleman

The Asian Individual Championships is one of the most prestigious open events in the world. The total prize fund is $100,000, and placing within top five will get you a ticket to the FIDE World Cup. So of course, you can imagine many elite, ambitious players gather to fight tooth and nail. I had participated in a few before as a wee lad, seeded at the very bottom and ending similarly, but with more experience I now had some hopes (or maybe delusions) about how things could go this time.

Just before the tournament my mother and I stopped in China to briefly visit family. When it was finally time to leave, we actually saw many other players sharing the same flight to Ulaanbaatar (including Yu Yangyi)! It did not take long to arrive at a relatively small airport and enter the arranged transportation to the venue. We saw many of Mongolia’s barren but beautiful hills, until eventually approaching a standout city, where the impressive traffic made for a very cramped position. It took hours to traverse a very moderate number of kilometres, only to arrive at a hotel much different to the one listed in the tournament regulations! Apparently, the venue had changed from the 5-star Ulaanbaatar Hotel to the 3-star Bayangol Hotel without notice. We were guided to the reception desk, where we were casually given the room card as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Not even any mention of some compensation for the hefty $2000 USD we paid the organisers, for what was supposed to be ten nights in a twin room at a more costly accommodation, but we begrudgingly accepted this new development like docile cattle as we already had some issues with organisers during registration and did not believe protesting would get us anywhere.

The Bayangol Hotel was made up of two different towers. We noticed there weren’t any Indians in the one we were positioned in; the only reason that makes sense to me is to serve different food at each tower to better suit different cultures. In the long passageway connecting them are two restaurants associated with the hotel, one of which was repurposed to become the playing hall. We were within walking distance of several nice landmarks, plus the food and rooms were passable, so my initial Paris Syndrome caused by the change was fairly short lived.

When it was finally time for the tournament to begin, I was pleased to see very thorough security; however, perhaps a bit too strict as they did not even allow me to don my magnificent trench coat! It’s not like it could hide any dirty secrets from the metal detectors. The opening ceremony had performances of unique song and dance, but was not scheduled particularly well; the intended starting time for Round 1 was 3:00 PM, but ended up being something more like 3:55.

I was playing against Aditya Mittal, a powerful Grandmaster rated above 2600. After some sore misjudgements in the opening, I soon believed my best option was one that left my king in an extremely unpleasant predicament!

My opponent continued to capitalise on his advantage but gave me a small unintuitive opportunity which allowed the king to escape into a fairly balanced endgame (Kc7!)

However, he outplayed me bit by bit in said endgame and eventually won. In truth every loss wounds me badly, but I didn’t mind so much as my opponent is quite strong and it was a fun game overall. In rounds 2, 3, 4 and 5, I also made some really poor decisions (round 3 in particular), leading to unpromising or rather miserable positions:

But somehow, from these four diagrams, I scored 3.5 points! To be frank, my opponents played quite horribly in the resulting endgames and I didn’t particularly feel I deserved any of these results. So, despite the score I understood pretty well that I was in somewhat bad form, and sure enough after a poorly judged draw and two idiot blunders, I went from 3.5/5 to 4/8. I was pretty upset with how things were going overall, so that combined with certain anxieties gave me some sort of insomnia, leaving me with only around 90 minutes of sleep for the final round. My grandmaster opponent wasn’t having a great tournament either having just lost to my compatriot Liu Yi, but I was still only expecting a draw at best. However, he entered perhaps the only opening I specialise in, so I had to immediately reconsider my expectations!

Dai Changren — Albert Winkelman

1. c4 e5, 2. Nc3 I studied the Four Knights/Rossolimo English in great detail ever since Ding Liren’s iconic victory against Nepomniachtchi in Rd4 of 2023’s Championship Match, and it has generally given me great success with the white pieces. Of course, it also means I know how to play against it! 2. … Bb4 3. Qb3 a5 4. Nd5?! Nf6 The only thing currently justifying Qb3 is the threat of Qg3, so I felt 4. Nf6 allowing Nxd5 and 0-0 would be the cleanest way to discourage it. 4. Nxb4, axb4, Qxb4 is not worrisome because of the queen’s vulnerability, black’s massive lead in development and the free a-file. 5. Nxb4?! axb4 6. d3 Nc6 7. Nf3 d5 8. cxd5 Nxd5

9 e3? It’s ugly, but 9. e4 would have been better to push the knight to a humble square and develop faster. It’s not super difficult to see how devastating the position gets after 9. e3 with how much of black’s army is directly pointed at the queenside. 9. … Be6 10. Qd1 b3 11. Qxb3 Nxe3 12. Qc3 Nxf1 13. Rxf1 0-0 Black is very much winning already; White does not have promising plans to hide his king nor liberate the rook on f1. There’s also a very stark different in immediate piece activity. 14. Be3 Qd5 15. a3 Rfd8 16. Rd1 Bg4?

Much better would be to make a quiet move like 16. …h6 to prevent Ng5 and drive home the point that there isn’t much at all for my opponent to do. Even the simple 16. ..,.,Bf5 looks hopeless for white. …Bg4 loosens the noose very unnecessarily. 17. Qc4 Bxf3 18. gxf3 Qxf3 19. Qe4 Qh5 20. Kd2 f5 21. Qc4+ Kh8?! 21…Qf7 is perfectly fine, and perfectly safe. The endgame is quite good for Black obviously. …Kh8 attempts to capitalise on the unsightly king in the center, but it keeps White’s hopes just barely alive. 22. f4 exf4?! 23 Qxf4

exf4 was played almost instantly, as I saw Rxf4 and Bxf4 were losing. But I managed to somehow miss that Qxf4 was even possible! With weak pawns on f5 and c7 White is creeping back into the game, even if the position is still horrid. 23. … Rd5 24. Qxc7 Ne5 25. Qxb7 Rad8 26. Kc1 Nxd3+ 26. …Qe2 is notably tempting here, but Rfe1 cleanly refutes it. 27. Kb1 f4

28. …Rb5 is winning here, but under time pressure and mental fatigue I did not see how to follow up after Qc7 (Rxb2+, Ka1, Ra8, Rxd3, Ra2+!, Kb1, Qb5+, Kxa1, Qxd3). 28. …Qg6 had multiple qualities; it protected d3 which would enable R5d7, it attacked the bishop on b6, it threatened Nc5. So, I gave it a shot. 28. … Qg6, 29. Ka1 R5d7 30. Bc7 h6?? A truly cowardly move that finally squanders black’s advantage completely. Qb6 now forces a decent endgame immediately. 31. Rxf4??

And, just when a draw is in reach, White flies too close to the sun. Regardless of concrete calculations, such a brazen move in such a risky position should be distrusted like an email from Microsoft in your spam folder! Black now quickly reveals White’s back rank struggles. 31. … Nb4 32. Rc1 Qc2 33. Rff1 R7d1 34. Bf4 Rxf1 0-1

And so, the tournament was finally over. I was incredibly surprised when I heard my performance was sufficient for an IM norm (my third)! After FIDE approves everything, I’ll be able to save a fortune on entry fees. The closing ceremony was actually quite fantastic, with good food and lively performances. The solo singers tried to encourage the crowd to clap or dance, but the chess players expressed themselves more mundanely than a cow would. Was also a bit disappointed not to see some friends/acquaintances I was expecting but left the tournament on a pretty good note.

Aside from some struggles in the tournament, I enjoyed Ulaanbaatar. The parks, statues and Buddhist temples were quite nice, and the general populace are fairly good looking. I like that the culture seems to value festivities; saw more going on in those ten days than a whole year in Canberra. However, the immense traffic implies overpopulation and air pollution issues. We were also lucky to visit during a time when temperatures weren’t dropping to -30C. I’m sure there are other issues a mere tourist like me isn’t wise to. Overall, I would recommend visiting, but not if you must book anything via organisers.

Upcoming Events

Asian Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2026
27-31 July, Hong Kong
24th ASEAN+ Age Group Chess Championships 2026
7-17 August, Singapore
Japan Chess Classic
9-12 August, Osaka
Asian Juniors & Girls Chess Championship 2026
16-25 August, Mumbai, India
Blue Chevaliers International Open 2026
 7-13 September 2026, at the Novotel Phuket Resort in Thailand.
Enquiries to peter.frost3@yahoo.com.au

Check details via the FIDE Chess Calendar

Study of the Month

White to play and win

Solution at the end of the newsletter.

Book Review

By IM Gary Lane

Unlock Your Chess Creativity by Richard Palliser published by Popular Chess, 304 pages.

A games collection of top English players designed to educate and delight.

All the players are honoured by heavily annotated games where the author explains the motives and planning required to steer the position into a favourable encounter.

It is worth listing the players: Miles, Nunn, Speelman, Short, Adams and Sadler. The latter provides an interesting foreword discussing the pros and cons of his world elite rivals.

Actually, thinking about that, I have played them all at tournament level but the only person I did not beat was Speelman because he had a certain presence at the board and was exceptionally good.

I do believe that the instructive openings examined at length by Palliser can still be useful in this era, as for example a positional Ruy Lopez is timeless. If you know your chess history then the fantastic King’s Indian game Beliavsky-Nunn will be a welcome addition. Indeed, I have seen the whole line repeated at an Australian weekender where the young player was bewildered by the key move 11…Rxf5 and complained he had not seen it on chess.com.

The Nigel Short games are a masterclass in attacking and anyone taking on the Open Sicilian will reap dividends by the lessons provided in each game.

The contrast in style is more evident by Michael Adams who has a positional outlook and is renowned as having the ability to constantly play top class moves to grind the opponent into making a mistake or to get short of time. Interestingly, he visited Queensland this year as a tourist so maybe one day he will be back as a player. After all he did compete at the World Junior in Adelaide during 1988 and a local weekender in Sydney which was won by a young Boris Gelfand!

I think the thoughtful selection of games will give any keen player a boost in their rating if studied diligently.

A rare insight into how top players reach favourable middlegames by planning and executing their creative ambitions.

Looking Back

2017 Women’s World Championship

Ryan Lane’s clash with Ju Wenjun in Hong Kong (see the World Rapid and Blitz Team Championship report above) prompted Gary Lane to send a picture of Nancy Lane’s meeting with the same player in 2017:

The staging of the knock-out Women’s World Championship in Tehran was probably not much less controversial than it would be now. The requirement for all players to wear a hijab was a reason for several players to not participate. Nancy, qualifying as the representative from Oceania Zone 3.6, was rated 64th out of the 64 players, which earned her a tough Round One match against the number one seed Ju Wenjun. The event was won by China’s Tan Zhongyi.

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The Australian Chess Federation Inc is incorporated under the ACT Associations Incorporation Act 1991 and is recognised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs as the governing chess organisation in Australia.

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Annual Appointments

All Council appointments terminate each year at the first Council meeting after 30 June, when incumbents and new applicants are eligible for reappointment. Offers to serve in any of the above positions need to be written (email acceptable) and emailed to executive@auschess.org.au.

Applicants should phone 0409 525 963 or (03) 9787 7974 if an application has not been acknowledged within 48 hours of transmission.

Solution to Study of the Month

White to play and win

Solution:

1. Rb1 Qxa7 2 Re1+ Kd7 3 Re7+

(Alexey Troitzky, 1925)

Newsletter Article Contributions

Please email the editor if there is something you would like published in the next edition of this newsletter.

Examples of articles:

• Upcoming chess event.

• Results of a chess event that was completed since the last newsletter was published.

• Any information that is chess related, especially Australian chess, that could be interesting.

Article Contribution

by Miles Patterson

Welcome to the June ACF Newsletter. Thanks for all the contributions for this issue. Please have a look at the notice about the ACF Olympiad Appeal 2026. The ACF Newsletter has just clocked up 2000 subscribers, a steady but substantial increase over the past couple of years. Please encourage the chess players you know to subscribe if they have not already.

Please note: The ACF Newsletter is a long post. If you are reading this in email, please scroll down to the end and open the entire message, so you can enjoy the full content.

ACF - 2026 Olympiad Team

The Australian 2026 FIDE Olympiad Teams have been announced:

Open Team
1. GM Bobby Cheng, 2. GM Temur Kuybokarov, 3. IM Rishi Sardana, 4. GM David Smerdon, 5. IM James Morris, Captain: IM Mihajlo Radovanovic

Women’s Team
1. WGM Jilin Zhang, 2. WGM Julia Ryjanova, 3. WFM Zhiyuan Shen, 4. WIM Heather Richards, 5. WFM Nguyen Mai Chi Phan (no photo), Captain: FM Jack Rodgers

ACF Olympiad Appeal 2026 - 46th Olympiad, Samarkand, Uzbekistan

The ACF appeal for support to send the Australian teams to the Olympiad in Uzbekistan in September is well underway. Please visit the Olympiad Appeal site and consider giving what you can.

ACF Notices

Selection Opportunities

Please address registrations of interest and other inquiries concerning forthcoming events to selections_director@auschess.org.au and phone 0499 996 559 or 0409 525 963 if not acknowledged within 48 hours. Copies of inquiries relating to events limited to Junior, Youth, Cadet or other under-age categories must also be sent to juniors_coordinator@auschess.org.au

To enable time for local selection procedures and related purposes, ACF application deadlines can be significantly earlier than deadlines indicated in organisers’ published regulations.

AUSTRALIAN REPRESENTATIVE INTERNATIONAL JUNIORS CHESS TOURNAMENTS

Any inquiries can be sent to ACF Juniors Coordinator, Mr Hui Lam Teh tehhuilam@gmail.com, with cc to ACF Selections Director Tom Saltmarsh selections_director@auschess.org.au.

FIDE RATING SUBMISSIONS

Note that events for FIDE ratings that are completed in the last seven days of the month need to be submitted to ACF FIDE Ratings Officer Bill Gletsos for ratings immediately so that any issues with them can be resolved in time for events to be rated in that month. Also note that intended changes of names or dates of FIDE-rated events need to be notified immediately as they may affect the event's rating status. Note also that all FIDE rated events must be submitted for ACF ratings – no exceptions.

FIDE RATED EVENT REGISTRATION

Australian tournaments to be FIDE rated must be advised to the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer at least 40 days prior to the start of the tournament for tournaments where norms are available and at least 7 days prior to the start of the tournament for all other tournaments. Where these conditions are not met, the decision whether to register it or not is solely at the discretion of the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer.

FIDE ID NUMBER REGISTRATION

FIDE has issued a warning that they will not accept tournaments for FIDE rating where those tournaments contain players who do not have FIDE ID numbers. Although new Australian players can be registered by the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer, this does not apply to new players from overseas. Therefore, organisers should not immediately accept the entries of overseas players who lack FIDE ID numbers to FIDE rated tournaments; instead, those players should be required to first obtain a FIDE ID from their own national federation.

Tournaments submitted that include foreign players who do not have ID numbers end up not being FIDE rated. Organisers need to confirm prior to the start of the tournament that all players without a FIDE ID number are either Australian citizens or have a permanent residency visa.

Players without ID numbers should only be submitted as Australian if they are citizens or are a permanent residency visa holder; if a player is registered under the wrong country, they may incur transfer costs later. For further information/clarification contact the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer Bill Gletsos via fide_ratings@auschess.org.au.

ACF FUNDING SUPPORT PROGRAM

The application deadline for activities commencing between 1 September 2026 and 28 February 2027 is 30 June 2026. Application forms and related information are available on request to executive@auschess.org.au.

News from the States / Territories

Australian Capital Territory

Australian Capital Territory Chess Association (ACTCA)

Recent Events

2026 ACT Chess Championship

By Shaun Press

The 2026 ACT Chess Championship attracted a strong field of 63 players. It was held across the Reconciliation Day long weekend in Canberra and was hosted by the Eastlakes Club in Griffith. Top seed was Harry Press, with FM Fred Litchfield, FM Michael Kethro, CM Hui Li, and CM Lalit Prassad as the main challengers. With a number of up-and-coming ACT juniors in the field, the tournament was one of the more competitive editions in recent years.

After a somewhat predictable first round, the first real upsets started in round two. CM Prasad lost to Matt Radisich, while FM Kethro was held to a draw by 9-year-old Sanat Hegde. Hegde, who had already proved his strength at Rapid chess, was now starting to look dangerous at longer time controls as well. In Round three another of the top seeds fell to a lower rated opponent, when FM Litchfield, pushed too hard for a win against Harry Johnson, turning a drawn position into a loss.

Litchfield,Frederick (2145) - Johnson,Harry (1854) [D31]

2026 ACT Chess Championship Canberra, Australia (3.2), 30.05.2026

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 Nf6 6.e3 Bd6 7.Bxd6 Qxd6 8.Bd3 0-0 9.h3 Nc6 10.Nf3 Ne7 11.Qc2 Re8 12.g4 Nc6 13.a3 g6 14.Rc1 Bd7 15.g5 Nh5 16.Ne2 Rac8 17.Qc5 Qxc5 18.Rxc5 Ne7 19.Ne5 Be6 20.Kd2 c6 21.a4 f6 22.gxf6 Nxf6 23.Nf4 Bf5 24.f3 Bxd3 25.Kxd3 Nf5 26.Rg1 Rxe5! An excellent way to unbalance the position 27.dxe5 Nd7 28.Rc3 Nxe5+ 29.Ke2 Re8 30.Kf2 Nh4 31.Rg3 Nf5 32.Rg5 Nh4 33.e4 Nhxf3 34.Rxf3 Nxf3 35.Kxf3 Rxe4 Although 3 pawns is enough for the piece, the quality of the pawn structure is what is more important 36.a5 Ra4 37.Re5 Kf7 38.Nd3 Rxa5 39.Re2 Rb5 40.Kg4 a5 41.Ne5+ Kf6 42.Nd7+ Kf7 43.Rf2+ Kg7 44.Kf4 Rb3 45.Nc5 Rb5 46.Ne6+ Kf6 47.Nf8 Kg7 48.Ke5 Rb3 49.Ne6+ Kh6 50.Nc5 Rxh3 51.Nxb7 a4 52.Na5 a3 53.b4 Rc3 54.Ra2 Kg5 55.Kd4 Rc1 56.Rxa3 h5 57.Rg3+ Kf5 58.Rf3+ Kg5 59.Ke3 Around here it wasn’t obvious which side was playing for the win! 59...h4 60.Kd2 Rg1 61.Nxc6 Kh5 62.b5 g5 63.Rb3 [63.Kc2 turned out to be a better way of covering the b file] 63...Rg2+ 64.Ke1 g4 65.Nd4 h3 66.Kf1 g3 67.Nf3 Rf2+ [67...Ra2 was decisive for Black] 68.Kg1 Rc2 69.Rb1 Kg4 70.Ne5+ Kf4 71.b6 Rg2+ 72.Kh1 Rh2+ 73.Kg1 Rg2+ 74.Kf1 Rf2+ 75.Ke1?? In avoiding the draw, White gifts the game to Black 75...h2 76.Nd3+ Ke3 0-1

After the halfway point of the seven-round event, Harry Press and Hui Li shared the lead on 4/4. A draw between these two players left them on 4.5/5 pursued by a group of six players on 4/5. Harry Press defeated Wenlin Yin in round six, in a game where both players traded mistakes until one last blunder determined the result. Hui Li and Masaki Horikawa played a similar game on board two, when Li went from winning to drawing to losing, before recovering to draw the ending. Sanat Hegde also continued his good run, beating fellow junior Owen MacMullin, having drawn with FM Fred Litchfield in Round four.

The final round saw FM Michael Kethro (5) v Harry Press (5.5) on Board one, and CM Hui Li (5) v Sanat Hegde (5) on board two. An unfortunate opening blunder by Hegde saw Hui Li move to 6/7 after around 30 minutes of play.

Li,Hui - Hegde,Sanat (1758) [C67]

2026 ACT Chess Championship Canberra, Australia (7.2), 01.06.2026

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Be7 6.Qe2 Ng5?? [6...Nd6 is fine] 7.Bxg5 Bxg5 8.d5 Black is either surrendering the knight on c6, or losing as in the game. 8...Nb8 9.Qxe5+ Be7 10.Qxg7 Rf8 11.Re1 with the idea of Ng5-h7-f6 11...c6 12.d6 cxb5 13.dxe7 Qxe7 14.Rxe7+ Kxe7 15.Nc3 1-0

This left all eyes on Board one, where the game was still in the opening stages. In an attempt to avoid the space advantage White gained from the opening, Black played an ill-judged pawn thrust and lost a pawn, and then the game.

Kethro,Michael (2081) - Press,Harry (2173) [E04]

2026 ACT Chess Championship Canberra, Australia (7.1), 28.05.2026

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.Bg2 c5 6.0-0 Nc6 7.Na3 cxd4 8.Nxc4 Be7 9.b3 0-0 10.Bb2 Nd5 11.Nxd4 Nxd4 12.Qxd4 Bf6 13.Qd2 Bxb2 14.Nxb2 b6 15.Rfd1 Bb7 16.Nc4 f5? Black was worried about e4-e5 and Nd6, but the position was already in White’s favour 17.Ne3 winning a safe pawn 17...Qe7 18.Nxd5 Bxd5 19.Bxd5 exd5 20.Qxd5+ Kh8 21.e3 h6 22.Rac1 White’s advantage was both material and positional. A pawn down Black could not rely on exchanging pieces to counter White’s control of the open files, without getting closer to a lost ending. 22...Qa3 23.Rc7 Rac8 24.Rxc8 Rxc8 25.Qxf5 Rc1 26.Rxc1 Qxc1+ 27.Kg2 Black has no tricks in this position, and played a few more moves before resigning. 27...Qb2 28.Qf8+ Kh7 29.Qf5+ Kh8 30.Qc8+ Kh7 31.Qa6 Qc2 32.Qa4 a5 33.h4 Kh8 34.Qd4 1-0

This result left FM Michael Kethro and CM Hui Li as joint ACT Champions. A second win for Kethro, and a first for Li. Press tied for third with FM Fred Litchfield and CM Lalit Prasad. Of the junior players, Sanat Hegde and Own MacMullin both performed well above their seeding, finishing on 5/7. Matt Radisich, Tim Pearce and Nick Beare shared the Under 1750 prize on 4.5/7, a result which was well received by the more senior players in the tournament.

With a large field and the participation of most of the strong ACT players, the ACT Championship once again proved to be a successful tournament for the ACT Chess Association. There were no disputes during the event, and the feedback from players was very positive.

Upcoming Events

ANU Open/Minor

24-26 July, Details TBA

Street Chess

Every Saturday. From 10.45 to 2.30. King O’Malley’s in Civic. More information here and results/photos here

New South Wales

New South Wales Chess Association Inc (NSWCA)

Recent Events

Goulburn Autumn One Day Rapid Tournament (U18) and Open Blitz Tournament

Report by Arvend & Devi, Infinity Group Academy

Congratulations to all of the Chess Players who took part in the Goulburn Autumn One Day Chess Tournament on Sunday, 17 May 2026.

Without the players from Sydney and Canberra, we would not be able to run the tournament, so thank you to all of them. Special appreciation to six-year old Joshua Sherin, who travelled with his dad from Griffith (more than 4 hours’ drive) and stayed overnight in Goulburn, just to participate in our tournament. This encourages to continue organise chess tournament in Goulburn. All of the players showed great sportsmanship throughout the tournament.

1st: Taran Nisha Raj 6.5/7, 2nd: Sreyaa Karunagaran 6/7, 3rd: Aaron Jain 5/9

Under 18 Top Scorer: Christian Cady 4.5/8, 15 & Under Top Scorer: Cameron Te Whare 4/8, 12 & Under Top Scorer: Heathcliff McInnes 3/8

10 & Under Top Scorer: Yazan Elberway 4/8, 8 & Under Top Scorer: Joshua Sherin 3/8

2026 Goulburn Open Blitz Tournament

Our first FIDE rated “Goulburn Open Blitz Chess Tournament” was a successful event as it attracts 19 players from all ages and skills level. A great thank you and appreciation for players who travelled from Sydney, Canberra, Picton & Wilton and some of them used train and buses to participate in our FIDE rated tournament.

Heads down for the blitz

First Place: CM Hui Li 7.5/9, Equal Second Place: Avinav Sivaraj & Taran Nisha Raj 6.5/9, Best Under 1700: Mark Guieb 6/7, Best Under 1500: Christian Cady 4.5/7, Best Under 1000: Henry Neville 5/7, Best Female: Sreyaa Karunagaran 4.5/7, Best Unrated: Kevin McCauley

Upcoming Events

2026 Gosford Winter Rapid Open

27 June, Central Coast Leagues Club, Dane Drive Gosford. Details here

2026 NSW Rapid

19 July, Sydney Academy of Chess, Burwood Details TBN

Northern Territory

Northern Territory Chess Association

Queensland

Chess Association of Queensland

Recent Events

2026 Wendy Terry Memorial

1st: Grandmaster David Smerdon. =2nd: 5-way tie between CM Joel Leong, FM Jayden Ooi, Kiamehr Baneshi, Jai Turner and Haoqian (William) Liu.

Upcoming Events

2026 UQ FIDE Winter Weekender

20-21 June, The University of Queensland St. Lucia More information here

61st Peninsula Open

27-28 June, F Block and J Block, Grace Lutheran College, Buchanen St, Rothwell.

Details here

Queensland Junior Championships

30 June - 3 July, Anglican Church Grammar School (Churchie). More information here

2026 Gold Coast Open

8-12 July. Broadbeach Cultural Centre. More details here

2025 UQ July Classic

19-20 July, 01-W431 & 01-W458, Forgan Smith Building (West Wing), UQ

More information here

2026 Gold Cup FIDE Open

1-2 August, F and J Blocks Grace Lutheran College, Buchanan St, Rothwell.

Details here

2026 Great Barrier Reef Open

5-6 September, More information here

2026 Byron Capital Darling Downs Open incorporating the QLD Champs

Thursday 1 October to Monday 5 October 2026, Toowoomba Grammar School, Toowoomba QLD 4350

Registration Opens 1 April 2026. More details here

2026 Queensland Seniors Championship

14-15 November, F and J Blocks Grace Lutheran College, Buchanan St, Rothwell.

Details here

2026 Christmas Special

12-13 December, F and J Blocks Grace Lutheran College, Buchanan St, Rothwell.

Details here

South Australia

South Australian Chess Association Inc (SACA)

Recent Events

May Allegro

=1st: David Chesney, Aaron Perkins, 4/5. 12 players

May Rapid

=1st: James Bayliss, Edgar Mdinaradze, 3.5/4. 10 players

May Blitz

=1st: Ayman Almutawa, Thomas Cruse, 9.5/11. 12 players

Upcoming Events

June 18 June Rapid

June 25 June Allegro

Zina Koodrin Memorial Checkmate Open 2026

10-12 July. The Chess Centre of South Australia, 10 Ranelagh Street, Adelaide.

https://sachess.org.au/event/zina-koodrin-memorial-checkmate-open-2026/

July 16 July Allegro 1

23 July July Blitz

Tasmania

Tasmanian Chess Association Inc (TCA)

Recent Events

2026 Tasmanian Open

1st - Carl Gorka, 2nd - Kevin Bonham, 3rd - Will Rumley
Best Junior - Vivaan Gupta-Devdia, Best Senior - Adrian Flitney
U1500 - Cayden Walker, Nachiket Ramprasad, 21 players

Upcoming Events

2026 Huon Valley Chess Festival

5-8 November Details TBN

Victoria

Chess Victoria Inc (CV)

Recent Events

2026 Darebin Winter Tournament

Open: 1st - Domenic Attard (7/7), 2nd - Subin Kurian Thomas (6/7), 3rd - Deethya Sai Katakam (6/7)
U18: 1st - Kaisar Batyrbekov (5/7), 2nd - Vivaan Rawat (5/7), 3rd - Aadhya Sai Katakam (4.5/7) U16: 1st Aidan Batyrbekov (4.5/7), U15: 1st - Marwan Diab (4/7)
U12: 1st - Charlene Ding (4/7) 2nd - Jinay Patel (3.5/7) 3rd - An Nguyen (3.5/7)
U9: 1st - Nyra Venkat (3/7)

Victorian Open

1st - Tedric Li (6.5/7), 2nd - Rheyansh Annapureddy (6/7), =3rd - Kai Jie Soo, Christopher Wallis, Lukasz Szczepaniak, Domagoj Dragicevic, Arthur Gao, Declan Smith (5.5/7)
Rating Group 1: 1st - Samuel Shepherd (5.5/7) =2nd - Pardeep Bahra, Daniel Poberezovsky, Michael Stolyarov, Ashwin Ramanathan, Jennifer Morrison, Cunmeng Wang, En Jie Jonathan Koh (5/7)
Rating Group 2: =1st - Harrison Trewin, Si En Faith Yeo, Aiden Fan, Paul Rehill (4.5/7)
Rating Group 3: =1st - Mrinalini Siva, Adelyn Wang, Oscar Wan, Roland Brockman, Chi Long Zhang, Aidan Batyrbekov, Si Xu Shane Yeo (4/7)
Rating Group 4: 1st - Flin Nguyen (4.5/7) 2nd - Neev Jyothi Nikhil (4/7)
Unrated: 1st - Elyano Polus (5/7) 2nd - Manas Alwani (4/7)
Best Female Player: 1st - Alana Chibnall (5.5/7)
Best Senior Player 1st - Gary Bekker (5.5/7)

Upcoming Events

2026 Victorian Junior Chess Championship
27-28 June, Glen Waverley Secondary College School. O'sullivan Rd, Glen Waverley.
Details and entry here

2026 Box Hill Junior Rapid Championship
Sunday 5th July, 11am registration for 12:00pm start. Glen Waverley Secondary College School. O'Sullivan Road, Glen Waverley. More information here

Hobsons Bay Juniors Rapid Championship 2026
18 July, Hobsons Bay Chess Club, 108 Queen Street, Altona.
More details here

2026 Best in the West
29-30 August, Finnish Hall, 119 Pier St, Altona. More details here

Victorian Women's Championship 2026
12 and 19 September, Hobsons Bay Chess Club, 108 Queen St, Altona VIC.
More details here

2026 Victorian Junior Rapid and Blitz Championships
3-4 October, Bacchus Marsh Grammar – Maddingley Campus
37 South Maddingley Rd, Maddingley. More information here

Western Australia

Chess Association of Western Australia Inc (CAWA)

Recent Events

Bunbury Open

Open Category: 1st: Bradley Lucas (6.0/6), 2nd: Josh Davoll (5.0/6), 3rd & Winner Under 1800 Category: Clint Stewart & Simon Voggenreiter (4.5/6)
Under 1800 - Runner Up: Stephen Mazza (4.0/6)
Under 1500 - Winner & Runner Up: Uudamkhishig Togtmol & Gavin Mercer (4.0/6)
Under 1200 - Winner: Christian Newbold (3.0/6), Under 1200 - Runner up: Charlie Williams, Allan Miller & Ashton Hurst (2.0/6)
Best Junior: Florentina Rithauddin (3.0/6)
Bonus prize - Best Win: Uudamkhishig Togtmol (719 rating difference win)

Upcoming Events

WA Junior Championships

6-9 July. Details TBD

2026 South West Chess Open and Allegro

25-26 July, Margaret River Community Centre. Details here

New Zealand

New Zealand Chess News (newzealandchess.nz)

Recent Events

• 9 - 17 May Auckland Double Weekends May 2026

1st: FM Alphaeus Ang

• 15 - 17 May Arie Nijman Memorial 2026

1st: CM Edward Rains

• 23 May Kapiti Rapid Tournament 2026

1st: Xxavier Willoughby-Ansell

• 30 May - 1 June Auckland King’s Birthday Weekender 2026

1st: Matheson McEwen

• 30 May - 1 June 48th Trusts Open 2026

A-grade 1st: FM Daqi Mao
B-grade 1st equal: Henry Vital
B-grade 1st equal: Nick Cummings
C-grade 1st: Tamoghna Reddy Degapudi
Junior-grade 1st: Ethan Stephen

• 7 June Hobby Chess Rapid June 2026

1st Group A: FM Alphaeus Ang
1st Group B: Thenuk Wijayasinghe
1st Group C: Krithin Shetty

Upcoming Events

• 14 June Auckland Rapid 14 June 2026

• 4 July North Island Rapid 2026

• 5 - 8 July North Island Championships 2026

• 10 - 12 July Peter Stuart Memorial 2026

• 17 - 19 July NZ Senior Championship 2026

• 18 July Upper Hutt Rapid 2026

• 26 July Hobby Chess Rapid July 2026

• 8 - 23 August Auckland Double Weekends August 2026

• 5 - 13 September Auckland Double Weekends September 2026

• 30 September - 3 October South Island Championships 2026

• 4 October South Island Rapid 2026

• 24 - 26 October Merv Morrison Memorial 2026

• 7 - 15 November Auckland Double Weekends November 2026

• 28 November NZ Fischer-Random Championship 2026

International News

Aussies Overseas #8

Paul Summers reports on the activities of Australians overseas in classical games (i.e. generally excluding rapid and blitz events). All ratings are FIDE. Except where otherwise noted, Australian games from these events, usually with cross tables, can be found on the Australian Chess web page.

In a relatively quiet month, eight Australians participated in overseas events in this month’s report which covers tournaments mostly completed in May.

David Milne (NSW 1678) competed with 43 others in the 2026 KwaZulu Natal Open A in Durban. David performed at 100 points above his rating, with 3.5/7 finishing 19=.

FM Sam Chow (VIC 2351) played in Rounds 9-11 of the 2025-26 4NCL Division 1, completing all eleven rounds of the now largely English event. He drew his three games including against IM Vladyslav Larkin (UKR 2474) and IM Marcus Harvey (ENG 2445). Sam’s team, White Rose 1, finished in seventh place in the 12-team top level event.

Meanwhile back in February, results from the Division 2 event in Coventry have been released where WFM Thu Giang Nguyen (VIC 2086) played two rounds scoring 0.5/2.

In Bangkok Thailand, Queenslanders Tom Maguire (2153) and Joshua Steinke (1643) competed in the May Rooky Monthly. Tom was top seed and placed 1= with 4.5/5 and Joshua 14th seed on 3 placed 9=.

Glick Emil (WA 1693) and Indis Danaswara (1598) played in the 2026 Japfa Challenger in Jakarta, scoring 5.5/9 and 5.0 and placing 53= and 77= respectively in this 288-player event.

Competing in the Commonwealth Youth Championship in Kalutara in Sri Lanka in the U14 Open, Mason Tay (NSW 1797) scored 4.5/9 placing 18= in this 39-player event.

Upcoming Events

FIDE World Rapid Team Championships 2026, FIDE World Blitz Team Championships 2026 and FIDE World Team Amateur Rapid Chess Cup 2026
16-22 June, Hong Kong
Tonga National Chess Championship
23-25 June 2026 at Tonga High School in Nuku'alofa, Tonga.
The Tonga Chess Federation would be very pleased to welcome additional visiting players from around the Oceania region. For further details or to register interest, please contact: Bill Sanft, Secretary, Tonga Chess Federation, Phone: +676 7705 127
Asian Youth Chess Championships 2026
15-25 July, Shenzhen, China
Asian Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2026
27-31 July, Hong Kong
24th ASEAN+ Age Group Chess Championships 2026
7-17 August, Singapore
Asian Juniors & Girls Chess Championship 2026
16-25 August, Mumbai, India
Blue Chevaliers International Open 2026
 7-13 September 2026, at the Novotel Phuket Resort in Thailand.
Enquiries to peter.frost3@yahoo.com.au

Check details via the FIDE Chess Calendar

Study of the Month

White to play and win

Solution at the end of the newsletter.

Book Review

By IM Gary Lane

Play Winning Chess by Yasser Seirawan

Published by Chess Elevation, 224 pages.

A chess classic that is now back in print with fully revised and updated content.

The popular American grandmaster aims to show players relatively new to the game how to improve and win.

If people have old copies published by Microsoft or Everyman then you can see the differences everywhere as in the ‘Glossary’ where ‘Mouse Slip’ is given prominence with a nod to a new generation who have largely played online.

I always like plenty of photos so we can put a face to such famous names such as Janowski, Keres and Petrosian.

The content remains basically the same which makes sense as it has proved to be such a success over the years. Even so, a more recent game or example by Carlsen or Nakamura would make it more contemporary. At the end of the book there are a series of colour photos by David Llada but the casual reader won’t know one of them is a game between Carlsen and Caruana because they are not name checked. Still, a minor gripe as the examples, games and instruction are the real stars.

Seirawan has a knack of explaining things to his core audience of improving players how to be better and translate that into success at the board.

The author tries to simplify matters by introducing four core principles which are explored in separate chapters. I think this style works well by introducing insights but not overwhelming a keen player.

This is everybody’s second chess book bridging the gap from being a beginner to become a winner.

The updated version will wow another generation of players.

Looking Back

100 Years Ago

A wonderful book of 32 pages appeared in Melbourne in 1926 called “Seventy Years of Victorian Chess” by the Hon. Secretary of the Melbourne Chess Club, Edward Ivan Rosenblum. He dedicated the book to his wife, whose patience as a “chess widow” he very much admired. This was the Club’s Diamond Jubilee Year, and the Introduction was by Mr. J. E. Pietzcker, the Club President. There is a good history of Victorian Chess, the Office Bearers’ names from 1866, the Handicap Tournament winners from 1866. the Victorian Championships from 1891, The Interstate Telegraphic Matches from 1868, and finally Country Chess in Victoria and four games. Rosenblum acknowledged help from Spielvogel, Fallaw, Grant & Gundersen in its compilation. A lovely little book for 2/- (14cm x 22cm).

From Bob Meadley’s compilation A History of Australian Chess

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For more details and links of NSW chess clubs, see: NSW Chess Association (nswca.org.au) chess clubs

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Springfield Ipswich Chess Club Springfield Lakes. Contact Tyson Walker, president@springfieldchessclub.com.au

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ACF Personnel

The Australian Chess Federation Inc is incorporated under the ACT Associations Incorporation Act 1991 and is recognised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs as the governing chess organisation in Australia.

ACF COUNCIL

State Association Delegates

NSWCA Delegate: Richard Gastineau-Hills nswcouncillor@auschess.org.au

CV Delegate: Walter Wolffs walterwolffs.ca@gmail.com

CAQ Delegate: Dr Tony Dowden r.tony.dowden@gmail.com.au

SACA Delegate: Misheck Muza sacouncillor@auschess.org.au

TCA Delegate: Jonty Oud jontyoud1@gmail.com

ACTCA Delegate: Cam Cunningham actcouncillor@auschess.org.au

CAWA Delegate: Tim Hare wacounsellor@auschess.org.au

NTCA Delegate: Chris Depasquale agechess@ozemail.com.au

Executive Committee

President: Gary Wastell president@auschess.org.au

Deputy President: Bill Gletsos deputy president@auschess.org.au

Vice-President: Dr Kevin Bonham vice president1@auschess.org.au

Vice-President: Dr Andrew Hardegen vice president2@auschess.org.au

Secretary: Rob Watson secretary@auschess.org.au

Treasurer: Bob Keast treasurer@auschess.org.au

COUNCIL-APPOINTED PERSONNEL

Arbiter Training Director: Peter Tsai chess@t-s-a-i.com

Archives Director: Mahesh Kulkarni sellaus14@gmail.com

Assistant Secretary: Mahesh Kulkarni sellaus14@gmail.com

Assistant Treasurer: Bill Gletsos asst treasurer@auschess.org.au

Auditor: Ross Hamilton auditor@auschess.org.au

Equipment Coordinator: Bob Keast equipment officer@auschess.org.au

FIDE Delegate & Admin Officer: Dr. Kevin Bonham fide delegate@auschess.org.au

FIDE Ratings Officer: Bill Gletsos fide ratings@auschess.org.au

Government Relations Director: Kuanysh Batyrbekov Kuanysh.Batyrbekov@anz.com

International Ambassador: Anastasia Sorokina sorokinachess@gmail.com

Juniors Coordinator: Hui Lam Teh tehhuilam@gmail.com

Medals & Awards Convenor: Gary Wastell awards@auschess.org.au

National Ratings Officer: Bill Gletsos acfratings@auschess.org.au

National Ratings Officer: Graham Saint g_saint@tpg.com.au

Newsletter Editor: Keong Ang auschessnews@chessnews.asia

Newsletter Editor: Miles Patterson mp19370@gmail.com

Publicity Director: Paul Power publicity@auschess.org.au

Public Officer (incorporation): Miles Patterson mp19370@gmail.com

Selections Director: Tom Saltmarsh selections director@auschess.org.au

Trophies Officer: Terrence Tang terencetjc@gmail.com

Webmaster: David Esmonde webmaster@auschess.org.au

Annual Appointments

All Council appointments terminate each year at the first Council meeting after 30 June, when incumbents and new applicants are eligible for reappointment. Offers to serve in any of the above positions need to be written (email acceptable) and emailed to executive@auschess.org.au.

Applicants should phone 0409 525 963 or (03) 9787 7974 if an application has not been acknowledged within 48 hours of transmission.

Solution to Study of the Month

White to play and win

Solution:

1. Qb2+ Qg7 2 Rh2+ Kg8 3 Qa2+ Qf7 4 Qg2+ Qg7 5 Qd5+ Qf7 6 Rg2+ Kh7 7 Qe4+

(Ghenrikh Kasparyan, 1968)

Newsletter Article Contributions

Please email the editor if there is something you would like published in the next edition of this newsletter.

Examples of articles:

• Upcoming chess event.

• Results of a chess event that was completed since the last newsletter was published.

• Any information that is chess related, especially Australian chess, that could be interesting.

Article Contribution

by Miles Patterson

Welcome to the May ACF Newsletter. Thanks for all the contributions for this issue. The ACF Newsletter aims to be of interest - and potentially of use - to all Australian chess players (of course, overseas readers and subscribers are also very welcome). If you enjoy the newsletter, why not recommend it to the chess players you know - the more subscribers the better.

Please note: The ACF Newsletter is a long post. If you are reading this in email, please scroll down to the end and open the entire message, so you can enjoy the full content.

ACF Notices

Selection Opportunities

Please address registrations of interest and other inquiries concerning forthcoming events to selections_director@auschess.org.au and phone 0499 996 559 or 0409 525 963 if not acknowledged within 48 hours. Copies of inquiries relating to events limited to Junior, Youth, Cadet or other under-age categories must also be sent to juniors_coordinator@auschess.org.au

To enable time for local selection procedures and related purposes, ACF application deadlines can be significantly earlier than deadlines indicated in organisers’ published regulations.

AUSTRALIAN REPRESENTATIVE INTERNATIONAL JUNIORS CHESS TOURNAMENTS

Any inquiries can be sent to ACF Juniors Coordinator, Mr Hui Lam Teh tehhuilam@gmail.com, with cc to ACF Selections Director Tom Saltmarsh selections_director@auschess.org.au.

FIDE RATING SUBMISSIONS

Note that events for FIDE ratings that are completed in the last seven days of the month need to be submitted to ACF FIDE Ratings Officer Bill Gletsos for ratings immediately so that any issues with them can be resolved in time for events to be rated in that month. Also note that intended changes of names or dates of FIDE-rated events need to be notified immediately as they may affect the event's rating status. Note also that all FIDE rated events must be submitted for ACF ratings – no exceptions.

FIDE RATED EVENT REGISTRATION

Australian tournaments to be FIDE rated must be advised to the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer at least 40 days prior to the start of the tournament for tournaments where norms are available and at least 7 days prior to the start of the tournament for all other tournaments. Where these conditions are not met, the decision whether to register it or not is solely at the discretion of the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer.

FIDE ID NUMBER REGISTRATION

FIDE has issued a warning that they will not accept tournaments for FIDE rating where those tournaments contain players who do not have FIDE ID numbers. Although new Australian players can be registered by the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer, this does not apply to new players from overseas. Therefore, organisers should not immediately accept the entries of overseas players who lack FIDE ID numbers to FIDE rated tournaments; instead, those players should be required to first obtain a FIDE ID from their own national federation.

Tournaments submitted that include foreign players who do not have ID numbers end up not being FIDE rated. Organisers need to confirm prior to the start of the tournament that all players without a FIDE ID number are either Australian citizens or have a permanent residency visa.

Players without ID numbers should only be submitted as Australian if they are citizens or are a permanent residency visa holder; if a player is registered under the wrong country, they may incur transfer costs later. For further information/clarification contact the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer Bill Gletsos via fide_ratings@auschess.org.au.

ACF FUNDING SUPPORT PROGRAM

The application deadline for activities commencing between 1 September 2026 and 28 February 2027 is 30 June 2026. Application forms and related information are available on request to executive@auschess.org.au.

News from the States / Territories

Australian Capital Territory

Australian Capital Territory Chess Association (ACTCA)

Recent Events

2026 ACT Teams Rapidplay Championship

There were 15 teams and 60 players in total at this successful event, organised by Cam Cunningham and ably run by Siddhant Badrinarayan. Photos by Matt Radisich of the prizewinners with Cam Cunningham:

1st Place: Canberra Chess Academy A – 22 points - Jordan Brown – 6, Paudel Prakarsha – 6, Ostapenko Michael – 4, Jonah Gear – 6

2nd Place - and winners of the Larko Cup for best club team: Gungahlin Juniors – 21 points - Jerry Cheng – 5, Masaki Horikawa – 4.5, Olaoluwa Fasakin – 4.5, Thomas Eleutherios – 7

3rd Place: Sanat’s Disciples – 20 points - Abinav Vangala – 3.5, Owen MacMullin – 5, Sanat Hegde – 6.5, Nivin Vinothkumar – 5

Board Prizes: Board 1: Thomas Eleutherios (7 points), Board 2: Sanat Hegde (6.5 points), Board 3: Jordan Brown (6 points), Board 4: Paudel Prakarsha (6 points)

Upcoming Events

2026 ACT Chess Championship
29th May - 1st June (Friday - Monday), 7 rounds, 90m+30s, Eastlakes Griffith Club
ACF and FIDE Rated. ACTCA membership required.

Entry link: https://www.trybooking.com/DLKYN
ACTCA Membership link: https://www.trybooking.com/DHKX

Street Chess

Every Saturday. From 10.45 to 2.30. King O’Malley’s in Civic. More information here and results/photos here

New South Wales

New South Wales Chess Association Inc (NSWCA)

Recent Events

2026 Sydney International Open

Championships. 1st: GM Mitrabha Guha - 7/9, =2nd: GM Cristhian Camilo Rios Gomez, GM Azer Mirzoev, GM Jacek Stopa, IM Aleksandr Domalchuk-Jonasson, CM Tri Lien M Le, Rheyansh Annapureddy - 6.

Challengers. =1st: Hui Lam Teh, Marcus Li 7/9.

Contenders. 1st: Isaac Wang 7.5/9, =2nd: Benjamin Martin, Chi Ngo Chan, Yusuf Khodjaev 7.

Blitz: 1st: GM Mitrabha Guha 11/11, 2nd: FM Daniel Melamed 9, 3rd: CM Daniel Wang 8.5.

Upcoming Events

Goulburn Autumn One Day Rapid Tournament (U18) and Open Blitz Tournament

Sunday 17 May, Goulburn Soldiers Club.

U18 Rapid Details here Open Blitz Details here

2026 NSW Open

5-8 June, Novotel Sydney West HQ, 55 Sherbrooke St, Rooty Hill.

More details here

2026 Gosford Winter Rapid Open

27 June, Central Coast Leagues Club, Dane Drive Gosford. Details here

2026 NSW Rapid 19 July Details TBN

Northern Territory

Northern Territory Chess Association

Upcoming Events

Arbiter Training Course

23-24 May. More details here

Queensland

Chess Association of Queensland

Recent Events

2026 Brisbane City FIDE Junior Rapid Chess Championship

1st: FM Jayden Ooi (8.5/9), 2nd: Daniil Yelkhovsky (7.5/9), =3rd + Best JR Chess Coaching Student: Kaiden Doran, Zachary Pedros, Jeeva Praveen, Rossi Barnes, Ernest Bashirov, Zev Geffen, William Searle (7/9)
Best Girl: Elizabeth Williams (6/9), Best Brisbane Boys College Student: Dev Raichura (6/9), Best U12 Player: Ethan Wu (6.5/9), Best U10 Player: Shaun Tsao (6/9)
Rating Group A (700-1000): David Sheinker (6.5/9), Rating Group B (500-700): Kacper Pajak, Ronnie Huai (5.5/9)
Unrated Rating Group: Xiangyi (Aniya) Mao & William Clem
Best and Fairest Awards: Claire Qiu & Riley Ditchburn

2026 Churchie International

=1st: GM Temur Kuybokarov, IM Rishi Sardana, GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen 6.5/9.

Upcoming Events

2026 Wendy Terry Memorial

23-24 May, F and J Blocks Grace Lutheran College, Buchanan St, Rothwell.

Details here

Bundaberg Open

6-7 June. Middle School, St Luke’s School 4 Mezger Street, Kalkie, Bundaberg.

More information here

2026 Gold Coast Open

8-12 July. Broadbeach Cultural Centre. More details here

2025 UQ July Classic

19-20 July, 01-W431 & 01-W458, Forgan Smith Building (West Wing), UQ

More information here

2026 Gold Cup FIDE Open

1-2 August, F and J Blocks Grace Lutheran College, Buchanan St, Rothwell.

Details here

2026 Great Barrier Reef Open

5-6 September, More information here

2026 Byron Capital Darling Downs Open incorporating the QLD Champs

Thursday 1 October to Monday 5 October 2026, Toowoomba Grammar School, Toowoomba QLD 4350

Registration Opens 1 April 2026. More details here

2026 Queensland Seniors Championship

14-15 November, F and J Blocks Grace Lutheran College, Buchanan St, Rothwell.

Details here

2026 Christmas Special

12-13 December, F and J Blocks Grace Lutheran College, Buchanan St, Rothwell.

Details here

South Australia

South Australian Chess Association Inc (SACA)

Recent Events

SA Blitz Championship

1st: Ethan Retnaraja, 12/13, =2nd: Goran Srdic, Weng Yang Joel Su, 10. 48 players

Upcoming Events

May 14 May Allegro 2026

May 21 May Rapid

May 28 May Chess 960

June 4 June Allegro #1

June 6-7 King's Birthday Weekender

June 11 June Blitz

June 18 June Rapid

June 25 June Allegro

Tasmania

Tasmanian Chess Association Inc (TCA)

Recent Events

ANZAC Day Weekender

=1st: Carl Gorka, Will Rumley (4/5), =3rd: Noah Carpenter, Tan Thanh Nguyen (3.5)
Best Female (also best Junior) - Mary Khodjaeva,(2.5)
Best Junior: Yusuf Khodjaev, Esteban Prieto (2)

Upcoming Events

2026 Tasmanian Open

6-8 June Details TBN

2026 Huon Valley Chess Festival

5-8 November Details TBN

Victoria

Chess Victoria Inc (CV)

Recent Events

2026 Melbourne International Open

=1st: IM Jairo Andres Hernandez Sanchez (COL), GM Guha Mitrabha (IND)& GM Cristhian Camilo Rios Gomez (COL), 6.5/9.

Mentone Autumn Blitz 2026

1st Michael Baron, 7.0/7, 2nd Tim Anderson, 5.5/7, 3rd Daniel See, 5.0/7

2026 MCC ANZAC Day Weekender

Open: 1st - Ray Yang (5/5), 2nd - Cheng Dai (4.5/5), =3rd - Tedric Li, Nguyen Mai Chi Phan, Wilbur Hong, Heather Richards, Tass Coracas (4/5)
Rating Group 1: =1st - Daniel Poberezovsky, Anya Thurner (4/5)
Rating Group 2: =1st - Sophie Davis, Maanas Neela, Matthew Zheng, Alex Rooke (3.5/5)
Rating Group 3: =1st - THomas Subin Kurian, Roland Brockman, Callum Healey (3/5)
Rating Group 4: 1st - Zenan Zhou (3/5) - $250, =2nd - Jaden Qi, Amaya De Silva, Adidev Sheth, Paul Nash, Lachlan Chapman (2.5/5)
Unrated Group: 1st - Tri Giang (3/5) =2nd - Malcolm Wei, Thomas Jamieson, Ned O'Brien

Upcoming Events

The Hawker Open – May Mayhem
13 May, Hawthorn Hotel (The Hawker), 481 Burwood Road, Hawthorn
Entry and details here

Geelong Junior Open 2026
16-17 May, St Joseph’s College Geelong, 135 Aphrasia St, Newtown
More details here

2026 Darebin Winter Tournament
24 May, Preston Shire Hall, 286 Gower St Preston. Details and entry here

MindMetta × Bingo Youth Chess Open 2026 (Children’s Day Special)
31 May, Hexa Space (Level 4/830 Whitehorse Rd, Box Hill VIC 3128)
More details here

2026 Victorian Open
5-8 June, Melbourne Chess Club, 66 Leicester St, Fitzroy, VIC

2026 Victorian Junior Chess Championship
27-28 June, Glen Waverley Secondary College School. O'sullivan Rd, Glen Waverley.
Details and entry here

Hobsons Bay Juniors Rapid Championship 2026
18 July, Hobsons Bay Chess Club, 108 Queen Street, Altona.
More details here

2026 Best in the West
29-30 August, Finnish Hall, 119 Pier St, Altona. More details here

Victorian Women's Championship 2026
12 and 19 September, Hobsons Bay Chess Club, 108 Queen St, Altona VIC.
More details here

Western Australia

Chess Association of Western Australia Inc (CAWA)

Upcoming Events

2026 WA Chess Championships

Sunday 24th May to Sunday 5th July (7 consecutive Sundays) at Leeming Primary School (Meharry Rd, Leeming). This year's Championships will consist of an 8 player round robin WA Closed Championship and a 7 round swiss WA Reserves Championship.

Details here Entries here

New Zealand

New Zealand Chess News (newzealandchess.nz)

Recent Events

• 25 - 27 April Auckland Anzac Weekender 2026

1st: FM Alphaeus Ang

Upcoming Events

• 9 - 17 May Auckland Double Weekends May 2026

• 15 - 17 May Arie Nijman Memorial 2026

• 23 May Kapiti Rapid Tournament 2026

• 30 May - 1 June Auckland King’s Birthday Weekender 2026

• 30 May - 1 June 48th Trusts Open 2026

• 4 July North Island Rapid 2026

• 5 - 8 July North Island Championships 2026

• 10 - 12 July Peter Stuart Memorial 2026

• 17 - 19 July NZ Senior Championship 2026

• 18 July Upper Hutt Rapid 2026

• 8 - 23 August Auckland Double Weekends August 2026

• 5 - 13 September Auckland Double Weekends September 2026

• 30 September - 3 October South Island Championships 2026

• 4 October South Island Rapid 2026

• 24 - 26 October Merv Morrison Memorial 2026

• 7 - 15 November Auckland Double Weekends November 2026

• 28 November NZ Fischer-Random Championship 2026

International News

World Schools Team Championship 2026

By Kuanysh Batyrbekov

Interschool chess unites continents: Wisdom School from Uzbekistan wins the FIDE ISCF World Schools Team Championship 2026 (Asian Continental Stage), Australian ACM Kaisar Batyrbekov wins individual silver on Board 2 whilst Carlton Gardens Primary finishes 22nd.

The Asian Continental Stage of the World Schools Team Championship 2026 concluded in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with Wisdom School (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) claiming victory and securing a berth in the Grand Final scheduled for December 2026.

The Australian team, Carlton Gardens Primary School (Melbourne, VIC), 2025 Australian Schools Team Championship finalist, finished 22^nd in its 1^st outing with 6 points, collecting 2 match wins, 2 draws, and 4 losses.

The New Zealand team, representing ACG Sunderland (Auckland) and playfully dubbed the Stall Blacks by the junior Blitzing Roos, finished 9^th on 8 points and coincidentally escaped the Roos match-up.

Final standings (average rating in parentheses):

1. Wisdom School (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) (2024) – 16 match points

2. Kurchatov School (Moscow, Russia) (2275) – 14

3. Velammal MHS School (Chennai, India) (1908) – 12

9. ACG Sunderland (Auckland, New Zealand) (1834) – 8

22. Carlton Gardens Primary School (Melbourne, Australia) (1530) – 6

In addition to team awards, gold, silver, and bronze medals were awarded to the best individual performance on each of the five boards (based on performance percentage). Among them was ACM Kaisar Batyrbekov from Australia – finishing =1^st and claiming a silver medal on Board 2 with 7 wins from 8 games, awarded by GM Kevin Goh Wei Ming, Singapore Chess Federation’s CEO. According to ISCF, this was the 1^st-ever medal collected by an Australian at the FIDE ISCF World Schools event.

Top 3 Finishers on Board 2: 1st: FM Matfey Yurasov, 2308, RUS-Kurchatov School, 2nd: ACM Kaisar Batyrbekov, 1667, AUS-Carlton Gardens Primary, 3rd: CM Oriyat Obidjonov, 2022, UZB-Wisdom School

Kaisar Batyrbekov (left) receives his medal

Organised by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), the International School Chess Federation (ISCF), the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Akimat of Almaty – with Freedom Holding Corp as General Partner – the tournament took place from April 7-10, 2026 at the Kazakhstan Hotel. It brought together 114 young players aged 8 to 14 from 19 countries, competing in an 8-round Swiss system with a time control of 45 minutes plus a 10-second increment.

The entire event embraced a space theme in honour of Cosmonautics Day on 12 April. On the final day, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and Kazakh cosmonaut and National Hero of Kazakhstan Aydyn Aimbetov made the ceremonial first move – a symbolic gesture highlighting the shared values of chess and space exploration: strategic thinking, teamwork, and the pursuit of new horizons.

The team wishes to thank the International School Chess Federation (ISCF), the Australian Chess Federation (ACF), and Carlton Gardens Primary School officials for the significant support in enabling its first-ever participation in the international interschool tournament.

Aussies Overseas #7

Paul Summers reports on the activities of Australians overseas in classical games (i.e. generally excluding rapid and blitz events). All ratings are FIDE. Except where otherwise noted, Australian games from these events, usually with cross tables, can be found on the Australian Chess web page.

No less than twenty Australians participated in overseas events in this month’s report which covers tournaments that completed in late March and April.

IM James Morris (VIC 2416) topped the rankings in the open category of the 2026 Festival Catur Antarabangsa Pahang in Malaysia held in late March. James scored 8.5/9, achieving the same score in the subsequent blitz tournament where he came 1=.

Regular blitz on-liner WCM Hannah Sayce (VIC 1889) was the single Australian in the huge 1531-player 2026 Grenke Open B played in Karlsruhe in Germany. Hannah finished with 5/9 placing 424^th.

From Germany, WCM Hannah Sayce travelled across the North Atlantic to join Kelvin Finke (QLD 1986) to participate in the 419-player Reykjavik Open in Iceland. Kelvin scored 5.5/9 placing 112= and performing at 2003. Hannah picked up 4.5 points finishing 172= and performing at 1991. Along the way Hannah defeated Dutchman Burg Brent (2169) with the black pieces.

Meantime 2026 Semana Santa Open #10-A was underway at San Vicente in Spain with 520 players, though to be fair more than 60 were entered but did not compete. Australia’s representative was Samuel Asaka (NSW 2187) scoring 6/9 and finishing 40=.

Staying in Spain, Samuel Asaka played in the 394-player 2026 Menorca Open #5-A at Ciutadella De Menorca. Here he scored 5.0/9 placing 106=. His best result here was a draw with FM Aarit Kapil (IND 2304).

A large contingent of Australians competed in the 2026 Bangkok Open #23:

· In the Masters there was a 241-player field. FM Albert Winkelman (ACT 2372) led the Australian pack, with 6/9 in 21= place. IM James Morris (VIC now 2420) was a half-point back and 41=. GM Zong Yuan Zhao (NSW 2432) didn’t have the happiest of tournaments finishing on 5. On 4 was Daniel Poberezovsky (VIC 1883) who would have enjoyed his draw with GM Harmen Jonkman. Sharing 172nd place with many others on 3.5 were CM Jeremy O’Carroll (VIC 1989) and Peter Frost (VIC & THA 1764). They were followed by James Watson (VIC 1876) 2.5, Andrew W Davies (QLD 1712), Mark Vucak (QLD 1814) 1.5 and WIM Lillian Lu (VIC 2002) who withdrew on 0.5/4.

· In the Challengers were 177 players: Jacob Bumbak (WA 1722) 6.5 and 5=, Joshua Steinke (QLD 1656) 5.5 and 17=, Tony Weller (QLD 1639) 5.0 and 32=, Ali Farbood (QLD 1627) and Sean Robertson (WA U/R) 4.5 and 46=, Hossein Ghodosi (QLD 1660) 4.0 and 62= Nicholas Goodey (U/R) 2.5 and 99=.

Upcoming Events

Asian Individual and Women's Individual Chess Championships 2026, 20-30 May, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
FIDE World Rapid Team Championships 2026, FIDE World Blitz Team Championships 2026 and FIDE World Team Amateur Rapid Chess Cup 2026
16-22 June, Hong Kong
Asian Youth Chess Championships 2026
15-25 July, Shenzhen, China
Asian Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2026
27-31 July, Hong Kong
24th ASEAN+ Age Group Chess Championships 2026
7-17 August, Singapore
Asian Juniors & Girls Chess Championship 2026
16-25 August, Mumbai, India
Blue Chevaliers International Open 2026
 7-13 September 2026, at the Novotel Phuket Resort in Thailand.
Enquiries to peter.frost3@yahoo.com.au

Check details via the FIDE Chess Calendar

Study of the Month

White to play and win

Solution at the end of the newsletter.

Book Review

By IM Gary Lane

My 60 Memorable Games: Collector’s Edition

by Bobby Fischer, printed by Batsford, hardback, 384 pages.

The new version of the chess classic is very impressive and looks perfect on the bookshelf.

There are chess players of a certain age who will all own a copy, but it might be time to do an upgrade. It was famously first published in 1969 and gave a chance to understand how the famous chess icon thought at the board. The blurb says, “It contains Fischer’s objective, honest and self-critical annotations to games he had won, drawn and even lost in the period from 1957 to 1967 - but from which he also learned valuable lessons.”

Well, that seems to cover it well, but I could add that it really does teach you all parts of the game and was an insight into Fischer’s brilliance who seemed to suffer the same problems as we all do at the board. The difference was that he usually won but it is refreshing to read his thoughts on his games, the psychology and the same emotions as any player.

The new hardback version has eight pages of photos, foiled cloth binding and an introduction by American GM Andy Solis.

If you wish to upgrade your edition, I highly recommend it and if you have never seen it then find out why it is considered essential reading.

Looking Back

Australian Master

Bob Meadley sends a copy of C.J.S. Purdy’s Australian Master certificate, given to him by Purdy’s daughter, Diana Hutchings.

He has gone to some effort to decipher the names of the council signatories, clearly Gary and Evelyn Koshnitsky and Brian Harkin. The others are less clear.

From Shaun Press (chessexpress, 2007):

The title of Australian Master was created by the ACF in 1959, although the title itself was backdated to 1922. It was a point-based system where players earned master points based on their performances in important events.
It was a somewhat complicated and arbitrary system where players needed to score a total of 100 points to earn the title, with a minimum of 45 points to be earned in the Australian Championship. How many points a tournament awarded was based on its category (A for Australian Championship, B for 'Important' events, C for State Championships, D for anything else with a time control slower than 20 moves per hour), and the number of Masters playing in that event. Only 1st to 3rd placing earned points, although this was dependent on finishing ahead of the masters in the field, with the caveat that a master who performed badly in a tournament would not be considered a master for the scoring of that event.

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New South Wales

New South Wales Chess Association Inc (NSWCA)

For more details and links of NSW chess clubs, see: NSW Chess Association (nswca.org.au) chess clubs

Albury

Armidale

Bathurst Chess Club

Cabra-Vale Diggers Chess Club – Canley Vale

Campbelltown Collegians

Canterbury - Lakemba

Central Coast Leagues (aka Gosford)

Dubbo

Goulburn

Harbord Diggers - Freshwater

Knightclub – Marrickville

Moree Chess Club

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NSW Junior Chess League (for players Under 18)

Penrith RSL Chess Club

Richmond Club Chess Club

Rooty Hill

Ryde Eastwood

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Sydney Academy of Chess and Sydney Chess Club – Burwood

Tamworth Chess Club

University of NSW – Kensington

University of Sydney

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New Zealand

New Zealand Chess Federation Inc (NZCF)

Auckland Chess Association

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Howick Pakuranga Chess Club

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Northern Territory

Northern Territory Chess Association

Darwin Chess Group

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Palmerston Library Chess Club

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Queensland

Chess Association of Queensland Inc (CAQ)

Brisbane Woolloongabba

Bundaberg https://bundabergchessclub-com.webs.com/

Cairns Facebook

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Logan City Rochedale

Magnetic Island magneticislandchessclub@gmail.com

Mackay Mackay Chess Club

Noosa Shire Tewantin Contact Peter Cam: noosachess@gmail.com

City of Redcliffe Rothwell

Suncoast Buderim Suncoast Chess Club https://suncoastchess.com.au/

Springfield Ipswich Chess Club Springfield Lakes. Contact Tyson Walker, president@springfieldchessclub.com.au

The Gap

Toowoomba Contact: Sam Buckley sam@toowoombachessclub.com.au

Townsville Pimlico

South Australia

South Australian Chess Association Inc (SACA)

Adelaide

Adelaide University North Terrace

Ingle Farm Library

LeFevre Queenstown

Marion Cultural Oaklands Park

Modbury Modbury North

Norwood

West Torrens North Plympton

Tasmania

Tasmanian Chess Association Inc (TCA)

Burnie Havenview

Devonport East Devonport

Hobart Sandy Bay

Launceston Kings Meadow

Victoria

Chess Victoria Inc (CV)

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Bandicoot Craigieburn

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Hobsons Bay Altona

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Mentone

Wyndham

Western Australia

Chess Association of Western Australia Inc (CAWA)

Albany Chess Club e-mail: akritaspearce556@gmail.com

Bassendean Chess Club

Bunbury Chess Club

Eagleby Chess Club

Metropolitan Chess Club

Perth Chess Club

Rockingham City Chess Connection e-mail: gregburgess1949@yahoo.com.au

South Perth Senior Citizens Social Chess Club Tel: 9367 9880

Southern Suburbs Chess Club (Facebook page)

UWA Chess Association (Facebook page)

Loftus Centre Social Chess

Crobs Coffee and Chess (Facebook page)

ACF Personnel

The Australian Chess Federation Inc is incorporated under the ACT Associations Incorporation Act 1991 and is recognised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs as the governing chess organisation in Australia.

ACF COUNCIL

State Association Delegates

NSWCA Delegate: Richard Gastineau-Hills nswcouncillor@auschess.org.au

CV Delegate: Walter Wolffs walterwolffs.ca@gmail.com

CAQ Delegate: Dr Tony Dowden r.tony.dowden@gmail.com.au

SACA Delegate: Misheck Muza sacouncillor@auschess.org.au

TCA Delegate: Jonty Oud jontyoud1@gmail.com

ACTCA Delegate: Cam Cunningham actcouncillor@auschess.org.au

CAWA Delegate: Tim Hare wacounsellor@auschess.org.au

NTCA Delegate: Chris Depasquale agechess@ozemail.com.au

Executive Committee

President: Gary Wastell president@auschess.org.au

Deputy President: Bill Gletsos deputy president@auschess.org.au

Vice-President: Dr Kevin Bonham vice president1@auschess.org.au

Vice-President: Dr Andrew Hardegen vice president2@auschess.org.au

Secretary: Rob Watson secretary@auschess.org.au

Treasurer: Bob Keast treasurer@auschess.org.au

COUNCIL-APPOINTED PERSONNEL

Arbiter Training Director: Peter Tsai chess@t-s-a-i.com

Archives Director: Mahesh Kulkarni sellaus14@gmail.com

Assistant Secretary: Mahesh Kulkarni sellaus14@gmail.com

Assistant Treasurer: Bill Gletsos asst treasurer@auschess.org.au

Auditor: Ross Hamilton auditor@auschess.org.au

Equipment Coordinator: Bob Keast equipment officer@auschess.org.au

FIDE Delegate & Admin Officer: Dr. Kevin Bonham fide delegate@auschess.org.au

FIDE Ratings Officer: Bill Gletsos fide ratings@auschess.org.au

Government Relations Director: Kuanysh Batyrbekov Kuanysh.Batyrbekov@anz.com

International Ambassador: Anastasia Sorokina sorokinachess@gmail.com

Juniors Coordinator: Hui Lam Teh tehhuilam@gmail.com

Medals & Awards Convenor: Gary Wastell awards@auschess.org.au

National Ratings Officer: Bill Gletsos acfratings@auschess.org.au

National Ratings Officer: Graham Saint g_saint@tpg.com.au

Newsletter Editor: Keong Ang auschessnews@chessnews.asia

Newsletter Editor: Miles Patterson mp19370@gmail.com

Publicity Director: Paul Power publicity@auschess.org.au

Public Officer (incorporation): Cam Cunningham public_officer@auschess.org.au

Selections Director: Tom Saltmarsh selections director@auschess.org.au

Trophies Officer: Terrence Tang terencetjc@gmail.com

Webmaster: David Esmonde webmaster@auschess.org.au

Annual Appointments

All Council appointments terminate each year at the first Council meeting after 30 June, when incumbents and new applicants are eligible for reappointment. Offers to serve in any of the above positions need to be written (email acceptable) and emailed to executive@auschess.org.au.

Applicants should phone 0409 525 963 or (03) 9787 7974 if an application has not been acknowledged within 48 hours of transmission.

Solution to Study of the Month

White to play and win

Solution:

1 Kc5 Kb7 2 Kc4 Kc6 3 Kd4 d6 4 e6 d5 5 Ke5

(Adolph Herberg, 1936)

Newsletter Article Contributions

Please email the editor if there is something you would like published in the next edition of this newsletter.

Examples of articles:

• Upcoming chess event.

• Results of a chess event that was completed since the last newsletter was published.

• Any information that is chess related, especially Australian chess, that could be interesting.

Article Contribution

by Miles Patterson

Welcome to the April ACF Newsletter. Thanks for all the contributions for this issue.

IMPORTANT: Please see the notice regarding Olympiad selections and note that it may require an urgent response.

Please note: The ACF Newsletter is a long post. If you are reading this in email, please scroll down to the end and open the entire message, so you can enjoy the full content.

ACF Notices

2026 Olympiad Selections - 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad, Samarkand, Izbekistan

Applications are invited for the Australian Open and Women’s Olympiad Teams for the 46th Chess Olympiad to be held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from 15 to 28 September 2026.

An Open team and a Women’s team, each consisting of five players and a non-playing captain, will be selected to represent Australia at this event. Exact details of player entitlements are not yet known but players and captains normally are entitled to full board from the host organisation and travel subsidies from the ACF’s Olympiad Appeal fundraising efforts.

Applying for Selection

Those wishing to be considered for selection as players must apply on or before the day after publication of the April 2026 edition of the ACF Newsletter.

At a minimum, applications must contain the information specified in item 5.4 of the ACF’s Selection Procedures By-Law. In addition, applicants may provide:

• a list or summary of their game or tournament results over the previous two years (as per item 5.6); and/or

• up to 400 words of comments in support of their application (as per item 5.7).

A text copy of the By-Law can be found at

https://auschess.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/ACF-Selection-Procedures-By-Law.pdf

Separate copies of each application are to be sent by email to each of the following addresses:

• catowi@internode.on.net and

• executive@auschess.org.au

If an application has not been acknowledged as received within two days, please phone 0499 996 559. Applicants’ names, as well as all material provided to selectors – e.g. ratings file; applicant lists or summary of game or tournament results; and applicant comments - will all be published online at an address to be announced, and available for public scrutiny after applications close. Any corrections or additions to this material must be submitted on or before 14 April 2026.

Applicants will be advised of provisional selection results on or about 3 May 2026. The results will be finalised and made public on or about 31 May 2026 following the determination of any appeals.

Important Notes for Applicants

1 Please send all documents relating to your application from an email address that you will check regularly.

2 All applicants should keep a copy of their application. Any claims for late application on the grounds of email transmission problems will not be considered unless accompanied by a copy of the original application showing the date on which it was sent. Evidence may be required for other claims for late applications.

3 Activity Rule: An applicant shall not be eligible for selection unless the applicant has played at least 30 games in the year to 6 April 2026 and at a normal (non-rapid) time limit. The games must be rated by the ACF, FIDE or a national organisation for which rating formula conversion details are known and the playing of the games can be verified. Although the ACF Council may waive the above requirement in exceptional circumstances, it is not intended that this discretion be used to permit applications from players who have not met the 30-game requirement.

4. I understand that recent events in the Middle East may influence your decision about whether to apply for selection. If you are in doubt, I would advise to apply for selection as it is easier for you to subsequently withdraw in the event you are selected and no longer wish to participate.

Captaincies

Expressions of interest are also now open for the following positions:

• Non-playing Captain, Australian Open Team

• Non-playing Captain, Australian Women’s Team

Applicants should apply immediately as the ACF reserves the right under Selection By-Law 13.5 to make a captaincy appointment at any time. However, unless the ACF decides to make an earlier appointment, applications will close on 14 April 2026, with results to be announced on 31 May 2026.

Applicants for playing positions may also apply for captaincies on the understanding that they will be ineligible for a captaincy if they accept selection to a playing position, and vice versa.

Applicants for more than one role are advised to provide an order of preference.

Applicants for captaincies may be requested to assist the ACF with team registration matters. The ACF may require assistance in this area when the organisers advise deadlines for registration and booking.

Applicants may submit any supporting comments they wish to be passed on to either the selected players or the members of ACF Council, explaining why they think they should be selected as captains. The positions are filled by Council typically after taking into account the players’ stated preferences (if any). Council has recently tended to follow the players’ preferences in most cases, but is not obliged to do so. Applicants are also free to contact the applicants for playing positions and/or the Council regarding their applications as and whenever they wish. For more detail see item 13 of the ACF’s Selection Procedures By-Law.

Expressions of interest should be sent to Tom Saltmarsh at catowi@internode.on.net and copied to ACF President Gary Wastell at executive@auschess.org.au. Please call 0499 996 559 if it is necessary to arrange another method, or if an email application has not been acknowledged within two days.

Selection Opportunities

Please address registrations of interest and other inquiries concerning forthcoming events to selections_director@auschess.org.au and phone 0499 996 559 or 0409 525 963 if not acknowledged within 48 hours. Copies of inquiries relating to events limited to Junior, Youth, Cadet or other under-age categories must also be sent to juniors_coordinator@auschess.org.au

To enable time for local selection procedures and related purposes, ACF application deadlines can be significantly earlier than deadlines indicated in organisers’ published regulations.

AUSTRALIAN REPRESENTATIVE INTERNATIONAL JUNIORS CHESS TOURNAMENTS

Any inquiries can be sent to ACF Juniors Coordinator, Mr Hui Lam Teh tehhuilam@gmail.com, with cc to ACF Selections Director Tom Saltmarsh selections_director@auschess.org.au.

FIDE RATING SUBMISSIONS

Note that events for FIDE ratings that are completed in the last seven days of the month need to be submitted to ACF FIDE Ratings Officer Bill Gletsos for ratings immediately so that any issues with them can be resolved in time for events to be rated in that month. Also note that intended changes of names or dates of FIDE-rated events need to be notified immediately as they may affect the event's rating status. Note also that all FIDE rated events must be submitted for ACF ratings – no exceptions.

FIDE RATED EVENT REGISTRATION

Australian tournaments to be FIDE rated must be advised to the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer at least 40 days prior to the start of the tournament for tournaments where norms are available and at least 7 days prior to the start of the tournament for all other tournaments. Where these conditions are not met, the decision whether to register it or not is solely at the discretion of the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer.

FIDE ID NUMBER REGISTRATION

FIDE has issued a warning that they will not accept tournaments for FIDE rating where those tournaments contain players who do not have FIDE ID numbers. Although new Australian players can be registered by the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer, this does not apply to new players from overseas. Therefore, organisers should not immediately accept the entries of overseas players who lack FIDE ID numbers to FIDE rated tournaments; instead, those players should be required to first obtain a FIDE ID from their own national federation.

Tournaments submitted that include foreign players who do not have ID numbers end up not being FIDE rated. Organisers need to confirm prior to the start of the tournament that all players without a FIDE ID number are either Australian citizens or have a permanent residency visa.

Players without ID numbers should only be submitted as Australian if they are citizens or are a permanent residency visa holder; if a player is registered under the wrong country, they may incur transfer costs later. For further information/clarification contact the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer Bill Gletsos via fide_ratings@auschess.org.au.

ACF FUNDING SUPPORT PROGRAM

The application deadline for activities commencing between 1 September 2026 and 28 February 2027 is 30 June 2026. Application forms and related information are available on request to executive@auschess.org.au.

News from the States / Territories

Australian Capital Territory

Australian Capital Territory Chess Association (ACTCA)

Recent Events

2026 Doeberl Cup

By Shaun Press

The 2026 O2C Doeberl Cup once again attracted a strong international and local field, with 350 players making their annual pilgrimage to Canberra for five days of hard-fought chess. With the Premier now being restricted to players rated over 2000, the competition for the $5000 first prize was particularly intense.

Top seed was Australia’s No. 1 player GM Temur Kuybokarov, but he was joined by defending champion GM Mitrabha Guha (IND), GM Azer Mirzoev (AZE), GM Christhian Rios (COL), GM Rogelio Antonio (PHI) and GM Jacek Stopa (POL) for one of the strongest fields in years. The field also contained six IMs, with 53 players (out of a total of 60 players) holding a title.

Play under way in the main hall of the Doeberl Cup (Photo: Max Albert)

The early stages of the tournament saw a number of top seeds being challenged by lower ranked players, although Kuybokarov and Mitrabha managed to finish the first three rounds with three wins under their belts.

One of the first real upsets was the fourth-round win by IM David Cannon over GM Mirzoev. This was a sign of things to come in this event as a number of young IM’s, FM’s and CMs began to make life difficult for the international visitors. CM Ryan Lane also began to put together a good run of results, which left him on four points after five rounds and a permanent spot on the top boards for the rest of the event.

A draw between the top two seeds in round 4, followed by a win for both players in the fifth round left them in the lead, but at this point the tournament went in different directions for both of them. Canberra FM Albert Winkelman threw the tournament wide open, beating Kuybokarov after the GM blundered in a better/winning position.

Winkelman,Albert (2372) - Kuybokarov,Temur (2548) [E61]

2026 O2C Doeberl Cup Premier Canberra, Australia (6.1), 04.04.2026

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.e3 0–0 5.Be2 d6 6.Nc3 Nc6 7.0–0 Re8 8.Ne1 a5 9.a3 e6 10.b3 b6 11.Bb2 Bb7 12.Rc1 Ne7 13.Bf3 d5 14.Qc2 Nf5 15.g3 h5 16.h4 Rc8 17.Ng2 Nd6 18.cxd5 exd5 19.Rfd1 Nde4 20.b4 axb4 21.axb4 Ba6 22.Be2 Bxe2 23.Qxe2 Qd7 24.Ra1 Nxc3 25.Bxc3 Ne4 26.Be1 c5 27.bxc5 bxc5 28.Qd3 cxd4 29.exd4 Rc4 30.Nf4 Rxd4 31.Qb3 Rxd1 32.Rxd1 d4 33.f3 Nc5 34.Qc4 Qc6 35.Rc1 Bf8 36.Bf2 Qxf3 37.Qd5 Ne4 38.Rf1 Qg4 39.Re1 Qf3 40.Rf1 Bd6 41.Ng2 Re5 42.Qa8+ Kg7 43.Bxd4 Qd3 44.Qa7 Nf6 45.Qb6 Nd7 46.Qxd6

1–0

With Mitrabha drawing with GM Antonio in the same round, the lead was now shared between Mitrabha, Winkleman and tournament dark horse FM Alexis Vargas Arteaga. Arteaga, who had moved to Sydney as a chess coach, had quietly moved into a share of the lead, losing to Mitrabha in round 2 but winning the rest of his games.

Kuybokarov bounced back with a win in round 7, but Mitrabha maintained a half point lead after a win over Winkelman. Arteaga drew with fellow countryman GM Rios, while another Canberra player, IM Junta Ikeda, also moved to 5.5/7 with a win over IM Mihajlo Radovanovic. Alas this was the last game in the event for Radovanovic who dropped out after this round.

In what was fitting for such a hotly contested event, round 8 saw a number of upset results, setting up an exciting finish. Kuybokarov lost to FM Arteaga, who not only took a share of the lead going into the final round, but also secured an IM norm with a round to spare. Mitrabha could not put away a determined Ikeda, while Winkelman beat FM Kai Jie Soo to keep touch with the leaders.

Ikeda,Junta (2356) - Mitrabha,Guha (2505) [B01]

2026 O2C Doeberl Cup Premier Canberra, Australia (8.1), 05.04.2026

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Bd2 Bg4 6.f3 Bf5 7.g4 Bg6 8.h4 h6 9.Bc4 c6 10.Nd5 Qd8 11.Nf4 Bh7 12.c3 e6 13.Ngh3 Nd5 14.h5 Bd6 15.Qe2 Qe7 16.0–0–0 Nd7 17.Rhe1 N7b6 18.Bd3 Bxd3 19.Qxd3 0–0–0 20.Kb1 Nxf4 21.Nxf4 Bc7 22.Qe4 Qf6 23.Nd3 Nc4 24.Bc1 Nb6 25.b3 Nd5 26.Bb2 Nf4 27.Ne5 g6 28.hxg6 Bxe5 29.Qxe5 Qxg6+ 30.Re4 Nh3 31.Bc1 h5 32.Rf1 Rh7 33.Kb2 hxg4 34.Rxg4 Qd3 35.Rh1 Qb5 36.Qxb5 cxb5 37.Be3 Rd5 38.c4 bxc4 39.bxc4 Rdh5 40.Kc2 b6 41.Bd2 Kb7 42.a4 Rf5 43.Rg3 Ng5 44.Rxh7 Nxh7 45.Kd3 Nf8 46.Ke4 Nd7 47.Bc3 a6 48.Rg7 b5 49.axb5 axb5 50.cxb5 Nf6+ 51.Kd3 Nd5 52.Rg3 Kb6 53.Kc4 Nc7 54.Bb4 Nxb5 55.Bc5+ Kc6 56.Bf8 Rf4 57.Bg7 Nd6+ 58.Kd3 Nc8 59.Bh6 Rf5 60.Be3 Ne7 61.Ke2 Ra5 62.Bd2 Ra7 63.Rg1 Nf5 64.Rc1+ Kd6 65.Kd3 Ne7 66.Bb4+

½–½

The final round saw the surprise pairing of FM Winkelman v FM Arteaga on Board 1, with GM Mitrabha v GM Stopa on Board 2, and GM Rios v IM Ikeda on Board 3. With the added bonus of the Fighting Fund (an extra $1000) on offer across the top four boards, the final round was hard fought. After 4+ hours of play, Winkelman and Arteaga drew, while Mitrabha defeated Stopa to claim outright first (7.5/9). Rios defeated Ikeda, while on Board 4 IM David Cannon beat GM Kuybokarov to take a share of fourth place.

Mitrabha,Guha (2505) - Stopa,Jacek (2342) [A21]

2026 O2C Doeberl Cup Premier Canberra, Australia (9.2), 06.04.2026

1.Nf3 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 0–0 6.0–0 d6 7.d3 e5 8.Rb1 a5 9.a3 h6 10.b4 axb4 11.axb4 g5 12.Bb2 Kh8 13.Ra1 Rxa1 14.Qxa1 Na6 15.Qa3 Qe8 16.e3 f4 17.exf4 gxf4 18.Nh4 Rg8 19.c5 Qh5 20.cxd6 cxd6 21.Qb3 Nc7 22.Qc4 Ne6 23.Nd5 Ng5 24.Nxf4 exf4 25.Qxf4 Qf7 26.Qxd6 Re8 27.Bd4 Qd7 28.Qxd7 Nxd7 29.Bxg7+ Kxg7 30.Nf5+ Kf6 31.Nxh6 Nb6 32.h4 Nh7 33.g4 Kg6 34.g5 Kh5 35.f4 Bg4 36.Bxb7 Kxh4 37.Be4 Bh3 38.Rc1 Nf8 39.Rc6 Re6 40.Rc7 Kg3 41.f5 Nd5 42.Rc1 Re5 43.Kh1 Nf4 44.Rg1+ Kf2 45.Kh2 Ne2 46.Ra1 Nh7 47.Kxh3 Nxg5+ 48.Kh4 Nf3+ 49.Bxf3 Kxf3 50.Ng4 Re8 51.Rf1+ Kg2 52.Rf2+ Kg1 53.Rxe2 Rxe2 54.f6

1–0

GM Guha Mitrabha finished the tournament undefeated to win his second successive Doeberl Cup. FM Alexis Arteaga finished on 7/9 to take outright 2^nd ($3000) and score an IM norm. GM Cristhian Rios (+4=5), IM David Cannon (+5=3-1) and FM Albert Winkelman (+5=3-1) all shared 3^rd place.

Doeberl Cup winner GM Guha Mitrabha receives his trophy from Rosemarie Doeberl (Photo: Max Albert)

The supporting events, Major (Under 2100), Minor (Under 1800) and Mini (Under 1500) were all seven round events, played over four days.

The 78 player Major event saw a three-way tie between Oladoyin Fasakin, Vihaan Anup Kumar and Nathan Arav on 6/7. Fasakin had defeated Anup Kumar earlier in the event, but a round 6 loss to Alex Devin left Fasakin requiring a final round win for a chance at 1^st (which he achieved). Anup Kumar defeated Devin in the final round, while Arav played the Semi-Swis Gambit, drawing in round 1 but finishing with four straight wins.

The Minor was a triumph for local Canberra Junior Nicholas Lee, who achieved the only perfect score of the long events, with 7/7. In 2^nd place were Louis Serfontein and Yu Pu, who finished on six points. 98 players took part in this section, which was the largest (non-blitz) event over the weekend.

The 70-player Mini was particularly strong this year, with a number of people comparing the strength of the field to the higher category Minor. John Shu and Zheng Guan tied for first on 6/7, but unlike other events did not meet during the tournament.

The two-day Under 1200 tournament saw Daniel Spencer defeat Ben Hoyland in a winner take all final round game, to score 5.5/6. Hoyland finished in 2^nd place along with Alessandro Martinese, Tristan Brown and Ethan Yang.

Apart from the cash prizes for the players, this year saw each tournament winner (on tie-break) go home with a Chessnut chess computer supplied by tournament sponsors Chessnut.

Saturday evening saw the ever-popular Doeberl Cup Blitz events, sponsored for the first time by Street Chess Canberra. The Under 1600 blitz (74 players) was won by Ernest Basharov on 7/7. The Open Blitz (111 players) proved to be another payday for GM Guha Mitrabha, winning $500 for his 8/9 score.

With 536 players across all events, the 2026 O2C Doeberl Cup once again proved itself as Australia’s Premier tournament. The event came about due to the efforts of a large team of people, including volunteers from the ACT Chess Association, ACT Junior Chess League and the local Canberra chess clubs. Once again, the arbiting team was led by IA Alana Chibnall, and ran the tournament with their usual efficiency and fairness. The results desk was managed by Shun Ikeda and provided an important resource for the players in both collecting results and storing electronic devices.

And finally, the event would not happen with the support of tournament sponsors – The Doeberl Family, O2C, Looking for Gamers, Mr Baldev Bedi, Street Chess Canberra, Mr Paul Dunn, Mr Jim Flood, Mr Matthew Radisich, Mr Glenn Ingham, John and Carol Press, Australian Chess Enterprises, and Chessnut.

Premier 1st: GM Mitrabha Guha 7.5/9, 2nd: FM Alexis Vargas Arteaga 7, 3rd GM Christhian Camilo Rios Gomez 6.5. Bedi Cup (Best Australian Junior): Harvey (Hanchen) Zhu 6. Best Female: WGM Thi Mai Hung Nguyen 6. Under 2300: IM David Cannon 6.5. Under 2100: CM Yuan Huang 5.5. 60 players

Major 1st: Oladoyin Fasakin 6/7, 2nd: Vihaan Anup Kumar 6, 3rd: Nathan Arav 6. Best Female: WCM Om O’Carroll 3.5. U1950: Alex Devin 5.5. U1800: Ernest Bashirov 4. 78 players

Minor 1st: Nicholas Lee 7/7, 2nd Louis Serfontein 6, 3rd: Yu Pu 6. Pooja Cup (Best Australian Junior Female) Bella Xia 4.5. U1650: Cheng Xi 5.5. U1500: Abir Vidhur Singh 4. 98 players

Mini 1st: John Shu 6/7, 2nd: Zheng Guan 6, 3rd Chris Belton 5.5. U1350: Isaac (Yijun) Wang 5.5. U1200: Manish Thulasidas 5. Unrated: Ryan Raappana-Ezzy 4.5. Best Femail: Nancy Liang 4. 70 players

U1200 1st: Daniel Spencer 5.5/6, 2nd: Ben Hoyland 5, 3rd: Alessandro Martinese 5, 4th: Tristan Brown 5. Best Female: Elaina Chen 3.5. Biggest Upset: Vihaan Vaghela. Unrated: Charles Shailer 3.5. 45 players

Open Blitz 1st GM Mitrabha Guha 8/9, =2nd FM Kai Jie Soo, IM David Cannon 7.5/9, =4th + U2000 IM Ryder Testolin, Shaurya Jain 7/9, U1600 Rohan Majety 6.5/9, U1300 Aiden Fan 5/9, =U1000 Abhiq Ansary, Ethan Yang 4/9, Unrated: Kieran Lander 4/9. 111 players

U1600 Blitz 1st Ernest Bashirov 7/7, 2nd Brett Oakley 6, =3rd and rating groups: Chi Ngo Chan, Dhyan Nair Abhilash, Tianyu Zhang, Manish Thulasidas 5.5. Unrated: Samanth Hegde 3. 74 players.

Upcoming Events

2026 ACT Teams Rapidplay Championship
3rd May 2026 - Sunday, Eastlakes Gungahlin Club from 10am
Teams of 4/5 G15m 7 round swiss

2026 ACT Chess Championship
29th May - 1st June (Friday - Monday), 7 rounds, 90m+30s, Eastlakes Griffith Club
ACF and FIDE Rated

Street Chess

Every Saturday. From 10.45 to 2.30. King O’Malley’s in Civic. More information here and results/photos here

New South Wales

New South Wales Chess Association Inc (NSWCA)

Recent Events

Anand in Sydney

Steve Garner, President of Norths Chess Club writes:

Five times World Champion, GM Vishy Anand, made a 4-day visit to Sydney in February. During that time he gave a lecture at the Norths Chess Club and signed some autographs. 100 to 150 people were expected to attend, 450 came.

The packed crowd for Vishy’s visit

Tech Mahindra are worldwide sponsors of Vishy Anand. They brought him to Australia to promote themselves, the Global Chess League (which they own), and chess in general.

From left to right, Stephen Garner, President of the Norths Chess Club, GM Vishy Anand, GM Ian Rogers, Harsh Soin, President – Asia Pacific and Japan Business, Tech Mahindra.

City of Sydney Blitz

1st George Xie, 2nd Juan Tirado, 3rd Reyaansh Chakrabarty.
Under 2000 – 1800: =1st Shaheel Faizal, Avinav Sivaraj and Leyao Zha.
Under 1800 – 1600: 1st Mason Tay. Under 1600 - 1400: =1st Natarajan Alagusamy, Jayden Gregory, Steven Hemsley, Bradley Kwok, Daniel Lowe.
Under 1400: =1st Shayan Eftekhar and Leo Kevork. 43 players.

UNSW Open Weekender

1st-2nd place: Yifei Hu, Dean Chen, 3rd-4th place: Dominic Ou, Hui Li
U1800 ACF: Leyao Zha, U1600 ACF: Bibek Gurung, Arvend Karunagaran
Unrated ACF/FIDE: Eric Hong
Best female: Manognya Param Koolath, Claudia Talty Bormans
Best UNSW student: Ian Stalker, Brendan Anderson
Best junior: Ted Power

Upcoming Events

2026 NSW Open 5-8 June Details TBN

2026 NSW Rapid 19 July Details TBN

Northern Territory

Northern Territory Chess Association

Upcoming Events

NTCA at the Festival of Women Event

2 May, Darwin Showgrounds. More details here

Arbiter Training Course

23-24 May. More details here

Queensland

Chess Association of Queensland

Upcoming Events

2026 Brisbane City FIDE Junior Rapid Chess Championship

17 April, Brisbane Boys College Senior School, Kensington Terrace, Toowong.

More details here

2026 Churchie International

30 April - 4 May. More information here

Bundaberg Open

6-7 June. Middle School, St Luke’s School 4 Mezger Street, Kalkie, Bundaberg.

More information here

2026 Byron Capital Darling Downs Open incorporating the QLD Champs

Thursday 1 October to Monday 5 October 2026, Toowoomba Grammar School, Toowoomba QLD 4350

Registration Opens 1 April 2026. More details here

South Australia

South Australian Chess Association Inc (SACA)

Recent Events

March Allegro

1st: Weng Yang Joel Su 5/5, =2nd: Thomas Cruse, Carlo Malagar, 4. 19 players.

March Blitz

1st: Samuel Hansen 12/13, 2nd: Weng Yang Joel Su 11.5. 14 players.

Upcoming Events

14 April SA Blitz Chess Championship 2026

15-17 April City of Adelaide Junior Championships

16 April April Allegro #2

23 and 30 April Autumn Rapid

Tasmania

Tasmanian Chess Association Inc (TCA)

Upcoming Events

ANZAC Day Weekender

24-26 April. Guilford Young College, West Hobart. Open and Challengers.

FREE ACCOMMODATION:

Free accommodation/airport pickup and drop off to first 4 players from interstate (3 nights Friday 24 April 2026 to Monday 27 April 2026) with a rating at time of registration of 1850 to 2399 FIDE. First come first served.

Accommodation will be on a one occupant per room basis in a shared house. No smoking. No pets. No guests. Code of Conduct applicable to players during tournament play will also apply as reasonable to use of and behaviour at the accommodation. The organisers reserve the right to impose conduct rules as necessary to ensure safe and comfortable residence for each guest.

Snacks and tea will be provided during play. FIDE and ACF rated. More details here

2026 Tasmanian Open

6-8 June Details TBN

2026 Huon Valley Chess Festival

5-8 November Details TBN

Victoria

Chess Victoria Inc (CV)

Recent Events

Darebin March Allegro

Open Prizewinners: 1st - Subin Kurian Thomas (6/7), 2nd - Deethya Sai Katakam (6/7),
3rd - Damian Trajkovski (5/7)
U18 Prizewinners: 1st - Kaisar Batyrbekov (5.5/7), 2nd - Aidan Batyrbekov (4.5/7),
3rd - Vivaan Rawat (4/7)
U12 Prizewinners: 1st - Aadhya Sai Katakam (3.5/7), 2nd - Nyra Venkat (3.5/7),
3rd - Devarsh Shah (3.5/7)

Upcoming Events

2026 Melbourne International Open
April 14 to 19, 2026 at Melbourne Chess Club. The 2026 MIO consists of a 9-round classic, a 9 round rapid, and a 9-round blitz tournament. The classic is broken into two divisions with the Masters division being a norm event. More details here

MCC ANZAC Day Weekender
24-26 April Details and entry here

Western Juniors Rapid Championship 2026
2nd May, Hobsons Bay Chess Club, 108 Queen Street, Altona
More details here

MindMetta × Bingo Youth Chess Open 2026 (Children’s Day Special)
31st May, Hexa Space (Level 4/830 Whitehorse Rd, Box Hill VIC 3128)
More details here

Victorian Women's Championship 2026
12 and 19 September, Hobsons Bay Chess Club, 108 Queen St, Altona VIC.
More details here

Western Australia

Chess Association of Western Australia Inc (CAWA)

RecentEvents

2026 WA Rapid Championship

CM Ashvin Balavignan - 2026 State Rapid Champion. Ashvin Balavignan & Victor Spirin both tied on 5/6 points for the Rapid Title. A playoff was held between them, and Ashvin won 2-0.

Nithuli Liyanage - 2026 State Women’s Rapid Champion. Guy Booth - 2026 State Seniors’ Rapid Champion, after playoff. 40 players

2026 WA Junior Rapid Chess Championships

Under 18 Champion and 2026 WA State Junior Rapid Champion: Issa Majidi (6.0/7) [won playoff against Quang Minh Le]
Under 18 Best Girl and 2026 WA State Junior Rapid Girls Champion: Nithuli Liyanage (4.5/7)
Under 18: 2nd: Yonal De Vas (4.5/7), 3rd: Lucien Lim (4.0/7)
Under 16: 1st: Quang Minh Le (6.0/7) [Quang Minh, still of U10 age, chose to compete in the U18 section and delivered a strong performance], 2nd: Nithuli Liyanage (4.5/7), 3rd: Uudamkhishig Togtmol (4.0/7), Merit Medal: Micah Seow (4.0/7)
Under 14: 1st: Aidan Malik (5.5/7), 2nd: Yuqi (Ricky) Huang (4.5/7), 3rd: Florentyna Rithauddin (3.5/7)
Under 12: 1st: Daniel Luong (6.5/7), 2nd: Kaviru Perera (6.0/7), 3rd: Jet Mahanidis (5.5/7)
Merit Medals: Gia Bao Ho (5.0/7) & Jayan Gopalakrishnan (5.0/7)
Under 12 Girls: Best Girl: Senudi De Vas (5.5/7), Merit Medals: Jo Gao (4.5/7), Uranbaigali Uuganbaatar (4.5/7), Khatangua Nyamdari (4.0/7) & Lily Lin (4.0/7)
Under 10: 1st: Riyaan Jeyaseelan (5.0/7) [won playoff against Aarav Mishra]
2nd: Aarav Mishra (5.0/7), 3rd: Uranbaigali Uuganbaatar (4.5/7), Merit Medal: Zeno Brackenridge (4.5/7)
Under 8: 1st: Ved Khant (4.5/7) Merit Medals: Aakash Jagadish (3.0/7), Andy Hoang (3.0/7) & Tristan Sun (3.0/7)

76 players

Upcoming Events

2026 Southern Suburbs Rapid

14 to 28 April at the Bull Creek Community Centre, room 2. The Rapid is an eight-round tournament - there will be three rounds on the 14th and 21st, and two on the 28th. More information here

New Zealand

New Zealand Chess News (newzealandchess.nz)

Recent Events

• 7-22 March Auckland Double Weekends March 2026

1st: FM Alphaeus Ang

• 21 March Latvian Rapid 2026

A Grade 1st equal: Yanbo Jin
A Grade 1st equal: FM Daqi Mao
A Grade 1st equal: Ralph Hart
A Grade 1st equal: FM Alphaeus Ang
A Grade 1st equal: IM Felix Xie
A Grade 1st equal: CM Markis Tew
B Grade 1st: Aidan Prince
C Grade 1st: Lohitashva Rajkumar
D Grade 1st: Qingli Zhang

• 3 - 6 April Wellington Open 2026

Open: 1st: CM William Rui Liu
Under 1850 1st equal: Karthik Sethuramalingam, Daniel Winsley
Under 1650 1st: Hugo Lawrence
Under 1450 1st equal: Zachary He, Muhammad Mangera
Veteran 1st: Patrick Cordue
Senior 1st: IM Anthony F Ker
Junior 1st equal: CM Justin Zhide Wang, Matthew Keith
Woman 1st: WCM Luna Yuexiu Xu

Upcoming Events

• 9 - 13 April Oceania Age Groups 2026

• 25 - 27 April Auckland Anzac Weekender 2026

• 9 - 17 May Auckland Double Weekends May 2026

• 15 - 17 May Arie Nijman Memorial 2026

• 23 May Kapiti Rapid Tournament 2026

• 30 May - 1 June Auckland King’s Birthday Weekender 2026

• 30 May - 1 June 48th Trusts Open 2026

• 4 July North Island Rapid 2026

• 5 - 8 July North Island Championships 2026

• 10 - 12 July Peter Stuart Memorial 2026

• 17 - 19 July NZ Senior Championship 2026

• 18 July Upper Hutt Rapid 2026

• 8 - 23 August Auckland Double Weekends August 2026

• 5 - 13 September Auckland Double Weekends September 2026

• 30 September - 3 October South Island Championships 2026

• 4 October South Island Rapid 2026

• 24 - 26 October Merv Morrison Memorial 2026

• 7 - 15 November Auckland Double Weekends November 2026

International News

Aussies Overseas #6

Paul Summers reports on the activities of Australians overseas in classical games (i.e. generally excluding rapid and blitz events). All ratings are FIDE. Except where otherwise noted, Australian games from these events, usually with cross tables, can be found on the Australian Chess web page.

In a relatively quiet month, just six Australian players participated in overseas events in this month’s report, which covers tournaments that completed in late February and March.

Pitted against 566 players, GM Bobby Cheng (VIC 2566) competed in the 42^nd Cappelle La Grande Open in France. Undefeated in the nine-round event, Bobby scored 6.5/9 with four wins and five draws finishing 16=.

The huge Prague International Festival attracted four Australian players in the 357-player D Open. FM Reyaansh Chakrabarty (NSW 2272) finished with 6/9 and 35=, drawing with GM Simen Agdestein (NOR 2562) along the way. On 5.5 and 60= was FM Christopher Wallis (VIC 2277). Further down the list, Kelvin Finke (QLD 1963) and CM Anthony Fikh (NSW 2014) scored 5.0 and 3.5 in 101^st and 237^th places respectively.

Slovenia also ran a Chess Festival in Bled, with Kelvin Finke (now 1986) competing for Australia. Kelvin finished 10= in the 78-player event, drawing with FM Miha Furlan (SLO 2239) along the way.

Playing for SV Werder Bremen in the 2025-26 German Team Championship [Bundesliga] GM Bobby Cheng (VIC 2596) scored 1.5/2 in Rounds 9 and 10, defeating Mads Andersen (DEN 2564) and drawing with Luis Engel (GER 2560).

FM Sam Chow playing for White Rose 1 in the 4NCL in England scored 1/2 in Rounds 7and 8, defeating GM Bogdan Lalic (CRO 2303) and losing to IM Svyatoslav Bazakutsa (UKR 2475).

Upcoming Events

Asian Individual and Women's Individual Chess Championships 2026, 20-30 May, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
FIDE World Rapid Team Championships 2026, FIDE World Blitz Team Championships 2026 and FIDE World Team Amateur Rapid Chess Cup 2026
16-22 June, Hong Kong
Blue Chevaliers International Open 2026
 7-13 September 2026, at the Novotel Phuket Resort in Thailand.
Enquiries to peter.frost3@yahoo.com.au

Check details via the FIDE Chess Calendar

Study of the Month

White to play and win

Solution at the end of the newsletter.

RIP Veniamin Sandler

By IM Leonid Sandler

Rest in peace, Dad. Thanks for everything.

It is with great sadness that I inform the chess community that my father Veniamin Sandler passed away on March 18th. He was 89 years old.

Born in the Soviet Union on December 13, 1936, he played a huge role in my chess and non-chess education. He introduced me to chess when I was 8 years old, took me to the Pioneer Palace chess section, and has been my best mentor, fan, and educator ever since.

While in the same social circles in Riga, the Latvian capital, Dad asked the legendary ex-World Champion Mikhail Tal what to do with a little kid.

Of course, Tal suggested sending me to the chess section!

Dad followed the legendary player’s advice, and the rest is history.

A little bit of family history. Dad graduated from the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute, where he met his future wife (my mother). I was born in Leningrad, and after his studies my father returned to Riga with his young family. This was in 1965.

After arriving in Australia in May 1990, my father played in quite a few tournaments and was a committee member of the Elwood Chess Club. According to information kindly provided by Bill Gletsos, his last ACF-rated game was in 2009 at the Elwood Chess Club Championship, where he scored 5.5 points from 7 games. His final rating was 1699.

Thanks to his excellent organisational skills and generous sponsorship from the legendary Latvian chess family the Lidums, I visited Australia and played in the Australian Open Championship in 1990/91 and a few other events in Sydney, Melbourne, and Ballarat.

This memorable event featured many Latvian players, and Edvins Kengis achieved two GM norms on Australian soil.

Since I was a kid, Dad built our chess library, buying any chess-related book he could get his hands on (and it was not easy in a land of scarcity).

Thanks to his efforts I became who I am today and participated in 10 World Chess Olympiads in different capacities (player, journalist, captain of three national teams, election campaign helper, etc.)

Until his last days, Dad keenly followed my games and general chess news.

Here are a few photos.

RIP, Dear Papa! Your always loving son.

Book Review

By IM Gary Lane

Practical Chess Beauty by Yochanan Afek, published by Quality Chess, 512 pages.

Everything you wanted to know about chess studies is presented in an entertaining manner.

Afek is an International Master with some serious tournament victories but he is a Grandmaster of Chess Composition and his chess studies in the form of puzzles are the central theme.

If it all still sounds mysterious, then the numerous problems are positions that could arise out of normal games but the solution is ingenious.

There are 18 chapters with headings such as ‘The Ultimate Sacrifice’, ‘Mate’, ‘Domination’, ‘Perpetual Checks’ and ‘Underpromotions’. I like the fact there is a usually an introduction to explain the theme usually accompanied by Afek’s games from tournaments or carefully selected illustrative examples. Once, the idea has been reinforced, the very clever studies are given and their thought-provoking answers are carefully revealed with plenty of prose to explain what is going on.

I really think that the studious student will learn a lot while the casual reader will be thoroughly entertained with the magic moves.

There are a sprinkling of photos which feature the author which I always think is a good idea to give a glimpse of the author and his training sessions.

A wonderful way to take your chess to the next level or simply be entertained by the glorious studies.

Looking Back

THE LOVERS CHESS SET

By Bob Meadley

It is not often we see a chess rivalry like that between soon to be married Max Ernst & Dorothea Tanning of the USA. They met during the war and were soon playing chess together in New York. Max designed the chess set seen below which has a 5.2” Queen – taller than the King beside her.

Max Ernst and His Chess Set at the Chess Exhibition, “The Imagery of Chess”, a 1944 exhibition conceived by chess enthusiasts Ernst, Julian Levy and Marcel Duchamp - press photograph

They had a wonderful life and spent many years in Sedona, Arizona where they built a home in the late 40s. There are many chess photos of them at battle on the web. Of course, their painting took priority, and they were both surrealist artists with much public recognition of their skills. Their paintings sell for many thousands today.

I liked them so much I decided to make a set in their honour and found an ancient roller blind wood axle, which all the pieces were made from, and with a good vice, files, knife, saw and sandpaper, knocked up the below in a few weeks. I changed the design where a piece was difficult but kept the replica pieces like the originals which are very expensive today. They are much smaller and the King is 4”. The hardest piece to make was the Bishop. The pieces are spraypainted red and blue because of wood stains on the axle. The originals are beautifully made and finished in polished wood and way better than mine, but I am happy.

My 32 pieces are shown on a 2” squares board. The blue pieces at the rear from the left are P, R, N, B, K & Q. The Q is taller than the K as per the originals and the letters “ME & DT” are stamped on the K&Q (Max Ernst & Dorothea Tanning).

The originals were only made in 12 sets with maple & walnut the main woods with some also in boxwood. A local NY carpenter made these sets and the master design by Ernst was made in plaster but then discarded. My set is simpler in shape for ease of carving. Larry List has a lot more in his fine book “The Imagery of Chess” 2006.

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ACF Personnel

The Australian Chess Federation Inc is incorporated under the ACT Associations Incorporation Act 1991 and is recognised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs as the governing chess organisation in Australia.

ACF COUNCIL

State Association Delegates

NSWCA Delegate: Richard Gastineau-Hills nswcouncillor@auschess.org.au

CV Delegate: Walter Wolffs walterwolffs.ca@gmail.com

CAQ Delegate: Dr Tony Dowden r.tony.dowden@gmail.com.au

SACA Delegate: Misheck Muza sacouncillor@auschess.org.au

TCA Delegate: Jonty Oud jontyoud1@gmail.com

ACTCA Delegate: Cam Cunningham actcouncillor@auschess.org.au

CAWA Delegate: Tim Hare wacounsellor@auschess.org.au

NTCA Delegate: Chris Depasquale agechess@ozemail.com.au

Executive Committee

President: Gary Wastell president@auschess.org.au

Deputy President: Bill Gletsos deputy president@auschess.org.au

Vice-President: Dr Kevin Bonham vice president1@auschess.org.au

Vice-President: Dr Andrew Hardegen vice president2@auschess.org.au

Secretary: Rob Watson secretary@auschess.org.au

Treasurer: Bob Keast treasurer@auschess.org.au

COUNCIL-APPOINTED PERSONNEL

Arbiter Training Director: Peter Tsai chess@t-s-a-i.com

Archives Director: Mahesh Kulkarni sellaus14@gmail.com

Assistant Secretary: Mahesh Kulkarni sellaus14@gmail.com

Assistant Treasurer: Bill Gletsos asst treasurer@auschess.org.au

Auditor: Ross Hamilton auditor@auschess.org.au

Equipment Coordinator: Bob Keast equipment officer@auschess.org.au

FIDE Delegate & Admin Officer: Dr. Kevin Bonham fide delegate@auschess.org.au

FIDE Ratings Officer: Bill Gletsos fide ratings@auschess.org.au

Government Relations Director: Kuanysh Batyrbekov Kuanysh.Batyrbekov@anz.com

International Ambassador: Anastasia Sorokina sorokinachess@gmail.com

Juniors Coordinator: Hui Lam Teh tehhuilam@gmail.com

Medals & Awards Convenor: Gary Wastell awards@auschess.org.au

National Ratings Officer: Bill Gletsos acfratings@auschess.org.au

National Ratings Officer: Graham Saint g_saint@tpg.com.au

Newsletter Editor: Keong Ang auschessnews@chessnews.asia

Newsletter Editor: Miles Patterson mp19370@gmail.com

Publicity Director: Paul Power publicity@auschess.org.au

Public Officer (incorporation): Cam Cunningham public_officer@auschess.org.au

Selections Director: Tom Saltmarsh selections director@auschess.org.au

Trophies Officer: Terrence Tang terencetjc@gmail.com

Webmaster: David Esmonde webmaster@auschess.org.au

Annual Appointments

All Council appointments terminate each year at the first Council meeting after 30 June, when incumbents and new applicants are eligible for reappointment. Offers to serve in any of the above positions need to be written (email acceptable) and emailed to executive@auschess.org.au.

Applicants should phone 0409 525 963 or (03) 9787 7974 if an application has not been acknowledged within 48 hours of transmission.

Solution to Study of the Month

White to play and win

Solution:

1 g4+ Ke5 (1…Kxg4 2 Kg6) 2 Bb2+ Qxb2 3 Nf6 d5 4 c5 bxc5 (4…d4 5 Nd7+ Kd5 6 Nb6+ Kxc5 7 Na4+) 5 Ke7 d4 6 Nd7+ Kd5 7 Nb6+ Ke5 8 Nc4+

(Isaac Boleslavsky, 1946)

Newsletter Article Contributions

Please email the editor if there is something you would like published in the next edition of this newsletter.

Examples of articles:

• Upcoming chess event.

• Results of a chess event that was completed since the last newsletter was published.

• Any information that is chess related, especially Australian chess, that could be interesting.

Article Contribution

by Miles Patterson

Welcome to the March ACF Newsletter. Thanks for all the contributions for this issue. More are always welcome, particularly tournament reports.

Please note: The ACF Newsletter is a long post. If you are reading this in email, please scroll down to the end and open the entire message, so you can enjoy the full content.

ACF Notices

Koshnitsky medallist Casey Goh accepts the ACF lifetime service award for outstanding service to chess in Melbourne’s Western suburbs – presented at the 2026 Chess Victoria AGM by recently re-elected President and fellow International Arbiter, Alana Chibnall.

Selection Opportunities

Applications are invited from players wishing to represent Australia in the following events.

Please address registrations of interest and other inquiries concerning forthcoming events to selections_director@auschess.org.au and phone 0499 996 559 or 0409 525 963 if not acknowledged within 48 hours. Copies of inquiries relating to events limited to Junior, Youth, Cadet or other under-age categories must also be sent to juniors_coordinator@auschess.org.au

To enable time for local selection procedures and related purposes, ACF application deadlines can be significantly earlier than deadlines indicated in organisers’ published regulations.

FIDE World Youth u14, u16, & u18

venue Montesilvano, Italy, dates June 14 to 27, time control Standard

links Event Information Express Interest ACF deadline 24 March 2026

FIDE World Cup u8-u12

venue Batumi, Georgia, dates June 15 to 28, time control Standard

links Event Information Express Interest ACF deadline 31 March

AUSTRALIAN REPRESENTATIVE INTERNATIONAL JUNIORS CHESS TOURNAMENTS

Any inquiries can be sent to ACF Juniors Coordinator, Mr Hui Lam Teh tehhuilam@gmail.com, with cc to ACF Selections Director Tom Saltmarsh selections_director@auschess.org.au.

FIDE RATING SUBMISSIONS

Note that events for FIDE ratings that are completed in the last seven days of the month need to be submitted to ACF FIDE Ratings Officer Bill Gletsos for ratings immediately so that any issues with them can be resolved in time for events to be rated in that month. Also note that intended changes of names or dates of FIDE-rated events need to be notified immediately as they may affect the event's rating status. Note also that all FIDE rated events must be submitted for ACF ratings – no exceptions.

FIDE RATED EVENT REGISTRATION

Australian tournaments to be FIDE rated must be advised to the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer at least 40 days prior to the start of the tournament for tournaments where norms are available and at least 7 days prior to the start of the tournament for all other tournaments. Where these conditions are not met, the decision whether to register it or not is solely at the discretion of the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer.

FIDE ID NUMBER REGISTRATION

FIDE has issued a warning that they will not accept tournaments for FIDE rating where those tournaments contain players who do not have FIDE ID numbers. Although new Australian players can be registered by the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer, this does not apply to new players from overseas. Therefore, organisers should not immediately accept the entries of overseas players who lack FIDE ID numbers to FIDE rated tournaments; instead, those players should be required to first obtain a FIDE ID from their own national federation.

Tournaments submitted that include foreign players who do not have ID numbers end up not being FIDE rated. Organisers need to confirm prior to the start of the tournament that all players without a FIDE ID number are either Australian citizens or have a permanent residency visa.

Players without ID numbers should only be submitted as Australian if they are citizens or are a permanent residency visa holder; if a player is registered under the wrong country, they may incur transfer costs later. For further information/clarification contact the ACF FIDE Ratings Officer Bill Gletsos via fide_ratings@auschess.org.au.

ACF FUNDING SUPPORT PROGRAM

The application deadline for activities commencing between 1 September 2026 and 28 February 2027 is 30 June 2026. Application forms and related information are available on request to executive@auschess.org.au.

News from the States / Territories

Australian Capital Territory

Australian Capital Territory Chess Association (ACTCA)

Upcoming Events

2026 Doeberl Cup

2-6 April 2026, Canberra Southern Cross Club, 92-96 Corinna Street, Woden ACT

Registration Open

2026 ACT Teams Rapidplay Championship
3rd May 2026 - Sunday, Eastlakes Gungahlin Club from 10am
Teams of 4/5 G15m 7 round swiss

2026 ACT Chess Championship
29th May - 1st June (Friday - Monday), 7 rounds, 90m+30s, Eastlakes Griffith Club
ACF and FIDE Rated

Street Chess

Every Saturday. From 10.45 to 2.30. King O’Malley’s in Civic. More information here and results/photos here

New South Wales

New South Wales Chess Association Inc (NSWCA)

Recent Events

Goulburn Summer One Chess Tournament for U18

The Goulburn Summer One Day U18 Chess Tournament, the official NSWJCL tournament was held on Sunday, 15 February 2026 at Goulburn Soldiers Club. This tournament attracted 22 players from different places including Sydney, Orange and Canberra. International Arbiter & Fide Master Shaun Press presented the trophies and medals to the winners.

1st Place: Daniel Tanner 7/8, Equal 2nd Place: Sreyaa Karunagaran (Highest Tie Break, Maria Bhatt (3rd) 6.5, 4th Place: Srihari Prabhu 6, 5th Place: Isaac Hindle 5.

Country Top Scorer: Cameron Te Whare 4, Under 18 Top Scorer: Christian Cady 4, Under 15 Top Scorer: Henry Neville 4, =Under 12 Top Scorer: Jacky Junzhe L Zhu, Olivia Tarnoswski 4, =Under 10 Top Scorer: Magnus Bhatt, Heathcliff McInnes 4/8, =Under 8 Top Scorer: Shaarav Bhuta, Sahaj Patel 4.5

Junior rapid players, with Shaun Press (left)

Goulburn Open Blitz Tournament

The Goulburn Open Blitz Chess Tournament was held after the Junior tournament on the same day and attracted 16 players from all levels of ages and skill levels. Junior players from Goulburn gained experienced playing with titled player, FM Shaun Press, and Miles Patterson from Canberra. The total prize money was $300. Prizewinners:

Equal First Place: FM Shaun Press & Miles Patterson 8/9, Third Place: Netra Raj Bhatt 7/9. Best Above 30 years: Bill Anderson, Best Above 18 years: Arvend Karunagaran 6. Best Below 18 years: Daniel Tanner & Christian Cady 5. Best Below 12 years: Srihari Prabhu 4.5.

2026 City of Sydney Rapid

=1st Sterling Bayaca, Tri Kein Le, =3rd Joerg Raichle, Taifeng Lyu and George Xie.
Under 2000 – 1800: 1st Stephen Boss. Under 1800 – 1600: 1st Tyler Milson.
Under 1600- 1400: 1st Taran Nisha Raj. Under 1400: =1st Fulvio Campos Wagner and Scott Zhou.

Goulburn Open Rapid Tournament

The Goulburn Open Rapid Chess Tournament attracted 20 players from all levels of ages and skill levels. We had very strong players from Canberra and Wollongong and this made the tournament very competitive.

Equal First Place: Jonah Gear and Sanat Hegde 5/7, Equal Third Place: FM Shaun Press, Miles Patterson, Trent Parker and Bevan Clouston 4.5/7

Best U1000: Cameron Te Whare 3.5/7, Equal Best U1400: Sreyaa Karunagaran, Christian Cady and Sahasra Selva Muthukumar 3.5/7, Equal Best U1600: Arvend Karunagaran and Siyuan Wu 4/7, Best Unrated Player: Michael Cross

Total concentration at the Goulburn Rapid

Pirtek Newcastle Open

Open Division: 1st: CM Ryan Lane, 2nd: CM Terrence Tang, 3rd: CM Micah Young
Under 1600: 1st: Ben Harding, 2nd: CM Paul Russell, 3rd: Bill Dewhurst
Under 1400: 1st: Alan Thuaux, 2nd: Taran Nisha Raj, 3rd: Jeremy Salmon
Under 1200: 1st: Rudy Gotz, 2nd: Emmanuel Lakshman, 3rd: Jaden Gregory
Best Unrated: 1st: Jack Bruce, 2nd: Corbin Debeljak, 3rd: Luke Andrews
Encouragement award: Srihari Prabhu
NSW Country Champion: Heath Brown & Alex Boyd

Upcoming Events

Newcastle Rapid

17 March, NEX Newcastle City, 309 King St, Newcastle.

Details and entry here

Goulburn Open Rapid

29 March 2026, Goulburn Soldiers Club, 15/17 Market Street, Goulburn.

FIDE and ACF Rated. Details and entry here

2026 Sydney International Open

Dates: Wednesday 8th April to Sunday 12th April 2026
Venue: Conference Rooms 5 & 6 at Novotel West HQ. More details here

Northern Territory

Northern Territory Chess Association

Queensland

Chess Association of Queensland

Recent Events

2026 Queensland Reserves and Tin Cup

1st= Benjamin Martin, Haoqian (William) Liu, Ernest Bashirov 5.5/6. 123 players

Strategic Minds Chess Club FIDE Rapid

1st IM Sravan Renjith 7/8, 2nd= CM Bojun (Brian) Yang, FM Jack Rodgers, 6.5. 62 players.

Upcoming Events

2026 Churchie International

30 April - 4 May. More information here

Bundaberg Open

6-7 June. Middle School, St Luke’s School 4 Mezger Street, Kalkie, Bundaberg.

More information here

2026 Byron Capital Darling Downs Open incorporating the QLD Champs

Thursday 1 October to Monday 5 October 2026, Toowoomba Grammar School, Toowoomba QLD 4350

Registration Opens 1 April 2026. More details here

South Australia

South Australian Chess Association Inc (SACA)

Recent Events

February Rapid

1st= James Bayliss, Edgar Mdinaradze, 3.5/4. 20 players.

February Blitz

1st Weng Yang Joel Su 11/11, 2nd Edgar Mdinaradze 9, 3rd= Raghavendran Kasinathan, Eryk Paprzycki, 8. 17 players.

Upcoming Events

19 March March Blitz

26 March March Allegro #2

2 April April Allegro #1

7 April Blitz Championship Warmup

9 April April Rapid

14 April SA Blitz Chess Championship 2026

16 April April Allegro #2

23 and 30 April Autumn Rapid

Tasmania

Tasmanian Chess Association Inc (TCA)

Recent Events

2026 Tasmanian Championships and Challengers

By Miles Patterson

The Tasmanian Championships returned to Launceston this year, after last year’s excursion to Deloraine, and the new venue, the Punchbowl Primary School, worked very nicely. Most of the regular Tasmanian players took part, with a handful of visitors from the north island.

With 23 players in the championship section and 21 in the challengers, the total entry exceeded last year’s total by five. Carl Gorka, as well as doing a great job leading the organising effort, was in great form, winning with 6.5 out of 7.

I managed only a slightly higher score than last year, but as usual enjoyed both the tournament and the extra few days as a tourist - for the sixth year in a row. I still don’t understand why more mainland players don’t book a few days’ holiday in beautiful Tassie every March, coinciding with some very enjoyable chess.

2026 Tasmanian Championship:

1st - Carl Gorka (2026 Tasmanian Champion)
2nd - Zach Lim, 3rd - Will Rumley
Women's Champion - Anya Song
Best Senior - Miles Patterson
Senior Champion - Ian Rout
Equal Best Junior - Esteban Prieto, Eric Foster

2026 Tasmanian Challengers:

1st - Addison Djatschenko, 2nd - Karl Lee,
3rd - Bevin Jayathilake, Yien Zheng, Cayden Walker
Best girl - Zoe Meredith*
U1000 - Angelo Arachchilage, Unrated - Michael Baldini*
*also tied for 3rd place

Some of the prize winners (L to R): Esteban Prieto, Will Rumley, Carl Gorka, Zach Lim, Miles Patterson, Addison Djatschenko, Anya Song

Upcoming Events

ANZAC Day Weekender

24-26 April. Guilford Young College, West Hobart. Open and Challengers.

FREE ACCOMMODATION:

Free accommodation/airport pickup and drop off to first 4 players from interstate (3 nights Friday 24 April 2026 to Monday 27 April 2026) with a rating at time of registration of 1850 to 2399 FIDE. First come first served.

Accommodation will be on a one occupant per room basis in a shared house. No smoking. No pets. No guests. Code of Conduct applicable to players during tournament play will also apply as reasonable to use of and behaviour at the accommodation. The organisers reserve the right to impose conduct rules as necessary to ensure safe and comfortable residence for each guest.

Snacks and tea will be provided during play. FIDE and ACF rated. More details here

2026 Tasmanian Open

6-8 June Details TBN

2026 Huon Valley Chess Festival

5-8 November Details TBN

Victoria

Chess Victoria Inc (CV)

Recent Events

Begonia Open

From reporting by Paul Power

The 60th Begonia Tournament hosted players from all Australian states, Serbia, India, Portugal, Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa competing for a prize pool of around $15,000 over seven rounds on the Labour Day long weekend. Over 200 players were headed by West Australian Grandmaster Temur Kuybokarov, two other Grandmasters, seven International Masters and Woman Grandmaster Jilin Zhang.

Sunday morning, round 3, saw upsets on the top boards with Woman Grandmaster Jilin Zhang defeating Grandmaster and #3 seed Yuan Zhao, Nicholas Ilic defeating #6 seed Kai Jie Soo, Daniel Melamed downing #9 seed Luis Chan and Cheng Dai escaping with a draw against #7 seed David Cannon.

Chess spectators were expecting a keen contest when former winners and tournament leaders Victorian James Morris and West Australian Temur Kuybakarov met in round 5 of the 7 round Begonia Open Sunday night. The outcome was not as straightforward as it looked, until the peaceful end.

The final round of the Begonia Open was set for an exciting finish after co-leader James Morris was defeated by Yuan Zhao in the prior round, leaving West Australia’s Temur Kuybokarov sole leader on 5.5/6 with six players on 5/6. Adding to the excitement, #2 seed Serbia’s Mihajlo Radovanovic was paired with White against Temur Kuybokarov. In live commentary, Grandmaster Ian Rogers predicted Radovanovic would throw everything at Kuybokarov to secure a tournament win.

Radovanovic (White) chose an English Opening, 1. c4, with Kuybokarov playing 1... e5 then 2. e3, which Ian Rogers noted was rare, arriving, after 4. Qb3

at the same position as Magnus Carlsen vs Ding Liren, Goldmoney Asian Rapid, 2021, where Ding Liren continued 4... Bb4; Kuybokarov played 4... b6.

Normal developing moves followed 5. Nf3 Bb7 6. d4 exd4 7. exd4 Na5 8. Qc2 Bb4 9. Bd3 O-O

where the solid continuation is 10. O-O with an equal game. But Radovanovic had other ideas and continued 10. Bg5. Then 10... h6 and now, although Radovanovic took over eight minutes on the reply, Rogers suggested he always intended to play 11. h4 setting off a display of fireworks.

11… Re8+ 12. Kf1 Bxc3 13. bxc3 hxg5 14. hxg5 Ne4

Rogers, in analysis, noted that if White now played 15. Ne5, he would be happy to exchange Rook for Knight, as Bishop plus Knight is worth significantly more than Rook plus pawn, especially in the early Middlegame, where Rooks have little scope.

(Even on 15. Re1 d5 16. cxd5 Qxd5 17. c4 Nxc4 (which Rogers noted Kuybokarov would have to find (which perhaps in his analysis he did - annotator’s note)) 18. Bxc4 Nd2+ 19. Qxd2 Qxc4+ Black is ahead)

The game followed 15. Ne5 Rxe5 16. dxe5 Nxc4 17. Bxc4 Qxg5

Now best is 18. Bb3 Re8 19. Kg1 Nd2 20. Qh7+ Kf8 21. Qh8+ Ke7 22. Qh3 Nf3+ 23. Kf1 Nxe5 24. Re1 Kd8, but Black is still better. But, instead, White played 18. Qd3 then 18... Qf4 19. f3 Nd2+ 20. Kf2 Nxc4

The dust has settled; Black has parried the attack and is material to the good.

There followed 21. Qh7+ Kf8 22. Rae1 Nxe5 23. Rh4 Qf6 24. f4 Nd3+ 25. Ke2 Re8+ and White resigned.

Final results: 1st GM Temur Kuybokarov 6.5, 2nd FM Luis Chan 6, =3rd IM James Morris, IM David Cannon, GM Zong-Yuan Zhao, CM Jesse Zafirakos, IM Poorna Mithrakanth, CM Daniel Wang, 5.5.

Upcoming Events

2026 Melbourne International Open
April 14 to 19, 2026 at Melbourne Chess Club. The 2026 MIO consists of a 9-round classic, a 9 round rapid, and a 9-round blitz tournament. The classic is broken into two divisions with the Masters division being a norm event. More details here

Western Australia

Chess Association of Western Australia Inc (CAWA)

Upcoming Events

2026 WA Rapid Championship

22 March, Leeming Primary School.

Details here Entries here

2026 WA Junior Rapid Chess Championships

22 March, Leeming Primary School.

Details here Entries here

New Zealand

New Zealand Chess News (newzealandchess.nz)

Recent Events

• 15 February Hawkes Bay Rapid 2026

A grade 1st: IM Felix Xie
B grade 1st equal: Paul G Summers, Nathan Carpendale

• 28 February 20th Bay of Plenty Rapid 2026

A grade 1st: FM Alphaeus Ang
B grade 1st: Simon Maiava

Upcoming Events

• 7-22 March Auckland Double Weekends March 2026

• 21 March Latvian Rapid 2026

• 3 - 6 April Wellington Open 2026

• 9 - 13 April Oceania Age Groups 2026

• 25 - 27 April Auckland Anzac Weekender 2026

• 9 - 17 May Auckland Double Weekends May 2026

• 15 - 17 May Arie Nijman Memorial 2026

• 30 May - 1 June Auckland King’s Birthday Weekender 2026

• 30 May - 1 June 48th Trusts Open 2026

• 10 - 12 July Peter Stuart Memorial 2026

• 18 July Upper Hutt Rapid 2026

• 8 - 23 August Auckland Double Weekends August 2026

• 5 - 13 September Auckland Double Weekends September 2026

• 24 - 26 October Merv Morrison Memorial 2026

• 7 - 15 November Auckland Double Weekends November 2026

International News

Aussies Overseas #5

Paul Summers reports on the activities of Australians overseas in classical games (i.e. generally excluding rapid and blitz events). All ratings are FIDE. Except where otherwise noted, Australian games from these events, usually with cross tables, can be found on the Australian Chess web page.

Ten Australian players participated in overseas events in this month’s report which covers tournaments that completed in late January and February.

2026 Australian Champion FM Yi Liu (QLD 2329) headed back to Europe to participate in the thirtieth 2026 HIT Open in Nova Gorica. Finishing only one point behind the leading pack on 5.5/9, Yi placed 10=.

With the HIT Open finishing on the January 30 and the 5-round New Zagreb Classic starting on the same day, FM Yi Liu had to take a zero-point bye in the first round of the Classic, but still managed to score a picket fence 4/4, finishing a half-point behind the leaders in 4= place. Of course he got an easier run starting with a 0, but one wonders where he otherwise might have finished …

James Attwood (NSW 1834) competed in the Singapore SGMS January Classical, a 10-player round-robin in Singapore, finishing on 4.5/7 in third place.

Thailand resident Peter Frost (VIC 1750) competed in the 34-player Rooky Monthly in Bangkok finishing 2.5/5 and 15=.

GM Bobby Cheng (VIC 2596) playing for SV Werder Bremen in the 11^th and 12^th rounds of the 2025-26 Bundesliga in Bremen in January scored 0.5/2.

Meanwhile FM Sam Chow (VIC 2370) was at Bradford playing in the 5^th and 6^th rounds of the 2025-26 4NCL Division 1. Sam scored 1.5/2.

1978 Australian Junior Champion and long-time UK resident Stephen Pickles (NSW 2135) played in the 2026 Blackpool Open #49 scoring 2.5/5 and finishing 19=.

FM Reyaansh Chakrabarty (NSW 2272) was one of the 111 players competing in the Isle of Wight Masters in Ryde in southern England. Reyaansh scored 5.5 in 16= place, taking a draw with GM Boris Chatalbashev along the way.

Six rounds weren’t enough to separate the six winners of the 85^th Noteboom Open in Leiden in the Netherlands. FM Yi Liu (2372 now) finished with the others on 5/6 and while having an easier run still performed at 2479.

CM Anthony Fikh (NSW 2014) and FM Chris Wallis (VIC 2277) took part in the Graz International Open A in Austria. Both finished on 4/9 and 156=.

Zachary Garden (VIC 1924) played in the 5-round Brühler Open A in Germany placing 79= with 2/5.

Upcoming Events

Oceania Youth Chess Championships 2026, 9-13 April, Christchurch, New Zealand
https://sites.google.com/view/oceaniayouth2026
Asian Individual and Women's Individual Chess Championships 2026, 20-30 May, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Blue Chevaliers International Open 2026
 7-13 September 2026, at the Novotel Phuket Resort in Thailand.
Enquiries to peter.frost3@yahoo.com.au

Check details via the FIDE Chess Calendar

Study of the Month

White to play and win

Solution at the end of the newsletter.

Book Review

By IM Gary Lane

Chess Tactics: 400 examples from tournament play by Roland Brockman, published by Australian Chess Enterprises. Softback,126 pages

A good traditional puzzle book with plenty of Australian games.

Brockman will be a familiar name for competing at tournaments particularly in Victoria. However, he is also renowned for once contributing a popular column called ‘Combination Corner’ in the national chess magazine. In this instance, he presents a fresh set of four hundred puzzles of varying difficulty to educate and entertain the reader.

I do like that he made an effort to include numerous Australian examples, so it is nice to spot familiar names. I confidently solved a game of mine against Andrew Allen and, turning the pages to find the answer, found that I once again missed the winning combination. We are all still learning it seems.

I am credited with being the editor but basically my main role was encouragement.

There are four chapters called ‘An Easy start’, ‘More difficult this time’, ‘Drawing techniques’ and ‘Checkmates’ with answers at the end of each set of examples. This makes it easy to try and solve the game continuation and smoothly find the solution with minimum effort.

I think this book will also appeal to chess coaches as the material has been computer checked, so it can be relied on to provide material for students.

A delightful puzzle book that can only help to improve your rating.

Looking Back

‘On the general principle that nothing really exists until Russia has discovered it, the cables report that Moscow Radio has announced a “new variation of chess” gaining wide popularity in Russia - “blitz” chess, in which games must finish in five minutes. The “new variation” has been very popular in Australia for the last four years and was known long before that. One Sydney club this year ran two special night tourneys, one for “five-minute games”, the other for 10-minute games.” Chess clocks register the time of the players, each man’s clock starting or ceasing by the pressure on a lever as the moves are made; the first player to exceed his time limit loses. Lightning chess (N.S.W., like U.S.A., has annual championships) is of the same genus. Russia may yet “discover” “kriegspiel” chess, a game in which neither player knows (except by deduction) his opponent’s moves.’

The Bulletin, Sydney, N.S.W. 16 July 1947

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For more details and links of NSW chess clubs, see: NSW Chess Association (nswca.org.au) chess clubs

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