Knight Times - Chess Kids

Knight Times

February 2012

Knight Times Chess World Australia Pty. Ltd. ABN 41 118 087 862

Message from the Guru Welcome to the first edition of Knight Times for 2012. Wow, the year has started quickly and as usual we have lots of new things planned.

Aust. Junior Champions

Firstly the RJ Shield Finals format has changed - qualifying for the Finals this year is even easier! You just need to score 15 points. You can enter as many tournaments as you like (I think technically possible to play 7 events) and once you have scored your 15 points you are into the finals with a chance to win some great cash prizes. The Chess Centre in Ormond is bursting at the seems even after we've added 3 extra classes a week. We are excited to be starting a Doncaster Chess Centre very shortly and already we've got nearly 20 on the waiting list. We expect to start with 7 classes a week and grow through the the year to 10 or 12 sessions per week. Training Squad has probably been this biggest launch of the year with 3 squads in Melbourne (one for U8s only), 1 in Hobart and 1 in Perth. We will also be starting a Doncaster Training Squad once the Chess Centre opens. These Squads take kids rated around 1000 and prepare them for Australian Junior Championships, Open Weekender events and State Titles. By the end of the year we promise they will all have improved at least 200 rating points, but hopefully 400 or more! Well done to all the players in the Aust. Junior, particularly our ex-students Miranda and Alistair who won the U18 girls and open events! Keep an eye out for the Chess Kids cars driving around town, we've just got some new signage on our fleet - so if you see us, wave! I look forward to seeing you at a tournament in the very near future.

DavidCordover,

Managing Director, Chess Group of Companies www.chesskids.com.au

Deepdene Dominate!

Miranda Webb-liddle and alistair cameron Aust. Girls Chess Champion 2012 and Aust. Junior Chess Champion 2012 respectively.

Chess Kids Contacts: www.chesskids.com.au Coaching: [email protected] Retail: [email protected] Interschool: [email protected] Newsletter: [email protected]

1300-424-377 Page 1

Knight Times

RJ

February 2012

RJ Shield

Chess Tournaments for Everyone The RJ Shield events are the longest running series of junior chess tournaments in Australia. They were first started by Hilda O'Callaghan in 1994 and known simply as "Novice Tournaments". They were later named after legendary International Master and former Australian Chess Champion, Robert Jamieson. Robert is still involved with these events. This year we will run a number of smaller RJ Shield "grand prix" events in various locations points scored in these events go towards endof-year awards. The Novice Tournaments are mass-participation events (in age-groups), designed to be an enjoyable first tournament experience for anyone learning about chess. But they aren't just for beginners, you'll find that beginners right through to Training Squad kids take part in these fun tournaments.

The Chess Kids Centre Activities Sessions for all standards are held during the week and on weekends. Please contact us on 1300 424 377 for enquiries or bookings.

Are You Tired of Blundering? Then you should do what the Australian Junior Training Squad is doing and train your tactics on

Chess Tempo A great website with thousands of puzzles to solve and each player receives a tactics rating to monitor his progress.

Most of Victoria's top junior players started out at RJ Shield events; so why not come along and see where you end up - who knows, like many before, you might Conquer the World!

Next RJ Shield Events Feb. 19 - Tucker Rd Primary. Feb. 26 - Doncaster Gardens Primary March 25 - Sacred Heart Mildura

The RJ Shield now has its own website - www.rjshield.com Check it out! www.chesskids.com.au

chesstempo.com Page 2

Knight Times

February 2012

Australian Junior Championships The Australian Junior Championship were held at Spencley Street Primary School and were organised by the Melbourne Chess Club. The event was a huge success attracting record entries and was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. Special thanks go to Chief Organiser, Simon Dale, Chief Arbiter Charles Zworestein and David Cordover from Chess Kids which sponsored the tournament. All the tournament details are available on the Australian Junior 2012 website and the results and nearly all the games are available on the Tornelo website. Thanks to all the players who did a great job recording their games on Tornelo. Next year the Championships will be held in Queensland.

Chess sensation, 10 year-old Anton Smirnov, Aust. Junior Lightning Chess Champion 2012.

DAILY BULLETIN n Junior 2012 Australia nships Chess Champio

Ever! stralian Junior

The Biggest Au

ers!

play Welcome to all (60%) far a massive 137 ent Organiser) rs registered so r before, so Of the 231 playe Australian Junio r played in an onsibility to host neve resp the have on players! s Club took ships less than to all these new pion ome “Melbourne Ches Cham welc s U/14s) are n Junior Ches tigious rs (all in the the 2012 Australia it became clear that this pres rienced playe The most expe th when e possible 9 months ago This was mad 6 Aus Junior! have a home. playing in their ed their new offer ol event did not Scho Street Primary been working because Spensley then we have fantastic a venue. Since ger? school hall as order for a ers getting youn everything in t parents Are chess play the top furiously to get Spensley Stree with most of ding help from is wide-open inclu ion petit nstown Classic. com cipating. This tournament nd at the Quee have kids parti Zeala New even t in don' 's ralia who players away be one of Aust Smirnov (pictured will n this Anto ors ld competit ly large on 10-year-o youngest With over 250 with particular My money is and become the competitions, We are most the U18 event biggest chess U14 divisions. below) to win history! U10, U12 and r Champion in in the event numbers in the rs are playing Australian Junio how many junio this will be their them excited to see of y and for man petition. for the first time n (ACF) rated com nal Chess Federatio cipating in a natio first Australian the kids do, parti hopefully Regardless of how rience and will an amazing expe establish and m tournament is usias chess enth try. coun the nd strengthen their arou their peers from friendships with short drive ourne cafes a ty of great Melb r still, a There are plen School, but bette ourne Street Primary at bring Melb from Spensley ing work are of parents will be plenty small group of e Ther t. sley Stree from the cafes to Spen snacks for sale e lunch food and a fabulous coffe refreshments, hired even e for We have school canteen. trade organic coffe ide excellent fair machine to prov daily dose.” will need their those parents who

Message from

rnam Simon Dale (Tou

Cameron, a girl, Stella ible? We have be eligible Can it be poss y form, she will t worry, rding to her entr entered – acco tournament! Don’ 4 prize in this rule… es mov her for an Under rding about the reco we’ll be lenient

Comooooonicati

on During the

Event

tin like this. il) a Daily Bulle print (and ema ges, give Each day we will you of any chan arbiters will tell This is where ent progress. nam tour on rt repo reminders and s stuff, ches res, pictu ip, lots of juicy goss occasional joke. Plus, you get the and maybe even player profiles

Daily Bulletin prod

Kashish Christian (3rd in the Open U/12) and Alana Chew Lee (Girls U/12 Champion). www.chesskids.com.au

uced and spon

Kids sored by Chess

.au .chesskids.com 1300 424 377 www

Check out the tournament bulletins at: http://www.2012ausjuniorchamps.com/bulletin Page 3

Knight Times

February 2012

Aust Junior games Game of a Life-Time 14 year-old Jimmy Ying did not win the Australian U/14 Championships. He finished in a creditable tie for 4th place. He did however produce the most amazing game of the championships, featuring a truly “once in a life-time” finish. Well done Jimmy! Australian Junior Championships - U/14

Peter Gregoric 1141 Jimmy Ying 1500

The other game that appealed to me was also in the U/14 Championship. Tom Maguire had a very interesting attack going with Victoria’s Jason Chew defending tenaciously. The finish was nice but could have been even better! Australian Junior Championships - U/14

Jason Chew Tom Maguire

1162 1231

Sicilian 3 Bb5 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.c3 g6 6.O-O Bg7 7.d3 Ne7 8.Be3 d6 9.Na3 Ba6 10.Re1 Rb8 11.Rb1 Qa5 12.Qd2 O-O 13.Rec1 Rb7 14.Nc2 Rfb8 15.Nce1 f5 16.a3 Rb3 17.Qc2 Qb6 18.d4 Qb5 19.Nd2 Qe2 20.h3 R3b7 21.dxc5 dxc5 22.Bxc5 Rd8 23.Be3 fxe4 24.Nxe4 Qf1+ 25.Kh2 Be5+ 26.g3 Nf5 27.Nc5 Nxe3 28.fxe3 Rf7 29.Ne4 Be2 30.Ng2 Qf3 31.Nh4 Qxe3 32.Re1

Two Knights Defence 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Be2 h6 9.Nh3 Qd5 10.f3? (10.0-0) Bxh3 11.gxh3 Bc5 12.Nc3?

Black to move and win!

12...Qd4 13.Ne4 Nxe4 14.Rf1 Nf2 15.c3 Qh4 16.Qc2 Nd3+ 17.Kd1 Qe1+ 18.Rxe1 Nf2# 0-1 www.chesskids.com.au

32...Rd2 33.Qxd2 Rf2+ 34.Ng2 Bxg3+ 35.Nxg3 Qxd2 Missing a beautiful finish with 35...Rxg2+ 36 Kxg2 Qf3+ 37.Kh2 Qf2+ 38.Kh1 Bf3#. What a pity! 36.Ne4 Qf4+ 37.Ng3 Rxg2+ 38.Kxg2 Qf3+ 0-1 Page 4

Knight Times

The

February 2012

Junior Training Squad For the first lesson on 9th Feb. we went through one of Lachlan Martin’s games from the Australian Junior. Aust. U/14 Chess Championships 2012

Kevin Ren ACF 739 Lachlan Martin ACF 725 Ruy Lopez

Chess Kids is running an exciting Junior Training Program in 2012 for aspiring juniors... Program Outline ...

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.d3? 5.d4 is better to attack the centre. 5... a6 6.Bxc6+ bxc6 7.O-O Be7 8.Ne2? White is struggling to find a middle-game plan as he didn’t play d4. 8...Bg4? A bad pin as Black does not want to exchange his B. 9.Ng3 O-O 10.h3 Be6 11.b3 c5 12.c4

Students will take part in as many of the following activities as they are able. We understand kids have lots of commitments to sport, music, school and have different amounts of time to devote to chess. Everything we do will be posted on the website www.chesstraining.com.au for students to download and review. This makes it a valuable experience for players who are in regional areas and cannot get to any weekly in-person squad-meets. ✦ 75 minute formal training session each week (in-person) ✦ 45 minute online lesson each week (with IM Robert Jamieson) ✦ 4 days, 3 nights at an Intensive Training Camp ✦ Play and receive coaching at approved weekend events during the year (adult/ open events) ✦ Coaching at the 2013 Australian Junior Chess Championships (Qld) ✦ Online resources and copies of all lessons for review ✦ Squadlings will be encouraged to contribute articles to Knight Times www.chesskids.com.au

12...Re8 13.Ng5 Qd7 14.Qf3 h6 15.Nxe6 Qxe6 16.Nf5 Kh7 17.Qg3 Rg8 18.Qh4 Kh8 19.g4? Missing 19.Bxh6! gxh6 20.Qxh6+ Nh7 21.Qxe6 fxe6 22.Nxe7+19. ... Nxg4?? Panics under pressure. 19...Bd8 was OK. 20.Qxg4 Kh7 21.h4 g5 22.Kh2 (22.h5!) gxh4 23.Qh5 Bg5 24.f4 Bxf4+ 25.Bxf4 exf4 26.Rxf4 Rg5 27.Qxh4 Qf6 28.Rg1 Rag8 29.Rxg5 Rxg5 30.Rg4 Rxf5? 31.exf5 Qb2+ 32.Rg2 Qe5+ 33.Qg3 1-0 Page 5

Knight Times

February 2012

On Queens.... “Every pawn longs to become a Queen” - Anon.

In Chess, as in Life, the Queen is the most powerful piece.

This piece beats a Queen any day!

Queen Victoria

"It's always better to sacrifice your opponent's queen." - Savielly Tartakower

“A Queen's sacrifice, even when fairly obvious, always rejoices the heart of the chess-lover” - Savielly Tartakower

www.chesskids.com.au

Two chess players are playing a correspondence game. White lives at the South Pole. Black lives at the North Pole. The postal service is rather slow and play proceeds at the rate of one move per year. After 15 years of play, white makes a daring queen sacrifice, the consequences of which are by no means clear. A year later, as he sees the postman returning, he is very excited. He thinks "Will black take my queen ?", "Is the sacrifice sound ?". He tears open the reply and sees "Jadoube" (I adjust). Page 6

Knight Times

February 2012

Are you good at Rook Endings?

With IM Robert Jamieson

Many years ago, when I was flying to Athens to play in the World Junior Chess Championships, guess which chess book I took to read on the plane. I took “Rook Endings” by Smyslov and Levenfish, which was the most comprehensive book available on that subject. Why Rook Endings? Well rook endings are by far the most common form of endgame and if you could chose to be good at any part of chess, skill at rook endings would be the most useful to you. Openings come and go, but rook endings will always be there! Even endings with just R+P v R can be quite tricky. We all know that if you are the side with just the R you must try to get your King in front of the pawn to stop it queening, but where do you put your rook? There is a saying “rooks belong behind passed pawns” which is often the best spot, but sometimes you need to defend with your rook from the side or even from in front of the pawn. If instead you go by the saying “rooks operate best from a distance” you can’t go too wrong. What happens however if your King can’t get in front of the pawn? Can you still draw? Have a look at the first diagram and see how you go. Can Black find a way to draw, even with his King cut-off, or will White still emerge victorious? www.chesskids.com.au

White to Play White can try to win with 1.Rb7 Ka5 2.Kc4 Rc8+ 3.Kd5 Rd8+ 4.Kc5 Rc8+ 5.Kd6 Rd8+ 6.Rd7 Rb8 7.d5 Kb6 8.Rf7 Rd8+ 9.Ke6 Rh8 10.d6 Re8+ 11.Kd7 Rh8 12.Rf1 Rh7+ 13.Ke6 Kc6 14.Rc1+ Kb7 15.d7 Rh6+ 16.Ke7 Rh7+ but Black achieves a draw using his Rook defending from the side. Instead White plays 1.d5!! so that if 1… Rxd5+? 2.Kc4 threatens both mate and the R so White wins immediately. Black therefore cannot take the pawn and with the pawn on the 5th rank the White K can easily escort the pawn through to queening. The defence of Rook in front of the pawn only works if the pawn is on the second, third or fourth ranks. If you don’t follow this perhaps I should lend you my copy of “Rook Endings.” Now we all know that chess players are good at “pattern recognition”. You have just learnt a little bit about rook endings from playing through the example above. Can Page 7

Knight Times

February 2012

you apply this knowledge to the position in the second diagram. Can White queen his pawn or will Black get back in time to stop it?

thoroughly. They are often of a very difficult nature, and sometimes while apparently very simple they are in reality extremely intricate. chess quote by Jose Capablanca

Can you do better than an international master?

IM S.Solomon - IM V.Smirnov Australian Championship 2012 Black has chances to win as his passed pawn is well advanced, but he needs to get his King in front of the pawn.

White to Play What was your conclusion? White can try 1.Rb1 but after 1...Kf6 2.h6 Rf4+ 3.Kh3 (or 3.Kh5 Rf5+) 3...Rf5 its a draw. Instead 1.h6 Kf6 2.h7 Kg7 3.h8=Q+!! Kxh8 4.Kg4+ wins the R and the game. A similar pattern to the previous example. Well done if you recognised it!

Endings of one rook and pawns are about the most common sort of endings arising on the chess board. Yet though they do occur so often, few have mastered them

He therefore chose 1...Ke4. Can you spot a small problem with this move?

Chess World for all your chess requisites. 758 North Rd, Ormond www.chessworld.com.au Ph. 1300 424 377 www.chesskids.com.au

Page 8