Chess Events

Time to promote some events, and catch up some chess activities I've seen. I've always been of the opinion that I owe it to the chess community to give back some of my time and energy for all the enjoyment I've got out of it. A karma type of thing. It's great anyway meeting people with a similar interest.

I've been really lucky to be involved in chess coaching for the past 10 years and find out about lots of events for young players. Like in many countries the challenge for chess organisers in Australia is not developing new players at primary school level, but maintaining interest into high school and beyond. As a result, here in Melbourne, we have thousands of primary school players, but a small number of players making it to adult game.

At the end of August, the Victorian Inter- University Championship took place at RMIT. It was a pretty strong tournament held in a really friendly atmosphere, and in wonderful surroundings.

On the left, 2 of the favourites Zhigen Lin and Simon Schmidt

The amazing ceiling of the venue, Storey Hall

The winner of the tournament was Sunilson Suderson of Deakin, who wasn't the only strong unrated player in the field. Dara Akdag from Denmark studying at Melboure Uni has a FIDE rating of 2182 and finished second, ahead of local boy Thomas Feng.

At an even younger age group, I recently visited Hobart, Tasmania to help coach at a chess camp. There were about 25 kids, some of whom were getting pretty good, ranging from about 7 years old through to about 13 or 14. A Tasmanian Chess Camp means lots of coaching, and lots of outdoor activities, a blitz tournament, a simul, a barbecue and lots of fun. This is all thanks to the Hobart International Junior Chess Club, and especially the efforts of Mellissa Harvey.

Nearly empty scout hut, most of the kids were outside having a break from chess coaching.

I focussed on simple messages, though some of the material was quite tricky, including some very advanced ideas about pins. Although talking about such a basic concept as the pin might not seem that inspiring, when you show pins in game situations, and then set some tough puzzles about creating pins, exploiting pins, defending pins, and checking whether pins are good or not. Tactics are always good for juniors, and adding real game settings give the concepts some context, and kids love hearing stories about famous chess players (or not so famous chess players).

A blitz tournament was held on the Saturday evening, with some adults taking part to add some tough competition for the kids. It is great that adults should take the time to do this, as kids need role models, and targets in their development. Here's my game against the player who came second, Ross George. Please remember, this was a 5 minute game, and as far as I can remember, the move order is right!

There have been some films about chess over the years, and last week there was a showing of the film, "The Polgar Variant" at my local cinema. International arbiter (IA) Gary Bekker had the bright idea of running a chess demonstration in the foyer of the cinema before the film started, and I brought along some clocks and checked things out.

Zhi Lin Guo taking on members of the public

Gary Bekker playing Charlotte Dilnutt with publicity, all good for chess.

And finally, in the red corner...

The President of Frankston Chess Club, Rafael Ward, also happens to be the impetus behind Chess Boxing Australia. Here we get a combination of chess and boxing with the first to either checkmate or knock out being the winner. This weekend sees the inaugural Fight Knight. While boxers would have a good chance of knocking out chess players, apparently a competitor has to have a certain proficiency in both disciplines to compete.....shame :D

Hobart

Spending a long weekend away from home to play chess is usually a tiring affair. It is normally a case of travel, play, analyse, prepare, play etc, until going home time. However, last weekend I was able to spend a fair bit of time away from the board to wander around Hobart. I've been to Hobart quite a few times now, but not often as a tourist. I was staying at a cheap hotel/pub called The Welcome Stranger which was basic, but ok. The only downside was an incident that happened on Saturday night at about 1.30 am. I was woken by shouting and overheard a fight had happened. The police were called and some guests were escorted from the building. While it was somewhat entertaining, it was also a bit unnerving and it ruined my nights sleep. Saying that, it could have happened anywhere, so I'm not blaming the hotel which was fine.

The hotel is situated on Davey Road about 5 minutes walk from Salamanca Place. It is simply a case of crossing the road, walking through St David's Park and you're there. This is what I did most mornings before the games followed by a walk to Sandy Bay, or up Davey Street, towards the venue.

St David's Park

St David's Park

St David's Park

St David's Park was interesting as it is old and was the site of a cemetery in Hobart's early days. Now there are memorials around the lush green surroundings. Certainly in Australian terms, Hobart is historically rich and the areas around Salamanca and Battery Point are historically important. Fortunately for me, these were close to where I was staying, and only about 20 minutes walk from the venue.

St George's Church, Battery Point

The 'Kelly Steps' linking Salamanca to Battery Point

The wharves have boats both old and new

After my last game on Monday, I had plenty of free time to go wandering around Hobart. So after a quick coffee break in Salamanca, I walked around the dockside area, and along to the Queen's Domain. It was a beautiful crisp day, great for walking and sightseeing.

Part of Louis Bernacchi Momument

The Cenotaph in Queen's Domain

Tasman Bridge from Queen's Domain

The magnificent view south along the River Derwent.

Walking around Hobart will certainly help with fitness. Certainly compared to Melbourne it is very hilly, and the centrepiece of all is Mount Wellington which looks glorious from almost any perspective, and in almost any conditions.

Mt Wellington looming over the city

Ominous clouds covering Mt Wellington's peak

Salamanca Market, with a rainbow coming out of Mt Wellington.

 All in all I had an enjoyable trip that wasn't all chess. The weather was great and Hobart is compact and perfect for walking. And as a bonus, when I came back to Melbourne, it felt positively springlike after the colder Tasmanian winter. Any time I think nostalgically about England (not often it must be said!), I will have to go to Hobart in winter to experience frosty conditions like there were on Monday morning. It was a shock to the system after nearly 10 years in Melbourne!

Procrastination

Having not written on this blog for about 6 weeks, I guess I could be accused of procrastinating. Procrastination refers to the state of putting off more important tasks for less important and possibly more pleasurable ones. So I guess I could respond by saying that this blog, which is after all a bit of fun, is a form of procrastination in itself! Whatever, the fact is that I enjoy writing, but have been either too busy, or too involved with other things to put much effort into this blog. That is about to change.

I expect 2014 to be another eventful year for me. I intend to start playing chess again, and writing about it here. I'll be at the Australian Championship in the role of a coach from the 2nd of January and will be blogging about the event here. One of the things I've been doing over the past weeks is work on my own game in preparation for my resumption of play, but I've also been working on preparation for my classes next year, and found some interesting ideas that I will be sharing here. Do I have plans and aims for my chess? Indeed I do, but these will have to wait for another post (more procrastination!).

I also have some trips planned, both chess related and not. I very much enjoyed turning this into a travel blog, and my future excursions will be documented here. For instance, just before Christmas I traveled down to Hobart to help coach at a chess camp organised by the Hobart Junior Chess Club and the Tasmanian Chess Association. It was a great success, the kids working throughout the weekend, and progressing even during the weekend. This is the 4th or 5th time I've been to Tasmania to help run one of these camps, and what makes the camps so special is the amazing scenery.

Mount Wellington from the Hobart Chess Camp

The view towards Bruny Island

I'll also be writing about other things that interest me (I have tried to get others to write on this blog, but it looks like it's going to be just me, so I'll write about whatever I feel like) and that includes running (yes, I've set some goals for that too), reading and drinking good coffee around my home town of Melbourne. This isn't procrastinating, but rather diversifying. Chess players who come to this blog for chess content will have to accept that sometimes I feel like writing about other things, and those who come for other subjects will have to accept that this blog has a lot to do with chess.

Expect 2 to 3 posts a week from now on, the next one coming tomorrow, possibly the day after. Now that's procrastination!