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Doncaster Chess Club timetable changes
Doncaster Chess Club timetable has changed. Toddler chess classes now on FRIDAY nights. Spaces still available. Visit the website.
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Jammo’s Chess Puzzle #127
I had a call from GM Ian Rogers the other day. He was organising a fund-raising auction for the Australian 16U team going to Turkey later in the year and was wondering if I’d like to bid for some of the chess memorabilia. I ended up bidding $100 for Bill Egan’s new book “The Doeberl Cup – 50 years of Australian Chess History” (retail $39.95). My bid was successful. It may have cost me $60 more than the retail price, but I figured if it helped to get “Check Norris” (the #1 ranked player on Chess Kids On-Line) out of the country for a few weeks it was money well spent. That would give me a chance to catch up to him!
I’ve discovered that the book comes with a CD in the back, with 6000 chess games from the Doeberl Cup as well, and it’s a big book with 336 pages, photos, games and player profiles. It’s a great read that I’d recommend to everyone, even juniors who know only the digital age. It’s nice to learn a bit about the background of Australian Chess rather than just the current players. Better still you get to see pictures of Australia’s top players before they became fat, bald and old. Ian Rogers and Guy West look much the same but the rest of us have changed somewhat!
Speaking of Guy West, I don’t think Guy ever won the Doeberl Cup, but he has provided us with a nice puzzle for this week. Guy is playing White against Alistair Anderson and clearly has a good attack going. Can you find a pretty finish for White?
6nr/Rnrq1pbk/3p3p/1pp1pNP1/1P2P2R/1BPP1Q2/3B1PK1/8 w – - 0 1White to play and win
Celebrate a GM promotion
GM Garima
Promotions happen in chess all the time, yet they are too rarely celebrated. Today we celebrate!
I’ve heard from teachers, parents and coaches more times than I can count how lucky we are to have Garima on our team. Mostly you will know her from phone or email, so I thought I’d post a rare picture so everyone can see how gorgeous she is too. 
Over the last 3 years she has gradually taken on more responsibilities as she demonstrated exceptional performance again and again. Garima has finally stepped up to the senior role of General Manager of our entire business.
I am certain she’ll do a much better job than I have until now, so expect a lot from Chess Kids in years to come. I’m personally grateful to Garima for accepting this demanding role as it frees some of my time to invest in other interests.
So, congratulations Garima and we all wish you continued success!
Jammo’s Chess Puzzle #125
Last week I mentioned the Doeberl Cup in Canberra played over Easter, and the following week Australia’s best players moved on to Sydney for the Sydney International Open. I was hoping to follow the games and find some nice puzzles to show you but the slack organisers didn’t get around to uploading the games onto their website. All the more disappointing as our better players are all fighting hard for a place in the Australian Olympiad team and it would have been great to see all their games.
What to do? A couple of weeks ago one of my on-line opponents, Check Norris, sent me a puzzle from one of his own games which I was able to use. Fortunately this week another of my on-line mates, Murray Beard, has sent me a puzzle that he thought may be of interest. It’s Black to play and win and it’s got me stumped. I’ve been studying the position for quite sometime and I can’t find a checkmate for Black. Worse than that, it dawns on me that Black is a Queen down so if he can’t checkmate he’s clearly going to lose. Perhaps Murray has sent me the wrong position and left off the black Queen by mistake? If so, which square should the Queen be on to solve the puzzle? Clearly, I need your help to solve this puzzle. Can you explain what has happened and whether or not there is a win for Black?
3rr1nk/pR6/3b3p/5p2/2Pp1PpP/P2n4/6BK/1RBQ2N1 b – - 0 1Black to play and win
Jammo’s Chess Puzzle #124
Last week I mentioned about the Doeberl Cup being played in Canberra over Easter and hoped that Bobby Cheng would come up with some interesting puzzles for us. I tried to follow the games live on the internet but the organisers made a fatal mistake. They allocated 4 live game boards to the Premier Division but invited 8 foreign grandmasters to play in the tournament. It’s simple maths! 8 grandmasters, 2 players per board, 4 live boards – there were no live boards left for me to watch the Australian players’ games! ARGHHH! Never-the-less, if you waited long enough, eventually the games would appear on the website so I did get to see a few of Bobby’s games. He started very well with an impressive win against Australia’s top player, Zhao Yuan-Zhong and in the last round a win would have given Bobby an IM result. I’m still waiting to see that game, but Bobby did come good with a puzzle for us.
In round 5 he was white against GM Attila Czebe from Hungary and they reached the following position. Czebe played 53…Nxc4 54.Kxc4 Ke5 and offered a draw. Bobby thought for a while and accepted. In this sequence of events there were two blunders and one “brilliancy”. What were they and why?
8/4p3/3k4/4n3/2BK4/4pP2/4P3/8 b – - 2 53What were the blunders and brilliancy?
Chess Club Timetable, Ormond, Doncaster and Waverley
Classes start from April 16 onwards. Please contact us on 1300 424 377 for enquiries or bookings (essential). Note that Doncaster has weekend classes on a SUNDAY and not Saturday. Take advantage of the DISCOUNT Voucher (here) for when you join the Doncaster Chess Club.
We also have one Chess Kids session per week in Mt Waverley on a Friday night.
