Friday 11 January 2013

Australian Open 'Rest' Day

The Rest Day of the Australian Open turned out to be one of my busiest days of the tournament, which seems to go against the type of day suggested by the name ...
The morning featured the Australian Chess Federation National Conference, where long-time ACF Treasurer Norm Greenwood was awarded Life Membership of the ACF. The election of the ACF Office bearers saw Gary Wastell re-elected as President, after the initial vote was tied 13-13 between him & Brian Jones, but once the tie was announced, Brian withdrew his nomination. Bill Gletsos was re-elected unopposed as Deputy President, Norm Greenwood was re-elected unopposed as Treasurer, Kevin Bonham & Leonid Sandler were elected as Vice Presidents in a three-way vote, with former VP Dennis Jessop being the unlucky one, while I was elected unopposed as the new Secretary, replacing Tom Accola who did not wish to continue in the role.
After the National Conference, the Australian Lightning Championships was run, with 77 players, including GM Igor Khenkin, IMs Vladimir Smirnov, George Xie, Leonid Smirnov & a late arriving James Morris, as well as a number of other titled players. I decided to play in the event & it took me a while to recall how to play the game well & quickly (I started with 0.5/3), but recovered somewhat to finish on 6.5/11 in a tie for 18th place. The tournament was eventually won by FM Bobby Cheng, who defeated IM James Morris in a playoff, after they both finished on 9.5/11 (this was after James arrived late & started with two half-point byes, so he effectively scored 8.5/9!). IM Vladimir Smirnov finished in third, while GM Khenkin, IM Sandler & FM Canfell finished in equal fourth.
The day concluded for me with an ACF Executive meeting, which included the issue of what to do about the Australian Women's Champion title, as it has not been awarded since 2003! Feel free to add your suggestions in the comments. At present, the title is awarded to the highest finishing female in the Australian Open, provided there are at least 6 players from at least 3 different states, but this rarely seems to happen!
I've also managed to get through another few videos & have loaded them at the bottom of the post.

Norm Greenwood with his Life Membership plaque
 The ACF National Conference during the counting of the votes of the Presidential election
A full playing hall for the Lightning Championships
Bobby Cheng & James Morris before the start of their playoff match
A large crowd tried to get a suitable vantage point for the playoff match
FM Bobby Cheng collecting his prize money from ACF President Gary Wastell
 Round 6 in review
Rest Day Highlights

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