2007 NSW
Country Reserve Team Champions
Get into chess, its a lifetime of enjoyment!
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International Master Smerdon secures his final Grandmaster normAustralian International Master David Smerdon (rated 2461) scored his third and final Grandmaster norm in the Czechoslovakia Open played in Pardubice, Czechoslovakia. Smerdon started the event with three wins beating GM M. Oleksienko (Ukraine) (rated 2567) in round 3. A draw with GM G. Gajewski (Poland) (rated 2556) in round 4 was followed by a win against IM A.Vovk (Ukraine) (rated 2504). A GM norm is a 2600+ performance - at this point Smerdon was performing at 2805. Smerdon lost to GM V. Laznicka (Czechoslovakia) (rated 2594), beat GM E. Sveshnikov (Latvia) (rated 2504), drew with IM M. Kravtsiv (Ukraine) (rated 2492) and lost to IM K. Maslak (Russia) (rated 2548) in the final four rounds for an overall score of 6/9 (placing him equal 30th) and a performance rating of 2607. Smerdon's latest result will push his rating up to about 2480, he will need to lift this to the minimum 2500 to be awarded the title of Grandmaster, but this should happen in the near future and Australian Chess will celebrate the arrival of only the 3rd Australian to achieve this honour. Fellow Aussie, FM Manuel Weeks (rated 2200) scored 3.5/9 in the same event. With several other Australian players also near attaining the elusive Grandmaster title, and several Australian chess events proving to the world that we are no longer a chess backwater, the future is very bright for any young player willing to take up the challenge. To make that carrot look even juicier, a comment by the recently retired Ian Rogers is well worth noting, he remarked that chess had been the vehicle that allowed him to visit over 70 countries during his playing career and that he had enjoyed every minute of it. Further illustration of what opportunities await young chess players. Australia has had junior teams competing in Singapore and Agri (Turkey) in recent months with many 14 - 15 year olds getting the experiences that most of us only dream about. So get yourself along to the local chess club at the Bowling Club on Thursday at 6 pm, you could be opening the door to world. Like all activities, chess can be enjoyed just for the game, the more competitive you want to be the more skilled you need to become. It really is your choice as to how far you take it. |
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