Special Notice - Olympiad Fundraiser Tournament
Editorial
by Miles Patterson
Welcome to a special issue of the ACF Newsletter. The Olympiad appeal is making good progress but there is still a long way to go. Now you can support it by entering a tournament online - see below.
Australian Olympiad Chess.com Fundraiser - July 14th $500 Prize Fund
By Jack Rodgers
Help send the Australian chess team to the Budapest Olympiad!
I am running a Chess.com blitz fundraiser on the 14th of July at 4pm AEST with a $500 prize fund.
All profits will be donated to the Australian Olympiad appeal to help cover the approximate $3,000 the players face just to fly to Budapest.
For $10 you can play for your share of the prize fund and potentially pair with an Australian representative. Open to all Australian citizens and residents.
Additional donations welcome.
Entry details on Chess Chat
ACF OLYMPIAD APPEAL – 45TH CHESS OLYMPIAD
The biennial Chess Olympiad is one of the world’s largest sporting events, and the premier teams event on the global chess calendar. After a succession of Asian venues in recent years, the Olympiad returns to Europe – Budapest, the Hungarian capital, is hosting the 45th Olympiad from 10-23 September.
Australia has performed remarkably well against the rest of the world. We have contested every Olympiad since 1968, our open team tying for 25th place (of 187) and our women tying for 35th (of 161) at the 2022 Olympiad in Chennai.
Again, this year Australia will be one of the expected 190 nations competing, fielding an open and a women’s team (each five players plus captain) of our best available players, together with a Head of Delegation representing ACF at the FIDE Congress.
…but there’s a catch
…the Australian nemesis, the tyranny of distance – Australia is a long way from just about anywhere. As airlines recover from the Covid-19 downturn, the days of cheap fares are yet to return. By departing on 6th September and delaying the return flight till 24th September, China Eastern is the best available (at mid-March, but fares change almost daily), with a $1561 return fare from Sydney via Shanghai to Budapest – 28 hours outbound and 36 hours homeward bound (via Wuhan, Xi-An and Shanghai).
While other national teams receive government support, our teams must meet their own travel costs.
That’s where you come in. The teams need your support to represent us. Please give what you can to the appeal.
All donations will be acknowledged on the ACF web site and in the ACF Newsletter. The Australian Chess Federation will match all donations dollar-for-dollar up to half of the total cost, leaving an estimated $11,000 to be raised, including incidental costs such as FIDE registration and entry fees; and uniform costs.
To donate, click here:
http://www.acfappeal.aunz.org/donate.html
Newsletter Article Contributions
Please email the editor if there is something you would like published in the next edition of this newsletter.
Examples of articles:
Upcoming chess event.
Results of a chess event that was completed since the last newsletter was published.
Any information that is chess related, especially Australian chess, that could be interesting.