July and August will be good months for chess in North Queensland, with the Mackay Open July 21–22nd, Townsville Open (aka North Queensland Open) August 11–12th, and the Cairns Open just after from August 25–26nd.
See the CAQ Upcoming Events for details.
The club has a Bunnings sausage sizzle fundraiser coming up on the 25th of March (that’s a Sunday), and we need your help to make light work of it! ðŸŒðŸŒðŸŒ We do pretty decent trade at these things, so there will be plenty to do.
Details are on our events calendar. If you’re able to help please get in touch with us so we can schedule you in.
The NQ Open 2017 was run from the 5th to 6th of August, and the club continued to experiment with the annual event by increasing the prize money to $3,500 (more than doubled from last year) due to our fundraising activities with Bunnings, but also with support from the Chess Association of Queensland and Gardiner Chess. Once again a number of players travelled to Townsville, and we had competitors arriving from Charters Towers, Cairns, Mackay, Dysart, Brisbane, Canberra, and Sydney; so thanks to all those players who travelled to get here! The tournament was again won by Stephen Solomon making it back to back championship wins, but even though he had a perfect score of 6/6, his run was not quite as smooth as it was at the Mackay Open earlier this year.
The Mackay Open was on from the 22nd to 23rd of July this year, and once again the club sent down a handful of players to compete. Here’s a few photos from the playing venue at the Harrup Park Country Club:
It’s been quite a big year for the club, with increased membership, an expanded NQ Open, a new Facebook page, a few appearances at the Cotters Markets, some media presence (including local ABC radio and the Townsville Bulletin), an updated website (yes, this one), a new club logo, and a couple of successful Bunnings sausage sizzle fundraisers (the funds from which will make a big difference for the next NQ Open). So thanks to all who played a part in 2016 (on and off the board) and made the year a good one!
In the 4th round of 2016 Chess Olympiad (in Baku) Australian GM David Smerdon faced World Champion Magnus Carlsen, and actually managed to get a strong attack going before deciding to force a draw! Unfortunately the Australian team didn’t quite prevail over the Norwegians, but it looks like they put in a great effort. The game is below, and also a candid post-game interview from David.
As Townsville Chess Club’s premier event, the North Queensland Open was stepped up a notch this year with a total prize pool of $1,600 and a new venue in the city. Thanks go to our sponsors and financial supporters which include the Townsville City Council, Gardiner Chess, and the Chess Association of Queensland. We also appreciate the work of Vetta Productions, who created the promotional material.