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Box Hill Chess Club  
3 Rochester Road Canterbury

50 years of CHESS in Box Hill

Getting better all the time.

Introduction

This booklet has been prepared to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Box Hill Chess Club. It contains articles of various forms, some of which document the achievements of club members over the years, others give an account of significant events in the club’s history, some provide statistical information and some are of an anecdotal nature that give an insight into various personalities around the club.

Content

Significant Events

1. The development of Junior chess at Box Hill Chess Club
2. The search for new premises
3. Personal reflections from the early years
4. Relations with the Council
5. The Web page and Computerisation

Club Members and their Achievements

6. Pen pictures of life members
7. Club Presidents 1952-2002
8. Club Champions 1952-2002
9. Box Hill Open Winners 1971-2002
10. Box Hill Lightning Tournament Winners 1988-2002
11. Box Hill Autumn Cup Winners 1993-2002

Some Anecdotes

12. Trevor Stanning
13. Garry Lycett
14. John Kable
15. Marieke Van Dijk (as told to Howard Liston)

Some Statistics

16. Membership Growth and Ratings (2002)
 

1. The Development of Junior Chess at Box Hill Chess Club

From its inception in 1952 the Box Hill chess club has produced strong junior players, one of the foundation members Don Robson won the Australian junior championship in 1954. He was followed by the very talented Bill Kerr who won the tournament in 1964 and 1965 but left the club shortly after never to be seen again.
Probably the best known player to get a start at Box Hill was IM Stephen Solomon whose first major success was a victory at the Australian Junior in 1980 although no longer a member at that stage.
Many other well-known Victorian players such as FM Eddy Levi, Robin Hill, Greg Frean and very briefly Bill Jordan started their career at the club.
However the club always failed to hang on to these talented young players due to the lack of goals once they reached the top level at the club, and as that top level was only moderately high they needed to further their development some place else.
This however all changed when an 8-year-old Denis Bourmistrov arrived and in his second year at the club gained selection for the under 10 world junior tournament; he brought a coach and a group of admirers including Ruperto Lugo, Ryan Carey, and James Papa. The club then decided that something needed to be done and appointed IM Michael Gluzman as club coach and a junior coaching program was started under his guidance.
Almost overnight membership doubled and doubled again with the shift to new premises. Due to the pressure of large groups of beginners on the Friday night a Tuesday coaching program was started and
Whitehorse Junior Chess Inc. was formed to take over the Tuesday night coaching and organise Sunday tournaments.
The club coach IM Michael Gluzman remains heavily involved with the club and has been responsible for the introduction of many talented young players such as Michelle Lee and Sally-Ann Richter who now form the backbone of a talented and strong girls group at the club. Mindful however of the mistakes of the past, the committee continues to search for top players from the past and the present who provide the role models for our juniors and provide them with the incentive to reach the very top. This policy culminated this year in the Golden Jubilee Club championship when the participation of GM Darryl Johansen, IM Michael Gluzman, and Mirko Rujevic, FM Scott Wastney and top players Sam Low and Michael Woodhams was secured.
It was very pleasing and exciting for us the BHCC committee that the player who came out on top of this distinguished field was the very same Denis Bourmistrov who started us on this journey.
Now some statistics for 2002 Club members 172 of which 62 are juniors.
             National titleholders in 2001  
                         Michelle Lee under 18 girls champion. 
                         Sam Chow under 14 open champion 
                         Sally-Ann Richter under 14 girls champion 
                         Rochelleh Ziffer under 10 girls champion 
             World junior selections 
                         Sally Ann Richter [under 14 girls] 
                         Rochelleh Ziffer [under 10 girls] 
             National titleholders in 2002 
                         Denis Bourmistrov under 14 open champion. 
                         Ruperto Lugo under 12 open champion 
                         Casey Hickman under 12 girls champion 
             World junior selections 
                        Anjelija Zivanovic [under 18 girls] 
                        Ruperto Lugo [under 12 boys] 
                        Michelle Lee [under 12 girls] 

(Gerrit Hartland)

           
     
Last updated Sunday December 21, 2008 		   
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