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CHESS
by Ian Rogers Play at Byron Services Club, Mon 7pm Eighteen months ago Levon Aronian was seen as Magnus Carlsen’s likely challenger for the world title, but a disastrous Candidates tournament saw his hopes dashed, and he recently dropped out of the world’s top ten for the first time in a decade. According to Aronian, his Australian girlfriend Arianne Caoili gave him a pep talk and his answer was to start the ongoing Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis like a man possessed. In a tournament featuring nine of the top eleven players in the world – arguably the strongest tournament held since 1938 – Aronian adopted a new persona of chess caveman, winning two early games with violent attacks to share the tournament lead as early as round four. In front of an appreciative crowd, Aronian showed off his games and the spectacular variations he had seen, and answered questions from the spectators. He explained that he had been studying the manoeuvring games of the legendary Armenian World
Champion Tigran Petrosian but when he sat down at the board he decided to give up on manoeuvring and ‘just go for it!’ Most of all, Aronian seemed happy; it appeared that his profession was no longer a chore for him. The following game was Aronian’s Pearl of Saint Louis, against local favourite Wesley So. Saint Louis 2015 White: W So Black: L Aronian Opening: Nimzo-Indian Defence 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 Attempting to repeat the formula which [almost] brought Anand success in a World Championship game against Carlsen. 4...c5 5.d5 0-0 6.e4 d6 7.Nge2 a6 8.a4 Ba5!? A new move, revealed to Aronian by Hungary’s Peter Leko. 9.Bd2 exd5 10.cxd5 Nh5 11.g3 Nd7 12.Bg2 b5! 13.g4!? B4! 14.Nb1?! Too ambitious, said Aronian, who preferred 14.gxh5 bxc3 15.bxc3 14...Qh4+ 15.Kf1 Ne5!! 16.Be1 If 16.gxh5 f5! Black crashes through, while on 16.Ng3 Aronian was intending 16...Nxg4!! 17.fxg4 Bxg4 followed by 18...f5, again with a crushing attack. 16...Qf6! 17.gxh5 Nxf3 18.Bf2 Bg4! A materialist would go for 18...Qxb2 but Aronian has eyes only for the White king. 19.Qc1 Nd4! 20.Nxd4 cxd4 21.e5 Desperation, but on 21.Nd2 d3 22.Kg1 Rac8 23.Qe1 Rc2 decides. 21...dxe5 22.Nd2 Rac8 23.Qb1 b3! 24.Nxb3 Bb6 25.a5 Ba7 26.Kg1 Bf5! 27.Be4 Allowing a stunning finish, but otherwise 27...e4 decides. 27...Qg5+ 28.Kf1 Qf4!! 0-1
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A susurration of Smiths Q A thankyou to the anonymous person who saved my life on Coorabell Scenic Drive! His reflexes were fantastic. A lot of drivers on this road either talk on their mobiles, speed, or manage both simultaneously. I am grateful to this superior driver, who noticed that I saw his approach but was rolling onto the road regardless. I had been sliding my foot from accelerator to brake instead of lifting then lowering it, and my foot went underneath the brake and the top of my boot hooked onto the bottom of the brake. I was struggling to get it free and watching him heading straight for me. He swerved, with style. Please, people, drive carefully. The roads are wet and the potholes massive. Sarah Smith Mullumbimby
News that Byron Shire Council has moved to sell off
Q
continued from page 12 time will result in a healthier ecology, substantial cost saving for ratepayers and be a few more steps we can take towards lowering our carbon emissions. Cr Basil Cameron Goonengerry
Unequal treatment
Recently a Sydney mayor was asked by the press why his council had allowed a development owned by the deputy mayor to grossly exceed the normal height limit. The mayor’s reply was that the relevant planning report recommending in favour of the development had been undertaken by an ‘independent consultant’, so all was obviously well. Sound familiar? That’s pre-
the iconic Roundhouse site in Ocean Shores will bring mixed emotions for our community and those who worked hard to preserve this site over many years. One of the first actions I took upon being elected to parliament was to write to the NSW lands minister Niall Blair seeking an urgent meeting to ask the government to purchase the Roundhouse site from Council for community use. Unfortunately, the government wasn’t interested. It’s quite clear that the Liberal-National state government has learnt nothing from the record swings against them at the last state election here on the north coast and wants to continue the decades of neglect experienced by the Ocean Shores community. The fact that the sale of the Roundhouse site has been part of Council’s financial sustainability plan for many years, and a prerequisite for investment in other community infrastructure
Q Prime Minister Abbott is coy about leaks claiming he pushed Washington to request that Australia expand its air strikes against ISIS from Iraq to Syria. He is also coy both about the legality of bombing Syria and of the risks the RAAF faces. While the US and Australia rightly demonise the
al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front, Israel is busy helping them. The Iranian Fars News Agency reports that about 465 ‘death cult’ terrorists were treated in Israel’s Nahariya hospital in Galilee and, in confirmation of this, Israel defence minister Moshe Ya’alon states, ‘We’ve assisted them under two conditions, that they don’t get too close to the border, and that they don’t touch the Druze’ (Times of Israel, July 31). Given Australia’s counterterrorism legislation under which nurse Adam Brookman faces 22 years’ imprisonment for assisting ISIS in Syria, how can Australia continue its intimate relationship with Israel which clearly is in cahoots with a terrorist organisation? Surely, at the very least, the Israeli embassy should be shut down and Israel reported to the Security Council. Gareth W R Smith Palestine Liberation Centre Byron Bay
cisely what happened locally in relation to Cr Hunter’s DA for a ‘road transport terminal’. Council staff claimed that they were obliged to engage an outside consultant to avoid a perception of bias in terms of assessing Cr Hunter’s DA. That’s incorrect; it was actually up to elected councillors to decide whether staff should assess his DA in the normal way or to farm it out to a consultant, but councillors weren’t told of this. Never mind the dubious process, however. What I’m on about here is that Cr Hunter’s DA, which he (supposedly) prepared himself, was, in my opinion, short of information on a range of issues in a way that other applicants would be taken to task for.
The Ballina consultant, despite these defects, recommended in favour of Cr Hunter’s proposal. Council staff did not mention them when they presented the consultant’s report to Council. Elected councillors? They swallowed it hook, line and sinker, of course. I can still see Cr Richardson’s face as he smiled at Cr Hunter after they voted in favour. His smile said, ‘See, we Greens aren’t so bad’. Chump Central. Anyway the reason I’m regurgitating all this now is that in July I finally lodged my DA for conversion of my MO to Community Title, and guess what? I’ve received a letter from Environmental Health demanding ‘verification’ of the contamination status of
my land. That’s funny; no such demand was issued to Cr Hunter, even though his application mentioned the subject, ie no information whatsoever was provided. ‘Like treatment in like situations is fundamental to the proper administration of planning law.’ Interestingly the council officer who signed the letter to me also had a dig at my consultant for not following the consultant’s guidelines as put out by some bureaucracy or other. Let’s find out just how strongly our GM is committed to reducing legal costs. I’m not the bending-over type and over the years my back has become more and more rigid. Fast Buck$ Coorabell
BROOM BROOM!
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netdaily.net.au 16 September 2, 2015 The Byron Shire Echo
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SAVE WATER SAVE MONEY An initiative by Byron Shire Council and Rous Water
in the Ocean Shores area, demonstrates that we need a fairer funding model for local councils in NSW. Asset sales, deteriorating roads and the introduction of paid parking are all symptomatic of a funding model that doesn’t work for high-visitation tourism shires like ours. In spite of the state government’s inaction and failure to redress funding issues for our Shire, I will continue to fight to ensure that Ocean Shores and the rest of our community starts to get the attention we deserve. Tamara Smith MP for Ballina
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