2021 Queensland Open (Cairns) [Postponed Indefinitely]

[Shaun94]

The 2021 Queensland Open will be held in Cairns at Trinity Anglican School August 14th and 15th. This is a CAQ state title event open to all participants (must be a financial member of CAQ).

When - August 14th/15th
Where - Bishop Centre, Trinity Anglican School White Rock Campus
Who - All financial members of CAQ
Arbiter - FA Shaun Curtis
Time control - 60 + 10

A big thank you to Trinity Anglican School for sponsoring the tournament, I'm sure it will be a well attended tournament with many things to do in Cairns outside the tournament (I'm sure trips to the reef will be popular!).

For all enquiries please contact myself via email - scurtis@gardinerchess.com.au

More information to come in the coming months

[Tony Dowden]

I'm keen to play in this event!

[Shaun94]

I'm keen to play in this event!

Great to hear Tony, i will have more information regarding this tournament shortly. I think it would be great to see a few players from SEQ travel up to beautiful Cairns for this tournament.

I believe it will be the first time Cairns has hosted the Queensland Open (I could certainly be wrong but not within my time of involvement).

The venue is a beautiful large hall with carpeted floors and air-conditioning for comfort. I believe CM Jonas Muller won the Cairns open last year and he has told me he plans to play again.

[Afitz]

Pretty sure Cairns has not ever hosted the Queensland Open. There was no Cairns Open last year, but Jonas Muller did indeed win it the year prior, and David Spuler the year before that.

The Cairns chess scene has a few keen adults, but has a very strong junior base thanks to the schools who participate in Interschool tournaments. There are regularly close to 100 players attending Interschool events from the Cairns Hinterland (Mareeba, Atherton, Ravenshoe) and the host school Trinity Anglican School has one of the largest school chess programs in the state!

[ER]

Count me in thanks!

[strangerep]

I think it would be great to see a few players from SEQ travel up to beautiful Cairns for this tournament.
I believe it will be the first time Cairns has hosted the Queensland Open [...]

If the Cairns organizers are trying to attract Southerners, it would be good if they could go and check out nearby accommodation. I've visited the Whitsundays a few times in winter, and found that neither aircon, nor fans in the bedrooms, were necessary. However, insect screening on all windows and balcony doors is essential -- so you can leave them open overnight without birds coming in early and making a hell of a mess. (This is a BIG problem on Hamilton Is.) Cairns is another 30-ish mins (by plane) further north but I don't know how much difference that would make to temp and humidity.

It would also be good if the local organizers would ask to actually view a few rooms, not just prices and types of rooms. Some places look nice in the lobby but have really crap rooms (which is why they are cheap). Most northern places have ceiling fans in the bedrooms, but they're usually noisy even on the slowest speed. Some places have ventilation fans that run intermittently all night, or even 24x7, and cannot be turned off. ("Martinique" in Airlie Beach was like that -- I abandoned my booking after only 1 night.)

@Shaun94: do you know when the Cairns event will be definitely, absolutely, positively, confirmed? [Assuming no COVID issues nor Chinese military invasion of FNQ, of course.]

[Shaun94]

If the Cairns organizers are trying to attract Southerners, it would be good if they could go and check out nearby accommodation. I've visited the Whitsundays a few times in winter, and found that neither aircon, nor fans in the bedrooms, were necessary. However, insect screening on all windows and balcony doors is essential -- so you can leave them open overnight without birds coming in early and making a hell of a mess. (This is a BIG problem on Hamilton Is.) Cairns is another 30-ish mins (by plane) further north but I don't know how much difference that would make to temp and humidity.

It would also be good if the local organizers would ask to actually view a few rooms, not just prices and types of rooms. Some places look nice in the lobby but have really crap rooms (which is why they are cheap). Most northern places have ceiling fans in the bedrooms, but they're usually noisy even on the slowest speed. Some places have ventilation fans that run intermittently all night, or even 24x7, and cannot be turned off. ("Martinique" in Airlie Beach was like that -- I abandoned my booking after only 1 night.)

@Shaun94: do you know when the Cairns event will be definitely, absolutely, positively, confirmed? [Assuming no COVID issues nor Chinese military invasion of FNQ, of course.]

I will begin by confirming that the event is going ahead with myself as chief organiser in conjunction with local members of the chess community including David Long from Trinity Anglican School.

When it comes to accommodation, I stay at the Park Regis/Piermonde apartments when I am in Cairns as my preferred accommodation. This is because it is near the dining precincts and in near the centre of town while still close to a main road making commuting anywhere I need to go quite easy to do. I would also add that I have never had an issue with noise or amenities whilst staying here.

Everywhere I've stayed in Cairns has air-conditioning so I can't really comment on any issues around ceiling fans, leaving doors open etc. as I simply have not had to do it. I can say that the temperature/humidity is what you would expect when it comes to Tropical Far North Queensland. This being said it is a lovely place to visit though I would not run an event in FNQ without air-conditioning ever....

My email address is: scurtis@gardinerchess.com.au I am happy to converse with any participants (or potential participants) regarding this event.

[Shaun94]

Count me in thanks!

Great to hear, looking forward to seeing you there

[Tony Dowden]

Great to hear Tony, i will have more information regarding this tournament shortly. I think it would be great to see a few players from SEQ travel up to beautiful Cairns for this tournament.

I believe it will be the first time Cairns has hosted the Queensland Open (I could certainly be wrong but not within my time of involvement).

The venue is a beautiful large hall with carpeted floors and air-conditioning for comfort. I believe CM Jonas Muller won the Cairns open last year and he has told me he plans to play again.

Many thanks Shaun. You can count me in too, second in line just behind Elliot! Thanks for confirming the venue has air-conditioning (although I was assuming it would, as A/C is pretty much ubiquitous in Cairns these days).

[ER]

Many thanks Shaun. You can count me in too, second in line just behind Elliot! Thanks for confirming the venue has air-conditioning (although I was assuming it would, as A/C is pretty much ubiquitous in Cairns these days).

Hi Tony, would be nice to meet again at Cairns. Last couple of times 1) In Canberra and 2) in Brisbane we didn't have time to say or do much! Cheers!

[Shaun94]

Many thanks Shaun. You can count me in too, second in line just behind Elliot! Thanks for confirming the venue has air-conditioning (although I was assuming it would, as A/C is pretty much ubiquitous in Cairns these days).

You are correct aircon is a must in Cairns and Trinity Anglican School's Bishop Centre is a lovely venue that is no exception. Looking forward to seeing you there!

[Gattaca]

Jean and I hope to arrive in Cairns in late June and would try to stay until after the event, so we are possible entrants, although not 100% yet as we live in uncertain times.

What I can say it that we both absolutely love Cairns and surrounds and are hoping to buy a home away from home in Cairns on this winter reconnaissance trip. Our hope is that we can begin to spend our winters in Cairns whilst retaining our Melbourne home as our main base. I have been studying the Cairns real estate market for years now and we have already spent several holidays there. We had no issues with accommodation and the reservations expressed by strangerep I don't think would be an issue in winter, more so in the wet season.

Why do we love Cairns? Well apart from the fact that I was born in Babinda, just south of Cairns (so the tropics are in my blood) and Jean grew up in Durban, South Africa, which has some climatic similarities, I would pose the following question.

What other place is a day trip from the world's greatest reef, the teeming jungle of the Daintree rainforest and the sub-tropical rolling dairy hills of the Atherton Tablelands, is small but culturally active and has an international airport for easy travel anywhere in the world? Where else can you swim on white tropical beaches like Trinity Beach in the morning, the clean freshwater pools of the Babinda Boulders in the afternoon and the pristine, deepwater crater of Lake Eacham in the evening?

[Gattaca]

Give up?

Cairns!

Bet you didn't expect that...

[Shaun94]

Great to hear that there is a lot of interest in the tournament!

[Tony Dowden]

Jean and I hope to arrive in Cairns in late June and would try to stay until after the event, so we are possible entrants, although not 100% yet as we live in uncertain times. ... What other place is a day trip from the world's greatest reef, the teeming jungle of the Daintree rainforest and the sub-tropical rolling dairy hills of the Atherton Tablelands, is small but culturally active and has an international airport for easy travel anywhere in the world? Where else can you swim on white tropical beaches like Trinity Beach in the morning, the clean freshwater pools of the Babinda Boulders in the afternoon and the pristine, deepwater crater of Lake Eacham in the evening?

Too easy Guy ... Palm Cove

Great to hear you and Jean might be in town! Marina and I can't get enough of FNQ and the world class natural wonders there either. August will be our fifth trip. We plan to be based at Palm Cove for a week after the chess event plus a hideaway in the Daintree for two nights, so I hope you can stay a bit longer without going totally troppo and that we can get to meet up with you again.