Jenni Oliver Resigns

We are informed that Canberra chess organiser Jenni Oliver has resigned from various administrative roles. This surely is a tremendous loss to Australian chess. Courtesy of ACT Junior Chess League PR officer Libby Smith, here is a short sample of Mrs Oliver's chessic achievements.

• Jenni identified a number of problems with management of the Australian junior team overseas. In 1998, she worked with Lionel Smerdon and Marge Lip to bring a new structure to the management.
• Jenni and [husband] Tony have sponsored and organised a number of grandmaster coaching camps for the team travelling to the World Youth Chess Championships.
• Jenni and Tony have had a pivotal role in the development of the NECG (& now ERGAS) Elite Australian Squad including the organisation of the program in its first two years and hosting the first training camp.
• Team Captain of the Belconnen Team, which took part in the inaugural Australian Teams Championships in Caloundra.
• ACT State delegate to the Australian Women’s Chess League since 1999 and has organized the Dorothy Dibley matches as well as contributing the ACT news for the magazines
• Revamped and reinvigorated ACTJCL's tournament schedule. Young players in the ACT have the opportunity to play in many more tournaments, and in a greater variety of tournaments, than their counterparts in other states.
• Under Jenni's leadership, ACTJCL became more financially sound than ever before, enabling the organisation to make long overdue equipment purchases.

In Australia's liveliest chess bulletin board there is a thread that reads more like a collection of tributes to a permanent passing. Well, The Closet Grandmaster believes in a more optimistic approach. The Australian chess public ought to reject Mrs Oliver's resignation and beseech her to reconsider.