There were a large number of players taking byes in Round 5 due to exams and concerns over Covid-19. A reminder that half point byes are always available on request provided they are notified before 6:45pm on Monday evening.
We will do a further post on the weekend regarding Covid-19 and the Chess Club.
For now a reminder that entries for the Autumn Rapid and Autumn Cups are now open for all players who played in the Summer Cup.
A Grade Round 5
Allen Fan and Alphaeus Ang got wins to share the lead. Daniel Gong is just behind on 4 points. Another 7 players are on 3.5
Upsets in A Grade Round 5
Rauen Le Grange drew with Gordon Morrell Euan McDougall beat Nigel Metge Virginia Milne drew with Abraham Deng
B Grade Round 5
The Leader from round 4, Neil Sonnekus was beaten by the underrated Anderson Chen.
Anderson is now in the lead by himself with Neil, Mike Steiner and Baraa Al-Afaghani half a point behind.
Upsets in B Grade Round 5
Anderson Chen beat Neil Sonnekus Pranav Shenoy beat Adam Macauley Charles Liu beat Lucas Xiao Adam Ali beat Luiz Stephany Filho
The Autumn Rapid will be starting on March 30th while the Autumn Cup is on April 20th. Due to lack of space we are limiting entries to both and opening entry in stages. Please read below for details.
Limit on Field Sizes
Autumn Rapid – 75 players Autumn Cup – 85 players
Entry dates
Entries should be via the sheet at the club or a text or email to Simon Lyall ( 021 575 233 ). Text message is preferred
6pm March 8 – Open for players who played in the Summer Cup A Grade
6pm March 13 – Open for players who played in the Summer Cup B Grade (plus players above)
6pm March 20 – Open for all
Entries are first-in-first served within each group. Players will be expected to have payed subscriptions before the start of the rapid. Early entries will be ignored.
Entries are not confirm until posted on website.
Grades in the Autumn Cup
Sorted of players will be via Current FIDE rating with NZCF rating as a backup.
Registration for the Autumn Rapid and Autumn Cup will go up in the next few days. Due to lack of physical space at the Club there will be restrictions on numbers in both tournaments.
A reminder that if you are sick and possibly infectious then please do not come to club nights. You can get a half-point bye for any round of a Swiss tournament bye texting Simon Lyall on 021 575 233 before 6:45pm.
A reminder that the draft draws below is not final. It will change when people takes byes. Also if you turn up at 7 on a Club night and are listed as a bye then please tell Simon and stick around for a while. We will try and pair you with somebody whose opponent hasn’t turned up.
The two leaders in round 3, Allen Fan and Alphaeus Ang drew so they are now joined by two other juniors (Daniel Gong and Felix Xie) in 1st equal with 3.5.
The adults from A Grade are all half a point behind on 3.
Upsets in A Grade round 4
Daqi Mao beat Abraham Deng Muhammad Razzaq beat Grant Burrows Akshay Sharma drew with Alex Nagorski Felix Xie beat Gordon Morrell Jeffrey Yu beat Joe Wang Boyuan Zhang beat Simon Lyall Winston Weng beat Eric Wu
B Grade
Neil Sonnekus is now the sole leader, undefeated on 4 points. Just behind on 3.5 are Alan Leach and Anderson Chen
Upsets in B Grade round 4
Sophia Feng beat Hunter Po’e-Tofaeono Anderson Chen beat Wayne McDougall Adam Ali beat John McClory Pranav Shenoy beat Ayaan Vasudeva
The 2021 NZ Chess Congress has just been announced. It will be in Palmerston North at the start of January 2021 and comprise 7 tournaments including the NZ Open Championship. An Entry form with details is online.
There are now just two players on 3 points. Allan Fan (who beat Bruce Watson in Round 3) and Alphaeus Ang.
The Black player was also the winner on the bottom 6 boards.
A Potential draw for round 4 is below.
Upsets in A Grade round 3
Allen Fan beat Bruce Watson Lewis Jordan drew with Gordon Morell Hugh Gao drew with Kenny Zhang
B Grade
Fewer upsets on the top boards in B grade than A. There are 3 leaders Mike Steiner, Neil Sonnekus and Jacob Yuan on 3 points. 3 others are just back on 2.5 points.
Upsets in A Grade round 4
Sai Somearaju beat John McClory (986 point rating difference!) Sophia Feng beat Liuz Filho Anderson Chen beat Sylvia McDougall Eden Oshri beat Ying Wang
The first round of the Summer Cup was on Monday the 10th of February.
We were very full with 97 players entered in the tournament and 84 people playing in Round 1. This is at the limit of the number of players we can fit into the centre so no further entries will be accepted for this tournament.
The Schedule for 2020 is now up. The first night back will be February 3rd which is the Blitz. This will be followed by the Summer Rapid starting on February the 10th.
Entries for 2020 events will start on Monday January 20th
The council was elected unopposed with Nigel Metge replacing Bryan Latimer. Club Captain Simon Lyall also outlined the scheduled for 2020 saying there would be fewer round-robins and more FIDE- and NZCF-rated tournaments.
Prize-Giving
Winners of the major tournaments this year were announced and photos taken of those present (by Nigel Metge). Club President Bruce Wheeler also picked the “Centre Spirit” winner who was Yolanda Chang.
Centre Spirit Winner Yolander Chang
Pairs Tournament
The 4 round pairs tournament was run (2 people on each team, alternating moves) with the highest rated players paired with the lowest.
Winners were the mid-range pair of Stephen Peak and Jeffrey Yu with 3.5/4
Second equal were 3 other teams led by Paul Garbett, Bruce Watson and Alexei Kulashko all on 3 points.
Mike Steadman vs Alphaeus Ang – White picked up a free pawn in the opening and kept his advantage for the rest of the game. 1-0
Nigel Metge vs Daniel Runcan – White made a mistake in the opening to give Black a led and then White gave up a piece. 0-1
Felix Xie vs Bruce Watson – Black got a better opening and White tried giving up an exchange to generate counter-play. Black was still better and was able to get two passed pawns. Black then gave up a piece to draw away White’s pieces and then pushed though his passed pawn to the 8th rank. 0-1
Xie vs Watson. Black to play 26. ..Rxa4 giving up the Bishop but the B-pawn is unstoppable.
John Duneas vs Philli Park-Tamati – Black resigned for some reason in an even position. I think he believed he’d made a blunder and was lost. 1-0
Don Eade vs Paul Macdonald – Black lost a piece and resigned in the face of losing another. 1-0
Paul Garbett vs Scott Treanor – Black played a dubious opening line and was quickly under attack. 1-0
Jasmine Zhang vs Simon Lyall – White got the better of the early game but after some swaps the position was even. Black then managed to create a passed pawn with an extra pawn and one of White’s pieces was stuck on the wrong side of the board.
Alex Nagorski vs Winston Weng – White picked up a pawn early but Black got it back and by move 28 they just had a rook and some pawns each. White picked up a pawn but it wasn’t enough for a win. Draw
Daqi Mao vs Tim Ha – An even opening with Black deviating from standard lines but White was not able to find the best reply. Which tried some tricks but they backfired and he was left a piece down. 0-1
Jordan Lewis vs Aaron Wang – After a even game they players swapped to a King and pawn endgame that was wining for Black. 0-1
Hao Tang vs Jeffrey Yu – Black lost and exchange and then his position fell apart. 1-0
Abraham Deng vs Karl Holdo – Steady swaps until White made a mistake and Black picked up a pawn. Black threw away his lead and settled for a repetition. Draw
Kenny Zhang vs Grant Burrows – Black got away with an offbeat line thta left White with a very bad pawn structure. The game swapped to an endgame but Black made a fatal pawn push. 1-0
Lakshmi Ravi vs Rauen Le Grange – Black exposed his position to Bxh7 and almost lost quickly but came out “just” and exchange down. Black tried some tactics but White had little trouble. 1-0
Isabelle Ning vs Yolanda Chang – White got a better position out of the opening. Black was tied up and on the defensive but managed to wriggle out. After some swaps the position was even but unbalanced. White was able to prevail. 1-0
Arkadi Polyakevich vs Anya Thurner – A lot of back and forth. Black went into the endgame a little better but made a couple of mistakes and White was able to win. 1-0
Upsets in A Grade Round 7
Simon Lyall beat Jasmine Zhang Don Eade beat Paul Macdonald Winston Weng drew with Alex Nagorski Aaron Wang beat Jordan Lewis
Final Result Spring Cup A Grade
1st Mike Steadman 6.0 2nd Daniel Runcan 5.5 3rd= Ben Hague, John Duneas, Alphaeus Ang, Bruce Watson, Don Eade 5.0
B Grade
Lucas Xiao vs David Zhu – A steady swap of pieces and a draw agreed in an even position. Draw
Tracey Tang vs Mukammad Razzaq – Black made a strong pawn push (supported by pieces) against Black’s castled King which Black was unable to defend. 0-1
Mike Steiner vs Alan Leach – Steady piece swapped into a draw.
Upsets in B-Grade Round 7
Anas Al-Afaghani beat John Liu Bevis Jiang beat Philbert Zhai Hunter Po’e-Tofaeono drew with Wayne McDougall
Final Results Spring Cup B Grade
1st Mukammad Razzaq 5.5 2nd= Thomas Zhang, Lucas Xiao, David Zhu 5.0
