Author: Timothy Ha

Auckland Casual Chess Wednesday nights start on September 9

Mark your calendars! We are starting Auckland Casual Chess Wednesday nights on September 9. This will be a weekly, beginner-friendly, adult-only chess night where you can come to learn the game or enjoy a few casual games with friends.

No pressure of the Monday night tournaments, and no embarrassment of losing to a toddler!

Some might ask: what happens to Adult Improvers Tuesday nights? Don’t worry — they will continue as usual, focusing on instruction, solving puzzles, learning positional strategies, and reviewing Monday night games with our coach. Tuesday sessions can be intellectually demanding at times, so if you just want to play and socialise, come on a Wednesday! Our volunteers will answer your questions, play casual games, and walk you through why a game was won or lost.

Wednesday night runs from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM — feel free to drop in or leave at any time in between.

P.S. We have plenty of parking space.

ACC Rapid returns Sunday 30 August + ADW (Sep 5-6,12-13) + ACCR Sep 19

We’ve got two Auckland Chess Centre Rapid (ACCR) events of six 25+5 games in one day, very suitable for those preparing for NZ Interschool Finals next month. The events are open, with a good prize fund (300 NZD or half of entry fees, whichever is higher).

ACCR Sunday, Aug 30, https://newzealandchess.nz/auckland-rapid-30august-2026/
ACCR Saturday, Sep 19, https://newzealandchess.nz/auckland-rapid-19september-2026/

Also available is the September edition of ACC Double Weekends (ADW) classical, when you can practice the 90+30 tournament format over two consecutive weekends of Sep 5-6 and 12-13 (eight classical games). ADW is organised like Monday club nights, when you can take as many half point byes as necessary.

Register online for ADW September here, https://newzealandchess.nz/auckland-double-weekends-september-2026/

ACC Double Weekends continue in August (08-09, 22-23)

Our training series of eight classical games 90+30 in two weekends will continue in August.  Similar to Monday nights, you can take as many half point byes as necessary.  Please register online here: https://newzealandchess.nz/auckland-double-weekends-august-2026/

The playing dates are:

August 8 – rounds 1 & 2
August 9 – rounds 3 & 4
August 22 – rounds 5 & 6
August 23 – rounds 7 & 8

If you want to take byes in advance, please let us know via email after registration.  Thanks.

Auckland Chess Centre Rapid continues 19/7

The Auckland Chess Centre Rapid (ACCR) continues this Sunday.  It’s a one-day rapid chess event with the time control of 25+5, the same one that is used at Interschool National Finals.  Come train with us and have fun.  We also offer a prize fund of at least 300 NZD or half of entry fees, whichever is larger.

Registration is online at https://newzealandchess.nz/auckland-rapid-19july-2026/

Rumour has it, we also have a very special guest visiting ACC on the day, so stay tuned for updates via email and/or social media 🙂

ACC Rapid, one-day event on 28/6

Auckland Chess Centre Rapid 28th June 2026 is a single day 6 round rapid chess tournament that is open to all players. Games are played using the normal New Zealand rapid time control of 25 minutes plus 5 seconds increment per move.

While the tournament is unrated, it features a prize fund to reward players for their effort. This makes the event ideal for players who wish to play more games under such a time control to prepare for higher level rapid tournaments or the New Zealand Interschools National Finals.

Register online at https://newzealandchess.nz/auckland-rapid-28june-2026/

ACC Rapid, one-day event on 14/6

Auckland Chess Centre Rapid 14th June 2026 is a single day 6 round rapid chess tournament that is open to all players. Games are played using the normal New Zealand rapid time control of 25 minutes plus 5 seconds increment per move.

While the tournament is unrated, it features a prize fund to reward players for their effort. This makes the event ideal for players who wish to play more games under such a time control to prepare for higher level rapid tournaments or the New Zealand Interschools National Finals.

Register online at https://newzealandchess.nz/auckland-rapid-14june-2026/

Autumn Rapid (25/5, 8/6) and Auckland King’s Birthday (30/5-1/6)

FM Alphaeus Ang won the ACC Autumn Cup on 7.0/7 with five players on 5.0/7 sharing second equal – Sai Somaraju, Jack McConnell, Eden Xu, Hunter Po’e-Tofaeono, and Grayson Po’e-Tofaeono.

Our next Monday night series is the Autumn Rapid on May 25 and June 8 — don’t forget to register via the club calendar page.

On King’s Birthday weekend we’ll also run an open tournament with prize money – register online here https://newzealandchess.nz/auckland-kings-birthday-weekender-2026/

ACC Double Weekends return for 2026

In 2025, we introduced a double-weekend format where eight games are played over two standard Saturday-Sunday weekends. This is convenient for planning as it requires no annual leave and avoids the complications of long weekends or public holidays. These are run as internal club events, allowing players to take as many half-point byes as needed. The time control is also 90+30, unlike evening games of 60+30.

Please use our calendar to see the dates, or click the following links to register for ACC Double Weekends 2026

Registration started for Summer Cup (Feb 2-Mar 16)

Our first Monday night tournament of 2026 will be the Summer Cup (Feb 2 – Mar 16), seven rounds of 60+30 games.

Registration has started on Jan 8, at 9:00 am.  Please use the link https://www.trybooking.com/nz/events/landing/18343 — and as usual, if you have travel plans or exams that will force you to skip 3 or more rounds, please consider not registering to give space to others.

The full calendar for the year is still being updated at https://aucklandchess.nz/calendar, but we already published the dates for the long weekenders, starting with Auckland Anniversary (Jan 24-26) and Waitangi Weekender (Feb 6-8).  Please follow the calendar link to register for those.