Category: Uncategorized

Apologies for the delay at getting this edition out. Reminder of the upcoming events:

• The Papatoetoe Rapid on Saturday December 2nd
• The Papatoetoe Junior Rapid on Sunday December 3rd
• The New Zealand Chess Congress tournaments on January 1st to 12th 2018 in Palmerston North. Late Entry fees apply from the 1st of December

Details about all the above tournaments are on the New Zealand Chess calendar page.

• Vega page for the Spring Cup
• Spring Cup Round 4 by Ewan Green with Help from Tim Ha

Games

Bruce Watson vs Ben Hague – White sacrificed a Knight for two central pawns and then Black had to give the piece back a few moves later leaving White will ahead. 1-0

Allen Fan vs Alexei Kulashko – A very long game. White looked like he might be able to hold a draw in the endgame but a couple of inaccurate moves allowed Black into his position. 0-1

Xingyang Liu vs Paul Macdonald – Annotated by Paul in the PGN – White went astray in the opening and was two pawns down, a few moves later he lost a piece by allowing a fork and resigned. 0-1

Keith Ward vs Daniel Gong – White got a good position out of the opening with a strong centre and well developed pieces. But he made a couple of errors in the endgame and lost his advantage instantly. 0-1

Alphaeus Ang vs Eric Wu – Black brought his queen out early and allow White to get a tactic which won two pieces. 1-0

Simon Lyall vs Alex Nagorski – Black was better most of the game which swapped down to a Bishop and pawn endgame. White made a mistake and lost a pawn to give Black the winning position but the game swung back again as White Queened with check. However White was unable to find the winning tactic and settled for a perpetual check.  Draw.

Gordon Morrell vs Nicole Qin – White exploited errors in Black’s defence to pick up and exchange and then gradually win another pawn to bust open Black’s position. 1-0

Nathan Goodhue vs Aaron Wang – 1. b4 strikes again. White used two central bishops to boss Black’s pieces around. He trapped a bishop and went a piece ahead. Swaps were followed by checkmate. 1-0

Louie Wei vs Roy Seabrook – 1. d5 Nf6 2. f4?! ended up leaving white with a cramped position.  Black looked comfortable but lost a key pawn and then another. An aggressive counter-attack by Black was unsuccessful. 1-0

Mark Brimble vs John Liu – Black mixed up his opening lines and got in trouble has white kicked his Queen around. He survived but lost a pawn and then resigned after losing a rook to a tactic. 1-0

Clinton Wells vs Uday Jain – Black had good opening but soon went downhill. 1-0

Joy Qin vs Philli Park-Tamati – White was in a good position but allowed a tactic which gave Black a mate threat. White resigned at the imminent loss of material. 0-1

Tom Fu vs Don Eade – White tried a nice attack but it was not enough and Black’s counter-attack against his exposed position left White soon to be mated. 0-1

Virginia Milne vs Abraham Deng – Black had a good game but allowed White to get two rooks on the seventh which put White enough pawns ahead to win. 1-0

Winston Weng vs Stephen Peak – Black picked up a couple of pawns and then piled on a big attack. 0-1

Erica Hi vs Tim Ha – White had a good start but lost a piece. 0-1

Upsets in Round 4:

Philli Park-Tamati beat Joy Qin (850 points rating difference!)
Louie Wei beat Roy Seabrook
Bing Kui Yu beat Wayne McDougall
Rosa Ryu beat Leo Li
Jacob Chai beat James Liu

Standing after Round 4:

1st= Bruce Watson and Alexei Kulaskho on 4/4
3rd= Danial Gone and Alphaeus Ang on 3.5
A large number of players on 3

 

White a large number of players on similar scores there were still a lot of games with wide gaps in ratings between players.

A reminder to about the following upcoming tournaments

• The Papatoetoe Rapid on Saturday December 2nd
• The Papatoetoe Junior Rapid on Sunday December 3rd
• The New Zealand Chess Congress tournaments on January 1st to 12th 2018 in Palmerston North. Late Entry fees apply from the 1st of December

Details about all the above tournaments are on the New Zealand Chess calendar page.

• Vega page for the Spring Cup
• Spring Cup Round 3 PGN  by Tim Ha

Games

Ben Hague vs Gordon Morrell – Black was going okay and had some pressure but made a mistake that gave White a fatal attack. 1-0

Alexei Kulashko vs Nathan Goodhue – Black made some mistakes in the opening and lost two pawns. He resigned a few moves later in a hopeless position. 1-0

Roy Seabrook vs Bruce Watson – White had a good start but game two pawns in return for some pressure. However Black neutralized the pressure, picked off a couple more pawns and White resigned. 0-1

Don Eade vs Alphaeus Ang – White tried an opening innovation ( 1. e4 Nc6 2. b3 Nf6 3. Nc3 ) that quickly got in trouble as Black mounted a strong attack. White resigned on Move 20 on the verge of going two pieces down. 0-1

John Liu vs Allen Fan – White allowed Black a long pawn chain stretching to White’s 3rd rank (see below). After Black punched a hole in front of White’s King he just had to pour in pieces until White ran out of useful defenders. 0-1

Alex Nagorski vs Erica Hu – An exciting game with threats all over the place on a very open board. Eventually White managed to prevail . 1-0

Winston Weng vs Keith Ward – White allowed Black to get pressure on his King and then missed a tactic. He resigned on move 20 5 pawns down with further attacks to come. 0-1

Brian Zhao vs Simon Lyall – Black played passively and let White get a pawn chain and a passed pawn. But then he let Black’s Queen get though the chain and after picking up 4 pawns Black had a simple win. 0-1

Steven Peak vs Xin Yang Liu – Score-sheets incomplete but White says: “I got a pawn down in the late middle game and this was enough to convert to a win after about 50 moves” 0-1

Paul Macdonald vs Felix Xie – Black played passively and gave White some opportunities which added up to a mating attack. 1-0

Ying Wang vs Clinton Wells – Black picked up an exchange in an early attack and got white under a lot of pressure. He kept swapping of pieces and stayed ahead into a won endgame. 0-1

Upsets in round 3:

• • Uday Jain beat Andrew Michael
  • Abraham Deng beat Wayne McDougall
  • Tom Fu beat Rodney Li
  • Philli Park-Tamati David Ansell

Also Isabelle Ning came very close to beating Nicole Qin in a game that finished very late.

Draft Draw for Round 4

Round 2 of the Spring Cup was back to a more conventional Swiss pairing but with players still a little mixed up due to the first round draw and large number of byes.

A reminder to Club members about the following upcoming tournaments

• The ACC Junior Rapid on Sunday November 19th
• The Papatoetoe Rapid on Saturday December 2nd
• The Papatoetoe Junior Rapid on Sunday December 3rd
• The New Zealand Chess Congress tournaments on January 1st to 12th 2018 in Palmerston North.

Details about all the above tournaments are on the New Zealand Chess calendar page.

• Vega page for the Spring Cup
• Spring Cup round 2 PGN by Ewan Green

Tim Ha vs Ben Hague – A fairly even start but Black was eventually able to pick up a pawn and keep it in a swap to a Knight and pawn endgame. White resigned after the position became unholdable. 0-1

Grant Burrows vs Alexei Kulashko – White went a pawn down and then game up a piece for a mate threat. But Black stop the threat to leave White just a pawn down. 0-1

Bruce Watson vs Rodney Li – White got a good start out of the opening and then won a couple of pieces. 1-0

Gordon Morrell vs Euan McDougall – Black lost his Queen on move 9. 1-0

Nathan Goodhue vs Ying Wang – White played the b4 openign popular at the Club. He picked up an early pawn and then after locking the King-side and centre, he pushed his “passed” a-pawn. Black eventually lost a piece. 1-0

Keith Ward vs John Liu – A good start for White, he kicked around Black’s Queen and developed faster. But the position locked up with pawns and the players repeated positions. Draw

Wayne McDougall vs Roy Seabrook – This Game is fully annotated (with lost of question marks) by Ewan Green – Black had a good start and was ahead but miscalculated and lost a piece. But Black played on an kept the pressure against White who missed several winning chances (while he concentrated on defending). Eventually after many ups and downs Black won but even as White resigned he missed a drawing trick. 0-1

David Ansell vs Don Eade – White started well but after central pawns were swapped Black had too many threats for White to counter and he was checkmated. 0-1

Eric Wu vs Abraham Deng – After a shaky opening White got a pawn ahead and managed to keep it into the endgame. He eventually won. 1-0

Erica Hu vs Stephen Peak – White got into a better position but took the draw rather than pushing for a win. Draw.

Daniel Gong vs Jeffrey Yu – Black got lost in the openign a gave up a pawn and then allowed White a strong attack. White picked up a piece and more. 1-0

Alphaeus Ang vs Renae Ghadiali – Black got lost in the opening and allowed White to pick up a pawn. A few moves later she lost a piece to a tactic. 1-0

Jacob Barry vs Alex Nagorski – Black had a good opening and White position was poor very early as Black stormed it with pawns and pieces. White resigned as he was about to lose a piece. 0-1

Mark Brimble vs Winston Weng – White’s opening line seems to be unpopular for a reason. He game up a pawn for no compensation. The players castled opposite sides and pushed pawns. White got there first but missed the best move and Black got a winning counter-attack. 0-1

Simon Lyall vs Saasha Ghadiali – Black played the opening incorrectly and White made a series of attacking moves. Black eventually failed to defend correctly against one. 1-0

Virginia Milne vs Philli Park-Tamati – White lined up an attack but the players took a draw rather than testing if it would work. Draw

Xinyang Liu vs Kelvin Xiao – Black castled into White’s attack. White kept attacking and eventually trapped Black’s Queen. 1-0

Oscar Qin vs Jacob Chai – Black was worse out of the opening. White then attacked Black’s king and managed to pick up a piece at one point. 1-0

Silei Wang vs Eric Liang – White got a pawn and an attack but after swaps the position was even with Queens and pawns each. But Black swapped Queens and gave up the opposition which was enough to lose. But White got lost and had to settle for a draw.

Justin Zhao vs Paul Macdonald – game annotated by Paul – White blunder a piece early on and then lost further material under the pressure of Black’s attack. 0-1

Clinton Wells vs Kendrick Zhang – The players castled opposite sides and both pushed pawns. White’s attack was a little faster. 1-0

Andrew Michael vs Sylvia McDougall – Black was looking okay until she blundered a piece. 1-0

Selena Hu vs Aaron Wang – White picked up a piece but then gave it straight back. She then overlooked a mate. 0-1

Rosa Ryu vs Toby Zhang – White lost a piece in the opening and didn’t recover. 0-1

Shawn Hui vs Leo Li – White got into trouble early on and opened his castled King up for attack. Black managed to take a Rook, Bishop and a Queen one after the other with the same Knight fork! 0-1

Felix Xei vs Charlottle Wen – Black misplayed the opening and got in trouble as White got a powerful attack that won material and then checkmated.

Isabelle Ning vs Samuel Sajch – A strange opening ( 1. d5 d5 2. Bf4 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6 ) gave White a better position after some poor moves by Black. She piled on the attack until Black lost his Queen and then she chased Blacks King into a mate.

Tom Fu vs Zihao Lin – Black played a bad line, declined to retake a capture and then resigned after further material was about to be lost.

Hu Gao vs Uday Fain – White left a piece en-prise and then missed a checkmate. 0-1

Biggest Upsets:

• Winston Weng beat Mark Brimble
• Philli Park-Tamati drew with Virginia Milne
• John Liu drew with Keith Ward
• Erica Hu drew with Stephen Peak
• Jain Uday beat Hugh Gao
• Silei Wang drew with Eric Liang

After 2 rounds: 8 people are on 2.0, 13 on 1.5 and 29 on 1.0

 

The last tournament for 2017 is the Spring Cup. This is 7 unrated rounds for the whole club from October to December.

The first round was draw randomly to mix things up a little and avoid nothing but games between players separated by 400 points in ratings.A large number of people also took byes, main due to school exams. This resulted in a few more interesting games.

• Vega page for the Spring Cup
• Spring Cup Round 1 PGN by Tim Ha

Kelvin Xiao vs Simon Lyall – Fairly uninspired play by both players. White won a pawn but gave it back when he miscalculated a tactic. A dead draw but White looked much better than is 950 rating. Draw

Stephen Peak vs James Liu – White had a shaky start but found a good tactic and suddenly Black was lost. 1-0

Sylvia McDougall vs Nathan Goodhue – White made a couple of mistakes to go down two pieces. It was over quickly after that. 0-1

Alex Nagorski vs Alphaeus Ang – More closely rated players. Black got ahead early in the game as pieces were exchanged. But just as he went a piece up White was able to sacrifice a piece to force perpetual check. Draw

Ben Hague vs Isabelle Ning – Black managed to keep equality for around 35 moves (although she missed the chance of winning an exchange on move 22). But White eventually picked up a pawn and then got a passed pawn. 1-0

Aaron Wang vs Wayne McDougall – White picked up a pawn early on but miscalculated the follow-up sequence and lost two pieces. Black converted without trouble. 0-1

Jain Bo Yu vs David Ansell – White misplayed the opening and ended up undeveloped and cramped. Things went downhill from there. 0-1

Paul Macdonald vs Bruce Watson – Another early clash between high ranked players. White had a good start but lost a central pawn which left him under a lot of pressure. Black swapped the pieces down to same coloured bishops plus pawns. He then used his better position and extra pawn to win. 0-1

Samuel Sajch vs Erica Hu – White failed to notice a checkmate threat and lost on move 13. 0-1

Tim Ha vs Andrew Michael – Black failed to accurately defend an attack against his castled King. 1-0

Leo Li vs Keith Ward – Black picked up a key pawn and was able to leverage his advantage from there to win. 0-1

Eric Liang vs Mark Brimble – Black had a slightly better position thought most of the game as pieces were swapped. But it was not enough to make progress once the position was down to 2 rooks and 8 pawns each. Draw.

Alexei Kulashko vs Clinton Wells – Black made an error in the opening and attempts to recover made the position worse. 1-0

Philli Park-Tamati vs Oscar Qin – A quick draw.

Upsets

• Kelvin Xiao drew with Simon Lyall
• Eric Liang drew with Mark Brimble
• Jeffrey Yu beat Hugh Gao
• Philli Park-Tamati drew with Oscar Qin

 

A list of entries for the Spring Cup is now online. There is still space for some more entries so please contact Simon ASAP if you want to play.

The unrated tournament is a single grade with all the Club.

However we’ll copy the recent Isle of Man tournament in having the first round with random pairings. This is intended product some more interesting games than the usual first round of a tournament.

For round two and onwards the pairings will be as normal.

The Final Round of the Winter Cup was on October 15th.

Remember to get in your entries for the Spring Cup as soon as possible as we are almost full

A reminder that the New Zealand Chess congress is on in the New Year in Palmerston North. If you want to play you need to plan you holidays, travel and accommodation soon.

• Draw: A Grade, B Grade
• Vega Links: A Grade, B Grade, C Grade

Round 7 PGN by Ewan Green

A Grade

Ben Hague vs Mike Steadman – Black swapped down the pieces but ended up with a bad position where White could just pick off his pawns. 1-0

Allen Fan vs Danial Gong – Black tried a pawn push against White’s King but White nicely broke it up. White then kept a slightly lead with better placed pieces. After a swap black bad a bad move and resigned after white mate threat allowed him win material. 1-0

Bruce Watson vs Gordon Morrell – White got control of a file and then another and pushed Black steadily. After another threat along a diagonal was created Black was unable to defend them all. 1-0

Alexei Kulashko vs Alphaeus Ang – An early draw after most of the interest was swapped out of the game. Draw

Final result was Alexei Kulashko and Ben Hague were 1st equal on 5.2 points. Alphaeus Ang was 3rd on 3.5

B Grade

Alex Nagorski vs Caroline Yan –  Black made a mistake out of the opening and left her castled King under-defended. She gave up a piece to avoid White’s attack. White used his extra piece to win fairly easily. 1-0

Don Eade vs Nathan Goodhue – White went a little wrong in the opening and Black was able to improve his position with threats wot Whit’s over-extended pieces. Black then broke up White’s pawn structure and picked off the isolated pawns. 0-1

Mark Brimble vs Paul Macdonald – See the PGN for Paul’s full analysis – Paul played the Petroff to reduce White’s winning chances. His 8. ..f5 was a dubious line however. White’s good start gradually went away as he was unable to find the best move to maintain the pressure and a draw was agreed on move 29. Draw

Roy Seabrook vs Keith Ward – White won by default

Final result was a very good first place to Paul Macdonald with 6.5 ( 6 wins and one draw). Second was Nathan Goodhue on 5.5 and third Alex Nagorski on 5.0

C Grade

Simon Lyall vs Everett Bishop – A long game as both players pushed for an advantage in a even position. Eventually everything was swapped down to a draw,

Tim Ha vs Euan McDougall – A very long game. White pciked up a pawn in the middle-game and things swapped to a Queen and Pawn endgame. after much play and many checks Black exchanged the Queens favorably. 0-1

Grant Burrows vs Aaron Wang – Black made an error in the opening and after pieces were swapped made a passive move to give White control of the center. White used the advantage to pick up Black’s Queen. 1-0

Xinyang Liu vs Winston Weng – After the opening went from a c3-sicilian to an advanced French white showed he had a better understanding of the position. Black was unable to castle and white eventually picked up a piece. 1-0

Isabelle Ning vs Louie Wei – Black gained the advantage and then it was all over when White dropped a piece. 0-1

Stephen Peak vs Kelvin Xiao – An exciting game of tactics, it swapped to a pawn endgame which ended up being winning for Black. 0-1

David Ansell vs Virginia Milne – White lost a piece after miscalculating a sequence of exchanges. 0-1

Felix Xie vs Andrew Michael – White had an awkward opening but Black made a careless move and allowed white a tactic from which he eventually got 2 pawns. But as White pressed his advantage Black found his tactic and picked up a piece. 0-1

The C-Grade winner was Everett Bishop on 6.0/7 with Grant Burrows and Euan MacDougall 2nd-equal on 5.5.

 

 

The Seconds last round of the Winter Cup was played this week. Like last week numbers were down at the Club due to School Holidays and other tournaments going on. A reminder to enter the Spring Cup soon if you haven’t already.

 

• Draw: A Grade, B Grade
• Vega Links: A Grade, B Grade, C Grade

Winter Cup 2017 Round 6 PGN by Tim Ha

 

A Grade

Michael Steadman vs Alexei Kulashko – This game was actually played a couple of weeks ago. White makes a couple of errors out of the opening and resigns on move 15 in a lost position. 0-1

Gordon Morrell vs Allen Fan – The players lock the position up with pawn chains and well defended position. Neither has a safe way of breaking though so they repeat positions and agree on a draw.

Daniel Gong vs Ben Hague – White tried an aggressive pawn push on the King side but Black forces swapped down to a Queen pawns each with Black having the better position.  Black picks up a couple of pawns and forces a passed pawn. 0-1

Alexei Kulashko is leading on 5 points ahead of Ben Hague on 3.5. Ben has a game in but it will be difficult to catch Alexei.

B Grade

Caroline Yan vs Roy Seabrook – Blacks Opening (Budapest Defense: Fajarowicz Variation) seemed to give up a pawn for little compensation. White elected to swap off material quickly to maintain her lead and by move 40 it was just a rook each with White having a pawn lead. She was eventually able to win the endgame despite Blacks dogged defense. 1-0

Nathan Goodhue vs Mark Brimble – A strange looking start, both players crept their pawns forward while their pieces hid behind.  Between move 20 and 30 the players swapped down material to a Queen, piece and pawns each and just a piece and 7 pawns on move 37. White’s Knight was better than Black’s Bishop however and he got a position where White would have to soon give up his piece to stop a promotion.  1-0

Paul Macdonald vs Alex Nagorski – Once again the game is well annotated by Paul in the PGN – White played and unorthodox Queen’s Gambit Accepted line in which the correct moves were hard to find. Black did fairly well apart from a sidelined Knight. However he castled Kingside which was risky due to the open g-file with a white rook on it. By move 20 White was able to exploit this along with his two Bishops to make a series of dangerous threats  which Black was unable to counter. 1-0

Paul Macdonald stays on a perfect score of 6/6 and is now uncatchable. Alex Nagorski is 2nd on 4.0 with Nathan Goodhue on 3.5 with a game in hand.

C Grade

Aaron Wang vs Tim Ha – Black got a great attack but missed the best line and ended up and exchange down. White swapped down to a 3-pawn vs 2-pawn endgame but made the wrong move and ended up with a draw.

Grant Burrows vs Isabelle Ning – White was slightly better most of the game and eventually swapped into a Rook and pawn endgame and then a pawn endgame a pawn up. My engine shows both players had winning positions at various times over the next few moves. Eventually White won however. 1-0

Simon Lyall vs Tom Fu – White developed a little slowly and allowed Black to gain equality. His push on the Kingside put Black under pressure and Black blundered to allow a mate in two. 1-0

Euan McDougall vs Stephen Peak – Dubious opening play by both players left White with a pawn and well placed Bishops. Black tried sacrificing a piece to get back into the game but it was no help. 1-0

Louie Wei vs Winyang Liu – White attempted an attack against Blacks Queen but Black was able to defend. In a tight position Black picked up a pawn but it wasn’t enough to be worth playing out an opposite coloured-bishop endgame. Draw

Virginia Milne vs Felix Xie – White tried an early unsound attact Against Black’s King that gave up two pieces for a rook and a pawn. She was luckily when Black missed the move that would have won her Queen. Black unwisely then made the same exchange back and the positions were even. The players agreed on a draw in an unclear King and pawn endgame. Draw

Kelvin Xiao vs Daniel Morrin – Black adequately defended an attack on his Queen and then gave up more material. 1-0

Upsets in Round 6

Kelvin Xiao beat Daniel Morrin
Jeffery Yu beat Jame Liu

The leader Everett Bishop took a half point bye this round which gave the other players a chance to catchup but the 3 players in second drew or lost.

Going into the last round Everett is on 5.5 while five players are on 4.5

A reduced number of games played this week due to the George Trundle Tournaments and School Holidays.

A reminder to players that the Merv Morrison tournament will be played over Labour Weekend (Oct 21-23) at the Club. See the NZ Chess Calendar page for an entry form.

• Draw: A Grade, B Grade
• Vega Links: A Grade, B Grade, C Grade

Winter Cup Rd5 PGN by Ewan Green

A Grade

Just two games played this week.

Allen Fan vs Alphaeus Ang – Around 12 moves or theory although the move order was a little unusual. The game was fairly even until White blundered with 18. Nc2 which allowed Black to win material and force the win. 0-1

Bruce Watson vs Alexei Kulashko – The Game got messy early on with Queens swapped and broken pawn structures on both sides. White game up 3 pawns for an attack and Black handed back a piece. However when White was unable to force mate Black managed to push his pawns for a Queen. 0-1

Alexei Kulashko is in the sole lead on 4.0/5 but some of the players behind him have a game or two in hand.

B Grade

Paul Macdonald vs Caroline Yan – The PGN has extensive comments from Paul – After giving up a pawn to leave holes in Black’s position though which he bounced his Knight(s) (supported by his other pieces) and gave Black a serious of threat which she scrambled to counter. Black resigned when he position became unholdable. 1-0

Alex Nagorski vs Nathan Goodhue – A fairly even looking opening and middle game swung towards white when he picked up a passed pawn in the endgame. But white was unable to find his way passed Black and settled for a draw.

Mark Brimble vs Keith Ward – After an interesting early middle game the players elected for a draw.

Don Eade vs Roy Seabrook – White overlook a move and Black was able to drop his Queen into the middle of Whites position and pick up a piece. White had little chance after that although he tried a desperation attack which at one point allowed him a perpetual check. However his missed this and resigned a few moves later. 0-1

Paul Macdonald leads with 5/5 and Alex Nagorski is 2nd on 4 points. Nathan Goodhue is on 2.5 with a game in hand. The rest of the field is on just 0.5 points against the 3 leaders.

C Grade

Everett Bishop vs Euan McDougall – Black was force to give up a Knight after getting his Rook unexpectedly trapped. White used his material advantage to press and force a win. 1-0

Stephen Peak vs Xinyang Liu – White miscalculated and allowed a mate threat to tie up his pieces which Black exploited. Black swapped down to a rook and pawn endgame two pawns ahead but White was compensated with more intuitive. The players agreed on a Draw.

Rodney Li vs Isabelle Ning – After an even start Black found a tactic in the middle game to pick up an exchange an initiative. White was able to pull things back but then launched an attack which left his King Fatally under-defended. 0-1

James Liu vs Simon Lyall – Black played a little passively but the game was fairly even. However White resigned after he allowed a tactic that allowed Black to win an exchange. 0-1

Winston Weng vs Wayne McDougall – Black got off to a good start after a push against White’s king yielded an exchange. White’s counter attacks didn’t seem enough but Black made a mistake and gave back a rook. White was able to cruise to a win. 1-0

Upsets Round 5:

• Isabelle Ning beat Rodney Li
• Winston Weng beat Wayne McDougall
• Selena Hu beat Eric Liang
• Kelvin Xiao beat Leo Li
• Hugh Gao drew with Virginia Milne

The Grade is led by Everett Bishop with 5/5 . 3 players are 2nd-equal on 4 points Aaron Wang, Tim Ha and Isabelle Ning.

 

Next week will be the start of the school holidays. A reminder to let Simon know if you cannot play. If you let him know you get a half point bye. If you don’t then zero points and somebody else may miss out on a game.

Over the next week several Club members are playing in the George Trundle tournaments at the Club, the Interschools Final in Christchurch and Asia Seniors championship. Good luck to all.

• Draw: A Grade, B Grade
• Vega Links: A Grade, B Grade, C Grade

Winter Cup Round 4 PGN by Tim Ha

A Grade

Steadman vs Watson – A even opening but Black blundered a Night on move 20 (with two pawns as small compensation). White got the pawns back and swapped to BNNpp vs BBpp by move 46. 30 moves later he broke through Blacks dogged defense & Black resigned. 1-0

Kulashko vs Fan – Another long game. White had a good start with a well placed Bishop on d6 and an active Queen but he missed the best lines and then sacrificed his Queen for a Rook and a Bishop. However Black returned the sac and the players were at move 35 with a rook each and 5 or so pawns. Black got a slightly better position & decline a repetition, but White turned the tables and Black was forced to carefully defend to force the draw. Draw

Ang vs Hague – White made a small mistake which snowballed when he tried to compensate by complicating the position. Black Checkmated on move 26 while a piece up. 0-1

Morrell vs Gong – White resigned after a complicated sequence ended with him about to lose a piece. 0-1

Steadman and Kulashko lead on 3 points while Watson is 3rd just half a point behind.

B Grade

Yan vs Eade – Black got some pressure on Whites exposed King after gxf3. White incorrectly defended and then faced overwhelming threats. 0-1

Seabrook vs Brimble –  The players played a very sharp series of moves in the opening and early middle game. Black ended up getting the worst and resigned due many threats. 1-0

Ward vs Nagorski – Black was better for much of the game going one and then two pawns up. He swapped to a rook and pawn endgame but made a couple of incorrect moves and the game was drawn.

Goodhue vs Macdonald – See the PGN for full commentary from Paul – White got off to a good start with a f2 to c5 pawn chain and pushed his a and b pawns. But he failed to press his push and Black managed to get his pieces to good squares to defend. Black tried an attack against White’s King which White aided by moving his Queen to the other side of the board. Black Sacrificed a piece to open up White’s defenses and won a few moves later. 0-1

Paul Macdonald leads the grade unbeaten while Alex Nagorski is just half a point behind.

C Grade

Xinyang Liu vs Everett Bishop – A interesting game cut short when white fell to a Rook/Queen fork and resigned. 0-1

Tim Ha vs Mathew Steadman – A fairly even game but white looked better and went a pawn up into the endgame. Black resigned after he blundered a piece. 1-0

Felix Xie vs Aaron Wang – White got lost in his opening and then made several poor moves, however luckily for him Black missed the best replies. Eventually black won by swapping to a rook and pawn endgame where he was able to force black to give up his rook to prevent a Queen. 0-1

Euan McDougall vs Winston Weng – Black got a little lost in an Open Sicilian and then took White’s c2 pawn. This allowed White to attack Black’s completely undeveloped position(!) with a Queen, Rook and Two Bishops. Black did not last long. 1-0

Upsets in Round 4:

Jeffery Yu beat Eric Liang
Jacob Chai drew with Renae Ghadiali
Sylvia McDougall drew with Tody Zhang

Everett Bishop is the only unbeaten player on 4 points. Just behind him on 3.5 are Euan McDougall, Aaron Wang and Tim Ha.

 

 

Another Reminder that School Holidays are coming up so if you are away please let Simon know and you can be given a bye for those rounds. Also signup for the Spring Cup has now started.

• Draw: A Grade, B Grade
• Vega Links: A Grade, B Grade, C Grade

Winter Cup round 3 PGN by Tim Ha

A Grade

Morrell vs Steadman – Black’s opening goes completely wrong and he’s left with giant holes in his Kingside and undeveloped pieces. Spends the next 20 moves continuously pushing until Black throws in the towel. 1-0

Gong vs Ang – Both players castle Queen side but White’s position appears more vulnerable. After a few exchanges the position is more even, with black giving up 2 Knights for a rook and a pawn. Black uses his extra rook well in an open position and after swaps is a Rook and 3 pawns vs 2 Knights and a pawn. He then overwhelms White with threats. 0-1

Hague vs Kulashko – White came out of the opening a little better. However he was unable to maintain his advantage and eventually the game was even. At move 40 both players had three pawns each on opposites sides of the board. However White quickly mad a mis-step and resigned with Black soon to promote. 0-1

Fan vs Watson – A fairly even start but Black got a little better as white’s best pieces were changed off. The game swapped down to a rook each plus several pawns and black went a pawn ahead and then two. White resigned in a rook vs rook and two pawns endgame that he couldn’t hold. 0-1

After 3 rounds Alexei Kulashko is in first place on 2.5 but 3 players are just behind on 2.0

B Grade

Goodhue vs Yang was postponed

Macdonald vs Ward – Once again Paul has extensively annotated the PGN, see that for full details of the game. A fairly even start but Black got a little ahead. After some exciting play Black had a won game but blundered a piece and resigned. 1-0

Nagorski vs Seabrook – A good start for Black with White’s pieces being badly coordination and underdeveloped. Black was able to get an exchange up and then got an additional rook ahead. But White’s remaining pieces were able to combine for an attack while Black’s we uncoordinated. He swapped off one piece and mated with a Queen and Bishop while Black’s pieces were on the other side of the board.  1-0

Brimble vs Eade – An unusual opening led to some quick swaps and a very open position. But Black missed a tactic and ended up an exchange and a pawn down with no hope. 1-0

Alex Nagorski and Paul Macdonald are on three out of three. However Nathan Goodhue is just a point behind and has a game in hand.

C Grade

Everett Bishop vs James Liu – Black missed a threat, gave up a piece and resigned a few moves later. 1-0

Xinyang Liu vs Kelvin Xiao – White got a good outpost Night followed by a very good position. He almost blew it when he allowed Black an attack but he survived this and had checkmate a couple of moves later. 1-0

Felix Xie vs Louie Wei – A quick departure from opening theory. The players quickly swapped their pieces into a rook and pawn endgame and then took the draw rather than fight it out. – Draw

Mathew Steadman vs Simon Lyall – Black misplayed the opening and early middle game and allowed which two strong central pawns with rooks behind. He then advanced these and Black’s position fell apart. 1-0

Jason Huang vs Tim Ha – White aggressive pushed forward his pawns and pieces but his position was only equal. Then White missed a tactic and went a piece down. Black cruised to the win. 0-1

Upsets this round:
Mathew Steadman beat Simon Lyall
Winston Weng beat Grant Burrows
Isabelle Ning beat Ying Wang

Everett Bishop and Xinyang Liu are the only players left on a perfect score. But there are 7 players just behind on 2.5