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Apologies for the delay with this week’s post. Congratulations to our B Grade Interclub team for their win by 3.5 to 2.5 over Howick.

School Holidays will be starting in a couple of weeks. Please let Simon know if you will miss some rounds. We’ll also get the signup sheet for the Spring Cup up early.

This week we have PGNs from the top 20 boards.

 

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

Winter Cup 2017 – R2 PGN by Ewan Green with assistence from Tim Ha and Paul MacDonald.

A Grade

The first 3 games were quick wins due to tactical error by a player, the last had more moves than other 3 put together.

Steadman vs Fan – White went from slightly better to a win after Black miscalculated and allowed a checkmating sequence. 1-0

Ang vs Morrell – Black found a nice sequence and picked up three of whites pawns. However he dropped a piece and resigned. 1-0

Watson vs Hague – Black pushed White’s Queen offside and then overloaded a defender. White resigned a rook and pawn down. -01

Kuashko vs Gong – An unusual opening with trapped queens a piece swaps on around move 15. White got a piece up by the position was complicated. White eventually got an endgame of a Rook and Night vs a Rook (plus 2 pawns to 1) but it took him 30 moves to work around blacks dogged defence. 1-0

After 2 rounds Mike Steadman is the only undefeated player.

B Grade

Yan vs Brimble – White played here usual d4, c4, cxd5 line.  Black resigned after getting his Queen almost trapped and losing a piece. 1-0

Ward vs Goodhue – Black kept to his offbeat lines playing “1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 e5” . Black picked up an early pawn and had a nice central pawn group. White tried direct attacks on the Kingside against Black’s king but was unable to penetrate and then trapped his Queen and had to give up an exchange to extract it. Black swapped down to a won King & pawn endgame. 0-1

Eade vs Nagorski – A standard opening got very sharp. White made a mistake and ended up an exchange down with more to follow. 0-1

Seabrook vs Macdonald – See the PGN for full annotations from Paul. An unusual start “1. d4 d6 2. e3 e5” and players swapped Queens. Black was slightly better but white kept in touch and equalised. By move 25 Black was also down to 10 minutes. White picked up a piece but Black had two passed pawns as compensation (RN3P vs R2P).  Both players made errors but Black managed to force White to give up two pieces to stop a passed pawn. A few moves later “Roy had finally  seen enough. Disgusted he knocked over his king, signed his scoresheet and
walked off into the darkness to contemplate what the hell just happened” 0-1

Goodhue, Macdonald and Nagorski are all on 2 points after 2 rounds.

C Grade

Most games were pretty unmatched but there were some upsets and near-upsets nevertheless.

Everett vs Leo Li – A passive start by white gave Black easy equality. White swapped down to a Two Bishops vs 2 Nights endgame and then was able to favorable swap into a winning king and pawn endgame. 1-0

James Liu vs Stephen Peak – Black lost a pawn and then was down a full piece after we tried to complicate things to get it back. White almost allowed a draw at the end however black failed to find the best line. Later Black had perpetual check chances but eventually made a mistake. 1-0

Rodney Li vs Felix Xei – White had a good start but blundered an exchange and then resigned when Black picked up another piece. 0-1

Mathew Steadman vs Aaron Wang – White copied his dad’s b4 opening. The players took an early draw in an even position. Draw

Ying Wang vs Xinyang Liu – White lost a piece for two pawns around move 20 and an exchange 10 moves later. Black went a little astray at once point and gave back the exchange and white had a possibility of a draw in a pawn vs Knight endgame but missed it. 0-1

Paul Yu vs Wayne McDougall – Both players got a little lost in the opening an agreed on an early draw.

Kelvin Xiao vs Oscar Win – Black gave up two pawns out of the opening. He then gave up and exchange and white just had to keep pushing and swapping from then onwards. 1-0

Louie Wei vs Samuel Sajch – “1. d4 d5 2. f4!?” left white looking worse. But a mistake by Black put White a piece up for 2 pawns. I believe Black resigned but the PGN shows the opposite. 1-0

Simon Lyall vs Toby Zhang – White got Black in trouble out of the opening but missed the best moves and the game was even. Black had an attack against White’s vulnerable Queen but White (mostly) found the right moves and eventually swapped off Black’s attackers. White then pushed a pawn & black realised he had to give up a piece to stop it and resigned. 1-0

Virginia Milne vs Winston Weng –  White got lost in the opening and gave up a pawn. Later she lost a piece. She resigned when another was about to be lost. 0-1

Tim Ha vs Tom Foo – The game was fairly even but White swapped to a better position and a won endgame. 1-0

Upsets:
Winston Eng beat Virgina Milne
Kelvin Xiao beat Oscar Qin
Felix Xie beat Rodney Li
Jacob Chai beat David Ansell

There are seven players on 2 points and another 10 on 1.5.

 

 

The Winter Cup is over 7 rounds during September and October. This year it is two 8-player Round-Robin Grades and a 55-player C Grade Swiss. Due to lack of space some players who failed to enter in advance were unable to play.

 

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

PNG file of Winter Cup Round 1 by Tim Ha, except for Paul Macdonald’s game which was annotated by Paul.

A Grade

Ang vs Steadman – This was a sideline prepared by Black with 5..c5 being a novelty (Bg7 or Nc5 are more common). White took an aggressive approach to punish the line, however he quickly ran into trouble. 13 Bxf6 gave black a serious of threats and  he was a piece up a few moves later and checkmated on move 30. Result: 0-1

Morrell vs Kulashko – A fairly boring looking game but White found a nice tactic (see diagram) that eventually left him a pawn up after several pieces were swapped. However he chose to settle for an immediate draw.

Gong vs Watson – 6. Bd3 seemed to be a dubious move in the opening but it got worse a few move later when White lost a piece to a simple fork. Even when Black gave a piece back for 2 pawns his advantage was overwhelming & White resigned. 0-1

Hague vs Fan – Black’s 5…b6 instead of the universal c5 doesn’t appear likely to become popular. However he survived White’s early attack to equalise. An interesting exchange left Black with an extra Knight but this was completely trapped while White had two very mobile Rooks (see diagram). However White was unable to get better than a draw.

B Grade

Ward vs Yan – Black’s opening innovations left her worse. But things went back in force for the next 30 moves until the players swapped down to a Rook, piece and 3 pawns each.  No progress for another 20 moves except swaps into a Draw.

Goodhue vs Seabrook – White played his usual Flank opening an ended up with 2 Knights against Black’s 2 Bishops. Black then tried a direct attack against White’s king but was unable to get momentum. White then gained enough material to force a win. 1-0

Nagorski vs Brimble – A very standard opening followed by an even open position. After swaps the opening appeared drawn until Black blundered to allow White a passed pawn. 1-0

Macdonald vs Eade – See the PGN for detailed annotation by Paul MacDonald. White was well ahead from as early as move 13 kept pressing his advantage to win. 1-0

C Grade

Renae Ghadiali vs Everett Bishop – A passive start by the higher-rated Black. However White wasted some tempo and lost a piece allowing Black to Swap his way to a Win. 0-1

Peak vs Barry – Black survived his dubious opening to get close to even. But a couple of bad moves later he was losing a piece to prevent mate. 1-0

Winston Weng vs Tim Ha – Fresh from a good North Shore opening Winston Weng is much better than his rating would suggest. Black emerged better from the opening but white then swapped away Black’s better pieces. The players agreed on a draw in a fairly blocked position. Draw

Aaron Wang vs Erica Hu – White had a good start but got greedy and got his Queen almost trapped. Black was able to develop while she harassed it. A slip-up left white a piece down for a pawn. Black had some chances to go further ahead but missed the lines. She eventually got lost in the endgame and allowed White a passed pawn. 1-0

Rosa Ryu vs Ying Wang –  Black blundered a piece in the opening. Around move 20 she gave up another piece.  However over the next 22 moves white gave up 3 pieces to convert a winning position into a loss. 0-1

The first round saw rating differences between players of between 200 and 500 rating points. However there were 5 draws and 4 loses by the higher rated player. Major upsets included:

Samuel Sajch beat Eric Liang ( 558 rating point difference)
Paul Yu beat Andrew Michael
Silei Wang beat John Liu
Kelvin Xiao beat Hugh Gao

 

 

ACC Winter Cup 2017 - B Grade : Round 1 - Sep 4
=====================================================
1 = 1 Ward, Keith          -   8 Yan, Caroline       
2 = 2 Goodhue, Nathan      -   7 Seabrook, Roy       
3 = 3 Macdonald, Paul      -   6 Eade, Don           
4 = 4 Nagorski, Alex       -   5 Brimble, Mark T     


ACC Winter Cup 2017 - B Grade : Round 2 - Sep 11
=====================================================
1 = 8 Yan, Caroline        -   5 Brimble, Mark T     
2 = 6 Eade, Don            -   4 Nagorski, Alex      
3 = 7 Seabrook, Roy        -   3 Macdonald, Paul     
4 = 1 Ward, Keith          -   2 Goodhue, Nathan     


ACC Winter Cup 2017 - B Grade : Round 3 - Sep 18
=====================================================
1 = 2 Goodhue, Nathan      -   8 Yan, Caroline       
2 = 3 Macdonald, Paul      -   1 Ward, Keith         
3 = 4 Nagorski, Alex       -   7 Seabrook, Roy       
4 = 5 Brimble, Mark T      -   6 Eade, Don           


ACC Winter Cup 2017 - B Grade : Round 4 - Sep 25
=====================================================
1 = 8 Yan, Caroline        -   6 Eade, Don           
2 = 7 Seabrook, Roy        -   5 Brimble, Mark T     
3 = 1 Ward, Keith          -   4 Nagorski, Alex      
4 = 2 Goodhue, Nathan      -   3 Macdonald, Paul     


ACC Winter Cup 2017 - B Grade : Round 5 - Oct 2
=====================================================
1 = 3 Macdonald, Paul      -   8 Yan, Caroline       
2 = 4 Nagorski, Alex       -   2 Goodhue, Nathan     
3 = 5 Brimble, Mark T      -   1 Ward, Keith         
4 = 6 Eade, Don            -   7 Seabrook, Roy       


ACC Winter Cup 2017 - B Grade : Round 6 - Oct 9
=====================================================
1 = 8 Yan, Caroline        -   7 Seabrook, Roy       
2 = 1 Ward, Keith          -   6 Eade, Don           
3 = 2 Goodhue, Nathan      -   5 Brimble, Mark T     
4 = 3 Macdonald, Paul      -   4 Nagorski, Alex      


ACC Winter Cup 2017 - B Grade : Round 7 - Oct 16
=====================================================
1 = 4 Nagorski, Alex       -   8 Yan, Caroline       
2 = 5 Brimble, Mark T      -   3 Macdonald, Paul     
3 = 6 Eade, Don            -   2 Goodhue, Nathan     
4 = 7 Seabrook, Roy        -   1 Ward, Keith         

ACC Winter Cup 2017 - A Grade : Round 1 - Sept 4
=====================================================
1 = 1 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er -   8 Steadman, Michael V 
2 = 2 Morrell, Gordon      -   7 Kulashko, Alexei    
3 = 3 Gong, Daniel Hanwen  -   6 Watson, Bruce R     
4 = 4 Hague, Ben           -   5 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou 


ACC Winter Cup 2017 - A Grade : Round 2 - Sep 11
=====================================================
1 = 8 Steadman, Michael V  -   5 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou 
2 = 6 Watson, Bruce R      -   4 Hague, Ben          
3 = 7 Kulashko, Alexei     -   3 Gong, Daniel Hanwen 
4 = 1 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er -   2 Morrell, Gordon     


ACC Winter Cup 2017 - A Grade : Round 3 - Sept 18
=====================================================
1 = 2 Morrell, Gordon      -   8 Steadman, Michael V 
2 = 3 Gong, Daniel Hanwen  -   1 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er
3 = 4 Hague, Ben           -   7 Kulashko, Alexei    
4 = 5 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou  -   6 Watson, Bruce R     


ACC Winter Cup 2017 - A Grade : Round 4 - Sept 25
=====================================================
1 = 8 Steadman, Michael V  -   6 Watson, Bruce R     
2 = 7 Kulashko, Alexei     -   5 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou 
3 = 1 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er -   4 Hague, Ben          
4 = 2 Morrell, Gordon      -   3 Gong, Daniel Hanwen 


ACC Winter Cup 2017 - A Grade : Round 5 - Oct 2
=====================================================
1 = 3 Gong, Daniel Hanwen  -   8 Steadman, Michael V 
2 = 4 Hague, Ben           -   2 Morrell, Gordon     
3 = 5 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou  -   1 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er
4 = 6 Watson, Bruce R      -   7 Kulashko, Alexei    


ACC Winter Cup 2017 - A Grade : Round 6 - Oct 9
=====================================================
1 = 8 Steadman, Michael V  -   7 Kulashko, Alexei    
2 = 1 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er -   6 Watson, Bruce R     
3 = 2 Morrell, Gordon      -   5 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou 
4 = 3 Gong, Daniel Hanwen  -   4 Hague, Ben          


ACC Winter Cup 2017 - A Grade : Round 7 - Oct 16
=====================================================
1 = 4 Hague, Ben           -   8 Steadman, Michael V 
2 = 5 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou  -   3 Gong, Daniel Hanwen 
3 = 6 Watson, Bruce R      -   2 Morrell, Gordon     
4 = 7 Kulashko, Alexei     -   1 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er

The Winter Cup will be starting on the 4th of September. It will be two round-robins Grades and a Swiss Grade. The Vega pages are linked on the 2017 tournaments page and the draws for the top two grades will be made and published later this week.

Please check that you are listed correctly as we will not be accepting late entries.

Vega Page for the Spring Rapid.

The final 3 games of the Spring Rapid we’re played on Monday the 28th of September.

Round 4

Things started to heat up as players were paired against those a lot closer in rating.

Major upsets were:

• Jason Huang beat Rodney Li
• Leo Li beat Eric Wu
• Euan McDougall beat Roy Seabrook

Round 5

Only 3 unbeaten players left (plus 2 more on 3.5)

Ben Hague beat Allen Fan to go into the sole led. Bruce Watson drew with Alphaeus Ang to put Bruce just half a point behind.

Big upsets this round were:

• Justin Zhao beat Andrew Michael
• Alex Nagorski beat Daniel Gong
• Euan McDougall beat Clinton Wells
• Hugh Gao beat Grant Burrows
• Tom Fu beat Caroline Yan

Round 6

Around two-thirds of players too a bye in the last round.

On board one Ben Hague ended up a piece down againts Bruce Watson and while he defended the endgame for some time Bruce eventually won.

Final Standards

1st: Bruce Watson 5.5 points
2nd= Ben Hague and Alexei Kulashko on 5.0
4th= Gordon Morrell, Alphaeus Ang and Alex Nagorski on 4.5

Club Rapid results

The Club rapid championship is decided by adding the scores of players in both the Club Rapids.

1st: Bruce Watson on 10.5  ( 5 + 5.5)
2nd: Ben Hague on 10.0  ( 5 + 5 )
3rd: Gordon Morrell on 9.5  ( 5 + 4.5 )
4th: John Duneas on 9.0 ( 4.5 and 4.5 )
5th= Alpahaeus Ang & Alex Nagorski on 8.5

The first 3 rounds of the Spring Rapid were held on August 21st. We had almost 70 players. The next 3 rounds will be held next week.

A reminder that the Winter Cup starts on September 4th, if you want to player you need to enter within the next week. We are also looking for players for the B grade (under 1800) Interclub team. Signups sheets for both are at the Club.

Vega page for the Spring Rapid

The Club Rapid Champion is determined by adding the score of this tournament to the Autumn Rapid score. See here for scores in that tournament.

Round 1

There was a big gap between players ratings so only a few upsets (plus three no-shows)

Upsets:

• Uday Jain beat Don Eade (653 points rating difference)
• Ying Wang beat Andrew Michael
• Kenny Zhang beat Wayne McDougall

Round 2

Rating differences were still high so few upsets

• Renae Ghadiali beat Wayne McDougall (who was not having a good night)
• Abraham Deng beat Zyre Milina
• Jacob Chai beat Felix Xie

Round 3

Around 40 players took a bye in the last round (and two went home without asking for a bye) so only 13 boards for his round.

Upsets:

• Eric Liang beat Andrew Michael (giving his 2nd upset)
• Alex Nagorski drew with John Duneas (and John was lucky to get that)
• Winston Weng drew with Stephen Peak

After 3 rounds there are 5 players with 3 wins: Bruce Watson, Alexei Kulashko, Daniel Gong, Ben Hague and Allen Fan.

 

Results for the final round of the Club Champs. The next tournament will be the Spring Rapid on the 21st and 28th of August. Remember to enter before the night. Current entries are in Vega. Remember that all catchup games from the Club Champs must be played (or at least scheduled and Simon informed) by 21st August.

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

Round 9 PGN by Ewan Green with help from Tim Ha

A Grade

Goodhue vs Duneas – Black tries to hard to win a center pawn and gets a Knight sidelined. White then grabs an open file with his rooks and queen and forced his way though, eventually picking up a piece when Black exchanged for a promoted pawn. 1-0

Steadman vs Morrell – An offbeat c3 Sicilian line by White didn’t work very well and Black was a pawn up out of the opening. However the players took and early draw.

Ang vs Zhang – Which had a good start with his bishops well placed and his Nights pushing up the Queen side. But he failed to find the correct moves and allowed black to counter-attack and gain create too many threats. Eventually White made a major mistake and Black was a piece ahead. 0-1

Watson vs Hague – Black picked up two pawns early in the game and white resigned rather than play on with little hope. 0-1

Fan vs Gong – Black made a tactical error and lost a piece with more to go. 1-0

Final result is first and Club Champion is Ben Hague. 2nd equal is Leo Zhang and Bruce Watson.

B Grade

Wu vs Ha – White picked up an early pawn but at the cost of an awkwardly placed Queen. There were some sharp tactics a little later but Black missed his chance to go a piece ahead and instead white was 2 pawns up when the dust cleared on move 28. But White allowed a fork a couple of moves later leaving Black a piece up which is was eventually able to convert. 0-1

Eade vs Nagorski – Black made a mistake out of the opening an ended up an exchange down. White then swapped pieces and pushed pawns until one made it though. 1-0

Lyall vs Brimble – Black lost a piece in the opening and resigned.

Caroline Yan vs Ward – White got a position with multiple threats and emerged with a piece for 2 pawns. She then swapped into a bishop+pawns vs pawns endgame and won. 1-0

Peak vs Qin – A fairly even game until White lost a piece. 0-1

Final result for B Grade was Caroline Yan first on 6 points, Keith Ward and Don Eade second equal on 5.0 points and 5 players on 4.5 points.

C Grade

Xingyan Liu vs Seabrook – Black was better out of the endgame and 2 pawns up was winning. However he allowed black a passed pawn which let him pick up an exchange. However white failed to press his advantage and black was able to swap to an even rook and pawn endgame. White then lost on time. 0-1

Aaron Wang vs Andrew Michael – Black unexpectedly got a Knight trapped in the centre of the board and even though White missed the best moves he ended up a bishops for 3 pawns. He then swapped  into a won endgame. 1-0

Isabelle Ning vs Euan McDougall – A roller-coaster game with some aggressive exchanges of pieces. White was down an exchange but then mounted a mating attack and picked up a piece. After threats by both sides the position was White with a Bishop and 5 pawns vs Black’s 6 pawns. However White got lost in the endgame and allowed Black to win pawns and then push multiple passed pawns. 0-1

Oscar Qin vs Wayne McDougall – White played the Scotch which Black has had problems against in the past. White got a strong position and then mounted a pawn storm against Black’s King which proved too strong. 1-0

Sarah Yan vs John Liu – Black attempted passive resistance against White. This did not work well. 1-0

Virginia Milne vs Winston Weng – Black picked up a pawn and managed to keep a little ahead during the middle game. White then lost a piece to a fork and despite some dubious swaps by Black he stayed far enough ahead to win. 0-1

Upsets from round 9:

Winston Weng beat Virginia Milne
Felix Xie beat Daniel Morrin
Jacob Chai beat Leo Li
Jeffrey Yu beat Kelvin Xiao
Charlotte Wen beat Brian Zhao
Samuel Sajch beat Silei Wang

Final result was Roy Seabrook in 1st place on 8 points. Aaron Wang and Euan McDougall second-equal on 7 and Oscar Qin 4th on 6.5

 

Vega pages have been started with entries for the Spring Rapid and Winter Cup. Please check to see that you are entered if you want to be.

The Spring Rapid is a 6-round Rapid tournament held over 2 nights. Entries so far are here.

The Winter Cup is 2 round-robin grades plus a Swiss C Grade. For now I have put all players in C Grade but the top 16 will be moved to A and B grade before things start. The list of entries for the Winter Cup is online here.

Entries for both tournaments can be via txt or email to the Club Captain or via the signups sheets at the club.

This week is the last round of the Club Champs. A reminder to sign-up to the Spring Rapid and Winter Cup via the sign-up sheet, txt or email. Also a reminder that catchup games should be played or scheduled soon.

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

Club Champs Round 8 plus catchup by Ewan Green and Tim Ha.

Catchup Games

B Grade, Round 7, Simon Lyall vs Nicole Qin – A very cramped French position with on one exchange in the first 30 moves. Eventually White made a mistake and gave up an exchange and a pawn. Black had few problems converting.

Round 8 – A Grade

Duneas vs Fan – White got lost at the end of his opening theory and ended up slightly worse after 20 moves. A few moves later Black sacrificed a piece for a dangerous looking attack (see diagram below) but it was only good enough for a draw

Morrell vs Goodhue – A unusual looking opening left white slightly better. Both players locked together pawn chains which left no real options for breakthroughs. Draw.

Hague vs Ang – Black made an opening slip and got his Queen trapped. He gave up a bishop for White’s h&g pawns. White then made a miscalculation and lost a piece back. After the dust cleared around move 38 the players each had a bishop (opposite coloured) and white had 4 pawns to black’s two. White then spent 60 moves trying to win before agreeing on a draw on move 92.

Zhang vs Steadman – 15 moves of theory left and another 20 moves left neither playing with much. Draw

Gong vs Watson – White seemed to have a good opening and after opposite side castling launched a pawn push on the Kingside against Black’s king. A few moves later Black made a mistake and lost a piece. Unfortunately White tried a sacrifice a few moves later which was unsound and lost the piece back. With two rooks and 5 pawns each black was a little better and played the endgame more accurately. After some swaps (including two promotions each) black won. 0-1

Only a single win in this round. The grade is now led by Ben Hague and Bruce Watson on 6.5 points. They will face each other in the last round. Leo Zhang (3rd on 5.5) and Alphaeus Ang (4th on 5.0) also face each other in the last round.

B Grade

Ha vs Peak – After a quiet opening the game was about even. However White managed to get ahead by one threat breaking up Black’s mutual defense and allowing a follow-up attack which picked up an exchange. White speculatively sacrificed the exchange back (Tim says “He was low on time and I wanted to be a safe pawn up without any chance for him to roll pawns up in the centre, supported by a bishop” ) and Black looked okay but made a mistake and allowed a mate. 1-0

Qin vs Yan – A very even looking opening and middle game. However Black made a mistake and allowed to pickup a pawn and get a passed pawn. However White lost the pawn and the players agreed to a draw in a Knight and Pawn endgame. Draw

Ward vs Lyall – Black got into trouble early in the opening and White created a very strong attack. However White took off the pressure for a couple of moves and black was able to develop his pieces and swap off Black’s attackers. Black picked up a pawn but White force a swap to an opposite-coloured Bishops endgame which was Drawn.

Brimble vs Eade – Fairly even for most of the game, the players slowly swapped down to a Queen, rook and some pawns each. White picked up a pawn and some pressure after the Queens were off, and looked to have a won endgame but failed to find the right moves. Black held on just in the endgame and it look like a draw but White blundered and lost. 0-1

Nagorski vs Wu – White came out of the opening better, putting pressure on Black in the early middle game. Black managed to swap things down and equalize. However Black made a mistake at the end and white was left with a winning position in a king-and-pawn endgame. He failed to find the correct moves and the game was narrowly drawn.

Caroline Yan and Keith Ward and leading the grade on 5.0 ahead of 3 other players on 4.5. Caroline and Keith are playing each other in the last round.

C Grade

Steiner vs Seabrook – After a good start by Black he managed to put White under pressure. White tried to pick up a pawn  but miscalculated and was left a piece down, he then resigned. 0-1

Euan McDougall vs Aaron Wang – White missed his chance to go a piece ahead after Black played a badly-calculated tactic. The game swapped down to a Rook and pawn endgame with Black ahead. Just when he was about to win black blundered a pawn and the game was drawn.

Andrew Michael vs Oscar Qin – White had a good start pushing Black back and winning a pawn. White Sacrificed an exchange for a winning attach but couldn’t find the right line and took a draw.

Isabelle Ning vs Sarah Yan – Black made 2 blunders that allowed White winning tactics. White found the second of them. 1-0

Upsets in C Grade Round 8:

• Winston Wng beat Grant Burrows
• Isabelle Ning beat Sarah Yan
• Jacob Chai beat Jainbo Yu
• Hugh Gao beat Ying Wang
• Felix Xie beat Leo Li

Roy Seabrook is 1 point ahead of 4 other players ( Aaron Wang, Isabelle Ning, Euan McDougall and Andrew Michael).

 

Just two more rounds to go in the Club Champs. Don’t forget to enter the next two tournaments (the Spring Rapid and the Winter Cup), entry forms are at the club or you can email/txt Simon.

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

Club Champs round 7 and catchup games by Ewan Green with help from Tim Ha.

Catchup Games

These are games from A and B grade not played on the Monday night.

Zhang vs Gong – A Grade round 3 – An even start with long pawn chains blocking the centre. Black pushed his Kingside pawns while White’s pieces were on the Queenside. Black sacrificed a piece for the attack but failed to find the best continuation. White stopped the attack and then took Black’s pieces to eventually mate. 1-0

Gong vs Morrell – A Grade round 4 – Passive opening play by White allowed Black to push a little early in the game. The middle game was even with both players having chances as pieces threated many parts of the board. Black made a mistake and resigned after the loss of a key pawn let his position unholdable. 1-0

Wu vs Qin – B Grade round 5 – White gave up and early pawn and was unable to get it back and looked in further trouble when he lost another. White tried an attack against Black’s king and Black played the wrong move and lost to mate. 1-0

Brimble vs Nagorski – B Grade Round 6 –  Some interesting tactics in an open position. Black resigned after he miscalculated a sequence and was left a piece down. 1-0

A Grade round 7

Morrell vs Duneas – Both players spent the first 40 movies maneuvering their pieces around threatening various things and trying to gain an advantage. After swaps white had a difficult position and eventually lost on time. 0-1

Goodhue vs Zhang – White’s feel for his typical positions gave him a good start but the position was equal after 20 moves and just two major pieces left each. Black got a little better of the endgame before the players agreed on a draw.

Steadman vs Hague –  A fairly even game for most of the opening and middle game. White looked a little better a times but both players had chances. However Black blundered a piece in the endgame and resigned. 1-0

Ang vs Gong – Black pushed his Kingside pawns white White pushed his Queenside ones. Black managed to pickup a pawn and swapped the game to a bishop+pawns vs Knight+pawns endgame. However he got stuck in an endgame position and took a draw.

Watson vs Fan – A even position went bad very quickly for black as white advanced some pawns to get an advanced chain. Black game up a Knight for two pawns to save the position. However white was able to efficiently use his extra piece. 1-0

After 7 round Ben Hague is still in the lead but now only half a point ahead of Bruce Watson. Both players have difficult opponents in round 8 and face each other in round 9.

B Grade

Nagorski vs Ha – White picked up a pawn in the middle game but they players agreed on a draw has black gained it back.

Wu vs Brimble – White speculatively gave up an exchange. However the loss of a rook a few moves later lacked any compensation. 0-1

Eade vs Ward – White had a better opening but black pulled ahead and by move 20 looked better. white made an error on defending an gave black a mate. 0-1

Yan vs Peak – A fairly even game. After the swap to the endgame white looked much more comfortable. Black had one chance which he missed and soon afterwards white picked up pawns and then got a passed pawn to win. 1-0

Caroline Yan, Keith Ward and Mark Brimble share the lead on 4.5 points with 2 other players just half a point behind.

C Grade

Seabrook vs Isabelle Ning – A strange opening line from Black game White an early pawn. White picked up an exchange an another pawn to give himself a winning endgame. 1-0

S Yan vs Michael – After the opening game Black a good attack against White’s castled King she had it flee to the centre. Black’s attack petered out a little afterwards but a mistake by white forced her to give up her queen for a rook and bishop. White was unable to hold her position after that. 0-1

Milne vs E McDougall – The position swung back and force several times as both players made tactical mistakes. After the dust settled black was left with a rook+paws vs just some pawns. 0-1

Upsets in Round 7:

• Tom Fu beat Daniel Morrin
• Sylvia McDougall beat Zyre Milina
• Uday Jain beat Hugh Gao
• Felix Xie beat Ying Wang

Roy Seabrook is back by himself in the lead. Half a point behind him are Aaron Wang, Euan McDougall and Andrew Michael.