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The Autumn Cup is being played on Monday in April, May and June and consists of two Swiss Grades. It is Nationally Rated.

Vega Links: A Grade , B Grade

Round 5 PGN by Ewen Green

Round 5 Commentary by Alex Nagorski

A Grade

Alex Nagorski vs Paul Garbett – Fairly equal game in the beginning, both sides swapped down the queens and some pieces. Black started to apply some pressure and potential checkmate threads on the h-file, and White tried to counterattack on the Q-side. Black got a significant advantage, but then got into time trouble and blundered his bishop to a knight fork. Then the rooks were swapped down and the game eventually came to an endgame with an extra knight for White. 1-0

Bruce Watson vs Mike Steadman – White played the popular London system and Black replied with no less popular King’s Indian structure. The game was straightforward as White kept gradually increasing pressure on the Black’s position. Black didn’t stand the pressure and impulsively pushed the f-pawn forward weakening his position even more and allowing a very unpleasant knight pin. Black’s position shattered. 1-0

Daniel Gong vs Alphaeus Ang – Another London attempt but not that successful for White this time. The game was fairly equal at the opening, but then White  decided launch a premature attack having his whole k-side undeveloped. Black replied in the centre. Then White missed a tactical blow facing a checkmate on the 1st rank or losing his queen. Win for Black in 16 moves.

Allen Fan vs Paul Macdonald – A seesaw game where both sides had opportunities. White neglected his king’s safety which gave Black some tactical chances to get advantage and attack. Yet, White defended well and all Black’s advantage evaporated very quickly. Then White missed a tactical punch 29.b6! that could get Black into serious trouble. Instead of that White blundered a pawn and Black got advantage again which he gradually converted into a point. 0-1  (The game has Paul’s detailed annotation)

John Duneas vs Boyuan Zhang – White built up pressure right from the opening. Then he tried a standard bishop sac on h7 which was not supposed to lead to any advantage, as Black could have defended. Apparently Black was shocked and rejected the sac which was his fatal (and final) mistake. Black resigned facing checkmate. 1-0

Euan McDougall vs Jasmine Zhang – Relatively quiet opening followed by Black gradually gaining advantage. A sudden misstep by White resulted in loosing a piece, but he preferred to get checkmated instead.

Nigel Metge vs Andrew Michael – White had comfortable play from the opening and then tried active looking 10.h4 which should have been resulted in a major fallback after the correct  10…cxd4 11.cxd4 h5! followed by Nb4 or Nxd4 depending on the queen’s retreat. Missing that chance Black allowed White to keep the egde. Then White decided to open the game forgetting that his king was still in the centre. Black could play 17…Qa4 and open the game totally downgrading all White’s advantage. Missing the second chance Black allowed White an ultimate attack. 1-0

Virginia Milne vs Don Eade – Being ahead in development White could simply win a pawn. White preferred to try king’s attack and saced a piece for that.  Yet Black was able to defend well and then launch a counter attack on White’s king having material advantage. 0-1

Jordan Lewis vs Grant Burrows – Black had a stable position and was slightly ahead for the most of the game
but then blundered some tactics and resigned.

Abraham Deng vs Nathan Goodhue – White dominated the entire game. Black over-complicated the matter in the midgame and found himself pawn down and the vulnerable king in the centre. Eventually the game swaped down to a pawn endgame that was won for White. Excellent achievement by the young player.

Jeffrey Yu vs Aaron Wang – White neglected his development and launched a pawn attack. That was parried easily, and Black struck back with much stronger effect. 0-1

Joe Wang vs Winston Weng – Black had a good start but then missed some tactic and lost exchange. Then a long stage followed during which Black managed to regain two bishops for a rook. Finally the game went into a R + p vs B + 2pp endgame which the sides decided to settle on a draw.  1/2-1/2

Isabelle Ning vs Simon Lyall – Another London experiment resulted in Black getting huge advantage right from the opening. Then he slipped a couple of times allowing White to maintain the equality. Finally White allowed Black to put his knight on a strong position, then Black queen infiltrated her position. That resulted in an exchange loss. Black managed to capitalize afterwards. 0-1

Karl Holdo vs Anya Thurner – Fairly even game until move 27 when White missed a chance to win a pawn by 27.Nb5!  Then another even plateau followed until Black’s mistake 38…Kf7? (38…b5! with a draw) White could use this blunder by playing 39.b5! himself with a won pawn endgame. After 40.h4? Black finally played 40…b5! securing her position. if White had played 40.b5 he would have won the game. Draw agreed 1/2

Ajit Pendharkar vs Arkadi Polyakevich – A crazy game where the chance shifted from one side to another many times. Black saced an exchange in the midgame for unknown reason. At some point White was totally winnng as the Black’s knight was caught. 40. Rg1 and eigher 40…Nf4 or 40…Nh4 would be followed by 41.RxN pxR and 42.Rg8+ winning the other rook on the skewer. White missed that chance, then gave back the exchange for a strong central knight. The rook endgame followed and Black even managed to win. Looks like White resigned a bit early but that was his decision. 0-1

Upsets in Round 5

Abraham Deng beat Nathan Goodhue
Alex Nagorski beat Paul Garbett
Paul Macdonald beat Allen Fan

After 4 rounds Alex Nagorski was in the led on 4.5 with 3 other players just behind on 4 points.

B Grade

Jack Chen vs Scott Treanor – White had a nice position with attacking chances but failed to find the way. Black counter-attacked and didn’t leave White any chance to survive. Checkmate 0-1

Lakshmi Ravi vs Ying Wang – Black lost a pawn to a tactical trick and then gave up a piece hoping to create an attack on the king-side. That failed and White checkmated. 1-0

Upsets in Round 5

Jack Chen beat Scott Treanor
Kelvin Xiao beat Wayne McDougall
Longbin Bi beat Eugene Wang
John Liu beat Thomas Zheng

The Club Champs will be starting on Monday the 17th of June and run for 9 rounds.

This year the A and B Grades are 10-player round robins and the C Grade is a Swiss. All Grades are FIDE and NZCF rated.

Check out the Entries so far to make sure you are entered. Players for A and B grade will be finalized on Sunday.

Vega Links: A Grade , B Grade , C Grade

The Auckland Chess Centre won the A Grade Interclub competition.

In Round 1 we beat Papatoetoe 5 to 1
In Round 2 we beat North Shore 5.5 to 0.5
In Round 3 we lost to Howick-Pakuranga 2.5 to 3.5

While we’ve only won 2/3 rounds we came first since we had more games won. In fact, Howick needed to win 4.5 to 1.5 in the final round to come first.

Final results were:

1st Auckland Chess Centre 13 points
2nd Howick-Pakuranga 11.5 points
3rd North Shore 7 points
4th Papatoetoe 4.5 points

Full results on the Auckland Chess Association website.

The Junior Interclub and B-Grade Interclub will take place later in the year.

The Autumn Cup is being played on Monday in April, May and June and consists of two Swiss Grades. It is Nationally Rated.

Vega Links: A Grade , B Grade

Round 4 PGN by Ewen Green

A Grade

Paul Garbett vs Allen Fan – White in an early attack, Black made a couple of errors and it was all over. 1-0

Mike Steadman vs John Duneas – After a slightly better opening Black let White get in some pressure and eventually White picked up an exchange. Though some exchanges and a lot of maneuvering White was able to keep his lead and win. 1-0

Paul Macdonald vs Alex Nagorski – White overlooked a tactic and lost a piece. White tried a tactic to get back in the game but overlooked the defense and resigned in the face of losing more material. 0-1

Don Eade vs Bruce Watson – White unwisely gave Black a half-open g file to attack White’s king. Black was able to deploy several pieces into an attack on White’s King that White was unable to defend. 0-1

Alphaeus Ang vs Lewis Jordan – White picked up an early pawn and kept it though the game while restricting Black. 1-0

Euan McDougall vs Daniel Gong – White had a good opening but got a little lost and Black equalised. White then missed a couple of moves and black was able to apply pressure until White blundered. 0-1

Tim Ha vs Nigel Metge – White got a worse opening and then made a mistake and lost an exchange. Black was winning but White managed to use his two bishops well and get a perpetual check. Draw

Nathan Goodhue vs Felix Xie – White tried the fashionable “1. b4” but came out of the opening worse. White castled into a very exposed position and was very quickly lost. 0-1

Boyuan Zhang vs Jeffrey Yu – A very sleep symmetrical Exchange-French opening until White game up piece for Black’s h and g pawns. Black swapped off attackers and was ahead until he got a piece trapped on move 40. 1-0

Joe Wang vs Caroline Yan – White got a rook trapped early and was down an exchange. White then miscalculated a tactic and lost another piece. 0-1

Simon Lyall vs Virginia Milne – White overlooked a mate-in-one. 0-1

Abraham Deng vs Anya Thurner – Black left her Castled King under-defended with her pieces on the Queen side and a pawn chain in-between. White quickly mounted a successful attack. 1-0

Andrew Michael vs Isabelle Ning – White got a little ahead during the middle game. Black allowed a tactic and gave up an exchange which left her in a lost position. 1-0

Winston Weng vs Ajit Pendharkar – Black lost a piece early. White then steadily exchanged material. 1-0

Arkadi Polyakevich vs Karl Holdo – White won an exchange and was giving Black a hard time but allowed Black’s queen to mount an attack and obtain perpetual check. Draw

Upsets in Round 4:

Felix Xie beat Nathan Goodhue
Virginia Milne beat Simon Lyall
Tim Ha drew with Nigel Metge
Alex Nagorski beat Paul Macdonald

Paul Garbett is the only undefeated player on 4/4. Alex Nagorski and Mike Steadman are 2nd= on 3.5

B Grade

Yolanda Chang vs Penghao Chen – White played for a dubious tactic. After a feeding-frenzy of swaps Black emerged a piece up and managed to convert. 0-1

Huge Gao vs Lakshmi Ravi – White managed to get a pawn up and better in the early middle game. But some quiet play by White allowed Black to even the position and White settled for a draw.

Upsets in Round 4:

Penghao (Jack) Chen by Yolanda Chang
Kelvin Xiao beat Neil Sonnekus

After 4 rounds the leader is Jack Chen on 4/4 with Scott Treanor in 2nd on 3.5 points.

The Autumn Cup is being played on Monday in April, May and June and consists of two Swiss Grades. It is Nationally Rated.

Vega Links: A Grade , B Grade

Round 3 PGN by Alex Nagorski and Tim Ha

A Grade

Bruce Watson vs Paul Garbett – White got an awkward pawn structure that Black was able to exploit. 0-1

Allen Fan vs Alphaeus Ang – White got a passed pawn that Black had to give up a piece to stop. A piece down, Black was unable to hold the position. 1-0

Nigel Metge vs Mike Steadman – White got over-eager on attack and left his position expose. He tried a piece sacrifice but it petered out and he resigned. 0-1

Alex Nagorski vs Gordon Morrell – A lot of tactics and swaps in the middle game. After the dust clear White was two pawns up in the endgame and was able to convert. 1-0

John Duneas vs Jeffrey Yu – Black blundered a piece. 1-0

Felix Xei vs Paul Macdonald – See Paul’s annotations in the PGN. Black managed to get a lot of threats in the middle-game and swapped into a rook and pawn endgame a pawn ahead. He eventually broke though with a two connected pawns escorted by a rook against a rook and a king. 0-1

Daniel Gong vs Abraham Deng – White doubled one of Blacks pawns and then was able to win it. He then invaded Black’s position to win. 1-0

Erwin Koestanto vs Virginia Milne – Black gave up 2 pawns for no real compensation and then lost two more. 1-0

Austin Tama vs Don Eade – The players swapped to an even endgame. But White allowed a tactic that netted Black a pawn, Black then swapped pieces to a won King and Pawn endgame. 0-1

Jordan Lewis vs Arkadi Polyakevich – No PGN submitted. 1-0

Isabell Ning vs Euan McDougall – After a lot of back and forth during the game Black got a pawn ahead which was enough to win the endgame. 0-1

Mohammad Bashar vs Tim Ha – White allowed some tactics and then in a bid to get back in the game allowed more. 0-1

Xinyang Liu vs Andrew Michael – White got a pawn ahead but then Black got a dangerous attack. However White was able to hold and then swap off many major pieces. However Black then allowed a quick mate which White found.

Anya Thurner vs Simon Lyall – A fairly even game with pieces steadily being swapped. White made an error in the endgame but Black failed to find the correct moves to win. Draw

Philli Park-Tamati vs Winston Weng – Black allowed a well-known tactic and ended up an exchange down. He resigned a few moves later in the face of further losses. 1-0

Aaron Wang vs Joe Wang – White missed a tactic which allowed Black to pick up an exchange and a pawn. Black then kept up the pressure till he could pick off White’s pawns. 0-1

Karl Holdo vs Boyuan Zhang – Dubious play by both players in the opening and middlegame. Black emerged into the endgame a pawn up and that was enough to win. 0-1

Ajit Pendharkar vs German Giuliani – White survived Black’s pet opening and got a good position. He settled for a draw however. Draw.

Upsets in round 3

Alex Nagorski beat Gordon Morrell
Boyuan Zhang beat Karl Holdo
Anya Thurner drew with Simon Lyall
Joe wang beat Aaron Wang

Paul Garbett and Allen Fan lead with 3 points each.

B Grade

Upsets in Round 3

Jack Chen beat Mathew Steadman
Eden Oshri beat Eugene Wang
Eric Fan beat John McClory

Jack Chen and Yolanda Chang are leadign the grade on 3 points.

The Autumn Cup is being played on Monday in April, May and June and consists of two Swiss Grades. It is Nationally Rated.

Vega Links: A Grade , B Grade

Autumn Cup Round 2 pgn by Ewan Green

A Grade

Jasmine Zhang vs Bruce Watson – Black gradually built up an advantage. White resigned after Black won a piece. 0-1

Alphaeus Ang vs Erwin Koestanto – Black gave up a pawn to give White tripled isolated pawns. But once things swapped to a King and pawn endgame he was just lost. 1-0

Don Eade vs Paul Garbett – White got a little lost in his opening that and allowed Black equality. He then missed a tactic and ended up an exchange and a pawn down. 0-1

Michael Steadman vs Alex Nagorski – White players the amusing named “Santasiere’s Folly” and Black chucks in a pawn counter-sacrifice on move 2! (see diagram). Black got a good attack but it eventually petered out into a Draw.

Euan McDougall vs Allen Fan – Whites unusual opening through Black off a little but he adapted and then found some tactics to pick up and exchange. Mate followed quickly. 0-1

Mohammad Bashar vs John Duneas – White had a good start with a unusual opening line that the computer liked. However a couple of quiet moves by White allowed Black to turn up the pressure and invade White’s position with pieces and pawns. 0-1

Gordon Morrell vs Anya Thurner – White outmaneuvered Black in the middle game and got a couple of pawns and a much better position. Black resigned in the face of losing a piece. 1-0

Nigel Metge vs Karl Holdo – White got an advantage in the opening and slowly swapped off pieces while keeping up the pressure. Eventually Black resigned on move 70. 1-0

Tim Ha vs Jordan Lewis – Black got into a nice position and a pawn up but pushed a pawn in front of his King that allowed White a tactic. The players took a draw rather than following the unclear line (which the computer says is slightly better for white).

Joe Wang vs Felix Xie – White seemed to get a little lost in the opening but came out a little better. White was going well in the middle game but miscalculated a sequence of swaps and lost a piece. 0-1

Boyuan Zhang vs Nathan Goodhue – White has a good start but got a piece trapped and lost an exchange. 0-1

Simon Lyall vs Philli Park-Tamati – White got a good position but missed the best move and instead ended up swapping into an endgame a pawn down. Black got a past pawn which forced White to give up a piece, but white was able to take Blacks last pawn to leave Black with just a bishops against a King. Draw

Abraham Deng vs Arkadi Polyakevich – Black was a little passive in the opening allowing White top push pawns and pieces forward and leave Black very cramped. White then found some tactics and was able to pick up material. 1-0

Andrew Michael vs Ajit Pendharkar – Fairly even but Black allowed a couple of tactics that enabled White to pick up material and win. 1-0

Virginia Milne vs Kendrick Zhang – Black Miscalculated and lost a piece. White was about the win easily from there. 1-0

Upsets in Round 2:

Alex Nagorski drew with Mike Steadman
Philli Park-Tamati drew with Simon Lyall
Andrew Michael beat Ajit Pendharkar

Standings:

After 2 rounds there were just 4 players still undefeated on 2 points. Bruce Watson, Paul Garbett, Allen Fan and Alphaeus Ang.

B Grade

Jacob Chai vs Scott Treanor – The players seaily swapped pieces into a drawn endgame. Draw

Vincent Cai vs Thomas Zheng – White got some good positions but was slow at pressing his advantage. White eventually got a couple of pieces up in a won position but allowed Black to sneak a checkmate. 0-1

Adam Macauley vs Yolanda Chang – Black picked up a pawn and some pressure. Eventually White made further mistakes to allow Black the win. 0-1

Upsets in round 2:

Joseph Xin beat Wayne McDougall
Jocob Chai drew with Scott Treanor
Jack Chen beat Alan Leach
Kelvin Xiao beat Philip Te Whata

Standings:

Three players are on Two points; Thomas Zheng, Yolanda Chang and Jack Chen.

The Autumn Cup is being played on Monday in April, May and June and consists of two Swiss Grades. It is Nationally Rated.

Vega Links: A Grade , B Grade

Autumn Cup R1 PGN by Ewen Green

A Grade

The first round saw unequal matches but there were 5 draws and two wins by the lower rated player.

Bashar Mohammad beat Caroline Yan
Jeffrey Yu beat Simon Lyall

Bruce Watson vs Xinyang Liu – Black lost an early pawn and white was able to keep up the pressure throughout the game to eventually mate. 1-0

Nathan Goodhue vs Alphaeus Ang – Black picked up a pawn and an exchange and a lot of pressure which White was unable to counter. 0-1

Paul Garbett vs Abraham Deng – Black had a good start getting a pawn or two up but a series of errors built up. Game ended abruptly with White ahead. 1-0

Ajit Pendharkar vs Michael Steadman – Lots of interesting tactics and threats by both players. However in the majority Black came out ahead until he was a full piece up. 0-1

Allen Fan vs Arron Wang – Black gave up a pawn in what appears to be a miscalculation and his position completely fell apart. 1-0

Karl Holdo vs Gordon Morrell – White managed to hold his own into the middle game until an unwise move by Black allowed White to invade into the Kings area with a Queen while Black’s pieces were on the other side of the board. White got into a near winning position but couldn’t find the right line so took a perpetual check. Draw

Paul Macdonald vs Virginia Milne – Blacks position got steadily worse. She tried a counter-attack but overlooked the mate on the other end of the board. 1-0

Stephen Peak vs Jasmine Zhang – White got a pawn up and was looking good in the early middle game, but lost his way and Black was able to get material back and swap into a winning endgame. 0-1

Grant Burrow vs Nigel Metge – White got a better opening and executed a nice swap to give himself a rook, Knight and Bishop vs two rooks. Just when he looked like winning White lost a piece but black then made his own mistakes. A draw was agreed in what looks like a won position for White. Draw

Alex Nagorski vs Andrew Michael – White picked up an exchange, then a pawn and then a piece. 1-0

Arkadi Polyakevich vs Don Eade – Black made a mistake and allowed an attack by White but luckily for him White missed the best line and only ended a little better. White quickly went wrong though and lost. 1-0

Caroline Yan vs Bashar Mohammad – White over-pressed an attack against Black who eventually got some counterplay. White resigned with Black a little better on the board. 0-1

Jeffrey Yu vs Simon Lyall – Black got an attack but was only able to pick up a pawn. White got a counter-attack that got the pawn back and then another. The game went back and forth a few more times with both players low on time before black made the final mistake. 1-0

Lewis Jordan vs Joe Wang – The players swapped down and both got attacks. They agreed on a draw with Black in the better position. Draw

Kendrick Zhang vs Euan McDougall – White was ahead for much of the game but missed the best moves. 0-1

Felix Xie vs Boyuan Zhang – White got a little lost in the opening. A few moves later Black got a draw by repetition. Draw

Anya Thurner vs Timothy Ha – The players aggressively swapped down to an even endgame which they drew.

Scott Treanor vs Eugene Wang – Black eventually made enough mistakes to allow White to win. 1-0

B Grade

Upsets in Round 1

Adam Macauley beat Erica Hu
Vincent Cai beat Wayne McDougall
Jack Chen beat Mike Steine

We’re excited to announce the new format for our Friday junior nights. For a long time we have been asked by parents when we will have tutorials for the junior club. It is finally here!

Tutorials will start at 6:30pm on Friday nights. For more information, please find our updated page for Friday Night Chess: https://www.aucklandchess.nz/friday-chess/

The Autumn Rapid was held on the 1st and 8th of April.

Vega Link to the tournament

Photos from Round 1

After the first 3 rounds only 2 players were unbeaten. Tim Ha and Bruce Watson.

Round 4
Upsets:

Euan McDougall beat Allen Fan
Uday Jain beat Boyuan Zhang
Sylvia McDougall beat Hugh Gao
Hannah Xu beat Ariel Patdu

Bruce Watson won his game to go into the lead. Half a point behind him were Alexei Kulashko, Paul Garbett and Daniel Gong.

Round 5
Upsets:

Grayson Po’e-Tofaeono beat Amy Zheng
Winston Weng beat Don Eade

On the top boards. Alexei managed to hold onto a draw against Bruce while playing in increment, while Paul Garbett beat Daniel Gong.

Bruce and Paul were now on 4.5 while several others were on 4 points.

Round 6

Once again many players took half point byes.

Upsets:
Jack Chen beat Mohammad Bashar
Tyleah Po’e-Tofaeono beat Ying Wang

The top board had draws ( while 3 players on 4 points took byes). But Erwin Koestanto on board 2 beat Clinton Wells to go to 5 points.

Final result

Winners on 5 points: Bruce Watson, Paul Garbett and Erwin Koestanto

4th Equal on 4.5: Alexei Kulashko, Daniel Gong, Michael Steadman, Alphaeus Ang, Felix Xei and Nigel Metg

A Reminder that the Autumn Cup will be starting on the 8th of April. Entries so far are online. Please check and enter soon if you want to play. Please discuss with Simon if you which to switch Grades.

Vega Links for Autumn Cup: A Grade , B Grade

Autumn Rapid

The Autumn Cup is the Second Leg of the Club Rapid competition. Scores in it are counted along with the Blitz and Spring Rapid.

Vega Link

Top Upsets

Round 1:

Ying Wang beat Ajit Pendharkar

Round 2:

David Zhu beat Renae Ghadiali
Philli Park-Tamati drew with Alphaeus Ang
Lewis Jordan drew with Allen Fan

Round 3:

Tim Ha beat Nigel Metge
Nathan Goohue drew with Alexei Kulashko
Alex Nagorski drew with Paul Garbett

Due to Many players taking half point byes in round 3 and a sprinkling of draws only two players are unbeaten after 3 round. Tim Ha and Bruce Watson. Another 11 players are on 2.5