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The 2018 Auckland Chess Centre Club  Champs is across 9 rounds in June though August. The A and B grades are 10 player round robins while the C grade is a Swiss ( with just over 60 players). All Grades are NZCF rated while the A and B grades are FIDE rated.

• Club Champs R1 PGN by Tim Ha
• Club Champs R2 PGN by Ewan Green

Vega Links: A Grade, B Grade, C Grade

A Grade

Watson and Garbett lead after two rounds with 2/2 . The top two seeds (Hague and Kulashko) drew against each other.

Biggest upset in the first two round as was Gordon Morrell getting a draw against Daniel Gong in round 2.

B Grade

After two rounds only Don Eade is undefeated. Top seed Paul MacDonald beat second seed Nathan Goodhue but drew his other game.

Upsets:

Lyall drew with MacDonald in round 1
Nicole Qin beat Alex Nagorski in Round 2
Tim Ha beat Caroline Yan in round 2

C Grade

10 players were on 2 points after 2 rounds.

Upsets in round 1:

Selena Hu beat Jason Huang
Jeffery Yu beat Virginia Milne
Joe Wang drew with Arkadi Poliakevitch

Upsets in Round 2:

Brian Zhao beat Toby Zhang
Isabelle Ning beat Andrew Michael
Felix Xie beat Euan McDougall
Hannah Xu beat Leo Li
Philip Te Whata beat Aaron Wang

The Autumn Cup was played across 7 rounds between April 23rd and June 11th. There were two Swiss Grades. A Grade was 35 players rated 1440 and up which B Grade was 33 players below that rating.

• Autumn A Grade in Vega
• Autumn B Grade in Vega

A Grade

1st equal: Ben Hague, Alphaeus Ang, Allen Fan – 5.5 points
4th: Bruce Watson – 5 points
5th equal: Paul Garbett, John Duneas, Roy Seabrook – 4.5 points

B Grade

1st: Hugh Gao – 6 points
2nd: Joe Wang – 5.5 points
3rd equal: John Liu, Mathew Steadman, Kelvin Xiao, Isabelle Ning – 5 points.

 

Catching up from last month.

• Autumn A Grade in Vega
• Autumn B Grade in Vega

Autumn Cup R6 PGN

A Grade

Daniel Gong vs Alphaeus Ang – Black was down a piece but managed to take advantage of sharp tactics. 0-1

Michael Steadman vs Ben Hague – Black handled White’s usual b4 and attacked the King. White didn’t accurately defend. 0-1

Nathan Goodhue vs Bruce Watson – Black gradually improved his position and picked up a piece. 0-1

Paul Garbett vs Allen Fan – Black picked up a pawn and swapped down material before a mate presented it self. 0-1

Alex Nagorski vs John Duneas –  White missed some tactics that allowed Black to win material 0-1

Other games in the PGN

Upsets were:

Felix Xei beat Arkadi Poliakevitch
Allen Fan beat Paul Garbett
Tim Ha beat Clinton Wells

Alphaeus Ang was first on 5.5 after 6 rounds with Ben Hague, Bruce Watson and Allen fan all on 4.5.

B Grade

There were a large number of Byes in Round 6.

Upsets:

Kelvin Xiao beat Wayne McDougall
Brian Zhao beat Jacob Chai

Leaders after the round were Huge Gao on 5 followed by Jaon Huang, Joe Wang, Mathew Steadman and Kelvin Xiao on 4.5

Apologies for getting behind with these results.

A reminder that the Junior Interclub is on Sunday the 24th of June. We are looking for players at all levels to participate. Please contact Simon or signup at the Club

• Autumn A Grade in Vega
• Autumn B Grade in Vega

Autumn Cup 2018 R5 PGN by Ewan Green

A Grade

Alphaeus Ang vs Paul Garbett – White was better but Black managed to swap into an equal endgame. However Black made a mistake and lost. 1-0

Daniel Gong vs Mike Steadman – The usual Opening experiments from Mike. He got a good position but ended up a pawn down which was enough for Daniel to win the endgame. 1-0

Leon Zhang vs Alex Nagorski – White once again forgot his theory to give black a chance. But the players took a draw once the position had settled down a little. Draw

Tim Ha vs Ben Hague – White went fairly well but was a pawn down when the position swapped to a Queen + Pawn endgame. Black outplayed him to pick up another pawn and White resigned. 0-1

Bruce Watson vs Erwin  Koestanto – A few even game. White was ahead but Black came back and at once point could have got a perpetual check. Black played on but ended up in worse endgame. 1-0

Nathan Goodhue vs Winston Weng – Black was looking good (computer claimed +2) but ended up a piece down after some complex exchanges. 1-0

John Duneas vs Aaron Wang – White got a huge attack and won quickly. 1-0

After 5 rounds Alphaeus Ang was first with 4.5 points ahead of Daniel Going on 4 and 7 players on 3.5

Upsets:

Alex Nagorski drew with Leo Zhang

B Grade

John Liu, Hugh Gao and Jason Huang share the led after 5 rounds on 4.0 points.

Upsets:

Kelvin Xiao beat Boyuan Zhang
Renae Ghadiali beat Jacob Barry
Saasha Ghadiali beat Toby Zhang

The Draw for B Grade in the 2018 Club Champs is as follows

Pairing round 1 at 7pm of 18/06/2018
1 Macdonald, Paul … Lyall, Simon
2 Goodhue, Nathan … Qin, Nicole Shu Yu
3 Nagorski, Alex … Ha, Huy Minh (Timothy)
4 Yan, Caroline … Qin, Joy Shu Yan
5 Eade, Don … Seabrook, Roy

Pairing round 2 at 7pm of 25/06/2018
1 Lyall, Simon … Seabrook, Roy
2 Qin, Joy Shu Yan … Eade, Don
3 Ha, Huy Minh (Timothy) … Yan, Caroline
4 Qin, Nicole Shu Yu … Nagorski, Alex
5 Macdonald, Paul … Goodhue, Nathan

Pairing round 3 at 7pm of 02/07/2018
1 Goodhue, Nathan … Lyall, Simon
2 Nagorski, Alex … Macdonald, Paul
3 Yan, Caroline … Qin, Nicole Shu Yu
4 Eade, Don … Ha, Huy Minh (Timothy)
5 Seabrook, Roy … Qin, Joy Shu Yan

Pairing round 4 at 7pm of 09/07/2018
1 Lyall, Simon … Qin, Joy Shu Yan
2 Ha, Huy Minh (Timothy) … Seabrook, Roy
3 Qin, Nicole Shu Yu … Eade, Don
4 Macdonald, Paul … Yan, Caroline
5 Goodhue, Nathan … Nagorski, Alex

Pairing round 5 at 7pm of 16/07/2018
1 Nagorski, Alex … Lyall, Simon
2 Yan, Caroline … Goodhue, Nathan
3 Eade, Don … Macdonald, Paul
4 Seabrook, Roy … Qin, Nicole Shu Yu
5 Qin, Joy Shu Yan … Ha, Huy Minh (Timothy)

Pairing round 6 at 7pm of 23/07/2018
1 Lyall, Simon … Ha, Huy Minh (Timothy)
2 Qin, Nicole Shu Yu … Qin, Joy Shu Yan
3 Macdonald, Paul … Seabrook, Roy
4 Goodhue, Nathan … Eade, Don
5 Nagorski, Alex … Yan, Caroline

Pairing round 7 at 7pm of 30/07/2018
1 Yan, Caroline … Lyall, Simon
2 Eade, Don … Nagorski, Alex
3 Seabrook, Roy … Goodhue, Nathan
4 Qin, Joy Shu Yan … Macdonald, Paul
5 Ha, Huy Minh (Timothy) … Qin, Nicole Shu Yu

Pairing round 8 at 7pm of 06/08/2018
1 Lyall, Simon … Qin, Nicole Shu Yu
2 Macdonald, Paul … Ha, Huy Minh (Timothy)
3 Goodhue, Nathan … Qin, Joy Shu Yan
4 Nagorski, Alex … Seabrook, Roy
5 Yan, Caroline … Eade, Don

Pairing round 9 at 7pm of 13/08/2018
1 Eade, Don … Lyall, Simon
2 Seabrook, Roy … Yan, Caroline
3 Qin, Joy Shu Yan … Nagorski, Alex
4 Ha, Huy Minh (Timothy) … Goodhue, Nathan
5 Qin, Nicole Shu Yu … Macdonald, Paul

Draw for the 2018 Club Champs A Grade is as follows:

Pairing round 1at 7pm of 18/06/2018
1 Hague, Ben … Duneas, John
2 Kulashko, Alexei … Morrell, Gordon
3 Gong, Daniel Hanwen … Fan, Allen Chi Zhou
4 Watson, Bruce R … Steadman, Michael V R
5 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Ern … Garbett, Paul A

Pairing round 2 at 7pm of 25/06/2018
1 Duneas, John … Garbett, Paul A
2 Steadman, Michael V R … Ang, Alphaeus Wei Ern
3 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou … Watson, Bruce R
4 Morrell, Gordon … Gong, Daniel Hanwen
5 Hague, Ben … Kulashko, Alexei

Pairing round 3 at 7pm of 02/07/2018
1 Kulashko, Alexei … Duneas, John
2 Gong, Daniel Hanwen … Hague, Ben
3 Watson, Bruce R … Morrell, Gordon
4 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Ern … Fan, Allen Chi Zhou
5 Garbett, Paul A … Steadman, Michael V R

Pairing round 4 at 7pm of 09/07/2018
1 Duneas, John … Steadman, Michael V R
2 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou … Garbett, Paul A
3 Morrell, Gordon … Ang, Alphaeus Wei Ern
4 Hague, Ben … Watson, Bruce R
5 Kulashko, Alexei … Gong, Daniel Hanwen

Pairing round 5 at 7pm of 16/07/2018
1 Gong, Daniel Hanwen … Duneas, John
2 Watson, Bruce R … Kulashko, Alexei
3 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Ern … Hague, Ben
4 Garbett, Paul A … Morrell, Gordon
5 Steadman, Michael V R … Fan, Allen Chi Zhou

Pairing round 6 at 7pm of 23/07/2018
1 Duneas, John … Fan, Allen Chi Zhou
2 Morrell, Gordon … Steadman, Michael V R
3 Hague, Ben … Garbett, Paul A
4 Kulashko, Alexei … Ang, Alphaeus Wei Ern
5 Gong, Daniel Hanwen … Watson, Bruce R

Pairing round 7 at 7pm of 30/07/2018
1 Watson, Bruce R … Duneas, John
2 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Ern … Gong, Daniel Hanwen
3 Garbett, Paul A … Kulashko, Alexei
4 Steadman, Michael V R … Hague, Ben
5 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou … Morrell, Gordon

Pairing round 8 at 7pm of 06/08/2018
1 Duneas, John … Morrell, Gordon
2 Hague, Ben … Fan, Allen Chi Zhou
3 Kulashko, Alexei … Steadman, Michael V R
4 Gong, Daniel Hanwen … Garbett, Paul A
5 Watson, Bruce R … Ang, Alphaeus Wei Ern

Pairing round 9 at 7pm of 13/08/2018
1 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Ern … Duneas, John
2 Garbett, Paul A … Watson, Bruce R
3 Steadman, Michael V R … Gong, Daniel Hanwen
4 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou … Kulashko, Alexei
5 Morrell, Gordon … Hague, Ben

I’ve put up Vega pages for the Club Champs. Please check I have not missed you and contact me if you wish to enter.

Grades A and B are FIDE rated round Robin events and have a slightly longer time control. Grade C is a big Swiss and is Nationally rated.

Vega Links: A Grade, B Grade, C Grade

A note that the Club Champs will be held starting on June 18th. It will be over 9 rounds with the top two grades FIDE and Nationally rated Round robins while the C Grade with be a Nationally rated Swiss.

There is a signup sheet at the club or you can email or Text Simon Lyall to enter.

• Autumn A Grade in Vega
• Autumn B Grade in Vega

Autumn Cup 2018 R4 PGN by Ewan Green

A Grade

Bruce Watson vs Mike Steadman – Both players missed the best tactics (see the PGN for one line). White resigned after he dropped at Rook. 0-1

Allen Fan vs Alphaeus Ang – Black picked up a pawn and left White’s pawns looking lonely. He then found an attack which became a checkmate when. 0-1

Paul Garbett vs Nathan Goodhue – White had a big attack and gave up a bishop for two pawns to keep it moving. He eventually Queened and mated. 1-0

Roy Seabrook vs Daniel Gong – Black picked up a pawn in the opening and then successfully stopped a White attack and gaining more material. 0-1

Felix Xie vs Alex Nagorski – Black picked up a pawn and then swapped to a winning endgame. 0-1

Tim Ha vs Aaron Wang – Black blundered a Queen on move 8.  1-0

Simon Lyall vs John Duneas – Black gave up two pawns for an attack. White managed to stabilize the position and then gave up an exchange to take out Blacks good Bishop.  White failed to find the best move however and let Black back into the game. Both players missed wins and the game was finally drawn.

Clinton Wells vs Lewis Jordan – White picked up a pawn and managed to stop Blacks passed pawns long enough to win on the other side of the board. 1-0

Winston Weng vs Virginia Milne – White picked up a pawn and kept it into the endgame. 1-0

Stephen Peak vs Don Eade – Black’s position slowly got better and he ended with a won ended. 0-1

James Liu vs David Xu – Quick draw.

Biggest upsets:
Winston Weng beat Virginia Milne
Simon Lyall drew with John Duneas
Mike Steadman beat Bruce Watson.

Three players are now in the lead on 3.5. Alphaues Ang, Paul Garbett and Mike Steadman.

B Grade

Hugh Gao vs Ying Wang  – 0-1

Jason Huang vs Kenny Zhang –  1-0

John Liu vs Isabelle Ning – Black was looking good until she blundered a piece – 1-0

Saasha Ghadiali vs Joe Wang – White got a worse position in the opening and then game under a sustained attack from black. Eventually she made a mistake. 0-1

Jeffery Yu vs Abraham Deng – White picked up an early piece. 1-0

Philip Te Whata vs Leo Li – White lost a piece. See diagram

Erica Hu vs Wayne MacDougall – White failed to find the move to prevent checkmate.

Upsets:

John Liu beat Isabelle Ning

Leaders are Hugh Gao and Jason Huang on 3.5

A reminder that there will be a May Weekender at the Club on the 19th, 26th and 27th of May. Download the Entry form

• Autumn A Grade in Vega
• Autumn B Grade in Vega

2018 Autumn Cup Round 3 PGN by Tim Ha

After the mismatches of the first 2 rounds round 3 saw mostly close match-ups.

A Grade

Mike Steadman vs Paul Garbett – Mike played his favored “1 b4” and both players survived the the opening evenly. A draw was agreed on move 28 in an even position. Draw

Ben Hague vs Nathan Goodhue – White got better early and picked up a pawn which he converted to a passed pawn. Eventually black picked it up and quickly took the draw in relief not realizing he was a pawn up. Draw

Caroline Yan vs Bruce Watson – White’s position got increasingly cramped and she resigned faced with a lost endgame. 0-1

Alphaeus Ang vs Clinton Wells – White aggressively attacked and picked up a couple of pawns which was enough. 1-0

John Duneas vs Allen Fan – White looked better almost throughout and had a huge attack. But he failed to find the winning moves (see one in the diagram below) and was a piece down when the attack faltered. 0-1

Daniel Gong vs Stephen Peak – Another “1. b4” . Black played well but lost a pawn on move 34 and his rapidly collapsed. 0-1

Roy Seabrook vs Rodney Li – White got a strong attack and black resigned after he gave up a piece. 1-0

Aaron Wang vs Don Eade – Black got lost in the opening and ended up well behind. Black managed to recover but a couple of bad moves allowed white to launch a fatal attack. 1-0

Lewis Jordan vs Tim Ha – Black made a mistake and allowed white to sacrifice a bishop on h7 and attack the under-guarded king. He couldn’t find the knockout move however and the game ended in a draw.

Felix Xie vs Xinyang Liu – White was better for most of it but black put up a solid defense. Black resigned after losing a piece. 1-0

Erwin Koestanto vs Euan McDougall – Black misplayed the opening and lost quickly. 1-0

Simon Lyall vs David Xu – Black missed a tactic and lost his queen.  1-0

Winston Weng vs Sarah Yan – White pushed a strong attack and won material. Black resigned but she may have been early (see diagram). 1-0

Own Jin vs James Liu – Black was slightly better but then made a mistake and white was winning. However white missed the killer move and the players drew.

Virginia Milne vs Andrew Michael – after a lot of back and forth white got a winning attack. 1-0

Top Upsets:
Aaron Wang beat Don Eade
Winston Weng beat Sarah Yan
Nathan Goodhue drew with Ben Hague
Felix Xie beat Xinyang Liu

Add 4 people on 2 points drew so there are now 7 players in the lead on 2.5.

B Grade

Top upsets
Mathew Steadman beat Wayne McDougall
Ying Wang beat Jocob Barry

Of the 5 undefeated players last round only one won their game so Ying Wang goes into the sole lead. 4 players are just behind her on 2.5 points.

 

 

A reminder that there will be a May Weekender at the Club on the 19th, 26th and 27th of May. Download the Entry form

The 2nd round of the Autumn Cup was on April 30th, a few more upsets this time as players’ ratings got closer togeather

Autumn Cup 2018 R2 PGN by Tim Ha

• Autumn A Grade in Vega
• Autumn B Grade in Vega

A Grade

The majority of the games went with rating or were fairly quiet.

Allen Fan vs Ben Hague – Neither player gained much ground and they swapped to a drawn endgame.

Bruce Watson vs John Duneas – Same as the game above.

Nathan Goodhue vs Daniel Gong – White got one of those cramped positions that he favors and eventually Black slipped up to allow White gain a lead.

Upsets:

Nathan Goodhue beat Daniel Gong
Allen Fan drew with Ben Hague
Rodney Li drew with Virginia Milne
John Duneas drew with Bruce Watson.

4 players were on 2 points after 2 rounds: Michael Steadman, Leo Zhang, Nathan Goodhue and Paul Garbett.

B Grade

Only a few upsets.

Vincent Cai drew with Erica Hu
Kendrick Zhang beat Philip Te Whata

5 players are on 2 points: Ying Wang, Hugh Gao, Kendrick Zhang, Jacob Barry and Abraham Deng.