News

Apologies for getting a little behind with rounds. I hope to catchup in the next few days.

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

2018 Summer Cup Round 1 PGN by Ewen Green

A Grade

No real upsets, although Gong was lucky to escape with a draw after being a passed pawn down in the endgame, luckily for him he was able to round it up.

In Alphaeus Ang vs Paul Garbett – Black sacrificed the exchange for a huge attack that quickly won. See the diagram for the deadly attack.

B Grade

Once again see Paul Macdonald’s commentary on his game against Brett Rider. He prepared an opening move against Brett’s opening and was able to put Brett on the back foot and win.

Alex Nagorski had a good win against Leo Zhang after a pawn push opened up Leo’s position.

C Grade

Simon Lyall vs Joy Qin was a French, Joy wasted time in the opening and allowed Simon to get a winning attack.

Tim Ha vs Nicole Qin was also a French, in the case White made some incorrect moves and lost a pawn and the initiative.

Another French in Roy Seabrook vs Caroline Yan. White played some unlikely moves ( 5. Be2 6. O-O 7. Re1 8. Bf1 ) but Black failed to take real advantage and the game evened up and White eventually won.

Don Eade had some chances against Keith Ward but settled for a draw.

D Grade

Upsets were:

• Abraham Deng beat Xinyang Liu (via a lucky fork after being behind the whole game)
• Kendrick Zhang beat David Ansell
• Brian Zhao beat Winston Weng

 

Draw for the C Grade in the 2018 Summer Cup

ACC Summer Cup 2018 - C Grade : Round 1
=====================================================
1 = 1 Lyall, Simon         -   8 Qin, Joy Shu Yan    
2 = 2 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth -   7 Qin, Nicole Shu Yu  
3 = 3 Seabrook, Roy        -   6 Yan, Caroline       
4 = 4 Eade, Don            -   5 Ward, Keith         


ACC Summer Cup 2018 - C Grade : Round 2
=====================================================
1 = 8 Qin, Joy Shu Yan     -   5 Ward, Keith         
2 = 6 Yan, Caroline        -   4 Eade, Don           
3 = 7 Qin, Nicole Shu Yu   -   3 Seabrook, Roy       
4 = 1 Lyall, Simon         -   2 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth


ACC Summer Cup 2018 - C Grade : Round 3
=====================================================
1 = 2 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth -   8 Qin, Joy Shu Yan    
2 = 3 Seabrook, Roy        -   1 Lyall, Simon        
3 = 4 Eade, Don            -   7 Qin, Nicole Shu Yu  
4 = 5 Ward, Keith          -   6 Yan, Caroline       


ACC Summer Cup 2018 - C Grade : Round 4
=====================================================
1 = 8 Qin, Joy Shu Yan     -   6 Yan, Caroline       
2 = 7 Qin, Nicole Shu Yu   -   5 Ward, Keith         
3 = 1 Lyall, Simon         -   4 Eade, Don           
4 = 2 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth -   3 Seabrook, Roy       


ACC Summer Cup 2018 - C Grade : Round 5
=====================================================
1 = 3 Seabrook, Roy        -   8 Qin, Joy Shu Yan    
2 = 4 Eade, Don            -   2 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth
3 = 5 Ward, Keith          -   1 Lyall, Simon        
4 = 6 Yan, Caroline        -   7 Qin, Nicole Shu Yu  


ACC Summer Cup 2018 - C Grade : Round 6
=====================================================
1 = 8 Qin, Joy Shu Yan     -   7 Qin, Nicole Shu Yu  
2 = 1 Lyall, Simon         -   6 Yan, Caroline       
3 = 2 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth -   5 Ward, Keith         
4 = 3 Seabrook, Roy        -   4 Eade, Don           


ACC Summer Cup 2018 - C Grade : Round 7
=====================================================
1 = 4 Eade, Don            -   8 Qin, Joy Shu Yan    
2 = 5 Ward, Keith          -   3 Seabrook, Roy       
3 = 6 Yan, Caroline        -   2 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth
4 = 7 Qin, Nicole Shu Yu   -   1 Lyall, Simon        

Draw for the B Grade in the 2018 Summer Cup

ACC Summer Cup 2018 - B Grade : Round 1
=====================================================
1 = 1 Rider, Brett         -   8 Macdonald, Paul     
2 = 2 Nagorski, Alex       -   7 Zhang, Leo          
3 = 3 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou  -   6 Huang, Alex         
4 = 4 Duneas, John         -   5 Goodhue, Nathan     


ACC Summer Cup 2018 - B Grade : Round 2
=====================================================
1 = 8 Macdonald, Paul      -   5 Goodhue, Nathan     
2 = 6 Huang, Alex          -   4 Duneas, John        
3 = 7 Zhang, Leo           -   3 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou 
4 = 1 Rider, Brett         -   2 Nagorski, Alex      


ACC Summer Cup 2018 - B Grade : Round 3
=====================================================
1 = 2 Nagorski, Alex       -   8 Macdonald, Paul     
2 = 3 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou  -   1 Rider, Brett        
3 = 4 Duneas, John         -   7 Zhang, Leo          
4 = 5 Goodhue, Nathan      -   6 Huang, Alex         


ACC Summer Cup 2018 - B Grade : Round 4
=====================================================
1 = 8 Macdonald, Paul      -   6 Koestano, Erwin        
2 = 7 Zhang, Leo           -   5 Goodhue, Nathan     
3 = 1 Kong-Lim, Qi Le      -   4 Duneas, John        
4 = 2 Nagorski, Alex       -   3 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou 


ACC Summer Cup 2018 - B Grade : Round 5
=====================================================
1 = 3 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou  -   8 Macdonald, Paul     
2 = 4 Duneas, John         -   2 Nagorski, Alex      
3 = 5 Goodhue, Nathan      -   1 Kong-Lim, Qi Le      
4 = 6 Koestano, Erwin      -   7 Zhang, Leo          


ACC Summer Cup 2018 - B Grade : Round 6
=====================================================
1 = 8 Macdonald, Paul      -   7 Zhang, Leo          
2 = 1 Kong-Lim, Qi Lee     -   6 Koestano, Erwin       
3 = 2 Nagorski, Alex       -   5 Goodhue, Nathan     
4 = 3 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou  -   4 Duneas, John        


ACC Summer Cup 2018 - B Grade : Round 7
=====================================================
1 = 4 Duneas, John         -   8 Macdonald, Paul     
2 = 5 Goodhue, Nathan      -   3 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou 
3 = 6 Koestano, Erwin        -   2 Nagorski, Alex      
4 = 7 Zhang, Leo           -   1 Kong-Lim, Qi Le        

 

Draw for the 2018 Summer Cup – A Grade

ACC Summer Cup 2018 - A Grade : Round 1
=====================================================
1 = 1 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er -   8 Garbett, Paul A     
2 = 2 Kulashko, Alexei     -   7 Hague, Ben          
3 = 3 Thornton, Giovanni A -   6 Steadman, Michael V 
4 = 4 Watson, Bruce R      -   5 Gong, Daniel Hanwen 


ACC Summer Cup 2018 - A Grade : Round 2
=====================================================
1 = 8 Garbett, Paul A      -   5 Gong, Daniel Hanwen 
2 = 6 Steadman, Michael V  -   4 Watson, Bruce R     
3 = 7 Hague, Ben           -   3 Thornton, Giovanni A
4 = 1 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er -   2 Kulashko, Alexei    


ACC Summer Cup 2018 - A Grade : Round 3
=====================================================
1 = 2 Kulashko, Alexei     -   8 Garbett, Paul A     
2 = 3 Thornton, Giovanni A -   1 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er
3 = 4 Watson, Bruce R      -   7 Hague, Ben          
4 = 5 Gong, Daniel Hanwen  -   6 Steadman, Michael V 


ACC Summer Cup 2018 - A Grade : Round 4
=====================================================
1 = 8 Garbett, Paul A      -   6 Steadman, Michael V 
2 = 7 Hague, Ben           -   5 Gong, Daniel Hanwen 
3 = 1 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er -   4 Watson, Bruce R     
4 = 2 Kulashko, Alexei     -   3 Thornton, Giovanni A


ACC Summer Cup 2018 - A Grade : Round 5
=====================================================
1 = 3 Thornton, Giovanni A -   8 Garbett, Paul A     
2 = 4 Watson, Bruce R      -   2 Kulashko, Alexei    
3 = 5 Gong, Daniel Hanwen  -   1 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er
4 = 6 Steadman, Michael V  -   7 Hague, Ben          


ACC Summer Cup 2018 - A Grade : Round 6
=====================================================
1 = 8 Garbett, Paul A      -   7 Hague, Ben          
2 = 1 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er -   6 Steadman, Michael V 
3 = 2 Kulashko, Alexei     -   5 Gong, Daniel Hanwen 
4 = 3 Thornton, Giovanni A -   4 Watson, Bruce R     


ACC Summer Cup 2018 - A Grade : Round 7
=====================================================
1 = 4 Watson, Bruce R      -   8 Garbett, Paul A     
2 = 5 Gong, Daniel Hanwen  -   3 Thornton, Giovanni A
3 = 6 Steadman, Michael V  -   2 Kulashko, Alexei    
4 = 7 Hague, Ben           -   1 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er

Just a quick reminder that our Friday Nights will start again on February 9th.
The schedule has been updated:
https://www.aucklandchess.nz/friday-chess/schedule/
The Friday club nights are designed for players who enjoy playing rapid games. It’s mostly for juniors, though adults are welcome to play too. We have included a number of different variants this year that we will run along with the core events, which are the rapid and the blitz. Starts at 6:30pm and runs through till 8:30pm.

We will be having a Simil at the Club on February 5th. Current NZ Champion Alphaeus Ang and ACC Club Champion Ben Hague will play against a group of other players.

The Summer will be over 7 weeks starting from February 12th. Some round-robin and then Swiss grades.  Note: I called this this “Spring Cup” in the txt I sent to some people.

Simul Entries (Limit around 30)

Rosa Ryu
Kendrick Zhang
Louie Wei
Leo and Rodney Li
Leo and Toby Zhang
Boyuan Zhang
Caroline and Sarah Yan
Saasha and Renae Ghadialli
Leo Liu
Jordan Lewis
Uday Jain
Tracey Liu
James Liu
Xinyang Liu
Jacob Narry
Anya Thurner
Karl Holdo
Tim Ha
Tom Fu
John Liu
Charlotte Wen
Winston Weng
David Xu
Charlotte Ray
Brian Zhao
Joy, Nicole, Oscar Qin
Erica and Selena Hu
Hannah Xu

Summer Cup entries

Note: Full, definately no further entries rated below 1500 and possibly none over that rating.

Vega links on the 2018 Tournaments page

Ben Hague
Paul Garbett
Mike Steadman
Gino Thornton
Daniel Gong
Alphaeus Ang
Bruce Watson
Alexei Kulashko

Allen Fan
John Duneas
Alex Huang
Brett Rider
Nathan Goodhue
Leo Zhang
Alex Nagorski
Paul Macdonald

Caroline Yan
Nicole Qin
Tim Ha
Keith Ward
Joy Qin
Simon Lyall
Roy Seabrook
Don Eade

Euan Mcdougal
Virginia Milne
David Xu
Xinyang Liu
Sarah Yan
Stephen Peak
Oscar Qin
Wayne Mcdougal
Sylvia McDougal
Toby Zhang
Silie Wang
Saasha Ghadialli
Renae Ghadialli
Mathew Steadman
Philip Te Whata
Rosa Ryu
John Liu
Leo Liu
Tracey Liu
James Liu
Abraham Deng
Jeffrey Yu
Jordan Lewis
Owen Jin
Brian Zhao
Jason Huang
David Ansell
Kendrick Zhang
Leo Li
Rodney Li
Winston Weng
Louie Wei
Hannah Xu
Kelvin Xiao
Aaron Wang
Boyuan Zhang
Isabelle Ning
Erica Hu
Selena Hu
Anya Thurner
Jacob Barry
Tom Fu
Shawn Hui
Philbert Zhai
Arkadi Poliakevitch
Nicholas McKinlay
Longbin Bi
Felix Xie
Andrew Michael

Backup List

Charlotte Wen
Charlotte Ray
Joe Wang
Ying Wang
Jacob Chai
Karl Holdo
Edward Zhang
Everett Bishop

 

I hope you all had a good break over Christmas and New Year.  As usual it will be a slow start to the year due to various holidays. The 2018 Calendar is online but here is what is happening the next few weeks:

Monday Jan 22      Casual night

Saturday Jan 27 – Monday Jan 29     The Auckland Anniversary Weekender will be held at the Club. To enter see The NZChess Calendar

Monday Jan 29     No Club Night due to Holiday

Monday Feb 5       Simil Display. Note Tuesday is a Public Holiday

Monday Feb 12     First Round of the Spring Cup. Enter via email, Txt or signup sheet at Club.

Monday December the 18th is the last day for the Auckland Chess centre for 2018. We are planning the following:

• Annual general meeting
• Prize Giving
• Committee meeting
• Food and drinks
• Informal tournament

Due to some byes by top players the last round was mostly un-equal contests at the top.

• Vega page for the Spring Cup
• Spring Cup 2017 Round 7 PGN  by Tim Ha

Games

Alexei Kulashko vs Don Eade – Black dropped a piece to a mate threat and resigned shortly afterwards. 1-0

Alex Nagorski vs Bruce Watson –  White forgot his opening and gave Black a better position. White tried pushing the h-pawn but Black picked it up and swapped down to a king-and-pawn endgame where his extra pawn was decisive. 0-1

Simon Lyall vs Allen Fan – Black got a better opening and charged his pawns against White’s castled King. Eventually White failed to find a correct move to hold the attack. 0-1

Keith Ward vs Nathan Goodhue – A strange looking position as both players like their own opening lines. White had a good start but ended up poorly placing his pieces and allowed Black to pickup and exchange and more dominant position. White attempted a King side pawn push and Black moved his King from the g to a-file. Black then attacked White though the holes White had opened up in the Kingside pawns. 0-1

Ben Hague vs Virginia Milne – Straightforward win for White as he piled on the attack. 1-0

Mark Brimble vs Daniel Gong – White got his pieces a little and game up a Bishop for two pawns. The game ended abruptly white Black ahead but not completely winning. 0-1

Clinton Wells vs Tim Ha – A very passive Modern variation by Black gave White the initiative. Black resigned after losing a piece. 1-0

Paul Macdonald vs Euan McDougall – White had a good start against Black’s Slav. Hi fianchetto’ed his kingside Bishop and did scope up the c4 pawn as he pressed an attack. But his attack slowed and he allowed Black a counter-attack that put Black a Knight and pawn ahead. 0-1

Stephen Peak vs Tom Fu – A fairly even game. But on move 35 Black miscalculated some exchanges and ended up a piece down after the swaps. 1-0

Aaron Wang vs Xinyang Liu –  Black lost a piece fairly early. White eventually managed to invade his position and win. 1-0

Philip Te Whata vs Roy Seabrook – White’s development left his pieces on worse squares. He tried a Bxh6 sacrifice but it wasn’t enough and he lost further material. 0-1

Upsets

• Euan McDougall beat Paul Macdonald
• Isabelle Ning beat David Ansell
• Jeffrey Yu beat Leo Li
• Uday Jain beat Ying Wang
• Toby Zhang beat Jason Huang

Final Result

• 1st Alexei Kulashko 6.5
• 2nd= Bruce Watson, Alphaeus Ang, Allen Fan 5.5
• under-1800 – Stephen Peak, Euan McDougall 4.5
• under-1500 – Hugh Gao  4.5

 

 

With a big field and lots of draws and upsets the top of the Spring Cup is still tightly bunched after 5 rounds.

• Vega page for the Spring Cup
• Spring 2017, Round 6 PGN by Ewan Green

Games

Daniel Gong vs Alexei Kulashko – White lost an exchange and was in a bad position but managed an attack to put Black under some pressure Black gave back the exchange. But a few moves later White lost a piece and the game. 0-1

Bruce Watson vs Alphaeus Ang – An even looking game but White made a couple of mistakes and it was all suddenly over. 0-1

Leo Zhang vs Don Eade (friendly) – Black’s complicated web of defended pieces fell apart when White found the right sacrifice. 1-0

Allen Fan vs Stephen Peak – Straight-forward win for White. 1-0

Tom Fu vs Paul Macdonald (see the PGN for Paul’s full analysis) – Black dominated most of the game but gave up a pawn on move 28. White was unable to hold his advantage and ended up doubling his extra pawn in a drawn King and pawn endgame. – Draw

Clinton Wells vs Alex Nagorski -White gave up a pawn for pressure on the g-file but this didn’t appear enough. However when he dropped a piece that settled things. 0-1

Toby Zhang vs Mike Steadman – Easy win for Black. 0-1

Tim Ha vs Mark Brimble – Players swapped to a drawn endgame.

Louie Wei vs Keith Ward – Strange start ( 1. d5 d6 2. f4 c5 ) led to a big pawn centre. Black looked better throughout and invaded along an open file and eventually had a win. 0-1

Nathan Goodhue vs Uday Jain – White dominated throughout. 1-0

Virginia Milne vs Ying Wang – Black lost a piece and White went well after that. 1-0

Upsets

Samuel Sajch beat Eric Liang
Philip Te Whata beat Andrew Michael
Tom Fu drew with Paul Macdonald
Jacob Chai beat Mathew Steadman
Winston Weng drew with Joy Qin

Standings

Leader: Alexei Kulashko 5.5
2nd= Don Eade, Alphaeus Ang, Alex Nagorski 5.0

Draft Seven Draw

This round saw half-points and upsets loses on the top few boards to narrow up the field a little.

• Vega page for the Spring Cup
• Spring Cup Rd 5 PGN by Tim Ha

Games

Alexei Kulashko vs Bruce Watson – A fairly even game that swapped down to a drawn endgame. Draw

Daniel Gong vs Gordon Morrell – The players agreed on an draw on move 18 with Black is a slightly better position. Draw

Don Eade vs Nathan Goodhue – White got an attack against Black’s castled King and Black made a couple of mistakes. 1-0

Paul Macdonald vs Simon Lyall – Black sacrificed his Queen for some of white’s pieces but missed the correct follow-up move and didn’t get enough compensation. Black was eventually about to develop his pieces to take advantage of his extra material. 0-1

Alex Nagorski vs Virginia Milne – Black opened up her position which allowed White to get a fork and pick up a piece. 1-0

Philli Park-Tamati vs Clinton Wells – White played well and was better to even up to move 25. But on move 26 he lost a piece and Black swapped down to the endgame. 0-1

Mark Brimble vs Xinyang Liu – Black picked up a pawn but this allowed White to invade his position with 2 rooks and overwhelm Black with threats. 1-0

Keith Ward vs Euan McDougall – White pinned and under-defended piece and got a piece ahead. 1-0

Stephen Peak vs Toby Zhang – Black lost a pawn, then another, than an exchange and finally a Queen. 1-0

Oscar Qin vs Tim Ha – White castled into a pawn storm and spent the next few moves trying to defend against Black’s attack. White (on his 9th birthday) got out of it an exchange down. However  made an error and lost a piece in the endgame under pressure.  0-1

Roy Seabrook vs Allen Fan – In a complicated tactical position Black picked up a couple of pawns and then managed to survive Whites counter-attack. Once White’s attack was stopped he resigned due to an imminent mate.

Ying Wang vs Andrew Michael – Black got careless and allowed his Bishop to be trapped and lost. White then was able to keep the pressure on until she won. 1-0

Upsets:

• Uday Jain beat Grant Burrows
• Tom Fu beat Aaron Wang
• Abraham Deng beat David Ansell
• Ying Wang beat Andrew Michael
• Kelvin Xiao beat John Liu
• Don Eade beat Nathan Goodhue
• Simon Lyall beat Paul Macdonald

Standing:

Bruce Watson and Alexei Kulashko are leading on 4.5 ahead of 6 players on 4.0 and 8 players on 3.5 with two roads to play.

Draft draw for round 6: