News

The School Holiday tournaments are all finished. Congratulations to Alphaues Ang for finishing 1st or 1st= in all 6 of them. I’ll pushes fuller results later.

There are just 3 more rounds left in the Club Champs, I’ll put up signup sheets for the next two tournaments (the Spring Rapid and the Autumn Cup) soon.

A draft list of rules has been published for the Monday Night. Feedback is welcome.

Club Champs Rd 6 PGN entered by Tim Ha

A Grade

Duneas vs Watson – All the pieces moved to the Queen side in a melee. White initially looked good but black checked him and then tied his pieces a little defending each other. A inaccurate move later and white was two pieces down. 0-1

Fan vs Ang – An even start but Black game up a pawn on move 18. A couple of moves later things got a lot more complicated as Black forced white to give up a Knight for some pawns and then got a dangerous attack. By the time the dust had settled. Black was a rook and Knight vs a rook with near-even pawns and won the endgame. 0-1

Gong vs Steadman – Black got off to a good start using his h-pawn to punch a hole in White’s kingside. The next 30 moves saw Black’s advantage reduced as White gained space and threats.  The position swapped to a rook and pawn endgame with white better. Black missed a chance to draw and white won. 1-0

Hague vs Goodhue –  Black made a series of tactical mistakes as White put pressure on him. 1-0

Zhang vs Morrell – White pushed his a-pawn to a7 and picked up two of Black’s pawns in the confusion. Black tried sacrificing a piece but white just gave it back to stay ahead. 1-0

Ben Hague stills leads with 6/6 ahead of Bruce Watson and Leo Zhang on 4.5 . There are a couple of games till to be played however.

B Grade

Ha vs C Yan – An interesting opening. White ended up pushing forward his Queen-side pawns but made a mistake and gave up a pawn as the players circled and traded to a rook and pawn endgame. Black pushed for 40 moves but eventually had to settle for a draw.

Peak vs Lyall – White made a mistake in the opening a lost a Knight for two pawns. But Black game up a pawn and then swapped all material down to a position where he had a bishop and 4 pawns vs white with 7 pawns. Niether player was able to make progress and the game was a draw.

Qin vs Eade – A fairly even game at the start but black had most of the initiative. After some swaps things evened out but black allowed white to threaten a passed pawn. He then made an error in his defense and lost a piece stopping it. 1-0

Ward vs Wu – A fairly quiet opening and early middle game as the players swapped off pieces. Black looked slightly better and picked up a pawn and pressure around move 30. However white defended correctly and then pushed forward a passed pawn. However Black managed to push Queen his own passed pawn just in time and threaten perpetual check. Draw

The Grade is still very close with 3 players on 3.5 and 2 on 3.0 with a couple of games unplayed.

C Grade

S Yan v A Wang –  A fairly even game. Neither player seemed to get any real advantage and their repeated positions after 27 moves. Draw

O Qn vs Seabrook – White failed to press his better opening position and allowed black to equalize. He then played waiting moves while Black built up an attack and after a slip Black was a piece ahead. 0-1

I Ning v Burrows – Fairly even until Black had an error and White picked up a pawn, a back-rank pin and a passed pawn in quick succession. 1-0

E McDougall v X Liu – White got a good attack but missed the best lines and after the dust cleared was “only” 2 pawns up. This proved enough however when he swapped to a won endgame. 1-0

Upsets in Round 6:

• Isabelle Ning beat Grant Burrows
• Tom Fu beat Zyre Milina
• Toby Zhang beat Mathew Steadman
• Abraham Deng beat Jianbo Yu

Roy Seabrook, Isabelle Ning and Sarah Yan are now first equal on 5.0 points with 4 players just behind on 4.5

 

 

The Club has been very busy in the School holidays with 6 tournaments for the New Zealand Junior and North Island Championships.

A reminder to let Simon know if you are unable to play during the holidays. All it takes is a text.

A draft list of rules has been published for the Monday Night. Feedback is welcome.

Round 5 PGN by Ewan Green with help from Tim Ha.

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

A Grade

Duneas vs Zhang – White got a little off-opening after a few moves and black ended up slightly better in the early middle game. White was looking in a bit or trouble but managed to force a draw with a perpetual check. Draw

Morrell vs Hague – A fairly even looking game for the first 30 moves. White’s Queen got a little cramped but he was able to swap the attacking pieces.  White made an error on move 35 when he allowed a tactic which one a piece. 0-1

Goodhue vs Gong – Whites flank openings again got him a good position. After pawn and piece swaps the position was still fairly even with two rooks, a bishop and 3 pawns each by move 35. However Black picked up a pawn and then white lost the exchange getting it back. With rook+pawn vs Bishop+pawn black carefully timed giving up his rook for whites bishop and pawn to leave himself with a winning king+pawn position. 0-1

Steadman vs Fan – Black got a bishop sidelined and then trapped and capture soon after the opening. Black got a Rook back but his pieces were blocked or undeveloped while white was charging down the center. 1-0

Ang vs Watson – A very sharp game with a pieces hanging on both sides. Black got a rook ahead. However White managed to get it back and then force a perpetual check. Draw

Ben Hague is still leading with 5 out of 5.

B Grade

Brimble vs Ha – A fairly even game but a couple of miscalculations by Black allowed white to pick up a couple of pawns during piece swaps. The endgame was fairly simple after that. 1-0

Nagorski vs Ward – A straightforward game was briefly exciting when White dropped his Queen into Black’s back rank. But this was swapped off. Things looked even but black made a mistake and allowed white to get an attack and then resigned when he was losing material. 1-0

Lyall vs C Yan – White tried to invade blacks position with a Knight but when it became trapped game up his Queen for 2 pieces. Black then carefully attacked White’s uncoordinated position and was on the verge of winning with a huge advantage. White tried a desperation attack which Black ignored and to the surprise of both players White’s attack checkmated. 1-0

Eade vs Peak – Black lost a piece for two pawns to a tactic. Things swapped down to white being a piece up in an endgame and eventually won. 1-0

Alex Nagorski is currently leading the Grade on 3.5 points with 3 players on 3.0.

C Grade

Seabrook vs S Yan – After an unusual opening ( 1. d4 d5 2. e3 ) white was better for most of the middle game. White game up two pieces for a rook and two pawns, but white one one back and swapped to two bishops plus 4 pawns vs white’s rook and 5 pawns in a very open position. Black then swapped things down nicely to two bishops and a pawn vs a rook and pushed the pawn to the 8th rank. 0-1

Xinyang Li vs O Qin – White misplayed the opening a little and Black was better. Around move 20 black picked up a bishop for 2 pawns. Play continued for a while. The pgn isn’t complete but shortly after the end of it White allow a fork to take his last piece. 0-1

Burrows vs Michael – A very long game with each player ahead in places although generally black was better. Eventually drawn after 71 moves. Draw

Aaron Wang vs Rodney Li – A fairly even game but White picked up a couple of pawns which was enough.

Major Upsets in Round 5

Leo Li beat Wayne McDougall
Sarah Yan beat Roy Seabrook
Isabelle Ning beat John Liu
Tobdy Zhang beat David Xu

The Grade is led by Sarah Yan and Oscar Qin on 4.5 points with 3 others just behind on 4.0 points

 

 

 

The start of the school holidays saw a few players away this week. The holidays also see 6 tournaments being played at the Club as part of the New Zealand Junior and North Island Championships.

A draft list of rules has been published for the Monday Night. Feedback is welcome.

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

Club Champs round 4 PGN by Alex Nagorski and Tim Ha.

A Grade

Duneas vs Ang – not played

Gong vs Morrell – Not played

Ang vs Gong – Later round played early. Won by Ang, details when we get to that round.

Watson v Steadman – Black plays his usual Dutch. A fairly even game with players steadily trading pieces. An endgame with a rook, knight and 5 pawns was reached with each player have a 3:2 pawn advantage on one sides.  The players maneuvered for 20 moves before Black made a mistake that lost a pawn and resigned. 1-0

Fan v Goodhue – White seemed to get the best out of the opening and early game but was unable to improve his advantage. By move 30 Black was a (passed) pawn up but White managed to force perpetual check. Draw

Hague vs Zhang – An interesting opening with White giving up two pawns in return for a large development lead. One simple mistake later and black was completely lost as his uncastled king came under an attack by all Whites pieces. 1-0

Ben Hague is currently in first place with 4 wins out of 4 games. However there are several games unplayed by others.

B Grade

Ha vs Lyall – White lost a pawn soon out of the opening but Black made a dubious exchange sacrifice. After the dust had cleared White had a rook and two pawns vs Blacks Knight and 6 pawns. Black lost their nerve and offered a draw however rather than try and convert. Draw

Yan vs Eade – Black gained a good position out of the opening threatening to sideline White’s Queen but allowed a Queen swap which neutralized his advantage. White made some favorable exchanges and Black resigned in a position dominated by Whites pieces. 1-0

Peak v Wu – Black gained a slight advantage in the Opening but nothing decisive. For the 4th game in a row White managed a draw (this time after 25 moves) against a higher rated opponent. Draw

Qin vs Nagorski – Queen’s Gambit accepted but White came out a pawn ahead!? White slowly pressed her advantage while Black tried to hold the position. White got another pawn to be two up with only a Rook and Queen each. But an error allowed Black to force a draw.

Ward vs Brimble – Early pressure by Black turned into a counter-attack by White. White then seemed to have the advantage as both players moved their pieces around an open centre. Eventually Black lost a piece and resigned a few moves later.

Caroline Yan and Keith Ward are leading the grade on 3/4 with a few others just behind.

C Grade

A Wang vs Seabrook – Black got a more active position and picked up a pawn with a cute tactic (see diagram). Black then swapped pieces gain 2 more pawns in the process. Black then pushed more pawns in a rook+pawn endgame than White could stop. 1-0

Oscar Qin vs Sarah Yan – White was better for much of the game but the players agreed on a fairly early draw.

Louie Wei v Xinyang Liu –  1. d4 Nf6 2. f4?! is apparently a real opening, although with only 230 games and a 34% success rate in my database. The players then ignored each other for 10 moves while their put their pieces on nice squares. A few moves later White made a mistake and Black picked up a piece or so. 0-1

Upsets in Round 4:

• Isabelle Ning beat Virginia Milne
• Samuel Sajch beat Brian Zhao
• Eric Liang beat Ying Wang

The leader is Roy Seabrook on 4 points with Sarah Yan, Oscar Qin and Xinyang Liu on 3.5

 

A reminder to let Simon know if you are missing any games due to the School Holidays. Thank you to those who filled out forms. Also a reminder that there is still time to enter the NZ Junior and North Island Champs that will be being playing at the centre during the JuneJuly School Holidays. Entry forms for all these on the NZ chess Website.

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

Club Champs Round 3 pgn – Grades A & B by Ewan Green, C Grade by Tim Ha.

A Grade

Hague vs Duneas – Opening was a book line of the Steinitz French that generally favours White. Then say an opportunity to play f5 and open up Blacks position when all Black’s pieces were on the Queen side. A few moves later white scooped up 3 pawns and had a winning attack. 1-0

Zhang vs Gong – postponed

Morrell vs Fan – A quick draw

Goodhue vs Watson – White played Bird’s opening with double fianchetto. Black swap some pieces and built a wedge of pawns that game him more mobility for his minor pieces. Black sac’d and exchange to invade white’s position and white was unable to defend. 0-1

Steadman vs Ang – A couple of bad moves and White’s position just fell apart. HE resigned on move 22 in a lost position. 0-1

Ben Hague is in 1st place after 3 rounds as the only player on 3 out of 3. However Leo Zhang has one game still to play.

B Grade

Ward vs Ha – White played the opening better and black was in a cramped position and under attack. He spent another 50 moves trying to hold on to no avail. 1-0

Brimble v N Qin – A slightly unusual French line which left both players with long pawn chains. Black made a small mistake in a piece exchange and left white slightly better. White then opened up the A-file to allow his rook to invade and help the Queen mate. 1-0

Nagorski vs Peak – Both players survived a sharp Kings-Gambit line and some sharp tactics after that. They agreed on a draw however in a even endgame position. Draw

Wu vs Sarah Yan – Another French (about the 4th in the A/B grade tonight) with White playing unusually (Kf2 -> Kg1 stepping around the f1 bishop) but ending up a little better and playing f5 to open Black’s position. Black played a desperate Knight attack to try and got lucky when white blundered into a fork and lost two pieces.  0-1

Eade vs Lyall – Black got a slightly better position out of the opening but allow white to advance his centre pawns to win a piece. White was able to win easily after that. 1-0

After 3 rounds the grade is very open with 5 players in 1st-equal on 2 points.

C Grade

Aaron Wang v Tony Wang – Aaron won his second default game in a row when Tony didn’t turn up. He won a friendly game however.

Seabrook v Euan McDougall – White swapped all Bishops to leave Black’s pawns a little messy but black managed to get a Knight onto a outpost of f3. However a few moves later after some swaps white ended up with a much better position and things looked over with white 3 pawns ahead. Although white gave a few pawns back he maintained his led. 1-0

Burrows vs Oscar Qin – White got into trouble early. I believe he resigned when he touched the wrong piece. 0-1

Milne vs Louie Wei – White blunder and lost her Queen on move 13. 1-0

Upsets:

• Jeffery Yu beat Zyre Milina
• Winston Weng beat Paul Yu
• Oscar Qin beat Grant Burrows
• Shawn Hui beat Eric Liang

C Grade now has 5 players leading on 3 points plus another on 2.5.

 

Fewer upsets in A Grade than last week, although B Grade still saw a few, plus a small number in C Grade.

A reminder that the North Island Champs and the NZ Junior tournaments will both be played at the Chess Centre during the July School Holidays. Entry forms are on NZ Chess Calendar page.

Also a reminder that if you are away for the holidays then please let Simon know so you can be given byes.

 

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

Club Champs Round 2 PGN by Tim Ha

A Grade

Duneas vs Steadman – Draw agreed after a few moves.

Ang vs Goodhue – White picked up an early pawn but swapping pieces whittled away his advantage until Black had an even endgame. However, White gained a passed pawn. 1-0

Watson vs Morrell – After an even start, Black made an error. White gave some pressure and caught one of Black’s rooks with no safe squares. White went an exchange ahead and then picked up an additional pawn. Black ran out of time trying to hold his position. 1-0

Fan vs Zhang – White made a nice start with Black a little confined. He miscalculated a push and had to scramble to save it though, which allowed Black to even things. After some maneuvering and opening position White made a mistake and Black gained enough material to win. 0-1

Gong v Hague – Very exciting. Black gave up 2 pawns (and later other material) for a series of attacks. White struggled to defend and almost succeed. However, he eventually made the fatal mistake. 0-1

Leo Zhang and Ben Hague are in 1st Equal on 2 points.

B Grade

Ha v Eade – A much better start for Black who more quickly and better developed. White tried swapping but his position deteriorated. He resigned in face of an imminent passed pawn. 0-1

Lyall vs Wu – White blundered an exchange early in the game. He attempted to hold the position but eventually Black broke though. 0-1

Caroline Yan vs Nagorski –  Black was slightly ahead at the start but White successfully navigated the position before losing an exchange. Black then exchange pieces into a completely winning position. 0-1

Peak vs Brimble – Boring Italian game followed by an early draw agreement.

Nicole Qin vs Ward – TIL that 1. d4 d6 2. c4 e5 is the “English Rat defense”. Black continued by aggressively pushing pawns although. After aggressive swaps and locked pawn structures, the players maneuvered for a while. Black spotted a chance one move too late which allowed White a draw due to threatened perpetual check. Draw.

Eric Wu is in first place on 2 points ahead of Alex Nagorski on 1.5.

C Grade

A few upsets:

• Jason Huang beat Rodney Li
• Jianbo Yu beat Erica Hu
• Jacob Chai by Justin Zhao
• Uday Jain beat Brian Zhao

11 players shared 1st place on 2 points.

 

 

 

The Autumn Cup was held across 7 rounds in April, May and June. The Club was divided into 2 Swiss tournaments with a cut-off of around 1500 and around 38 players in each.

Vega Links: A Grade, B Grade

A Grade

1st=  Bruce Watson and Daniel Gong on 5.5
3rd= Alphaeus Ang, Ben Hague, Allen Fan and Gordon Morrell on 5.0

B Grade

1st    Toby Zhang on 6.0
2nd   Erica Hu on 5.5
3rd=  Louie Wei and Winston Weng on 5.0

 

The first round of the club champs started with a huge number of upsets in the A and B grade. Of the 10 games only 1 was run by the higher rated player, 4 were draws and 5 were won by the lower rated.

A reminder that the New Zealand Junior Championship and the North Island Championships tournaments will be played at the club during the July School Holidays. Entry forms are on the New Zealand Chess Calendar page

 

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

Club Champs Round 1 PGN by Ewan Green

A Grade

Gong v Duneas – White quickly moved off opening theory and gave Black a good start. Some 30 moves of sharp tactics followed with Black having the better attach but his king being open if he allow white time. White eventually force a draw.

Hague v Fan – In this game Black wandered off standard lines and was behind after the opening. After some great tactics white ended up well ahead in material and Black resigned. 1-0

Zhang v Watson – A fairly even start but black opened up the position when White had two nicely placed Bishops (vs Black’s 2 Knights). White then broke up the pawns in front of Black’s king to attack while Black’s pieces were on the wrong side of the board. 1-0

Morrell vs Ang – Black unwisely advance the pawns in front of his King when White had castled the other side and was already lining up an attack. He survived the attack but White swapped down to a winning endgame. 1-0

Goodhue v Steadman – After an almost-conventional opening the players were fairly even for most of the middle game. Black ended up a little better however after some swaps. However White was able to even things and the players agreed on a draw.

B Grade

Qin v Ha – After a good start White got herself stuck behind the central pawns. Blacks pieces had more freedom and he picked up an exchange, then a pawn and then some central passed pawns pushed White back to her back rank. 0-1

Ward v Peak – After a fiery opening ( Goering Gambit, double pawn sacrifice) white kept up the pressure on Black but black managed to defend well. The players abruptly agreed on a draw with black ahead but lowish on time. Draw

Brimble v Yan – A cramped opening. White looked better due to a big hole in Black’s position exposing her King.  Black forced a swap of some major pieces which evened up the position. White then gave up a piece and a few moves later Black Queen’d. 0-1

Nagorski v Lyall – Black made some mistakes after the opening and white obtained some pressure. White managed to lock up the position and it was eventually a draw although both players missed chances. Draw

Wu v Eade – White managed to get rid of a couple of Black’s kingside pawns to give him some holes to attack though. Black was keen to attack however and unwisely moved his Queen away from defence. This allowed White to spring a quick mate. 1-0

C Grade

There were relatively few upsets in C grade due to large rating differences in the first round. However:

• Winston Weng beat David Xu
• Jeffrey Yu beat Isabelle Ning
• Abraham Deng draw with Mike Steiner

 

 

Club Champs B 2017 : Round 1  : June 19
=====================================================
1 = 1 Qin, Nicole Shu Yu   -  10 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth
2 = 2 Ward, Keith          -   9 Peak, Stephen       
3 = 3 Brimble, Mark T      -   8 Yan, Caroline       
4 = 4 Nagorski, Alex       -   7 Lyall, Simon        
5 = 5 Wu, Kwok Leung Eric  -   6 Eade, Don           


Club Champs B 2017 : Round 2  : June 26
=====================================================
1 =10 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth -   6 Eade, Don           
2 = 7 Lyall, Simon         -   5 Wu, Kwok Leung Eric 
3 = 8 Yan, Caroline        -   4 Nagorski, Alex      
4 = 9 Peak, Stephen        -   3 Brimble, Mark T     
5 = 1 Qin, Nicole Shu Yu   -   2 Ward, Keith         


Club Champs B 2017 : Round 3  : July 3
=====================================================
1 = 2 Ward, Keith          -  10 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth
2 = 3 Brimble, Mark T      -   1 Qin, Nicole Shu Yu  
3 = 4 Nagorski, Alex       -   9 Peak, Stephen       
4 = 5 Wu, Kwok Leung Eric  -   8 Yan, Caroline       
5 = 6 Eade, Don            -   7 Lyall, Simon        


Club Champs B 2017 : Round 4   : July 10
=====================================================
1 =10 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth -   7 Lyall, Simon        
2 = 8 Yan, Caroline        -   6 Eade, Don           
3 = 9 Peak, Stephen        -   5 Wu, Kwok Leung Eric 
4 = 1 Qin, Nicole Shu Yu   -   4 Nagorski, Alex      
5 = 2 Ward, Keith          -   3 Brimble, Mark T     


Club Champs B 2017 : Round 5   : July 17
=====================================================
1 = 3 Brimble, Mark T      -  10 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth
2 = 4 Nagorski, Alex       -   2 Ward, Keith         
3 = 5 Wu, Kwok Leung Eric  -   1 Qin, Nicole Shu Yu  
4 = 6 Eade, Don            -   9 Peak, Stephen       
5 = 7 Lyall, Simon         -   8 Yan, Caroline       


Club Champs B 2017 : Round 6   : July 24
=====================================================
1 =10 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth -   8 Yan, Caroline       
2 = 9 Peak, Stephen        -   7 Lyall, Simon        
3 = 1 Qin, Nicole Shu Yu   -   6 Eade, Don           
4 = 2 Ward, Keith          -   5 Wu, Kwok Leung Eric 
5 = 3 Brimble, Mark T      -   4 Nagorski, Alex      


Club Champs B 2017 : Round 7   : July 31
=====================================================
1 = 4 Nagorski, Alex       -  10 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth
2 = 5 Wu, Kwok Leung Eric  -   3 Brimble, Mark T     
3 = 6 Eade, Don            -   2 Ward, Keith         
4 = 7 Lyall, Simon         -   1 Qin, Nicole Shu Yu  
5 = 8 Yan, Caroline        -   9 Peak, Stephen       


Club Champs B 2017 : Round 8   : August 7
=====================================================
1 =10 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth -   9 Peak, Stephen       
2 = 1 Qin, Nicole Shu Yu   -   8 Yan, Caroline       
3 = 2 Ward, Keith          -   7 Lyall, Simon        
4 = 3 Brimble, Mark T      -   6 Eade, Don           
5 = 4 Nagorski, Alex       -   5 Wu, Kwok Leung Eric 


Club Champs B 2017 : Round 9   : August 14
=====================================================
1 = 5 Wu, Kwok Leung Eric  -  10 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth
2 = 6 Eade, Don            -   4 Nagorski, Alex      
3 = 7 Lyall, Simon         -   3 Brimble, Mark T     
4 = 8 Yan, Caroline        -   2 Ward, Keith         
5 = 9 Peak, Stephen        -   1 Qin, Nicole Shu Yu  

Club Champs A 2017 : Round 1  : June 19
=====================================================
1 = 1 Gong, Daniel Hanwen  -  10 Duneas, John        
2 = 2 Hague, Ben           -   9 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou 
3 = 3 Zhang, Leo           -   8 Watson, Bruce R     
4 = 4 Morrell, Gordon      -   7 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er
5 = 5 Goodhue, Nathan      -   6 Steadman, Michael V 


Club Champs A 2017 : Round 2  : June 26
=====================================================
1 =10 Duneas, John         -   6 Steadman, Michael V 
2 = 7 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er -   5 Goodhue, Nathan     
3 = 8 Watson, Bruce R      -   4 Morrell, Gordon     
4 = 9 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou  -   3 Zhang, Leo          
5 = 1 Gong, Daniel Hanwen  -   2 Hague, Ben          


Club Champs A 2017 : Round 3  : July 3
=====================================================
1 = 2 Hague, Ben           -  10 Duneas, John        
2 = 3 Zhang, Leo           -   1 Gong, Daniel Hanwen 
3 = 4 Morrell, Gordon      -   9 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou 
4 = 5 Goodhue, Nathan      -   8 Watson, Bruce R     
5 = 6 Steadman, Michael V  -   7 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er


Club Champs A 2017 : Round 4  : July 10
=====================================================
1 =10 Duneas, John         -   7 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er
2 = 8 Watson, Bruce R      -   6 Steadman, Michael V 
3 = 9 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou  -   5 Goodhue, Nathan     
4 = 1 Gong, Daniel Hanwen  -   4 Morrell, Gordon     
5 = 2 Hague, Ben           -   3 Zhang, Leo          


Club Champs A 2017 : Round 5  : July 17
=====================================================
1 = 3 Zhang, Leo           -  10 Duneas, John        
2 = 4 Morrell, Gordon      -   2 Hague, Ben          
3 = 5 Goodhue, Nathan      -   1 Gong, Daniel Hanwen 
4 = 6 Steadman, Michael V  -   9 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou 
5 = 7 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er -   8 Watson, Bruce R     


Club Champs A 2017 : Round 6   : July 24
=====================================================
1 =10 Duneas, John         -   8 Watson, Bruce R     
2 = 9 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou  -   7 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er
3 = 1 Gong, Daniel Hanwen  -   6 Steadman, Michael V 
4 = 2 Hague, Ben           -   5 Goodhue, Nathan     
5 = 3 Zhang, Leo           -   4 Morrell, Gordon     


Club Champs A 2017 : Round 7   : July 31
=====================================================
1 = 4 Morrell, Gordon      -  10 Duneas, John        
2 = 5 Goodhue, Nathan      -   3 Zhang, Leo          
3 = 6 Steadman, Michael V  -   2 Hague, Ben          
4 = 7 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er -   1 Gong, Daniel Hanwen 
5 = 8 Watson, Bruce R      -   9 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou 


Club Champs A 2017 : Round 8   : August 7
=====================================================
1 =10 Duneas, John         -   9 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou 
2 = 1 Gong, Daniel Hanwen  -   8 Watson, Bruce R     
3 = 2 Hague, Ben           -   7 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er
4 = 3 Zhang, Leo           -   6 Steadman, Michael V 
5 = 4 Morrell, Gordon      -   5 Goodhue, Nathan     


Club Champs A 2017 : Round 9   : August 14
=====================================================
1 = 5 Goodhue, Nathan      -  10 Duneas, John        
2 = 6 Steadman, Michael V  -   4 Morrell, Gordon     
3 = 7 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er -   3 Zhang, Leo          
4 = 8 Watson, Bruce R      -   2 Hague, Ben          
5 = 9 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou  -   1 Gong, Daniel Hanwen 

 

 

The last round of the 2017 Autumn Cup was played on June 12th. Going into the round A grade had 6 players in contention (Alphaeus Ang half a point ahead of 5 others), while in B grade just two players had a chance of winning. Next week the Club Champs will start.

I’ll post a summary of the Autumn Cup results in another post.

Autumn Cup round 7 PGN by Ewen Green and Tim Ha.

Vega Links: A Grade, B Grade

A Grade

Gong v Ang – After a sedate start White tries 7 d4 to liven things up without success, however a few moves later Black allows white some play and white sacrifices and exchange for good mobility and threats. After 20 movies of maneuvering black makes a mistake and allows and mating net. 1-0

Fan vs Hague – Black gets a huge attack in the middle which white somehow manages to survive. They swap to an endgame with Black having a Rook vs Whites with 2 Knights (plus some pawns each).  Then Black gives up his Rook to leave Black with just won pawn and White with 2 Knights. Close to the end White even had a theoretical win but played a different move and the players took the draw.

Watson vs Jasmine Zhang – After coming under pressure Black lost her Queen and two pawns for 2 rooks. White swapped Queen and rooks back but blew his advantage. However after a miscalculation Black was in a King and pawn endgame with her King on the wrong side of the board. 1-0

Goodhue v Morrell – A complicated game. White had a cramped position that Black took a while to crack. 0-1

Duneas vs Rodney Li – While lost a pawn in the early middle-game and was working to hold the game after giving up another and then a third. White missed a chance to force a draw but Black kept swapping material until his pawn advantage allowed him to promote. 0-1

Ha vs Nagorski – Black picked up a couple of pawns early in the game though holes in White’s defense. Black sacrificed a rook for a mate but took a draw when it didn’t quite work. Draw

Nicole Qin vs Leo Zhang – After an even looking opening Black picked up a pawn and then pushed a passed pawn which won pieces. 0-1

Wells vs Wu – Black mounted an attack down the C-file which picked up a pawn and then a piece. 0-1

Jacobs vs Caroline Yan – A color-reversed Queens Gambit. Black pushed hard to get an advantage and wore white down till he crumbled. 0-1

Milne vs Ward – A good opening from black picked up a pawn although white was better developed. After a tactic white got a huge attack however which escalated into a mate. 1-0

Eade vs Sarah Yan – Black got better of the opening, picking up a pawn. White played a tactic which got it back though the tactic was unsound so he was a little lucky. Both players then missed some tactics and eventually agree on a draw.

Michael vs Lui – White had a good start but lost a pawn in the early-middle game. Black maintained a slight lead after that and when things eventually swapped in the endgame was enough ahead to win. 0-1

Oscar Qin vs Peak – Black improvised in the opening but came out okay. White pushed his kingside pawns but left his position a little vulnerable while black’s Queenside pawn push cramped White. Black picked up an exchange and his advanced pawns caused problems for White until he was a piece ahead. 0-1

Wang vs Steiner – A lot of tactical threats and mistakes throughout the game. Eventually Black won. 0-1

Euan McDougall vs Yu – Black made an error in the opening and lost a pawn. Some slow play by both players afterwards until Black got the pawn back. The players swapped to an even rook and pawn endgame but Black made a couple of mistakes and lost. 1-0

B Grade

One the top board the Leaders Erica Hu and Toby Zhang drew.

Top upsets were

• Jeffery Yu beating Abraham Deng
• Shawn Hui drew with Jacob Chai
• Erica Hu drew with Tobdy Zhang
• Winson Weng beat Felix Xie