The latest announcement from the government has put back our earliest possible return day to Monday the 28th of September since we cannot restart chess till we are back at Level One.
As per the previous announcement we still hope to run the Club Champs as a Single Swiss Grade. See that post for more details.
The list of current entries for the Club Champs is here. Please let Simon know if you like you name added or removed.
Due to the second Covid19 lockdown Monday Night Chess has been cancelled since early August. Since chess involves close contact with many people for long periods we are unable to play unless the alert level is at Level 1.
The latest announcement by the government is that Auckland will not go to Level one till at least Wednesday the 16th of September.
With this in mind out current schedule is to start the Club Champs on Monday the 21st of September. The tournament would be:
Unfortunately round-robin events are too vulnerable to disruption by missed nights or missing players. Hence we have decided to stick with a Swiss which gives us some flexibility.
Due to the Level 3 Covid-19 lockdown the Chess Centre will be closed on Monday the 17th of August.
It is very likely that the club will be closed on August 24th and potentially following Monday. Chess cannot be restarted until we are back at level 1.
Rounds 4-6 of the Spring Cup are cancelled and the event will be shortened to just 3 rounds. Rounds played will be submitted to NZCF and FIDE for rating.
Once we have a firm restart date we will decide on a calendar of events.
With the Latest Covid-19 lockdown there is a good chance that Monday Chess will be suspended for a time. We will post an update once the government announces an update to the lockdown.
A reminder to check that you have entered the Club Champs. This will probably be the next event to be held. Check the vega page to make sure you are entered.
The Spring Rapid is the 2nd leg (after the Blitz) of the ACC Rapid Champs. Points earned in each event got towards determining the winner.
Spring Rapid Rounds 1 to 3
The first 3 rounds of the Spring Rapid were held on August 10th. The field was very full with several latecomers having to be turned away.
Vega Page for the Spring Rapid
Round 1
Upsets (all 500 or more point different) were:
Sai Somaraju beat Nico McKinlay
Eric Mironov beat Eric Fan
Pranav Shenoy beat Alan Leach
Daqi Mao beat Clinton Wells
Eden Oshri beat Sameer Khanal
Round 2
Eric Mironov got his send upset in a row, an 835 point difference, although is opponent was probably a little over-rated.
Eric Mironov beat Anas Zara
Charlotte Ray beat David Zhu
Mantra Bhatt beat John McClory
Ayaan Vasudeva beat Anderson Chen
Victor Coen beat Abraham Deng
Round 3
Many players took half-point byes in the last round including the 5 top seeds. This left 4 players sharing the lead on a perfect score: Hao Tang, Rauen Le Grange, Alex Nagorski and Euan McDougall. Even if rounds 4-6 are played the top seeds may not be able to catch them.
Upsets in Round 3
There were a large number of upsets in this round. 14 of the 19 boards had upsets. Eric Mironov got his 3rd upset in a row with a draw with Stephen Peak.
Ethan Sheng beat John McClory
Zihao Lin beat Paul Kane
Eric Mironov drew with Stephen Peak
Grayson Po’e-Tofaeono beat Isabelle Ning
Bao Nguyen beat Abraham Deng
Ayaan Vasudeva beat Nicholas McKinlay
Daqi Mao beat Anaz Zara
Victor Coen beat Sylvia McDougall
Hunter Po’e-Tofaeono beat Mike Steiner
Hao Tang beat Richard Taylor
Spring Rapid will start on August 10th. Please enter as soon as possible. The Club Champs will be starting on August 24th. A Grade will be a 10-player round robin while there will be a big Swiss grade for everyone else.
Vega Links: A Grade , B Grade
Winter Cup Round 7 PGN by Ewen Green
With 3 players on 5 points in the last round Danial Gong and Paul Garbett drew while Bruce Watson beat Jasmine Zhang in a close endgame to become the winner.
1st Bruce Watson – 6
2nd= Alphaeus Ang, Paul Garbett, Danial Gong – 5.5
Upsets in A Grade Round 7
Anya Thurner beat Don Eade
Lucas Xiao drew with Akshay Sharma
Scott Treanor drew with Andrew Michael
Philli Park-Tamati drew with Clinton Wells
Jordan Lewis beat Tang Hao
Baraa Zara and Neil Sonnekus both scored wins in the last round to share 1st place.
1st= Baraa Zara, Neil Sonnekus 6
3rd= Jacob Yuan, David Zhu, Hunter Po’e-Tofaeono, Sameer Khanal 5
Upsets in B Grade Round 7
Adele Zhou beat Paul Kane
Ayaan Vasudeva beat Grayson Po’e-Tofaeono
Andersen Chen drew with Wayne McDougall
Lanjun Liu drew with Ethan Liu
David Zhu beat Mike Steiner
Catching up with the previous rounds. Spring Rapid starts on August 10th. Get your entry in soon.
Winter Cup, A Grade, Round 6 PGN by Ewen Green
Leader Paul Garbett lost his game to Bruce Watson to give us a three-way tie between them and Daniel Gong going into the last round.
Upsets in A Grade round 6
Philli Park-Tamati beat Daniel Runcan
Lucas Xiao drew with Boyian Zhang
Anya Thurner drew with Simon Lyall
Baara Zara upset Alan Leach on board 1 . Baraa, Jacob Yuan and Neil Sonnekus now lead on 5 points each.
Upsets in B Grade round 6
Lanjun Liu drew with Tracey Tang
Sophia Feng beat Grayson Po’e-Tofaeono
Weiyang Yu beat Eric Mironov
Baraa Zara beat Alan Leach
Over the weekend the first round of the B-Grade Interclub was played. ACC played Howick-Pakuranga and won by 4.5 – 1.5. Further rounds will be played in August.
A signup sheet is now up for the Spring Rapid.
Vega Links: A Grade , B Grade
Winter Cup A Grade Rd 5 PGN by Ewen Green
Paul Garbett kept his unbeaten lead with a win over Alphaeus Ang to put him on 5/5. Boards 2 and 3 saw draws so he will be hard to catch in the last two rounds. Bruce Watson, Daniel Gong and Felix Xie share 2nd place on 4 points.
Upsets in A Grade Round 5.
Scott Treanor beat Karl Holdo
Tim Ha beat Nigel Metge
Winston Weng beat Hao Tang
Richard Taylor beat Nathan Goodhue
A Draw at the top left Alan Leach and Jacob Yuan on first equal with 4.5. Just behind are Mike Steiner, Baraa Zara and Neil Sonnekus.
Upsets in B Grade Round 5
Lanjun Liu beat Grayson Po’e-Tofaeono
Weiyang Yu beat Paul Kane
Max Wang beat Adele Zhou
Charlottle Ray beat Charles Lu
Entries for the Spring Rapid will be going up soon. This will be 6 rounds of 25+5 Rapid in a single Grade.
We had a film crew in the Club getting some footage for a documentary on Club member Mike Steiner.
Winter Cup A Grade Round 4 PGN by Ewen Green
A Draw on the top board between Alphaeus Ang and Bruce Watson means that Paul Garbett is now in the led by himself on 4 points out of 4.
On Row 2 Euan McDougall and Philli Park-Tamati continued their run of upset wins.
Upsets in A Grade Round 4
Alan Leach and Jacob Yuan are now the only undefeated players and share first place. Srenoy Pranav took advantage of a default to go into 3rd.
Upsets in B Grade round 4
B Grade Interclub will be starting on Sunday July 19th. It is open to players with NZCF ratings below 2000. Please talk to Simon Lyall if you’d like to be on the team.
Winter Cup A Grade Rd 3 PGN by Ewen Green
Boards 1-4 saw the top 4 players in the Grade beat all the lower rated players. But on board 5 recently-returned player Richard Taylor got an upset.
Bruce Watson, Alphaeus Ang and Paul Garbett share the lead on 3/3.
Upsets in Round 3
Anya Thurner drew with Louis Lim
Richard Taylor beat Daniel Runcan
Stephen Peak beat Andrew Michael
Jordan Lewis drew with Nigel Metge
Jeffrey Yu drew with Simon Lyall
Jacob Yuan, Mike Steiner, Alan Leach and Eric Fan lead on 3 points.
Upsets in Round 3
Lanjun Liu beat Paul Kane
Pranav Shenoy beat Tyleah Po’e-Tafaeono
Michael Ma drew with Wayne McDougall
A reminder that club fees are due and should be paid by the end of the Winter Cup. Mike Steadman will be at the club at the start of most rounds.
Also a reminder that the club will be playing though the school holidays. Please text Simon (021 575 233) if you will be away and miss rounds.
Vega Links: A Grade , B Grade
Winter Cup A Grade Round 2 PGN by Ewen Green
The 2nd round of the Winter Cup saw a few more upsets. Philli Park-Tamati managed his second upset in a row.
There are 7 players on 2 points.
Upsets in Round 2
Top seed Wayne McDougall was upset by Baraa Zara but most of the other top players survived this round.
Upsets in B Grade Round 2