News

December 17th will be the final Club night for 2018. Planned activities are:

• Prize giving
• Pizza
• AGM
• A Rapid tournament for 2-person teams.

The last round of the Spring Cup saw fewer draws and upsets than previous rounds.

Vega Links:  A Grade , B Grade

2018 Spring Cup R7 PGN by Ewen Green with help.

A Grade

Paul Garbett vs John Duneas – White came out of the opening better and Black failed to contain him. 1-0

Michael Steadman vs Alex Huang – Black was even to better until he allowed White a tactic which won a piece or two. 1-0

Bruce Watson vs Paul Macdonald – After some swaps, White got a nice position where he could make threats and Black had to scramble to counter them. Eventually White broke though and Black resigned. 1-0

Nathan Goodhue vs Lewis Jordan – A fairly even position until Black tied up a rook defending a pawn. White was then able to seize an open file which was enough to create a win. 1-0

Clinton Wells vs Allen Fan – Both players gave up a Kingside pawn in front of their castled Kings and then simultaneously built up an attack/defense. However, White made a miscalculation and was quickly lost. 0-1

Simon Lyall vs Caroline Yan – White gave up a pawn and then ran low on time and made a serious of bad moves. 0-1

Don Eade vs Alex Nagorski – White miscalculated a tactic and lost a piece. He tried some complications to recover but lost another. 0-1

Akshay Sharma vs Timothy Ha – The players went into a sharp opening line but came out fairly even. Some chances were missed by both sides in a very tactical middle game. Black finally made an error and White ended up material which he was quickly able to improve more. 1-0

With Paul Garbett’s win in the last round he pulled ahead of Alphaeus Ang and Daniel Gong (both overseas) to win by himself on 5.5 points.

2nd equal on 5 points was Daniel, Alphaeus and Mike Steadman.

B Grade

Jeffrey Yu vs Virginia Milne – White looked a little lost in the opening and then Black made a mistake and White was a piece up. But White then wasted a few moves, failed to develop and let Black mount a winning attack! 0-1

Sarah Yan vs Stephen Peters – Some tactics in the opening but the players swapped down to an even rook and pawn endgame. Black however made a mistake and lost a pawn and it was over. 1-0

Aaron Wang vs Lakshmi Ravi – The players swapped down to an endgame. Black was better but missed the winning move and the game was drawn.

Arkadi Polyakevich vs Mike Steiner – The players swapped down but White came out a pawn ahead. Under pressure Black made a mistake and White got a passed pawn. 1-0

Andrew Michael vs Abraham Deng – White Sacrificed a piece for an attack but failed to find the correct followup (or settle for a perpetual). Black swapped Queens and the attack faltered. The players then had a very tactical position. Finally Black swapped down material and then got a win. 0-1

Upsets in Round 7

Vincent Cai beat Pattani Priyanshu
Eugene Wang beat Toby Zhang
Lakshmi Ravi drew with Aaron Wang
Uday Jain beat Joe Wang

Winner of B Grade was Virginia Milne on 6 points (a Swiss Gambit).
Second was Sarah Yan on 5.5 points
Third equal on 5 were Jeffrey Yu, Arkadi Polyakevich and Boyuan Zhang.

Just two more weeks of Club to go this year.

Vega Links:  A Grade , B Grade

2018 Spring Cup R6 PGN by Tim Ha.

A Grade

Alphaeus Ang vs Daniel Gong – White had a better position at times but was unable to exploit it and the players swapped to a Draw.

Paul Garbett vs Ben Hague – Black mounted an attack on White’s King. White defended well but decided to take a draw rather than continue. Draw.

Bruce Watson vs Mike Steadman – White game up a pawn in return for a great outpost Knight. But he failed to find the best continuation and his advantaged petered out in a sharp position. Black managed to force a perpetual check. Draw.

Nathan Goodhue vs Alex Huang –  White allowed a couple of holes in his position. A mistake allowed Black to exploit them and get a couple of rooks on the 7th. 0-1

Paul Macdonald vs Allen Fan –  See Paul’s extensive annotations of this game in the PGN. A sleepy Black got ahead but made a couple of major mistakes that game White a mate. 1-0

John Duneas vs Don Eade – White sacrificed a piece for an attack but allowed White to wiggle out in a complex position. White then swapped a couple of attackers and picked up another piece. 1-0

Tim Ha vs Jordon Lewis – Black put white under pressure but white managed to hang on. However White sacrificed a rook for an attack that turned out not to be sound. Black found a nice tactic to win a couple of moves later. 0-1

Alex Nagorski vs Simon Lyall – Black picked up an early pawn and the players went into some sharp tactics. Black emerged an exchange up and was able to consolidate his lead. 0-1

Upsets in Round 6:

Simon Lyall beat Alex Nagorski
Paul Macdonald beat Allen Fan

Three draws on the top three boards just further squeezed the field. Three players are on 4.5 and 2 more on 4 points.

B Grade

Stephen Peters vs Virginia Milne – White got lost in his (gambit!) opening and then resigned after losing a piece. 0-1

Arkadi Polyakevich vs Jeffrey Yu – White lost a piece in an opening trap and was unable to recover. 0-1

David Ansell vs Boyuan Zhang – Black was better though most of the game. After White gave up a piece for two pawns Black had little trouble mopping up. 0-1

Isabelle Ning vs Aaron Wang – White mounted an early attack on Black’s King which looked dangerous. But she feel into a pin and lost an exchange. 0-1

Upsets in Round 6:

Lakshmi Ravi beat Hugh Gao
Erica Hu beat Priyanshu Pattani
Jeffrey Yu beat Arkadi Polyakevich
Boyuan Zhang beat David Ansell

Jeffrey Yu and Virginia Milne now lead the grade on 5 points. 3 other players are just behind on 4.5

 

Final Auckland tournament for this year is the Papatoetoe Rapid. There is Rapid on Saturday the 1st of December and another Junior Rapid on the Sunday. Entries online here.

Vega Links:  A Grade , B Grade

2018 Spring Cup R5 PGN by Ewen Green and Alex Nagorski.

A Grade

Alphaeus Ang vs Paul Garbett – White pushed all four of his centre pawns early while black hung back. The position mostly favour Black but was a dead draw once the players swapped to a rook and pawn endgame. Draw

Mike Steadman vs Daniel Gong – White played 1. e4 for a change and got an equal opening and picked up a pawn in the middle game. But he was unable to find the correct move to open up Black’s position and settled for a draw.

Alex Huang vs Alexei Kulaskho – White picked up a great outpost Knight and pushed a rook though to the 7th. But Black swapped out the attackers to equalise. The position finished with neither player able to break though a wall of pawns though the middle of the board. Draw.

Ben Hague vs Tim Ha – Black lost a piece in the openign and resigned. 1-0

Lewis Jordan vs Bruce Watson – White castled the wrong way into an attack and lost a piece to a tactic a few moves later. 0-1

Paul Macdonald vs John Duneas – Black gave up a pawn for little compensation on move 3. He mounted an attack but didn’t make a lot of progress and lost another pawn. However somehow black got back both the pawns going into the endgame. The players drew with equal endgame.

Don Eade vs Nathan Goodhue – White’s position and material went steadily worse. Although Black missed the best move a couple of times. 0-1

Allen Fan vs Alex Nagorski – Fairly even until Black got his Queen trapped. He got a Rook, Night and Pawn for it but the resulting position forced him into a desperate defence. White advanced some pawns to punch in some more holes and it collapsed. 1-0

Simon Lyall vs Clinton Wells – A fairly even game, neither player managed to get significantly ahead. A draw agreed in an even endgame.

Upsets in Round 5

Alex Huang drew with Alexei Kulashko.

Draws on the top three boards left the placings the same. Ang, Garbett and Gong on 4 with Steadman on 3.5. 5 players are on 3 points.

 

B Grade

Stephen Peters vs Isabelle Ning – White played the Morra Gambit which Black safely navigated. Both players blundered around until White won. 1-0

Stephen Peak vs Sarah Yan – Black gave up an early pawn almost the same way as the Macdonald/Duneas game. White was going well until they put a piece en prise. Black swapped down to a winning endgame. 0-1

Ravi Lakshmi vs Arkadi Polyakevich – White picked up two pawns. However black piled up 4 pieces against White’s king and white made a mistake that allowed mate. 0-1

Upsets in Round 5

Rosa Ryu beat Toby Zhang
Charlotte Wen beat Kelvin Xiao
Rodney Li beat John McClory

With his win Stephen Peters is in Sole lead on 4.5 points. In 2nd eual on 4.0 points are Arkadi Polyakevich, Sarah Yan, Jeffrey Yu and Virginia Milne.

The field is starting the spread out in both grades.

Vega Links:  A Grade , B Grade

Spring Cup 2018 R4 PGN entered by Ewen Green

A Grade

Daniel Gong vs Paul Garbett – The two leaders. White got an attack and a pawn after the opening but failed to find the best moves and black equalised. The players agreed on a draw with Black better but with White able to defend. Draw

Bruce Watson vs Alphaeus Ang – Black played some interesting tactics and ended with an unbalanced position when he  took a rook and two pawns (plus 2 passed pawns) for two pieces. Further Swaps left Black with 2 rooks and white with a Knight and two bishops, plus 6 pawns each. Black put pressure on White until he eventually lost a piece. 0-1

Mike Steadman vs Nathan Goodhue – Black handled Whites “1. b4” well enough but White was better afterwards, getting a protected fawn-pawn on h6 with background mate threats. Eventually black slipped up and allowed the threat of Qg7 to happen which forced him to give up material to prevent it. 1-0

Alex Huang vs Allen Fan – A fairly even game until Black slipped up and lost a couple of pawns. 1-0

Tim Ha vs Paul Macdonald – Black played the dubious ‘Rat Defence’ ( 1.d4 d6 2. c4 e5 ) and came out of the opening equal to better. Pieces were changed to get down to an equal Bishop v Knight endgame (with 6 pawns each). The players repeated positions. Draw

Alex Nagorski vs Lewis Jordon – Black forgot his lines to give White a  better opening and White was ahead and attacking. But White miscalculated and lost an exchange. He was able able to defend his position and Black settled for a draw.

John Duneas vs Simon Lyall – A fairly even start, Black got a little better at one point but didn’t know how to handle the position and white came out ahead after a series of threats and swaps. 1-0

Don Eade vs Akshay Sharma – Black missed a tactic and lost an exchange. He made a mate-threat that Black failed to accurately defend. 1-0

Clinton Wells vs Winston Weng – White picked up a couple of pawns and that was enough. 1-0

Upsets in round 4:

Alex Hung beat Allen Fan

Paul Garbett, Daniel Gong and Alphaeus Ang lead the grade on 3.5 points. Mike Steadman is just behind on 3.

B Grade

Arkadi Polyakevich vs Stephen Peters – The players swapped to an even position and took a draw.

Stephen Peak vs Ravi Lakshmi – The players swapped to an even position and took a draw.

Upsets in Round 4:

Jacob Chai beat John McCory (700 point rating difference)
Silei Wang beat Parthi Partheepan
Jeffrey Yu beat Andrew Michael
Ying Wang beat Rodney Li

Stephan Peters and Isabelle Ning are 1st on 3.5. 7 players are in third-equal on 3.0

 

The Summit Rapid Chess Open is on Sunday the 18th of November. See the Entry form for details.

Lots of people were away this week, mainly due to school exams.

Vega Links:  A Grade , B Grade

Spring Cup 2018 R3 PGN by Ewen Green with help from Alex Nagorski.

A Grade

Daniel Gong vs Bruce Watson – White launched a very early (move 7) pawn storm against Black’s castled King. Black lost an exchange under the attack and resigned as he was about to lose another. 1-0

Paul Garbett vs Mike Steadman – After 9 exf6 gxf6 black was left with a big hole on f7/g7 and all his pieces on the Queenside. White was able to exploit this fast enough to win material and Black resigned. 1-0

Alphaeus Ang vs Ben Hague – White got a strong centre while Black worked around the sides. Black was unable to equalise and after White gave up his rooks for a Queen and pawn White was able to dominate with a mobile Queen. 1-0

Simon Lyall vs Alexei Kulashko – White got an isolated and difficult to defend pawn out of the opening. Black pushed until White made bigger slip-ups and lost material. 0-1

Nathan Goodhue vs Don Eade – Black went well for about 25 moves but a misjudge pawn push gave White an open file for a rook with threats. White picked up a couple of pawns and Black’s attempt to get one back allowed a mate. 0-1

Winston Weng vs Alex Huang – A very long game. After 30 moves the players had swapped to a rook, opposite coloured bishop and 5 pawns each. White picked up a pawn. The players swapped pawns into a draw although the computer claims that at one point White had a win if he’d seen the right move. Draw

Jordan Lewis vs John Duneas – The players swapped down to an unbalanced but even endgame. White had a chance but missed it and the game was drawn.

Akshay Sharma vs Alex Nagorski – White got a little lost in the opening and Black came out better, especially after White missed a tactic and lost an exchange. White tried complications to get it back but ended a piece and a pawn down. 0-1

Paul Macdonald vs Clinton Wells – See Pauls extensive notes. White did a pawn push and Black gave up a piece (that he probably didn’t have to) to stop it. Black resigned a piece down and with little counter-play. 1-0

Upsets:

Winston Weng drew with Alex Huang
Jordan Lewis drew with John Duneas
Alphaeus Ang beat Ben Hague
Daniel Gong beat Bruce Watson

Daniel Gong and Paul Garbett lead the grade on 3/3 with Alphaeus Ang just behind on 2.5.

B Grade

Stephen Peters vs Ariel Padhu – Black got his Queen trapped and was lucky to come out only down a rook, he then lost another piece. 1-0

Sarah Yan vs Rosa Ryu – Black missed a tactic and lost her Queen. 1-0

Hannah Xu vs Arkadi Polyakevich – White allowed black to get two advanced pawns. He was able to Queen one. 0-1

Vincent Cai vs Stephen Peak – White got a good position out of the opening but gave away a couple of pawns and then a piece. 0-1

Upsets in round 3:

Narasimhan Lakshmi Ravi beat Tom Fu
Philbert Zhai drew with Jeffrey Yu
Stephen Peters beat Ariel Patdu

Stephens Peters is in first places as the only player on 3 points. Just behind him 6 players are on 2.5 and 7 on 2.0.

The Summit Rapid Chess Open is on Sunday the 18th of November. See the Entry form for details.

The A-Grade saw a lot fewer upsets in round 2 but there were still plenty in B Grade.

Vega Links:  A Grade , B Grade

2018 Spring Cup R2 PGN by Ewan Green

A Grade

Bruce Watson vs Nathan Goodhue – The players swapped to a endgame with White a little better. After White picked up a pawn he had little trouble. 1-0

Alex Huang vs Paul Garbett – White had an attack but a few moves later Black was completely winning after a few choice swaps. 0-1

Michael Steadman vs German Giuliani – Mike was unphased by black’s “1. c4 g4” and got a quick win. “Boom, that’s how to deal to that g5 rubbish!” . 1-0

Don Eade vs Daniel Gong – White made an error in the opening that lost a pawn and cramped his position. Black was able to quickly exploit this.

Ben Hague vs Akshay Sharma – Black made a few tactical errors and lost quickly 1-0

John Duneas vs Alphaeus Ang – White missed a tactic from Black (see diagram) and lost. 1-0

Alexei Kulashko vs Alex Nagorski – The position was almost locked up and the players did around 20 moves of shuffling. However Black made a mistake and White was able to invade and win. 1-0

Caroline Yan vs Paul Macdonald – White picked up a pawn and Black took a draw in the face of an imminent exchange of the major pieces. Draw

Winston Weng vs Tim Ha –   White lost two pawns but got them back in a flurry of tactical miscalculations by both players. However stepped into a mate. 0-1

Clinton Wells vs Jordan Lewis – White got some pieces in bad positions and gave up and exchange. Black was able to convert from there. 0-1

Only 2 upsets this round.

The underrated Lewis Jordan beat Clinton Wells.
Caroline Yan drew with Paul Macdonald

B Grade

Ariel Patdu vs Andrew Michael – White attacked Black’s castled King and Black miscalculated the defense. 1-0

Arkadi Polyakevich vs Tom Fu – The players took and early draw. The final position however appears to be close to winning for Black. Draw

Abraham Deng vs Stephen Peters – White miscalculated and lost a piece. 0-1

Narasimhan Ravi vs Isabelle Ning –  White was better at several points but wasted moves and lost his advantage. The game was eventually drawn.

Sarah Yan vs Erica Hu – Black lots an exchange and then key pawns in front of her King. 1-0

Upsets

Hannah Xu beat John McClory
Yolanda Chang beat Huge Gao
Stephen Peters beat Abraham Deng
Eugene Wang drew with Joe Wang
Vincent Cai beat Saasha Ghadiali
Philbert Zhai beat Renae Ghadiali

Due to the large number of draws only 2 players are undefeated. Stephan Peters and Ariel Patdu.

 

Round one of the Spring Cup had mostly large rating gaps but there were big upsets in both Grades.

Vega Links:  A Grade , B Grade

2018 Spring Cup – R1 PGN by Alex Nagorski and Tim Ha

A Grade

Alex Nagorski vs Ben Hague – 15 moves of Kings Indian theory before black heads down a sideline. White had the better run but the psotion swapped to a draw.

Alexei Kulashko vs German Giulani – The opening was 1. d4 h6 2. e4 g5 3. h4 g4 which is the “Borg Defense: Troon Gambit” , Black gives up a pawn and develops while he kick’s White’s Queen around. Black gained a lot of threats which White kept on top of until he missed on his position fell apart. 0-1

Paul Garbett vs Clinton Wells – White built up a nice position, countered black’s threats and picked up a pawn. Black resigned as white’s attack started to gather steam. 1-0

Winston Weng vs Bruce Watson – White was going well but pushed a pawn in front of his King which allowed Black in for a mating attack. 0-1

Daniel Gong vs Roy Seabrook – Black tried a new defense against the London System ( 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 f6 ) but lost a pawn for little compensation. White picked up another pawn and swapped pieces for a winning endgame. 1-0

Tim Ha vs Nathan Goodhue – More opening innovations, this time from White in the c3 Sicilian which got him an even opening. Black picked up a pawn and white resigned in a lost endgame position. 0-1

Paul Macdonald vs Don Eade – White played 1. b3 “continuing the clubs’ pursuit of ridiculous openings”. White looked okay until he blundered into a back-rank mate. 0-1

Allen Fan vs John Duneas – White looked better but black managed to come back with some favorable swaps and the players agreed on a draw in am even endgame position. Draw

Caroline Yan vs Mike Steadman – Whites position went steadily downhill. 0-1

Lew is Jordan vs Alex Huang – More dubious openings ( 1. Nc3 c5 2. g3 Nc6 ). Black pushed white back and eventually black made some mistakes and lost material. 0-1

Upsets in Round 1

German Giuliani beat Alexei Kulashko
Don Ease beat Paul Macdonald
Alex Nagorski drew with Ben Hague
John Duneas drew with Allen Fan

B Grade

A huge number of upsets. Around 11 games out of 17!

The major upsets were:

Silei Wang beat Priyanshu Pattani
Jeffrey Yu beat John McClory
Stephen Peters beat A Sriham
Narasimhan Lakshimi Ravi beat Mike Steiner
Uday Jain beat Virginia Milne

Winter Cup

The ACC Winter Cup was 2 Swiss Grades played over 7 rounds in September and October

Vega Links: A Grade, B Grade

A Grade

1st equal: Allen Fan, Paul Macdonald and Nathan Goodhue (5.5/7)
4th: John Duneas (5)
5th equal: Alex Nagorski, Alphaeus Ang, Winston Weng (4.5)

B Grade

1st: Anya Thurner (5.5/7)
2nd = : Joe Wang, Boyuan Zhang, Ariel Patdu and Tom Fu (5)

The Merv Morrision

This was Played over Labour Weekend ( October 20-22nd ) at the Club. Vega Link

Open

1st=: FM Alexei Kulashko, FM Ben Hague.
3rd: CM John Duneas.

Under 2100

1st=: CM Alphaeus Ang, CM Helen Milligan, David Weegenaar, Daniel Runcan, Laurens Goormachtigh, Richard Dare.

Under 1800

1st=: Roy Seabrook (trophy winner), Simon Lyall, Timothy Ha, Philli Park-Tamati, Andrew Li, WCM Nadia Braganza, Jeffrey Yu, Grant Burrows, William Crombie.

Vega with final entries and grades for the Spring Cup which starts on October 29th is now online:

A Grade
B Grade

Note that we have a lot of entries so may be short of boards on some nights. Some players may have delayed starts.

Reminder that if you are not playing on an evening (perhaps due to exams) then you must let Simon know. Players who turn up or whom notify when they won’t be coming in will be prioritised.

Coming up:

October 20-22 – Merv Morrison weekend tournament
October 22 – No Monday Club Night
October 29 – Round 1 of the Spring Cup

The ACC Winter Cup is two rated Swiss grades over 7 rounds.

Vega Links: A Grade, B Grade

2018 Winter CUP R7 PGN by Alex Nagorski and Ewan Green with help from Paul and Simon.

A Grade

Paul Macdonald vs John Duneas – See Paul’s annotated in the PGN for the full details. White got a huge attack against Black’s King and accurate play by White and some inaccuracies by Black secured the win. 1-0

Allen Fan vs Alex Nagorski – White picked up an early pawn and after some swaps ended up with a mate threat which forced Black to give up a piece. 1-0

Gordon Morrell vs Nathan Goodhue – White was a little better though most of the game. He resigned when Black got a breakthrough in the endgame, although the computer claims the position is a draw. 0-1

Alphaeus Ang vs Roy Seabrook –  Pieces and pawns were exchanged as the players sent expeditions into each others ranks. Black missed a tactic and resigned when he lost a piece (see diagram). 0-1

Tim Ha vs Sarah Yan – White got some pressure but missed the best continuation and Black locked the position. White then sacrificed a piece for two pawns but gained nothing. Unfortunately Black allowed a perpetual check in an otherwise won position. Draw

James Liu vs Simon Lyall – Both players played a little passively. Black tried an attack but it petered out and they agreed on a draw.

Winston Weng vs Abraham Deng – A fairly even game with. Black resigned when he had a piece trapped. However he had a way to escape and keep himself in the game. 1-0

Daniel Gong vs Arkadi Polyakevich – White launched an attack against Black’s Castled King and Black made a couple of mistakes. 1-0

Aaron Wang vs Rodney Li –  The players agreed on a draw in a sharp position. Draw

Andrew Michael vs Caroline Yan – White launched an aggressive attack but over-reached and trapped a piece. 0-1

Don Eade vs JC Mullage – A natural looking move by Black allowed White to threaten a pin on Black’s Queen. White picked up two pawns and Black resigned a few moves later with more loss imminent. 1-0

Jordon Lewis vs Philli Park-Tamati – White got a pawn down an offered a repeat of moves, Black accepted. Draw

Stephen Peak vs John Packenham – White kept up a steady pressure and eventually picked up a couple of pawns and then a piece. 1-0

Virginia Milne vs David Ansell – White got away with some unsound tactics when Black missed the best replies. 1-0

The final result was:

1st equal on 5.5: Allen Fan, Paul Macdonald and Nathan Goodhue
4th on 5.0: John Duneas
5th equal on 4.5: Alex Nagorski, Alphaeus Ang, Winston Weng.

B Grade

Anya Thurner vs Boyuan Zhang – After quickly swapping material the players agreed on a draw in an equal endgame.

Jason Huang vs Ariel Patdu – White resigned after losing a couple of pawns. 0-1

Upsets in Round 7:

Erica Hu beat Ying Wang
Hanna Xu beat N L Ravi

Final Result:

1st on 5.5 points: Anya Thurner
2nd = on 5 points: Joe Wang, Boyuan Zhang, Ariel Patdu and Tom Fu.