News

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

 

The Auckland Chess Centre Club Champs will be starting on June the 19th and round for 9 weeks. There will be 10-player A and B Round-robin grades and a C-Grade Swiss.

Vega Links for the Grades are below. They are not quite final but should be close. Please contact Simon if your name is missing or you’d prefer to play in another grade.

A Grade, B Grade , C Grade

The 6th round of the Autumn Cup saw a larger than usual number of draws. A reminder that the final round 7 will be on June 12th following the Queen’s birthday break.

Don’t forget to sign up for the Club champs which will start on June 19th.

Autumn Cup Round 6 pgn by Ewen Green, Tim Ha and Simon Lyall

Vega Links: A Grade, B Grade

A Grade

Ang v Fan – An early repetition with Black in a slightly better position. Draw

Morrell vs Watson – An interesting game. White sacrifices 3 a piece for 3 pawns and gets some chances. Black gets a passed pawn & at one points is A Quuen, 2 pieces and 2 pawns vs a Queen & 6 pawns. Black has to settle for a draw due to the mass for passed pawns. Draw

Hague v Duneas – White picks up a under-guarded pawn and then swaps into an endgame a pawn ahead which he wins. 1-0

Gong vs Macdonald – White aggressive swaps to a rook and pawn endgame. He gradually improves his position and then breaks though and picks up several pawns. 1-0

Caroline Yan vs Goodhue – As often happens, Black gets a little behind in the opening but gets ahead in the tight middle-game positions. White eventually allows a breakthrough against he passive pieces. 0-1

Rodney Li vs Nagorski – Black has most of the play though the game but a slip in the endgame results in a drawn position. Draw

Leo Zhang vs Jacobs – White gets a little lost in his opening and gets a pawn down and very cramped. A few moves later Black is in a commanding position (Computer says +4.5) but the players agree on a draw.

Sarah Yan v Tim Ha – Black pushes against white and eventually picks up a loose pawn. After some piece swaps white tries to push forward some centre pawns but lacks the pieces. Black counter-attacks and wins with an unexpected checkmate. 0-1

Wu v Milne – White gets into trouble aftre he improvises in the opening but luckily for him black missed the best line. However Black pushes hard and white is on the back foot for the next 20 moves. Eventually they agree on a draw in a close endgame. Draw

Peak v Wells – A messy opening gives white a bad pawn structure ( tripled pawns plus 3 isolated pawns) but better placed pieces.  Black develops and gets two pawns up before Queening. 0-1

Liu vs Eade – A fairly uneventful game. They players maneuver around before agreeing on a draw at move 32. Draw

Ward vs Euan MacDougall –  A careless move by Black gives white a huge attack out of nowhere. 1-0

Lyall vs Wayne MacDougall – White gets an attack out of the opening and eventually black makes a fatal mistake or two. 1-0

Steiner vs Michael – A very even looking game. The game goes through several phases and very different series of positions as each player gets ahead for a bit. Eventually they agree on a draw.

Burrows vs Aaron Wang – Black gets a better opening and picks up a pawn and a better position in the middle game. However White manages to get into a drawn endgame position. Draw

With just one round to go Alphaeus Ang is in first place on 5 points ahead of 5 players on 4.5.

B Grade

Only a few upsets this round. Saasha Ghadiali drew with Ying Wang and Tom Fu drew with Leo Li.

The Grade is led by Toby Zhang on 5.5 and Erica Hu on 5.0 who are playing well ahead of their rating.

Round 7

The draft draws for round seven are below. Subject to usual changes.

The Friday Night Schedule has been adjusted to better suit our players who dislike the fast blitz games (like the regular 5+2) and love playing rapid games (like the moderate 15+5). Now one blitz tournament will only run, after every one (or sometimes two) rapid tournaments. Rapid tournaments will generally run for 3-4 nights, whereas most blitz tournaments will only run for one night – instead of previously, where some of them were run for two nights.

Also we have added a number of fun and exciting formats, I encourage you all to check out the new schedule. A few additional formats are currently being planned/tested, and being finely tuned for our Friday Night casual events. Please check out our new schedule here: http://www.aucklandchess.nz/friday-chess/schedule/

You will also see that the time controls change for different events and seasons (i.e. Slightly slower during winter and slightly faster during spring).

This week we will start the Autumn Knockout 20+0 Tournament (Ro.16/Ro.8, expandable to Ro.32 for 32 players). I encourage you all to come along and play some interesting and exciting chess.

Alex