News

Winter Cup – Round 4

All Grades are now seeing some players pulling out ahead. However in A and B there are several unplayed games while in C Grade things are still very close.

  • Upcoming tournament at the Club is the Merv Morrison over Labour weekend ( October 21st to 24th). The entry form has more details
  • Also a reminder than the NZ Chess Congress will be in Wellington in early January 2017. Go here for the entry form and entries so far.

PGN for Round 4 by Alex Nagorski

A Grade

Nathan Goodhue and Alex Huang played a long game (in time if not moves) before agreeing on a draw.

Bruce Watson and Alphaeus Ang swapped down to a Q+3P vs RN+4P endgame (Bruce had the Queen).  Bruce managed to pick up all 4 pawns and avoid Alphaeus’ traps

Daniel Gong never seem to get into the game against Mike Steadman and resigned once Mike was in a winning endgame position.

John Duneas, Bruce Watson and Mike Steadman lead the grade but several games are unplayed.

B Grade

Tim Ha on his game against Tomas Midr: “We castled opposite sides and it was equal at first, but I was slower in attack and finally lost to the powerful bishop pair and pawn storm from Tomas”.

After an unusual Opening (which I’m sure I’ve seen him play before) Hilton Jacobs was equal with Alex Nagorski before losing a piece to a tactic and resigned after getting into zugzwing in the endgame

Paul MacDonald struggled in the opening against Keith ward before picking up an exchange via a tactic and then a dominant position.

Alex leads the grade by half a point from Paul but they meet in round 5.

C Grade

Bishop Everett beat Seifi Pouya to take the sole led. Clinton Wells and Euan MacDougall are just half a point behind him however.

Round 5

The Vega Websites for the Winter Cup Are:

Links to the Schedule for A and B grade are on the 2016 Tournaments page.

If you are unable to play please contact Simon Lyall either via text (021 575 233) or email to contact @ aucklandchess.nz . Normally you will get a half point bye. Please let us know as early as possible.

The draft draw for C grade is below. Please remember that this may change if there are additional byes

wc_r5_draw

 

Winter Cup – Round 3

Round 3 of the Winter Cup saw a lot of byes due to players being out of town at the NZ Junior and Inter-schools events in Palmerston North. Other players were on Holiday.

  • A Big reminder to let me (Simon) know if you are not goign to be playing. This week 4 players didn’t turn up without notification. Ryan Dukeson, Jain Uday, Isaac Yuan and Robin Boudot. They all got zero points and will get the same in Round 4 round unless I hear from them.
  • Upcoming tournament at the Club is the Merv Morrison over Labour weekend ( October 21st to 24th). The entry form has more details
  • Also a reminder than the NZ Chess Congress will be in Wellington in early January 2017. Go here for the entry form and entries so far.

PGN file for Winter Cup round 3

A Grade

Only two games were played in A Grade. The top game saw Nathan Goodhue play a Dutch as black against Mike Steadman. Mike (who often players the Dutch himself) played 3. h3 and 4. g4 so quickly get things out of book at the expense of leaving himself with a cramped and strange looking position. Nathan unfortunately missed a tactic and lost his Queen for two pieces

John Duneas slowly strangled Alex Huang until Alex’s position collapsed.

B Grade

Don Eade had a led out of the Opening against Tim Ha. Tim resigned after losing an exchange.

Richard Taylor got behind a little against Paul MacDonald and under time pressure his position got worse.

Keith Ward launched an aggressive attack against Hilton Jacobs which the computer judged to be optimistic. Hilton defended correctly except for one move which left Keith with a chance of a draw. Keith missed the strange looking drawing move and the alternatives were much worse.

Alex Nagorski took advantage of Tomas Madr’s passive opening and generally dominated the game although the computer saw several missed chances to finish it early. Eventually Alex found one of them and won.

C Grade

Only 2 players ( Bishop Everett and Seifi Pouya) are now on a perfect score.

The Vega Websites for the Winter Cup Are:

Links to the Schedule for A and B grade are on the 2016 Tournaments page.

If you are unable to play please contact Simon Lyall either via text (021 575 233) or email to contact @ aucklandchess.nz . Normally you will get a half point bye. Please let us know as early as possible.

Winter Cup – Byes due to Holidays

Rounds 3 and 4 of the Winter Cup take place during the school holidays. At the same time various events like the Schools Championship and North Island Championship are taking place in Palmerston North.

The following are known byes. Players are in C grade unless noted. Please let me know ASAP if there are updates.

Round 3 – Monday the 26th of September

  • Aaron Wang
  • Daniel Gong – A Grade
  • Ying Wang
  • Leo Li
  • Alphaeus Ang – A Grade
  • Allen Fan – A Grade
  • Oliver Picken
  • Wayne McDougall
  • Euan McDougall
  • Jordan Lewis
  • Kenny Zhang
  • Samuel Sajch
  • Hugh Gao

Round 4 – Monday the 3rd of October

  • Leo Li
  • Allen Fan – A Grade
  • Oliver Picken
  • Samuel Sajch
  • Ryan Dukeson – zero points
  • Jain Uday – zero points
  • Isaac Yuan – zero points
  • Robin Boudot – zero points

 

Winter Cup – Round 2

This week was round 2 of the Winter Cup. It is still a little early to see who is winning but we have some interesting games. A reminder that School Holidays (and some events in Palmerston North) start next week so please let me know if you want byes. Thank you to all parents who filled out the slips. I’ll put out a post later this week with the byes list.

Results from Round 2

PGN file by Alex Nagorski

A Grade

John Duneas and Nathan Goodhue player a wild game which John won

Alex Huang gained a huge advantage over Alphaeus Ang but failed to find the correct combination & swapped to a KQ v KRBN endgame which Alphaeus was able to hold.

Allen Fan beat Daniel Gong after being ahead for most of the game. This was the upset of the round since Daniel is 200 points higher rated than Allen.

Bruce Watson ended up with in an endgame with King and 6 pawns vs Mike Steadman’s King, bishop and 3 pawns. Mike took a draw. The computer thought he probably could have won with best play, but a single mistake could have been fatal.

B Grade

Alex Nagorski Turned a slight advantage in a drawish endgame into a win against Tim Ha. I’d also like to acknowledge the players to putting in 14 moves of mainstream opening in contrast to the “innovations” from the rest of A and B grade.

Hilton Jacobs made one little miscalculation against Richard Taylor and the game was quickly over.

Paul Macdonald was ahead on his game against Don Eade but Don managed to escape with a draw.

C Grade

Oscar Qin won on move 6 with Scholars mate

The Majority of upsets were draws but Euan McDougall beat Andrew Michael (273 pt different) and Shawn Hui beat Erica Hu (272 pt diff).

There are seven players on 2 points and 12 on 1.5.
The Vega Websites for the Winter Cup Are:

Links to the Schedule for A and B grade are on the 2016 Tournaments page.

If you are unable to play please contact Simon Lyall either via text (021 575 233) or email to contact @ aucklandchess.nz . Normally you will get a half point bye. Please let us know as early as possible.

I will publish a draft draw for C grade ones I process the byes for round 3.

Winter Cup – Round 1

The Winter Cup began on September 12 with 72 players across 3 grades. There are 8-player A and B Round-Robin grades and 56 platers in a C-Grade Swiss. This is probably close to the maximum number of players the club can hold.

Notices:

  • School Holidays start on the 26th of September and many younger players will be away (some that the Chess events in Palmerston North). Please make sure you let us know what days you will miss in advance. Letting us know means you get a half-point bye and also that another player doesn’t miss out on a game waiting for you.
  • The final round of the B-grade Interclub was played on on Sunday the 25th of September. The ACC team ( Tim Ha, Scott Treanor, Stephen Peak, Nicole Qin, Wayne McDougall and Aaron Wang) drew with the North Shore (3 wins each). Thank you to these players plus Eric Wu and Pouya Seifi for taking their time out on Sundays to play for the club.
  • Unfortunately this year out Interclub teams only managed 4th (out of 4) in the competition. First place was taken by Papatoetoe for the first time ever.
  • Some photos from the B Grade Interclub are online: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3.

Results from Round 1

PGN file by Alex Nagorski for round 1

A Grade

Watson vs Goodhue saw opposite side castling and both sides playing pawn-storms. After some aggressive play the dust cleared and Watson was significantly ahead.

Mike Steadman deployed his 1. b4 against Allen Fan obtained equality but lost the exchange. He resigned in a difficult but perhaps not totally lost position.

In an Interesting unbalanced game John Duneas followed a gambit and obtained 3-4 pawns for a bishop against Alphaeus Ang. After much to-and-fro John Won.

B Grade

After a slow start Paul MacDonald crunched up Tim Ha

Don Eade and Hilton Jacobs played a very long (92 move) game with Don eventually winning.

Richard Taylor had some problems against newcomer Tomas Madr but eventually got a little ahead before settling for a draw

Alex Nagorski playing an interesting game where he swapped pieces and slowly worsened Keith Ward’s pawn structure until when all the pieces were gone he had a winning King and pawn endgame

C Grade

Upsets on boards 2 and 3 saw Eric Wu draw with Rishit Patel and Simon Lyall draw with Oscar Qin. Further down the table Tom Fu beat Giles Elias.

The Vega Websites for the Winter Cup Are:

Links to the Schedule for A and B grade are on the 2016 Tournaments page.

If you are unable to play please contact Simon Lyall either via text (021 575 233) or email to contact @ aucklandchess.nz . Normally you will get a half point bye. Please let us know as early as possible.

The draft draw for C grade is below. Please remember that this may change if there are additional byes

Winter C - R2

 

Winter Cup – B Grade Schedule

Pairings and schedule for the 2016 Winter Cup B Grade

ACC Winter Cup 2016 - B Grade : Round 1  - Sep 12
=====================================================
1 = 1 Macdonald, Paul      -   8 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth
2 = 2 Eade, Don            -   7 Jacobs, Hilton J    
3 = 3 Taylor, Richard      -   6 Madr, Tomas         
4 = 4 Ward, Keith          -   5 Nagorski, Alex      


ACC Winter Cup 2016 - B Grade : Round 2  - Sep 19
=====================================================
1 = 8 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth -   5 Nagorski, Alex      
2 = 6 Madr, Tomas          -   4 Ward, Keith         
3 = 7 Jacobs, Hilton J     -   3 Taylor, Richard     
4 = 1 Macdonald, Paul      -   2 Eade, Don           


ACC Winter Cup 2016 - B Grade : Round 3  - Sep 26
=====================================================
1 = 2 Eade, Don            -   8 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth
2 = 3 Taylor, Richard      -   1 Macdonald, Paul     
3 = 4 Ward, Keith          -   7 Jacobs, Hilton J    
4 = 5 Nagorski, Alex       -   6 Madr, Tomas         


ACC Winter Cup 2016 - B Grade : Round 4  - Oct 3
=====================================================
1 = 8 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth -   6 Madr, Tomas         
2 = 7 Jacobs, Hilton J     -   5 Nagorski, Alex      
3 = 1 Macdonald, Paul      -   4 Ward, Keith         
4 = 2 Eade, Don            -   3 Taylor, Richard     


ACC Winter Cup 2016 - B Grade : Round 5  - Oct 10
=====================================================
1 = 3 Taylor, Richard      -   8 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth
2 = 4 Ward, Keith          -   2 Eade, Don           
3 = 5 Nagorski, Alex       -   1 Macdonald, Paul     
4 = 6 Madr, Tomas          -   7 Jacobs, Hilton J    


ACC Winter Cup 2016 - B Grade : Round 6  - Oct 17 
=====================================================
1 = 8 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth -   7 Jacobs, Hilton J    
2 = 1 Macdonald, Paul      -   6 Madr, Tomas         
3 = 2 Eade, Don            -   5 Nagorski, Alex      
4 = 3 Taylor, Richard      -   4 Ward, Keith         


ACC Winter Cup 2016 - B Grade : Round 7  - Oct 31
=====================================================
1 = 4 Ward, Keith          -   8 Ha, Huy Minh (Timoth
2 = 5 Nagorski, Alex       -   3 Taylor, Richard     
3 = 6 Madr, Tomas          -   2 Eade, Don           
4 = 7 Jacobs, Hilton J     -   1 Macdonald, Paul

Winter Cup – A Grade Schedule

Pairings and schedule for the 2016 Winter Cup A Grade

ACC Winter Cup 2016 - A Grade : Round 1 - Sept 12
=====================================================
1 = 1 Watson, Bruce R      - 8 Goodhue, Nathan 
2 = 2 Steadman, Michael V  - 7 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou 
3 = 3 Gong, Daniel Hanwen  - 6 Huang, Alex 
4 = 4 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er - 5 Duneas, John 


ACC Winter Cup 2016 - A Grade : Round 2 - Sept 19
=====================================================
1 = 8 Goodhue, Nathan      - 5 Duneas, John 
2 = 6 Huang, Alex          - 4 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er
3 = 7 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou  - 3 Gong, Daniel Hanwen 
4 = 1 Watson, Bruce R      - 2 Steadman, Michael V 


ACC Winter Cup 2016 - A Grade : Round 3 - Sept 26
=====================================================
1 = 2 Steadman, Michael V  - 8 Goodhue, Nathan 
2 = 3 Gong, Daniel Hanwen  - 1 Watson, Bruce R 
3 = 4 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er - 7 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou 
4 = 5 Duneas, John         - 6 Huang, Alex 


ACC Winter Cup 2016 - A Grade : Round 4 - Oct 3
=====================================================
1 = 8 Goodhue, Nathan      - 6 Huang, Alex 
2 = 7 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou  - 5 Duneas, John 
3 = 1 Watson, Bruce R      - 4 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er
4 = 2 Steadman, Michael V  - 3 Gong, Daniel Hanwen 


ACC Winter Cup 2016 - A Grade : Round 5 - Oct 10
=====================================================
1 = 3 Gong, Daniel Hanwen  - 8 Goodhue, Nathan 
2 = 4 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er - 2 Steadman, Michael V 
3 = 5 Duneas, John         - 1 Watson, Bruce R 
4 = 6 Huang, Alex          - 7 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou 


ACC Winter Cup 2016 - A Grade : Round 6 - Oct 17 
=====================================================
1 = 8 Goodhue, Nathan      - 7 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou 
2 = 1 Watson, Bruce R      - 6 Huang, Alex 
3 = 2 Steadman, Michael V  - 5 Duneas, John 
4 = 3 Gong, Daniel Hanwen  - 4 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er


ACC Winter Cup 2016 - A Grade : Round 7 - Oct 31
=====================================================
1 = 4 Ang, Alphaeus Wei Er - 8 Goodhue, Nathan 
2 = 5 Duneas, John         - 3 Gong, Daniel Hanwen 
3 = 6 Huang, Alex          - 2 Steadman, Michael V 
4 = 7 Fan, Allen Chi Zhou  - 1 Watson, Bruce R

 

Winter Cup coming up

The Winter Cup will be starting on Sept 12th. A reminder to enter soon if you want to play. Below are the draft grades for the tournament. Please contact me (Simon) if you have any feedback.

Currently Vega has everyone listed in C Grade. Once the A and B are confirmed (probably over the weekend) I will move players into those grade.

A Grade – 8 player round robin – 7 rounds rated

  1. Bruce Watson
  2. Mike Steadman
  3. Daniel Gong
  4. Alphaeus Ang
  5. John Duneas
  6. Alex Huang
  7. Allen Fan
  8. Nathan Goodhue

B Grade – 8 player round robin – 7 rounds – rated

  1. Paul MacDonald
  2. Don Eade
  3. Richard Taylor
  4. Keith Ward
  5. Alex Nagorski
  6. Tomas Midr
  7. Tim Ha
  8. Hilton Jacobs

C Grade – Rest of club – 7 round rated Swiss

There will be about 48 players in this grade including 5 over 1700 and another 5+ over 1600 so this will be a very tough.

Spring Rapid – Round 4-6 and results

The 2nd night of the Spring rapid was played on Sept 5th with the final 3 rounds being played. Nathan Goodhue and Bruce Wheeler were the joint winners.

  • A reminder that several club members are representing New Zealand at the Chess Olympiad. Further information from the official website, or you can follow New Zealand via twitter, facebook or the chesschat website.
  • Thank you to Tim Ha for setting up a Facebook Page for the Chess Centre. If you are on Facebook you might want to follow/like us.
  • The Winter Cup be starting in on Monday the 12th of September. It will be 7 rounds with 2 round-robin grades of 8 players and swiss grade for everybody else. See the Vega page for the entries so far (Note all entries are in the C-Grade page for now). If you want to play then enter on the sheet at the club, email or txt before the tournament starts.

Winter Cup – Round 4

Going into the 3rd round of the Winter cup there were just 3 players on 3 points out of 3, Hilton Jacobs, Daniel Gong and Allen Fan. The match between Daniel and Hilton on the top saw an upset with Hilton winning giving him the outright lead (Allen lost to Mike Steadman on board 2). Further down the field Alphaeus Ang was lucky to beat newcomer Tomas Mad, Alex Huang drew with Bruce Watson, Temu Maroroa drew with Richard Taylor and Leo Li beat Mike Steiner

Round 5

Hilton’s run was bought to a halt by Nathan Goodhue on the top board. The suspiciously low rated (1400!) Temu Maroroa once again got a upset further down the boards.

Round 6

At the start of the round Nathan Goodhue had the sole led in the tournament with 4.5 points but there were another 6 players right behind him on 4.

On the Top board Nathan drew with Alphaeus Ang and boards 2 and 3 were also draws. However on board 4 Bruce Wheeler beat Richard Taylor to also jump to 5 points and 1st equal.

Upsets further down included Tom Fu beating Andrew Michael with a 712 point rating difference (Tom had 3 upsets last week), Lewis Jordan beating Alex Huang and Ying Wang upsetting Neil Sonnekus.

Results for the Spring Rapid 2016

1st= (5 points)  Nathan Goodhue and Bruce Wheeler
3rd= (4.5 points) Hilton Jacobs, Alphaeus Ang, Bruce watson, Daniel Gong, Alex Nagorski, John Duneas, Keith Ward

Good performances included

  • Hilton Jacobs ( 315 above rating)
  • Jordon Lewis  ( 336 above rating )
  • Temu Maroroa ( 363 above rating)
  • Tom Fu ( 726 above rating! )
  • Leo Li ( 329 above rating )
  • Ying Wang ( 393 above rating )
  • Oscar Qin ( 238 above rating )
  • Hugh Gao ( 356 above rating )

See the Vega page of the tournament for full details.