It was a very enjoyable finish to the senior club year this week when a full contingent of club members, partners and friends met at a local pub to celebrate a successful 2025 club year. Trophies were handed out to all our tournament winners, as well as cash prizes to best games of the club champs.  A great evening of food, drink, and chat followed. 

That’s it for the Club for 2025. See you all again in 2026.

Congrats to David Paul who takes out the Kāpiti Chess Club Champion title for 2025.

Going into the final round there were two key match ups, David S v David P and Gordon v Brendan. David P, on 5.5,  needed half a point for at least a share of the title, while Gordon on 5, needed a win,  or for David P to lose, to retain his title from last year. When the David’s eventually battled to a draw, it was down to Gordon now to beat Brendan. However, Brendan wasn’t about to go down lightly – and after getting a pawn ahead, then the exchange, he eventually worked a nice mating attack with rook and knights. This dashed Gordon’s chances of a sixth Club Champion title, and secured David P his 10th Club Champion title. In the B grade, congratulations to Stanley who has had a great year, securing the Ab Borren trophy  with a win over Brandon. Congratulations also go to Tim who won the C grade with a win over Oliver in another closely fought game. Final results and standings here.

That’s the end of play for the year. Next week is prizegiving, and some end of year food, drink and fun.

Going into this week’s penultimate round 7 there was just one point between the top 8 players, so a lot to play for this week.

There was a nice 14 move cameo checkmate from Tim over Brandon, one short draw between Ross and Brendan, and one very long draw between Gordon and David S. Frontrunner Gordon developed a typical strong positional advantage,  eventually converting to two pawns up, but somehow David S manage to hold on and grind out a long hard fought  draw going very late into the evening. On board 1, the other two front runners, Mikhael and David P, also played late into the evening – more or less equal until David’s endgame expertise told the difference in the end.

So with one round to go – David P leads now outright on 5.5, with Gordon on 5 and Mikhael and Stanley next on 4.5. These are now the only remaining contenders for the A Grade Cup. One or more of Mikhael, Stanley and Chris remain contenders for the B grade. And congrats to Tim – with his cameo checkmate game last night – securing him the C grade trophy with one round to spare.

Results and standings here.

The penultimate round of the Junior Club Champs delivered some mighty battles across the boards.

Champions Division:

On board one, Isaiah – playing Black against Stanley – resourcefully defended an inferior endgame and ultimately claimed the full point in a tense time scramble. On board two, James (White) faced George in another closely fought endgame, with James successfully converting his pawn advantage. There were also strong wins for Jingwei, Ronan, and Josh.

Heading into the final round, the race could not be tighter: Jingwei and Isaiah lead on 4.5/6, with James and Stanley close behind on 4/6.

Challengers Division:

Remarkably, every player with the Black pieces won their game this round! On the top boards, the leader Oscar M and Elia both secured important victories. Lachlan bounced back from last week’s loss with a solid win against the in-form Maxwell. There were also good wins for Noah and Ryder.

With one round to go, Oscar M and Elia share the lead on 5/6, each having lost only once. Lachlan keeps his title hopes alive, sitting just behind on 4.5/6. In the chasing pack, Maxwell, Charlie, Ryan, Noah, and Ryder are all on 3 points.

With everything still to play for, the final standings won’t be decided until the very last game is complete!

Top to bottom: Stanley v Isaiah, George v James

Kapiti Chess Club took part in their first-ever Bledisloe Cup match yesterday, facing off against Canterbury. The Bledisloe Cup, originally presented by the Governor-General in 1933, was traditionally contested by the major metropolitan clubs. Today, the event has embraced modern technology and now uses a hybrid format, leveraging online chess servers to make inter-regional matches possible.

Despite a narrow loss for Kapiti, the match was a resounding success and thoroughly enjoyed by all involved. It marks an exciting milestone for the club and sets the stage for more inter-regional encounters in the future.

The match result:

With five rounds now complete in the Junior Club Championship, everything is set for an exciting finish over the final two rounds.

Champions Division

The big surprise of the night came on board one, where Stanley was unable to convert his initiative against Jingwei. After defending accurately for much of the game, Jingwei reached a balanced endgame – but a rare slip from Stanley allowed him to seize the opposition and convert the position for the only Black win of the evening.

There were also impressive victories from Tal, Josh, and Orlando, the latter making a strong return in his first appearance since coming back from overseas.

After five rounds, Stanley still leads on 4/5, but he is now closely pursued by Jingwei, George, and Isaiah, all on 3.5/5.

Challengers Division

On the top board, Elia edged out tournament leader Lachlan in a tense encounter. Oscar M, Ryan, and Charlie also recorded important wins to tighten the standings even further.

With two rounds to go, the race could not be closer: Oscar M and Elia share the lead on 4/5, with Lachlan just behind on 3.5/5, and Maxwell, Charlie, and Ryan in the chasing pack on 3/5.

Both divisions are poised for a thrilling conclusion—everything is still to play for!

Stanley v Jinwei

Some key match-ups this week in Round 5 of our Club Champs. Both Mikhael and David S had wins on Boards 3 and 4 to push them up to second equal place, along with David P who shared the point with Ross in their critical clash on Board 2. On Board 1 up and coming Stanley pushed frontrunner Gordon hard and late into the evening, in a great game that brought out some of Gordon’s best positional class play to see him eventually prevail and cement his lead after 5 rounds. Results and standings here.

This weekend we take on Canterbury Chess Club as part of the new NZCF Bledisloe Cup interclub comp. Should be fun!

Round 5 clash Stanley v Gordon

Last week we took a break from our Club Champs to play the third and final leg of our Blitz Cup. Congrats to Gordon who won the night with 8 out of 10, followed by Brendan on 7.5 and Stanley on 7. When last night’s results are combined with the first two legs played earlier in the year, Gordon remains on top and wins the Blitz Cup for 2025 with 24 from 27, ahead of runner-up Brendan on 22.5, and David P in third on 18. Congrats. Final results here: 

This week we take a break to play the third and final leg of our Blitz Cup.

After 2 rounds in the 2025 Senior Club Champs, just Ross and David S remain unbeaten on 2, with a big chasing pack David P, Chris, Gordon and Stanley just half a point behind. There’s still 6 rounds to go, but it’s already shaping to be a close comp with few easy games. Round 1 saw Mikhael hold current Club Champ Gordon to a draw, while Brendan and Stanley’s draw showed how exciting endgame play can get. This week’s games ran mostly to form, but with David pipping Brendan with well-worked positional pressure on the kingside. Current results and standings here

The sixth running of the Kāpiti Junior Open and Schools Championship saw another great turnout, with 83 players along with parents and caregivers from all around the Kāpiti, Horowhenua and Wellington region filling the playing venue at Paraparaumu College. It was fantastic atmosphere as kids competed individually and as part of their school over four divisions, and for the best Kāpiti-Horowhenua school.

Congratulations to Thomas van der Hoorn and Luke Chang this year’s joint open Junior Championship winners. In the school age grade events, congratulations to Jack Gregory took out the Senior grade, Isaiah Heta the intermediate grade, and Miriyala Sreenikesh the Primary grade. This year’s School Trophy, awarded to the top performing Kāpiti or Horowhenua school, was won by Kāpiti College narrowly ahead of the Kāpiti home school team.

Full results and standings can be found by clicking on the vega links  on the tournament page here.   Photos from the day, including all prize-winners, can be found here.

The Kāpiti College team – 2025 Kāpiti junior championship school champions

Our annual Freestyle (aka Chess 960 or Fischer Random) tournament wrapped up this week. Congrats to Gordon who took out the event with 6½ from 8 ahead of Ross in second place on 6½. Final results here.

In Freestyle chess the starting positions of back rank pieces are randomised. There are 960 different possibilities of starting positions. This variant of chess aims to remove memorisation of opening theory, where players have to rely on their other skills  from move 1. It has grown rapidly in popularity and significance, with now recognised world events involving the best players in the world.  It is great fun, and can and does trip even experienced higher rated players. As well illustrated in this game from Round 3. Oliver (rated several hundred points lower than his opponent) shows how it’s done in just 5 moves.

1 .b4 b5
2 Bb2 Bb7
3. Nb3 Nc6
4. e4 Nxb4
5. 0-0-0  Nxa3 #

In the Champions Division, Stanley had a strong showing, scoring 7 points from 8 games and dropping only one game to James in Round 4. The battle for the minor placings was extremely close, with three players finishing on 6 points. On tie-break, Jingwei claimed second place, while Isaiah secured third.

Oscar M delivered a tremendous performance in the Challengers Division, effectively wrapping up the tournament with two rounds to spare. He finished on 7 points, losing only his final game to Ryder. Elia impressed with 6 points and just one loss, taking second place. Ryder had a strong second-half surge, winning his last four games to claim third.

It’s clear the standard is improving across the board—everyone is competitive and scoring wins. We’re excited to see what unfolds at the Junior Club Championship in Term 4!

The final leg of the Club’s annual 10+5 Freebird Cup tournament was decided this week. This tournament is played over three separate legs each of 8 rounds of 10m+5s games.

Congratulations to Gordon who cleaned up the third leg with an impressive unbeaten 8 from 8, followed by Lars on 6 and Stanley on 5.5.

When results from all three legs are combined, David P takes out the Freebird Cup again with 16.5 points, ahead of Gordon and Stanley on 15. He retains the Cup from last year, and has now held it eight times since it was first played for in 2011. Congratulations.

Finals results and standings here.

Next week we start our annual Freestyle (Fischer-Random) tourney.

With two rounds remaining in the Champions division, Stanley and James share the lead on 5/6, closely followed by Jingwei and Isaiah on 4 points. It’s shaping up to be a tight finish.

In the Challengers division, Oscar M leads with a perfect 6/6 and a commanding two-point margin. Elia follows on 4 points, with Riki, Cassius, Oscar L, Ryder, Jordan, and Noah all on 3.5, battling for the minor placings.

Ross won Series 2 of the Winter Cup unbeaten with 5/6, but David Paul secured the overall title by half a point ahead of Ross and Brendan. The event was decided in the final round, where Brendan, the leader going in, lost a complicated game. Congratulations to David on his strong performance. Final standings are available here.

Congrats to Gordon and David P who take out the first leg of this year’s Winter Cup, with 4½ from 6. Stanley and Brendan were next on 4. Final standings are here.

There were few easy games this tournament, and the frontrunners were made to work hard at times, with a number of great close games with the rest of the pack that left the outcome up for grabs right up to the end.

Next week, we have a change of pace with a Blitz night, before heading back to series 2 for the Winter Cup.

Round 5: Stanley v Brett – Tim looks on

The New Zealand Chess Federation (NZCF) runs a badge scheme which takes students through the fundamentals of the game in level 1, through to advanced topics in level 4. Junior coaching at the Club is based on the NZCF curriculum, and since the junior Club was established, more than 100 certificates have been issued. In term two we had great pleasure in awarding further certificates which highlights the progress the members are making. Four students achieved NZCF Leve1 certificates and badges (Pawn), nine achieved Level 2 (Knight) and a further two achieved Level 3 (Bishop). Fantastic effort and great progress, congratulations to all.

A number of junior members recently had the honour of representing their school at the recent NZCF Wellington Region Interschool Championship. The Kapiti Horowhenua region sent 9 teams to the event, and 14 of our junior members represented their school. Notable performances included 3rd place for Levin in the Intermediate division which was the most competitive section with 23 teams competing. Individually, Jingwei Xu representing Raumati Beach School, had a great tournament in the Primary division, where he shared the board 1 prize with 5 points from 6. Congratulations to all.

Series 2 of our annual  Leo Eichholtz tournament wrapped up recently. Congratulations to Gordon who takes out the distinctive chess board trophy for the fourth time in seven years. However, it took until the penultimate round  (round 11 of 12 over the combined two series) before the result was decided in the key match up between the top 2, Gordon and David P. A close battle only getting decided with some nice endgame play in the time scramble. Guy also played solidly throughout both series joining David P for a share of second place. Final standings here.

This week we enjoyed a  fun variant night of hand and brain – and a nice change to play as a pair rather than solo. Congrats to Stanley and David who managed to go undefeated, however not without some trouble in Round 3 as hand Stanley took brain David out of his book on move 1 with 1. e4! Results here.