This week we welcomed members from the Upper Hutt Club for a friendly inter-club match. Each player played two rounds of 25m+5s games against an opposing club player, one as white, one as black. It was a really enjoyable night of friendly competition, and great to play to against some new faces. We warmly thank Upper Hutt Club for travelling up to Paraparaumu, and we look forward to making a reciprocal trip down to Upper Hutt later this year. For the record Kāpiti took out the honours on the night. Results can be found here. 

Last night was a catchup night for the juniors, and a further two rounds of the T1 Blitz competition was played. Isaiah remains out in front with 6½ point from 7, although he was pushed hard by Elane in round 7, who held the advantage for most of the game but was unable to convert the endgame. Devin is now in solo second place only a half point back. As some of the leading contenders were away due to the holiday, they received a half point bye for each round they missed. The tournament will conclude on the first week of term 2 (25th April), with a final two rounds followed by prize giving.

In the seniors, it was Round 2 of 6 in the Kingston Memorial (see photo). After two rounds, Gordon and Ross lead on 2 from 2, and Guy next with 1½ and most of the rest of the pack on 1. David S fought out a good game with David P, eventually losing on time in a drawn position. Results and standings here. 

Next week there is no junior club, since it is school holidays, but in the senior club we look forward to hosting the Upper Hutt Club in an inter-club friendly.

This week was the second week of the junior Term 1 tournament. After 5 rounds no one has a perfect score, and the leader board is bunched. Joint leaders on 4½ from 5 are Jingwei and Isaiah, with Devin and Yoav on 4. There are 8 players within another point of the leaders, which sets up for a close and exciting finale. The final 3 rounds will be played next Tuesday. 

Meanwhile the annual Kingston Memorial tournament kicked off in the senior club. All Round 1 games went to the higher rated player, except for Guy scored who an early upset win over David Paul. But it’s early days yet with another 5 rounds left in the battle for the distinctive clock trophy. Current results and standings are here. 

The first junior competition of the year got underway with twenty four students playing in the first two rounds of the blitz format event. Griffin, Jingwei, Sam, Yonatan, Devin and Isaiah, all made a strong start with a perfect two points from two games. However, it is still early in the competition with another 6 rounds to go.

Meanwhile in the Senior Club, congrats to Levi who took out this year’s Leo Eichholtz Board with 6 points (from 8), with David second on 5½ and Ross third on 4½. Final standings can be found here.  This week we took a break from competition chess with a fun night of hand and brain, before kicking off next week with one of the main annual events on our calendar, the Kingston Memorial. 

Two upcoming events to note: On April 18, we look forward to hosting the Upper Hutt Club in a friendly inter-club match. On May 27 is our annual Kāpiti Open. Entries are open to anyone, and details can be found here. We look forward to seeing you.

Photo: Levi now adds the Leo Eicholtz Board trophy to the haul he won last year.

Rounds 3 and 4 of the Leo Eichholtz tournament – with its distinctive chess board trophy – were played this week. Gordon and Levi lead on 3 points, with David and Ross close behind on 2½. The rest of the pack also close behind. With 4 more rounds to go, still too close to call at this stage. Current results and standings here. And great to see another fantastic turnout of kids and parents this week at junior club.

The first two rounds of the annual Leo Eichholtz competition were played this week. Three players Lars, David and Ross are leading on 1½ points each, with almost all the rest of the pack following on 1. It’s still anybody’s at this stage with 6 more rounds to go, over the next three weeks. See the current standings here.

Congrats to Levi who took out the Freebird Trophy last week, with an impressive 7½ from 8, with Gordon second. See final standings here.

Meanwhile the Junior Club saw another great turnout this week, with 25 kids, and quite a few parents along for some chess fun. 

It was the first week of competition in the Senior Club this week, with the first leg of annual Freebird Trophy kicking off. After 4 rounds Levi leads unbeaten on 4, with Gordon in second, and Lars third. Current results here. The final four rounds will play next week. Also, another great turnout at the Junior Club this week, with some new faces as well.

This year’s Kāpiti Open is on Saturday 27 May at the Clubrooms. This year it will be both FIDE and NZCF rated and will follow its usual format of 6 rounds of 25m+5s games. Hope you can make it. More details, including how to enter, on the NZCF website here: https://newzealandchess.co.nz/calendar.html

It was a welcome start to 2023 for the Kāpiti Chess Club this week. Fantastic to see a record turnout of kids and parents on the opening night of the Junior Club, which promises well for junior chess on the Coast this year. The Senior Club also kicked off with a great AGM, followed by some casual chess. For those interested, the minutes of the AGM can be found here, along with our Annual Report on the 2022 year. Next week sees the start of our annual Freebird tournament.

The Kāpiti Chess Club will resume for 2023 on Tuesday 7 February. Junior Club runs from 6:30pm to 7:30pm, with the Senior Club starting at 7:30pm. The Club meets at the Salvation Army Rear Hall, 41 Bluegum Rd, Paraparaumu. 

All welcome. If you have questions about the Club, please contact us at 029 905 8045 or at gordon.lyall@outlook.com

The final junior chess club night of the year was well attended, with 22 kids participating. Here is a link to photos from the night. https://photos.app.goo.gl/SFRttSTM7LYcVavK8.

The season ending team competition was a close affair and could have gone either way. Ultimately, Team Magnus prevailed (in photo 3 in the link above, from left to right: Devin, Yoav, Orlando & Tomas), edging out Team Giri by a single point. Each of the winning team members received a chess set. It was also award night for those who recently took the NZCF Badge Scheme test.

Congratulations to those who completed Level 1 (in photo 4 in the link above, from left to right: – Ronan, Thomas, Yoav & Yonatan), and Level 2 (in photo 5 in the link above, from left to right: Daniel, Jingwei, Benjamin, Elane & Rueben). Special mention to Yoav, who scored a perfect 100% on the test, which has not been achieved since June 2021!

The final awards of the night were for Most Improved Player and Player of the Year (Photo 1 in the above link). Most Improved went to Elane who took down some of the top players in both the Club’s internal blitz tournaments and achieved both NZCF Level 1 & 2 this year. The Player of the Year went to Devin, who had an outstanding season, winning both T2 & T3 Blitz tournaments, taking a bronze at the Kapiti Junior Chess Championship, as well as captaining team Magnus who won the team event. It was a great finish to the season and everyone took home a Xmas goody bag.

It was also a final get together for Senior Club members last weekend with a very enjoyable BBQ hosted by Club President Gordon and wife Andrea, followed by prizegiving. Special mention goes to Year 12 student Levi Paxton, a new member this year, who carried away many of this year’s Club’s trophies, including co-Club champion and the overall Glenys Mills Memorial Grand Prix Rook. Photos from that day can also be found at the link above.

Best wishes to all over the holiday period and remember, chess is cool.