Kapiti Chess Club - Promoting The Art Of Chess
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We are closed now for 2024 and will reopen again in late January/early February 2025. We meet Tuesdays at the Salvation Army rear hall, 41 Bluegum Road, Paraparaumu Beach.  The Junior Club runs from 6:30pm to 7:30pm, except during school holidays, and the Senior Club runs from 7:45 pm. Find out more about us here.

“Chess is the art which expresses the science of logic” — Mikhail Botvinnik

Club Champs decided

Junior Club
 
In the final round of the Junior Club Championship, Devin and Josh played an interesting game, in which Josh won with a clever mating trap. On board 2, title challenger Isaiah fought off an aggressive early attack by Jingwei to take the full point. However this was not enough to catch tournament leader James, who won with the white pieces, despite a valiant effort by his opponent Lucian. By the narrowest margin, James held on to be the Junior Club Champion for 2024, edging out Isaiah by only 1/2 a point, with Roy picking up third place.
 
In the Challengers Division, things came to a head in the last round with the two front runners meeting on board 1. Tautua playing black needed a win while Ronan, playing white, needed only a draw to secure the title. Ronan who has been in great form throughout this tournament, maintained his high level of play and held off a strong challenge from Tautua to win the Challengers Division. Tautua held on for second place, while Manahi took a deserved third place. There were also good performances from Orlando, Oscar M and Alex T, all on 4 points from 6, just outside the medals.
 
There was also NZCF Level 2 awards for William, Tautua, Oscar M, Milo, Riki, Elia, Alex T & Lachlan (photo).

Senior Club

It was an exciting finish to the Senior Club Champs this week. Most games were long and close fought battles – despite the difference in ratings between some of the players. David S pushed Gordon hard and even had a good advantage in the endgame, but unable to see a way to make progress, and offered the draw which was enough for Gordon to secure first place outright and get his name of the Tom Powell Cup for Club Champion for the sixth time. Congrats. David P was also made to work hard for his win against Brandon, where again much of the game was fairly even.  He finishes runner-up. Other chasers, Guy and Ross fought out another close game, again with both halving the point., but enough for Ross to finish third. In the B-grade (for players under a 1600 NZCF rating),  our newest member, Mikhael faced our longest-serving member John in another close contest,  eventually prevailing to secure the Ab Borren trophy for the B grade champion. Congrats. Final results and standings here.

Nest week is our final night of the year, quiz and prizegiving for the Juniors, and prizegiving and social night for the seniors. See you there.

Club news 27-11-2024

In the Junior Club
 
The penultimate round in the junior club championship saw an upset on board 1, when tournament leader James lost an exiting game to Isaiah (photo). Isaiah playing white entered a winning endgame but had only 47 seconds on the clock, while James had 8 minutes. Despite the pressure of the clock, Isaiah held his nerve and converted the win. There were also good wins for Roy, Jingwei and Tal. With one round to go the standings have narrowed at the top. James is still the front runner with 4 points, closely followed by Isaiah and Roy, both on 3.5. 
In the Challengers Division, tournament leader Ronan maintained his good form with a win over Noah. Tautua on board 2 keeps up the challenge with a win with the white pieces against Elia. There were also good wins for Manahi, Ryder, Oscar M, Alex T, Ana and Chester, while Orlando and Arlo agreed a draw on board 4. Heading into the last round, its a two horse race with Ronan on 5 points, half a point ahead of Tautua. The race for bronze is tight with Manahi and Ryder leading the chasing pack. It’s set up for a nail-biting finale to the season in both junior divisions.
 
In the Senior Club
 
Round 6, the penultimate round of the Club Champs saw no upsets, with the stronger rated player in each match-up coming away with the win. Gordon (on 5½ from 6), David P and Ross (both on 4½) had wins over Mikhael, Guy, and Lars respectively, and now emerge as the only remaining contenders for the title with one round to play.  Stay tuned to see if Gordon can secure his fifth title, or if a last round loss sees the other two catch him for a three-way share of the Tom Powell trophy. Results and standings here.
 
 

Club Champs update

From the juniors
 
Round 4 saw tournament leader James put on a strong performance against Roy to take the full point, and on board 2 Daniel prevailed with the white pieces against Jingwei. The game of the round was Devin against Isaiah (photo). This game was a real to and fro encounter which either player could have won. With both players getting low on time, Devin missed a forced draw and Isaiah clinch the point. There were also wins for Maximus and Tal. With two rounds to go James has a 1 point lead over Daniel. In the Challenges section, Ronan maintained his unbeaten run with a win with the black pieces against Orlando. On board 2 Tautua maintained his challenge with a win on board 2 against Ryder. There were also good wins for Elia, Lachlan, Ella and Ana. Ronan leads with 4 points from 4 games followed by Tautua on 3½, Lachlan, Elia and Noah all on 3.
 
From the seniors
 
A crunch week this week as Round 5 saw some key match-ups in the leading group. Current leaders Gordon and David battled to a tight draw, while chaser Mikhael had  some potential chances in a competitive game with Ross, but Ross’s experience and skills showed in the endgame and he was able to nicely convert the game. With two rounds to go Gordon leads on 4½, with  David P, Ross and Guy still in contention 1 point behind on 3½. Current standings are here.
 
From the Juniors
This week the juniors took a midway break from the Club Championship in order for 10 students to take their NZCF Level 2 Badge Test. Students who take this test have a good basic knowledge of chess fundamentals including the relative value of the pieces, basic checkmates, pawn promotion and an understanding of the special moves in chess, namely en passant and castling. Last term we ran Level 1 tests for 12 students, who were recently presented with their badges and certificates. The successful recipients were  Manahi, Noah, Jordan, Charlie, Ryan, Lachlan, Chester, Isaac, Jack, Alex, Benjamin and Tobias.
 


From left to right: Manahi, Noah, Jordan, Charlie, Ryan, Lachlan, Chester, Isaac.

From the Seniors
Seniors also took a midway break in their Club Championship to play the third and final leg of the Blitz Cup. Gordon, along with visitor Brendan Reedy shared top honours on the night, both with 8 wins from 10. Next was Lars with 7, followed a chasing bunch of 4 players on 6. When the results from this leg are combined with the first two legs played earlier in the year, Lars and Gordon share first place and  share the Blitz Cup for 2024. Runner-up  was David P. Congratulations.
Series 3 results are here, and combined final standings are here.
 


Photo: Lars and Ernest

Club Champs heating up

We are now mid-way through our Club Champs are things are starting to heat up.

In round 3 of the Junior Club Championship there were wins across the board for the players playing black! James squeezed out a win against Brock on Board 1, to remain the only unbeaten player in the Open division. On board 2, Roy got the better of Isaiah, and there was also wins for Jingwei and Devin. At the halfway stage, James leads with a perfect score of 3 points, closely followed by Roy on 2.5, with Jingwei and Daniel on 2.

In the Challengers section, Ronan maintained his perfect score with a win over Arol on board 1. Tautua miraculously held a draw in a losing endgame against Noah on board 2. There were also wins for Ryder, Orlando and Manahi, who are all in the mix. At the halfway stage Ronan heads the field with 3 points, followed by Tautua, Orlando and Ryder on 2.5.

Meanwhile, another night of long hard fought games running past 11pm in round 4 of the Senior Club Champs. This included possibly one of the deciding matches with front-runners Ross and Gordon, who battled a closed tight position with Gordon finally prevailing after 53 moves. In another key match-up, Guy and Mikhael also battled late into the evening, eventually agreeing a draw in an opposite-coloured bishop and pawn ending. Meanwhile, in contrast to the long games, David S managed an nice 11 move checkmate against John, although the subsequent casual game proved to be significantly more competitive and closer. Currently Gordon leads on 4, with David P on 3, and Guy, Mikhael and Ross all within reach on 2½. Current standings here.

Club Champs underway

Last night saw the commencement of the Junior Club Championship. The event is split into two divisions, the Open and the Challengers. In round one, the marquee game was Jingwei against James. James played a very controlled game, building up a dangerous kingside attach while limiting Jingwei’s counter play on the queenside. Ultimately James crashed through on the kingside and sealed the point against a dangerous opponent. In the Challenger’s section, Noah and Alex C played out a draw on top board, with the remaining matches going to form.

Meanwhile, after two rounds of the Senior Club Championship, Gordon and Guy remain unbeaten on 2 points, with wins over Lars and David S respectively. Other top contenders, Ross and David P fought out a draw to sit just behind on 1½, along with Ernest who had a win over Robert. With six weeks to go however, it’s still early days yet. Results are here.  

National interschools, and latest Club news

Last weekend the Club was proud to be a big part of the 2024 New Zealand interschools Chess final held in Wellington. Kāpiti Club President Gordon Lyall was the tournament organiser, and a did an amazing job organising and running one of the premier events on New Zealand’s chess calendar. It was a massive event with over 260 school students representing schools from across the country, across primary, intermediate and secondary age grades. With great support from the Wellington Chess Club, his wife Andrea, other Kāpiti Club members, plus extra equipment from Upper Hutt and Manawatu-Knights Clubs, it was a successful couple of days. A report on the event with all the results can be found on the NZCF site here.

Meanwhile at the Club, while the junior club is on school term break, the senior club finished their annual Spring Tournament last week. This had the twist that players must “play something different”. Congratulations to David S who come out top. This week was a 10+5 night with David P taking out the night unbeaten on 4, followed by Guy and Ross on 3. Results here.

2024 Kāpiti Junior Open and Schools Championship

The growing popularity of chess with kids in the region was really evident again last weekend. The fifth running of the Kāpiti Junior Open and Schools Championship saw another record turnout, with 86 kids and heaps of 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.

Top seed and winner of the Kāpiti Open back in May, Cohen Young, headed into the sixth and final round unbeaten on 4½. Needing a draw to make it a Kāpiti double, he was denied by Abhinand Rajendran who played well. Down in material but with two connected passers in a better, but murky endgame, he was able to flag Cohen in the time scramble. This allowed Matthew Keith, who with a win over Luke Chang in the final round, was able to edge ahead and claim first place and the open championship on 5 points, with Cohen second, and Abhinand, Zachery and Thomas tied for third. Congratulations.

In the school age grade events, it was a three-way tie on points in the secondary age group section. But with tie-backs in place, Nathan Grace took out the gold medal ahead of Hoorad Farrokh for silver, and Cody Chen for bronze. In the intermediate section, gold went to Jin Tan edging out Justin Daoheng Wang on tie-break, with the bronze going to Carrig Murray. In the primary section, congratulations to Julian Estrada, the only player of the day to win all six games, with silver to Sreenand Rajendran on tie-break, and Jingwei Xu who gets the bronze.

It was great to see a record number of 30 schools represented, including a home school team. The School Trophy, awarded to the top performing Kāpiti or Horowhenua school, was won by hosts Paraparaumu College on 10 points, with runners-up Levin Intermediate, and Paraparaumu Beach School.  Congrats also to the top scoring school on the day, which was Hutt International Boys’ School.

Thanks to all the players and parents for a fantastic day of Chess, and to organiser Gordon Lyall, his wife Andrea and with others who helped out, to make the day run smoothly.

Final standings: 

Junior Open:

1st: Matthew Keith (5), 2nd: Cohen Young (4½), 3rd= Abhinand Rajendran, Zachary Thirkell, Thomas Van der Hoorn (4)

Secondary Age Division:

Gold: Nathan Grace (4½), Silver: Hoorad Farrokh (4½), Bronze: Cody Chen (4½)

Intermediate Age Division: 

Gold: Jin Tan (5), Silver: Justin Daoheng Wang (5), Bronze: Carrig Murray (4½)

Primary Age Division:

Gold: Julian Estrada (6), Silver: Sreenand Rajendran (5), Bronze: Jingwei Xu (5)

* Tie-breaks are used in the age group divisions.

Photos and videos from the day including all the prize-winners can be found here.

Junior open, Blitz and Freebird

We’re looking forward to the fifth running of our annual Kāpiti Junior Open this Saturday at Paraparaumu College. Last year we got an record turnout of 80 players, and it looks like we’re on track to get the same or better this weekend. There will be the usual Championship event, plus three age group events, plus the best Kāpiti and Horowhenua school performance will win the Junior Championship Schools Cup. Hope you can make it. Full details here: https://newzealandchess.co.nz/…/kapiti-junior-chess…/

Plenty of action also in the senior section of the club. In our Blitz Cup event (played at 3m + 2s), David Paul showed again why he is a 12-time holder, comfortably taking out the second leg on 6 points ahead of new member Mikhael on 4. The last and deciding leg will be played in November. In the third and final leg of the Freebird trophy (played at 10m + 5s),  Lars had a good tournament taking out the leg on 6 points, ahead of David P on 5. Lars was unbeaten save for a Round 6 upset loss to John, who has had some great results this year.  Combined with his first placings in legs 1 and 2, David P was the overall and deserved winner of the Freebird Cup for 2024, with Guy runner up. Congratulations. Results here.

 

Badge test night and Winter Cup decided

This week many of our juniors sat their NZCF badge test. This is a great NZCF resource, and always popular at Junior Club. It’s sat over four levels of difficulty from pawn level up to rook level. 

At Senior Club it was the fourth and final night of the second leg of the Winter Cup. Going into the final round, frontrunners Lars and Ross were paired against Guy and David S, who if they both won, would see a four-way tie for first. Lars played well to beat Guy, and in an exciting last game of the night, David S pushed Ross in a rooks and pawns endgame,  manoeuvring into a winning position, only to let it slip in time trouble. This to allowed Ross to share first place with Lars. When combined with results of the first leg played back in May, Ross also comes out on top, and takes away the Winter Cup for 2024. Congrats. Full results here.

Check out the Club website for more of our photos: https://kapitichess.club/photos/