The 29th annual Kāpiti Rapid was held in Paraparaumu on Saturday 27th May. The tournament drew a record field of 50 players, including several titled players and former New Zealand champions.  The tournament was played over 6 rounds under a 25 m + 5s time format.

Congratulations to IM’s Anthony Ker and Russell Dive, joint open winners, both unbeaten on 5½ from 6. Between them they’ve won the event 14 times, but it was a closely fought battle between the “old hands” and the up-and-coming younger talent. Going into the final round, Russell Dive faced off against Ben Hague, both on 4½. A win or a draw for either would secure the tournament, while Anthony Ker also on 4½, faced fellow club mate Michael Nyberg on 4. The great Wellington IM duo prevailed to see them take a share of the top prize. But they were hard pressed by some great younger talent, with Ollie Archer and Cohen Young both finishing just ½ a point behind on 5, and Michael Sole and Thomas Van der Hoorn on 4½, along with Ben Hague.

In the B grade (1300 to 1750), Ali Katkodia and Zachary Thirkell took out first prize on 4 (and 8th= overall). Taking out the C grade (under 1350) was Lucas Qu also with 4, with Zac Li and Farqad Yuseif in second equal place.

The depth, performance and future promise of the juniors in the field was again evident.  Cohen Young and Ollie Archer had a great tournament finishing on 5 points, just ½ a point off the leaders. Cohen went through unbeaten, including a draw against Russell, while Ollie had a single loss against Ben. Both took home the over 12 age group prize (photo below). In the under 12 age group, Lucas Qu was top with 4, sharing 8th= place overall, and Abigail Rowe was second (photo below). 

The top scoring Kāpiti Club player, and taking home the Flora Paul Cup, was David Paul on 4.  

The day was well-organised and run by Club President Gordon Lyall, with the great help of his wife Andrea, and support from Club members. Thanks to all who attended.

All the profits from the event are being donated to the Maroroa Jones Family in remembrance of Sue Maroroa’s tragic recent death.

Final results can be found here:
Full crosstable
Standings by grade
Junior standings by age group

More photos from the day can be found here.

 The Junior Club is preparing for upcoming New Zealand Chess Federation Badge and Certificate tests. These are set at four levels of increasing knowledge and difficulty from  Pawn to Knight, Bishop and Rook. This year, we’ll have our first juniors sitting at Level 3, for the Bishop Badge. Good luck! 

Meanwhile in the Senior Club, the first leg of the annual Blitz Cup was held this week. Congratulations once again to Club Champ Levi, who went through 7 rounds unbeaten notching 6 wins and a solitary draw in the final round against many-time Club Blitz Cup Champ David Paul, who finished in second place. Results here. The final leg for the Cup will be played later in the year.

Our annual Kāpiti Open is on this Saturday. If you have not yet entered, there’s still time. See details here: https://www.newzealandchess.co.nz/downloads/2023/2023_kapiti_rapid.pdf. There’s over 40 entrants so far, with an increased prize fund over several grades. It promises to be a great day. Hope to see you there.

This final and deciding round of the Kingston Memorial was played this week. The two front-runners Levi and Lars battled it out on the top board, with Lars needing a draw to secure the trophy, and Levi needing to win. Which he managed to do, so takes his second tournament trophy for the year. Congratulations Levi! Meanwhile, Ross beat Andy to take a share of second place with Lars. Final standings here. Next week is Blitz night in the Senior Club.

Don’t forget our annual Kāpiti Rapid Open is on the 27th May. Details here.

Fantastic to see a record number of kids and parents at Junior club this week. This week, activities included some “hand and brain” chess where teams of two play against each other, one acting as “brain” saying the name of the piece to move, and the other acting as “hand” having to decide where the piece moves to, and if there is more than one piece with the same name, which of the pieces to move. 

In the Senior Club, the penultimate round of the Kingston Memorial tournament saw a new front-runner emerge as Lars took good advantage of Ross’s time pressure to claim the win. He heads into the final round next week on 4 points, ahead of Levi on 3½, who fought out a close draw with David Paul this week. Both David and Ross share third place on 3. Latest results and standings here: https://kapitichess.club/events-and-results/results-2023/ – kgm-2023

Our annual open Kāpiti Rapid tournament is not far away, on Saturday 27th May. This popular annual event and is open to all levels and ages, with prizes over several grades. This year’s event is both FIDE- and NZCF-rated. For details and entry form (including a contact if you have any question about the event) see: https://newzealandchess.co.nz/downloads/2023/2023_kapiti_rapid.pdf

There was an exciting conclusion to the Junior T1 Blitz tournament. Twenty three juniors competed over 4 weeks in a 9 round 5 minute blitz format. In the final round Cobus, who had a strong tournament, was edged out of the medals by Jingwei who won their match with the black pieces. Elane also had a good tournament and played on board two in the final round. Runner up was Devin, who was unbeaten with seven wins and two draws, but the eventual winner was Isaiah, who had an impressive 8 wins and only one draw from 9 games. Congratulations to all, in what was a very competitive tournament.

Photo left to right: Jingwei (3rd), Isaiah (1st), Devin (2nd)

Meanwhile in the Senior Club, round 3 of the Kingston Memorial saw Ross prevail over Gordon, and he now leads alone, unbeaten on 3 points. With Levi, David, and Lars also winning their games, they join Gordon in a crowded second place spot on 2 points. With three rounds to go, it could be anybody’s trophy at this stage. Current results here. 

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.