This week we say goodbye to long-time member and friend of the Club Rick Lowe who sadly passed away this week.

Rick joined the Club in 2009 and was a loyal member and supporter for 12 years, one of a just a handful that have supported the Club this long. Rick was Club B-grade Champion three times, in 2012, 2014 and 2017. 

He will be remembered for his fun, sometimes cheeky spirit and his genuine love of the game – and of course for his amazing chess-themed car. He will be missed by all who knew him at the Club.

 The Club continues to meet online due to COVID, with weekly 10m+5m ‘Arenas’ hosted on the Lichess site. (lichess.org/team/kapiti-chess-club). The current increased Alert Levels have also impacted on the Club’s annual Open Junior and School Championship, which has now been deferred to a date TBC later in the year.

Congratulations to Stewart, Ross and Lars who have variously taken out the online Arena ‘gold cups’ over the last four or five weeks. While the shorter online time format does always provide for  high quality games, many can still be entertaining.  Here’s a recent example.

With the return of increased COVD Alert Levels this week, over-the-board chess was cancelled, and an online meeting was held on Friday. The Kāpiti Chess Club will continue to meet online until COVID Alert Levels return to Level 1. You can join us on Tuesdays at 7:30 pm here: http://lichess.org/team/kapiti-chess-club.

This week saw the second of three nights played over the year for the Club’s Blitz Cup. Results from the night saw Gordon Lyall take out first place on 6, followed by David Paul on 5, and Ross Jackson and Guy Burns on 4½. Results and standings here. Combining these results with Series One played back in June, Gordon currently leads on 13½, just a nose ahead of David on 13, followed by Geoffrey on 9½ and Ross on 9. The third and deciding night will be played later in the year in November.

The final two rounds of the Winter Cup were played this week. Congratulations to Gordon Lyall who takes out another trophy with 8½ from 10. Second place was David Paul on 8, followed by Geoffrey Gunawan in third with 7. Final results and standings are here.

Next week is a Blitz night. The second of three nights played over the year for the Club’s Blitz Cup. David Paul is currently leading after the first series played in June. He is also the current Blitz Cup holder, and has won it 12 out of the 15 years it has been played for. Can he do it again?

It was great to see one of our highest turnouts yet at Junior Club this week, along with already a good number of early entries for the Club’s annual open Kāpiti Junior Championship on 18 September.

This week, term 3 kicked off for our Junior Club, with several keen kids along for the first time. The Club now has, for the first time in its history, as many, if not more, junior members playing Chess than it does senior members. While the new separate Junior Club model has worked well in attracting younger players, a lot of credit is also due to the dedicated work of Club President Gordon, along with his with Andrea.  

Meanwhile, rounds 7 and 8 of the 2021 Winter Cup (at 25m + 5s)  were played this week in the senior Club. With 2 final scheduled rounds left next week, Gordon now has a near uncatchable lead on 7½,  followed by David Paul on 6, and Ross and Geoffrey on 5½. Latest results and standings here.

Week 2 of the Winter Cup. After Rounds 3 and 4, Gordon leads on 3½, followed by Ross and Brandon on 3, and David Paul and Guy on 2½. Full Vega results and standings here. The tournament will continue for another 3 weeks and 6 rounds, so still anybody’s Cup yet!

This week the Committee put $50 up for grabs in a novel new award for ‘Game of the Year’. Any Club game played during the year can be submitted. Games will be judged not just on quality, but on other factors such as novelty or sheer entertainment value. Entries have already begun coming in, and will be accepted up to the  final Club competition night on 7 December.

Junior Club wrapped up for the school holidays this week with a prizegiving, with juniors being awarded their NZCF Pawn badges and certificates. Congratulations! 

For the seniors, it was the start of the Winter Cup (10 rounds played over 5 weeks at 25m + 5s). After two rounds, Ross leads on 2, followed by Geoffrey, Guy, Gordon and David Paul on 1½.  Click here for latest results. Here is also one of the games from the night (in which Geoffrey pulls out his bongcloud again). 

With COVID alert levels back to 1, we will be meeting over the board again this week for the start of the Winter Cup. Rounds 1 and 2 played at 25m + 5s. Junior Club will meet beforehand, as usual, at 6:30. 

Congratulations to Lars who took out the gold in last week’s online arena. Full results here. 

This week saw the conclusion of the second leg of the Freebird (10m + 5s) tournament, and with the results of with the first leg played back in February, congratulations goes to Gordon Lyall (with 12½) who now adds this trophy to his collection. But with a win over Gordon in the final round, Geoffrey Gunawan took out a close second (half a point behind on 12 points). Third was David Paul on 8½, and fourth was Ross Jackson on 8. Full vega results for series 2 can be found here, but overall combined final standings were: