Year: 2019

 Chess in Kapiti received a big boost in the weekend with the successful running of two annual competitions.

The 2019 annual Kapiti Rapid attracted 33 competitors, one of the biggest fields in recent years for this tournament, which first started 20 years ago. It was a relatively stronger field too this year, with an average rating over 1700, and seven players rated over 2000, including current New Zealand champions, IM’s Russell Dive and Anthony Ker, plus a former NZ champion, FM Scott Wastney.

But arguably the bigger feature of the day was the successful running of the inaugural Kapiti Chess Club’s Schools Championship. This tournament is aimed at promoting and supporting Junior Chess on the Kapiti Coast and surrounding regions, and developing our players for the future. The format provides a great opportunity for school kids to compete against other juniors, on a more even and fun basis than what might happen in the main event. It’s also a chance for local schools to claim some bragging rights. This year saw 19 juniors competing from 11 schools, including a team from Levin Intermediate.

While the two tournaments were separate, they were run side by side in the same room, making for a great atmosphere and a packed hall of 52 players, plus spectators – the biggest attendance for a Chess event on the Kapiti Coast in over a decade.

The tournaments were played over six rounds in a traditional rapid format of 25 minutes with 5 seconds added per move. While the Kapiti Rapid was played as a single tournament, prizes were awarded in three grades, Open, under 2000, and under 1600.

The two tournaments featured 11 Kapiti Club players, including 4 juniors playing the school tournament, and 7 playing the Kapiti Rapid. Big congratulations to club member Hamish Lester who took out the college division individual prize in the School tournament with an impressive 5 from 6. Congratulations also to Mark Summers who took out the bronze medal in the 11-12 age group. In the main event, congratulations too to club members Brandon Holman and Neels Du Plessis who took out a share of first place in the under 1600 grade.

Special thanks to chief tournament organiser and Club President Gordon Lyall for managing the planning and running of the day, and for directing the play for the School event. A special mention also to Club Captain David Paul for directing play for the main Rapid event, while also managing to play in it. Also to Lars Dobbertin-King for bringing a team down from Levin and helping look after the school competition.

Congratulations to the prize winners below, in particular to Kapiti College for taking out the School Championship.

To see photos of the day, click here.
To see some of the games played, click here.

FM Scott Wastney, Winner of the 2019 Kapiti Rapid with Club President Gordon Lyall, and Club Captain David Paul alongside.

Kapiti College, winner of the inaugural Kapiti Chess Club School Tournament: Tim Pringle, Noah Corbett, Blake Toloa Hewitt, Elliot Rennison with Jacob Wirangi (Teacher) holding the cup.

From left to right: Hamish Lester, winner of the college division; Zac Li and Ben Guo, winners of the 11-12 division;  Sravya Moparthi, winner of the under 11 division.

2019 Kapiti Rapid winners

2019 Kapiti Chess Club School Championship winners

Individual Results

School Team Results

We welcomed three new faces at the club this week, Josh and Liam to our Juniors ranks, and one-time former member Gordon Anderson also coming along for some chess. Welcome!

This made for some great action for the night’s play, as the second half of the Club’s annual Rapid tournament continued into Rounds 3 and 4.  Round 3 match-ups all went to the higher-rated player, except David Paul pipped Club Champion Gordon Lyall, giving him his first loss of the tournament. Round 4 saw some close match-ups, with Ross Jackson over David Paul and Neels Du Plessis over Guy Burns.   Brandon Holman v David Scott saw Brandon handed the exchange and a better position early on, only to hand back a piece later on, and gradually get squeezed into a losing position, but eventually winning as David exhausted his time. See latest results here.

Photo: Club juniors (from left to right) Savannah, Mark, Hamish, Geoffrey, and newcomers Josh and Liam chilling in the analysis room between rounds.

Plenty of chess action this week as Series 2 of the Leo Eichholtz Rapid kicked off. The competition was boosted by the return of two travellers, Guy Burns and Brandon Holman from some weeks overseas,  both getting a point from the night, and Brandon almost securing a valuable second point against top-rated Ross Jackson. With a pawn on the 7th,  and some material gains forced, Brandon unluckily dropped his queen, to allow Ross to snaffle a late win. See latest results here.

Above: Junior coaching continues, with Club President Gordon this week covering some opening theory. Below: Brandon Holman v Ross Jackson (14/5/2019)

The annual Kapiti Rapid tournament and the inaugural Kapiti School Region Tournament are in a few weeks time. The Kapiti Rapid is now established as an annual grand prix 3 graded rapid tournament, with a competition format that will suit all grades. The Kapiti School Region tournament is a new tournament being run concurrently with the Rapid, and designed to promote chess for young people and schools in the region. Suitable for absolute beginners to already rated players. Prizes for both the best individuals and a cup to the best school.  The day promises to be a festival event, packed with chess,  including a food and drink stall. Come and support chess in Kapiti. Entry form and details for the Kapiti Rapid here, and entry and details for the Kapiti School Region tournament here.

The first series in the annual Leo Eichholtz 25+5 rapid wrapped up with Rounds 7 and 8 this week. Gordon Lyall and David Paul hold the honours with an impressive 7 from 8. Ross Jackson in third. Geoffrey Gunawan is leading the juniors and in 6th overall, with Valera Bonyushkin the current second placed junior. Results and standings here.

The third week of the Leo Eichholtz 25 + 5 Rapid continued this week with Rounds 5 and 6 played. Three players, Rick Lowe, David Paul and David Scott secured the maximum two points. This leaves David Paul and Gordon Lyall neck and neck leading into the final two rounds next week, with several others also in contention, including Geoffrey Gunawan who currently heads off the other junior members and sits in fifth place overall. The Round 6 match up between Neels Du Plessis and David P was a classic rapid tussle, with David showing some mastery in rapid play to come back with seconds left on the clock, from an inferior position, to eventually overcome the club’s Blitz night winner. David is turning out to be an angel of death, as several now have succumbed to him from superior or winning positions. Full results here.

Junior sessions continued this week, with the introduction of the NZCF badge scheme to the Club. This went down well, with everyone showing near perfect knowledge with the Level one “Pawn badge” test. Well done!

Above: Sean Doyle v Hamish Lester, round 5, Leo Eichholtz Rapid 30/4/2019. 
Below: NZCF Badge Scheme introduced for Club Juniors.

While some took the opportunity to get away over the School holiday/Easter/ANZAC breaks, three Kapiti club members Geoffrey Gunawan, David Scott, and Ross Jackson, decided to spend four solid days competing in the annual Wellington Chess Club Easter tournament, which this year doubled as the North Island Chess Championships.

Our club members held their own against one of the largest, most competitive fields playing this event (a total of 56 players, including many of the top NZ players, more than a third of the field rated over 2000, and an average tournament rating of around 1800).

Photo: Geoffrey considering his opening options…. f5 again?

Geoffrey (rated 1445) continued with his promising progress of late, scoring 3 from 8 (and a very respectable performance rating near 1500). This  included a good win and a draw against 1700+ opposition. David S (rated 1666) scored a solid 4 from 8, managing a placing in the B-grade.

Special acknowledgement should be made to dual citizen member Ross (he is also President of the Wellington Chess Club), who not only played, but was the chief organiser of this successful event. Ross (rated 1928) scored 4/8 against tough competition, including a missed opportunity against current NZ champion Russell Dive. You can see this game, and ones from Geoffrey and David here. A full run down event results can be found here.

Above: Chief Tournament organiser, WCC Club President and KCC member Ross Jackson.

Meanwhile, round two of the Leo Eichholtz 25-5 rapid competition continued at the club this week. While a number were away on holidays,  it was great to see former Club Captain Lars back visiting. Club Champion, Gordon Lyall rolled on with his winning ways – with wins over Ross Jackson and David Paul. Geoffrey also secured a full two points for the night, and currently sits in second place with David P.

The Club’s annual Leo Eichholtz tournament kicked off this week. These games are played in the ‘rapid’ format of 25 minutes per player with 5 seconds added per move.  The first two rounds saw the top ranked players (Gordon Lyall, Ross Jackson and David Paul) all leading with maximum points, although some were made to work hard. Geoffrey Gunawan, in particular, playing himself nicely into a great position against David Paul, before losing.  David Scott also failing to find a killer blow in his game against David. Results from week 1 here.

The club also welcomed newcomer Ben, who played some competitive games in his first night at the Club – in fact,  nearly upsetting Club Champion, Gordon, in his first club warm-up game!

Well done to Junior Club members, Geoffrey Gunawan, Mark Summers and Valera Bonyushkin, who competed in a Training Tournament at Johnsonville on Sunday 14th April. The 3-member team all had good wins against a strong field comprising other students from schools in the Wellington Region. The youngest competitors were 7 years old and there were also several girls competing.

The training event, organised in collaboration with International Chess Master, Scott Wastney, provided good experience for the juniors ahead of the Kapiti Region School Chess competition, scheduled for 25th May.

On Tuesday 9th April, Kapiti Chess Club was privileged to host two of New Zealand’s top players, International Masters Russell Dive and Anthony Ker. Between them, they have won or jointly won the New Zealand Chess Championship 20 times, and both have represented New Zealand at the Chess Olympiad since 1988. The presentation featured analysis of their favourite games from the 43rd Chess Olympiad, held last year in Batumi, Georgia. The Chess Olympiad is massive with the best players of nearly every country competing every two years for the title of best Chess country in the world.

This much anticipated evening was a  great success, with virtually full attendance from Club members, as well as a number of keen visitors. The session was entertaining, fascinating, inspiring, as well as highly instructive to all in attendance. 

Above: Junior members Hamish Lester and Savannah Edwards present gifts to IM’s Russell Dive and Anthony Ker, with Club President Gordon Lyall alongside.

On Tuesday, 9th April, the club is privileged to host two top New Zealand players, current joint New Zealand chess champions and FIDE International Chess Masters, Russell Dive and Anthony Ker.

This is an exciting opportunity to listen and learn from the best. They will be sharing some of their games and experiences from the recent World Chess Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia. They are brilliant communicators with a gift of explaining the complex simply and logically, showing both the art and science of chess. Their visit and coaching session last year was one of the highlights of the chess calendar.

The event is open and free to anyone interested. All are welcome. It starts at 7:30pm at the Salvation Army Hall at 41 Bluegum Rd.

Russell and Anthony are the current joint New Zealand chess champions. Anthony has been New Zealand Champion 14 times and Russell 6 times.  Russell first won in 1986, Anthony in 1988. Only Ortvin Sarapu who died in 1999 with 20 wins has won it more often. Recently when blindfold, world record holder Grandmaster Timur Garayev played 12 games blindfold simultaneously at Wellington Chess Club, they played him to a draw. They were also unsighted, with advantage of only being able to mentally visualise onto an empty board and record the moves.

This week saw the first Blitz chess event of the year, and was a great success and a fun night for all. There was a strong turnout, and after some exciting, sometimes frantic games, in the super-fast time format, the event was taken out by a visitor to the Club, Neels Du Plessis. Losing only one game, Neels comfortably took top spot. His only loss was to another visitor, Jacob Wiringi, who also played some strong chess. The club’s best players were left licking their wounds. 

 Junior coaching continues to prove very popular, with all juniors attending again this week. The topic moved on to Fundamental Middlegame Combinations. What a combination is and when to look for them over the board was covered. In addition, the various types of combinational methods were highlighted and the focus was on “Pins and Skewers”. All material will be provided in pdf and pgn formats to members.

A junior chess event has been organised in collaboration with International Master Scott Wastney for Sunday April 14 at the Johnsonville Community Centre, from 1:30-4:30pm. This will give the juniors a chance to play against other students from the Wellington area in a team format. It is hoped a team of 4 juniors can represent the Club. A fee of $5 will be charged to contribute to the hire of the hall. Details will be provided to members and parents in the next few days.

Below: John v Geoffrey and Rick v Hamish battling it out on Blitz night, 2/4/2019.

This week saw the final round of the John and Rose Kingston Memorial with Gordon Lyall continuing his winning ways, outplaying Brandon Holman in an interesting rook and pawn endgame, to take out the tournament with an impressive 7/8. Ross Jackson was second with David Paul, Alistair McGowan and Guy Burns tied for third place. The best placed juniors were Geoffrey, Mark and Valera all scoring some nice wins over the tournament. Well done! Full results here.

The second week of the new 7 pm coaching saw a full complement of juniors attending, showing their strong interest in developing their chess ability. It was also great to see two of our younger juniors, Savannah and Valera, notating their game (featured here). This week’s topic covered “Opening Principles of Chess” and featured the game Tarrasch-Mieses from 1916. Each lesson will be available in pdf and pgn formats.

A reminder that the annual Kapiti Rapid regional chess tournament is on Saturday May 25 and is open to all levels, grades and ages. Full info and entry form for the tournament can be found here.

And finally, a reminder that subs are also now due. See here for details.

The Kapiti Rapid is on! This cool little annual regional chess tournament will be on Saturday May 25, in Paraparaumu, and is open to all levels, grades and ages. This is a Grade 3 Poison Pawn Grand Prix event rated with the New Zealand Chess Federation.

Full info and entry form for the tournament can be found here.

Whether you’re a serious competitive player or a more social player, come along and support Kapiti chess, and have a bit of fun playing the best game in the world. 

The new 7 pm start with coaching for juniors was a big success. All juniors attended and the coaching covered chess notation and the use of chess databases to enhance learning and enjoyment of the game.  Coaching was delivered using a projector so all students could easily view the lesson material which was delivered using chess database software. Lessons will be available to all members in pgn format.

This week was Round 7 of the John and Rose Kingston Memorial Tournament. With a crowded table and only one more round after this, there was a lot to play for. Front-runners Gordon Lyall and Alistair McGowan were paired against David Scott and Ross Jackson. Gordon methodically dispatched David after putting file pin pressure on his opponent’s king and queen which eventually resulted in an exchange of rook, bishop, knight and 1 pawn for queen and 3 pawns – materially even, but positionally lost for David. Ross v Alistair was the potential match-up of the night. However, Ross running extra late tonight, found a generous Alistair willing to waive his otherwise win on time, and play. The better news for Ross was that he went on and won. All this left Gordon in clear first, going in the final round, with Ross and Alistair a point behind, and Guy in fourth place, half a point behind, after his win over Geoffrey. Amongst the juniors Asher had a nice win over Hamish to gain another full point for the tournament. Results here.

Subscriptions are now due and should be paid by 30th April. See here for more details.

Great news for junior members! Commencing next Tuesday, 19th March, the Club will start at 7pm. The idea is to allow more time for juniors to play casual games and get some coaching, before their formal club matches. Gordon will be announcing more details on this soon.

A reminder also that the annual Kapiti Rapid tournament is on the 25th May. More details to follow soon.

This week saw Round 6 played in the John and Rose Kingston Memorial tournament with the competition really starting to heat up. Front runner Alistair masterfully put paid to David S’s Petroff, while fellow front runner Gordon also had a win over Geoffrey. Both retaining their position as joint leaders. Meanwhile, there were two closely fought battles, between Ross and Guy, and Brandon and David P looking to get back some of his winning form. Proving that chess blindness can sometimes be contagious, Ross prevailed in the end over Guy, after blundering a piece, only to have Guy reciprocate by setting up a helpmate. David v Brandon was quite a tussle until the 31st move when Brandon took a gamble, which didn’t come off, and it was downhill from there. Mark W, Valera and Savannah also all had wins resulting in a relatively crowded table (see here), and plenty to be decided in the final two rounds!

Finally a reminder, following on from the Club Captain’s announcement, that we aim to start all games each week promptly at 7.45pm.

We had our AGM and a new Committee has been elected. Gordon Lyall has been elected President, Mark Summers (Junior Representative), Guy Burns (Vice-President), David Paul (Club Captain), David Scott (Secretary), Brandon Holman (Treasurer) and Ross Jackson (Committee Member). Fees remain the same and a new category of ‘unwaged’ has been introduced ($100). Full details Here

We have moved to our new premises in Bluegum Road, Paraparaumu Beach; and the venue is working well—plenty of room and good lighting. The AGM is this Tuesday 19 February; kickoff 8pm; see you there!