This week was the final night of the Term 2 Junior tournament, followed by prizegiving. Congratulations to the winners (from left to right in the photo):  Jingwei Xu (6) with the Silver medal, Devin Direen (7) with Gold, and  Tumuka Martin (10) with Bronze.

Congratulations also to all our NZCF Pawn and Knight badge certificate and badge winners below.

In the senior club, it was a night of ‘Hand and Brain’. Players pair up, one acting as ‘brain’ and one as ‘hand’. The brain says the name of a piece and the hand has to decide where to move it to. A really fun way to play as teams, with different pairings with different combinations of playing styles making for some really fun and interesting Chess.

Next week will be a night of Armageddon chess.

The end of term junior tournament got under way last night. Elane, Joni and Devin lead with 2.5 points from 3 at the half-way stage. They are closely followed by Jinwei, Tumaka & Ryan with 2. The competition concludes next week.

Meanwhile in the seniors, Levi Paxton took out the Winter Cup for 2022, for his second tournament win of the year after beating Ross Jackson in the final round. Gordon Lyall was second and David Scott was third. See the full results here.

This week was test time again in the Junior Club.  The New Zealand Chess Federation has a popular series of four written tests for juniors, from the beginner pawn level, through to knight, bishop and rook levels.  A different badge and certificate is awarded as the pupil passes each test (see picture below). This week 12 kids sat their knight test, while 6 sat their pawn test. Good luck! Meanwhile in the senior club, we held a mini one-night tournament of 10+5, with Gordon Lyall coming out on top. Next week will be the final deciding round of the Winter Cup.

NZCF Junior Chess Badges – Picture courtesy of the NZCF website. 

The biggest Chess event for kids on the Kāpiti Coast returns in August.

The Kāpiti Chess Club is proud to host the 2022 Kāpiti Junior Chess Championship on Saturday 13th August. This is a great day for primary and college kids of all ages and abilities, and a chance to see which school in the region has the best young chess players.

Individual medals prizes will be awarded in four divisions:

• Primary for those aged 10 and under,
• Intermediate for those aged 11 to 12,
• Senior for those aged 13 and over, and the
• Junior Championship division, open to anyone under 20 with an NZ Chess Federation rating 1200 or higher.

In addition, and a trophy will go to the leading Kāpiti or Horowhenua school.

It’s being held at Raumati Beach School, 26-34 Raumati Road, Raumati Beach.
Entry is just $20 for a great day of fun and competition in one of the oldest and best games in the world.

Find out out more, including how to enter, in the flyer below. Hope to see you there!

Rounds 5 and 6 of the Winter Cup played this week. After six rounds, Levi Paxton leads on 4½, followed by David Scott on 4 and Gordon Lyall on 3½. Both Levi and David held Gordon to draws, while Levi had a win over Geoffrey Gunawan. All three are in with a chance to win the Cup  for 2022, which will be decided next week. Current standings here.  Meanwhile, the Junior Club continues to have good turnouts each week, and there looks to be plenty of interest in Chess amongst kids in the Kāpiti region. Next week it will be NZCF badge test time again!

The 28th annual Kāpiti Rapid was held in Paraparaumu on Saturday 28th May. The tournament drew a good field of 40 players, including several titled players and former New Zealand champions. A relatively strong field compared with previous years, with an average rating amongst rated players of 1670. The tournament was played over 6 rounds under a 25 m + 5s time format.

Congratulations to FM Ben Hague who took out the open grade with an unbeaten 5½ from 6, with IM Russell Dive and Michael Sole 2nd= on 5. This is the second time Ben has won the tournament.

The crucial game was the final round clash between Ben Hague and Anthony Ker, both going into the round unbeaten on 4½, having dropped just ½ a point in previous rounds to Russell Dive. A win or a draw for either would secure the tournament. This was not going to be a tame draw, however, as Ben opened with a Trompowsky and was able to secure and convert an early space advantage for the win.  See game here.

In the B grade (1400 to 1800), Josh Langford was the comfortable winner on 4½ (4th= overall), his only loss to tournament winner Ben Hague. Nicolas Winsley also had a good day securing second place in the B grade with 4 from 6. Taking out the C grade (under 1400) was  Cohen Young on 3½, with Jun Lee and Lucas Qu equal second on 3.

The depth, performance and future promise of the juniors in the field was again evident. In the 14 and over age group, Thomas Van der Hoorn, Josh Langford and Nicolas Winsley took out the medals, all finishing in the top 8 (photo below). Current Olympiad team member and second at this year’s Congress, Felix Xie  was not far behind, perhaps a little unlucky with a tougher draw. In the under 14 group, current  joint New Zealand junior champion Ollie Archer won the gold medal ahead of Lucas Qu and Mavram Easham (photo below).

The top scoring Kāpiti Club player, and taking home the Flora Paul Cup,  was Ross Jackson on 3½.  

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.

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.

This year’s tournament flyer is here.

This was the crucial deciding final round game on Board 1 of the 2022 Kāpiti Rapid played 28 May 2022. Top seed Ben Hague plays third seed Anthony Ker, both former NZ Champions. Whoever wins, or draws, will win the title.

A final Round match between Lars and David in the 2022 Kingston Memorial played on 10 May, at a time control of 55m + 5s.

Congratulations to Junior Club members receiving their NZCF pawn badge and certificate this week (photo below).

In the Senior Club it was a fun night of Blitz, with Gordon Lyall taking out the honours, and Andy Hicks second. Results here. Next week, we start our Winter Cup. 8 rounds played over 4 weeks at 25m + 5s. 

And don’t forget the annual Kāpiti Rapid  on Saturday 28th May. Open to all.

It was great to see a record turnout of 18 juniors this week. A big shout out to Gordon and Andrea Lyall for their great work in running our Junior Club, and helping to promote and develop chess for kids in the Kāpiti community.

In the Senior Club, it was the crucial sixth and deciding Round of the Kingston Memorial (played at 55m + 5s). Levi Paxton kept his cool – and his unbeaten streak – defeating Nathan Rose to take out the tournament with 5½  from 6. Congratulations. The other frontrunner, Geoffrey Gunawan had a tough game against Ross Jackson, and despite his typical sizeable  time-handicap, Ross prevailed, to tie for second equal place with Geoffrey. Full tournament results are here. More Club photos can be found here. Next week will be a Blitz night.

And don’t forget our annual Kāpiti Rapid, open to anyone, coming up on the 28th May.