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.

The first two rounds of the annual Leo Eichholtz competition were played this week. Three players Lars, David and Ross are leading on 1½ points each, with almost all the rest of the pack following on 1. It’s still anybody’s at this stage with 6 more rounds to go, over the next three weeks. See the current standings here.

Congrats to Levi who took out the Freebird Trophy last week, with an impressive 7½ from 8, with Gordon second. See final standings here.

Meanwhile the Junior Club saw another great turnout this week, with 25 kids, and quite a few parents along for some chess fun. 

It was the first week of competition in the Senior Club this week, with the first leg of annual Freebird Trophy kicking off. After 4 rounds Levi leads unbeaten on 4, with Gordon in second, and Lars third. Current results here. The final four rounds will play next week. Also, another great turnout at the Junior Club this week, with some new faces as well.

This year’s Kāpiti Open is on Saturday 27 May at the Clubrooms. This year it will be both FIDE and NZCF rated and will follow its usual format of 6 rounds of 25m+5s games. Hope you can make it. More details, including how to enter, on the NZCF website here: https://newzealandchess.co.nz/calendar.html

It was a welcome start to 2023 for the Kāpiti Chess Club this week. Fantastic to see a record turnout of kids and parents on the opening night of the Junior Club, which promises well for junior chess on the Coast this year. The Senior Club also kicked off with a great AGM, followed by some casual chess. For those interested, the minutes of the AGM can be found here, along with our Annual Report on the 2022 year. Next week sees the start of our annual Freebird tournament.

The Kāpiti Chess Club will resume for 2023 on Tuesday 7 February. Junior Club runs from 6:30pm to 7:30pm, with the Senior Club starting at 7:30pm. The Club meets at the Salvation Army Rear Hall, 41 Bluegum Rd, Paraparaumu. 

All welcome. If you have questions about the Club, please contact us at 029 905 8045 or at gordon.lyall@outlook.com