Author: David Scott

  • First Blitz night

    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.

  • Valera Bonyushkin v Savannah Edwards (26-3-2019)

    A game from our juniors, in Round 8 of the 2019 John and Rose Kingston Memorial played 26/3/2019. Valera Bonyushkin (NZCF rating 1225), shows some good attacking skills, and active use of his pieces in this game versus Savannah Edwards (NZCF rating 963).

  • 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.

  • Entries open for 2019 Kapiti Rapid

    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!

  • Guy Burns v Gordon Lyall (5-2-2019)

    A tight game from Round 2 of the John and Rose Kingston Memorial played 5/2/2019. White adopted a quiet approach to the opening, which can be very effective against hyper-modern openings such as the Benoni. Typically Black has a target such as a large central pawn mass which he can attack from the sides. When there is no target, Black’s chances of counter play can be hard to find and he can end up with a cramped position, with White retaining a small initiative.

    The thematic break comes with 13…b5, which opens play up on the queenside and creates some space for the black pieces. An endgame was reached with even material but black has some pressure on the White’s b3 pawn. While White’s pieces are tied to the defence of the pawn , Black activates his king to add further pressure. White attempts to generate counter play by switching the rook to a2 on move 31. However, Black’s king has become very active and is heading to c3 to put pressure on the b3 pawn and white knight. 33.Nb1 allows the white king to c2 to put pressure on the knight and white’s attempts to generate counter play with Rc7 is now too slow, after 33….Nxb3 Black’s pieces are co-ordinating well against the white king and knight. And after 35.Rb7 Nc1+ mate is unavoidable.

    This was a good example of how an active king can be a real asset in the endgame. A great example of this can be seen in the brilliant game 17 from the Karpov – Korchnoi World Championship Match, 1978. 

  • Last week was our first night of the new year and with around 50% of the club membership turning up, it was a reasonably good night for some friendly games and to get to know our new home!! It was particularly pleasing to see most of our Juniors turn up and if their enthusiasm continues, we may look to restarting the Junior training programme again after the AGM.

  • Kapiti Chess Club prize giving was held on our last night of the year—18 Dec—a great time was had. Gordon Lyall is now supreme Kapiti Champion (pictured below) and he ended up with the ordeal of playing all the members at the end of the evening. For further photos; including prize giving, click Here.

  • Club Championships decided!

    Club Championships are now over!
    The Winners are:

    A Grade and Club Champion – GORDON LYALL
     
    B Grade Champion  – DAVID SCOTT
     
    C Grade Champion – BRANDON HOLMAN
     
    Though the “A” and “C” grade titles had already been settled, there was much to play for in the “B Grade’ with David Scott leading by a half point from John Whibley and just a One point advantage from Mark Woodward.

     Being drawn against “A” grader Alan Winfield, David Scott was in for a tough game and his skill showed when he sacrificed a Rook for Knight which gave him strong counter play—sufficient for Alan to offer a draw, which, secured the B Grade title for David.

  • We start off with a hearty CONGRATULATIONS to new member Brandon Holman, who after his win over Geoffrey Gunawan, secured the C Grade Championships with 8.5 pts. After a grueling 3 months we are finally down to the last round and though, along with Brandon, Gordon Lyall has taken out the A Grade and outright “Club Champion”, there are three players still in contention for the B Grade Championship. See our Results Page for more details.

  • Last photo of Rose Kingston, who sadly passed away today. Hardworking and loyal, Rose will be missed. RIP

  • 2018 Kapiti 2000 Rapid

    A successful 2018 Kāpiti Rapid was run today. Jeremy Knowles took top prize, closely followed by the strong Junior player Ryan Winter. Current Kāpiti Champion Alan Winfield scored a respectable 3rd place.

    The Kāpiti 2000 was a new chess tournament, open to all chess players with a rapid Elo rating under 2000. The Tournament was held on Sunday 27 May 2018 at the Kāpiti Chess Club Rooms in the Paraparaumu District Library at 9 Ivor Trask Place, Paraparaumu.

    Overall the event was a success, with 19 players turning up from throughout the Wellington area. There was plenty of excitement and top quality games, as well as some valuable lessons learned for the club going forward. We hope to repeat the tournament in future years and make it even bigger and better!

    The final standings were as follows:

      Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Total
    Jeremy Knowles 1 1 1 0.5 1 1 5.5
    Ryan Winter 1 1 1 0.5 0.5 1 5
    Alan Winfield 1 0 1 1 1 0 4
    Ian Sellen 1 1 1 0 0.5 0.5 4
    Fabian Day 0 1 1 1 0 1 4
    Guy Burns 0 1 1 1 0 0.5 3.5
    David Paul 1 0 0 0.5 1 1 3.5
    Nicholas Winsley 0.5 0 1 0 1 1 3.5
    Brett Mullan 1 1 0 0 1 0 3
    David Scott 1 1 0 1 0 0 3
    Joshua Knowles 0 1 0 0 1 1 3
    Nicholas O’Kane 0 0 1 1 1 0 3
    Arand Lancer 0 0 1 1 0 1 3
    Bob List 0 1 0 0.5 1 0 2.5
    Lars Dobbertin-King 0.5 0 0 1 0 1 2.5
    Anton Reid 0 0 0 1 0 1 2
    Alistair McGowan 1 0 1 0 0 0 2
    Mark Summers 0 1 0 0 1 0 2
    Samantha Sarif 1 0 0 0 0 0 1

    Prize winners were:

    • 1st place = Jeremy Knowles
    • 2nd place = Ryan Winter
    • 3rd equal = Alan Winfield, Ian Sellen, Fabian Day
    • Top Junior = Nicholas Winsley
    • Top Novice (shared) = David Scott, Joshua Knowles, Nicholas O’Kane, Arand Lancer

    The top player from Kāpiti, Alan Winfield, wins the Flora Paul Memorial Trophy.

    Photos from the day can be found here.

    Thank you to everyone who participated and we hope to see you again next year!

  • The AGM was held. The two major points were a change in the Club Officers and Club Membership Fees.

    Club Officers:
    Club President – Alan Winfield
    Club Captain – Lars Dobbertin-King
    Club Treasurer – Guy Burns
    Club Secretary – Rose Kingston
    Junior Representative – Mark Summers
    Committee Members – Ross Jackson + David Paul

    Membership Fees
    It was agreed to increase club membership to $170.00 and that all members of the club become registered with the NZCF so that all players may have their games rated and obtain a NZ Chess Rating.   Consequently, in addition to the increase in membership a $20.00 levy will also be payable HERE for further details.  

    Play Start Times
    The new management committee is keen to see the club run more formally/efficiently and as such it is intended to commence play of tournaments promptly at 7.45pm. The club rooms will be open from 7.30pm. Any member who intends to play but feels they may be delayed must notify a club official prior to 7.45pm in order to qualify for a bye or possibly start time delay (with opponents agreement).

  • After consulatation the 2018 Calendar has been approved; see website for details.
    Our first meeting is 6 February: AGM and Ladder games.

  • Well it is all over and the dust has settled on a very competitive NZ Congress
    NZ Open Championship – Ross Jackson
    By volunteering to be elevated into the NZ Open to even out both tournaments, Ross really put himself in the firing line, competing with both Male and Female International Chess Masters.  To his credit he beat those rated below him and took very credible draws from much stronger opposition, especially in the first round against FM Robert Smith, a 2200+ rated player who finished 7th. Finishing in 30th place on 3.5 pts in a strong field, though he would have wanted to score higher, this is a respectable score.  Well Done Ross.

    NZ Major Open Championship – Alan Winfield
    Alans penultimate Game against the tournament Leader, Leon Kempen was not an easy one, especially when Alan, overestimating his attacking chances, let his Queens Knight get trapped on its home square!!. Not a good plan.   To his credit he battled on and obtained 2 central pawns for the Knight. Though with good play White should have gone on to win the game, an error in the ending allowed Alan to sacrifice a pawn, and counter attack with his King, forcing white to go into a drawn ending.   The draw kept Alan in the mix just one point behind the leader and half a point behind the leading NZers (Highest NZ player wins Major OpenTitle).

    Round 9 saw Alan drawn against up and coming Wgtn player Sarah Yan who was playing well above her rating in the tournament with a score of 5 points.   The way the draw came out meant anyone in the top 7 could win or share the tournament.    Though Alan saved his best till last, with a very controlled victory of Sarah, other results did not go his way, with both the top two seeds wining their games and taking out both the Tournament (Australian – Leon Kempen) and the Major Championship – Aucklander Stanley Lee. All was not lost for Alan however.  His strong finish with the draw against Leon and the win over Sarah, elevated him into 3rd place–well done Alan.

  • The last four rounds have been pretty hard on Ross.  Unfortunately he has only been able to pick up a draw, suffering 3 losses.  This has seen him slide down the table to 35th place on 2 points. Also a mixed bag of result for Alan.   After shooting up the top of the table with 3 wins from the first 3 games, Alan found it was tough at the top, with two consecutive losses.  The pressure experienced over our club championships proved to invaluable and he was able to bounce back with two big wins elevating him to 3rd position and in with a chance to win the tournament.  His last game against Wellington Club Player Michael Sole, turn out to be a 80 move, 5 ½ Hours marathon. Coming away with a win was extremely satisfying for him.