Author: David Scott

Last weekend the Club was proud to be a big part of the 2024 New Zealand interschools Chess final held in Wellington. Kāpiti Club President Gordon Lyall was the tournament organiser, and a did an amazing job organising and running one of the premier events on New Zealand’s chess calendar. It was a massive event with over 260 school students representing schools from across the country, across primary, intermediate and secondary age grades. With great support from the Wellington Chess Club, his wife Andrea, other Kāpiti Club members, plus extra equipment from Upper Hutt and Manawatu-Knights Clubs, it was a successful couple of days. A report on the event with all the results can be found on the NZCF site here.

Meanwhile at the Club, while the junior club is on school term break, the senior club finished their annual Spring Tournament last week. This had the twist that players must “play something different”. Congratulations to David S who come out top. This week was a 10+5 night with David P taking out the night unbeaten on 4, followed by Guy and Ross on 3. Results here.

The growing popularity of chess with kids in the region was really evident again last weekend. The fifth running of the Kāpiti Junior Open and Schools Championship saw another record turnout, with 86 kids and heaps of parents and caregivers from all around the Kāpiti, Horowhenua and Wellington region filling the playing venue at Paraparaumu College. It was fantastic atmosphere as kids competed individually and as part of their school over four divisions, and for the best Kāpiti-Horowhenua school.

Top seed and winner of the Kāpiti Open back in May, Cohen Young, headed into the sixth and final round unbeaten on 4½. Needing a draw to make it a Kāpiti double, he was denied by Abhinand Rajendran who played well. Down in material but with two connected passers in a better, but murky endgame, he was able to flag Cohen in the time scramble. This allowed Matthew Keith, who with a win over Luke Chang in the final round, was able to edge ahead and claim first place and the open championship on 5 points, with Cohen second, and Abhinand, Zachery and Thomas tied for third. Congratulations.

In the school age grade events, it was a three-way tie on points in the secondary age group section. But with tie-backs in place, Nathan Grace took out the gold medal ahead of Hoorad Farrokh for silver, and Cody Chen for bronze. In the intermediate section, gold went to Jin Tan edging out Justin Daoheng Wang on tie-break, with the bronze going to Carrig Murray. In the primary section, congratulations to Julian Estrada, the only player of the day to win all six games, with silver to Sreenand Rajendran on tie-break, and Jingwei Xu who gets the bronze.

It was great to see a record number of 30 schools represented, including a home school team. The School Trophy, awarded to the top performing Kāpiti or Horowhenua school, was won by hosts Paraparaumu College on 10 points, with runners-up Levin Intermediate, and Paraparaumu Beach School.  Congrats also to the top scoring school on the day, which was Hutt International Boys’ School.

Thanks to all the players and parents for a fantastic day of Chess, and to organiser Gordon Lyall, his wife Andrea and with others who helped out, to make the day run smoothly.

Final standings: 

* Tie-breaks are used in the age group divisions.

Photos and videos from the day including all the prize-winners can be found here.

We’re looking forward to the fifth running of our annual Kāpiti Junior Open this Saturday at Paraparaumu College. Last year we got an record turnout of 80 players, and it looks like we’re on track to get the same or better this weekend. There will be the usual Championship event, plus three age group events, plus the best Kāpiti and Horowhenua school performance will win the Junior Championship Schools Cup. Hope you can make it. Full details here: https://newzealandchess.co.nz/…/kapiti-junior-chess…/

Plenty of action also in the senior section of the club. In our Blitz Cup event (played at 3m + 2s), David Paul showed again why he is a 12-time holder, comfortably taking out the second leg on 6 points ahead of new member Mikhael on 4. The last and deciding leg will be played in November. In the third and final leg of the Freebird trophy (played at 10m + 5s),  Lars had a good tournament taking out the leg on 6 points, ahead of David P on 5. Lars was unbeaten save for a Round 6 upset loss to John, who has had some great results this year.  Combined with his first placings in legs 1 and 2, David P was the overall and deserved winner of the Freebird Cup for 2024, with Guy runner up. Congratulations. Results here.

This week many of our juniors sat their NZCF badge test. This is a great NZCF resource, and always popular at Junior Club. It’s sat over four levels of difficulty from pawn level up to rook level. 

At Senior Club it was the fourth and final night of the second leg of the Winter Cup. Going into the final round, frontrunners Lars and Ross were paired against Guy and David S, who if they both won, would see a four-way tie for first. Lars played well to beat Guy, and in an exciting last game of the night, David S pushed Ross in a rooks and pawns endgame,  manoeuvring into a winning position, only to let it slip in time trouble. This to allowed Ross to share first place with Lars. When combined with results of the first leg played back in May, Ross also comes out on top, and takes away the Winter Cup for 2024. Congrats. Full results here.

Check out the Club website for more of our photos: https://kapitichess.club/photos/

Junior Club

The presentation for the T2 Rapid Swiss (A-Grade) was held on Tuesday. Isaiah picked up the bronze medal on tie-break ahead of James, with both on 3 points from 5 games. Roy was second on 3.5 points, while Daniel took first place and was unbeaten on a score of 4.5 points. Congratulations to all.

Photo (L/R): Roy, Daniel & Isaiah.

The latest National Chess Ratings were issued on 4th July by NZ Chess Federation, and we now have four juniors on the list; Brock (1471), Roy (1317), James (1237) and Daniel (1221). This is a great achievement and we expect these ratings to climb rapidly over the coming year!”

Senior Club

Congrats to Ross and Lars who took out our annual Fischer-Random tournament last week with 6 points, a half a point ahead of David P and Gordon. But special mention goes to (much lower-rated) John who took out both winners in the final two rounds to finish on 5 points, a great result! Final results here.

This week we began the second leg of the Winter Cup. After the first two rounds, Ernest, Ross and Gordon all share the lead on 2 points. While new member Ernest benefitted from the bye in Round 1, an upset win in Round 2 over past winner David P, who lost on time – saw him secure  maximum points for the night. Full results here. 

In term 2, the Junior Club ran a Rapid Swiss event to prepare students for the Wellington Interschool events. It ensured that our members were familiar with the rules and etiquette, particularly around the use of chess clocks. The tournament was split into a Senior and Junior sections. In the junior section, 22 players were registered for the five round event which was won by Ronan with a perfect 5 points from 5 games, in second place on tie-break, was Noah and third place Tautua both on 4 points (see photo). Congratulations to all.

This year Kāpiti Chess Club took over the running of the NZCF Wellington Region Interschool Championships. This involved running three separate tournaments to find the top school chess teams across three divisions, Primary, Intermediate and Secondary. The leading schools go on to represent Wellington Region in the National Finals, to be held later this year in Wellington.

The event attracted a record turn out, with a total of 68 teams competing across all grades, and more than 280 students participating. The increase in popularity was largely driven by the growth in junior chess here on the Kāpiti Coast. Two years ago there were no Kāpiti schools represented, this year 13 teams, including a home school team, competed. In total, 14 Kāpiti Chess Club junior members had the honour of representing their school at these events. Congratulations to all of them, and special mention to Orlando Liu (Raumati Beach School) who won the Board 4 prize in the Primary division, with 5.5 points from 6, a great performance.

The T2 B-Grade tournament continued this week in the junior club. There was a win on top board for Ronan playing black against Milo, while Riki prevailed on board 2 against Alec C. With only one round to go Ronan is the clear leader with 4 points from 4 games, Alex T is only half a point behind in second place, followed by Noah, Riki and Tautua on 3 points each. In the A-grade. Isaiah and Daniel agreed a draw on top board with Roy taking down James on board 2. Going into the last round, Daniel leads Isaiah by a half point, followed by Brock, a further half point behind.

Our juniors shone at the Kāpiti Rapid, the Club’s blue ribbon event of the year. In a predominately adult tournament, Brock, Roy and James scored 3 points each to share equal first, with Daniel only a half point behind. This was a great achievement by all in their first FIDE rated tournament.

Picture L/R – James, Roy

Congratulations to Cohen Young who took out the 2024 Kāpiti Open last weekend with an impressive unbeaten 6 wins from 6.

It was a beautiful, crisp, cloudless June day in Raumati, and despite a number of late withdrawals due to the current Covid mini-wave in the region, the 30th running of this regional event drew a good field of 45 players.

In the A grade, key wins from Cohen over Layla Timergazi in Round 4 and Nicholas Winsley in Round 5 saw him unbeaten going into the final round, with chasers a full point behind. A loss could see both Layla and Nicolas catch him for first. However, all three won their final round clashes – to see them take out the placings in the A grade.

The B grade was also tightly contested, with three players sharing first on 4 points: Lucas Qu, Daniel Winsley and Abhinand Rajendran, with a further 4 players just half a point behind. Check out Lucas’s Round 2 win over past Open winner Michael Nyberg in the links.

The C grade was also well contested and saw a five-way tie for first. Congratulations to Brock Clement, Jin Tan, Zachery He, Roy MaKay and James Patterson. Great to see local Kāpiti juniors Brock, James and Roy in the placings.

Congratulations to David Paul who took home the Flora Paul Cup again as top placed Kāpiti Club member on 4½ points and 4th= overall along with past Kāpiti member Geoffrey Gunawan.

It was great to see a fantastic turnout of juniors – and some serious future talent. Age group winners were:
14+: 1st, Cohen Young2nd=, Ollie Archer and Luke Chang
10-13: 1st= Lucas Qu, Abhinand Rajendran
Under 10’s: John Hao, Vrajesh Ravi, Jacob He and Minh Long Le.

Special mention also of the new playing venue at Te Raukura, the Kāpiti Performing Arts Centre. This was a wonderful setting to play Chess, and our thanks go to the excellent and professional support staff that helped the day run smoothly. Special thanks also to local company Dark Horse Coffee who kindly sponsored us with some of their great product, and special thanks also to Kāpiti Coast District Council who provided us financial support for the event. And finally, many thanks to organiser and director Gordon Lyall, and his wife Andrea, and other club members that supported the event.

Full results can be found here
Photos and videos of the day here

The vega link above also has the pgn’s of all 36 games from the top 6 boards which were played on electronic boards kindly provided by the NZCF.

The Junior Club kicked off the T2 Competition, a 5 round Swiss tournament with 15m+5s time control. Although an individual event, the format is the same as the upcoming NZCF Interschool Championship, at which many of the Juniors will attend, while representing their schools. The T2 tournament is therefore in part, preparation for the Interschool event, to ensure our players are familiar with the rules and time format. In the A-Grade, 8 of the Club’s strongest platers are going head to head, while the B-Grade has 22 competitors. In the top match ups, Daniel got the better of James, reversing recent trends, Jingwei eventually broke down Devin’s stubborn defence, while Isaiah and Roy agreed a draw.

In the Senior Club, round 1 of the Kingston Memorial (played with a 55m + 5s time control) saw all games go to the higher-rated player, but not without some stiff competition from their lower-rated opponents. Results here.

The 30th Kāpiti Rapid Open is just two weeks away.  This event is open to all levels and ages, with prizes over several grades, including junior prizes, and will be at a great venue at Te Raukura ki Kāpiti, the Performing Arts Centre in Paraparaumu (see photo). All the info is here, or email us here.

Great to see so many kids getting involved with chess at our Junior Club, with current membership now around 30, ranging from ages 4 or 5 up to college age. The focus is on fun, participation, as well as competition and teaching new skills. Definitely some promising talent on display, and who knows, maybe even some budding future national chess stars. 

Meanwhile our new training sessions continue to attract a mix of junior and seniors, with the lesson this week, amongst other things, looking at space advantage.

In the senior club, Rounds 5 and 6 of the Winter Cup have started to sort out the playing field. Top-seeds Gordon and Ross run first and second, while a win over Ross in Round 5 sees Guy in clear third place. A large chasing bunch, a point behind, can hope for a third placing at best going into the final rounds next week. Current results here.

Photo: Ewan shows Milo and Jingwei a interesting fun variant of Chess called ‘Choss’. 

It was great to be hosted again this week by the Upper Hutt Club in a return interclub friendly match in their clubrooms at HIBS in Trentham. As per the format last year, players from each team played two rounds of 25m+5s games against the same opposing club player, one as white, one as black. It was another enjoyable night of friendly competition, and great to have a change of scene and to play to against some new faces. We warmly thank Tony and the Upper Hutt Club for  hosting us, which included some nice pizza at the mid-match break. For the record, Upper Hutt took out the honours this time, winning 7 to 5.  Results can be found here.  Geoffrey had a nice game in Round 1, which can be found here.

Normal club night followed the next night with Rounds 3 and 4 of the Winter Cup. Plenty of action and interesting results. The two unbeaten David’s clashed in Round 3, a game which went to the wire with seconds on each clock. David P was a pawn up for much of the game, but David S managed to hold off a strong  attack on the kingside and gradually convert down to a winning endgame. Unfortunately, he was not able to repeat in the following round against Ross after losing on time in a won position. After four rounds, Ross and Gordon lead on 3½, followed by David S and Guy on 3, and with several chasers on 2, there’s still plenty to play for in the upcoming rounds. Results here.

The 2024 Winter Cup tournament began this week. After two rounds, both David’s share an unbeaten lead on 2 points, followed by Ross and Gordon who drew their Round 2 game with each other. Great to see junior club members James, Tal and Daniel playing up in the senior club this week and competing well. Daniel had a win over John D, while James was unlucky not to score from a winning position against David S who escaped in the time scramble. Results and standings here. 

Next week, we look forward to an interclub match away with the Upper Hutt Club, and Junior Club recommences for Term 2.

Congrats to long-time club stalwart John Whibley, who pulled one out of the bag this week in the first night of the second leg of the Freebird Cup. After four rounds, John sits first equal on 3, picking up wins over past club champion Levi, and over Guy and Ross, all rated notably higher. He shares the lead with David Paul who dropped just two half points, against David Scott and Brandon. David P brings 7 points from the first leg played back in February so will go into next week’s final four rounds as clear favourite. But as usual, there are several close chasers and potential final winners. Current results and standings here.

The Junior Club had a casual chess night this week, followed at the end with a prizegiving to the winners of the Term 1 tournament that finished last week. Congrats to (from left to right in the photo)  Isaiah (bronze), James (silver) and Daniel (gold).

It was an exciting finale to the opening junior club tournament of the year. On top board, tournament leader Daniel was under pressure against Jingwei, who launched a dangerous kingside attack. However, Daniel defended accurately and ultimately triumphed. He took out clear first place with 5½ points from 6. James edged out Roy to take 2nd place on 5 points, and Isaiah also finished on 5 points and takes 3rd place on tie-break. Just outside the medals were Devin, Jingwei and Roy all on 4 points. Congratulations to all players in what was a very competitive event.  In the seniors, there was a good turnout and lots of fun for our first Blitz night of the year. 

Photo: Daniel and Jingwei shake hands after their epic battle.

Junior Club

In the penultimate round of the T1 Rapid, there was a tense struggle on top board with Daniel eventually taking the full point against tournament leader James (see photo). On board two Isaiah prevailed with the Black, as did Jingwei on board 3. There were good wins by Elia, beating one of the tournament favourites, and a great checkmate by Oscar M. Going into the final round, anyone of 5 can win. Daniel leads by the slimmest of margins, a half point, ahead of the chasing pack which includes James. Jingwei, Isaiah and Roy. It’s set up for an exciting final round.

Senior Club

The final and deciding two rounds of the Leo Eichholtz 25m + 5s tournament were a close affair yielding three winners tied for first place. Congratulations to David P, Ross and Lars who all finished on 5 points from 7. The key matches were the Round 6 match-up between David P and Ross, and the Round 7 match with David P and David S, both tough fought draws, with other results going the way of the stronger player. Results and final standings can be found here.  Next week will be a Blitz night.

Junior Club

There were some big match ups in round 4. James playing white against Brock held on to his unbeaten run, and leads the tournament with a perfect score of 4 points from 4 games. In fact it was a good night for those playing white on the top boards, with 4 wins from 5 matches. On board 3 Isaiah bucked the trend by holding Roy to a draw with the black pieces. With 2 rounds to go, James leads on 4, with Daniel, Jingwei, Tal, Tuautua, Isaiah and Roy all only one point behind.

Senior Club

After five rounds in the Leo Eichholtz, 25m + 5s tournament, David P and Lars share the lead on 4 points. David P is undefeated so far, but has drawn games against Guy and Gordon, while Lars has just a single loss – against David P this week. For others, some upset wins and losses have led to a large chasing bunch or 4 or 5  players, which each have a technical chance to overtake the leaders in the final two rounds next week. Current results and standings here.