Category: News

All blog type posts for the Club

  • T2 Results & Presentation

    T2 Results & Presentation

    Presentation of medals for the Club’s second internal junior tournament of the year, the T2 Rapid, took place on Tuesday, 30 June 2026.

    In the Champions Division, Isaiah Heta claimed his second Rapid title of the year. Despite a loss in the final round, he held on to edge out James Patterson on tie-break. James finished with the silver medal, while Stanley Fitton secured bronze.

    In the Challengers Division, Ronan McGrath bounced back from a third-round loss and then remained unbeaten to win his second Rapid title of the year. Ryan Ge, after narrowly missing a medal with a fourth-place finish in Term 1, had an excellent tournament to claim the silver medal, only missing out on first place on tie-break. Carter Harris, competing in his first Rapid tournament, finished strongly by winning his final three games to earn the bronze medal.

    Medal Winners

    Champions Division

    • 🥇 Gold – Isaiah Heta
    • 🥈 Silver – James Patterson
    • 🥉 Bronze – Stanley Fitton

    Challengers Division

    • 🥇 Gold – Ronan McGrath
    • 🥈 Silver – Ryan Ge
    • 🥉 Bronze – Carter Harris

    Both divisions were highly competitive, with 15 players contesting the Champions Division and 26 competing in the Challengers Division.

    Congratulations to all players on an excellent tournament.

    Final Standings

    Champions

    Challengers

  • Interschool Report Card

    Interschool Report Card

    The NZCF Wellington Regional Chess Championship was held recently over three days.

    Primary Division
    The Primary Division attracted a record number of entries, increasing from 18 teams last year to 30 this year. To accommodate the 120 students playing simultaneously, the event was moved to the larger venue at Amesbury School.

    Kapiti schools were well represented by Raumati Beach School and Paraparaumu Beach School, both of which finished strongly with 6 match points, placing 13th and 14th respectively out of the 30 teams.

    There were several standout performances from Kapiti students. Jingwei Xu (Raumati Beach School), who shared the Board 1 prize last year—awarded to the highest-scoring player on board one—went one better this year, scoring a perfect 6 wins from 6 games to claim the prize outright.

    There were also impressive performances from Arlo Ruigrok (Raumati Beach School), who scored 4.5 points, Gursifat Singh (Paraparaumu Beach School) with 5 points, and Ryan Ge (Paraparaumu Beach School), who scored a solid 3 points on Board 1, along with a number of other encouraging performances from Kapiti player.

    The Division was won by last years champions, Amesbury School, who won all their 6 matches. Avalon came second with Kelson in third place. All three teams have booked their place in the National Final’s to be held in Auckland later this year.

    Primary – Team Standings
    Primary – Player Ranking
    Primary – Photos

    Intermediate Division
    The Intermediate Division was held at HIBS and attracted 22 teams. Kapiti schools performed strongly, with Raumati Beach School finishing in an impressive 5th place, winning three matches, drawing two, and losing only one.

    Paraparaumu Beach School entered two teams, which finished 9th and 11th respectively. This was an excellent result, particularly as it was the first major competition for many of the students.

    Orlando Liu (Raumati Beach School) had an outstanding tournament, winning the Board 3 prize with a perfect score of 6 wins from 6 games.

    There were also strong performances from a number of Kapiti players, including Eli Bell (Raumati Beach School) and Charlie Atmore (Paraparaumu Beach School) on Board 1; Aidan Robertson and Gryphon Corlett (both PBS) on Board 2; Casey Williams and Finn Little (both PBS) on Board 3; and Maxwell Zeng (PBS) on Board 4.

    The division was won by Thorndon School, with Hutt Intermediate taking the silver medal after edging out Whitby Collegiate on tie-break for second place. It is expected that all three teams will go on to represent Wellington at the National Finals.

    Intermediate – Team Standings
    Intermediate – Player Ranking
    Intermediate – Photos

    Secondary Division
    The Secondary Division was also held at HIBS and attracted 23 teams. Kapiti was represented by two teams from Paraparaumu College and a Kapiti Home School team.

    Paraparaumu College had a solid tournament, finishing in 6th place after winning three matches, drawing one, and losing two. The Kapiti Home School team finished 11th but lost only one match throughout the tournament—a fine performance from a very young team.

    Once again, there were some excellent individual performances. Isaiah Heta (Kapiti Home School) shared the Board 1 Prize after scoring 5.5 points from 6 games. Daniel Fay (Paraparaumu College) narrowly missed out on a prize but still recorded an impressive 4.5 points against strong opposition. On Board 2, James Patterson (PC) also scored 4.5 points. Alex Turchie (PC) scored a solid 4 points on Board 3, while Monty Parr (PC) matched that total on Board 4. Playing against older students, Ronan McGrath (Kapiti Home School) scored a very respectable 2.5 points.

    The biggest upset of the tournament came in the final round. The reigning national champions, Wellington College A, who had won the title for the previous two years, needed only a draw to retain the championship. However, they were defeated by Wellington College B, who overtook them to claim the trophy and gold medal. Onslow College finished third and, together with Wellington College team, will also represent Wellington at the National Finals.

    Secondary – Team Standings
    Secondary – Player Ranking
    Secondary – Photos

  • Freebird Trophy Series 1

    The Freebird Trophy Series 1 concluded with Sid and Gordon tied for first place on 6 points from 8 games.

    Sid produced a strong performance, recording impressive wins against Guy, Chris, and Ross.

    A further five players are close behind on 5 points, including Isaiah, who scored victories against the two highest-rated players in the field, Brendan and Gordon.

    The competition is shaping up for an exciting finish, with any of the top nine players still in contention for the title.

    Link to cross table and standings:

  • Upper Hutt Win

    One of the highlights of the club calendar is the annual match against Upper Hutt. This year’s encounter was hosted by Upper Hutt and featured a record number of players, with 13 representatives from each club taking part. Despite the increased numbers, there was still plenty of pizza to go around!

    Kapiti made a strong start, winning the first session 7–6. However, Upper Hutt fought back impressively in the second session, taking it 8–5 and securing the match overall by 14–12.

    Congratulations to Upper Hutt on their victory, and many thanks for their superb hospitality. It was a very enjoyable evening of good chess, friendly competition, and great camaraderie.

    PlayersColours (Kapiti)Results
    Bd No.Upper HuttRtgKapitiRtgR1R2R1R2Total
    1Ben Thomas1974Gordon Lyall1817BW1-01-02-0
    2Gerald Carter 1771Brendan Reedy1794WB0-10.5-0.50.5-1.5
    3Paul Frost1794Ross Jackson1759BW0-11-01-1
    4Finn O Brien1718David Paul1751WB1-00.5-0.51.5-0.5
    5Nick O’Kane1590Stanley Fitton1604BW1-01-02-0
    6Edison Yang1421Guy Burns1548WB1-01-02-0
    7James Hoskin1410Andy Hicks1427BW0-11-01-1
    8Maneesh Mathangi1403Brandon Holman1371WB1-01-02-0
    9Richard Catterall1284Chris Moses1357BW0-10-10-2
    10Glen Sullivan1203Jingwei Xu1243WB0-10-10-2
    11Geoff Osborne1103Daniel Fay1169BW0-10-10-2
    12Vrajesh Ravi 1195Duncan Turnbull1200WB0-11-01-1
    13Lachie Hollebone1050Tim Sharpe987BW1-00-11-1
    Total6-78-514-12

  • Leo Eichholtz Decided

    Gordon retained the Leo Eichholtz Board with a strong performance in Series 2, scoring a perfect 6/6 and finishing with 11/12 across both series. Ross, winner of Series 1, secured second place on 9 points, while Brendan finished third on 8.5 points.

    PlayerS1S2Total
    Gordon5611
    Ross5.53.59
    Brendan44.58.5
    Stanley448
    David3.53.57
    Brandon3.53.57
    Chris336
    Duncan336
    Millar325
    Matthieu325
    Andy2.524.5
    Guy134
    Tim224
    Oliver112
  • Xxavier Willoughby-Ansell races to victory at Kapiti Rapid

    Xxavier Willoughby-Ansell races to victory at Kapiti Rapid

    Xxavier Willoughby-Ansell delivered a near-perfect performance, going unbeaten with 5.5/6 to win the Open Division of the Kapiti Rapid. He secured overall victory in the final round with an excellent draw with the Black pieces against pre-tournament favourite Anthony Kerr.

    Kapiti players also produced some outstanding performances. Brendan Reedy shared equal second place in the Open Division, while Guy Burns finished equal first in the B Grade. Brendan also captured the Flora Paul Trophy as the leading Kapiti player.

    Another notable performance came from Zachary He, who not only won the Junior 12 years and over category, but also shared equal second place in the Open Division with an impressive 5/6 score.

    Open Division / A-Grade (1600+):

    1st Xxavier Willoughby-Ansell (5.5/6)
    2nd= Anthony Ker(5/6)
    2nd= Michael Turner(5/6)
    2nd= Brendan Reedy(5/6)
    2nd= Zachary He (5/6)

    B-Grade (1200-1600)

    1st= Guy Burns (4/6)
    1st= Nenian Bakiyaraj (4/6)

    C-Grade (<1200)

    1st= Sahayne Vithanalage (3/6)
    1st= Kishore Panth (3/6)
    1st= Hanson Li (3/6)
    1st= Khoi Nguyen (3/6)

    Junior 12 years and over

    1st Zachary He (5/6)
    2nd Karthik Sethuramalingam (4.5/6)

    Junior Under 12 years

    1st= Sun, William (3/6)
    1st= Le, Long Minh (3/6)
    1st= Vithanalage, Sahayne (3/6)
    1st= Panth, Kishore (3/6)
    1st= Hanson Li (3/6)

    Flora Paul Memorial Trophy (Leading Kapiti Player)

    Winner – Brendan Reedy (5/6)

    Photos

    Vega

  • Kapiti College Player wins Mana Rapid

    Kapiti College Player wins Mana Rapid

    Nathan Grace from Kapiti College had an excellent performance at the Mana Junior Rapid, held at Mana College on 9th May. He went unbeaten and won the Open Division with 5.5/6, ahead of . Finn O’Brien 5/6, and Lucas Qu was on 4.5/6.

    Kapiti players Fred and Alex medaled in the Senior Division.

    Fina standings:

    Open: 

    1st  Nathan Grace, 5.5/6
    2nd Finn O’Brien, 5/6
    3rd  Lucas Qu (4.5/6)

    Senior Division (13 years & over):

    1st Logan Hartley, 3.5/6 (tie-break)
    2nd Fred Hay 3.5/6
    3rd Alex Turchie, 2.5/6

    Intermediate Division (11-12 years):

    1st Shashank Gavini, 5/6
    2nd Rishi Konduri, 4.5/6
    3rd Jason Lam, 4/6 

    Junior Division (10 years & under): 

    1st Novak McPhee, 5/6
    2nd Nilan Karthikeyan, 4.5/6 (tie-break)
    3rd Daniel Jia, 4.5/6

    Link to photos here.

  • James places at the Wellington Open

    James places at the Wellington Open

    With a $10,000 total prize fund, this year’s Wellington Open attracted a very strong field.

    Despite facing higher-rated opposition in five of his six games, James performed admirably to finish equal third in the Under 1450 category. His excellent victory in round 5 against a 1600+ rated opponent set up a tense final-round clash against another 1600+ player.

    The last game was fiercely contested, swinging back and forth, but ultimately went his opponent’s way. Despite the final-round loss, it was a strong overall performance in a highly competitive tournament.

    The Open Division was won by Candidate Master William Rui Liu from Auckland, who went unbeaten.

    Final Standings

    Open

    1st: CM William Rui Liu

    2nd =: FM Nicolas Croad, CM Cohen Young

    3rd = : CM Justin Zhide Wang, CM David Cilia Vincenti, Matthew Keith, Philli Park-Tamati, Patrick Cordue, Hugo Lawrence

    Best Junior: CM Justin Zhide Wang, Matthew Keith

    Best Veteran: Patrick Cordue

    Best Senior: IM Anthony Ker

    Best Female: WCM Luna Yuexiu Xu

    U1450

    1st =: Zachary He, Muhammad Mangera

    3rd=: Shashank Gavini, John Hao, James Patterson, Vrajesh Ravi

    U1650

    1st =: Hugo Lawrence

    2nd =: Elena Moshakova, Hugh Masters, Afique Nazeer, Plaso Kusay

    U1850

    1st=: Daniel Winsley, Karthik Sethuramalingam

    3rd=: Edgar Benitez, Wei Kai Chen, Robert Hurndell, Finn O’Brien, Jarrod O’Brien, Aristotle Santos, Toby Shannon, Gregory Familton

  • End of Term Team Event

    End of Term Team Event

    It was a raucous final night of Term 1 at the junior club, finishing with a fun and competitive team event. Six teams of five players battled it out over three rounds in a fast-paced competition.

    When the dust settled, Team Alekhine, captained by Isaiah, claimed first place with a perfect score of three wins. Team Capablanca finished second with two wins, rounding out a strong performance.

    Winners: Team Alekhine

    1. Isaiah
    2. Lachlan
    3. Ronan
    4. Alex C
    5. Hunter

    2nd Place: Team Capablanca

    1. Millar
    2. Josh
    3. Orlando
    4. Charlie
    5. Leon (Reserve: Tautua)

  • T1 Presentation

    T1 Presentation

    Presentation of medals for the first internal junior tournament of the year, the T1 Rapid, took place at the Club on Tuesday, 24th March 2026.

    Champions Division:
    1st Gold medal – Isaiah Heta
    2nd Silver Medal – Stanley Fitton
    3rd Bronze Medal – Millar Wakefield

    Challengers Division:
    1st Gold medal – Ronan McGrath
    2nd Silver Medal – Ryder Henderson
    3rd Bronze Medal – Orlando Liu

    Both events were very competitive, with 21 players registered in the Challengers Division and 14 players competing in the Champions grade.

    Congratulations to all.

  • T1 Rapid Results

    T1 Rapid Results

    In the Champions Division, Isaiah won his final four games to secure first place with 7/9. Stanley edged out Millar on tie-break to claim second, with both finishing on 6/9.

    In the Challengers Division, Ronan remained unbeaten across nine rounds to take first place with 7.5/9, ahead of Ryder in second on 6 points. It required a tie-break to decide third place, which went to Orlando ahead of Ryan, with both scoring 5.5.

    Congratulations to all players in what was a highly competitive event.

    Final standings:
    Champions
    Challengers

  • Stanley takes Series 1 of the Blitz Cup

    Stanley takes Series 1 of the Blitz Cup

    Stanley was unbeaten after 8 rounds to claim Series 1 of the Blitz Cup! With 6 wins and 2 draws, he finished on 7/8.

    Gordon was just half a point behind on 6.5/8, with Brendan close behind on 6/8.

    Congratulations to all the players for some fantastic games!

    Full results are available here.

  • Kingston Memorial – Round 2 Update

    Kingston Memorial – Round 2 Update

    There was an excellent turnout of 17 players for Round 2 of the Kingston Memorial — an outstanding result, especially with two regular members unavailable. Numbers were boosted by junior players Isaiah, Millar and George, who have stepped up to take part.

    The most intriguing matchup of the evening was Andy versus Isaiah. It proved to be a tense and closely fought contest, with the players eventually sharing the point.

    After two rounds, only David P and Stanley remain on full points.

    You can follow the results and view the provisional Round 3 draw here.

  • Junior Rapid Underway

    Junior Rapid Underway

    The first Junior Club competition of the year, the T1 Rapid, is now underway. The event is an 8-round Swiss tournament with a 10-minute time control.

    This year’s competition features two divisions:

    • Champions Division – 14 players
    • Challengers Division – 17 players

    Round 1 went largely to form, with no major upsets.

    The game of the evening featured a fine counter-attacking performance from Alex C, who finished his game with a well-executed checkmate.

    We look forward to some exciting battles in the rounds ahead as the tournament progresses.

    Follow the results at the links below:

    Champions

    Challengers

  • Senior club end of year prizegiving and social night

    Senior club end of year prizegiving and social night

    It was a very enjoyable finish to the senior club year this week when a full contingent of club members, partners and friends met at a local pub to celebrate a successful 2025 club year. Trophies were handed out to all our tournament winners, as well as cash prizes to best games of the club champs.  A great evening of food, drink, and chat followed.

    That’s it for the Club for 2025. See you all again in 2026.

  • Senior Club Champs decided

    Senior Club Champs decided

    Congrats to David Paul who takes out the Kāpiti Chess Club Champion title for 2025.

    Going into the final round there were two key match ups, David S v David P and Gordon v Brendan. David P, on 5.5,  needed half a point for at least a share of the title, while Gordon on 5, needed a win,  or for David P to lose, to retain his title from last year. When the David’s eventually battled to a draw, it was down to Gordon now to beat Brendan. However, Brendan wasn’t about to go down lightly – and after getting a pawn ahead, then the exchange, he eventually worked a nice mating attack with rook and knights. This dashed Gordon’s chances of a sixth Club Champion title, and secured David P his 10th Club Champion title. In the B grade, congratulations to Stanley who has had a great year, securing the Ab Borren trophy  with a win over Brandon. Congratulations also go to Tim who won the C grade with a win over Oliver in another closely fought game. Final results and standings here.

    That’s the end of play for the year. Next week is prizegiving, and some end of year food, drink and fun.

  • Senior Club Champs – still wide open with one round to go

    Senior Club Champs – still wide open with one round to go

    Going into this week’s penultimate round 7 there was just one point between the top 8 players, so a lot to play for this week.

    There was a nice 14 move cameo checkmate from Tim over Brandon, one short draw between Ross and Brendan, and one very long draw between Gordon and David S. Frontrunner Gordon developed a typical strong positional advantage,  eventually converting to two pawns up, but somehow David S manage to hold on and grind out a long hard fought  draw going very late into the evening. On board 1, the other two front runners, Mikhael and David P, also played late into the evening – more or less equal until David’s endgame expertise told the difference in the end.

    So with one round to go – David P leads now outright on 5.5, with Gordon on 5 and Mikhael and Stanley next on 4.5. These are now the only remaining contenders for the A Grade Cup. One or more of Mikhael, Stanley and Chris remain contenders for the B grade. And congrats to Tim – with his cameo checkmate game last night – securing him the C grade trophy with one round to spare.

    Results and standings here.

  • Junior Club Champs – Everything to Play For in the Final Round

    The penultimate round of the Junior Club Champs delivered some mighty battles across the boards.

    Champions Division:

    On board one, Isaiah – playing Black against Stanley – resourcefully defended an inferior endgame and ultimately claimed the full point in a tense time scramble. On board two, James (White) faced George in another closely fought endgame, with James successfully converting his pawn advantage. There were also strong wins for Jingwei, Ronan, and Josh.

    Heading into the final round, the race could not be tighter: Jingwei and Isaiah lead on 4.5/6, with James and Stanley close behind on 4/6.

    Challengers Division:

    Remarkably, every player with the Black pieces won their game this round! On the top boards, the leader Oscar M and Elia both secured important victories. Lachlan bounced back from last week’s loss with a solid win against the in-form Maxwell. There were also good wins for Noah and Ryder.

    With one round to go, Oscar M and Elia share the lead on 5/6, each having lost only once. Lachlan keeps his title hopes alive, sitting just behind on 4.5/6. In the chasing pack, Maxwell, Charlie, Ryan, Noah, and Ryder are all on 3 points.

    With everything still to play for, the final standings won’t be decided until the very last game is complete!


    Top to bottom: Stanley v Isaiah, George v James

  • First-ever Bledisloe Cup Match

    Kapiti Chess Club took part in their first-ever Bledisloe Cup match yesterday, facing off against Canterbury. The Bledisloe Cup, originally presented by the Governor-General in 1933, was traditionally contested by the major metropolitan clubs. Today, the event has embraced modern technology and now uses a hybrid format, leveraging online chess servers to make inter-regional matches possible.

    Despite a narrow loss for Kapiti, the match was a resounding success and thoroughly enjoyed by all involved. It marks an exciting milestone for the club and sets the stage for more inter-regional encounters in the future.

    The match result:

    Board B/W Kapiti Result Canterbury B/W
    1.1 ⚪ Gordon Lyall 0-1 Antony L Carpinter ⚫
    1.2 ⚫ Brendan Reedy 0-1 Richard J Dare ⚪
    1.3 ⚪ David Paul 0-1 Sriram Muthukumaran ⚫
    1.4 ⚫ Ross Jackson 1/2-1/2 Craig Hall ⚪
    1.5 ⚪ Chris Moses 1-0 Steven Hartwell ⚫
    1.6 ⚫
    Stanley Fitton
    		 1-0 Matt Alp ⚪
     
    Final score: Kapiti CC 2.5 – 3.5 Canterbury CC

    Many thanks to NZCF’s Richie Christie and Craig Hall for organising such an awesome event.

    We are already looking forward to our next Bledisloe Cup match, which we hope to announced soon.

  • Junior Club Champs set for an exciting finish

    With five rounds now complete in the Junior Club Championship, everything is set for an exciting finish over the final two rounds.

    Champions Division

    The big surprise of the night came on board one, where Stanley was unable to convert his initiative against Jingwei. After defending accurately for much of the game, Jingwei reached a balanced endgame – but a rare slip from Stanley allowed him to seize the opposition and convert the position for the only Black win of the evening.

    There were also impressive victories from Tal, Josh, and Orlando, the latter making a strong return in his first appearance since coming back from overseas.

    After five rounds, Stanley still leads on 4/5, but he is now closely pursued by Jingwei, George, and Isaiah, all on 3.5/5.

    Challengers Division

    On the top board, Elia edged out tournament leader Lachlan in a tense encounter. Oscar M, Ryan, and Charlie also recorded important wins to tighten the standings even further.

    With two rounds to go, the race could not be closer: Oscar M and Elia share the lead on 4/5, with Lachlan just behind on 3.5/5, and Maxwell, Charlie, and Ryan in the chasing pack on 3/5.

    Both divisions are poised for a thrilling conclusion—everything is still to play for!


    Stanley v Jinwei