The second night of junior chess was a fun night with the highlight, a simultaneous match with 11 juniors playing the current senior Club Champion (Gordon). Despite some challenging and complex games, Gordon managed to hold his own against all players. There were some strong performances by Tautua, James, Stanley, Isaiah and Tal who held out the longest.

The final night of Junior Chess was a fun night which started with a chess themed quiz. The quiz was tough but the En Croissant team of James, Alex T, Charlie, Devin, Oscar M, William and Oscar L, took home the prizes after a tense tie breaker! The highlight of the evening was the prize giving. NZCF Badges and Certificates were awarded to James, Lucian, Maxilus, Tal and Josh. The presentation to the new junior Club champions followed. In the Challengers division, Manahi received the bronze, Tautua the Silver, and Ronan received the gold medal and the Challengers Cup. In the Open division, Roy took the bronze and Isaiah the silver. James took gold and received the Junior Club Championship trophy for 2024. The Most Improved Player was awarded to Oscar M, who showed a big improvement in his results from the beginning of the year. He finished the year strongly with an impressive 5th place in the Challengers Championship. The Player of the Year award was a tough decision, which could have gone to several players. Ultimately it was awarded to Isaiah, who was on the podium in all 3 internal competitions this year, and who won the Intermediate section at the Chess Power Horowhenua regionals earlier in the year. Congratulations to all. However, no one went home empty handed as all members received Christmas goodie bags… happy holidays.

Photo: Congrats to James, the Kāpiti Junior Club Champion for 2024. More photos of the evening quiz and prizegiving for both juniors can be found here.

In the seniors we also held our annual prizegiving for the year – Ten trophies for events played over the year were awarded. Congrats to Gordon who took out the Club Champion trophy, and to Ross who takes out the Glenys Mills Grand Prix trophy for best overall performance over the year. All the winners and runners-up can be can be found here.  After prizegiving everyone adjourned to a nearby local for some very enjoyable drinks and pizza (photo).  More photos can be found here.

That’s it for the 2024 year. It’s been an enjoyable,  active and successful year. Thanks to everyone who supported the Club during the year. See you in 2025. 

We are now mid-way through our Club Champs are things are starting to heat up.

In round 3 of the Junior Club Championship there were wins across the board for the players playing black! James squeezed out a win against Brock on Board 1, to remain the only unbeaten player in the Open division. On board 2, Roy got the better of Isaiah, and there was also wins for Jingwei and Devin. At the halfway stage, James leads with a perfect score of 3 points, closely followed by Roy on 2.5, with Jingwei and Daniel on 2.

In the Challengers section, Ronan maintained his perfect score with a win over Arol on board 1. Tautua miraculously held a draw in a losing endgame against Noah on board 2. There were also wins for Ryder, Orlando and Manahi, who are all in the mix. At the halfway stage Ronan heads the field with 3 points, followed by Tautua, Orlando and Ryder on 2.5.

Meanwhile, another night of long hard fought games running past 11pm in round 4 of the Senior Club Champs. This included possibly one of the deciding matches with front-runners Ross and Gordon, who battled a closed tight position with Gordon finally prevailing after 53 moves. In another key match-up, Guy and Mikhael also battled late into the evening, eventually agreeing a draw in an opposite-coloured bishop and pawn ending. Meanwhile, in contrast to the long games, David S managed an nice 11 move checkmate against John, although the subsequent casual game proved to be significantly more competitive and closer. Currently Gordon leads on 4, with David P on 3, and Guy, Mikhael and Ross all within reach on 2½. Current standings here.

Last night saw the commencement of the Junior Club Championship. The event is split into two divisions, the Open and the Challengers. In round one, the marquee game was Jingwei against James. James played a very controlled game, building up a dangerous kingside attach while limiting Jingwei’s counter play on the queenside. Ultimately James crashed through on the kingside and sealed the point against a dangerous opponent. In the Challenger’s section, Noah and Alex C played out a draw on top board, with the remaining matches going to form.

Meanwhile, after two rounds of the Senior Club Championship, Gordon and Guy remain unbeaten on 2 points, with wins over Lars and David S respectively. Other top contenders, Ross and David P fought out a draw to sit just behind on 1½, along with Ernest who had a win over Robert. With six weeks to go however, it’s still early days yet. Results are here.  

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.