This week we hosted the Upper Hutt Club in a friendly interclub match. This is the third year of these interclub friendlies, which are proving to be a real hit with members. This year we had a record field, with 24 players doing battle. 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, with a mid-match break for some pizza and socialising. It was a great night of friendly competition, played in great spirit. We warmly thank Tony and the Upper Hutt Club team for  helping make the night a success.  Thanks also to Gordon who set things up so we could play the top 8 pairs on NZCF electronic boards. These games can be found here. For the record, Kāpiti took out the honours winning 15½ to 8½.  Results can be found here.   Some photos from the night are here.

The week before saw the conclusion of the first leg of the Leo Eichholtz tournament. It was a battle between the top guns, Gordon, Ross, David P, and Lars in the final rounds, and once the dust settled, it was Gordon, Ross, David P who ended on the same points for an equal share of first place.  Congrats.  Results here.

There was a great turnout for the first two rounds of the Leo Eichholtz rapid with 16 players paired in round 1. Numbers were boosted with some new faces and three juniors stepped up. This event is ideal preparation for the Kapiti Rapid, the Club’s blue ribbon event, which will be held on 24th May at Paraparaumu College. Round 1 saw two of the juniors take points from higher rated opponents. Stanley overpowered David P with an aggressive opening and eventually took the whole point, while Isaiah, recent winner of the Club’s junior T1 Rapid, held Brandon to a draw with the black pieces. There were no upsets in round 2, with wins going to the higher rated players. After 2 round there are four players on full points, Gordon, Brett, Ross and Lars. Current standings here.

In the final junior club meeting of term 1, medals were presented to the winners of both the Open & Challengers division of the T1 Rapid event. In the Open division, James and Stanley both scored  4.5/6, however James edged Stanley on tie-break to take the silver medal, with Stanley collecting bronze. Isaiah with an unbeaten performance of 5.5/6 deservedly took the gold. This was an excellent individual performance and Isaiah only dropped a 1/2 point when he received a bye in round 6.

In the Challengers Division, Oscar M and Charlotte won tough matches in the final round to put them on 4 points and elevate them to a share of third place and the bronze medal, while Orlando won an impressive 5 games to take silver. Gold went to Alex T who had a great tournament and was unbeaten on 5.5/6 to the take the top spot by a slim 1/2 point margin.

There was also a fun blitz team event, and after 3 rounds of frantic chess, the team of James, Josh, Elia, Ryan & Juneau took home the prizes.

Heading into the final 4 games of series 1, Ross and Gordon held the lead with 3.5 from 4. In the pivotal match in round 6, Gordon managed to grab the full point against Ross. David S got the better of David P in R5 to stay in touch with the leader but his challenge faltered with a loss to Chris in R6. Gordon held off Chris’s challenge in R7 and secured Series 1 of the Freebird Trophy with a round to spare. Stanley had a strong showing grabbing points from higher rated players to make a tie for fourth with Mikhael, Chris and Ross. David S was third and David P had a solid event finishing second with six points.  Final standings here.

Despite starting every game with a time deficit, Ross managed to hold his nerve to claim the Kingston Memorial Trophy with 5 points from 6. He edged out Gordon in second with 4.5, and Lars in third place with 4. However, things could have been different when in the last round David S resigned a position against Ross which potentially had some practical drawing chances, although the path to an endgame was complicated. Congratulations Ross.

On top board both Mikhael and Ross played a precise game, but Ross ultimately lost on time in an even position. On board two Gordon had a space advantage early but failed to lock down the queenside which enabled Chris to free his knight and create counter play which ultimately won him the exchange. However, on move 31 Chris playing black offered a draw which was accepted. Despite black having a material advantage, white had a strong bishop pair and Stockfish assessed the position as equal. Lars had a good win to stay in touch with the leaders. With one round to go Ross leads on 4, with Gordon on 3.5 and Lars on 3. Full results and standings here.

Isaiah remains the only player on full points after four rounds with his win with the white pieces against the ever improving Tautua. There were also good wins for James and Stanley who remain a point behind the leader with two rounds to go. In the Challengers Division, Alex T took down the tournament leader Orlando on top board. There were good wins for Riki, Ryan, Lachlan and Oscar M. With two rounds to go Alex T leads by a half point from William, Orlando and Riki.

Photo: James v Devin

The junior T1 Rapid competition reached the halfway mark with 3 rounds completed. In the Open Division, Isaiah continued his winning form with a good win with the black pieces on board 1. Tautua and Devin, on board 2, were unable to create any imbalance and a draw was a fair result. There were good wins for James, Stanley, Josh and Maximus. Isaiah remains the only player on maximum points but there are 6 players in the chasing pack only one point behind.

In the Challengers Division, Orlando had a good win on top board, and he remains the only unbeaten player with 3 points. He is closely followed by Alex T and William, who are only 1/2 point behind, with a further 6 players on 2 points. There is still lots to play for!

There was a great turnout for Series 1 of the blitz competition, with 18 players registered. The numbers were bolstered by 5 juniors who competed admirably. The higher numbers enabled 10 rounds of exciting play. At the end of a long night the lead was shared on 8 points between Lars, Brendan & Gordon, with David P  one point further back. 

The first tournament for the juniors got underway last Tuesday. The event is a 6 round Swiss format with two divisions, the Open section with 15 registered players and the Challengers division with 20 registered players. Both divisions have a 10+5 time format. In the Open section, Junior Club champ  James squandered a good position against Isaiah who scrambled well under time pressure. Devin with the white pieces had a good win against Jingwei, and there were wins for new members Stanley and Lachie.  In the Challengers section, there were good wins for Charlotte, Alex C, Alex T and Orlando. It’s early days so still everything to play for!

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.