12 players were in attendance for the 5th round of the Club Championships. The game to watch saw unbeaten Alistair Wham McGowan pitted against the incumbent A Grade Champion David Paul. The game was decided by a cunning tactic by David on move 34—resulting in David winning a piece—at this point Alistair threw in the towel. Mike O’Rorke played up and coming junior Spencer Viernes—at one point in the game Spencer had Mike on the ropes with a forced win (according to the keen eye of David Paul)—but Spencer misplayed and lost. Paul Frost managed to win against the promising Junior Zephyr Wills. Ian Liddell—recovering from his loss to Spencer last week—beat top A grade contender John Whibley dealing a serious blow to his chances to take the prestigious A grade Trophy. Rick and Rose battled out for a draw and Ex Olympiad player Glenys Mills started her comeback into the tournament with a win over Johnny Hynes. This leaves the points tables very interesting with 1 round to play in this series

10 players attended Club Champs. Mike O’Rorke did a manual draw as he had computer problems. Alistair Wham McGowan continued his golden unbeaten run like Rocky Marciano—delivering a knockout blow to John Whibley. Glenys Mills and Mike O’Rorke fought it out for a draw. Lars Dobbertin-King was beaten by Paul Frost. Top Junior Spencer Viernes dealt to dark horse Ian Liddell—great result Spencer. Rose Kingston and Johnny Hynes game ended up drawing. There will be some good battles next week with current Kapiti Champion David Paul returning after missing the night’s play.

The previous week, we played the third series in our Freebird 15 minute trophy. Paul Frost is leading the field for this Tournament, two points ahead of the current Trophy holder David Paul on 10 points. Johnny Hynes is leading the Juniors with 5 points, one point clear of Zepher Wills.

Another great night was held at the club 14 players attending. In that game to watch, Alistair Wham McGowan disposed of Mike ORorke and now leads the field. David Paul won a drawn out battle with Lars Dobbertin King. Paul Frost returned from a long absence and battled out for a draw with John Whibley. The upset of the night saw Spencer Viernes beating Glenys Mills. Dark horse Ian Liddell won another game; beating Rose Kingston. Zephyr Wills won against Johnny Hynes and Rick Lowe had a solid win against Sean Doyle.

Round 2 of the Club Championships resulted in some interesting results. Current A grade champion David Paul battled it out with John Whibley for 52 moves—eventually coming to a point where neither could make any progress—a toughly fought draw. Mike ORorke had the Black pieces against Lars Dobbertin-King and left his Knight for ‘free’, Lars took it then Mike played discovered check and whoops! Mike had pocketed Lars’ Queen—great win to Mike. Alistair McGowan snared a win over Glyns Mills.
Dark Horse Ian Liddell played lovely positional chess to deal a blow to chessmaster Rick Lowe. Sean Doyle ended up stalemating himself whilst seeking an elusive win over Johnny Hynes. And Rose was Tea lady for the night having the bye. Next week will see a top-of-the-table clash between the only two players on maximum points, when Alistair Wham McGowan plays Mighty Mike Tree O’Rorke—a game well worth watching.

A good nights start for our Club Championship with 12 players contesting our premium Trophy. This is the ultimate Kapiti Chess contest and the prestigious Trophy is currently held by David Paul and will be fiercely contested. After the first round, David Paul, Mike O’Rorke, John Whibley, Glyns Mills, Lars Dobbertin-King and Alastair McGowan all took away one point from Rose Kingston, Zepher Wills, Johnny Hynes, Ian Liddell, Sean Doyle and Rick Lowe. Second game next week.

11 players turned up for the Freebird Trophy. David Paul led the field with dp 3.5 points, closely followed by Lars Dobbertin-King, Alistair McGowan and Mike O’Rorke on 3 points. John Whibley, Ian Liddell won 2 points, Glyns Mills 1.5 and Rose Kingston, Johnny Hynes and Rick Lowe 1 point. Zephyr Wills did not score. Next weeks play is the ”holy grail” of the Kapiti Chess Club with the start of our Club Champs which will be 3 series of 6 games per series, using the Swiss Pairing system.

10 players entered the field on this penultimate night for our Leo Eichholtz Trophy (25 minute plus 5 second timeframe). New player Lars Dobbertin-King had a surprise win against current champion David Paul to gain 2 points, along with Mike O’Rorke and John Whibley—who also won both their games. This upset win, will not dent David Paul from taking the Trophy for 2014—his lead is too great. 1 point was taken by David Paul, Glyns Mills, Rick Lowe and Ian Liddell. Johnny Hynes, Rose Kingston and Alastair McGowan did not score. Next week is the final night of this Tournament and it will be an interesting battle for 2nd place between Mike O’Rorke and John Whibley—who will face each other over the board.

Eleven aspiring players turned up and it was good to see the familiar face of Todd Stewart again. We played two rounds for the Leo Eichholtz Trophy (25 minute plus 5 second timeframe). David Paul, Alistair McGowan and Todd Stewart all won their games (2 points). John Whibley, Glenys Mills, Mike O’Rorke, Johnny Hynes, Rick Lowe and Rose Kingston are on 1 point. Sean Doyle and Ian Liddell are yet to score. Next week is the second to last night for this Tournament.

Series 5 of the Freebird Trophy was played and Paul Frost, a leading contender for this Trophy was absent. His absence was, not, sorely missed by current champion David Paul, who now boosts his lead 4 points ahead of Paul. Mike O’Rorke is just behind Paul Frost with 13.5 points, Glenys Mills has 12 and John Whibley 10. Spencer Viernes leads the Juniors with 7  points, barely ahead of Johnny Hynes who has 6 points.

David Paul has opened up a strong lead for the Leo Eichholtz Trophy (25 minute plus 5 second timeframe) with 10.5 points, well ahead of his nearest rival, John Whibley who is on a respectable 7.5 points, closely followed by a determined Mike O’Rorke on 7. Johnny Hynes leads the Juniors with 5.5 points.

This week we had games 3 and 4 of the Leo Eichholtz Trophy (25 minute plus 5 second timeframe). Now, current champion David Paul leads the field with 8.5 points, comfortably ahead of John Whibley on 6.5. Glyns Mills and Mike O’Rorke share 5.5 points, Rick Lowe and Johnny Hynes share 5 and Ian Liddell is on 2.5. Rose Kingston has 2.5 points and Juniors Josh Bunker and Spencer Viernes have 2, followed by Zepher Wills on 1 point and Sean Doyle is yet to score. Next week we play games 5 & 6 for this Trophy.

We held the first night of the Leo Eichholtz  Trophy (25 minute plus 5 second timeframe). David Paul John Whibley and Rick lowe won all their games. Mike O’Rorke had a bad night, losing to Rick Lowe in round one and outplayed by Johnny Hynes in Round Two. David Paul was under massive pressure by Zepher Wills in round one but managed to win in the end game—we will have to watch these juniors! David Paul now leads the Trophy with 6.5 points, just ahead of Paul Frost and John Whibley on 5.5. Glyns Mills has 4.5 points, Mike O’Rorke, Johnny Hynes and Rick Lowe all share 4 points.Ian Liddell and Rose Kingston have 2.5, Spencer Viernes and Josh Bunker 2 points and Sean 2 and Sean Doyle is yet to score. Next games are rounds 3 & 4 of the Trophy.

We played 6 rounds of five minute games this week towards the Blitz Trophy. David Paul won all his games (6 points) closely followed by Mike O’Rorke on 5 points. John Whibley gained 4 points and Zepher Wills 3 points. Glyns Mills, Rose Kingston and Johnny Hynes all gain 2 points, and Ian Liddell did not score. Next week is the second night for our Leo Eichholtz Board (25 minutes, plus 5 second add-on) — see you there!

We had rounds 5 &6 this week in the Leo Eichholtz Board (25 minutes, plus 5 second add-on) which saw eleven people turn up. Current champion David Paul has turned up the heat and is now level with co-leader Paul Frost—both on 4.5 points. Their game is played next, and will be the one to watch! Mike O’Rorke is hot on their heels with 4 points, very closely followed by John Whibley and Glyns Mills on 3.5.
Johnny Hynes leads the juniors with 3 points, just ahead of Rick Lowe, Spencer Viernes and Josh Bunker on 2 points. Ian Liddell and Rose Kington have 1.5 points, Zephyr Wills has a point and Sean Doyle is yet to score. Next week we play rounds 7 and 8 for the Leo Eichholtz Board, and the following week is the 2nd round of our Blitz competition.

Some great games were had in Leo Eichholtz Board (25 minutes, plus 5 second add-on). As a result Paul Frost has piped Mike O’Rorke to take the lead with 3.5 points. Mike is now 2nd on 3 points, closely followed by David Paul, Glyns Mills and John Whibley on 2.5 points. Juniors Josh, Spence and Johnny are on 2 points, Rose Kingston on 1.5. Ian Lidell has half a point, ahead of Rick and Sean who are yet to score. Next week we play round 3—we are playing two games per night.

The Leo Eichholtz Board (25 minutes, plus 5 second add-on) has now began. Mike O’Rorke leads the field—at this early stage with 2 points. There is a large pack on 1.5 points—David Paul, Glenys Mills, John Whibley and Paul Frost—Rose Kingston and Spencer are on 1 point, followed by Johnny Hynes, Josh and Rick on zero. The competition continues with the 2nd round next Club night—7 May.

The first round of our Blitz series was played—6 rounds of chess with 5 minutes per player. Paul Frost, who’s playing great chess at the moment; in top position for two Trophies, won all his games and leads the field with 6 points, closely followed by the pack of John Whibley, Mike O’Rorke and David Paul on 4 points. Zepher Wills and Spencer Viernes led the Juniors on 3 points, with Johnny Hynes following with two points.

The final round was played for the John Kingston Memorial Trophy (55 minutes plus 5 seconds timeframe). Congratulations to David Paul who retains his title. John Whibley was second, closely followed by Paul Frost. Zepher Wills won the Junior section, followed hot on his heels by Johnny Hynes and Riley Leonard. Don’t forget next week; it’s the second round of the Freebird 15-15.

Welcome back to the new ”Riley”. It was a great nights play with David Paul winning against Gordon; Mike O’Rorke beat Rose Kingston; Sean beat Rick; John Whibley beat Glyns Mills; and Johnny Hynes won against Riley. Last round of the John Kingston Memorial Trophy will be held this Wednesday—see you there.