Junior Chess term 4 started with a strong turnout, for a night of fun chess including “hand & brain”. This term the students will be tackling the next level NZCF Badge challenge, with some students going for Level 3 (Bishop badge). This will be the highest NZ Chess Federation level achieved to date by any Kāpiti Junior Chess club members!

Round 4 of Club Champs was played this week in the Senior Club. Front-runners Ross and Levi fought out a tough draw, while Andy continued his great form of late, with a win over David. Ross still leads the field after 4 rounds on 3½, with Andy and Levi in second spot on 3 points, and a pack following close behind. There are three more to go, so still too close to call yet. Current results and standings here.

In this week’s photo, Geoffrey takes on a keen group of juniors as Term 4 begins.

The annual Club Championship had its third round this week. Just Ross remains undefeated after 3 games, with a win over Andy this week. Levi is second on 2½ with a win over Geoffrey this week, and Andy makes up the leader group in third place on 2 points. Full results and standings can be found here.

Special mention to Andrew and Levi who travelled down to Invercargill last week to play in the South Island Championship. Both held their own against a strong field putting in solid 50%+ performances. Tournament results here.

A reminder too, that Term 4 in the Junior club starts next week at the usual time of 6:30.

This week’s photo shows long-time Life member John Whibley in action in Round 3. John joined the club in 1988 and has been a loyal member every one of the 35 years since then.  In the longest game of the night this week, John showed he is still more than competitive playing flawless defence against a strong London kingside attack from David, and then gradually playing himself into a winning position. But in Chess it sometimes only takes one mistake, and it was David who came away with a lucky win. For more club pics see here.

Junior T3 Blitz Championship wraps up

There was an exciting climax to the Junior T3 Blitz comp. In the penultimate round, two of the main contenders had challenging games, with Lucas losing to Elane and Ewan drawing with Charlotte. Elane continued her good form with a draw in the final round against Jingewei, but the draw deprived both of them a podium place. In the last round Ewan managed to convert his endgame against Ronan, and this secured third place with 5½ from 9. Despite a draw in the final round against Orlando, Lucas managed to hold onto second on tie-break. The clear winner was Devin, who maintained his consistency to score an impressive 7 points from 9 games. Special mention to Jingwei who narrowly missed out on third place on tie-break. Strong performances also from Elane (5) and Amy (5). Photo below shows medal winners Ewan, Devin and Lucas. 

Success for Levi at Manawatū School Pupil Chess Championship

Big congratulations to Club member Levi Paxton who won this year’s Manawatū School Pupil Chess Championship held in Palmerston North on 29 September. Levi was unbeaten scoring 6 wins from 6 games. Well done. Photo below.

Club Championships begin

Meanwhile in the senior club this week, Round 1 of the 2022 Club Champs kicked off. Ross, Levi, Geoffrey and Andy all scored the full point over Andrew, David, Lars and John respectively.   Results can be found here. There are six more rounds to play.

With only two rounds to go in the Junior T3 Competition, things are tight at the top with Devin, Lucas and Amy sharing first with 5 points from 7 games. They are closely followed by Ewan and Jingwei on 4 points with Elane on 3.5. This sets up for an exciting finale to the tournament, with only two rounds to go.

In the Senior Club, the usual fun and madness prevailed in the second and deciding leg of the 2022 Blitz Cup.  Congrats to Geoffrey who was unbeaten on the night, with Levi and Lars coming in second. When combined with results from the first leg played back in May, the overall winner is Gordon, who retains the Blitz Cup for another year. Second equal overall were Lars and Geoffrey. Final results here.

The Club Championship tournament starts next week.

The second week of the Term 3 Junior rapid chess competition was played this week. After 5 rounds, Devin remains in first place, unbeaten on 5 points. In second place is Jingwei on 4 points, followed by Amy, Lucas and Ewan, who all have 3 points. Some 21 players representing 8 local Kapiti schools are competing, and the tournament will run till the end of the current term. 

In the Senior Club – in a break from normal Chess – recently qualified FIDE instructor, Gordon gave an informative training session on the importance and benefits of analysing your games, taking us though his analysis of one of his recent games. A great session for those us trying to improve our game. Next week is the final leg of the Blitz Cup.

Junior members commenced the Term 3 rapid chess competition last night. Devin and Lucas are the only players with a perfect 3 points from the first three rounds. Yonatan is a half point behind, followed by Amy, Charlotte, Jingwei, Orlando, Ronan and Jed, who all have 2 points. The field consists of 21 players representing 8 local Kapiti schools. The tournament will run till the end of the current term, with a further 6 rounds to be played. 

Meanwhile in the Senior Club, we ran a Gambit night last week (results here). A gambit is where one player will deliberately offer up some material, usually a pawn, in the opening moves of a game in order to try and get some other kind of compensation, such as a positional advantage in the centre, or sometimes just to throw their opponent off from their opening knowledge. There are hundreds of known chess gambits (see a list here), including one of the most common or well-known – the Queen’s Gambit. 1.d4 d5. 2.c4.

Coming up soon will be the final leg of the Blitz Cup, with the Club Championships starting in early October.

The final rounds of the second leg of Club’s annual 10m+5s tournament for the Freebird Trophy were decided this week. Gordon Lyall and David Scott were both unbeaten this week to take first equal in the second leg on 4½ from 7.  Combining points from this leg with those of the first leg played back in February, congratulations go to Gordon Lyall who takes out the Freebird Trophy for this year on 9½, followed by Ross Jackson on 8½. Final results here.

A field of 44 players from 16 schools across Wellington to Levin competed in the third running of the annual Kāpiti Junior Chess Championship played on Saturday 13th August at Raumati Beach School in Paraparaumu. This was a record turnout for this event. 

Congratulations to top seed Ryan Winter who took out the Championship Open division with an impressive unbeaten 6 wins from 6.  Along with Ryan, the Open division featured a strong field this year – including current NZ junior champion Ollie Archer, last year’s NZ junior champion Josh Langford, and previous Kāpiti Junior Open winner Kayden Loke. All three traded a win and a loss against each other, to go with a loss to Ryan and wins in their other rounds, to finish second equal on 4 points. But after tie-breaks, Kayden took out the silver medal, and Josh the bronze.

In the Schools event, Joy Ulm (Aotea College) was an impressive winner in the Secondary grade, unbeaten with 6 points from 6, ahead of Kushal Chatla (HIBS) and Ethan Hill (Tawa College). In the Intermediate section, Eashan Maveram (Johnsonville School) had just one loss to take out the gold medal, with Roy Mackay (Levin Intermediate) taking out the silver on tie-break ahead of Zachary He (Waterloo School). In the primary section, Lucas Qu (Churton Park) repeated his win from 2020 to take out another the gold medal, with silver going to Alex Chen (Waterloo School) and bronze to Kāpiti Junior Club member Devin Direen (Paraparaumu Beach School).

The Kāpiti Chess Club School Trophy, awarded to the top performing Kāpiti or Horowhenua school, was retained for a second year by Levin Intermediate narrowly edging out Te Ra School, 13 points to 12½. In third place was Waterloo School. 

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

Final standings, 2022 Kāpiti Junior Chess Championship:

Full results from the day can be found here:

2022 Kāpiti Junior Chess Championship – Open
2022 Kāpiti Junior Chess Championship – Schools tournament (Individual results by age grade)
2022 Kāpiti Junior Chess Championship – Schools tournament  (School results)

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

Round 4 Open game Van der Hoorn v Malcolm  

Tournament poster and entry form

The final rounds of the (new in 2022) Mid-year Rapid tournament were played this week. Going into Round 6, Geoffrey Gunawan needed a win against Andrew Brockway, which he managed – but also needed recent newcomer to the Club, Michael Sole, to prevail against  Levi Paxton to deny Levi of the tournament win, and to secure tournament victory for himself. Congratulations Geoffrey!  Final tournament results here.

This Saturday is the premier Junior event on our Club’s calendar – The Kāpiti Junior Open and Schools Championship. It’s just $20 for a great day of fun and competition. Interest has been great so far, and there is still time to enter.  See details here. 

Club Captain, Geoffrey Gunawan gave a simul last week at the junior club. He played 9 of the juniors, and a prize was awarded to Devin, who held out the longest. The night was a great success with the juniors enjoying the challenge. More photos from the night can be found here.

Armageddon Chess is variant of rapid chess where if there is a draw, Black wins. As compensation, White gets a little more time on their clock, for example, 5 minutes versus 4 minutes with no increment  is typical. It’s often used as a tie-breaker in tournaments. The Club held its first ever Armageddon night this week, which was great fun. After a double round robin Geoffrey and Gordon came out as joint winners. Results here.

Congratulations also this week to Oscar, Charlotte & Orlando Liu  (front row in photo) and Jed Le Boutillier  (back row) who were awarded their NZCF Level 2 (Knight) certificates and badges.

Congratulations also to Gordon Lyall who has successfully completed training to become an internationally certified Chess trainer. The FIDE Instructor or FI title is awarded based on rating, student performance, experience or special achievements,  trainer & related professional skill, and a written exam. The title will be officially awarded at the FIDE Council Meeting on 4 August 2022. Great news for our Junior Club which he and his wife Andrea run each week.   

This week was the final night of the Term 2 Junior tournament, followed by prizegiving. Congratulations to the winners (from left to right in the photo):  Jingwei Xu (6) with the Silver medal, Devin Direen (7) with Gold, and  Tumuka Martin (10) with Bronze.

Congratulations also to all our NZCF Pawn and Knight badge certificate and badge winners below.

In the senior club, it was a night of ‘Hand and Brain’. Players pair up, one acting as ‘brain’ and one as ‘hand’. The brain says the name of a piece and the hand has to decide where to move it to. A really fun way to play as teams, with different pairings with different combinations of playing styles making for some really fun and interesting Chess.

Next week will be a night of Armageddon chess.

The end of term junior tournament got under way last night. Elane, Joni and Devin lead with 2.5 points from 3 at the half-way stage. They are closely followed by Jinwei, Tumaka & Ryan with 2. The competition concludes next week.

Meanwhile in the seniors, Levi Paxton took out the Winter Cup for 2022, for his second tournament win of the year after beating Ross Jackson in the final round. Gordon Lyall was second and David Scott was third. See the full results here.

This week was test time again in the Junior Club.  The New Zealand Chess Federation has a popular series of four written tests for juniors, from the beginner pawn level, through to knight, bishop and rook levels.  A different badge and certificate is awarded as the pupil passes each test (see picture below). This week 12 kids sat their knight test, while 6 sat their pawn test. Good luck! Meanwhile in the senior club, we held a mini one-night tournament of 10+5, with Gordon Lyall coming out on top. Next week will be the final deciding round of the Winter Cup.

NZCF Junior Chess Badges – Picture courtesy of the NZCF website. 

The biggest Chess event for kids on the Kāpiti Coast returns in August.

The Kāpiti Chess Club is proud to host the 2022 Kāpiti Junior Chess Championship on Saturday 13th August. This is a great day for primary and college kids of all ages and abilities, and a chance to see which school in the region has the best young chess players.

Individual medals prizes will be awarded in four divisions:

• Primary for those aged 10 and under,
• Intermediate for those aged 11 to 12,
• Senior for those aged 13 and over, and the
• Junior Championship division, open to anyone under 20 with an NZ Chess Federation rating 1200 or higher.

In addition, and a trophy will go to the leading Kāpiti or Horowhenua school.

It’s being held at Raumati Beach School, 26-34 Raumati Road, Raumati Beach.
Entry is just $20 for a great day of fun and competition in one of the oldest and best games in the world.

Find out out more, including how to enter, in the flyer below. Hope to see you there!

Rounds 5 and 6 of the Winter Cup played this week. After six rounds, Levi Paxton leads on 4½, followed by David Scott on 4 and Gordon Lyall on 3½. Both Levi and David held Gordon to draws, while Levi had a win over Geoffrey Gunawan. All three are in with a chance to win the Cup  for 2022, which will be decided next week. Current standings here.  Meanwhile, the Junior Club continues to have good turnouts each week, and there looks to be plenty of interest in Chess amongst kids in the Kāpiti region. Next week it will be NZCF badge test time again!

The 28th annual Kāpiti Rapid was held in Paraparaumu on Saturday 28th May. The tournament drew a good field of 40 players, including several titled players and former New Zealand champions. A relatively strong field compared with previous years, with an average rating amongst rated players of 1670. The tournament was played over 6 rounds under a 25 m + 5s time format.

Congratulations to FM Ben Hague who took out the open grade with an unbeaten 5½ from 6, with IM Russell Dive and Michael Sole 2nd= on 5. This is the second time Ben has won the tournament.

The crucial game was the final round clash between Ben Hague and Anthony Ker, both going into the round unbeaten on 4½, having dropped just ½ a point in previous rounds to Russell Dive. A win or a draw for either would secure the tournament. This was not going to be a tame draw, however, as Ben opened with a Trompowsky and was able to secure and convert an early space advantage for the win.  See game here.

In the B grade (1400 to 1800), Josh Langford was the comfortable winner on 4½ (4th= overall), his only loss to tournament winner Ben Hague. Nicolas Winsley also had a good day securing second place in the B grade with 4 from 6. Taking out the C grade (under 1400) was  Cohen Young on 3½, with Jun Lee and Lucas Qu equal second on 3.

The depth, performance and future promise of the juniors in the field was again evident. In the 14 and over age group, Thomas Van der Hoorn, Josh Langford and Nicolas Winsley took out the medals, all finishing in the top 8 (photo below). Current Olympiad team member and second at this year’s Congress, Felix Xie  was not far behind, perhaps a little unlucky with a tougher draw. In the under 14 group, current  joint New Zealand junior champion Ollie Archer won the gold medal ahead of Lucas Qu and Mavram Easham (photo below).

The top scoring Kāpiti Club player, and taking home the Flora Paul Cup,  was Ross Jackson on 3½.  

The day was well-organised and run by Club President Gordon Lyall, with the great help of his wife Andrea, and support from Club members. Thanks to all who attended.

Final results can be found here:
Full crosstable
Standings by grade
Junior standings by age group

More photos from the day can be found here.

This year’s tournament flyer is here.

Congratulations to Junior Club members receiving their NZCF pawn badge and certificate this week (photo below).

In the Senior Club it was a fun night of Blitz, with Gordon Lyall taking out the honours, and Andy Hicks second. Results here. Next week, we start our Winter Cup. 8 rounds played over 4 weeks at 25m + 5s. 

And don’t forget the annual Kāpiti Rapid  on Saturday 28th May. Open to all.

It was great to see a record turnout of 18 juniors this week. A big shout out to Gordon and Andrea Lyall for their great work in running our Junior Club, and helping to promote and develop chess for kids in the Kāpiti community.

In the Senior Club, it was the crucial sixth and deciding Round of the Kingston Memorial (played at 55m + 5s). Levi Paxton kept his cool – and his unbeaten streak – defeating Nathan Rose to take out the tournament with 5½  from 6. Congratulations. The other frontrunner, Geoffrey Gunawan had a tough game against Ross Jackson, and despite his typical sizeable  time-handicap, Ross prevailed, to tie for second equal place with Geoffrey. Full tournament results are here. More Club photos can be found here. Next week will be a Blitz night.

And don’t forget our annual Kāpiti Rapid, open to anyone, coming up on the 28th May.

It was the start of term 2 for the Junior Club this week with an enthusiastic turnout of around a dozen kids (photo). In the Senior Club it was Round 5, the penultimate round, in the 2022 Kingston Memorial tournament. It’s been a closely fought competition this year, with traditional front runners being challenged hard from Round 1. After five rounds, new member Levi Paxton leads unbeaten on 4½, followed by Geoffrey Gunawan on 4, and Nathan Rose, Andrew Brockway and Ross Jackson on 3. That makes it a two-horse race next week for the distinctive chess clock trophy. And with Geoffrey up against Ross, and Levi up against Nathan, it could go either way! Current results and standings here.

Entries are coming in fast for this year’s Kāpiti Rapid on the 28th May. This tournament is open to anyone of any level, with prizes across several grades and age groups. The tournament has been well-attended in recent years, including by some of New Zealand’s top players. More information on the tournament and how to enter can be found here, and the list of  players who have  entered so far is here. Come and give it a go!