The 26th playing of the Kāpiti Rapid drew one of the largest number of entrants in the tournament’s history and attracted players from as far afield as Auckland.

The top grade boasted a strong line up with an average rating of almost 2100, and 5 titled players, including current New Zealand Champion and top seed, FM Ben Hague. Things did not go smoothly for the pre-tournament favourite, when he suffered a loss playing Black against Athula Russell in round 3 (see game here). FM Nic Croad took control of the tournament with a win in round 5 against defending champion, FM Scott Wastney (see game here). He secured the tournament win with a final round win against CM Jack James (game here), to achieve 5½ from a possible 6 points. Athula Russell, who remained unbeaten, and Ben Hague tied second on 5 points.

2020 Kāpiti Rapid winner Nic Croad with Club President Gordon Lyall

The B grade was a tight affair and resulted in a 4-way share of first place between Kayden Loke, Nathan Hall, Lars Dobbertin-King and Paul He, each scoring a very impressive 4 points.

The C grade was shared by Jamie Webster and ungraded 15-year-old Henry Zaslov who recently arrived in Wellington from the USA.

The Junior gold medal winner was Michael Sole, who scored a solid 4 points and played on board 2 against Ben Hague in the last round. Winner of the silver medal, on tie-break, was Afique Nazeer.

The Junior (U15) gold medal went to Kayden Loke on tie-break from Paul He, who took silver.

David Paul and Ross Jackson were the highest scoring locals on 3½, and share the Flora Paul Memorial Trophy for the best performing Kāpiti Club members.

Full results can be found here.
Photos from the event can be viewed here.
Past Kāpiti Rapids can be viewed here.

The annual Kāpiti Rapid Chess tournament is on this Saturday, and with the interest shown so far, it promises to be another great day of chess on the Kāpiti Coast. All are welcome. See here for details how to join in. You can also follow it on Vega here.

Round 4 of the Club Champs this week. Geoffrey Gunawan followed up his earlier draw against Club Champ Gordon Lyall, with a 22-move win over top-rated Club player Ross Jackson – some 490 rating points higher! See their game here. Geoffrey now leads outright on 3½ from 4, with Gordon next on 3 (see his game here), followed by a chasing pack on 2½. Full current standings and results can be found here. With three more rounds left in the competition, the Tom Powell Trophy is still up for grabs. Will Geoffrey continue his good form, or will the bigger guns, or even one of the lesser guns, prevail! Stay tuned.

A reminder that the annual Kāpiti Rapid is on 21 November. It is is open to everyone and promises to be a great day. See here for details.

Ross Jackson leads the Kāpiti Chess Club Champs after the second round with a win this week over Hamish Lester. Geoffrey Gunawan also did well to secure to a draw against  2019 Champion Gordon Lyall, and both now share second place on 1.5 points. Full standings after round 2 can be seen here.

Above: Move 6 in a marathon 92 move battle between Guy Burns and David Scott. The game had plenty of rook and pawn endgame practice, after having reached a largely even endgame by move 26. Guy unluckily mis-stepping near the end to allow David in for the late win.  See game here.

The 2020 Kāpiti Chess Club Championship got underway this week. Round 1 results went mostly the way of the higher rated player, with the exception of Geoffrey Gunawan winning a nice game against Guy Burns (see here).  On full points after one round are Ross Jackson, Gordon Lyall, David Paul, Geoffrey Gunawan, and Hamish Lester (bye). See results here. 

The annual Kāpiti Rapid tournament has been set for Saturday November 21. It is an NZCF rated tournament over 6 rounds, open to players of all levels, with prizes in different grades. It promises to be a great day of chess. Come and support chess in Kāpiti. Entry form and details here.     

The Kāpiti Rapid was first run in 1991, and has been supported by players from beginner level to New Zealand champions. For a history of past tournaments, including winners, tournament reports and photos click here.

The second and final leg of the 2020 KCC Blitz Cup was played this week. Gordon Lyall maintained his good form of late with another picket fence 7 from 7. Second equal were Geoffrey Gunawan and David Scott on 5, with Geoffrey in good form picking up David Paul’s scalp, and very unlucky against David Scott.  Combining second leg scores with those from the first series played back in August, sees David Paul come out overall winner, and he retains the Blitz Cup for another year. Congratulations! Brandon Holman comes in second.  Final results can be found here.

Next week sees the first week of the Club Championships. There’s prizes in three grades, so players of all  levels welcome.

2019 Club Champion, Gordon Lyall was unstoppable again this week with another 2 wins from 2 to make it a picket fence 8 from 8, and worthy winner of this year’s Leo Eichholtz Rapid trophy. One of our newest members, Pavlo Chudinov was a worthy second on 6, with a large bunch behind on 4. See final results here. 

Dual Kāpiti and Wellington club member, Ross Jackson headed down to Dunedin last week to compete in the 2020 South Island Champs, held 3-9 October. Ross scored a creditable 4 from 7,  even in the running for a placing going into the last round… “The South Island Chess Championship was a wonderful occasion… Dunedin is a beautiful city…” Click  here for the rest of Ross’s report, including photos and one of his games. For the record Matthew McNabb, from the Canterbury Club took out the champs. See the NZCF website for results.

Blitz fun returns next week for the second and final leg of the Club’s Blitz Cup. The week after that, the Club will head into its Club Championships. 

Finally, for light interest, an interesting article on this year’s global boom on online chess, and some of its associated challenges. 

Week 3, and rounds 5 and 6 of the Leo Eichholtz 25+5 rapid tournament played this week at the Kāpiti Chess Club. Gordon Lyall continued his unbeaten run winning both games, against David Paul, and Brandon Holman. He now has an unbeatable lead with two rounds to go and is guaranteed at a least a share of the Trophy. Congratulations Gordon! Mike O’Rorke also had a good night winning against Lars Dobbertin-King and Guy Burns. Standings after six weeks: Gordon Lyall, 6 from 6;  Pavlo Chudinov and David Scott on 4, followed by a large bunch on 3. See full results here.

Some great match ups this week as the Club moved into Rounds 3 and 4 of its annual 25 + 5 rapid competition for the Leo Eichholtz Board. Gordon Lyall made it 2 from 2 again with wins over Geoffrey Gunawan and Pavlo Chudinov, and leads on 4 points at this halfway stage. David Scott also took 2 from 2 against John Whibley and Brandon Holman to be a point behind on 3. Both his games had a element of luck, with John, under great time pressure, missing a likely draw, while Brandon gave David a lesson in how not to play his favoured London – with a super advantage after just 6 or 7 moves (see game here). A large pack, comprising most of the rest of the players, are sitting third on 2 points, testament to the close strength of the competition. See full standings here.

Photo: Down to the final seconds of an exciting last game of Round 3. Geoffrey Gunawan pushes Club Champion Gordon Lyall, but Gordon prevails. For more Club photos, click here.

With Covid Alert Levels back to 1, it was great to get back to over the board chess this week at the Kāpiti Chess Club, for the second time this year. The Club got straight into its popular rapid competition,  the Leo Eichholtz Board, played with a 25m + 5s time control.

After the first two rounds, three players, Gordon Lyall, Geoffrey Gunawan and Andy Hicks, had 2 points from the night, with a large bunch getting at least one win. Results, so far, can be found here. The competition will continue with 6 more rounds played over the next three weeks. 

With over-the-board meetings  temporarily suspended due to Covid-19, the club has resumed its online meetings on lichess. Week three of these last night saw Gordon run out again as champion on the night, making it three from three.  Results can be found here.  Games are typically played in a Blitz 5m + 5s format, which can often lead to exciting finishes, as one or more players get low on time. Here is one such game from this week between David and Lars.

The weekly competitions, known as ‘Arenas’, run every Tuesday from 7:30 pm to 9 pm, while NZ remains in Level 2. All are welcome to participate. 

This week the Club indulged in some blitz fun with the first of two nights contested for the Blitz Cup. After 8 rounds of 3 minute per side action, last year’s co-winner David Paul looks well on track to retain his hold on this trophy, with an impressive 7.5 out of 8. In second equal place was Guy Burns and Brandon Holman on 6. See results here.

Special mention to junior member Valera (pictured above), who was very unlucky not to come away with a great upset win over David in Round 5, with a single misstep in the endgame that would have otherwise seen his pawn queen and win. Nevertheless, a good effort ending up as first placed junior with 3 wins from 6 rounds played.

Next week sees the first night of the Leo Eichholtz Trophy. Two rounds of 25 m + 5 s games.

A great turnout, some great match-ups, and with no clear winner yet decided, it promised to be an exciting final round of the KCC Winter Cup. 

It could have been either of the David’s, and in the end it was both. David Paul found new member Pavlo equal to the challenge. After securing a small material advantage from a close game, he was forced to accept a perpetual check draw. Meanwhile, David Scott was eventually outplayed by top seed Ross, after being a pawn up after the opening. This left both David’s on 5 out of 7 and joint winners of the Cup for 2020. After trading his queen for two rooks, Geoffrey held on against a tenacious Guy to win their game, and take top junior placing, and third equal overall with Ross  Jackson.  Some other good games saw Brandon beat Mike, and John Whibley beat Gordon. Other new comers John Eccles, Chris and Rhys also winning their games.  See results here.

With  improvements in a number of members, and with the introduction of some strong new members, there is now a much larger pool of players who are competing more closely against each other. This has made for an enjoyable and interesting seven weeks of Winter Cup competition, and also bodes well for future Club competitions. 

Next week is Blitz night, and some crazy fun!

This week saw an exciting penultimate round to the Club’s Winter Cup.  This saw the potential pool of players who could  win the competition reduce from nine down to two.  After six rounds, David Scott leads on 5 points, half a point ahead of David Paul on 4.5, followed by a group of four on 3.5 points, but who are now out of contention.  David S will need at least a draw against top seed Ross next week to keep a share of the prize, while a win for David P could see him win outright. It promises to be an exciting finale next week! Congratulations also to our newest members Pavlo and John who have been  acquitting themselves very well against some of the more  seasoned members. Full results from this week can be found here. 

This week, round 5 of the Kapiti Chess Club 2020 Winter Cup, saw another good turn out, and some great match ups and results. 

David Paul ended David Scott’s recent run of results, outplaying him in the endgame after a tight contest up to then. Guy Burns beat Ross Jackson, and Geoffrey Gunawan beat John Whibley, while the Club’s newest member,  Pavlo Chudinov got his second win of the tournament to join what is now  a large pack of potentially 9 players who could win the Cup with two more rounds to go. Full results and standings can be found here. Stay tuned!

It was great to see so many players along this week, with a two-year attendance high for the club making for some exciting match-ups as the Winter Cup moved into Round 4.

David Scott was lucky after grabbing a poisoned pawn that should have cost him a piece, ended up being the hole his own pawn eventually could push through for the win. He now leads, 4 from 4. A chasing bunch of 6 players are all sitting second equal on 2.5, and with 3 rounds to go, nothing is yet certain. Full results can be found here.

A second game from this week, Brandon Holman v David Paul can also be found here.

The Club welcomed no less than four new faces this week as competition heated up at the mid way stage of the Winter Cup. David Scott held off in a typically tight battle against John Whibley, and now leads the competition outright after three rounds, ahead of Guy Burns half a point behind. The game of the night was between top seed Ross Jackson and last year’s winner David Paul, which went late into the evening. Any chances of a win looked only to be with David, but tight and accurate defense eventually saw the players agreeing a draw. Newcomers Chris and Pavlo also fared well, both coming away with a win on their first outing. Full results can be found here.

David and Ross battle late into the evening – Round 3 of the Winter Cup.

This week the battle for the Winter Cup moved into its second week. Unlike last week, all games this week went to the stronger rated player. On top board, improving Geoffrey Gunawan fought hard against David Scott to repeat his upset win last week, but David prevailed in the end, to go 2 from 2, and take the outright lead going into the next round.  You can see their game here.  Guy Burns, Liam Parkes and John Whibley all currently share second, albeit all, for the moment, with the help of byes. Full results can be here, and more photos can be found here.

Below: Geoffrey and Mark in action against the two David’s, with Brandon in the background.

The 2020 Winter Cup got underway this week. This long format tournament was first run last year, and provides a fresh change to the 10 minute rapid online Club battles of recent lockdown months. Round one Swiss tournaments often predictably go to the stronger top half players, but not this week, with two top players, and almost a third, upset. After Round 1, Geoffrey Gunawan, David Scott, John Whibley, Mike O’Rorke, and newcomer John Eccles all came away with a win, and Liam Parkes also joins them with the bye. Full results can be found here.

It was great to meet  face to face again this week as the club resumed its over the board meetings after three months of COVID-induced lockdown. Members eased back into it with a relaxed night of casual chess. A revised calendar of events for the rest of the year has been  posted, with competition starting again next week with the Winter Cup.  

The Club met online over a dozen times during lockdown, attracting members, past and present, as well as visitors and out-of-towners, and there looks to be interest in continuing to hold online meetings from time to time, in addition to physical meetings on Tuesdays. Online the club meets here, so keep a eye out for upcoming online events.