Senior Club News

Kapiti Chess Club took part in their first-ever Bledisloe Cup match yesterday, facing off against Canterbury. The Bledisloe Cup, originally presented by the Governor-General in 1933, was traditionally contested by the major metropolitan clubs. Today, the event has embraced modern technology and now uses a hybrid format, leveraging online chess servers to make inter-regional matches possible.

Despite a narrow loss for Kapiti, the match was a resounding success and thoroughly enjoyed by all involved. It marks an exciting milestone for the club and sets the stage for more inter-regional encounters in the future.

The match result:

Some key match-ups this week in Round 5 of our Club Champs. Both Mikhael and David S had wins on Boards 3 and 4 to push them up to second equal place, along with David P who shared the point with Ross in their critical clash on Board 2. On Board 1 up and coming Stanley pushed frontrunner Gordon hard and late into the evening, in a great game that brought out some of Gordon’s best positional class play to see him eventually prevail and cement his lead after 5 rounds. Results and standings here.

This weekend we take on Canterbury Chess Club as part of the new NZCF Bledisloe Cup interclub comp. Should be fun!

Round 5 clash Stanley v Gordon

Last week we took a break from our Club Champs to play the third and final leg of our Blitz Cup. Congrats to Gordon who won the night with 8 out of 10, followed by Brendan on 7.5 and Stanley on 7. When last night’s results are combined with the first two legs played earlier in the year, Gordon remains on top and wins the Blitz Cup for 2025 with 24 from 27, ahead of runner-up Brendan on 22.5, and David P in third on 18. Congrats. Final results here: 

This week we take a break to play the third and final leg of our Blitz Cup.

After 2 rounds in the 2025 Senior Club Champs, just Ross and David S remain unbeaten on 2, with a big chasing pack David P, Chris, Gordon and Stanley just half a point behind. There’s still 6 rounds to go, but it’s already shaping to be a close comp with few easy games. Round 1 saw Mikhael hold current Club Champ Gordon to a draw, while Brendan and Stanley’s draw showed how exciting endgame play can get. This week’s games ran mostly to form, but with David pipping Brendan with well-worked positional pressure on the kingside. Current results and standings here

Our annual Freestyle (aka Chess 960 or Fischer Random) tournament wrapped up this week. Congrats to Gordon who took out the event with 6½ from 8 ahead of Ross in second place on 6½. Final results here.

In Freestyle chess the starting positions of back rank pieces are randomised. There are 960 different possibilities of starting positions. This variant of chess aims to remove memorisation of opening theory, where players have to rely on their other skills  from move 1. It has grown rapidly in popularity and significance, with now recognised world events involving the best players in the world.  It is great fun, and can and does trip even experienced higher rated players. As well illustrated in this game from Round 3. Oliver (rated several hundred points lower than his opponent) shows how it’s done in just 5 moves.

1 .b4 b5
2 Bb2 Bb7
3. Nb3 Nc6
4. e4 Nxb4
5. 0-0-0  Nxa3 #

The final leg of the Club’s annual 10+5 Freebird Cup tournament was decided this week. This tournament is played over three separate legs each of 8 rounds of 10m+5s games.

Congratulations to Gordon who cleaned up the third leg with an impressive unbeaten 8 from 8, followed by Lars on 6 and Stanley on 5.5.

When results from all three legs are combined, David P takes out the Freebird Cup again with 16.5 points, ahead of Gordon and Stanley on 15. He retains the Cup from last year, and has now held it eight times since it was first played for in 2011. Congratulations.

Finals results and standings here.

Next week we start our annual Freestyle (Fischer-Random) tourney.

Ross won Series 2 of the Winter Cup unbeaten with 5/6, but David Paul secured the overall title by half a point ahead of Ross and Brendan. The event was decided in the final round, where Brendan, the leader going in, lost a complicated game. Congratulations to David on his strong performance. Final standings are available here.

Congrats to Gordon and David P who take out the first leg of this year’s Winter Cup, with 4½ from 6. Stanley and Brendan were next on 4. Final standings are here.

There were few easy games this tournament, and the frontrunners were made to work hard at times, with a number of great close games with the rest of the pack that left the outcome up for grabs right up to the end.

Next week, we have a change of pace with a Blitz night, before heading back to series 2 for the Winter Cup.

Round 5: Stanley v Brett – Tim looks on

Series 2 of our annual  Leo Eichholtz tournament wrapped up recently. Congratulations to Gordon who takes out the distinctive chess board trophy for the fourth time in seven years. However, it took until the penultimate round  (round 11 of 12 over the combined two series) before the result was decided in the key match up between the top 2, Gordon and David P. A close battle only getting decided with some nice endgame play in the time scramble. Guy also played solidly throughout both series joining David P for a share of second place. Final standings here.

This week we enjoyed a  fun variant night of hand and brain – and a nice change to play as a pair rather than solo. Congrats to Stanley and David who managed to go undefeated, however not without some trouble in Round 3 as hand Stanley took brain David out of his book on move 1 with 1. e4! Results here.

The 2025 Kāpiti Rapid Open was held last weekend at Paraparaumu College. The tournament drew a field of 64 players, the largest in its 31-year history. The honours were shared between former NZ champion Anthony Ker – who played in the first running of this tournament back in 1991, and who wins it for the sixth time, and up and coming former NZ junior champion Ollie Archer. Final results were:

Full standings and results from each round can be found here.
Games from the top 8 boards can be found here.
And photos from the day can be found here.

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.

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.