Hamilton Chess Club

“Chess is the greatest game ever invented, because it only looks like a game.”

Last night was sadly Peter Hulshof’s final visit to the club as he prepares to return to Holland in two weeks. We have enjoyed Peter’s company (and that of his two girls Maimoena and Zamiena as juniors) over the brief time that he has been with us. We wish him all the best for the future.

We will have casual chess for the next two weeks (23/4/2013 & 30/4/2013) because of the school holidays. The Club Champs will resume on 7/5/13 and run for 5 more weeks. If you have been thinking of checking out the club then casual nights are the best place to start. After the club champs are finished we will have a few nights of more rapid fire chess with anyone welcome to join in so coming along then would be a good idea also. (Club Champ nights are member only chess consisting of longer games with the opponents designated in advance, so not a great night to check us out if you are a prospective new member)

Last night produced some close games for round 3. In the end Eddie and Hilton tied and Michael beat Graham. There are now four players tied on 2.5 points. The Crosstable and ratings have been updated. Casual chess for the next 2 weeks.

Club ratings have been updated to include games from Round 1 of the Club Champs, Autumn Rookies, and now round 2 of the Club Champs. As expected some players made good gains from the Rookies.

Dont forget you can follow Hamilton Chess Club on facebook!

A belated welcome to Emi Ng who joined as a member in early March but didnt receive the customary acknowledgement due to an oversite on the part of Ian. Emi has been coming along with brother Daniel for some time now and has a club rating of 924 following participation in all 5 rateable tournaments so far this year. Emi brings the number of fully paid up club members to 25.

The club champs crosstable has been updated. Eddie Christopher and Hilton are in the lead. Dont forget, games start 7:15 next week for round 3. There will then be two weeks of casual chess and round 4 will resume May 8th

We had a great turnout with 33 for the Autumn Rookies. A special thankyou to the competitors who made the effort to come down from Auckland, and those that came from Tauranga. The prize winners were:  First overall – David Chen;  Second equal (despite four tiebreaks) – Erwin Pacua and Daniel Davis. Age division prizes went to Sivaram Manoharan (U16), Benjamin Symon (U14), Nigel Tee (U12), Nikolai Tee (U10), Daniel Plant (U8), and Emma Salazar (U6). Emma is only five and a half but has been playing at the MC Cup Tournaments in Auckland since she was 4. She won the Pawns division of that tournament in February and is now in the Rooks division. She is coached by Paul Macdonald from Chess Power and attends the Auckland Chess Center’s Thursday nights for juniors. There is no doubt she will be a force over the board in a few years time. The crosstable is here, and a few photos are here.  (Thanks to Erwin for providing additional photos). Club members that participated will have their club ratings adjusted shortly. Thanks to all for a most enjoyable tournament.

Thanks to Michael who is now officially the Club Ratings Officer for reworking all the ratings for this year and posting the revised and improved ratings. Club ratings will continue to be updated on a game by game basis for financial members using an ELO type system. Check out where you sit on the club rankings. Ratings sit at the top right of the main page

We have 27 entrants so far and likely a few more on the day, allowing extra prizes. There will now be prizes for: 1^st  ($50), 2^nd ($40), and 3^rd ($30) overall, plus age prizes for U16 U14 U12 U10 and U8. And there might even be a few spot prizes at the end for those that miss out on any of the monetary awards.

Club performance ratings have proved popular. Currently Michael is reworking the ratings so that rather than a simple performance rating after each tournament there will be real ratings more akin to an official ELO system. (Check out Wikipedia if you want to know the difference between a performance rating and an ELO style rating). The bottom line is there is that the ratings will be a more accurate reflection of your performance in club events. The ratings page will be updated shortly …..

The Autumn Rookies is this Sunday at the club’s rooms, Hamilton Girls’ High School. Registration from 11am. We have 28 entrants so far so it is going to be a great event. We can still accommodate another 6 or so entrants, so it is not too late to sign up. See you there.

Last night saw the launch of the club’s premiere in house event, the club championship. This year there are 19 contenders for the coveted title. Time control is 45 minutes, plus 10 seconds per move. The event will run over eight rounds, with a two week interlude during the school holidays. The crosstable so far is located here

Last night two new members joined the club. We welcome Clayton Howard and Daniel Zhuang. Both Clayton and Daniel have been coming along for the last several weeks and have now decided to commit to membership (and participate in the Club Champs).