Hamilton Chess Club

Casual chess next week. New members welcome. We will start this year’s club champs in two weeks time on the 11th of March. There will be an open and a reserve division. Only financial members are eligible to play in the club champs.

The club gained its 33rd member with Richard Dare signing up last night. Richard is a strong player with an NZCF standard rating of 1796. He already has 26 club games eligible for a club rating with an impressive score of +15=6-5. That gives him a club rating of 1605 and makes him the fourth highest rated player in the club. Club ratings have been updated to include Richards games. Richard also prevailed in our “Doubles” tournament last night with a score of 8 out of 10. Welcome Richard.

Last nights novelty tournament involved a “Doubles” format, with players competing against an opponent on two boards simultaneously, one as black and the other as white, each with a separate clock. The time control was 7 minutes + 2 seconds on each of the two clocks and there were a total of five rounds meaning 10 games in all. Although sounding relatively simple on paper, in practice the mental switch required from black to white backwards and forwards proved a challenge. Richard Dare top scored on 9 out of a possible 10, followed by Daniel and Eddie on 8 points each. The games will not be used for club rating purposes. The full cross table can be seen here

We will have a novel tournament format next week – one that hasnt been seen previously at the club but is likely to prove a hit with members. We will start at 7:20pm sharp, so dont be late

The new club venue at Hamilton Boys High School looks great. Much more spacious and light than our previous digs. Thanks once again to Graham for organizing this for us. We had 16 players for opening night. A six round swiss tournament at 5 + 3 was won by William with 5 points, followed by Richard Dare on 4.5. Club ratings have been updated. The crosstable can be viewed below…

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Grandmaster NIGEL SHORT will give a 20-Board SIMULTANEOUS CHESS EXHIBITION Sunday, March 2nd. Games begin 1pm New Zealand National Chess Centre, Devonport St Paul’s, 100b Victoria Rd, Devonport, Auckland. English chess superstar and former World Championship Candidate Nigel Short will take on 20 players simultaneously at this inaugural chess event of New Zealand’s National Chess Centre in Devonport. Following welcome speeches from NZCF President Paul Spiller and North Shore MP Maggie Barry, Nigel will officially open the Centre by playing his first move. To Play: e-mail ncc@newzealandchess.co.nz to request a playing spot ($50), and, if accepted, bank details will be supplied for payment. Timetable: 12 noon, Doors Open. 1pm, Games begin. Exhibition ends approximately 4.30 pm. Spectators welcome

Starting at 7.30 pm on Tuesday the 18th of February we will be meeting at Hamilton Boys’ High School.

Directions

Enter HBHS from Argyle St (off Te Aroha St) and pass Argyle House (the boarding house) and the workshop on the right. Turn right just before the first block of classrooms and park at the flower boxes. We are meeting in the double storey classroom block closest to where you have parked.  E2 is the middle classroom on the ground floor.  Do not park beyond (or behind) the E block as they sometimes raise the security bars in the driveway and you won’t be able to get out. A map is on this page

See you all there.

New members very welcome.

Perhaps you need some cheering up after this weeks events. Check out this video for a chuckle

Apologies to those of you that might have turned up to chess club tonight. Unfortunately we received very late notification that Hamilton Girls High have baulked at our continued use of the classroom. The committee are exploring options as to where chess club meetings are to be held. Unfortuately until we come up with a satisfactory plan the club will go into temporary recess.