Once again Hilton, with the able assistance of Keong Ang as Arbiter, put togethere a fantastic tournament with 37 entries from as far away as Nelson. Nine of the participants hold official FIDE titles of one sort or another reflecting the strength of the top boards, but the tournament also had a share of under 1200 rated players. Top score, and the title of Waikato Open Champion 2014, went to Michael Steadman on 5.5 out of 6. Mark Noble (5) came second, with Ben Hague and Ralph Hart sharing third equal (4.5). Under 1950 honours were shared by Jack James, Efrain Tionko, and Viv Smith (all on 3.5). Under 1700 first equal was shared by William Crombie and Philip Mukkattu (3.5). Joel Crombie and Toby Zhang shared first equal in the under 1200 grade (2). The William Lynn Cup for best result by a Waikato school pupil went to Daniel Davis. The Len Whitehouse Memorial Trophy (best result by a Waikato player) was shared by Hilton Bennett and William Crombie. The full crosstable is here, and some obligatory photos are here. The official NZCF record of the tournament can be found here. We look forward to seeing you all again next year.
Archive for June, 2014
The New Zealand Chess Federation page for the Waikato Open can be found here, with a list of confirmed entries so far
We have 37 confirmed entries for the tournament tomorrow night – it is still not too late if you want to register.
Winter cup rounds 3 and 4 last night. Daniel is in the lead on 3.5 followed by Richard Craig and Eddie. Club ratings have been updated with Craig Daniel and Nick achieving all time personal bests . Craigs rise is particularly notable — he has picked up 38 club rating points in his last 10 games. Richard has overtaken Michael as the top rated club player. Final two rounds next week, then a couple of weeks of blitz
Only two days to go until the Waikato Open. We have around 35 entries so far, keep those entries coming !
The first two rounds of the winter cup were held last night. Seventeen players turned out. Currently Daniel, Gary, and Eddie lead the pack on two points each. Craig picked up some valuable club rating points with a win against William followed by a draw against Milton. A permanent link to the crosstable can be found under Events >2014. Club ratings have been updated. It is not too late to join in next week. Remember games kick off 7:30 sharp so don’t be late.
Club ratings have been updated reflecting the first four rounds of the rapid and Richard has managed to knock Michael off top spot. Currently he sits on 1648 points. He will be looking to pick up a few more points now to see if he can break the all time club ranking high of 1658 points that Michael had set on 23/6/13. Hats off to Richard.
We will run the inaugural winter cup over the next three weeks. Format will be a six round Swiss with two games per night, each at time control 25 + 0. The tournament is open to non members and guests, so if you have been thinking of coming along for a look this is your chance.
After four rounds of the Club rapid championship Richard leads on 4 points, followed by Graham, Milton, William, and Daniel all on three points each. We will take a break from the rapid now, and then conclude with rounds 5 6 and 7 in September and October.
The club welcomes Dhusar Chatterjee as its 35th member. Dhusar is eleven and joins an expanding group of juniors at the club. He has played eight ratable games so far and enters the club rating board with 1458 points. Dhusar has already signed up for the Waikato open in a couple of weeks time. Welcome Dhusar.
Club rapid round 3 last night. Richard and Graham lead on three points each. The crosstable has been updated here. Round 4 next week with a break then until round 5 in September. We will run the Winter cup, two games per night over 3 nights from 17/6/2014 as set out in the calendar. Club ratings have been updated: Richard, Eddie, Milton and Dave achieved personal bests this week. Richard only needs a couple of points and he will knock Michael off of top spot.
Hamilton Chess Club 
