Hamilton Chess Club

The club welcomes Jason Nairn as its newest member. Jason has won one game so far in the club rapid champs, and enters the rating table on 1506. Welcome Jason

The Club Rapid tournament is now in full swing and runs through until 9 August (with a 2 week break for the school holidays) so it will be members only until 16 August, when we will start the winter cup. If you are interested in joining up check out the calendar to work out when the best nights would be to come along

Twenty four players have turned out for this years club rapid. Round 2 next week, don’t be late. The crosstable so far is  below.

Club ratings have been updated incorporating games played at the rapid on Saturday. Only games between club members have been incorporated. Richard managed to reach 1700, briefly at least, until Prashant managed a win in round five.

We had 49 players for the Waikato Rapid held  June 18 at St Paul’s Collegiate. Previously we have used the excellent school staff room as the location. This year the tournament took advantage of a new student centre which was an even better venue. We will hold this years’ Waikato Open in this building next month, and we hope to take advantage of this in future years.

The prize winners were

Open:
1st=  Bob Smith, Etienne De Beer (5)
3rd   Gino Thornton  (4.5)
Grade Prize
Graham Nolan, Milton Severinsen  (3)

Under 1800:
1st  Oliver Picken  (5.5)
2nd William Lynn  (5)
3rd=  Don Eade, Hilton Jacobs, Damian Eades
Grade I Prize
Sravan Renjith, Vyanla Punsalan  (3.5)
Grade II Prize
Lara Heppenstall  (3.5)

Under 1200 / Junior
1st  Michail Andreef  (6)
2nd Joel Crombie  (5)
3rd=  Sean Clark, Tiana Mayo, Grace Li, Alexander Mayo  (4)
Grade Prize
Nathan Alegado  (3.5)

The entire crosstable is located here, and the usual rogues gallery is here.

We had a very successful rapid tournament today with close to 50 players turning out. Full blog post with final crosstables and prize allocations will follow shortly

The Waikato Rapid is today, 18th June. The Waikato Open is 29th July. Details are below:

The tournament flyer is located here, and the registration page is here

The Tournaments:

An Open and an under 1800 tournament, each a six round Swiss with a time control of all moves in 90 minutes plus an increment of 30 seconds per move. Both tournaments will be FIDE and nationally rated events, and are therefore open only to NZCFregistered players (or overseas players registered with their national federation). Non-NZL players must have a FIDE ID issued by their national chess federation. Players under 1800 NZCF rating may enter the Open tournament, but the organisers reserve the right to move players between events if they feel that it is appropriate. The event will be subject to the “Rules of the Waikato Chess Open”.

Venue: Saint Paul’s Collegiate School, Hukanui Road, Hamilton

No smoking will be permitted at the venue. St Paul’s Collegiate has a total non-smoking policy.

Timetable:

Friday 29th        Rnd 1 7.15 pm

Saturday 30th        Rnd 2 9.00 am        Rnd 3 2.00 pm        Rnd 4 7.00 pm

Sunday 31st        Rnd 5 9.00 am        Rnd 6 2.00 pm

A players’ meeting will be held at 7.00 pm Friday. A prize-giving will follow the completion of the last game on Sunday.

Half Point Bye Round: Any player may elect to take a half point bye in either round 1 or 4. For round 1 this must be notified with your entry, and for round 4 before the start of round 3. This can be noted on the entry slip below.

Prize Fund:

Open Tournament: 1st $325, 2nd $200, 3rd $150

Grade Prizes: cash and chess book prizes to the value of $175

Under 1800 Tournament: 1st $175, 2nd $125, 3rd $75

Grade Prizes: cash and chess book prizes to the value of $175

Best result by a Waikato player – title of “Waikato Champion” plus Waikato Open “Len Whitehouse Memorial” Championship Trophy. Best result by a Waikato Junior – the “William Lynn Cup”

Entry Fees:

$60 Open section      $50 U1800 section

In addition an NZCF player registration fee of $20 applies, if not already registered for 2016

There is a $10 late fee if paid after 27 July

The club welcomes Santosh Mallapa as its newest member. Santosh has played 11 games that are rated so far and enters the ratings board on a resepectable 1601 making him the clubs seventh strongest active player. Welcome Santosh

We will commence the Club Rapid next week. This will be a members only event with time control 25 + 5, one game per night over 6 nights. The first three games will run over the next three weeks, with rounds 4, 5 and 6 after the school holiday break. One half point bye allowed if notified prior to the draw, no byes in the last 2 rounds.  If you are not currently a member but want to take part then you can join on the first night.

A single division Swiss Style Tournament. The overall winner will be awarded the title Club Rapid Champion 2016 and receive all the accolades that are associated with the title. The highest rated junior  will be awarded the title Club Junior Rapid Champion 2016.

The draw will be based on current club ratings. New players without a club rating will be assigned 1500 points for the purposes of the  draw.

No late entries allowed – so if you can’t make it on the first night let me know and you will be awarded a bye. Also if you want to play but might be a little late on the first night let me know and I will include you in the draw. Please don’t turn up late and expect to be added to the draw. Entries will not be accepted in week two or beyond.

Games start at 7.30pm – a 10 minute late time applies (your game is lost if you are 10 minutes late). Clocks will be started at 7:30 even if neither player is present.

Usual FIDE laws apply with  the exception of the Hamilton Chess Club Special Rules found on the website. Although Hamilton Chess Club Special Rules do not call for game forfeit if your mobile goes off please be considerate and set your phone to silent. Disputes committee will be club executive (Hilton Ian and Richard). If one or two of the disputes committee is/are party to a dispute, the remaining member(s) will constitute the disputes committee.  Ties will be decided using tie breaks according to the NZ  standard  1. Direct Encounter. 2. Cumulative (Sum of Progressive Scores). 3. Total Buchholz. 4. Sonneborn-Berger. 5. Buchholz Cut1.   If still tied the award will be shared.

Please bring a pen if you wish to record your games. Recording is not mandatory, but if you don’t record your game you will not be allowed to claim a draw for the 50 move rule or 3 fold repetition unless agreed by your opponent.

The tournament flyer is here, and the registration page is located here

A select crew of 14 turned out for the club blitz champs last night, many members obviously prioritizing the All Blacks over chess club for the night. Richard was crowned club blitz champ for the third year in a row, and Cooper took the title of club Blitz Champion (Junior). We will commence the  club rapid champs next week, one game per night at 25 + 5. Rules will be as for 2015. Don’t be late. And don’t forget to sign up for this Saturday’s rapid at St Pauls.

Waikato Rapid 2016 — This Saturday 18th June

St. Paul’s Collegiate School, Hamilton

The tournament flyer is here, and the registration page is located here

Three NZCF rapid rated 6 round Swiss tournaments, with each player having 25 minutes plus 5 seconds increment from move one. Open, Under 1800, and Junior/under 1200 Divisions. The Open and Under 1800 Divisions will be FIDE rated. Minimum total prize fund to the value of $1,400. All players must be NZCF registered. Non-NZL players must have a FIDE ID issued by their national chess federation. Players under 1800 NZCF rating may enter the Open tournament, but the organisers reserve the right to move players between events if they feel that it is appropriate.

Minimum Prize fund:

Open Division:  1st $300; 2nd $175; 3rd $100;

Under 1800:  1st $175; 2nd $125; 3rd $50;

Under1200/Junior (Under 18 years on 1st January 2016):  1st $100; 2nd $70; 3rd $40;

Plus grade prizes (cash & chess books) to a total value of $375 across the three divisions.

This year’s NZ Chess Federation  Interschool Chess Waikato Regional Tournament will be held on Sunday 7 August. There will be three divisions (Primary, Intermediate and Secondary) with the top team in each division representing the Waikato at the National NZCF Finals, September 24th – 25^th, in Palmerston North.  Garry and Gerri Judkins once again doing sterling work with the organizing.  Team entry forms and details are available here

Unfortunately club Blitz Round 1 had to be abandoned last night due to a computer malfunction. We had a relatively loosely organized informal blitz evening instead. The club Blitz championship will be decided next week based on the six games played that night (after we get a new computer!)

The club blitz champs will run for the next two Tuesdays. Time control is 5 + 3. There will be six games per night over each of the two nights with points aggregated to decide the title of club rapid champ and club junior rapid champ. The draw for each night will be based on current club ratings. New players without a club rating will be assigned 1500 points for the purposes of the  draw. Games start at 7.30pm. Usual FIDE laws apply with  the exception of the Hamilton Chess Club Special Rules found on the website. If two players tie for the title  (for instance if  Ian and Richard both end up with 12 points each) a tie break based on the second night only will apply as follows:  1. Direct Encounter. 2. Cumulative (Sum of Progressive Scores). 3. Total Buchholz. 4. Sonneborn-Berger. 5. Buchholz Cut1.   If still tied the award will be shared.