Hamilton Chess Club

The club welcomes Vincent Prei as its newest member. Vincent is a very strong player and will give the the clubs stronger players a run for their money. Welcome Vincent

Richard takes out the 17 and 0. We will start a new two week tournament next week. NEW MEMBERS AND GUESTS WELCOME

We started another six round Swiss last night, three games per night over 2 nights, at 17 + 0. Cross table is below. Late comers can be added so come along next week at 7pm if you want to join in.

With extreme sadness we note the passing of our chess colleague, club stalwart, and dear friend Hilton Bennett. Club nights will never be the same. A terrible blow to Waikato chess, and the broader chess community. The following is from the NZCF website

We mourn the loss of our dear chess friend and colleague Hilton Bennett who very sadly passed away on November 12th after suffering a serious heart attack on Wednesday afternoon, November 9th.

Hilton was a colossus on the New Zealand Chess scene for many decades giving dedicated service as a councillor for the central North Island region and taking on many responsibilities in chess administration with an emphasis on junior coaching and facilitator for many training workshops. He was invaluable in his role in representing NZ at Chess Olympiads dating back to the early 2000s as the Head of Delegation. It was during these events that his organizational and people skills came to the fore as many past team members can testify.

Hilton was a passionate chess player and always gave 100% in his effort to play the best he could. He continually worked to improve his game. Recently he placed 3rd= in the 2022 Asian Seniors 65+ division and prior to that gained 3rd place in the 65+ section at the 2022 Malaysian Chess Festival in September. Hilton was part of the 1998 Auckland team that competed in the Asian Cities Championships in the Genting Highlands in Malaysia and the following year represented NZ at the 1999 World Cities and Asian Teams Championships in Shenyang, China. Hilton’s international tournament successes included 1st= place at the 1st Fiji International tournament in Suva in 2003 and 1st place in the Palau International tournament in Koror in 2006.

Hilton held the titles of FIDE Candidate Master, FIDE Trainer, and FIDE International Organiser, as well as the national arbiter title, and was a life member of the New Zealand Chess Federation.

Hilton was also a passionate chess historian and was continually on the lookout for historical NZ Chess literature. He had impressive knowledge in this field.

He will be sadly missed by all who had the good fortune to know him as a wonderful colleague and friend.

— Paul Spiller, NZCF VP

The final crosstab appears below. We will start a new event next week. New players welcome.

As the club is now up and running the pause on subscription status no longer applies. We had around a year off, so everyones sub has been credited with an additional 12 months. You can see when your sub expires here. Note that even though the club was in recess we have continued to pay the $10 NZCF levy for members on their behalf.

A better turnout this week with 16 players. We started a six round Swiss over 3 nights, 2 games per night, at time control 25 + 3. Cross table so far is below. Come along next week, we can accommodate late entries. See you then !!!!

Turnout was not quite what we had hoped for after the long covid recess, but there were enough players to have a five round round robin all play all at 10+0. The cross table is below. Brendan makes a return appearance having briefly been at the club a few years back. Vincent represents new blood and enters with an impressive 5 and 0 score. Lets hope we get a few more souls returning next week. Depending on numbers we will look to have a multiweek tournament at longer time control. THE CLUB IS UP AND RUNNING SO COME ALONG

At long last we are able to restart the club. With school exams underway and then holidays the first regular club night will be 18 October. Term four is a short one but we should be able to get in eight weeks play before the Summer shutdown. We will kick off with a six round covid-buster blitz, followed by some longer format games on subsequent nights. Dont be late. Doors open 7pm and games start soon thereafter. All welcome and especially new and prospective members. SEE YOU SOON

The Hamilton Chess Club remains in recess for the moment as result of the current COVID situation. The club will review its position at the end of June, in the light of changes in infection levels in the community, options for playing chess over the board in this situation, and the requirements of our playing venue. We will update our members again at that point. In the meantime, any portions of player subs will be carried forward as previously indicated. Obviously we all look forward to being able to meet and play again safely at some point, but at present we feel that this is the right option.

Sadly the reality of the looming Omicron surge means the club remains in recess for the foreseeable future.

The club is in recess due to covid lockdown. Subscriptions will be credited for the time the club is not running.

Club ratings have been updated up to and including last nights games. 

We now have 24 players in the club rapid, including three new members that joined last night. The club welcomes Jamal Leask,Guillaume Pierry, and Dominic Wilshier. Standings after two rounds are below. See you next week.

Club Rapid at round 1. We have 19 players competing. It is not too late to join in round 2. See you next week. Round 1 results below

Poen takes out the B division with 6 points, well ahead of the second place getter on 3!. Richard first in the A division also on 6. No crosstables this time as I didnt copy them to the USB. See you next term.

The club calendar for the rest of the year is now published. We will finish this term tomorrow night with Winter (2) rounds 5 and 6. That is followed by a 2 week break for the school holidays. We will resume for term 3 on 27 July with the club rapid champs over six weeks. The time control will be a little longer this year at 30/15. The complete calendar is available here

The club only runs when the whole country is in level one. As Wellington will remain in level two we will have a night off this coming Tuesday. Hopefully things are back to normal the following week