Hamilton Chess Club

With the school holidays on last night was to be a casual chess night, but the cry went up for a round robin so an impromptu seven rounds of 3 + 3 eventuated. Graham top scored on 7 points. Richard and Ian tied for second with 5 each. Club ratings have been updated (Craig, Ian, and Graham achieve new personal bests, with Graham now number 3 in the club ranking). Casual chess again next week. Visitors welcome. (last nights crosstable appears below …) (more…)

Gary and his wife Gerri (with Hiltons able assistance as arbiter and doing the draw) ran a very successful 7 round Swiss tournament for Waikato school pupils on the weekend. There were 56 participants – 20 high school, 22 intermediate, and 14 primary. Club members featured prominently with Daniel and Sivoram 1 – 2 in the high school division, and Adam and Joel 2 – 4 in the Primary. The final crosstables, and a few photos, are here. Congratulations to all the participants, and we look forward to seeing you again next year.

The ratings page has been updated incorporating the games from the club champs. Several members have achieved personal bests (Hilton Bennett, 1645; Eddie Tan, 1587; Gary Judkins, 1577, Ian Kennedy, 1547; Craig Scott, 1506).  Richard Dare enters the rating board at position number 4, and Hilton takes top spot 2 points ahead of Michael. Full results can be accessed here.

Craig managed a 6 from 5 to take out the club junior champs. He receives a book prize, and his name immortalized on the former champs page. He also achieves a personal best club rating of 1506 Samuel and Joel took out second and third respectively. The final crosstable is posted here.

Hilton came out on top with a perfect 6 to be Club Champ 2014. Stefan had a chance in the final round with both players getting down to under a minute on the clock before Stefan resigned in the face of mounting pressure. Second place went to Eddie on 4.5, then Stefan 3^rd on tie break. The full crosstable is here.

The club championship is still wide open as tie break rules mean that if Stefan draws level with Hilton next week he may take out the top spot. On the other hand if Hilton wins against Stefan then Eddie could claim clear second if he wins his game, while others have the potential to come up to 4 points and take out the bronze on tie break. Similar considerations apply to The Junior division, with Samuel capable of drawing level with Craig, and then the decision coming down to tie break

The crosstables after five rounds of the club champs, and next weeks draw appear below. Remember clocks will start at 7:15 pm so dont be late

Open Division –Crosstable after 5 rounds

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Junior Division –Crosstable after 5 rounds

Next weeks’ draw

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Many members are now in arrears for their annual subs. Check out this page to see when your membership expires. Online payment preferred

The crosstables after 4 rounds of the club champs, and next weeks draw are below. No player requested byes in the final two rounds so the draw will stand as posted below. Remember clocks will start at 7:15 pm so dont be late

Open Division –Crosstable after 4 rounds

Junior Division –Crosstable after 4 rounds

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If, like me, you have already worked out that it is going to take another years practice before you are able to achieve the lofty title of Club Champ there are still other goals that you can strive for. Below is a list (in rank order) of those members that played in last years champs, and are featuring again this year. If you arent going to be on the podium, the next best thing would be to improve your rank order among this illustrious group.

Those of you that get the Hamilton Press may have seen the article on page 7 featuring Gary and his passion for using Chess in schools as a way of enhancing mathematical ability. Gary and Geri will once again running the Waikato School Pupils tournament, a flyer for which can be accessed here

The latest national ratings list has been released. Club members NZCF standard and rapid ratings, along with any change since the last rating, have been updated on the page “Who We Are”

Check the page “who we are” to see if your sub is due. Many memberships come due around now. Annual fees remain at last years level — $40 adult, $20 junior. On line payment is preferred.

The crosstables after three rounds of the club champs, and next weeks draw (assuming no one notifies a bye) are below. Please notify bye requests by Sunday evening or the draw will stand as posted below. Remember clocks will start at 7:15 pm so dont be late

Open Division – Crosstable after 3 rounds

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Junior Division –Crosstable after 3 rounds

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Next Weeks Draw (if no byes)

The crosstables after two rounds of the club champs, and next weeks draw (assuming no one notifies a bye) are below. Please notify bye requests by Sunday evening or the draw will stand as posted below. Remember clocks will start at 7:15 pm so dont be late

Open Division –Crosstable after 2 rounds

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Junior Division –Crosstable after 2 rounds

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Next Weeks Draw (if no byes)

The 2014 club championship kicked off last night with 15 players in the Open Division and 7 competing in the Junior division for  a total of 22 players. In the past 3 years we have had 16 entries (2011), 12 entries (2012) and 21 entries (2013). Maybe next year we can make it 25. Richard did well to take a draw off Stefan. Josh took a bye in the juniors because of school commitments, but will be joining the tournament next week. We had  a slightly slow start to get the draw sorted this week, but now that we are underway clocks will be starting at 7:15 sharp, whether you are there or not, so don’t be late.

The crosstables so far follow … (more…)

Dave Whiting and Nick Sayers joined the club last night and are now participating in this years Club Championship. Nick has been to the club on and off over the years but will now be coming on a regular basis. Based in Tirau Nick is a dedicated chess fan playing at the BOP club in Tauranga on Monday nights, and then with us on Tuesday nights! Welcome Nick. Dave also travels quite a distance to play as he is based in Ngaruawahia. He has previously played club chess in Christchurch, and at one point for the Abergavenny Chess Club (that’s in Wales boyo) where he had a respectable rating of 1880. I see from the the Abergavenny Chess Club ‘s website that they meet upstairs at the Kings Arms Hotel, a late sixteenth century coaching inn. I hope room G2, Hamilton Boys High School, can compare favourably to Daves former haunt! Dave started well in the tournament last night with a draw against Eddie. Welcome Dave.

The Club champs will run over six club nights starting  Tuesday 11^th March.

The format will be  start time 7.15pm, 1 game per night, open to paid up (as of 11/3/14) club members only . You can check when your sub is due by going to the website – About > Who We Are.  Online payments preferred, see the website for details. Remember No Sub No Play.

There will be an Open Division, and a Junior Division (stronger Junior members can elect to play in the Open Division if they wish; sadly – for some of us at least – weaker senior members cannot elect to play in the Junior division). The Junior division might run over five rounds depending on numbers, or even as a round robin.

The winner of the Open Division will be awarded the title Club Champion 2014. The winner of the Junior division will be awarded the title Club Junior Champion 2014 and will receive a book prize.

Entries will be seeded based on Current club ratings. No late entries allowed – so if you cant 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 after 7:15 and expect me to redo the draw.  Entries will not be accepted in week two or beyond

Time limit 45 minutes plus 10 seconds per move from move 1, as we need to be out of the room by 9:30. Junior division will be  25 minutes plus 5 seconds per move from move 1.

Games start at 7.15pm – a 30 minute late time applies (your game is lost if you are 30 minutes late). Late time for Juniors is 25 minutes.

Clocks will be started at 7:15 even if neither player is present.

Usual FIDE laws apply. 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.

Please bring a pen to record your games (recording is mandatory in the open divison, but optional for the  junior division).

One 1/2 point bye allowed per player, if notified to Ian the Sunday before the round that it applies.

No half point byes allowed in rounds 5 or 6.

Ties will be decided using  tie breaks in the following order:  Buchholz Cut 1, Buchholz Total, Buchholz Median, Sonneborn-Berger.  If still tied the award will be shared.

We have some serious chess coming up soon with the club champs, but members are urged to show a little more restraint than an Italian ‘cannibal’ lodger that confessed to a frenzied knife murder of Irish journalist over a midnight game of chess.  The Italian man cut open his Dublin landlord’s chest and tried to eat his heart following a fight over a chess match. Police said: ‘It’s one of the most horrific acts of violence committed against an innocent person in Irish history.’  Saverio Bellante, 34, was charged with murder. Police say he admitted his guilt after being arrested at the home he shared with Tom O’Gorman, a policy researcher for a conservative Catholic think tank in Ireland. Pathologists said the 39-year-old victim suffered dozens of severe knife wounds to his head and chest, which had been cut fully open. Ireland’s senior pathologist determined that the heart remained, but a lung was missing. The crime scene was said to be so shocking that the two officers who found the body will be sent for trauma counselling. Police offered no explanation for what happened to the lung. Evidence suggested that O’Gorman’s prone head and body also were bludgeoned with a dumbbell. Bellante called police to report the killing. He claimed to officers that he had cut open O’Gorman’s chest and tried to eat his heart after a dispute over a move in a chess match the two had been playing. Bellante offered no plea at his arraignment in a Dublin court. When Judge David McHugh asked him why he had no lawyers, Bellante said he wanted to represent himself and would decline state-funded legal aid. A policeman testified that, when charged with murder Bellante replied: ‘I am guilty.’ In the club champs members are urged not to resort to violence but to refer any disputes to the arbiter.

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.