Hamilton Chess Club

We are currently part way through the annual club rapid championship. The format is one game per night over six weeks with time control 30 minutes, plus 10 seconds increment per move from move one. Hamilton Chess Club Special Rules, and the usual rules about awarding byes will apply. Note that this is a member only event, so if you are not a member check out the calendar for when new prospective members can come along and play

The astute among you will notice the hit counter at the top left of the webpage has been getting teasingly close to 100,000 hits over the last few weeks, and has now clocked over registering 100028 as this post goes up. The first post was made by Scott 0n 21/02/2011 which was 2675 days ago, so over that time we have averaged 37 hits per day. The average is a little inflated however, as we took several thousand hits with this Hamilton based international chess scandal that even made the front page of chess base

The club rapid kicked off last night. This years’ time control is a little longer than previous at 30 minutes plus 10 seconds. We have 34 players participating. The cross table after round one is below. Special mention to newcomer Joseph Hall who had winning chances against William Lynn. Eventually things simplified to a pawn and rook endgame and Joseph had to settle for a draw.

Games kick off at 7:30 next week but be there by 7:15 so we can do the draw. Do let Ian know if you won’t be playing as you can take a bye

Following an unprecedented surge in membership over the last few weeks the club now has 45 members. We welcome all the following as new members to the club: Ricky Hall, Talmage Scirkovich, Josh Holtham, Josef Gillgren, Cam Sundararaj, Shan Sundararaj, and Max Stephens. Club ratings have been updated so all new players can see where they sit on the ratings board.

We will start the annual club rapid championship next week. The format will be one game per night over six weeks. Time control to be 30 minutes, plus 10 seconds increment per move from move one. Hamilton Chess Club Special Rules, and the usual rules about awarding byes will apply. Note that this is a member only event, so if you are not already a member and want to take part you will need to join up next week

We had a new club record last night with 32 players turning up to join in the fun. In the end it was Richard on 5.5 for the tournament, followed by Prashanth and Hilton. That concludes the Autumn cup season and we will kick off the club rapid from next week

Thanks go to Hilton for organizing a great night on Tuesday with a 25 person Simul against Grandmaster Degan Bojkov from Bulgaria. Degan is in New Zealand at present due to his role as the Coach of NZ Open Team to Olympiad travelling to Batumi, Georgia this September. In 2009 Degan was champion of Bulgaria and member of the Bulgarian team at the European championships. He earned his GM title in 2008 and won the 48th Canadian Open Chess Championship in 2011. He was the trainer for Antoaneta Stefanova who was Women’s World Champion from 2004 to 2006. Degan’s current FIDE rating is 2478. The final score for the night was 24.5 to 0.5 with credit going to Prashanth who took the draw. Honourable mention also to William Lynn and Joel Crombie. At the finish William had connected passed pawns on the 6th rank, but was just nudged out by Degan’s bishop pair. Joel played firmly and was one of the last players to fall, with things very even in rook and pawn ending till close to the end.

The club welcomes Richard Ismay as its newest member.

Michael Lin beat two of the clubs senior members last night – both Prashanth and Miiton taking a bath. This is a tremendous result for Michael whose chess is going from strength to strength. For his efforts he has picked up an impressive 37 ratings points across the tournament, with the ratings graph below

Autumn(2) goes to Richard. The big shout out goes to Michael though, a clear second on 5 points, and now a player that everyone needs to take notice of. Autumn (3) kicks off next week, don’t be late

Richard takes out Autumn(1). Autumn(2) starts next week. See you there.

This year’s Waikato Open will be held 27 28 29 July at St Paul’s Collegiate. The flyer is here, and registrations are being accepted 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).

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

Timetable:

Friday 27th             Rnd 1     7.15 pm

Saturday 28th        Rnd 2     9.00 am        Rnd 3     2.00 pm        Rnd 4     7.00 pm

Sunday 29th            Rnd 5     9.00 am        Rnd 6     2.00 pm

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

If you have been thinking about coming along for a look then May 1st at 7pm is your best bet. We will start a 6 game tournament running over 2 weeks. Each game will last around 40 minutes. Games will kick off shortly after 7, so dont be late if you want to take part in the mini tournament. New members are always welcome. Come along and be part of the fun. Read this page for guidance if you are thinking of joining the club

This great movie is compulsory viewing for any kiwi with an interest in chess. It is available on TV One On Demand currently, or can be watched this evening on TV One. Upon its premiere as the Opening Night film of the New Zealand International Film Festival on 17 July 2014, The Dark Horse was declared by the RNZ National Review “One of the greatest New Zealand films ever made“.

The Dark Horse is an inspiring true story based on the life of a charismatic, brilliant but little-known New Zealand hero and chess champion – Genesis Potini. Once a heralded chess champion, Genesis has spent the last few years in and out of mental institutions, battling with severe bipolar disorder.  After being released from the psychiatric ward for one more chance at life, he moves in with Ariki, his gang-patched and distant brother, and Ariki’s soon-to-be-patched teenage son, Mana. Needing a purpose and a reason to get out of the gang house, Genesis joins a rough-as-guts local chess club, with the wild idea of coaching the motley crew of kids to the national chess championship.  On the way, Gen must face the responsibility that comes with being a leader, navigate conflict within the gang world and try to survive the potentially devastating strife that breaks out between him and his brother over his nephew’s future. Watch it — you wont be disappointed

The club is in recess now for the school holidays. We will reopen on May 1st with Autumn Cup (1). The calendar for 2018 can be found here.

The astute among you will have noticed that Donald Brunt has been listed as a financial member of Waikato Chess Club for several years now, although is strangely absent from any game records.

Caissa runs thick in Donald’s veins, and he continues to support us financially based on his love for the game, even though his playing days are over. We thank Don for his ongoing support.

By way of biography Donald has penned the following:

My introduction to chess was in 1949. I had just started work after leaving school the previous year, and saw two blokes playing in the lunch room. I was immediately hooked, and joined the Henderson (Auckland) chess club, as well as the NZ Correspondence Chess Association. In 1957, when the Henderson Club closed, I joined the very strong Dominion Road club. Four NZ Champions or future champions were members, Ortvin Sarapu, Fred Foulds, Barry Menzies, Roger Court and later the prodigy Rodney Phillips, who won the NC Championship aged 14. In 1971 I was transferred to Kawerau by my employer and found that there was a chess club, but it unfortunately went into recess about 1974.

The NZ Correspondence Association headquarters were transferred from Wanganui to Auckland in 1955, and I became Tournament Director, a position I held for 17 years. At the Dominion Rd club I was a committee member for about three years. About that time there was much infighting and strife in the NZ Chess Association, and eventually after intervention from Auckland agreement was reached to shift the Association’s affairs to Auckland for four years after which it alternated in four-yearly spells with Wellington. I became a delegate on the NZ Chess Council for two or three years. Other administrative positions I held were Sec/Treas Kawerau Chess Club, Sec/Treas Bay of Plenty Chess Association and Treasurer of the Kawerau Contract Bridge Club. (I seem to recall that William Lynn was in Rotorua in the 1970s and played bridge.)

Highlights of my playing days were playing Sarapu and C.J.S. Purdy in simuls. Sarapu thrashed me and Purdy wore me down. Sarapu played the simul at amazing speed.  After 23 moves he was averaging something like 7 seconds per move including walking time.  As to playing strength, my skills did not match my enthusiasm, and I was no more than average. My only good result was 2nd in the Bay of Plenty Champs 1972

The club is in recess now for the school holidays. We will reopen on May 1st with Autumn Cup (1). The calendar for 2018 can be found here.