Hamilton Chess Club

The Summer Cup had a great turnout with 24 players participating across the two nights. Line honours went to Richard, with Sivaram and William tied for second. Club Champs are next week.

We opened the year with a casual blitz. A lot of new players turned up for a look, and we hope they return as members. Honours went to Graham, Lara, and Prashant.

Dont miss out on participating in the 12th Bay of Plenty Rapid on Saturday 25th February 2017. This is a Poison Pawn Class One Event and always popular. There is a new venue this year: Arataki Community Centre – Zambuk Way, Arataki, Mount Maunganui. The entry form can be downloaded here

Remember that our premier event, the club champs, will kick off on Tuesday 07 March.

Time control will be the same as last year at 60 minutes + 10 seconds per move from move 1.

One game per night over 6 weeks.

The format will be start time 7.15pm (7.30 on week 1), 1 game per night, open to financial members (or financial members temporarily in arrears) 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. If you are not currently a member but want to take part then you can join on the first night.

(Adult: $40 per year, or $25 for 6 months. Juniors $20 per year)

A single division Swiss Style Tournament. The overall winner will be awarded the title Club Champion 2017 and receive all the accolades that are associated with the title. The highest rated junior  will be awarded the title Club Junior Champion 2017.

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 after 7:15. Entries will not be accepted in week two or beyond.

Games start at 7.15pm – a 30 minute late time applies (your game is lost if you are 30 minutes late). Clocks will be started at 7:15 even if neither player is present.

Usual FIDE laws apply with  the exception of the Hamilton Chess Club Special Rules found on the website. 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 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.

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.

Tie breaks will be 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.

The club is in recess now for the Summer. We will reopen on February 14^th with a casual blitz, followed by the Summer Cup, and then into the Club Champs. The proposed calendar for 2017 can be found here. Members can make suggestions for alterations if they wish.

Club ratings and club ladder have been updated for the final time this year. Check out who gets to sit on top of the ladder over Summer.

The calendar for 2017 is available under the post at top left. Suggestions for alterations welcomed.

The club is in recess now for the Summer. We will reopen on February 14^th with a casual blitz, followed by the Summer Cup, and then into the Club Champs. The proposed calendar for 2017 can be found here. Members can make suggestions for alterations if they wish.

We had an impromptu blitz for the final night of the year. A three way tie for Prashant, Hilton and Richard.

December 6th will be the final night of the year. We have “casual chess” down on the calendar, but maybe we will have one last blitz for the sake of auld lang syne if that is the mood of the evening.

Richard comes out on top in Spring(2) with a clean sweep. A four way tie for second. Ratings have been updated.

The club picnic provided a fitting end to the year. We had quite a good turn out and I think people enjoyed themselves playing chess and croquet as the sun shined down upon us …. Richard looked quite comfortable sitting in the café playing all comers and there were quite a number of interested lookers-on.  Some chess games on the big board were won by committee decision management.  Matt encouraged the young ones into playing a game of soccer on the circular field where there were no corners awarded and afterwards they had a walk through the gardens.  Murray found a nice quiet place to sit and contemplate and enjoy the cooling breeze while others found it nice to remove their socks and soak their feet in Turtle Lake.

Remember it is the club end of year picnic in the gardens, this saturday, from 11am. Bring your chess sets along for some recreation in the open air. The flyer is here

The club welcomes Greg Van Eyk as its newest member. Greg has played nine games suitable for club rating so far and is enjoying the Spring Cup. Welcome Greg

Club ratings and club ladder have been updated.

We will have a rerun of the Spring Cup starting again next week, six games over 2 weeks. Dont be late. Guests are welcome to join in — be there around 7:05

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The club is sad to see Stefan leaving us to take up his new post in far away Scotland. Stefan has been a club stalwart over the years and one of its strongest players. He will be sadly missed, but we wish him all the best.