Hamilton Chess Club

The club welcomes Kevin Li as its newest member. Kevin is a promising junior who is going to be beating some of the adults in a couple of years. He has played 9 rateable games so far and enters the ratings board on 1472. Welcome Kevin

Next week we will start the Autumn Cup. Please if you want to be in, make a commitment to be there for both nights. Time control will be 20+0, 3 games per night, across two nights. After that we will have Autumn Cup (2) with the same format. See you there.

An informal blitz tonight at 3 + 2. Richard first on 6 points with a three way tie for second. A little more serious next week with rounds 1 2 3 of the Autumn cup at time control 20 + 0. Rounds 4 5  6 the following week, so please commit to both weeks. No entries in week 2.

If you have been thinking about coming along for a look then May 2nd at 7pm is your best bet. We have now completed the club champs so will revert back to something a little less formal with a night of quick fire games. 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.

The club is in recess now for the school holidays, we resume on 2 May with a night of casual lightning chess, 3 + 2

Richard is club champ for 2017 with a final score of 5.5. Prashant came runner up, followed by Hilton, and then the also rans. Sivaram is club Junior champ once again. For the rest of is it is a case of: oh well, there is always next year.

Tie breaks may be crucial tomorrow night. Remember we are using the New Zealand standard system of 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.

This means that if Hilton has a win against Richard, then Hilton takes the title.

Save the date: August 11th-13th 2017
Our premiere tournament will be held at St Pauls Collegiate during the second weekend in August. An Open, and an under-1800 tournament, each a six-round Swiss at 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move. The Open will be FIDE-rated. This event is a Poison Pawn Grand Prix Class 1 event. The flyer is here. Be the first to register online here

This is tuesday nights draw. Getting down to the pointy end now, so dont be late.

The round 4 crosstable is below. No half point byes rounds 5 and 6, but do let me know if you are not going to be there so I can take you out of the draw. Ratings and ladder have been updated.

No bye requests received this week, so Tuesday’s draw is below. Dont be late. If you cant make it let me know early so we can save your opponent a wasted trip.

Annual subs for many club members come due in the next few weeks. You can check when yours are due here. Online payment is preferred, let Richard and Ian know once you have paid

We have had no bye requests for Tuesday so the draw is as below. See you there.

Note that during the club champs non-members and guests are welcome as observers, but as game pairings are set a week in advance games will be “members only” (although you might possibly still be able to pick up a casual game as a non-member if one of the official games finishes a little early). Things will be a little more lighthearted on 1st May when we will have a series of seven games in one night at fast time control — prospective members are welcome to join in.

We have had two bye requests, so this will be the draw for Tuesday night. Games start as near as possible to 7.15pm once all boards are set up, and  a 30 minute late time applies (your game is lost if you are 30 minutes late). Clocks will be started  even if neither player is present. If you are not going to turn up let me know so we can save your opponent an unnecessary trip.