Hamilton Chess Club

Saturday 18rd June, 2016

St. Paul’s Collegiate School, Hamilton

Grand Prix Class One Event

Three NZCF rapid rated 6 round Swiss tournaments, with each player having 25 minutes plus 5 seconds increment from move one. Open, Under 1800, and Junior/under 1200 Divisions. The Open and Under 1800 Divisions will be FIDE rated.
Minimum total prize fund to the value of $1,400. All players must be NZCF registered. Non-NZL players must have a FIDE ID issued by their national chess federation. Players under 1800 NZCF rating may enter the Open tournament, but the organisers reserve the right to move players between events if they feel that it is appropriate. The event will be subject to the ‘Rules of the Waikato Chess Rapid’.

Venue: St Paul’s Collegiate School, Hukanui Road, Hamilton. (This is a non-smoking area)
Minimum Prize fund:

Open Division
1st $300; 2nd $175; 3rd $100;
Under 1800
1st $175; 2nd $125; 3rd $50;
Under1200/Junior (Under 18 years on 1st January 2016)
1st $100; 2nd $70; 3rd $40;
Plus grade prizes (cash & chess books) to a total value of $375 across the three divisions.

Timetable:
Players meeting: 9am sharp, entries close.
Round 1 9:30 am – 10:30 am Round 4 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Round 2 11:00 am – 12 noon Round 5 3:15 pm – 4:15 pm
Round 3 12:45 pm – 1:45 pm Round 6 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm

Prize-giving will follow as soon as possible after the completion of the last round.

Entry Fees: (If received by Friday 17th June)
Open Division; $50
Under 1800; $45
Junior/under 1200; $30
Late entry fee $10.00 (if entry received after 17th June)
In addition an NZCF player registration fee of $20 applies, if not already registered for 2016 (Junior/under 1200 exempt).

The Registration page is here

The Tournament flyer is here

Ratings graphs have been updated — see if you can work out which player has been putting in a bit of practice:

Dayanand is the club’s newest member. Dayanand managed 3 points in Autumn(1) and enters the club ratings board with 13 games so far and a club rating on 1527. Welcome Dayanand.

Graham was the clear winner of Autumn(1) on 5.5 points. His club rating now has him snapping at Hilton’s heels for the number two spot. Autumn(2) starts next week. Don’t be late.

We had 26 players for the first three rounds of Autumn (1) last night. Hilton and Graham lead the field with 3 points each. The cross table is below, and club ratings have been updated. Final 3 games next week. Don’t be late.

Save the date: July 29th-31st
Our premiere tournament will be held at the end of July. An Open, an under-1800 tournament, and an under-12/under-1200 event, each a six-round Swiss. The Open will be FIDE-rated. This event is a Poison Pawn Grand Prix Class 1 event. More information, and entry forms, will follow shortly

The format for the upcoming Autumn Cup has changed. Instead of 9 games over 3 nights, the tournament has been extended and split into 2, designated Autumn(1) and Autumn(2). Both Autumn (1) and (2) will consist of six games over 2 nights. The time control remains at 20 + 0 per game.

Next week we will start the Autumn Cup. Please if you want to be in, make a commitment to be there for all three nights. In discussion with members the time control has been increased a little and will be 20+0, 3 games per night.

We started the school term with a respectable turnout of 24 for lightning last night. Graham managed to beat Stefan in the final round to take out the tournament on tiebreak.

If you have been thinking about coming along for a look then next club night on 3 May at 7pm is a good place to start. We will have an evening of lightning chess, 7 games at time control 3 minutes plus 2 second increment per move from move one.  We will have a slower format the following week; guests welcome then as well. Come along and join in the fun.

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

In case you are wondering (or not, but it is too late now as you are already reading this post) what the club champs did to your rating the table below shows those in whom the rating went up, and those in whom it went South. Oh well, there is always the rest of the year to repair it I guess

It came down to the last game to decide Club Champion 2016. Richard had the white pieces and needed to play for a win. In the  end Hilton had queen rook and knight against queen and two rooks and conceded defeat. Richard is therefore Club Champion 2016, meaning he is Club Champ for the second year in a row.  Hilton and Milton were second equal half a point behind.The title of club Junior champion goes to Sivaram this year, with Joel in second place. Sivaram receives a book prize for his efforts. The final cross table is here, and the roll of honour has been updated here.

Club ratings have been updated for the five rounds of the club champs so far. Four club members have achieved new personal bests.

The draw for next week is below. Remember no byes allowed in the final two rounds, so if you cant make it you will forfeit the point, unless you can arrange to play your opponent prior, for instance on the weekend. Let me know if you cant be there, so that we can save your opponent coming in unnecessarily, and so that I can  see what can be arranged in terms of a make-up game.

Standings at round 5 below

The draw for round 5 is below. Clocks will be started at 7:15 or as soon as possible thereafter. Don’t be late.