Hamilton Chess Club

A select crew of 14 turned out for the club blitz champs last night, many members obviously prioritizing the All Blacks over chess club for the night. Richard was crowned club blitz champ for the third year in a row, and Cooper took the title of club Blitz Champion (Junior). We will commence the  club rapid champs next week, one game per night at 25 + 5. Rules will be as for 2015. Don’t be late. And don’t forget to sign up for this Saturday’s rapid at St Pauls.

Waikato Rapid 2016 — This Saturday 18th June

St. Paul’s Collegiate School, Hamilton

The tournament flyer is here, and the registration page is located here

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.

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.

This year’s NZ Chess Federation  Interschool Chess Waikato Regional Tournament will be held on Sunday 7 August. There will be three divisions (Primary, Intermediate and Secondary) with the top team in each division representing the Waikato at the National NZCF Finals, September 24th – 25^th, in Palmerston North.  Garry and Gerri Judkins once again doing sterling work with the organizing.  Team entry forms and details are available here

Unfortunately club Blitz Round 1 had to be abandoned last night due to a computer malfunction. We had a relatively loosely organized informal blitz evening instead. The club Blitz championship will be decided next week based on the six games played that night (after we get a new computer!)

The club blitz champs will run for the next two Tuesdays. Time control is 5 + 3. There will be six games per night over each of the two nights with points aggregated to decide the title of club rapid champ and club junior rapid champ. The draw for each night will be based on current club ratings. New players without a club rating will be assigned 1500 points for the purposes of the  draw. Games start at 7.30pm. Usual FIDE laws apply with  the exception of the Hamilton Chess Club Special Rules found on the website. If two players tie for the title  (for instance if  Ian and Richard both end up with 12 points each) a tie break based on the second night only will apply as follows:  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.

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.