Hamilton Chess Club

Twenty seven players turned out for blitz last night. We played six rounds of 5 + 3. Hilton and Stefan topped out for the adults. Jeff Joel and Dhusar turned in good scores in the younger division. Notable wins include Gary taking a rare point off  Hilton. We will have more blitz next week, format to be decided. The week after that we will complete out the Club Rapid. Crosstables are below, and ratings have been updated.

Adults

Youth

We had 8 rounds of 3 + 2 blitz last night. Top score (7/8) to Prashanth and Richard in the adult division, and top score (7/8) to  Sean and Joel in the Junior division. Blitz again next week, six rounds or 5  + 3. Guests welcome.

Adult

Junior

We will have a Swiss blitz tournament next week of six rounds. Depending on numbers we will probably have an older players and a youngsters division. Guests are welcome. Come along and join in the fun. Doors open 7pm, The blitz will kick off at 7:30. Dont be late.

The club welcomes Michael Serrate as its newest member. Michael will be a valuable addition at the strong end of the club spectrum:  he has played 13 ratable games so far and enters the ratings board with the rank of Rook on a very respectable 1604.Welcome Michael.

Seventeen last night for a mini round robin in three divisions. A few false starts at the end but things eventually settled down to 3 games at time control 10 + 0. Special mention to Richard Jackson, Dhusar and Sean who all manged a clean sweep of their games.

We had 19 players for the round robin last night. Special mention to Graham Nolan and Sean Clark who both won all three of their games. The format was popular and will be repeated next week, don’t be late: games kick off at 7:30 sharp

Forty eight players turned out for the Waikato Open on the Weekend, which is a local record. The open section had 23 players. First was Michaeal Steadman on 5 points, followed then by a six way tie on four points between Russell Dive, Robert Smith, Ben Hague, Daniel Gong, Layla Timergazi, and Alphaeus Ang. Twenty five played in the under 1800 division. Sivaram top scored on five, while Ian Kennedy and  Aaron Wang shared second equal on 4.5 points. Final crosstables are here, and this is the rogues gallery. Thanks once again to Gary for organizing the venue, and Keong Ang for a stirling effort as arbiter.

This weekends Waikato Open looks to be our best ever, with 47 confirmed entries so far, including 7 FIDE titled players (6 FM, and an IM). Registered players can be seen here for the open division, and here for the under 1800. We look forward to seeing you there!

Numbers were a little light this week and the graded double round robin didn’t eventuate. Depending on numbers that attend  we might try and have a mini graded round robin the next two weeks. Groups of four players of similar ability based on club ranking playing against each other, 3 games, time control 15 + 0. Same again the following week. Remember your club needs you to show some commitment and turn up.

We didn’t quite have the numbers to make the round robin feasible last night so had an evening of 3 + 2 blitz instead. There was an adult and a junior section. Special mention goes to JARVIS who won his first four games and was outright leader at that point. Unfortunately he dropped his next two gaims but still ended up first equal with Adam and Jeff on 5 points. Jarvis has gained 58 club rating points in his last 15 games, which is more than any other club player, so his chess is really coming along. In the adult division Richard  Graham and Michael were first second and third respectively. Crossstables are below, and club ratings have been updated.

Junior

Adult

THe club welcomes Reuben Sharko as its newest members. Reuben has come along to the last couple of blitz nights, and enters the club ratings board on 1513. Welcome Reuben.

The Hamilton Chess Club is pleased to announce that the Waikato Open will now be a Poison Pawn Grand Prix Event. To reflect the added prestige, prize money has been increased as listed below, and the tournament divisions have been altered to an Open Division and an under 1800 division. The revised flyer is here. The registration page is here. Be  Quick only NINE days to go

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

We had the fourth and final round of the club blitz champs last night. Richard came away with six points, and has 22 points for the entire event so is Club Blitz Champ 2015. Sivaram and Hilton were second equal on 16.5. In the junior division Joel (13), Jeff (11)and Suriya (10.5)are first second and third respectively. Last nights crosstable is found on this page, and the cummulative points table is below.

The calendar has been altered.  Instead of the openings tournament we will have a graded double round robin event in August. Groups of four players based on club rankings will play 2 games per night across three nights in a double round robin style event. There will be A, B, and C and D divisions. The D division will run as an six round Swiss. Time control will be  25 + 0 in the first three divisions.  D divisions players will play one or more games in their allotted 25 minutes alternating colours, with the point going to the player winning the most games.  Get along to the club next week to polish up your rating if you want to get into a higher division. We will need players to commit to turning up on all three nights.

Twenty four players for round 3 of the Blitz tournament last night. Richard high scored on 5.5 with Daniel and Sivaram on 4.5 each tied second equal. Last nights cross table is below, and the cumulative points table with three of the four rounds completed is here. Richard has a clear lead, but there is a close race for minor placings between Hilton Bennett, Saied, Sivaram  and Ian. The fourth and final round is next week, so don’t miss out.

Only three weeks to this years Waikato Open. There will be an Open and an under 1700 tournament, each a six round Swiss with a time control of all moves in 90 minutes plus an increment of 30 seconds per move. The Open tournament will be a FIDE rated event. Both tournaments are nationally rated and are therefore open only to NZCF registered players (or overseas players registered with their national federation). Players under 1700 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 Open”. The tournament flyer is here, and the registration page is here.

The Waikato Open for this year is only a few weeks away and will be held 7/8/9 of August. A flyer will full details will be posted soon

THe club is in recess for the school holidays. We will resume with a night of blitz on 21 July and blitz again on 28 July. The blitz nights are fast paced with six quick games on the night. They are a great place for prospective members to come along for a look. Guests very welcome !!!!

Following the Winter Cup Richard has managed to secure a new club rating record with a personal best of 1681, and has clearly set his sites on 1700. His win rate is 0.8, and after 168 games he has a score of +148=15-23.

The final crosstables of the Winter Cup are posted here. Stefan and Richard tied for first place in the Open on 8 points each with William third on 6. In the Junior division Sean and Adam were first equal, both on 6, with a three way tie for third between Suriya Nithin and Dhushar. Club nights will resume with six rounds of blitz on 21 July. Guests welcome.

Open

Junior