Hamilton Chess Club

The first club night of the year for 2015 will be 3rd February. If members have suggestions for next years calendar let me know.

Congratulations to William who managed to take second place in the under 1800 division of the recent 29th Papatoetoe Rapid Open against a strong field.

The club is now in recess for the Summer. Have a safe and happy Christmas. We will resume again on Tuesday February 3^rd. There will be blitz on the first night back and guests will be welcome. See you in 2015.

We had 18 for the R-cubed (Rapid Round Robin) last night. The top three divsions ran as single round robins, while the fourth was a 3 game Swiss. Players were grouped based on club ratings. Honours went to Hilton in division A, William in division B, Matt in division C, and Jeff in division D. The division winners went into a prize draw for a box of chocolates, with Jeff drawing the winning ballot. Cross tables are below, and club ratings have been updated.

The latest NZCF ratings lists have been posted. Members ratings are reproduced below.

Following on from the popularity of the graded round robin earlier this year we will have a graded round robin next week. Groups of four players based on club rating will play 3 games against each other at time control 15 + 0. Dont be late or you will miss out.

Eighteen players turned out for momentum blitz last night. We had four rounds at time control 3 + 2, and four rounds at 5 + 3. It was arduous stuff but everyone stuck through to the end, with Stefan taking line honours on 7 points, drawing with Graham and Richard who tied for second on 6.5. Murray managed five points, which is pretty good considering he missed the first game. Ratings have been updated as usual.

An interesting and entertaining video of a game from a much younger Nigel Short v Gary Kasparov can be found  here

If you have been thinking about coming along for a look then next week 25/11/14 at 7pm is a good place to start. We will be playing blitz games at short time control.  New members are always welcome. Come along and join in the fun.

As you can see from the graphs at left both Matt and Joel are on the up and up reaching personal best club ratings of 1543 and 1518 respectively on Tuesday night. Over the last 15 games Matt’s rating has improved by 21 but Joels has gone up by 39 so if Joel sticks at it for the next 6 months I suspect he will be able to close the gap. Watch this space.

We had 18 on Tuesday for momentum blitz. A great result for Graham with a perfect score (and increased club rating points). Also a notable achievment for Joel Crombie who came a credible 3^rd equal and is now snapping at the heels of the adults. More momentum blitz next week. Club ratings and graphs have been updated.

We will be playing blitz. The more the merrier, so come along for a look if you are a non-member thinking about joing the club. Games kick off 7:30; be there by 7:15 to be in the draw.

Richard chalks up another tournament win well ahead of his nearest rival. Stefan did well to come second – particularily as he missed three games. Six players managed to tie for third plae. Rating statistics and graphs have been updateted. We will have blitz for the next couple of weeks, 7 games a night (3 rounds of 3 + 2 then 4 rounds of 5 + 3). Games kick off at 7:30. Guests welcome. Don’t be late.

Just when you thought it couldnt get any better:

Want to have a visual representation of what your rating has done over the last fifty games? Are you sliding, stagnating, or on the up and up? Now there is a graphical representation with a permanent link under the Ratings menu at top right. Graphs will be updated from time to time.

Following an informal survey of members last night we will substitute a couple of blitz nights after the spring cup is finished. We will mix it up with 3 quick rounds at 3 + 2, followed by four relatively sedate rounds at 5 + 3 on each of the two nights. Guests welcome to join the fun. Suggestions for the final club night of the year also appreciated.

Twenty two in the Spring Cup last night. Richard and Fuatai share the lead on five points each but four others are snapping at their heels. Richard and Fuatai have yet to face off in what will certainly be a keenly fought battle. Two rounds at 25 + 0 next week to complete the tournament.

The Spring Cup got underway last night. Despite the rain we had a good turnout with 20 players. Matt was especially pleased with his win against Ian. Graham Richard and Stefan are in the lead with 3 points each. Three more rounds next week, then 2 on the final night. Games kick off at 7:30 so don’t be late.

We will have the Spring Cup for the next three weks. Format will be 3 games at 15 + 0 in each of weeks one and two, with two games at 25 + 0 to finish in week three, so eight rounds in all. Games start 7:20 so dont be late!. Non-members welcome.

Richard managed 7 out of 7 for the club rapid, and looks unstoppable. Second and third place (on tiebreak scores) went to Graham an David on 4 points each. Daniel Richard and Sivoram also shared 4 points. The crosstable, and statistics have been updated

With one round to go Richard sits on six points, 2 pioints clear of his nearest rivals, so has been awarded the title of Club Rapid champion 2014. Graham and Dave share 4 points each and are vying for the the silver medal. Joel scored a nice win against Ian and picks up club rating points in the process. Don’t miss the final round next week. The full crosstable is here, and club ratings have been updated