The Club champs will run over six club nights starting Tuesday 11th March.
The format will be start time 7.15pm, 1 game per night, open to paid up (as of 11/3/14) club members only . You can check when your sub is due by going to the website – About > Who We Are. Online payments preferred, see the website for details. Remember No Sub No Play.
There will be an Open Division, and a Junior Division (stronger Junior members can elect to play in the Open Division if they wish; sadly – for some of us at least – weaker senior members cannot elect to play in the Junior division). The Junior division might run over five rounds depending on numbers, or even as a round robin.
The winner of the Open Division will be awarded the title Club Champion 2014. The winner of the Junior division will be awarded the title Club Junior Champion 2014 and will receive a book prize.
Entries will be seeded based on Current club ratings. No late entries allowed – so if you cant make it on the first night let me know and you will be awarded a bye. Also if you want to play but might be a little late on the first night let me know and I will include you in the draw. Please don’t turn up after 7:15 and expect me to redo the draw. Entries will not be accepted in week two or beyond
Time limit 45 minutes plus 10 seconds per move from move 1, as we need to be out of the room by 9:30. Junior division will be 25 minutes plus 5 seconds per move from move 1.
Games start at 7.15pm – a 30 minute late time applies (your game is lost if you are 30 minutes late). Late time for Juniors is 25 minutes.
Clocks will be started at 7:15 even if neither player is present.
Usual FIDE laws apply. Disputes committee will be club executive (Hilton Ian and Richard). If one or two of the disputes committee is/are party to a dispute, the remaining member(s) will constitute the disputes committee.
Please bring a pen to record your games (recording is mandatory in the open divison, but optional for the junior division).
One 1/2 point bye allowed per player, if notified to Ian the Sunday before the round that it applies.
No half point byes allowed in rounds 5 or 6.
Ties will be decided using tie breaks in the following order: Buchholz Cut 1, Buchholz Total, Buchholz Median, Sonneborn-Berger. If still tied the award will be shared.
We have some serious chess coming up soon with the club champs, but members are urged to show a little more restraint than an Italian ‘cannibal’ lodger that confessed to a frenzied knife murder of Irish journalist over a midnight game of chess. The Italian man cut open his Dublin landlord’s chest and tried to eat his heart following a fight over a chess match. Police said: ‘It’s one of the most horrific acts of violence committed against an innocent person in Irish history.’ Saverio Bellante, 34, was charged with murder. Police say he admitted his guilt after being arrested at the home he shared with Tom O’Gorman, a policy researcher for a conservative Catholic think tank in Ireland. Pathologists said the 39-year-old victim suffered dozens of severe knife wounds to his head and chest, which had been cut fully open. Ireland’s senior pathologist determined that the heart remained, but a lung was missing. The crime scene was said to be so shocking that the two officers who found the body will be sent for trauma counselling. Police offered no explanation for what happened to the lung. Evidence suggested that O’Gorman’s prone head and body also were bludgeoned with a dumbbell. Bellante called police to report the killing. He claimed to officers that he had cut open O’Gorman’s chest and tried to eat his heart after a dispute over a move in a chess match the two had been playing. Bellante offered no plea at his arraignment in a Dublin court. When Judge David McHugh asked him why he had no lawyers, Bellante said he wanted to represent himself and would decline state-funded legal aid. A policeman testified that, when charged with murder Bellante replied: ‘I am guilty.’ In the club champs members are urged not to resort to violence but to refer any disputes to the arbiter.
Last nights novelty tournament involved a “Doubles” format, with players competing against an opponent on two boards simultaneously, one as black and the other as white, each with a separate clock. The time control was 7 minutes + 2 seconds on each of the two clocks and there were a total of five rounds meaning 10 games in all. Although sounding relatively simple on paper, in practice the mental switch required from black to white backwards and forwards proved a challenge. Richard Dare top scored on 9 out of a possible 10, followed by Daniel and Eddie on 8 points each. The games will not be used for club rating purposes. The full cross table can be seen 
We will have a novel tournament format next week – one that hasnt been seen previously at the club but is likely to prove a hit with members. We will start at 7:20pm sharp, so dont be late
Grandmaster NIGEL SHORT will give a 20-Board SIMULTANEOUS CHESS EXHIBITION Sunday, March 2nd. Games begin 1pm New Zealand National Chess Centre, Devonport St Paul’s, 100b Victoria Rd, Devonport, Auckland. English chess superstar and former World Championship Candidate Nigel Short will take on 20 players simultaneously at this inaugural chess event of New Zealand’s National Chess Centre in Devonport. Following welcome speeches from NZCF President Paul Spiller and North Shore MP Maggie Barry, Nigel will officially open the Centre by playing his first move. To Play: e-mail ncc@newzealandchess.co.nz to request a playing spot ($50), and, if accepted, bank details will be supplied for payment. Timetable: 12 noon, Doors Open. 1pm, Games begin. Exhibition ends approximately 4.30 pm. Spectators welcome
Perhaps you need some cheering up after this weeks events. Check out this 
