The Hamilton chess club is now an incorporated society! OK, maybe this is not such thrilling news, but incorporation does mean we are able to apply for more grants that are out there in the community. And incorporation means we have some protection for the committee, and the members.
Chess coaching: going from strength to strength
Posted: 14/04/2011 by Scott in Club NewsTags: improve
With the general increase in new members, and a range of juniors wanting to improve their game, the club is running regular group chess coaching sessions for novice/beginners – even parents wanting to keep up with their kids are welcome! Please use the usual contact form to get in touch or just turn up! Coaching is held at the club for 1 hour, from 5.45pm on Tuesdays during school terms. Fees are $5 for club members or $7.50 for non-members per session. Some modest fee will go to the coaches, the majority to the club.
The sessions are proving popular, with more regulars appearing each week.
Today we had our biggest and best event so far, with 30 entries! We used the large upstairs space for the games, and kept the usual club room downstairs for fun/analysis chess between the ‘serious’ stuff upstairs. Richard Dare and his Mum Lillian came in first and second. David Chen, Christopher Symon, Benjamin Symon, Alphaeus Ang and Zion Vaughters won the 1st in the U18, U14, U12, U10 and U8 age groups. Elyse Oliveira was the highest scoring girl. Full prize list, standing and cross table are here. Photos from the event will be added to the site when they become available.
Thanks to Keong Ang for assisting as arbiter, the parents who supported their children and those that also dared to compete against them 😉 And thanks to having the 8 kids and a few playing adults from Hikuai school.
I spent an interesting few hours at a prison on Sunday. No, I have not been bad, not even naughty. But the inmates do spend a lot of time playing chess, and so I was looking at how feasible it was to support that need. Being a community volunteer in a prison is an interesting experience. Sure, there are police checks, and photo id to show each time, but the whole process is fairly easy to use and is not onerous. Your personal safety is always an issue anywhere you go, but it cannot be any worse in a prison, the way I can see it working.
I am thinking of holding a session on a regular basis, for say 3 hours, one unit per visit. A unit consists of say 40-60 prisoners. The whole prison may hold 1000 prisoners. Sure, not all units or all prisoners will be interested in chess. But what I can do is not limited – teach chess, just play some chess, hold a simul or an event amongst the prisoners – and would be in response to their needs. If it gets organised enough, it could be inter-unit competitions – the winner to hold the conquest cup!
If anyone has any suggestions, or has had experience before or whatever, please get in touch.
Note that in NZ, volunteers do receive a $150 (3 x $50) petrol voucher following 6 prison visits a year.
Junior grants announced for the 2012 Queenstown classic
Posted: 24/03/2011 by Scott in Club NewsTags: queenstown
The New Zealand Chess Federation has $2800 in grants available to assist junior players to participate in next January’s prestigious Queenstown Chess Classic. Thanks to generous sponsorship from The Friends of Chess and The Steel Trust, there are seven grants available of $400 each.
Any New Zealand junior player under 18 on the date Queenstown begins (15th January 2012) is eligible to apply. Please e-mail your name, rating and a brief supporting paragraph to the NZCF Secretary Helen Milligan on heligan@newzealandchess.co.nz
Initial applications will close on May 15th 2011. In June the selectors will announce the first four successful applicants, and the remaining three
grants will be awarded following the NZ National Junior Championships in July 2011.
Just in case you missed it, the Hamilton Press ran a story yesterday about the Lara Stock/Michael Stock affair, with a picture and some quotes. See the article WGM wins Hamilton Rookies Shield 23Mar2011. It looks fairly accurate – I just thought they could have added a mention of this site as well.
If you would like to contribute posts or images to this site, or be an author or editor for instance, then please get in touch! So come on, all those budding reporters or photographers out there – make a name for yourself.
Our now world famous Rookies Shield series of events will hold its second round on 10 April. Full details are here. This is already shaping to be our biggest and best event so far, with 20 entries already! We hope to use the large upstairs space for the games, and keep the usual club room downstairs for fun/analysis chess between the ‘serious’ stuff upstairs. So please register online so we can plan our resources for the big day!
Edit 4/4/11: So far we have 22 players (18 juniors) registered, to make it an interesting day this Sunday. A few more game adults would be appreciated! And a new entry fee: usually it is normally $15 for adults, but now it is just $10 if also entering a junior – come on you parents – take up the challenge and mix it up with your kids!
With fantastic weather, we had 17 players (11 juniors) contest 6 hard fought rounds. Richard Dare went through undefeated with 5.5. Judd Zhan won the U1400 rating group and Benjamin Symon won the ‘U1200 and U12′ group. We were also entertained throughout the day with music wafting across from the other side of the river – perhaps not to everyone’s taste, but still it provided an edge to some people’s play (or their grating teeth). Full results are here.
Our next Sunday event is the Round 2 of the (world famous) Rookies Shield on 10 April. Please register for that here.
Putting other interesting and well reported events behind us [two masked visitors and the new club site web address (hamiltonchess.net) – but if you are reading this you have already found us], it is time to focus on our next important tournament! The NZCF rated Hamilton Rapid is on this Sunday (13th) at the Hamilton Chess Centre from 10am to 4.30pm. There will be 6 rounds of 20+5 chess.
Cash Prizes will be given for overall 1st and 2nd, the highest scoring adult, highest unrated player, and for the best U18, U16, U14, U12, U10 and U8 players (players can only win one prize). The prize pool is 80% of entry fees after expenses *.
Please go here for more information or to register see here.
Players must be NZCF registered or pay the NZCF registration fee ($20) before round 1.
Entry fees:
$20 for adults
$15 for juniors and Hamilton Chess Club members
$0 for GM, IM, WGM, WIM
Be there from 10am – and there will be a 35 minute lunch break after round 2.
* Notes:
- The organiser reserves the right to accept or reject any entry.
- The event will be conducted under the FIDE laws of chess and the Hamilton Chess Club code of ethics (see library).
Female Grandmaster Wins Hamilton Rookies Shield!
Posted: 02/03/2011 by Scott in Club NewsTags: rookies
At great expense to the Hamilton Chess Club management, two strong chess players were secretly imported from Europe to test the resolve and current skill level of the Waikato juniors and beginners on 20th Feb. Lara Stock (wgm) and her father Michael Stock (2200+) cleverly kept their relationship, ages – she was over 18 – and identities secret (by using false names) and both convincingly blitzed the field of up and coming but unsuspecting budding chess enthusiasts. We all enjoyed the lessons learned – both on and off the chess board, of honesty and integrity or what happens when there is a lack of it. Stay tuned for the next secret mission of the management – we may be able to exhume Bobby Fischer yet! Some pics of our undercover chess players are below. Update 05/03/2011: You may also wish to follow where else the pair have been, and other Australian/New Zealand reaction here.
This 7-round 20+5 tournament started 4 weeks ago (we are playing 1 round on each club night). After 4 rounds, and with a few players taking the odd 1/2 point bye, Hilton Bennett is the outright leader. See the current cross table under events, that also includes the provisional draw for the next round. Go Stefan to reign in the bolter!.
The Hamilton Chess Club is running a number of rapid play (NZCF rated) chess events at the Hamilton Chess Centre from 10am to 4.30pm (Sundays). The chess will be fast and furious – rapid time controls of 20 minutes and 5 seconds a move each for all your thinking time.
Cash Prizes will be given for overall 1st and 2nd, the highest scoring adult, and for the best U18, U16, U14, U12, U10 and U8 players (players can only win one prize).
The next event is 13 March 2011. Please register here.
These events are NZCF rapid rated – players must be NZCF registered or pay the NZCF registration fee ($20) before round 1. There will be 6 rounds of 20+5 chess.
Entry fees:
$20 for adults
$15 for juniors and Hamilton Chess Club members.
The prize pool is 80% of entry fees after expenses.
Be there from 10am – and there will be a 35 minute lunch break after round 2.
We had a good turn out (over 9 boards) last night for round 2 (of 7) for this tournament, despite the recent tragic news from Christchurch. Hilton Bennett, Richard Dare and Richard Jackson remain undefeated, with Erwin Pacua a half point behind. These 4 should meet in round 3 next week.
It was encouraging to now have 25 club members. This is more than double from 6 months ago. It is especially good to see we have 5 junior members.
I often get asked how to improve your chess playing ability? Well, apart from the 10,000 hour rule (if you want to be an expert at anything, then you need to put in that many hours! – see Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers), then a structured practice and training regime is also useful (sorry, no short cuts here). Pattern recognition and learning can also help.
On the library page I have included a few useful sites (well, I have found them useful) for tactical instruction and puzzles. So 10 chess tactic challenges a day may keep the chess blunder doctor (or is it the grim reaper?) away. I have also attached there some advice for beginners and parents – useful techniques, planning, time management and how to survive a day of rapid chess.
The club also offers chess coaching for novices/parents, Tuesdays during school term from 5.30pm for 1 hour at the club. Please use the contact form to register your interest.
Hamilton Chess Club 