Anthony Ker wins Julian Mazur Memorial

Anthony Ker took the Julian Mazur Memorial title, defeating Mark van der Hoorn in 9 moves (with the Black pieces!) on Tuesday. Nic Croad came 2nd, losing to Anthony but defeating everyone else. Brian Nijman defeated me to come 3rd, 1.5 points behind on 5.5. Noteworthy performances by newcomers Andrew Grkow, who finished on 4.5, and Anil Jhurani, who finished on 4.

Full results:

Round 7
Ker 1 Baider 0
Croad 1 Forster 0
Sellen 0 Nyberg 1
Nijman 1/2 Marner 1/2
Jackson 0 Van der Hoorn 1
Salem 0 Grkow 1
Rabina 0 Kay 1
Drinkwater 1 Proctor 0
Shierlaw 0 Jhurani 1

Round 8
Van der Hoorn 0 Ker 1
Croad 1 Nyberg 0 (default)
Sellen 0 Nijman 1
Marner 1 Brockway 0
Jackson 1 Shierlaw 0
Drinkwater 0 Farrington 1
Kay 0 Forster 1
Jhurani 0 Grkow 1
Bardiya 1 Salem 0 (default)
Bowden 0 Rabina 1 (default);

Final placings:
1st Anthony Ker (8)
2nd Nic Croad (7)
3rd Brian Nijman (5.5)
4-6 Bill Forster, Gavin Marner, Michael Nyberg (5)
7-8 Andrew Grkow, Mark Van der Hoorn (4.5)
9-14 Anil Jhurani, Bruce Kay, Daniel Baider, Ian Sellen, Romeo Rabina, Ross Jackson (4)
15 Andrew Brockway (3.5)
16-17 Ridhesh Bardiya, Lawrence Farrington (3)
18 Edmund Salem (2.5)
19-23 Alex Manouilenko, Blaise Drinkwater, Hamish Shierlaw, Matthew Proctor, Sebastian Krueger (2)
24 Paul Bowden, Somesh Pattekar (1.5)

That was the last tournament of the year, apart from the transfer chess scheduled for tomorrow. Summary of 2008 results as follows:

Summer Cup
1 Nic Croad
2-4 Daniel Baider, Russell Dive, Anthony Ker

Fischer Random
1 Anthony Ker
2 Nic Croad
3-5 Michael Nyberg, Russell Dive Scott Wastney

Autumn Cup Round Robin
A grade Russell Dive
B grade Michael Nyberg
C grade Don Stracy
D grade Michael Hewson and Alistair Nicholls

Club Rapid
1 Russell Dive
2-3 Anthony Ker, Nic Croad

Club Championship
A grade Russell Dive
B Grade Martin Hill
C grade Blaise Drinkwater, Edmund Salem, Paul Bowden

Julian Mazur Memorial
1 Anthony Ker
2 Nic Croad
3 Brian Nijman

Julian Mazur Memorial - Anthony Ker continues to dominate

Anthony Ker seems to be heading for a clean sweep in the Julian Mazur Memorial. After 6 rounds he has 100%, with Nic Croad 1 point behind on 5. The chasing pack is another full point behind that.
Nic coolly defended against a typical wild, entertaining attack from Mark van der Hoorn, when all of a sudden the attack disappeared and Mark was left with a serious material deficit. They were still analysing where it went wrong when I left. Daniel Baider was back from school studies to notch up a convincing win against Ross Jackson. If anyone can dent Anthony's score, it must be this talented young man.

Full round 6 results:

Forster 0 Ker 1
Van der Hoorn 0 Croad 1
Baider 1 Jackson 0
Brockway 0 Nijman 1
Sellen 1 Shierlaw 0
Rabina 1/2 Jhurani 1/2
Grkow 1 Bowden 0
Kay 0 Marner 1
Salem 1 Drinkwater 0
Bardiya 0 Proctor 1

Standings after 6 rounds:

1. Anthony Ker (6 points)
2. Nic Croad (5)
3-8 Bill Forster, Brian Nijman, Daniel Baider, Ian Sellen, Michael Nyberg, Romeo Rabina (4)
9-10 Gavin Marner, Mark van der Hoorn (3.5)
11-14 Andrew Brockway, Anil Jhurani, Bruce Kay, Ross Jackson (3)
15-16 Andrew Grkow, Edmund Salem (2.5)
17-20 Ridhesh Bardiya, Alexei Manouilenko, Hamish Shierlaw, Sebastian Krueger (2)
21-23 Lawrence Farrington, Matthew Proctor, Paul Bowden (1.5)
24-25 Blaise Drinkwater, Somesh Pattekar (1)

Chess Olympiad disappointment for NZ

The Dresden Olympiad finished with New Zealand, seeded 71st in the open section, ending in 97th place, a disappointing performance. They had a bad first round loss against Trinidad and Tobago, but then seemed to stage a recovery, culminating in a victory against 29th seed Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 7th round. After this New Zealand were unfortunately pitted against the big guys, the incredibly strong Ukrainian team (0-4), then Georgia (0-4), Turkey (0.5-3.5), and Brazil (1-3). I think they can consider themselves unlucky to continue to have had such strong opposition. Individual performances were not that great, apart from Roger Nokes' astonishing start with 5/5, a rating performance of 2723. This was followed by a draw and 4 losses, but still, he was the only player who managed to perform above his rating. Russell Dive, so invincible at our own club, scored 2/8, but the worst performance was Bob Smith with 0.5/8, and a rating performance of 1790.
On the plus side, the women's team, led by Helen Milligan, outperformed their seeding, finishing in 62nd place, with Australia 1 place below. Helen and Judy Gao both improved their ratings in the process.

Julian Mazur Memorial Round 5

Anthony Ker leads the Julian Mazur Memorial tournament with 5/5 (3 rounds to go). He beat his nearest rival, Michael Nyberg, and now leads the field by a full point. Upset of round 4 was Bill Forster (rating 1904), who beat Brian Nijman (rating 2141) with the black pieces. Bill thus joins Nic Croad in the chasing pack on 4/5. Romeo Rabina has been playing very attractive chess, and comes in half a point behind, along with Michael Nyberg and Mark van der Hoorn.

Full results:
Ker 1 Nyberg 0
Croad 1 Sellen 0
Nijman 0 Forster 1
Marner 1 Grkow 0
Jhurani 0 van der Hoorn 1
Kay 1 Bardiya 0
Krueger 0 Rabina 1
Proctor 0 Salem 1
Bowden 0 Brockway 1
Farrington 0 Jackson 1

Some players have only played 1 or 2 games - I have followed the convention of scoring the first 2 absences as half point byes, and any further absences as defaults. This does not affect the top placings.

1. Anthony Ker (5)
2-3 Bill Forster, Nic Croad (4)
4-6 Mar van der Hoorn, Michael Nyberg, Romeo Rabina (3.5)
7-12 Andrew Brockway, Brian Nijman, Bruce Kay, Daniel Baider, Ian Sellen, Ross Jackson (3)
13-14 Gavin Marner, Anil Jhurani (2.5)
15-16 Hamish Shierlaw, Ridhesh Bardiya (2)
17-21 Alexei Manouilenko, Andrew Grkow, Edmund Salem, Paul Bowden, Sebastian Krueger (1.5)
22-24 Blaise Drinkwater, Lawrence Farrington, Somesh Pattekar (1)
25 Matthew Proctor (0.5)

The inaugural WELLINGTON RAPID took place on Saturday 15th November, and was won by Nic Croad on 5.5 points (5 wins, plus a draw with Anthony Ker). Anthony was 2nd on 5, and visitor Edwin Lee 3rd on 4.5 points. 27 players took part. Thanks to Alan, Ross and Mark for organising the event, and to Scott Wastney for bring along a fair size contingent of his juniors. Maybe some of them will come along to regular chess club meetings in the near future.

Julian Mazur Rounds 3 & 4 - Ker leads

After 4 rounds of the Julian Mazur Memorial there is one player left on 4 points. Anthony Ker beat the main opposition, Nic Croad, this week, after seeing off Brian Nijman in the previous round. Brian had the compensation of winning sensationally in round 4 in 13 moves on the BLACK side of a French Defence against Mark Van der Hoorn! Michael Nyberg defeated promising newcomer Anil Jhurani to set himself up with a game against Anthony Ker next week.

This Saturday 15th November there is a rapid tournament at the club, open to all. Please contact Alan Aldridge if you are interested in taking part. Should be fun.

Round 3
Nijman 0 Ker 1
Croad 1 Baider 0
Marner 0 Nyberg 1
Sellen 1 Brockway 0
Rabina 1/2 Farrington 1/2
Forster 1 Krueger 0
Salem 0 Kay 1
Manouilenko 0 Jackson 1
Bowden 1/2 Drinkwater 1/2
Grkow 0 Van der Hoorn 1
Jhurani 1 Procter 0

Round 4
Ker 1 Croad 0
Van der Hoorn 0 Nijman 1
Grkow 0 Forster 1
Farrington 1/2 Marner 1/2
Jackson 0 Sellen 1
Drinkwater 0 Rabina 1
Pattekar 0 Kay 1
Proctor 0 Bowden 1
Brockway 1 Manouilenko 0
Nyberg 1 Jhurani 0

Placings after 4 rounds:

1. Anthony Ker (4)
2. Michael Nyberg (3.5)
3-6 Bill Forster, Brian Nijman, Ian Sellen, Nic Croad (3)
7-10 Anil Jhurani, Daniel Baider, Mark Van der Hoorn, Romeo Rabina (2.5)
11-14 Andrew Brockway, Bruce Kay, Hamish Shierlaw, Ross Jackson (2)
15-18 Andrew Grkow, Gavin Marner, Paul Bowden, Sebastian Krueger (1.5)
19-21 Alexei Manouilenko, Lawrence Farrington, Somesh Pattekar (1)
22-23 Blaise Drinkwater, Matthew Proctor (0.5)

Julian Mazur Memorial, rounds 1 & 2

The Julian Mazur Memorial has been running for 2 weeks and 4 players are left on 100%. Good to see a few new names on the list, and I apologise for any mis-spellings. Please feel free to send amendments.

Round 1
Farrington 0 Ker 1
Croad 1 Brockway 0
Bowden 0 Baider 1
Nijman 1 Shierlaw 0
Salem 0 Marner 1
Sellen 1 Krueger 0
Proctor 0 Jackson 1
Forster 1 Drinkwater 0
Manouilenko 1 Kay 0
Riddhesh 1 Siddarth 0
Byes Van der Hoorn, Nyberg, Jhurani, Grkov, Pattekar

Round 2
Ker 1 Sellen 0
Marner 0 Croad 1
Baider 1 Forster 0
Jackson 0 Nijman 1
Nyberg 1 Pattekar 0
Shierlaw 1 Farrington 0
Krueger 1 Bowden 0
Kay 0 Jhurani 1
Brockway 1 Salem 0
Van der Hoorn 1 Manouilenko 0
Drinkwater 0 Grkow 1
Byes: Riddhesh, Proctor, Siddarth

Standings:
2 points
Anthony Ker, Brian Nijman, Daniel Baider, Nic Croad

1.5 points
Andrew Grkow, Anil Jhurani, Mark Van der Hoorn, Michael Nyberg, Riddhesh

1 point
Alexi Manouilenko, Andrew Brockway, Bill Forster, Gavin Marner, Hamish Shierlaw, Ian Sellen, Ross Jackson, Sebastian Krueger

0.5 points
Matthew Proctor, Siddarth, Somesh Pattekar

0 points
Blaise Drinkwater, Bruce Kay, Edmund Salem, Lawrence Farrington, Paul Bowden.

Below are the final crosstables for the Club Championship. The last game played was Mark Van der Hoorn against Michael Nyberg, which Mark won.

Club Championship - more catch-up games

Results from the last 2 weeks as follows:

A grade

Nijman 0 Ker 1

Croad 1/2 Van der Hoorn 1/2

Baider 1 Sellen 0

Ker 1 Van der Hoorn 0

Marner 0 Baider 1

Nijman 0 Croad 1

B grade

Rabina 1/2 Shierlaw 1/2

Stracy 1 Rabina 0

C grade

Pattekar 1 Marney 0

Salem 1 Foster 0

These leave the final positions much clearer. Nic Croad gets the runner-up position in the A grade with 6.5 points, 2.5 points behind Russell Dive. Martin Hill won the B grade convincingly 1.5 points ahead of Bill Foster. In the C grade there was a 3 way tie between Paul Bowden, Blaise Drinkwater and Edmund Salem.

There is only one game left to play, and that is Mark van der Hoorn against Michael Nyberg in the A grade. Meanwhile, the Julian Mazur Memorial tournament starts next week on 21st October, which is an 8 round Swiss open to all. See you there!

Club Championship - catch-up games

Due to absences, no catch-up games in the A grade - Daniel Baider and Nic Croad were up in Auckland for the George Trundle event last week. Both players were a credit to our club - Nic got the prize for the highest placed New Zealander, and Daniel performed outstandingly against the visitors, with draws against GM Darryl Johansen and IM Andras Toth, and a win against IM Stephen Solomon. Solomon and Johansen tied for 1st place overall. For more details, please refer to Helen Milligan's excellent website at http://www.newzealandchess.co.nz/.

3 catch-up games in the B grade and 1 in the C grade. In the latter grade, Edmund Salem could only draw against Somesh Pattekar, so Blaise Drinkwater is guaranteed at least shared 1st place.

Full results:

B grade

Shierlaw 0 Stracy 1

Forster 1 Aldridge 0

Kay 1/2 Hewson 1/2

C grade

Pattekar 1/2 Salem 1/2

Russell Dive is Wellington Club Champion with 100%!

Russell Dive (L) and Nic Croad earlier this year

I've run out of superlatives for Russell Dive's recent performances, his results can speak for themselves. Mark Van der Hoorn was polished off almost before I'd finished my first cup of coffee!
Is there any precedent for Russell's astonishing club championship whitewash?

Other (fairly irrelevant) results were: Anthony Ker beat Michael Nyberg, Ross Jackson had his winning streak curtailed by Nic Croad, and I managed to hoist myself off the bottom of the table with a scrappy 97 move win against Brian Nijman which finished about 12:40 am.

Martin Hill finished in style to take the B grade title. He dispatched Hamish Shierlaw, leaving himself with 8.5/9. Congratulations to you Martin!

Full results:

A Grade
Ker 1 Nyberg 0
Dive 1 Van der Hoorn 0
Jackson 0 Croad 1
Sellen 1 Nijman 0

B grade
Rabina 0 Forster 1
Shierlaw 0 Hill 1
Stracy 1/2 Aldridge 1/2

C grade

Proctor 1/2 Pattekar 1/2



Matthew left a comment asking for games. Can anybody donate any? I am a bit reluctant to use my own, as they are so crap! Here is an example from the previous week:

White: Michael Nyberg
Black: Ian Sellen

In our defence, time trouble came into it.

Position after Black's 59th move:

Michael could have cleaned up now with 60. Nd6, which protects the d pawn from being rounded up by the Rook. Instead he played:

60. Kc5?

Now there is a reasonably simple win for me: 60. .......Rc1+ followed by Rd1 and Rxd7, when the 3 pawns must prevail against the lone Knight. Instead, the game ended:

60. ....... Rd1??

61. Nd6 Black resigns

Club Championship week 8

In the clash of the 100 percenters it was Brian Nijman who faltered. Congratulations to Russell Dive, who on 8/8 with one game to play is guaranteed at least first place in the Club Championship. I hear he also won the Kapiti Rapid on Sunday with 6/6. I only wish we in the Lower North Island could offer better practice for him in the light of the greater challenges he will face in Dresden playing for his country in November. Ross Jackson showed that beating Anthony Ker was not just a one off, with a victory over Daniel Baider. My game with Michael Nyberg followed the usual routine - Nyberg plays odd move / Sellen looks puzzled and gratefully accepts advantage / Nyberg sits looking like he knows what he is doing / Sellen starts to sweat and think for too long / Nyberg continues churning out odd but aggressive looking moves / Sellen has about 3 minutes left on the clock and starts to panic / Nyberg pulls out a few tactical finesses / Sellen blunders repeatedly and loses the game. You'd think I'd learn, really. In this case, Michael played an unusual gambit in the Sicilian, 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. b4, which is dubbed "dubious" by MCO. I got a great position, but blundered and lost in the endgame.
In the B grade Martin Hill continues to dominate, beating Andrew Brockway. Bill Forster killed his chances of B grade stardom by losing to Don Stracy. Alan Aldridge still has an outside chance of catching Martin.
In the C grade Blaise Drinkwater has now played all his games, beating Somesh Pattekar in his last game. Now he leads the group by a point, and just has to sit back and watch what Paul Bowden and Edmund Salem do.

Full results

A grade
Nijman 0 Dive 1
Croad 1/2 Ker 1/2
Van der Hoorn 1 Marner 0
Baider 0 Jackson 1
Nyberg 1 Sellen 0

B grade
Forster 0 Stracy 1
Hewson 0 Rabina 1
Hill 1 Brockway 0
Aldridge 1 Shierlaw 0

C grade
Drinkwater 1 Pattekar 0
Bowden 1 Foster 0
Proctor 0 Salem 1

Club Champs, weeks 6 & 7

Sorry for delay, I will now summarise the last 2 weeks:

In group A Russell Dive and Brian Nijman continue to win all their games. The only other player still with an outside chance of the title is Nic Croad. Anthony Ker drew with Daniel Baider, then lost horribly to Ross Jackson after blundering a minor piece. Russell seems unbeatable, with Michael Nyberg sleepwalking to defeat against him on Tuesday. Brian won in style, working up a fantastic position against Gavin Marner after sacrificing a pawn in the opening.

The B group sees Martin Hill still dominating proceedings, although Bill Foster will be giving him a run for his money in the weeks to come. Andrew Brockway fought valiantly against Alan Aldridge, but succumbed in the end, and now finds himself slipping down the table somewhat.


Blaise Drinkwater regains his lead in the C grade, as Paul Bowden slipped up against Matthew Proctor. Should be an interesting race to the finish in this group.

Results, week 6:

A group
Croad 0 Dive 1
Baider 1/2 Ker 1/2
Nijman 1 Van der Hoorn 0
Nyberg 0 Marner 1
Jackson 1/2 Sellen 1/2

B group
Forster 1 Brockway 0
Kay 0 Stracy 1
Hewson 1 Shierlaw 0
Aldridge 0 Hill 1

C group
Marney 1 Proctor 0
Krueger 0 Salem 1

Results, week 7

A group
Van der Hoorn 1 Baider 0
Marner 0 Nijman 1
Dive 1 Nyberg 0
Ker 0 Jackson 1

B group
Hill 1 Nicholls 0 (default)
Brockway 0 Aldridge 1
Shierlaw 0 Foster 1
Stracy 1 Hewson 0
Rabina 1/2 Kay 1/2

C group
Salem 0 Drinkwater 1
Foster 1 Krueger 0 (default)
Proctor 1 Bowden 0

Club Championship week 5

After 11 moves against Anthony Ker I looked over at Russell Dive's game against Ross Jackson and was interested to note that I had adopted almost exactly the same setup as he. Indeed, I ended up with quite a promising position, before it all went horribly wrong. Both 2007 club champions kept their 100% records, Brian Nijman defeating Daniel Baider rather more quickly than the latter is used to these days.
In the B grade all three games that were played ended in draws. Thus Martin Hill lost his 100% record, but is still easily in the lead, With Alan Aldridge once again not playing.
In group C, the favourite Paul Bowden drew level with the leader Blaise Drinkwater, with a draw against Edmund Salem. Blaise dropped a full point to John Marney.

Full results:

A grade
Dive 1 Jackson 0
Sellen 0 Ker 1
Marner 0 Croad 1
Nijman 1 Baider 0

B grade
Hill 1/2 Forster 1/2
Brockway 1/2 Hewson 1/2
Shierlaw 1/2 Kay 1/2

C grade
Salem 1/2 Bowden 1/2
Pattekar 1 Krueger 0 (default)
Drinkwater 0 Marney 1
Foster 0 Proctor 1

Club Championship week 4

Apologies to anyone who tried unsuccessfully to click on last week's image to enlarge. No, it's not your computer, the Blog people must have changed the program. This time I saved as a GIF image, and it seems to work.

A host of Black victories in group A! This group is still dominated by Russell Dive. He defeated his highest rated rival, Anthony Ker, so is on target to make a clean sweep, and justify his Olympiad selection (as if any justification were required!). Having said that, joint club champion Brian Nijman is also on 100% (with 2/2 compared with Russell's 4/4), so anything could happen. I had another disaster, losing a drawn position in an opposite coloured Bishop ending against Nic Croad. It was after midnight, so I must have turned into some kind of pumpkin.
In group B Martin Hill is leading on 4/4 with Alan Aldridge absent and remaining on 3/3. Does anyone have the result of Nicholls vs Stracy? I am missing that one.
In group C Blaise Drinkwater regained the lead, as his opponent did not show up, and Paul Bowden could only manage a draw against Somesh Pattekar.

Full results:

A grade
Sellen 0 Croad 1
Ker 0 Dive 1
Jackson 0 Marner 1
Nyberg 0 Nijman 1

B grade
Nicholls ? Stracy ?
Hewson 0 Hill 1
Kay 1/2 Brockway 1/2

C grade
Marney 1 Foster 0
Bowden 1/2 Pattekar 1/2
Krueger 0 Drinkwater 1 (default)

Club Championship week 3

Lots of unplayed games this week, so positions are a bit unclear. In the A grade Russell Dive has twice as many points as anyone else, and it's only week 3! Anthony Ker finally got an opponent, and beat him. Group B is much better, because there have been no postponed games so far. The field is still very polarised, with a big gap between the top and bottom halves. Defending B grade champion Alan Aldridge is on 3/3, as is Martin Hill. Great result for Alistair Nicholls drawing with Bill Forster - both players now half a point behind the leaders, along with Andrew Brockway, who is also having an excellent tournament. Only 1 game played in the C grade - Blaise Drinkwater losing his 100% record to Paul Bowden, (Blaise now on 2/3, Paul on 2/2).

Many thanks to Anthony Ker for organising a Chess Club team at the Bridge Club fundraising quiz on Saturday. We were awarded 1st prize (actually had the prizes on the table!), but then there was an appeal, and another team drew level. We lost the tie-break. Heart-breaking. Still, for those of you who missed out, there may be an impromptu performance of our prize-winning rendition of "Mamma Mia!" some Tuesday, if you don't watch out.

A grade

Dive 1 Sellen 0

Marner 0 Ker 1

Nyberg 0 Baider 1

Van der Hoorn 1/2 Jackson 1/2

B grade

Forster 1/2 Nicholls 1/2

Aldridge 1 Hewson 0

Hill 1 Kay 0

Brockway 1/2 Rabina 1/2

Shierlaw 0 Stracy 1 (default)

C grade

Drinkwater 0 Bowden 1

Cross tables: (click to enlarge)

Club Championship Week 2

In the A grade defending 2007 champions Russell Dive and Brian Nijman are both on 100% (2/2 and 1/1 respectively). Brian was fortunate that his opponent Ross Jackson self destructed in a reasonably promising position. Daniel Baider seemed to be doing ok in Baider v Dive, but Russell had it all worked out, trapping White's Knight on the 7th rank in a R+N vs R+B ending.
Anthony Ker is the last player in the A grade on zero, but that is because his opponents have not shown up!
In the B grade there is a neat split, with half the field on 2/2, and the other half on 0/2.
New boy Blaise Drinkwater leads the C grade on 2/2, 1 point ahead of the field - congratulations to you Blaise.
Thanks to Andrew Brockway for the opening suggestion on my round 1 disaster (see below). Nice to see I could have lost much quicker! If anyone else has any comments or content they would like to submit, please feel free to do so.

A grade
Baider 0 Dive 1
Sellen 1/2 Marner 1/2
Jackson 0 Nijman 1
Croad 1 Nyberg 0

B grade
Nicholls 1 Shierlaw 0
Stracy 0 Brockway 1
Rabina 0 Hill 1
Kay 0 Aldridge 1
Hewson 0 Forster 1

C grade
Marney 0 Salem 1
Foster 0 Pattekar 1
Proctor 0 Drinkwater 1

Club Championship begins

Results of round 1 of the 2008 Wellington Club Championship:

A grade
Marner 0 Dive 1
Croad 1/2 Baider 1/2
Van der Hoorn 1 Sellen 0
Nyberg 1/2 Jackson 1/2

B grade
Aldridge 1 Rabina 0
Hewson 0 Nicholls 1
Hill 1 Stracy 0
Forster 1 Kay 0

C grade
Brockway 1 Shierlaw 0
Krueger 1 Proctor 0
Bowden 1 Marney 0
Drinkwater 1 Foster 0

Here is my dreadful game against Mark van der Hoorn. If you have a weak heart, or a violent antipathy to bad chess, please stop reading now!

White: Mark van der Hoorn
Black: Ian Sellen
Opening: Sicilian Grand Prix Attack

1. e4 c5
2. Nc3 Nc6
3. f4 g6
4. Nf3 Bg7
5. Bc4
I have previously faced 5. Bb5, the great favourite of another member of the club.
5. ...... e6
6. f5
A thematic pawn sacrifice is looming.

6. ....... gxf5
Mark says that 6. .... Ne7 is correct, but I am already out of my opening book!
7. d3 Ne7
8. 0-0 0-0
9. Qe1 d5
10. exd5 Nxd5
11. Bxd5 exd5
12. Qg3
It is hard to say that White has enough compensation for the pawn.
12. ...... Kh8
13. Bf4 Rg8



14. Ng5??
White wants to get on with his attack quickly, but this is a serious mistake, which underestimates Black's defensive idea, and ends up losing material.
14. ....... Bd4+
15. Kh1 Rg7
Now White is in serious trouble. He decides, rather than retreating the Queen to break the annoying pin on the g file, to sacrifice the Knight.
16. Nb5 f6
17. Nxd4 cxd4
18. h4 fxg5
19. hxg5
Many players would have already resigned in this position, but Mark van der Hoorn is renowned for his fighting qualities in hopeless situations!
19. ..... Kg8
20. Rae1 Bd7
21. Bd2 Qf8
22. b4 a6
23. Qc7


23. ...... Qb8?
There are many ways to win this position for Black, but this is not one of them! I was hoping to exchange Queens, thinking that White would run out of squares to run away to, but I soon realised this would not happen.
24. Qb6 Qd8
25. Qc5 Qf8
26. Qxd5+ Qf7
The loss of a pawn, while not at all necessary, nevertheless has the advantage of opening lines for the somewhat useless white squared Bishop.
27. Qc5 Re8
28. a4 Qh5+
29. Kg1 R7e7
30. b5 Rxe1
30. ........Re2 may have been better, setting up lethal threats on White's 2nd rank.
31. Bxe1 axb5
32. axb5

32. ....... Ne7?
Actually, Black should probably just let White take this Knight on c6 and just play something like 32. Qxg5, as with the Bishop taking back on c6, the threats on g2 and the back rank should be enough to kill White off.
33. Qxd4 Bxb5
34. Bc3 Qg6
35. Re1

35. ....... Bc6??
The losing move. Black is still winning after 35. .... Kf7, when White has run out of tactical ideas. Now Mark wins in efficient style.
36. Re6! Qxg5
And now it's mate in 4
37. Qh8+ Kf7
38. Rf6 Black resigns

Blitz Championship and July ratings

Anthony Ker won the keenly contested 5 minute tournament on Tuesday. There were 22 entrants, although Russell Dive was not one of them this year.
Here are the July ratings for club members. Since we have 6 players in the top 20, I would suggest Wellington be allowed to keep its "Strongest Club in New Zealand" tag!
In New Zealand as a whole, Murray Chandler easily comes out on top, with a ranking of 2542. Russell Dive is our top rated player, 3rd nationally with a rating of 2382.
I have marked inactive players with an (I). Please let me know if I have made any mistakes.

1. Russell Dive 2382
2. Anthony Ker 2342
3. Scott Wastney 2322
4. Nic Croad 2317
5. Daniel Baider 2195
6. Mark van der Hoorn 2152
7. Brian Nijman 2131
8. Maciej Wojnar 2050 (I)
9. Martin Sims 2017 (I)
10. Michael Nyberg 2001
11. Arthur Pomeroy 1993
12. Jacek Wojnar 1983 (I)
13. Gavin Marner 1982
14. Ian Sellen 1944
15. Ross Jackson 1942
16. Jeffrey Boardman 1934 (I)
17. Edgar Benitez 1907 (I)
18. Ferdie Ang 1876 (I)
19. Martin Hill 1855
20. Russel Gordon 1838 (I)
21. Alan Aldridge 1825
22. Bill Forster 1815
23. David Smith 1796 (I)
24. Ralph Townsend 1782 (I)
25. Don Stracy 1780
26. Mark Wilkins 1768
27. Romeo Rabina 1655
28. Bruce Kay 1644
29. Lawrence Farrington 1614
30. Tudor Chifu 1605 (I)
31. Joshi Mulshankar 1593 (I)
32. Michael Hewson 1587
33. Rick Benitez 1567 (I)
34. Alistair Nicholls 1552
35. Max Wigbout 1552 (I)
36. John Cook 1539
37. Megan du Plessis 1525
38. Neels du Plessis 1519
39. Matthew Gers 1504
40. Stephen Moore 1490
41. Andrew Brockway 1477
42. Alan Khoo 1443 (I)
43. Richard Thorpe 1421 (I)
44. Hamish Shierlaw 1402
45. Edmund Salem 1393
46. Alex Olssen 1354
47. Will French 1306 (I)
48. Sebastian Kruger 1280
49. Hugh Waugh 1126
50. Michael Stevens 1260 (I)
51. John Marney 1245 (I)
52. Richard Pickering 1226 (I)
53. Matthew Proctor 1183
54. Michael Leibowitz 1155 (I)
55. Henry Wylde 1144 (I)
56. David Wu 1134 (I)
57. Blaise Drinkwater 1110
58. Somesh Pattekar 1100

Ker falters, Dive takes Rapid title

Anthony Ker had a stroke of bad luck in the 9th round against Scott Wastney. He looked set to promote his queen rook pawn in a Queen and Rook ending, but his King was exposed and he accidentally got mated (time trouble came into it). Russell Dive wasn't in the mood for slip-ups, and he defeated Alan Aldridge and Anthony's nemesis Scott to take the title by a full point. Upset of the 10th round would have been my draw with Nic Croad. As White in a standard Dragon with opposite castled Kings, my King came under a ferocious and hair-raising Croadian attack, which involved a temporary Queen sacrifice on his part. Somehow he failed to find the killer blow, and the game petered out to a R + 2 pawns vs B+ 4 pawns ending where nobody could make progress.
So Nic tied for 2nd with Anthony, with Scott and Gavin Marner a further point behind - good result for Gavin who only lost to Nic and Russell, scoring a draw against Anthony in round 4, and beating joint club champion Brian Nijman in round 8.

Full results.

Round 9
Ker 0 Wastney 1
Aldridge 0 Dive 1
Croad 1 Marner 0
Sellen 1 Farrington 0
Seabrook 0 Nijman 1
Forster 1 Jackson 0
Drinkwater 0 Du Plessis N 1
Brockway 1 Kay 1
Nyberg 1 Bowden 0
Shierlaw 0 Du Plessis M 1
Proctor 1 Krueger 0
Hewson 0 Rabina 1 (default)
Meyer and Pattekar 0 point byes

Round 10
Dive 1 Wastney 0
Aldridge 0 Ker 1
Sellen 1/2 Croad 1/2
Marner 1 Farrington 0
Nijman 0 Nyberg 1
Seabrook 0 Forster 1
Jackson 1 Proctor 0
Rabina 0 Bowden 1
Du Plessis N 1 Shierlaw 0
Du Plessis M 1 Hewson 0
Krueger 0 Brockway 1 (default)
Kay 1 Drinkwater 0
Meyer and Pattekar 0 point byes

FINAL STANDINGS

1. Russell Dive (9)
2=Anthony Ker, Nic Croad (8)
4=Gavin Marner, Scott Wastney (7)
6=Alan Aldridge, Bill Forster, Michael Nyberg, Ian Sellen (6)
10=Megan Du Plessis, Neels Du Plessis, Lawrence Farrington (5.5)
13=Ross Jackson, Bruce Kay, Marany Meyer, Brian Nijman (5)
17=Paul Bowden, Andrew Brockway (4.5)
19=Matthew Proctor, Romeo Rabina, Roy Seabrook (4)
22. Michael Hewson (3)
23=Blaise Drinkwater, Hamish Shierlaw (2)
25=Sebastian Krueger, Somesh Pattekar (1)

Dive and Ker lead Rapid, 2 rounds to go

Russell Dive and Anthony Ker will each be hoping that the other makes a slip in the final rounds on Tuesday. They have both played Nic Croad, chief contender and half a point behind, but neither has played Scott Wastney yet, probably the only other player with a decent chance of scoring against them. Russell crushed me effortlessly last week, though I managed a bit more of a fight against Anthony (still lost). Getting Black against both Anthony and Russell (and with a stinking cold!) in one week is probably as bad as it gets.

Round 7
Dive 1 Sellen 0
Nijman 0 Ker 1
Kay 0 Croad 1
Marner 1 Forster 0
Nyburg 1/2 Jackson 1/2
Bowden 1/2 Shierlaw 1/2
Farrington 1 Brockway 0
Rabina 1 Proctor 0
Drinkwater 0 Hewson 1
Wastney 1 Seabrook 0
Krueger 0 Aldridge 1
Byes: Du Plessis M, Du Plessis N, Meyer, Pattekar

Round 8
Forster 0 Dive 1
Ker 1 Sellen 0
Croad 1 Rabina 0
Nijman 0 Marner 1
Wastney 1 Jackson 0
Aldridge 1 Seabrook 0
Farrington 1 Proctor 0
Nyburg 1 Kay 0
Bowden 1 Krueger 0
Drinkwater 0 Brockway 1
Shierlaw 0 Hewson 1
Byes: Du Plessis M, Du Plessis N, Meyer, Pattekar


Standings after 8 rounds:

7 points
Russell Dive, Anthony Ker

6.5 points
Nic Croad

6 points
Alan Aldridge, Gavin Marner, Scott Wastney

5.5 points
Lawrence Farrington

5 points
Marany Meyer

4.5 points
Ian Sellen

4 points
Bill Forster, Ross Jackson, Brian Nijman, Michael Nyburg, Roy Seabrook

3.5 points
Paul Bowden, Andrew Brockway, Megan Du Plessis, Neels Du Plessis

3 points
Michael Hewson, Bruce Kay, Matthew Proctor, Romeo Rabina

2 points
Blaise Drinkwater, Hamish Shierlaw

1 point
Sebastian Krueger, Somesh Pattekar

Club Rapid 5 & 6 - Ker and Dive lead

Just when it seemed Russell Dive was planning to repeat his Autumn Cup whitewash, Anthony Ker scored a win against him to join him at the top on 5/6. Nic Croad and I are half a point behind. Marany Meyer continued on her happy way by scoring a win against co-club champion Brian Nijman, and joining the chasing pack on 4 points. Roy Seabrook played well to defeat Michael Nyburg, who is not having his most successful tournament ever.

Round 5
Dive 1 Marner 0
Croad 1/2 Ker 1/2
Meyer 0 Wastney 1
Sellen 1 Du Plessis N 0
Du Plessis M 0 Aldridge 1
Rabina 0 Nijman 1
Jackson 1 Farrington 0
Hewson 0 Nyberg 1
Kay 1 Bowden 0
Seabrook 1 Drinkwater 0
Proctor 1 Shierlaw 0
Pattekar 0 Krueger 1 (default)
Brockway, Forster 1/2 point byes

Round 6
Dive 0 Ker 1
Marner 1/2 Sellen 1/2
Meyer 1 Nijman 0
Du Plessis N 0 Croad 1
Farrington 1 Du Plessis M 0
Rabina 0 Wastney 1
Kay 0 Aldridge 1
Seabrook 1 Nyberg 0
Jackson 1 Shierlaw 0
Proctor 1 Hewson 0
Bowden 1 Pattekar 0 (default)
Krueger 0 Drinkwater 1
Brockway, Forster 1/2 point byes

Standings:

5 points
Russell Dive, Anthony Ker

4.5 points
Nic Croad, Ian Sellen

4 points
Alan Aldridge, Bill Forster, Gavin Marner, Marany Meyer, Brian Nijman, Roy Seabrook, Scott Wastney

3.5 points
Lawrence Farrington, Ross Jackson

3 points
Bruce Kay, Matthew Proctor

2.5 points
Andrew Brockway, Megan Du Plessis, Neels Du Plessis, Michael Nyberg

2 points
Paul Bowden, Blaise Drinkwater, Romeo Rabina

1.5 points
Hamish Shierlaw

1 point
Michael Hewson, Sebastian Krueger

0 points
Somesh Pattekar

Russell Dive on 100% - again

Russell Dive is sole leader of the club rapid after 4 rounds, with his customary rival Anthony Ker dropping half a point to Gavin Marner in round 4. Scott Wastney is some way down the table - he slaughtered me in round 3, but must have got over-confident in his bunny-bashing, as Bill Forster scored a good win against him in the following round. Both our female players are doing well (yes, we have two now!) with Marany Meyer on 3 and Megan Du Plessis on 2 1/2 after a "grandmaster draw" against her Dad.
In other news, Wellington players took top 3 places in the Gordon Hoskyn memorial, Russell Dive scooping 1st place and Scott Wastney and Michael Nyberg sharing second. Great results also for Megan du Plessis and David Capper - check out the tournament report on the website http://www.newzealandchess.co.nz/, and the mammoth picture report on http://www.nzchessevents.myphotoalbum.com/

Also, New Zealand Chess magazine has been revived by Alan Aldridge and Bill Forster. I personally think they have done a fantastic job - even sceptical family members have been picking it up and chuckling over it. Make sure you get your copy if you have not done so already!

Coming up next week - the gamesfest at the Central Wellington library. Wellington Chess Club will have a stall and I and others will be taking on all comers. Ross Jackson has details.

Round 3:
Wastney 1 Sellen 0
Farrington 1 Hewson 0
Du Plessis M 1 Pattekar 0
Du Plessis N 1 Seabrook 0
Drinkwater 0 Dive 1
Marner 1 Kay 0
Shierlaw 1/2 Brockway 1/2
Ker 1 Jackson 0
Krueger 0 Rabina 1
Bowden 1 Proctor 0
Aldridge 0 Forster 1
Nijman 0 Croad 1
Byes: Meyer 1, Nyberg 1/2

Round 4
Ker 1/2 Marner 1/2
Shierlaw 1 Krueger 0
Meyer 1 Drinkwater 0
Pattekar 0 Farrington 1
Croad 0 Dive 1
Forster 1 Wastney 0
Brockway 1 Bowden 0
Sellen 1 Aldridge 0
Seabrook 1 Rabina 0
Nijman 1 Jackson 0
Hewson 0 Kay 1
Byes: Proctor 1, Nyberg 1/2

Standings:

4 points:
Russell Dive

3.5 points
Anthony Ker, Gavin Marner

3 points:
Nic Croad, Bill Forster, Marany Meyer, Brian Nijman, Ian Sellen

2.5 points
Megan Du Plessis, Neels Du Plessis, Lawrence Farrington

2 points
Alan Aldridge, Bruce Kay, Romeo Rabina, Roy Seabrook, Scott Wastney

1.5 points
Andrew Brockway, Ross Jackson, Michael Nyberg, Hamish Shierlaw

1 point
Paul Bowden, Blaise Drinkwater, Michael Hewson, Matthew Proctor

0 points
Sebastian Krueger, Somesh Pattekar

Club Rapid Rounds 1 and 2

Club Rapid started on 10-Jun-08 and runs for 5 weeks, 2 rounds per evening.

Round 1:
Rabina 0 Ker 1
Sellen 1 Bowden 0
Proctor 0 Drinkwater 1
Brockway 0 Du Plessis N 1
Meyer 0 Dive 1
Pattekar 0 Aldridge 1
Forster 1 Farrington 0
Croad 1 Krueger 0
Shierlaw 0 Kay 1
Hewson 0 Wastney 1
Nyberg 0 Marner 1
Du Plessis M 0 Nijman 1

Round 2
Marner 1 Pattekar 0
Krueger 0 Hewson 1
Wastney 0 Croad 1
Aldridge 1 Brockway 0
Bowden 0 Du Plessis M 1
Drinkwater 0 Rabina 1
Farrington 1/2 Nyberg 1/2
Ker 1 Shierlaw 0
Kay 0 Sellen 1
Nijman 1 Forster 0
Seabrook 1/2 Jackson 1/2
Dive 1 Proctor 0
Du Plessis N 0 Meyer 1

Standings:

2 points
Alan Aldridge, Nic Croad, Russell Dive, Anthony Ker, Gavin Marner, Brian Nijman, Ian Sellen,

1 point
Blaise Drinkwater, Megan Du Plessis, Neels du Plessis, Bill Forster, Michael Hewson, Ross Jackson, Bruce Kay, Marany Meyer, Romeo Rabina, Roy Seabrook, Scott Wastney

0.5 points
Lawrence Farrington, Michael Nyberg

0 points
Paul Bowden, Andrew Brockway, Sebastian Krueger, Somesh Pattekar, Matthew Proctor, Hamish Shierlaw

Autumn Cup ends - Dive cleans up

No disputing the winner of the A grade of the Wellington Chess Club Autumn Cup - Russell Dive with a clean 100%, 5 out of 5, displayed convincingly why he has been chosen to represent New Zealand in the upcoming Chess Olympiad in Dresden. Anthony Ker also shone, only losing to Russell, and winning his other games.


In the final game of the B grade Ross Jackson beat Alan Aldridge, which meant that there was a 4 way tie for 2nd (behind Michael Nyberg). Look at the cross table here - it is rather curious!


I did not realise last week, but the D grade got to play an extra round, by virtue of it being a Swiss rather than a round robin. This does not affect the final result, though, as the leaders both won their games to stay joint first. So congratulations to Michael Hewson and Alistair Nicholls, and special good wishes to Alistair as he takes a break from chess to indulge in a spot of nappy-changing.

Full results:



A Grade
Marner 0 Ker 1
Croad 1 Van der Hoorn 0
Baider 0 Dive 1



B grade
Aldridge 0 Jackson 1

C grade
Capper 1/2 Brockway 1/2



D grade
Pattekar 0 Shierlaw 1
Proctor 0 Drinkwater 1
Nicholls 1 Krueger 0
Bowden 0 Hewson 1
Bye: Salem

There is one game left in the C grade, but it will not affect the final result.



Check out the Olympiad story on the website http://www.newzealandchess.co.nz/.
Murray Chandler, for so long a mainstay of the England team, is to be board one for his native New Zealand. And with Puchen Wang and our own Russell Dive supporting, New Zealand could make a serious impression this year. I can't wait!

Back in Wellington, club rapid championships start this week - Be there!

Autumn Cup round 5 - Dive wins again

Russell Dive is assured of at least shared first place in the A grade by grinding out a win against Gavin Marner. He and Anthony Ker have outclassed the rest of the field in this tournament.

B grade champion is Michael Nyberg. Congratulations Michael (grrr!). I was White against him in the last round and we reached the following position:

Michael had just played the dubious and highly provocative 11....Nh5?, after which I spent 40 minutes looking at the position after 12. Bxf7 ch Kxf7 13. Nxe5 dbl ch Kg8 14. Qxh5 dxe5, and wasn't really sure if I had enough for the sacrificed piece. Actually, the computer comes up with the much better 14. Ng6 with numerous tactical possibilities and a winning position for White. In the end I played 12. Qf2, got myself into time trouble, and lost.

One game left in the B group, which is Aldridge against Jackson.

Don Stracy won the C group with 4/5, as Romeo Rabina could only draw against Andrew Brockway. There are still 2 games to play in that group.

In group D Michael Hewson had his winning run broken by Alistair Nicholls who thus gets to share first place with 4/5. Congratulations to both of you!

Full results:

A group
Ker 1 Croad 0
Van der Hoorn 1 Baider 0
Dive 1 Marner 0

B group
Forster 0 Aldridge 1
Jackson 0 Pomeroy 1
Sellen 0 Nyberg 1

C group
Brockway 1/2 Rabina 1/2
Kay 1 Farrington 0
Stracy 1 Capper 0

D group
Hewson 0 Nicholls 1
Salem 1 Pattekar 0
Bowden 1 Drinkwater 0
Bye: Proctor

Click to enlarge placings:

Autumn Cup Week 4 - Dive takes lead

Russell Dive beat Anthony Ker to take sole lead in A group on Tuesday. An interesting looking middlegame led to an ending where Russell had a powerful passed queen side pawn. Nic was a pawn up against Daniel, but couldn't convert to a win. Mark sneaked a draw against Gavin by losing all his pieces and getting a stalemate.

The B and C group leaders (Michael Nyberg and Don Stracy) resumed their winning ways, but Don has to share his lead with newcomer Romeo Rabina, who is on fine form. I need to beat Michael next week to at least share first place in the B group.

In group D Michael Hewson is guaranteed first place by virtue of having won all his games. Alistair Nicholls can equal him if he wins the last game next week. Alistair slipped in the first round against Hamish Shierlaw, but has won all his games since.

Full results:

Group A

Dive 1 Ker 0

Marner 1/2 Van der Hoorn 1/2

Baider 1/2 Croad 1/2

Group B

Nyberg 1 Jackson 0

Aldridge 1/2 Sellen 1/2

Pomeroy 1 Forster 0

Group C

Farrington 0 Rabina 1

Stracy 1 Brockway 0

Group D

Shierlaw 0 Hewson 1

Nicholls 1 Salem 0

Krueger 1 Proctor 0

Drinkwater 0 Pattekar 1

Tables: (click to enlarge)

Autumn Cup round 3

In the A group Ker vs Croad was postponed, which means that everyone has played the same number of games (two). Mark Van der Hoorn was slightly shocked to find himself losing on time to Russell Dive, even though earlier on he had 25 minutes left to Russell's one! Daniel Baider won eventually against Gavin Marner after a fine tactic left him 2 pawns up and a won position.

In both the B and C groups the bottom placed player beat the top placed player. And there have still been no draws in either the A group or the C group - Wijk aan Zee eat your heart out!

Group D is being run as a Swiss tournament. For a while it looked like Blaise Drinkwater would take the lead without having played a single game, but Michael Hewson turned up eventually, and promptly kept his 100% record.

Full results:

A

Van der Hoorn 0 Dive 1

Marner 0 Baider 1

B

Pomeroy 0 Aldridge 1

Forster 1 Nyberg 0

Jackson 1/2 Sellen 1/2

C

Brockway 0 Farrington 1

Rabina 1 Capper 0

Kay 1 Stracy 0

D

Hewson 1 Drinkwater 0

Shierlaw 1 Bowden 0

Salem 1 Krueger 0

Proctor 0 Nicholls 1

Tables: (click to enlarge)

Group D standings:

3 points

Michael Hewson

2.5 points

Hamish Shierlaw

2 points

Alistair Nicholls, Edmund Salem

1.5 points

Blaise Drinkwater, Somesh Pattekar

1 point

Sebastian Krueger

0.5 points

Paul Bowden, Matthew Proctor

Autumn Cup Round 2

Already there have been quite a few postponements which makes the overall positions quite unclear. In each of the 4 groups there is only one person left with 2/2. In the A grade it is Anthony Ker who has a 1 point lead in the group after defeating Daniel Baider in an interesting looking encounter in round 2. Michael Nyberg leads in the B grade, after a fantastically wild encounter with Arthur Pomeroy (marred only by a slightly premature declaration of checkmate on Michael's part). I hope this encounter makes it to the pages of Alan Aldridge's new chess magazine. In the C grade Don Stracy continued his run of good results with a defeat of new player Romeo Rabina. And in the open Swiss group Michael Hewson defeated Somesh Pattekar to keep his 100% total.

Full results of round 2:

A Grade
Ker 1 Baider 0
Croad 1 Marner 0
Postponed: Van der Hoorn vs Dive

Leaders: Ker 2/2, Dive 1/1, Croad 1/2

B grade
Nyberg 1 Pomeroy 0
Sellen 1 Forster 0
Postponed: Aldridge vs Jackson

Leaders: Nyberg 2/2, Sellen 1.5/2, Jackson 1/1

C grade
Kay 0 Brockway 1
Stracy 1 Rabina 0
Capper 1 Farrington 0

Leaders: Stracy 2/2, Brockway 1/1 Capper 1/1, Rabina 1/2

D grade
Pattekar 0 Hewson 1
Krueger 1/2 Shierlaw 1/2
Nicholls 1 Bowden 0
Salem 1 Proctor 0
Bye: Drinkwater

Leaders: Hewson 2/2, Shierlaw 1.5/2

Autumn Cup begins

Back to the normal chess, after all that Fischer Random excitement.
The Autumn Cup consists of 4 graded all play all groups of about 6 players each. Some players were missing for the first week.

Results from round 1.

Group A:
Van der Hoorn 0 Ker 1
Dive 1 Croad 0

Group B:
Nyberg 1 Aldridge 0
Pomeroy 1/2 Sellen 1/2
Forster 0 Jackson 1

Group C:
Rabina 1 Kay 0
Farrington 0 Stracy 1

Group D:
Hewson 1 Salem 0
Shierlaw 1 Nicholls 0
Bowden 1/2 Brockway 1/2
Bye: Pattekar

Congratulations to Alan Aldridge who has been awarded the job of producing the New Zealand Chess Magazine. Please support him in every way possible, in particular by providing content and helpful suggestions.

Croad slips, Ker takes Fischer Random title

Congratulations to Anthony Ker who finished with wins against Nic Croad and Brian Nijman to take the inaugural Fischer Random title. Here are the positions:

Round 5

It was really difficult to castle in this position, and less than half of players managed it. Only one person managed to castle on the King side - Martin Hill. In his game against Matthew Proctor he cleared his back rank, and with a great flourish (and a great big smile) swept the king and the c1 Rook over to the other side of the board. Not only this, Martin and I played a couple of blitz games afterwards using the same position, and he castled on the King side in both games!

Round 6 position:

For the record, here are the results of rounds 5 and 6:

Round 5

Ker 1 Croad 0

Wastney 1/2 Dive 1/2

Farrington 0 Nyberg 1

Jackson 1 Van der Hoorn 1

Nijman 1 Aldridge 0

Brockway 0 Forster 1

Drinkwater 0 Sellen 1

Hill 1 Proctor 0

Round 6

Nijman 0 Ker 1

Nyberg 0 Croad 1

Jackson 0 Wastney 1

Dive 1 Hill 0

Sellen 0 Van der Hoorn 1

Forster 1 Proctor 0

Aldridge 1 Brockway 0

Drinkwater 0 Farrington 1

Final placings:

5.5 points

Anthony Ker

5 points

Nic Croad

4.5 points

Rusell Dive, Scott Wastney, Michael Nyberg

4 points

Brian Nijman

3 points

Alan Aldridge, William Forster, Martin Hill, Ross Jackson, Mark Van der Hoorn

2 points

Andrew Brockway, Lawrence Farrington, Matthew Proctor, Ian Sellen

1 point

Blaise Drinkwater, Edmund Salem, Roy Seabrook

0 points

Paul Bowden, Romeo Rabina

Back to normal this week for the Autumn Cup. See you there.

Nic Croad leads Fischer Random event

Nic Croad is setting the pace in the Fischer Random event under way at the Wellington Chess Club. He is the only player left on 100%, and is well placed to take his third consecutive title.

Round 3 position:

Round 4 position:





















I am not qualified to do this, since I am coming last, but I will just make some remarks about Fischer Random as experienced by the club:
1. Some opening positions accentuate the white advantage, notably when an opening white pawn move opens a diagonal which threatens an undefended black pawn.
2. Bishops are powerful pieces in the opening, especially if they are positioned on long diagonals.
3. Games tend to be rather tactical. We have seen some very wild positions, and there has only been one draw in the first four rounds. Michael Nyberg for example, noted for his tactical virtuosity, can be expected to do rather well in this environment!
4. It is quite normal for a queen to go rampaging round the board at an early stage.
5. It is easy to get a piece hopelessly trapped. In my round 4 game against Alan Aldridge, Alan played an early c3, which kept his bishop on a1 trapped for the duration of the game (this did not, however, prevent him giving me a damn good thrashing).

In at least 2 games in round 4, Black was a rook down by move 3!


Full results:


Round 3
Hill 0 Croad 1
Wastney 1 Van der Hoorn 0
Ker 1 Aldridge 0
Forster 0 Nyberg 1
Jackson 0 Dive 1
Nijman 1 Farrington 0
Sellen 1 Salem 0
Brockway 1 Drinkwater 0


Round 4
Croad 1 Wastney 0
Van der Hoorn 0 Ker 1
Nyberg 1 Hill 0
Proctor 0 Nijman 1
Dive 1 Forster 0
Aldridge 1 Sellen 0
Farrington 0 Jackson 1
Salem 0 Brockway 1


Standings after round 4:


4 points
Nic Croad


3.5 points
Anthony Ker, Michael Nyberg


3 points
Russell Dice, Brian Nijman, Scott Wastney


2 points
Alan Aldridge, Andrew Brockway, Martin Hill, Ross Jackson, Roy Seabrook, Mark Van der Hoorn


1.5 points
Matthew Proctor


1 point
Paul Bowden, Drinkwater, Lawrence Farrington, William Forster, Romeo Rabina, Edmund Salem, Ian Sellen

Fischer Random fever hits Wellington!

Well maybe not the whole of Wellington, but for the 20 devotees of chess innovation who turned up on Tuesday an enjoyable, if head-scratching time was to be had. It was great to see all the best active Wellington players participating, Russell Dive, Anthony Ker, Scott Wastney Nic Croad and Mark Van der Hoorn. Nic wrote the computer program to generate the random positions which we would be using for the games. For the record, here were the positions we got for the first 2 rounds which were played on Tuesday (there will be 6 rounds altogether, 2 per night).

The sensation of the first round was Russell Dive losing to his joint club champion, Brian Nijman. I did not get to see the game, as I was busy messing up my own game, but you can see it on Brian's blog http://capitalchess.blogspot.com/

I was a rook ahead against Anthony Ker (2 rooks and a pawn vs 1 rook and a pawn!). In a finish that will haunt me for many years to come, I somehow managed to lose the position and the game. Actually my 2nd round game against Matthew Proctor was probably equally painful, where I was again a rook up but walked into a mating net - but not quite as many spectators witnessed that one!

Full results:

Round 1

Ker 1 Sellen 0

Jackson 0 Salem 1

Hill 1 Bowden 0

Brockway 0 Van der Hoorn 1

Nijman 1 Dive 0

Proctor 0 Nyberg 1

Wastney 1 Farrington 0

Seabrook 0 Croad 1

Rabina 0 Aldridge 1

Forster 1 Drinkwater 0

Round 2

Nyberg 1/2 Ker 1/2

Croad 1 Forster 0

Aldridge 0 Wastney 1

Van der Hoorn 1 Nijman 0

Salem 0 Hill 1

Bowden 0 Jackson 1

Sellen 0 Proctor 1

Drinkwater 0 Seabrook 1

Farrington 1 Rabina 0

Dive 1 Brockway 0

Positions after 2 rounds:

2 points

Nic Croad, Martin Hill, Mark Van der Hoorn, Scott Wastney

1.5 points

Anthony Ker, Michael Nyberg

1 point

Alan Aldridge, Russell Dive, Lawrence Farrington, Bill Forster, Ross Jackson, Brian Nijman, Matthew Proctor, Edmund Salem, Roy Seabrook

0 points

Paul Bowden, Andrew Brockway, Drinkwater, Romeo Rabina, Ian Sellen

Nic Croad wins Summer Cup

Nic Croad drew with Daniel Baider to win the Summer Cup by the margin of a full point. Daniel could have caught him with a win, but will be happy to have further improved his rating. Russell Dive and Anthony Ker both won their games to join Daniel on equal second, with Mark van der Hoorn half a point behind. Congratulations to Nic who has now won 2 tournaments in a row!

Full results:

Baider 1/2 Croad 1/2
Ker 1 Nijman 0
Dive 1 Hill 0
Van der Hoorn 1 Forster 0
Sellen 0 Nyberg 1
Jackson 1 Farrington 0
Stracy 1 Capper 0
Rabina 1/2 Bowden 1/2
Aldridge 1 Brockway 0
Proctor 0 Seabrook 1
Pattekar 0 Nicholls 1
Shierlaw 1 Olssen 0

Final standings:

7 points
Nic Croad

6 points
Daniel Baider, Russell Dive, Anthony Ker

5.5 points
Mark Van der Hoorn

5 points
Martin Hill, Ross Jackson, Brian Nijman, Michael Nyberg, Don Stracy

4.5 points
William Forster, Gavin Marner, Ian Sellen

4 points
Alan Aldridge, Megan Du Plessis, Lawrence Farrington, Michael HewsonMulshankar Joshi, Arthur Pomeroy, Romeo Rabina, Roy Seabrook

3.5 points
Paul Bowden, David Capper, Mark Wilkins

3 points
Andrew Brockway, Alistair Nicholls, Edmund Salem

2 points
Neels Du Plessis, Alex Olssen, Somesh Pattekar, Hamish Shierlaw

1.5 points
Hugh Waugh

1 point
Matthew Proctor

FISCHER RANDOM EVENT
Next Tuesday we start a tournament which will be a first for the club: a six round Fischer random event, where the back rank pieces are shuffled around. It will get those good players out of their opening books, so maybe we all stand a chance of winning!
It should be exciting and fun, so I hope as many of you as possible will be able to take part.

Summer Cup - Daniel Baider does it again!

My grand scheme of "doing a Baider" failed at the first hurdle, and I got wiped off the board in 17 moves by Nic Croad. Meanwhile Daniel was out-Baidering himself at the other end of the table - he defeated his Wellington Open nemesis Anthony Ker after a tricky queen knight and pawns ending where Daniel was a pawn up. In the last 5 days he has wrought chaos among the cream of Wellington's chess talent. At this rate we will soon be forced to start up a grandmaster fund for him!

Round 7 results (1 round to go)

Croad 1 Sellen 0
Baider 1 Ker 0
Nijman 1 Jackson 0
Hill 1 Stracy 0
Du Plessis M 0 Dive 1
Rabina 0 Van der Hoorn 1
Bowden 0 Marner 1
Nyberg 1 Hewson 0
Salem 0 Farrington 1
Capper 1 Du Plessis N 0
Nicholls 0 Wilkins 1
Olssen 0 Aldridge 1
Brockway 1 Shierlaw 0
Proctor 0 Pattekar 1

Standings:

6.5 points
Nic Croad

5.5 points
Daniel Baider

5 points
Russell Dive, Martin Hill, Anthony Ker, Brian Nijman

4.5 points
William Forster, Ian Sellen, Mark Van der Hoorn

4 points
Lawrence Farrington, Ross Jackson, Gavin Marner, Michael Nyberg, Arthur Pomeroy, Don Stracy

3.5 points
David Capper, Megan Du Plessis, Mulshankar Joshi, Romeo Rabina

3 points
Alan Aldridge, Paul Bowden, Andrew Brockway, Michael Hewson, Roy Seabrook, Mark Wilkins

2.5 points
Edmund Salem

2 points
Alistair Nicholls, Alex Olssen, Somesh Pattekar

1.5 points
Neels Du Plessis, Hugh Waugh

1 point
Matthew Proctor, Hamish Shierlaw

Wellington Open - Final Results and Standings

Anthony Ker and Scott Wastney shared top spot on 5/6 at the end of the Easter Wellington Open which finished today. Anthony has a slightly higher sum of opponents' scores, if there is a tie-break. B grade title shared by John Duneas, Alan Aldridge, William Forster, Ross Jackson and Fuatai Fuatai. C grade title taken outright by Du Plessis père, who got the same score as the top B graders, 3 1/2.
Junior title was taken (again) by Daniel Baider, who to me was the real star of this tournament.
Overall the tournament was well organised, and played with such generosity of spirit and good humour that it made me proud to be a chessplayer! (even though I wasn't playing.) Congratulations to all who took part in a great contest. I hope to get some photos of the event to publish in the next few days.

Round 4
Baider 1/2 Wastney 1/2
Fuatai 0 Ker 1
Davis 0 Dive 1
Croad 1 Van der Hoorn 0
Han 0 Duneas 1
Marner 1/2 Aldridge 1/2
Jackson 1 Stracy 0
Forster 1 Ward 0
Wilkins 1 Wu 0
Judkins 1 Capper 0
Du Plessis N 1 Khoo 0
Gers 1 Brockway 0
Hewson 0 Smith 1
Kruger 0 Du Plessis M 1
Bye: Shierlaw

Round 5
Ker 1 Baider 0
Wastney 1 Jackson 0
Dive 1/2 Croad 1/2
Van der Hoorn 1 Forster 0
Smith 0 Han 1
Duneas 1/2 Marner 1/2
Aldridge 1 Fuatai 0
Judkins 0 Davis 1
Stracy 0 Wilkins1
Wu 0 Ward 1
Capper 1 Hewson 0
Du Plessis M 1/2 Du Plessis N 1/2
Shierlaw 1 Kruger 0
Khoo 1 Gers 0
Bye: Brockway

Round 6
Wastney 1/2 Ker 1/2
Croad 1 Aldridge 0
Dive 1 Duneas 0
Baider 1/2 Van der Hoorn 1/2
Han 1 Davis 0
Jackson 1/2 Marner 1/2
Wilkins 0 Fuatai 1
Forster 1 Du Plessis M 0
Hewson 0 Stracy 1
Ward 1 Shierlaw 0
Khoo 0 Capper 1
Du Plessis N 1 Smith 0
Gers 1 Kruger 0
Brockway 0 Judkins 1
Bye: Wu

Final Standings:

5 Points
Anthony Ker, Scott Wastney

4.5 points
Nic Croad, Russell Dive

4 points
Daniel Baider, Daniel Han, Mark Van der Hoorn

3.5 points
Alan Aldridge, John Duneas, Neels Du Plessis, William Forster, Fuatai Fuatai, Ross Jackson, Gavin Marner

3 points
David Capper, Justin Davis, Gary Judkins, Simon Ward, Mark Wilkins

2.5 points
Megan Du Plessis, Jeremy Smith, Don Stracy

2 points
Matthew Gers, Alan Khoo, Hamish Shierlaw, David Wu

1.5 points
Andrew Brockway, Michael Hewson

1 point
Sebastian Kruger

Wellington Open rounds 2 and 3

No doubting who is player of the tournament so far - 14 year old Daniel Baider, finally fulfilling some of the promise he has shown over the last few years. How many of us can say we have have beaten Russell Dive, followed it up with a win against Nic Croad, then taken a breather with a draw against Scott Wastney? Not many, I suspect.

Round 2:

Dive 0 Baider 1
Ker 1 Marner 0
Davis 0 Wastney 1
Croad 1 Duneas 0
Van der Hoorn 1 Aldridge 0
Han 1 Kruger 0
Wu 0 Fuatai 1
Jackson 1 Smith 0
Forster 1 Hewson 0
Wilkins 1 Gers 0
Brockway 1/2 Stracy 1/2
Ward 1 Du Plessis M 0
Capper 1 Shierlaw 0
Du Plessis N 1 Judkins 0
Bye: Khoo

Round 3:

Van der Hoorn 1/2 Ker 1/2
Han 0 Wastney 1
Baider 1 Croad 0
Fuatai 1 Forster 0
Ward 0 Dive 1
Marner 1 Wilkins 0
Khoo 0 Davis 1
Duneas 1 Capper 0
Kruger 0 Jackson 1
Aldridge 1 Wu 0
Stracy 1 Du Plessis N 0
Hewson 1 Gers 0
Smith 1 Brockway 0
Du Plessis M 1 Shierlaw 0
Bye: Judkins

Standings after 3 rounds:

3 points
Daniel Baider, Scott Wastney

2.5 points
Fuatai Fuatai, Anthony Ker, Mark Van der Hoorn

2 points
Alan Aldridge, Nic Croad, Justin Davis, Russell Dive, John Duneas, Daniel Han, Ross Jackson, Gavin Marner

1.5 points
William Forster, Michael Hewson, Jeremy Smith, Don Stracy

1 point
David Capper, Megan Du Plessis, Neels Du Plessis, Gary Judkins, Alan Khoo, Sebastian Kruger, Simon Ward, Mark Wilkins, David Wu

0.5 points
Andrew Brockway

0 points
Matthew Gers, Hamish Shierlaw

Wellington Open round 1 results

The Wellington Open takes place 21st March to 23rd March 2008, 2 rounds a day.

Results from round 1:

Russell Dive 1 Mark Wilkins 0
Don Stracy 0 Anthony Ker 1
Scott Wastney 1 Simon Ward 0
David Capper 0 Nic Croad 1
Mark Van der Hoorn 1 Neel Du Plessis 0
Matthew Gers 0 Daniel Han 1
Daniel Baider 1 Andrew Brockway 0
Megan Du Plessis 0 Gavin Marner 1
Fuatai Fuatai 1/2 Michael Hewson 1/2
Hamish Shierlaw 0 Justin Davis 1
John Duneas 1 Gary Judkins 0
David Wu 1 Ross Jackson 0
Alan Aldridge 1 Alan Khoo 0
Jeremy Smith 1/2 William Forster 1/2

Byes: Sebastian Kruger, Asheesh Gautam, Matthew King, James Stewart.

Summer Cup round 6 and a game

Nic kept his half point lead by grinding down Ross Jackson in round 6 (2 rounds to go). The entertainment was provided for us late night stragglers by Russell Dive and Anthony Ker who played out an exciting ending where Anthony had a bishop and pawns against a knight and an extra pawn (but doubled and isolated). Both players were in time trouble when the minor pieces came off and Anthony got a pawn through while Russell's got headed off by the opposing king. Result: win for Anthony.
And who is this coming up in the outside lane, joint third with Daniel Baider? It is I! Now all I have to do is beat Nic and Russell and I'll be laughing...

Full results:

Jackson 0 Croad 1
Dive 0 Ker 1
Marner 0 Baider 1
Sellen 1 Rabina 0
Nijman 1/2 Pomeroy 1/2
Forster 1 Bowden 0
Seabrook 0 Hill 1
Stracy 1 Joshi 0
Du Plessis M 1 Aldridge 0
Van der Hoorn 1 Salem 0
Farrington 1 Nicholls 0
Wilkins 0 Nyburg 1
Du Plessis N 0 Brockway 1
Pattekar 0 Olssen 1
Shierlaw 1 Proctor 0
Byes: Hewson, Meyer, Capper, Waugh

Standings:

5.5 points
Nic Croad

5 points
Anthony Ker

4.5 points
Daniel Baider, Ian Sellen

4 points
Russell Dive, Bill Forster, Martin Hill, Ross Jackson, Brian Nijman, Arthur Pomeroy, Don Stracy

3.5 points
Megan Du Plessis, Romeo Rabina, Mark Van der Hoorn

3 points
Paul Bowden, Lawrence Farrington, Michael Hewson, Mulshankar Joshi, Gavin Marner, Marany Meyer, Michael Nyburg

2.5 points
David Capper, Edmund Salem, Roy Seabrook

2 points
Alan Aldridge, Andrew Brockway, Alistair Nicholls, Alex Olssen, Mark Wilkins

1.5 points
Neels Du Plessis, Hugh Waugh

1 point
Somesh Pattekar, Matthew Proctor, Hamish Shierlaw

Here is my game from yesterday, Sellen v Rabina
I won't show you the opening because it wasn't very well played by either of us. Basically I played the cowardly 2 Nc3 against an Alekhine ("unaccountably favoured by club players" according to one book I read) and followed up with an early f4.





















Position after 14.....h5

Black has left f7 and g6 weak, so the next move came rather naturally.

15. Rxf7 Kxf7
16. Rf1+ Kg8
Any other king move leads to checkmate.
17. Qxg6 Qe7
18. Bxh5
So not a real sacrifice then - white gets a knight and 2 pawns for the rook. More important is the poor position of black's pieces, especially after he loses his white squared bishop.
18...... Rh6

Up to here everything was more or less forced. This move encourages the queens to come off, but it does not really help black's position.

19. Qf7+ Qxf7
20. Bxf7+ Kh8
21. Ne6 Bxe6
22. dxe6

This was to create an annoying bind in black's position, and also to vacate a possible outpost for the knight.

22. .......c6
23. g3 Rf6
24. Ne2 Rxf1
25. Kxf1 g5
26. Nd4 Kg7
27. Ke2 c5?






















Clearly a mistake, allowing the knight to dominate proceedings from an unassailable outpost on d5.
28. Nf5+ Kf6
29. Kf3 Be7
30. Ne3 Kg7

Now the black king has to retrace his steps back to the back rank

31. Nd5 Kf8
32. Kg4 Bd8
33. h4 gxh4
34. gxh4 Kg7
35. h5
35. Bh5 threatening e7 would have been a quicker win.

35..... Ba5?

The bishop fatally takes his eye off the e7 square

36. Bg6 Bd8
37. e7 Bxe7
38. Nxe7 Kf6
39. Nd5+ Kg7
40. Kg5 Kf8
41. Nf4

Black lost on time

Summer Cup round 5

The clash of the leaders ended in a draw. Nic Croad's king side pressure led to the gain of a pawn, but it seems that Russell Dive had enough counterplay to secure the half point. Now that Nic has played both IMs he must be clear favourite to take the title, with 3 rounds to go. Ross Jackson and Anthony Ker join Russell in the chasing group after winning against Michael Hewson and Gavin Marner respectively.

Full results:

Croad 1/2 Dive 1/2
Ker 1 Marner 0
Hewson 0 Jackson 1
Baider 1 Van der Hoorn 0
Salem 0 Sellen 1
Rabina 1 Du Plessis M 0
Nyburg 0 Nijman 1
Hill 1 Wilkins 0
Farrington 0 Forster 1
Aldridge 0 Stracy 1
Seabrook 1 Pattekar 0
Proctor 0 Capper 1
Nicholls 1 Brockway 0
Joshi 1 Shierlaw 0
Bowden 1 Du Plessis N 0
Byes: Pomeroy, Meyer, Olssen, Waugh

Standings:

4.5 points
Nic Croad

4 points
Russell Dive, Ross Jackson, Anthony Ker

3.5 points
Daniel Baider, Brian Nijman, Arthur Pomeroy, Romeo Rabina, Ian Sellen

3 points
Paul Bowden, William Forster, Martin Hill, Mulshankar Joshi, Gavin Marner, Don Stracy

2.5 points
Megan Du Plessis, Michael Hewson, Marany Meyer, Edmund Salem, Roy Seabrook, Mark Van der Hoorn

2 points
Alan Aldridge, David Capper, Lawrence Farrington, Alistair Nicholls, Michael Nyburg, Mark Wilkins

1.5 points
Neels Du Plessis

1 point
Andrew Brockway, Alex Olssen, Somesh Pattekar, Matthew Proctor, Hugh Waugh

0 points
Hamish Shierlaw

Please take time to check out Helen Milligan's new(ish) website, http://www.newzealandchess.co.nz/ , unquestionably the most informative, attractive and up-to-date chess website in New Zealand.

Summer Cup round 4

Nic Croad is now the sole leader, having beaten Anthony Ker yesterday and maintained his 100% record. In fact, he got 100% in the the last tournament too, the Julian Mazur, so that makes at least 11 victories in a row. Looking back at my previous blogs, the last time he lost was against Brian Nijman in the Club Championships.
Next round he will probably face a tough challenge in Russell Dive, who is also in a winning mood.

Results:
Croad 1 Ker 0
Dive 1 Hewson 0
Pomeroy 1 Nyburg 0
Marner 1 Forster 0
Sellen 1/2 Baider 1/2
Jackson 1 Bowden 0
Stracy 1/2 Du Plessis M 1/2
Aldridge 1 Nicholls 0
Wilkins 1 Proctor 0
Brockway 0 Hill 1
Salem 1 Seabrook 0
Du Plessis N 0 Nijman 1
Shierlaw 0 Rabina 1
Pattekar 0 Farrington 1
Joshi 1 Olssen 0 (default)
Capper 1 Waugh 0

Standings:

4 points
Nic Croad

3.5 points
Russell Dive

3 points
Ross Jackson, Anthony Ker, Gavin Marner, Arthur Pomeroy

2.5 points
Daniel Baider, Megan Du Plessis, Michael Hewson, Brian Nijman, Romeo Rabina, Edmund Salem, Ian Sellen, Mark Van der Hoorn

2 points
Alan Aldridge, Paul Bowden, Lawrence Farrington, Bill Forster, Martin Hill, Mulshankar Joshi, Marany Meyer, Michael Nyburg, Don Stracy, Mark Wilkins

1.5 points
Neels Du Plessis, Roy Seabrook

1 point
Andrew Brockway, David Capper, Alistair Nicholls, Somesh Pattekar, Matthew Proctor

0.5 point
Alex Olssen, Hugh Waugh

0 points
Hamish Shierlaw

Wellington versus Wanganui/Palmerston North

A very convincing victory for the Wellington visitors in Palmerston North on Saturday against Palmerston North and Wanganui combined. - 16.5 versus 1.5. Congratulations to all players!

Scott Wastney - Charles Ker 2-0
Anthony Ker - John McDonald 2-0
Nic Croad - Justin Davis 2-0
Alan Aldridge - Cedric Backhouse 1.5-0.5
Ross Jackson - Martin Post 2-0
Roy Seabrook - Stewart Holdaway 1-1
Ralph Townsend - Brian Williams 2-0
Lawrence Farrington - Tehgyu Kim 2-0
Andrew Brockway - John Young 2-0

For a sample game please visit Nic Croad's excellent blog http://www.southernchess.blogspot.com/

Summer Cup Round 3

Maybe I put a curse on the official site - it went down as soon as I linked to it. Anyway, I will carry on adding results to this blog, as I can get them out faster than them.
A few interesting results in round 3 - most notable was Megan's draw against Gavin Marner after a difficult knight versus bishop ending. Megan is rated 585 points below Gavin in the latest rating list! Our B grade champion Alan Aldridge (rating:1801) lost spectacularly to Paul Bowden (listed as an Upper Hutt player, rating 1432), and our joint A grade champion Brian Nijman was held to a draw by Don Stracy. Recent arrival Marany Meyer put up some resistance to Russell Dive, but lost in the end. And Michael Hewson is currently joint 3rd, along with Russell Dive, Just behind Anthony Ker and Nic Croad.

Full Results:

Ker 1 Sellen 0
Van der Hoorn 0 Croad 1
Du Plessis M 1/2 Marner 1/2
Dive 1 Meyer 0
Hewson 1 Rabina 0
Proctor 0 Jackson 1
Nyburg 1 Farrington 0
Baider 1 Wilkins 0
Forster 1 Joshi 0
Bowden 1 Aldridge 0
Nijman 1/2 Stracy 1/2
Hill 0 Pomeroy 1
Shierlaw 0 Seabrook 1
Olssen 0 Du Plessis N 1
Waugh 0 Salem 1
Nicholls 1 Capper 0

Standings:

3 points
Nic Croad, Anthony Ker

2 1/2 points
Russsell Dive, Michael Hewson

2 points
Daniel Baider, Paul Bowden, Megan Du Plessis, William Forster, Ross Jackson, Gavin Marner, Michael Nyburg, Arthur Pomeroy, Ian Sellen, Mark Van der Hoorn

1 1/2 points
Neels Du Plessis, Marany Meyer, Brian Nijman, Romeo Rabina, Edmund Salem, Roy Seabrook, Don Stracy

1 point
Alan Aldridge, Andrew Brockway, Lawrence Farrington, Martin Hill, Mulshankar Joshi, Alistair Nicholls, Somesh Pattekar, Matthew Proctor, Mark Wilkins

1/2 point
Alex Olssen, Hugh Waugh

0 points
David Capper, Hamish Shierlaw


Good luck to the Wellington team for Saturday, when they play the combined might of Wanganui and Palmerston North. I hope to get the results to publish here.

Summer Cup round 2

The official Wellington Chess Club website is now back up and running. The address is http://chess.wellington.net.nz/. Since tournament information will be available there, I will stop adding to this blog, unless anyone out there wants me to carry on for any reason.

I will just provide round 2 results before I sign off, since, uncharacteristically, I am up there with the leaders!

Aldridge, Alan 0 Ker, Anthony 1
Croad, Nic 1 Nyburg, Michael 0
Joshi, Mulshankar 0 Van der Hoorn, Mark 1
Sellen, Ian 1 Forster, William 0
Wilkins, Mark 1/2 Bowden, Paul 1/2
Pomeroy, Arthur 1/2 Baider, Daniel 1/2
Du Plessis, Megan 1 Salem, Edmund 0
Nichols, Alistair 0 Hill, Martin 1
Seabrook, Roy 1/2 Brockway, Andrew 1/2
Capper, David 0 Hewson, Michael 1
Rabina, Romeo 1 Pattekar, Somesh 0
Du Plessis, Neels 0 Proctor, Matthew 1
Jackson, Ross 0 Dive, Russell 1
Stracy, Don 1 Shierlaw, Hamish 0
Farrington, Lawrence 1 Olssen, Alex 0
Byes: Meyer, Waugh

Standings:

2 points
Croad, Ker, Van der Hoorn, Sellen

1.5 points
Dive, Du Plessis M, Hewson, Marner, Meyer, Rabina

1 point
Aldridge, Baider, Bowden, Farrington, Forster, Hill, Jackson, Joshi, Nyburg, Pomeroy, Proctor, Stracy, Wilkins

1/2 point
Brockway, Du Plessis N, Olssen, Pattekar, Salem, Seabrook, Waugh

0 points
Capper, Nicholls, Shierlaw