Howick Pakuranga Chess Club

Welcome to the Howick-Pakuranga Chess Club
Howick Bowling Club, 33 Selwyn Road, Cockle Bay, Auckland 2014, New Zealand.

Auckland Council is the sponsor of the Howick-Pakuranga Chess Club.

Howick-Pakuranga Chess Club

Photos 2017 Winner of the Sutton Rapid FM Ben Hague. As a new Howick-Pakuranga member Ben also receives the Sutton Cup at our next AGM in March. Click on the link for more photos. Photo by Stan Yee.

Photos 2017 27th June 2017. Presentation of lifetime titles from FIDE, the World Chess Federation, following results from the Oceania Zonal tournament held in Auckland in January 2017, and for Ying Wang a series of webinars and an exam. This presentation was on the same day as our Emirates Team New Zealand win of the America's Cup on the water. We also had to sacrifice our night for the Hurricanes versus the British and Irish Lions rugby game, which finished in a 31-31 draw. From left: Club President and FM Martin Dreyer, FM Leonard McLaren, FA Ying Wang, CM Richard Taylor, FM Daniel Gong, WFM Jasmine Zhang, CM Ben Lim, CM Stan Yee and Life Member and National Arbiter Dr Tony Booth. Tony has been instrumental in the development of Ying, Daniel and Jasmine. Photo by Stan Yee.

Competitions Current 26th July 2017 - Yesterday Tuesday 25th July was the third round of the Club Championship. Results have been posted on the "Competitions Current" link.
There were not enough entries to run a separate Club Championship and a Reserve Championship this year, so we have combined to form one tournament. The format is Swiss Dubov. Defaults will apply for no shows. The highest placed player with a rating of less than 1600 will win the Reserve Championship Cup.

Congratulations to FM Ben Hague and CM Alphaeus Ang as joint winners of the North Island Rapid Championship over the weekend.

Jenkins Trophy Challenge versus the North Shore is on Wednesday 6th September at the Northcote Citizens Centre, corner of College Road & Ernie Mays Street, Northcote, Auckland. We need to get our strongest team together to take the trophy. Please put this in your diary. Reporting time is 7.00 p.m. to help set up and organise our team, 7.15 p.m. for a team photo and 7.30 p.m. start. Players so far are:

1. FM Ben Hague 2454
2. FM Daniel Gong 2314
3. FM Martin Dreyer 2263
4. FM Ewen Green 2242
5. WFM Jasmine Zhang 2046
6. CM Ben Lim 2024
7. CM Stan Yee 2002
8. CM Richard Taylor 1907
9. Oliver Dai 1714
10. Jim Benson 1643
11. Aaron Wang 1608
12. Ken Burgess 1547
13. Daniel Qiu 1399
14. Ronny Chen 1287
15. Jie Gong 1238
16. Thomas Zheng 1130
17. James Chen 1001
18. Jay Zhao 969
19. Hannah Xu 768
20. William Xu 0

Trophy Winners 2017 8th July 2017 - Results for the year have been updated. Congratulations to the winners.

Interclub 2017 Auckland Interclub Junior Championship, Sunday 25th June
1st July 2017 - Results have been posted. Howick-Pakuranga A Team have won the Auckland Interclub Junior Championship! Photo of the winning team and the cup to follow in the next couple of weeks, after we pick up the cup and round up the team. Congratulations to our youngsters.

We have been asked to provide three Junior teams of 4 players each for the Auckland Interclub Junior Championship rapid, at Alexandra Park, Gate B. Lyell Creek Lounge. We need 4 per team, aged under 14 on 01/01/17. Assembly time is 9.45 a.m. with start at 10.00 a.m. and finish by about 4 p.m. It is an all day event with 10 teams competing over 5 rounds. Please do not be late!
Results will be posted on "Interclub 2017".

Howick-Pakuranga A Team:
Daniel Gong 2191
Jasmine Zhang 1689
Oliver Dai 1467
Benjamin Agnew 1241

Howick-Pakuranga B Team:
Thomas Zheng 1279
Kevin Lin 1184
Ryan Dukeson 1132
Allan Han 1109

Howick-Pakuranga C Team:
Aleck Shen 1005
Hannah Xu 0
Eric Zhang 0
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Contact is Ludi Zhang ludizhang@gmail.com

Competitions Current 20th June 2017 - Well, I'm back from the UK and am pleasantly surprised to see a lot of new faces. The Fairhurst Pawn finished with FM Ben Hague winning 7 games from 7. Second was FM Daniel Gong with 5.5. Third equal were CM Richard Taylor and Oliver Dai on 4.5. The 4th round of the Sutton Rapid finished last night, and results have been posted on the Competitions Current page.

Interclub 2017 Auckland Interclub, Sunday 7th May 2017
22nd April 2017 - The Interclub "A" Grade starts at Stables Cafe, Alexandra Park at 6.30pm on Sunday 7th May. Rounds 2 and 3 will be on Sunday 21st May and Sunday 11th June respectively. Our team of six players will be from this list:

1. FM Daniel Gong
2. FM Martin Dreyer
3. FM Ewen Green
4. CM Ben Lim
5. WFM Jasmine Zhang
6. CM Paul Spiller
7. CM Stan Yee
8. CM Richard Taylor

Contact is Ying Wang ywang@outlook.co.nz
15th June 2017 - The results have now been posted on the link "Interclub 2017".

Grand Prix 2017 14th April 2017 - The Poisoned Pawn and D & D Financial Consultants Grand Prix 2017 points have been updated.

Coaching 3rd April 2017 - NZCF TESTS. In term two, children will have the opportunity to sit the official NZCF tests in the tutorial room:
Level 1 Pawn Test will be at 6.45 p.m. on Tuesday 2nd May.
Level 2 Knight Test will be at 6.45 p.m. on Tuesday 16th May.
Level 3 Bishop Test will be at 6.45 p.m. on Tuesday 30th May.
Level 4 Rook Test will be at 6.45 p.m. on Tuesday 13th June.
Please bring your pencils and rubbers! Anyone who passes a test can sit the next test up. Anyone who passes a test can receive a badge and certificate by paying $7 to Leonard McLaren.
Coaching page has been updated. Do you want your child to be a good chess player? Does he/she show talent? Why not ring/email Leonard or Ewen for some coaching?

Members 1st April 2017 - Dr Tony Booth retires from chess club duties, and has unearthed two brilliant games for you to play through.

HPCC Ratings 30th March 2017 - Latest Howick-Pakuranga Chess Club Standard Active Ratings by Ranking.

NZCF Ratings 30th March 2017 - Latest New Zealand Chess Federation Standard Active Ratings by Ranking.

Fees 30th March 2017 - Annual fees were due by 28th March. Please see Treasurer Ludi Zhang this Tuesday night if you haven't paid, or click on the 'Fees' link to pay online by Direct Credit.

Competitions Current 6th April 2017 - The Parkinson Cup finished this week, and Round 7 results have now been posted.

There was an occasion last week and the week before that a player forcibly slammed the clock with a chess piece in his hand. This is against the rules and indeed against the spirit of the game. FIDE rules state:
6.8
c. The players must handle the chess clock properly. It is forbidden to punch it forcibly, to pick it up or to knock it over. Improper clock handling shall be penalised in accordance with Article 13.4.
13.4 The arbiter can apply one or more of the following penalties:
a. warning,
b. increasing the remaining time of the opponent,
c. reducing the remaining time of the offending player,
d. declaring the game to be lost,
e. reducing the points scored in a game by the offending party,
f. increasing the points scored in a game by the opponent to the maximum available for that game,
g. expulsion from the event.

Next Tuesday 11th April we will hold the Autumn Lightning Trophy tournament (3 mins + 2 secs). The week after that on 18th April will be the 1st Round of the Fairhurst Pawn (75 minutes + 15 secs). Note that this new tournament requires a commitment of seven Tuesdays.

The new times for closing registrations at 7.30 p.m. sharp and reporting for the players meeting at 7.45 p.m. sharp has gone relatively smoothly. Last Tuesday four players were not present, of which two did not inform the Director of Play.
Remember, if your cell phone goes off in any way you lose by default. You must be physically present at 7.45 p.m. to be included in the pairings. I have not been receiving the signed player card and signed original score sheets from all players. Please note that these must be handed in. There was even a set of score sheets with different results. If the arbiter cannot ascertain a result the players involved will be both scored with zero.

It is of the utmost importance that behaviour of children are controlled by their parents and senior players. I was advised that a bowling ball was put in a urinal on Tuesday 21st March, and on our opening night some boys were playing with a soccer ball on a bowling green. If this continues it will only be a matter of time before we lose these premises. We are tenants occupying premises that belong to other people. We must treat other people's property with respect. Would all parents therefore ask their boys if they may have have committed this last act, and see me on Tuesday. Someone would have seen this happen, as this type of behaviour is not normally done in secret. Stan Yee.

Photos 2017 19th March 2017 - Latvian Tournament A Grade: 1st= FM Alexei Kulashko and FM Ben Hague. Martin Dreyer from sponsor D & D Financial Consultants Ltd with the trophy! Click on the link for all the photos. Photo by Helen Milligan.
Competitions Current Click here for results.

Photos 2017 14th March 2017 - President Martin Dreyer thanks outgoing Secretary Tony Booth for his 44 years service to the Club at the Annual General Meeting and Prize Giving on Tuesday 14th March 2017. Click on the link for all the photos. Photo by Stan Yee.

Howick-Pakuranga Chess Club News 14th March 2017 - Congratulations to Ying Wang. Ying has had her application for FIDE Arbiter approved by FIDE.

Competitions Current 8th March 2017 - There will be no play next Tuesday 14th March, as we will have our Annual General Meeting and Prize Giving. Would parents and seniors please bring lots of food.

Note that the Latvian Tournament discount period has been extended until 5 p.m. 14th March. See below for the entry form.

The Parkinson Cup tournament, 75 minutes plus 15 seconds, round 4 results from last night have been posted. We will break for the Annual General Meeting next Tuesday and continue with Round 5 on Tuesday 21st March.

The new times for closing registrations at 7.30 p.m. sharp and reporting for the players meeting at 7.45 p.m. sharp has gone smoothly, with one late arrival yesterday. Note that this tournament requires a commitment of seven consecutive Tuesdays. Therefore those three people who withdrew from the Juniors versus Seniors at the last minute were not accepted into this tournament, in fairness to our regular players. One person did not show up last night without notifying the Director of Play. Disputes committee: Stan Yee, Tony Booth and Ying Wang. Remember, if your cell phone goes off in any way you lose by default. You must be physically present at 7.45 p.m. to be included in the pairings. I have not been receiving the signed player card and signed original score sheets from all players. Please note that these must be handed in. There was even a set of score sheets with different results. If the arbiter cannot ascertain a result the players involved will be both scored with zero.

13th February 2017 *** From tomorrow Tuesday 14th February 2017 the cut off time for entry into all tournaments will be 7.45 p.m. *** This is standard for other clubs and we will reinstate it here. The later time has not worked, as the more time we have allowed the more time people take in getting to the club. At the start of every Tuesday night this will be the cut off time for registration and for the players meeting. Play will start play soon after the meeting. For those who are always late, I'm posting this on the website because I can't tell you if you are not there to tell!

Tournaments

Saturday 18th March 2017 - LATVIAN TOURNAMENT (Grand Prix Class 1)
Organiser: Howick-Pakuranga Chess Club.

Sponsor: D & D Financial Consultants.

Eligibility: Open to all.

Tournament: 4 Tournaments of 6 rounds Swiss:
A Grade over 1800 Tournament.
B Grade 1500 - 1799 Tournament.
C Grade 1200 - 1499 Tournament.
D Grade under 1200 Tournament.

Time Control: 25 minutes plus 5 seconds per move.

Prizefund:$4,800. First prize $750 in the A Grade Tournament.

Entry Fees:
A Grade $70 but a $10 discount if paid before 1st March 2017.
B Grade $70 but a $10 discount if paid before 1st March 2017.
C Grade $60 but a $10 discount if paid before 1st March 2017.
D Grade $60 but a $10 discount if paid before 1st March 2017.
Players who are not registered members of the NZCF must pay an additional $20.

There is a $10 discount for all tournaments if paid before 5 p.m. 14th March 2017.
Entries close 5 p.m. Friday 17th March 2017.

Venue: Te Tuhi Centre of the Arts, 13 Reeves Rd, Pakuranga, Auckland.

Schedule: Players Meeting 9.00 a.m., Round 1 9.30 a.m. Download entry form for more details.

New Zealand players: please pay by BANK TRANSFER to Howick-Pakuranga Chess Club BNZ 02-0168-0091321-01
with Particulars: your name, Code: grade, Reference: Latvian, and email Ludi Zhang with:

NAME..........................
PHONE NUMBER..................
EMAIL ADDRESS.................
NZCF ID.......................
FIDE ID.......................
DATE OF BIRTH.................

TOURNAMENT GRADE..............

TOURNAMENT FEE PAID...........

DONATION TOWARDS COSTS........

Email: Ludi Zhang ludizhang@gmail.com

Entry Form 2017latvian

For entries received so far click on the following links:

Latvian A

Latvian B

Latvian C

Latvian D

Schedule 31st January 2017 - The Club Schedule for 2017 has been updated on the "Schedule" page, with a printable pdf file. Tuesday 7th February 2017 is our Opening Night, at 6.30 p.m. for Juniors Registration followed at 7.30 p.m. for Juniors vs Seniors Challenge Night 1 (60 minutes flat). Will seniors and parents please bring a plate for supper. All are welcome. Photo by Stan Yee.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Howick+Bowling+Club/

We have moved. From Tuesday 7th February 2017 we will be at the Howick Bowling Club, 33 Selwyn Road, Cockle Bay, Auckland 2014, New Zealand. Please click on the Google Maps link above to familarise yourself. Entry is via 33 Selwyn Road. When driving down Selwyn Road you will see a green and black sign on your right saying Nixon Centennial Park. Turn sharp right slowly, and drive down the driveway. It is a one way driveway. Exit from the Bowling Club is via Sale Street. You exit left onto Sale Street and turn left at the first intersection to go back up Selwyn Road. See the link to the Contact Us page below for pictures.

Site Map 31st January 2017 - "Site Map" to be progressively updated, to help with site navigation. There will be 9 new pages added over the next few days, to the existing 87 pages:
"HP 2016" archives our Club 2016 tournament results.
"NZ Champs 2017" for the NZ Open Championship.
"NZ Seniors 2017" for the NZ Seniors. PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
"Games 2017" for more exciting Club games during the year.
"Grand Prix 2017" for this year's Grand Prix rules and latest Grand Prix results and points.
"Interclub 2017" for more interclub battles this year. PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
"International 2017" to link in with what is going on in international tournaments.
"Photos 2017" for more smiling faces this year, including trophy awards. PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
"2017 Results" trophy winners for this year. PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
Have a click around to familarise yourself with the website.

Grand Prix 2016 25th January 2017 - The final Poisoned Pawn Grand Prix points have been posted.

International 2017 21st January 2017 - Great tournament. Well organised Paul Spiller. Either the players are getting younger or I'm getting older. I see Howick-Pakuranga CC won a bag of titles for FIDE Master, Candidate Master and Woman FIDE Master: FM Leonard McLaren, FM Daniel Gong, CM Stan Yee, CM Ben Lim, CM Richard Taylor and WFM Jasmine Zhang. We were also well represented in the tournament with Terry Shen, Tony Booth, Oliver Dai, Daniel Qiu and Ryan Dukeson. Photo and story from
Asian Chess Federation.
New Zealand Chess Oceania Zonal Open.
New Zealand Chess Oceania Zonal Womens.

Merry Christmas to all from the Howick-Pakuranga Chess Club. See you at the new club rooms next year.

Contact Us 7th December 2016 - The Contact Us page has had its first overhaul in 10 years, due to the change of premises.

Links 8th December 2016 - The Links page has been updated. Lots of excellent learning resources and free chess programmes.

Photo from http://nyc2016.fide.com/

International 2016 1st December 2016 - You can follow the FIDE World Championship Match, New York City, 11th - 30th November 2016 at this page.
Game 8 has been posted. Sergey Karjakin wins! The deadlock is broken. There will be no rapid tie breaks, hopefully. Now Magnus Carlsen will be forced to play aggressive chess, instead of 'technical' chess.
Game 9 has been posted. Agreed Drawn. Psychologically Carlsen must be exhausted. There could have been only one winner, and they both know this. Will Carlsen crack tomorrow? Karjakin creeps closer to the title with every draw now. But he must prepare for a Carlsen surprise opening, I'm sure.
Game 10 has been posted. No surprises, just a good tough game. After 75 moves Black cannot prevent Kg7 and the h pawn falls. Carlsen wins. So the scores are tied once again. Will we go to tie breaks? Very likely now. Only two more standard games to go. I think kids around the world will take up the Ruy Lopez.
Game 11 has been posted. Karjakin secures the draw by perpetual check. If Black plays ... g6 and later interposes his Queen on f7 the e2 pawn falls. There is a rest day, then the final standard game. Carlsen will be White. Of the seven Ruy Lopez games he has been White in two of them, of which he has won one. Will we see an eighth Ruy Lopez? Or a Sicilian?
Game 12 has been posted, the final standard game. Agreed drawn. We now go into the tie breakers.
Games 13-16 have been posted. These are rapid games, 25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move. Magnus Carlsen wins the tie breaker, and retains the crown.

Competitions Current 30th November 2016 - Seventh and final round results for the Booth Shield have been posted. Congratulations to Jasmine Zhang, who made a clean sweep with 7/7. Obviously the Olympiad did wonders for you.
Next week Tuesday 29th November is the Gentil Knight blitz tournament, 3 minutes plus 2 seconds. All players must enter by 7.30 p.m. sharp and report for the players meeting at 7.45 p.m.
This was won by Martin Dreyer, yet again. Well done Martin, with an unbeaten 6/7. Results have been posted.
*** From Tuesday 29th November 2016 the cut off time for all tournaments will be 7.45 p.m. *** This is standard for other clubs and we will reinstate it here. The later time has not worked, as the more time we have allowed the more time people take in getting to the club. At the start of every Tuesday night this will be the cut off time for registration and for the players meeting. Play will start play soon after the meeting. For those who are always late, I'm posting this on the website because I can't tell you if you are not there to tell!

Will all trophy winners please return cups and trophies to the club next Tuesday, so that I can get them engraved. This is URGENT. I do not want to be chasing these up when I am on holiday!

The Booth Shield finishes on Tuesday 22 November.

29th November Gentil Knight Blitz Championship (3 minutes + 2 secs).
Please arrive before 7.30 p.m. to get into the draw.

6th December Christmas Party at the clubrooms.
Pizzas for all, juniors 6.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
Seniors 7.45 p.m. to much later!!
A demo game or two on the big board, possibly from the world champs.

13th December Stocktaking, sorting out sets ready for 2017, and
helpers needed for the Oceania Zonal being organised by Paul Spiller commencing 14th January at the Waipuna Lodge.

20th December Club closed.

7th February 2017 Club opens for the New Year.
Juniors vs Seniors. Bring a plate and your friends.

Tournaments 6th November 2016 - The 124th NZ Congress, the Oceania Zonal Championship and the Latvian tournaments have been posted. Click on the link for more details.

Competitions Current 28th October 2016 - The results from round 7 of the Club Championship have been posted. Due to the number of players away in the last three rounds I had decided not to have a strict deadline for completion of all games. Instead there is no deadline. The final game Paul Spiller vs Andrew Janisz was played last Tuesday. Congratulations to the new Club Champion, Daniel Gong.

24th August 2016 - The results from round 7 of the Club Reserve Championship have been posted. This was the final round. Congratulations to the winner Aaron Wang with 5.5 from 7, and to the runner up Daniel Qiu with 5.

Trophy Winners 2016 24th October 2016 - Results for the year have been updated. Congratulations to the winners.

Interclub 2016 12th October 2016 - Results have been posted for our Jenkins Trophy match against North Shore, held on 28/09/16. They won 13-7. We showed a lot of fight on the top boards, as usual. Photo by Tony Booth.

Games2016 14th October 2016 - A wild game from the Jenkins Trophy match against North Shore on 28/09/16, from board 6 Antonio Krstev versus Paul Spiller. Who said the Dutch Defence was boring? Also from board 4 Tony Carpinter versus Ben Lim, and board 5 Stan Yee versus Peter Stuart.

Interclub 2016 14th September 2016 - Results have been posted for the third and final round of the Auckland Interclub B Grade, held on 11th September. We lost to Papatoetoe 4 to 2. Venue was Alexandra Park, Gate B, Stables Room. Walk through the restaurant to the double doors at the rear, go outside and turn left, then walk down to the end of the path. Assembly time is 6:15 p.m. with start at 6:30 p.m. Please do not be late!
The team of 6 players is: Leyton Hackney 1728 (C), Jim Benson 1662, Connor Hackney 1603, Anthony Booth 1575, Oliver Dai 1463, Aleck Shen 1276.

Competitions Current 9th September 2016 - The President's Cup was completed last Tuesday, a Blitz knock out tournament, playing Black and White with a third tie-break game if necessary, with a time control of 10 minutes plus 5 seconds. It was won by Daniel Gong, and the First Round Losers tournament was won by Oliver Dai. Congratulations to the winners, well done.

3rd August 2016 - The results from round 4 of the Club Reserve Championship have been posted. The pairing for round 5 will be made next Tuesday night, to withdraw any players absent so that everyone gets a game. As mentioned before the start of play in the last two Tuesdays, we stayed past our 11.30 p.m. closing time the week in round 2, and were liable for a callout fee for an alarm activation. The vicar was called out, and was not happy. This was caused by a late start that night, partly due to two late entries into the Club Reserve Championship at 7.55 p.m. As a result of this we will no longer accept late entries into future tournaments, or late entries into the next round. In fairness to those that do arrive on time we will continue to withdraw players who are in the tournament but have not appeared on the night, in order to give those who do attend a game. Those who are absent will be withdrawn at 7.55 p.m. sharp. Please be on time.

WCM Jasmine Zhang has just returned from the 12th Asian Schools Chess Championships 2016 held in Tehran, Iran from 9th July to 18th July. She scored a very respectable 5 from 9 games. Well done Jasmine. Next stop the Baku Olympiad in September.

Congratulations to CM Daniel Gong in coming 4th= with IM Russell Dive at the Waikato Open, ahead of a strong field.

Games 2016 3rd August 2016 - Leyton Hackney vs Paul Spiller analysed, Club Champs Round 2.

Competitions Current 13th July 2016 - The Richard Sutton Rapid Grand Prix tournament results have been posted. Congratulations to the winner FM Alexei Kulashko, 2nd Allen Fan, 3rd Vyanla Punsalan, and 4th and winner of the Richard Sutton Cup Terry Shen. Alexei is the current New Zealand Co-champion and a FIDE Master. He is top board for the NZ mens team to the Baku Olympiad in September. Photo of Alexei receiving the winners cheque from Club President FM Martin Dreyer. Photo by Stan Yee. See more photos at "Photos 2016". Also heaps of photos of the Interclub A team.

Club Championship 12/07/16: Next Tuesday is the start of the Club Championship. The two draws will be finalised on the night, the Championship consisting of the top eight players in a Round Robin, and the rest in a Swiss tournament. I am taking the final entries for the Club Championship up until Tuesday, with entries closing at 7.30 p.m. sharp. Please email stanyee@ihug.co.nz before the deadline if you don't want to miss out.

On Tuesday 1/03/16 we announced that the format for the Club Championship will be similar to previous years, with one change. We will stick with a Round Robin for the top 8 standard rated players over 7 rounds, but allow games to be played out of order or at home. This is only if the scheduled games cannot be played on the Tuesday night. It is not a licence to create chaos by having all games played on any night. You are to play your scheduled opponent in the first instance, if he/she is there on the night (and has therefore not emailed to say he/she cannot make it). Only after you find your scheduled opponent cannot play you should you then seek out another opponent. For example round 5 can be played instead of round 2 on the Tuesday night, on condition that an agreement is reached with the other player affected before the day the round is due and an email is sent to Eddy Tan, Stan Yee or Tony Booth - their email addresses are on the Committee page. Or the game can be played at the home of a player, but if a player is younger than 20 years old then the game must be played at the home of the younger player under the supervision of his/her parents. Both original score sheets must be given to Eddy, Stan or Tony on the following Tuesday. The reason for this is that last year only about half of all games were actually played, with a mountain of defaults. This will also allow flexibility for those people who wish to plan a holiday longer than a week. The result will be that all games get to be played, and the champion will have played all games. All games are to be played by the deadline of 7th September 2016. We did this in at least one previous year and it worked out fine. The only problem with this Round Robin being played at home is that there is no Arbiter present for disputes. Therefore if there is a dispute it is the duty of both parties to have one of you ring Stan Yee on 021-180-8850 or Tony Booth 534-6392 immediately and at the time, not after the game. If this does not work this year we will go back to a Swiss tournament next year.

Club Reserve Championship has in previous years been a Vega Swiss, and this will stay as such this time. If you know you will be away on any given Tuesday will you please let Eddy, Stan or Tony know in advance of the respective Tuesday.

Competitions Current 9th June 2016 - The 7 round Fundraising Blitz tournament was held on Tuesday night, with proceeds going to assist Jasmine Zhang to the World Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan from 1/09/16 to 14/09/16. Thank you to all seniors and parents for the food, and for your generous support for Jasmine. Paul Spiller of Chess Enterprises NZ kindly donated two chess clocks, score books and Australian chess magazines for prizes. There were some outstanding efforts by lots of players, most notably by Martin Dreyer, Terry Shen and Paul Spiller. Click on the "Competitions Current" link for details. Jasmine is in the green jacket. The pizzas are in the oven and microwave! Reminder, "A" Team, don't forget the Interclub this Sunday. Everyone else, see you all at the Sutton Rapid next Tuesday. Photo by Stan Yee.

International 2016 5th June 2016 - An unbelievable game from the French Team Championship on 28/05/16 between GM Alexandr Fier and GM David Navara. Alexandr is from Brazil, and was in the last NZ Open so will be known to a lot of you. David Navara is a super GM from the Czech Republic. Photo of Alexandr from http://drancy2016.ffechecs.org/

Games2016 3rd June 2016 - An instructive game from our match with Papatoetoe, from board 1 Daniel Gong versus Katrine McCarthy. Most of the game was straight out of the text book of opening theory. So what is the lesson here? Don't memorise moves - it is better to learn and understand positions arising from the opening.

Howick-Pakuranga Chess Club News 3rd June 2016 - Analysis of last Tuesday's games have been posted.

George Trundle 9/07/16: For 2016 Auckland Chess Centre is looking at adding a "C-Grade" event to the George Trundle. They are seeking interest from players. Note the ratings guidelines have a little flexibility. Provisional Information:

Dates: July 9th-17th 2016. 1 game per day. 1st week of School Holidays
Venue: Auckland Chess Centre
Format: 10 player round Robin. 9 rounds
Rated: FIDE and NZCF rated
Entry Fee: $50 with majority returned as prizes
FIDE Ratings: 1700-1950 (approx guideline)
Please contact Simon Lyall at Auckland Chess Centre:
Email: Simon Lyall simon@darkmere.gen.nz
Phone: 021-575-233

They hope to finalise the field by late March or early April.

Baku Olympiad 1/09/16: NZCF have now released team details for the 2016 Olympiad to be held in Baku. Jasmine Zhang has been selected for the board 2 position in the Women's team which is tremendous for Jasmine and also the first time I believe that a female player from our club has been chosen. Also Luke Li has been selected for the board 3 position in the Open team. Incidentally, Luke has made his final IM norm but will need to get his rating to 2400 before officially being awarded it. Paul Spiller.

Jenkins Trophy 28/09/16: The Jenkins Trophy challenge with North Shore CC will be on Wednesday 28/09/16, over 20 boards.

NZ Seniors 2016 27th April 2016 - Results of the NZ Seniors from Mt Maunganui have been posted.

Site Map 27th April 2016 - "Site Map" has been updated, so that the "Competitions Current" page can now be accessed from your smart phone.

Interclub 2016 20th April 2016 - Papatoetoe Challenge at Papatoetoe. Papatoetoe CC has challenged Howick-Pakuranga CC to a re-match, to be held at their club rooms on Wednesday 20th April. This will be over 23 boards. Venue: Papatoetoe CC, RSA Bowling Club, 86 Cambridge Terrace. Time to assemble 7.30 p.m. Results and report have now been posted.

Photos 2016 15th March 2016 - Annual General Meeting and prize giving. See more photos on link to Photos 2016 page. Photo by Stan Yee.

Trophy Winners 2015 15th March 2016 - Trophies and miniatures for 2015 will be presented at the Annual General Meeting tonight 15th March 2016. Congratulations to the winners.

NZ Champs 2016 4th February 2016 - The results of the NZ Chess Congress have been posted, along with a link to the games on chessgames.com

Current Competitions 3rd February 2016 - Last night was the Juniors versus Seniors Challenge night. The Seniors were outnumbered so had to borrow three Juniors to even up the teams. The food was great! Now the kids know what Shumai is. Photo by Stan Yee.

Next Tuesday 9th February is the first round of the Parkinson Cup. Players meeting 7.30 p.m. Make sure you are not late!

Photos 2016 24th January 2016 - Luisa Restrepo shakes hands with Nigel Short. Heaps of pictures from the Nigel Short simul have been posted. Photo by Martin Dreyer.

Australian Chess Championship 2016 21st January 2016 - Our former junior member Luke Li played very strongly in the Australian Chess Championships and has his third & final International Master norm. He scored 6/11 having beaten GM Darryl Johansen as well as three IM's namely Ari Dale, Junta Ikeda and Brodie McClymont (who was joint winner of the 2015 Oceania championship). He played young Australian IM Anton Smirnov in round 8 and despite not having a great record against him managed a draw. He then drew against Karl Zelesco, who eventually finished in third place. In round 10 he lost to Bobby Cheng, ex-Auckland Chess Club, and the eventual 2016 Australian Champion and 2nd overall. Luke then inexplicably did not play the last round against Samuel Chow, who would finish 8-9th to Luke's 10th-14th. He did this at one of our club tournaments. He will still need to get his FIDE rating to 2400 to qualify for the IM title. His rating was 2311 before this tournament. It would be great to see a home grown Howick player achieve this!!

Anderson Collection 21st January 2016 - Here is some information about the Anderson Collection in the Australian State Library in Melbourne (which our Paul Spiller has visited twice!). The Anderson Collection ranks as the third largest public collection (of chess books) in the world, behind the John G. White collection in Cleveland and the collection at the Royal Library in The Hague, yet is far more popular.

Games2016 17th January 2016 - The instructive games from our end of year party have been posted. I am also progressively posting the Nigel Short simul games for those that remembered to hand in their scoresheets.

  












Photo by Frederic Friedel:                Photo by Helen Milligan: Nigel Short’s               
English Grandmaster Nigel Short,          Simul in 2014 at the National Chess
former challenger for the 		  Centre in Devonport.
World Chess Championship.

Simultaneous Displays by Grandmaster Nigel Short
Wednesday 13th January 2016
Beauty versus The Beast

Aotea Square, Auckland CBD (courtesy of “Summer in the Square”). Don’t miss this one - legendary English Grandmaster Nigel Short will be taking on 20 female opponents at once, in this simultaneous exhibition with a novel twist. Play starts 11 am, and is expected to last about 3 hours. This event is organised by the National Chess Centre.

Thursday 14th January 2016
Howick-Pakuranga Simul

Howick-Pakuranga Chess Club rooms at Haseler Hall, below All Saints Church, corner of Selwyn Road and The Glebe, Howick, 6 pm. Assemble at 5:30 pm. Play will finish by 10:30 pm. at the latest.

Registration for the Howick-Pakuranga Simul: only 4 places left
Cost per player for non-Howick-Pakuranga club members is $50 to play, with a limit of 20 players on a first-come first-served basis. Places are only confirmed if payment is made into the bank account of the Howick-Pakuranga Chess Club, account number 020168-0091321-00 held at Bank of New Zealand Howick branch, with your name in the Particulars field and ‘Nigel Short’ in the Reference field. An email must be sent to Stan Yee stanyee@ihug.co.nz to advise him that you have paid the fee. The Howick-Pakuranga simultaneous exhibition is sponsored by the Howick-Pakuranga Chess Club.

Entries so far with payment and email yet to come are:

1.  Daniel Gong 	2055	
2.  Bob Gibbons 	2003	
3.  Stan Yee 		1975	
4.  Paul Spiller 	1917	
5.  Tony Booth 		1766	
6.  Barry Hooton 	1593		
7.  Ken Burgess 	1580
8.  Aaron Wang 		1576	
9.  Oliver Picken 	1501
10. Luisa Restrepo	1400	
11. Oliver Dai 		1231	
12. John McRae 		1153	
13. Ray Coventry 	unr
14. Thomas Zheng 	unr
15. Ying Wang		unr
16. Pauline Thomas	unr

Current Competitions 9th December 2015 - Next Tuesday 15th December is our Christmas Party at the clubrooms, and the sorting out of equipment. There will be free pizza like last year. Can seniors and parents also bring a plate - Chinese food is very welcome! We will have a few instructive games whilst you eat. If you want your food hot, it starts at 7:30 p.m. I will be a little late as I have to pick up my wife from the airport. Photo by Stan Yee.

Interclub2015 7th November 2015 - Blitz Tournament teams event will be held at the Auckland Chess Centre tomorrow Sunday 8th November. Assembly time is 10:30 a.m. The format is that teams are of 4 players and matches are Scheveningen-style, i.e. each player will play each of the 4 players in the opposing team. We have 6 teams entered: AC, HP, NS1, NS2, PT1 and PT2. Draw can be done on the day. So five rounds and a finish around 3:30/4:00pm. Time control will be 3 minutes + 2 sec/move. Our team is Daniel Gong, Terry Shen, Paul Morten and Jim Benson.

Problems 5th November 2015 - Scroll to the bottom of this homepage for the latest problem.

Club Schedule 29th September 2015 - Change of dates for the Pakuranga Plaza Tournament, now Sat/Sun 17/18 October.

Games 2015 29th September 2015 - Each week I will try to select the best game, and post it to this page. The best game from this week was Ben Lim vs Nathan Goodhue in the George Trundle Qualifiers.

Interclub 2015 29th August 2015 - Jenkins Trophy challenge, Howick-Pakuranga versus North Shore last Wednesday night. Well, our top order fired despite a splutter from our opening batsman Leonard McLaren who was bowled by a googly from Ralph Hart after a lengthy stay at the crease. Batting went down to number 6, with Martin Dreyer, Ewen Green, Daniel Gong, Benjamin Lim and Stan Yee all putting points on the board. But after Paul Spiller was undone by Jeff McCrone the rot set in. Middle order players Karl Zhu and Terry Shen gritted it out to add to our total, but the tail never wagged until the last man. NS 14 HP 6. Or is that a pro-rata loss by 7 wickets Accountant Martin Dreyer? Thanks for organising our team to Tony Booth and Judd Zhan. For the full results and a few very instructive games click on "interclub2015". Photo by Tony Booth.

Interclub 2015 15th August 2015 - The Interclub "B" Grade will be at Stables Cafe, Alexandra Park date tba. Our team will be: Jasmine Zhang 1776, Terry Shen 1765, Judd Zhan 1759, Tony Booth 1683, Richard Jiang 1601, Biyuan Chen 1551, Alfa Lee 1521 and Kevin Guan 1514.

Current Competitions 21st July 2015 - Last Tuesday we had Juniors versus Seniors. Great food.

Current Competitions 14th July 2015 - We had a Simultaneous Display by FM Ben Hague, co-NZ Champion. He won 14, drew one and lost one. Well done Ben.

Interclub 2015 7th July 2015 - Papatoetoe Chess Club came with 20 plus players for a match against our club, but we could only field 15 players against them. It was a friendly match played in good spirit. Results are in "interclub2015".

30th June 2015 - Sutton Rapid results from Rounds 7 and 8 and Cross Table have been posted. Congratulations to FM Ben Hague, co-NZ Champion, winning the tournament with a perfect 8 from 8. Ben (left) receiving the winners cheque from Club Secretary Tony Booth. Photo by Stan Yee.

Games 2015 24th July 2015 - Each week I will try to select the best game, and post it to this page. The best game from this week was Alex Zhu vs Jim Benson.

Interclub 2015 13th May 2015 - The Interclub "A" Grade started at Stables Cafe, Alexandra Park at 6.30pm on Sunday 10th May. Our team faced off against Papatoetoe, and won 5-1. The interclub will continue with rounds on 24th May and 14th June. Our team of six players is: Leonard McLaren, Martin Dreyer, Ewen Green, Ben Lim, Daniel Gong and Paul Spiller. For the results click on the link.

Contact Us 5th May 2015 - All contacts have been updated. Find a club near you.

Photo by Paul Spiller

International 2013 26th May 2013 - The Oceania Zonal was held in Fiji from 4-10 May. The winner of the Women's section was won by IM Irina Berezina ... Click link for more.

Games 2013 18th May 2013 - There is a brilliant game from our Simultaneous Display in January last year, between Super Grandmaster Surya Ganguly and our own Andrew Janisz.

Rules 29th April 2013 - "Rules" have been updated. These rules are for all tournaments, and you cannot play your game at any time or venue. All members please read this page.

Tournaments 24th April 2013 - The Fairhurst Pawn tournament is currently under way, and scheduled for every Tuesday from 23rd April to 4th June. It is open to Howick-Pakuranga CC members only, as it is no longer a Grand Prix event. Then Juniors vs Seniors is scheduled for 11th June, followed by the Sutton Rapid, a Grand Prix event open to all NZCF affiliated players, from 18th June to 9th July. Entry forms will be available soon.

Grand Prix 2013 12th April 2013 - Myer Tan NZ Chess Grand Prix results and points have been posted.

International 2013 2nd April 2013 - Magnus Carlsen won the FIDE Candidates Tournament in London yesterday after a bizarre finish of what has become a historic event for chess. More ...

About Us 2nd April 2013 - Our sponsor Manukau City Council was disestablished in 2010 and amalgamated into the Auckland Council, which has continued to sponsor the Club. More ...

Trophy Winners 2012 27th March 2013 - Trophies and miniatures for 2012 were presented at the Annual General Meeting on 12th March 2013. Congratulations to the winners, especially to Ben Lim, who swept away six trophies, including the prestigious Howick-Pakuranga Chess Club Championship Cup. Photo by Stan Yee.

NZ Champs 2011 20th January 2011 - 118th New Zealand Chess Congress results have been posted. IM Anthony Ker wins the tournament again. Our own Leonard McLaren is clear 5th place with 7/11, and our most promising junior Luke Li is 14th= with 5/11. Both have played well beyond their ratings, and have left some big names behind. Roy Seabrook wins the Major Open. Eric Wu came a credible 7th= with 7/11 in his first national tournament, Hristo Kolev 13th= with 6.5/11, Stefan Kolev 26th= with 5.5/11, and Olivia Dong 51st with 3/11. All games are now available as a pgn file.

Links 2nd January 2011 - IM Kalin Karakehajov of Bulgaria shares his best opening analysis online, see "Links" online-chess.eu.

Join us on Chessagora, the new web community dedicated to all chess players, amateurs and professionals, composers and solvers, correspondence players, coaches and many more! See "Links" Chessagora.

Photos 2010 31st December 2010 - The BBQ at Andrew Janisz's place, Team Janisz versus Team Li over a giant chess set. For the games see Games 2010. Photo by Stan Yee.

www.queenstownchess.com 5th December 2010 - The New Zealand Chess Federation is delighted to announce official confirmation of the 2012 Queenstown Chess Classic, to be held 15th-23rd January 2012. The $50,000 sponsorship is being provided by New Zealand Chess Grandmaster Murray Chandler. The tournament will be a nine round Swiss-system, staged over nine days. As with the previous Queenstown events of 2006 and 2009, the 2012 Classic will be a fully-fledged International Open tournament. The 119th New Zealand Championship will also be incorporated within the event. The venue will be the ballroom of the Millennium Hotel, Queenstown. Previous Queenstown events have attracted numerous international players, including masters and grandmasters. Opportunities for international title norms are once again expected to be available.

World Chess Championship 9th May 2010 - World Chess Championship Match 21st April - 13th May 2010 in Sofia, Bulgaria - Viswanathan Anand vs Veselin Topalov. Follow the match on our "International 2010" page from Sunday 25th April (first game will be played on Saturday 24th April in Bulgaria, so we in New Zealand won't have the game until Sunday 25th April), one day later than originally scheduled. The Icelandic volcano has caused this delay. Last Thursday 15th April World Champion Vishy Anand took a flight from his home in Madrid, Spain to Sofia, Bulgaria. He and wife Aruna had a stopover in Frankfurt, Germany, with an ongoing flight to Sofia the next day. No sooner had they landed in Frankfurt, however, that word went out that all further flights in and out of that airport were cancelled. This was due to an ash cloud which emanated from an Icelandic volcano and had drifted into European airspace. Slowly one airport after another was closed down, until on Friday all the major European airports, including all those in Germany, had come to a complete standstill. FIDE have approved a one-day postponement to allow Vishy Anand and his team to find a way to reach Sofia. Photo fide.com.

Members 2nd May 2010 - The first anniversary of our Club founder Dr Richard Sutton passing away was 17th April 2010. Paul Spiller has unearthed two previously unpublished games of Richard, and I have now posted them on the "Members" page and "Games 2010" page. The details of when and where they were played, and at what events are unknown. For more click on the "Members" page and the "About Us" page. Photo otago.ac.nz.

Interclub 2010 14th April 2010 - Interclub Challenge Match vs Chess 4 Miracle results have been posted. Congratulations to Chess 4 Miracle for their win.

Vasily Smyslov 28th March 2010 - World Champion Vasily Smyslov passed away.

19th Melody Amber Blindfold & Rapid Tournament 26th March 2010 - Follow the Melody Amber tournament, organised by the Association Max Euwe in Monaco, one of the most prestigious chess events in the world. Photo amberchess2010.com.

Photos 2010 24th March 2010 - The Yee surprise night, with Juniors versus Seniors over a giant chess set. Many thanks to Manukau Institute of Technology for lending us the giant chess pieces, and to Spillers Hammer Hardware for lending us the giant chess board. For more click on "Photos 2010". Photo by Stan Yee.

27th Linares Tournament 14th February 2010 - 27th Linares Tournament 13th - 25th February 2010. Can't read Spanish? You don't need to. Just click onto the link above to "International 2010" and then click on the link to the official website ajedrez.ciudaddelinares.es. Google Translation will automatically translate the Spanish to English. Six of the best super GMs do battle. Topalov is using this as his practice run for the World Championship match with Anand. The official presentation of the tournament was held at the headquarters of diario Marca in Madrid. The event was attended by the Director Mark D. Eduardo Inda, Mayor of Linares D. Juan Fernández and the president of the FEDA D. Javier Ochoa of Echagüen. Photo ajedrez.ciudaddelinares.es.

Books 13th February 2010 - The Gambit booklist has been updated with a few of the more recent titles. Don't know what to buy for his/her birthday? Buy a chess book! Write a happy birthday message on the first page, and every time they pick up the book they will remember you gave it to them. Don't know what book to buy them? Leonard McLaren has also introduced a Chess Book Voucher worth $60, which you can send as a gift.

Events 13th February 2010 - "Events" page has been REINSTATED.

About Us 10th February 2010 - This is a NEW page, to tell you about our Club. We are now an "incorporated charitable organisation", so you can make donations and get receipts to claim a tax rebate. For more click on "About Us".

Last Tuesday 2nd February 2010 was the first Club night of our New Year and it promises to be a busy year. We are starting with a good muster of 55 Juniors in our Junior hour. Please all you Juniors be at the Club by 6.25 p.m. so we can start on time, and don't forget to bring your bar code tag. Those of you who have been steadily improving over the final months of last year have probably discovered that you play better chess when the room is quiet. Let us start this year with no noise, and above all, no intimidating or distracting your opponent.

We will have a busy year with about four or five inter Club matches in the planning stages, and hope to announce the dates of these in the next couple of weeks. They will be placed on this website.

The Eastern Suburbs Interschools' Teams Tournaments are planned to be held on 26th May 2010 for the Primary Schools' Round, and on 2nd June 2010 for the Intermediate Schools' Round. All those Club Juniors who are attending a school which has not participated before in these tournaments could approach your teachers and/or Headmaster to form a school Chess Club and get the school to take part in the future, if not now.

A friendly nudge to keen Parents and willing Senior members; you have observed by now that the computerised Junior programme is starting to run quite smoothly, and I am ready to form a team of you who are willing to take on the Junior hour on a rostered basis. The idea being that we can then really take steps to bring our Juniors up the Chess training ladder with leaps and bounds. With three, four or even five parents taking an active interest in our Juniors, and to be taught what the computer programme is all about, will give me the confidence that the future of our Club will be secure. Parents can be very valuable in this programme, because some of you already spend that time at the Club anyway. Please give me a ring or speak to me during Club nights any time. See the "About Us" page for more details, and to talk to Kees van den Bosch, Secretary, see the "Contact Us" page for contact details.

Photos 2009 6th October 2009 - Left, President Tony Booth presenting the Richard Sutton Cup 2009 to Ben Lim, with Henry Vital who tied for first equal but can't keep his hands on the Cup as he is a member of Papatoetoe CC. "Game of the Tournament" was Ben Lim vs Henry Vital, see "Games 2009". Right, Luke Li and James Lee, both of Somerville Intermediate, who were in the winning team at the Nationals held in Palmerston North on 26th-27th September 2009. The team was James Lee, Luke Li, Saissen Naicker and Leo Zhu. The cup is the Intermediate Schools National Trophy and the smaller one is a memento for the school to keep. Photos by Stan Yee.

FIDE Grand Prix - Pearl Spring 2009 22nd September 2009 - The sixth FIDE Grand Prix tournament in Nanjing, China 28th September - 9th October 2009.

Interclub 2009 22nd September 2009 - Interclub B Grade Rd 2 results have been posted.

FIDE Grand Prix - Jermuk 2009 21st September 2009 - The fifth FIDE Grand Prix tournament in Jermuk, Armenia 8th - 24th August 2009.

Australasian Chess Match of the Decade 19th September 2009 - GM David Smerdon (AUS) 2502 vs IM Puchen Wang (NZL) 2465. Player profiles, history and games. Now includes the epic match GM Murray Chandler vs GM Ian Rogers in 1986.

2nd Grand Slam Masters Final Bilbao 19th September 2009 - The winners of the Nanching Pearl Spring, Corus-Wijk aan Zee, Ciudad de Linares and M-Tel Masters-Sofia tournaments 5th - 12th September 2009.

Photos 2009 15th September 2009 - Left, President Tony Booth presenting the Howick-Pakuranga Chess Club Championship Cup 2009 to Ben Lim. This is Ben's third consecutive title. Right, President Tony Booth presenting the Howick-Pakuranga Chess Club Reserve Cup 2009 to joint winners Edwin Yip and Stefan Kolev. They are the first winners to have their names engraved on this new cup. Photos by Stan Yee. "Game of the Tournaments" was J Cater vs A Booth, see "Games 2009".

6th IGB Dato Arthur Tan Malaysia Open 15th September 2009 - Final Rankings of the 6th IGB Dato Arthur Tan Malaysia Open are shown at this link. GM Negi Parimarjan (IND) 2590 is the 2009 champion. The tournament features regular New Zealand players WFM Helen Milligan, Paul Spiller and Hilton Bennett 21st - 28th August 2009.

British Champs 24th August 2009 - Features familiar friends to New Zealand shores GM Stuart Conquest and GM Gawain Jones. 26th July - 8th August 2009.

Interclub 2009 30th July 2009 - Interclub A Grade Rd 3 results and overall standings have been posted.

Oceania Zonal Open 13th June 2009 - Oceania Zonal Open 20th - 26th June 2009. Lots of New Zealand players have entered.

Westfield Pakuranga Junior Tournament 6th-7th June 2009 - Westfield Pakuranga Junior Tournament, Pakuranga, Auckland. 27 players played in the Final on Sunday and results have been posted.

Intermediate Schools Tournament 2009 6th June 2009 - Teams from Auckland Intermediate Schools have just finished their tournament and results have been posted.

Interclub 2009 26th May 2009 - Interclub "A" Grade dates and draw are now confirmed.

M-Tel Masters 2009 10th May 2009 - The international super chess tournament M-Tel Masters in Sofia, Bulgaria. 12th - 23rd May 2009.

2009 Sydney International Open Chess Tournament 10th May 2009 - Features several Kiwis. 15th - 19th April 2009.

FIDE Grand Prix - Nalchik 2009 10th May 2009 - The fourth FIDE Grand Prix tournament is taking place in Nalchik, Russia 14th - 30th April 2009.

Russian Team Championship 5th April 2009 - XVI Russian Team Championship in Dagomys, Sochi. 4th - 10th April 2009.

Alexandra Kosteniuk and Susan Polgar 12th March 2009 - GM Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia, Women's World Chess Champion, and GM Susan Polgar of USA have been appointed to Co-Chairman of the Commission for Women's Chess. "It is impressive that we have managed to join the forces of all eight Women's World Champions since 1962 to today ..." Extract and photos from fide.com.

International 2009 27th February 2009 - World Chess Challenge in Sofia, Bulgaria 17th - 27th February 2009 - Veselin Topalov vs Gata Kamsky. Click the link for their full profiles and each game.
27/02/09 Game 7: Well, another French Defence Tarrasch Variation from Kamsky, despite his lack of experience with it ... Topalov wins 4.5 - 2.5 and becomes the challenger for the World Chess Championship against the reigning World Champion Viswanathan Anand in April 2010.

Events 25th February 2009 - "Events" has now been updated with lots of goodies. A big thank you to those parents and seniors who brought along supper for our opening night with Grandmaster Hans-Joachim Hecht - a very successful night was had by all. Photo schachfestival.de.

                   
NZCF Patron Jim Benson with IM David Smerdon        IM Anthony Ker with NZCF Patron Jim Benson
          Photo by Helen Milligan                            Photo by Helen Milligan

NZ Championship and NZ Major Open

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