About the club

Cockle Bay beginnings

The club was formed in the late 1960s as the Cockle Bay Chess Club by FM Richard Sutton — twice winner of the New Zealand Championship in the early 1970s, New Zealand’s representative at the Skopje Olympiad, and at the time one of the country’s strongest players. Early meetings were held in his house in Cockle Bay, then downstairs in the All Saints’ Church community hall in Cook Street. Richard taught dozens of children at the junior club, a tradition that continues today.

Howick-Pakuranga

In 1975 the Howick club amalgamated with the Pakuranga Chess Club — run mainly by Peter McCarthy, father of Katrine, a strong figure in New Zealand women’s chess — and became the Howick-Pakuranga Chess Club. When Richard Sutton moved to Dunedin in the late 1970s to become a law professor at Otago University, life member Tony Booth took over as president; he has been an active player, teacher and administrator for over 50 years. Around the same time the Scottish IM Dr William Fairhurst, ten-time Scottish champion and an acclaimed bridge designer, settled in Howick and became a regular at the club.

The Latvian and national events

The club inaugurated a weekend tournament in 1977 and has run it every year since. Now named the Latvian tournament after long-time member and benefactor Janis Borovskis, who came to New Zealand from Latvia after the Second World War, it is one of Auckland’s longest-running weekend events and regularly attracts well over 120 players.

HPCC hosted the New Zealand Championships in 1990, 1999/2000, 2019 and 2025, and has organised many junior, interschool, seniors and women’s championships. Grandmasters Nigel Short, Gawain Jones, Surya Ganguly, Hajo Hecht, Julen Arizmendi, Stuart Conquest and Drazen Sermek have all given lectures or simuls at the club.

Juniors and champions

The club has one of the largest junior memberships of any chess club in New Zealand. In the late 1990s the Ong sisters led Pakuranga College to victory across the Central, East and South Auckland secondary schools, and junior alumni WIM Jasmine Zhang, FM Luke Li and FM Daniel Gong all represented New Zealand at Olympiad level.

Strong players past and present include our president FM Martin Dreyer (twice NZ Champion), FM Peter McKenzie (NZ Champion), life member FM Ewen Green (NZ Champion) and long-time junior coach FM Leonard McLaren (former co-NZ Champion). Dr Tony Booth is also an NZCF life member and vice-patron of the federation, and life member CM Paul Spiller is a former NZCF vice-president and president, and former president of Oceania Zone 3.6.