2016 Archive

Summer Rapid Open – 3 December

The Summer Rapid Open saw 14 players compete with Ross Black unable to make it this time from Christchurch, the only non-local was Stefan Markx from Queenstown. All games went to seeding in the first round, but in round 2 Riley Jellyman defeated top seed Quentin Johnson in a well-played game where his lasting pressure in in a rook and opposite couloured bishop ending drew the necessary mistakes from his opponent. Shoji Fukushima aslo upset his opponent Vee-Liem Saw. In round three, Jellyman took the sole lead by a point by defeating Naser Tamimi, while Johnson inflicetd a loss on Edward Sarfas after the latter spoiled a good position with a tactical oversight leading to mate. In round four Jellyman continued on his winning way with victory over Wolfie Martin. Johnson and Sarfas were the the only players to stay in touch, with wins over Clarkson and Tamimi respectively. At the other end of the table the battle between Ahmad Atieh and Romero Suggate was closely fought, with Atieh coing out the victor to register his first point. In the final round Jellyman made no mistake against Sarfas, eventually converting a pawn ending with the outside passed pawn to take first outright with a convincing and well-deserved 5/5. Johnson won his usual crazy battle with Hamish Gold to come second alone on 4 points. Third was shared by Sarfas, Tamimi, Martin and Taine Box on 3 points, with Box taking out first prize in the U1400 grade. Second in the grade was shared by Stefan MArkx, Bob Clarkson, Shoji Fukushima and Hildon Nisa, all on 2 points.
The next rapid open is the Autumn Rapid on Saturday 4 March 2017.

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Perpetual Handicap – 30 November

Shoji Fukushima lead the Rapid throughout the year and held off a late surge by Leighton Nicholls to win the Rapid Perpetual Trophy on +92 ahead of Leighton 2nd on +87 and Brent Southgate 3rd on +67. The Standard was a close tussle all year between Riley Jellyman and Naser Tamimi, who were tied for the lead a few weeks from the end. An upset loss to Hamish Gold eventually sank Naser's chances and Riley won the Standard Perputual Trophy on +99 ahead of Naser 2nd on +71 and Leighton Nicholls 3rd on +58. Leighton's appearance on both podiums is a testament to his steep improvement in the last year, establishing a NZCF standard rating over 2000 and reaching the top fifty in the NZCF Rapid list.

View the Perpetual Handicap 2016 progess and graphs

Richard Sutton Trophy – 30 November

Defending Champion and top seed Quentin Johnson looked to have the tournament won after winning the key match-up with second seed Leighton Nicholls in round four to go a point clear on 4/4. But Riley Jellyman, afetr an early setback against John Armstrong won his other games to be up against Johnson in round five and the game ended in a draw after both sides missed some chances for more in an even struggle. Meanwhile Nicholls satyed in the hunt defeating Edward Sarfas in a tactical battle after the latter missed a fleeting chance to trap Nicholl's queen. Armstrong continued his good tournament by defeating Shoji Fukushima. In the final round Johnson blundered a pawn against Geoff Aimers, and though he was able to regain it it left him with weak queenside pawns. Aimers was on the verge of victory, but allowed Johnson to reach a drawn bishop and wrong rook pawn ending to salvage the draw. Johnson was joined in first place on 5/6 by Nicholls, after Jellyman went astray in the opening, losing first a pawn then an exchange. Sarfas beat Hamish Gold to finish third a point behind, while Jellyamn, Aimers and Taine Box were next on 3½. New member Martin Brook (11) scored a very creditable 2/6 in his first tournament registering a 1500 rating performance. Jellyman, Armstrong and Naser Tamimi should all earn FIDE ratings in the January list, while Sarfas scored a 4-game block towards his first FIDE rating.

View the Vega files including games

Club Rapid Championship 2nd leg – 19 October

The second leg was marred by the unexpected non-appearance of club champion and Treasurer John Sutherland on the opening night, followed by news of his death a couple of weeks later as result of a stroke. John was a well-liked member of the club and will be sadly missed.

The new rules applied this year meant that competition between grades was fierce to the end. Defending Champion and top seed Quentin Johnson again scored 4½/6 in the A Grade, benefitting from a final round default against Iain Lamont. Leighton Nicholls also repeated his score of 4 points from the first leg to take clear second, ahead of Lamont on 2½ and Riley Jellyman on 1, though this still gained him some rating points. In The B Grade Naser Tamimi dominated with 4½/6 ahead of Edward Sarfas on 3½, Hamish Gold 2½ and Sean Lau 1½. The C Grade was won by Shoji Fukushima on 4/6, continuing his fine run of rapid results this year. Brent Southgate was second on 3½ points folowed by Terry Duffield 3 and Taine Box on 1½. Ryan Lau emerged the victor of the tightly contested D grade on 3½/6, just ahead of John Armstrong and Ethan Lau tied for second on 3 points, while Hildon Nisa finished on 2½.

After base points are added to these scores along with the first leg scores, the Senior championship trophy went to Quentin Johnson on an Aggregate of 20½, 1 point ahead of Leighton Nicholls. The Intermediate championship trophy went to Naser Tamimi on 15 points, a point clear of Riley Jellyman and Edward Sarfas. The Junior Championship Trophy went to Brent Southgate on 10½, half a point ahead of Sean Lau. The calculation of the base scores this year perhaps slightly underweighted the value of a promotion to a higher grade, and a proposal to round these up to the nearest half point (instead of up or down) has been put to the committee for next year's championships.

View combined Crosstable and Rating performances
View Grade Crosstables

Transfer tournament – 19 October

While some catchup games for the Rapid Championship were being completed, two round-robin transfer tournaments took place at the other end of the playing room. Taking part along with the club regulars were two guests from out of town: Alan Aldridge from Wellington and David Weegenaar from Christchurch. The final scores in the first tournament were: 1 Naser & Ryan 4/4; 2 Alan & John 3; 3 Edward & Max 2; 4 Taine & Ethan 1; 5 Shoji & Hildon 0. The final scores in the second tournament were: 1-2 Alan & Max and Naser & Ethan 4/5; 3-4 David & John and Ryan & Taine 3; 5 Sean & Shoji 1; 6 Edward & Hildon 0.

Club Championship – 21 September, updated 5 October

After the second leg of the 2016 Club Championship, John Sutherland won the A grade even more convincingly on 4½/5 a point and a half a point Leighton Nicholls and Iain Lamont, to win the senior championship trophy for 2016. Quentin Johnson finished on 2½ and Riley Jellyman on 2 after the latter gave away a piece from a winning position in the final game, while Terry Duffield couldn't repeat his rating gains from the 1st leg and finished on 0.

With the promotion of Riley to the A grade, the B grade was dominated Naser Tamimi. Naser finished on 4½/5, a point clear of Geoff Aimers. This 2100+ performance won Naser the Intermediate championship trophy by half a point over Riley, whose 2000 performance in the A grade wasn't enough to hold his lead from the first leg. Newcomer Edward Sarfas scored a solid 2½ followed by Hamish Gold on 2, Brent Southgate on 1½ and Shoji Fukushima on 1 point after promotion from the C Grade. This was enough for Shoji to win the Junior championship trophy for 2016.

The C grade was again a six-round Swiss. Top seed Bob Clarkson started with a loss to Taine Box, but a string of five wins followed to finish at the top of the table. Sean Lau finished next on 4 points, losing only to Bob and taking a couple of half-point byes. Taine finished third equal with David Reid and Ryan Lau on 3½.

The new rules this year mean that each grade starts with a base score and/or a scaling factor, to allow performances to be roughly compared between grades, based on the average rating of the field in each grade. That allows players in different grades to compete for the same trophy on roughly even terms. The final Championship totals show the effect of these adjustments:
1 Sutherland 15 (Senior Champion); 2 Nicholls 13; 3 Lamont 12½ 4-6 TBC; 7 Aimers 9½; 8 Duffield 8; 9-10 Southgate & Sarfas 7½; 11-14 Gold, Fukushima (Junior Champion), Reid & Sean Lau 6½; 15-16 Armstrong & Ryan Lau 6; 17 Box 5½; 18-20 Clarkson, Nisa & Ethan Lau 4; 21 Lough 2½; 22 McKee 1; 23 Cowie 0.

View all crosstables
View A-Grade crosstable and rating performances
View B-Grade crosstable and rating performances
View C-Grade crosstable and rating performances

Ultimate Challenge – 21 September

Instead of the scheduled Transfer tournament, a different form of team chess was tried out – the Ultimate Challenge format copied from the after event at the Sinquefield Cup Super GM tournament. Two teams played 5m + 3s Bronstein blitz in rotation – 5 moves for each player before the next member of their team took over the game, with players paired to be roughly even strength. The team order was reversed after each game. The team of Quentin, Sean, Shoji, Hildon, Ethan & Jack won the five game match 3½ - 1½ against the team Elliot, Edward, Brent, Bob, Max & Ryan, though the games were very close and often hanged on a thread.

Spring Rapid Open – 3 September

The Spring Rapid Open saw 15 players compete, only Ross Black from Christchurch making the journey from outside Dunedin. Ross was the casualty of the major upset in the first round to Ryan Lau, while second seed Hamish Gold was held to a draw by Max Lough. In round two both these players continued in kind - Ryan defeating Wolfie Martin, and Max drawing with Ross. Ethan Lau beat his older brother Sean, and top seed Quentin Johnson only just managed to win on time against Naser Tamimi in a technically drawn position. The third round saw Quentin held to a draw by Riley Jellyman, these two being joined in the lead by Hamish, who ended Ryan's destructive run, but from a piece down. Ross conceded his third draw, this time to Hildon Nisa. The match on board one between Hamish and Riley was a fascinating struggle of unequal material: Hamish won Riley's queen for rook, knight and pawn. Riley then won an exchange to be up on material, but then Hamish turned his unopposed queen to account to win with a sacrificial kingside attack. Quentin kept pace with Hamish by beating Ryan, who by his own admission moved too fast and was soon lost. Staying in contention half a point behind were Edward Sarfas, who beat Wolfie and Naser, who beat Bob Clarkson. In the under 1500 grade Ryan, Sean, Ethan and Max shared the lead on 2 points going into the final round. The battle between the leaders in the final round was a typically messy King's Gambit ended in a victory for Quentin over Hamish, taking first on 4½/5. Riley defeated Wolfie to join Hamish among the prizewinners on 3½ and then awaited the result beween Naser and Edward, the final game to finish. In a hair-rasing game in which the position fluctuated between wins for either side, Naser eventually won on time in a wild scramble by one second! - taking second on 4 points. The contest to reach 3 points to win under 1500 grade was won by Sean, who defeated Ryan, and Max, who beat Bob, while Ethan was beaten by Ross.
The next rapid open is the Summer Rapid on Saturday 3 December.

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Otago/Southland Junior Championship – 20 August

A compact but very strong field of 15 players turned out at the Otago Chess Club to contest the 2016 championship. Only three players were not members of the Otago Chess club or Dunedin Junior Chess Academy. Only Kyle Manangkil (Lime Hills) came from outside Dunedin. Defending joint champions from last year Leighton Nicholls and Riley Jellyman started as favourites, along with OBHS board 1, Naser Tamimi. However, seven rounds with the Rapid time limit of 25 minutes for the game meant there was plenty of drama to come. Nicholls drew in the first round to Max Lough (OBHS) who stoutly defended a pawn endgame a pawn down, while other games went to seeding. Jellyman (OBHS) defeated his OBHS1 team mate Naser Tamimi in round two on time in a blitz finish in what looked like a key result. He was joined on 2/2 by Taine Box (OBHS), Sean Lau (OBHS) and Joe McKee (OBHS). In round 3 Jellyman beat Box and McKee beat Sean Lau to move to 3/3, while Tamimi came back from a piece down to beat Nicholls, seemingly ending the top seed's title chances. In round 4 the battle between the two leaders went decisively to Jellyman, establishing a point lead over McKee, Tamimi and Sean Lau. Jellyman retained his lead in round five, beating Sean Lau to move to 5/5. McKee beat Tamimi after the latter blundered a piece from a winning position to stay a point behind, while Nicholls and Lough lurked a further half point back. In round 6, Jellyman showed signs of having banked the point against Lough, who played very well to exploit his opponents errors and won to open up the tournament heading into the final round. Nichols beat McKee to join Lough on 4½/6 , just half a point behind Jellyman, while Tamimi and Sean Lau joined McKee on 4 points with wins over Ethan Lau (OBHS) and Loek van Broekhoven (Kaikorai) respectively. In a key game in the under 13 section, Romer Suggate (Tahuna) beat Manangkil to take apoint lead on 3/6 over Manangkil and Liam Gonen (Home). Fittingly it was the joint defending champions who faced off in the final round, and the half point difference meant they couldn't share the title again this year. Playing for the draw, sufficient to win the title, Jellyman traded into a rook ending a pawn up against Nicholls, but the latter's king and pawns were much better placed. Nicholls won back the pawn and the defensive task proved too much in the time allowed for Jellyman in the final game to finish. Thus Nicholls overtook Jellyamn to win the tournament outright, as the only other player in range, Lough, was beaten by Tamimi. Sean Lau beat Suggate and McKee beat Ryan Lau (OBHS) to join Jellyman and Tamimi in second place, while Liam Gonen overcame Ethan Lau to catch Suggate in the under 13 section.

First and winner of the JJ Marlow Trophy for the fifth time was Leighton Nicholls on 5½/7. Second equal in the under 20 were Naser Tamimi and Sean Lau on 5 (players eligible for more than one prize were allocated only the highest value prize). First equal U16 were Riley Jellyman and Joe McKee, also on 5 points. First equal U13 were Liam Gonen and Romero Suggate on 3 points. The winning team was OBHS1 (Riley Jellyman, Naser Tamimi & Seal Lau).

View crosstable, standings and team standings

Otago/Southland Primary-Intermediate Individual Championship – 6 August

A very healthy field of 32 players turned out at the Otago Chess Club to compete in this year's championship. Martin Brook (10 – all ages are as at 1 January 2016, John McGlashan), made no contest of the race for first - winning all seven games to finish 1½ points ahead of his closest rival. Second went to Jin Young Kim (12, John McGlashan) on 5½ points. Six players tied for third place on 5 points: Brendan Choi (12, Queenstown), Ryan Choi (8, Queenstown), Jung Hoon Kim (9, Maori Hill), Noah Oseki (11, John McGlashan), Beckham Wilson (12, Balclutha) and Jared Lau (10, Balmacewen). First and second in the under 11 under grade was shared by Jung Hoon Kim and Jared Lau. First an the under 9 grade was Ryan Choi ahead of Stijn van Broekhoven (8, Kaikoria) on 3 points. Jemmimah McCombe-Rae won the Best Girl prize on 4 points. The John McGlashan 1 team of Jin Young Kim, Noah Oseki and Caleb Oakley (11) won the team prize with a total of 14½ points.

View crosstable and team standings

Thematic tournament – 3 August

Eight players contested the round-robin with a blitz time control of Bronstein 5 mins plus 3 seconds per move, as eight players from the rapid championship had to finished postponed games instead. This year using Bob Clarkson’s pack of 52 cards with opening printed on them the openings were changed every round, so ranged from the solid English (1.c4) to the not-so-solid Latvian Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5!?). Newcomer Simon Li arrived just in time to take part in his first club event and proved a formidable blitz player, winning with 6/7 ahead of Naser Tamimi second on 5½, the same score which was good enough the previous year for Naser to win outright. Third was shared by Sean & Ryan Lau on 4 points. Despite finishing in last place, Shoji Fukushima had the distinction of being the only player to beat the winner and draw with the runner up. Final scores: 1 Simon Li 6/7; 2 Naser Tamimi 5½; 3-4 Sean Lau & Ryan Lau 4; 5 Max Lough 3; 6-7 Hildon Nisa & Taine Box 2; 8 Shoji Fukushima 1½.

Club Rapid Championship 1st leg – 3 August

New rules applied this year meant that competition between grades was represent more fairly in terms of relative performance and all were closely fought. Defending Champion and top seed Quentin Johnson scored 4½/6 in the A Grade to take a narrow lead over Leighton Nicholls on 4 points. In The B Grade Riley Jellyman again emerged the winner on 4/6 to earn promotion to the A Grade ahead of Naser Tamimi and new member Edward Sarfas tied for second on 3½. The C Grade was a tie for first between Sean Lau and Taine Box on 3½, with Sean earning promotion to the B Grade by winning a blitz playoff 2-0. The D-Grade was another tie for first between Bob Clarkson and Brent Southgate on 4 points. Hildon Nisa earned promotion from the E Grade with a convincing 4½ points. In the combined cross table below the inter-grade handicap of 6½ points has been added to the A grade, 4 to the B Grade, 2 to the C Grade, 1½ to the D Grade and ½ to the E-Grade (after a late entry increased the average rating) and show the overall standings after the first leg. The handicaps are derived from the difference in expected score between the average rating of each grade.

View combined Crosstable and Rating performances
View Grade Crosstables

Cleland Trophy – 6 July

The Cleland Trophy was decided somewhat anticlimactically in the final round, when leader John Sutherland only arrived at the club after the round had started. Rather than halt play and redo the draw, John didn't play. So Quentin Johnson retained the trophy finishing on 5/6, having lost to Sutherland but won his other games. Naser Tamimi was the only player in a position to match Johnson, afetr a very strong tournament. But having prepared to face Sutherland in the final round, he found he had to play Leighton Nicholls. A tactical oversight forced Naser into a sacrificial attack, for which he never quite had enough compensation. Thus Nicholls joined Sutherland in second place on 4½, followed by Tamimi fourth on 4 points. Sean Lau and Taine Box both recorded solid results in finishing on 3 along with Vee-Liem Saw, who had to miss the final round in his last club event until his return to Dunedin in December.

View Crosstable and Rating performances

Otago/Southland Primary and Intermediate Interschool Teams Championship 2016 – 2 July

19 teams from 12 schools played for the twelfth annual Otago Primary and Intermediate Interschool Teams' Championships at Dunedin North Intermediate School. Defending champions Balmacewen A were trounced 4-0 in their individual match with last year's runners-up Tahuna Normal in the third round. This proved decisive, as Tahuna just managed to defend their lead through the rest of the close competition, finishing first on 22/27. Balmacewen A were second on 20 points and John McGlashan B third on 18 points.

Leading individual scorers were Board 1: Martin Brook (John McGlashan B) 6½/7, Romero Suggate (Tahuna) 6/7, Zishen Fu (Balmacewen A) 5½/7; Board 2: Abdhul Alkharusi (Tahuna) 5½/7, Jared Lau (Balmacewen A) 5/7, Luke Geddes (DNI A) 5/7, Dart Watson (Tarras) 5/7; Board 3: Nick Wright (Tahuna) 6½/7, Noah Oseki (John McGlashan A) 6½/7, Aaron Nelson (Balmacewen A) 5/7; Board 4: Max Baldwin (John McGlashan B) 6/7, Lance McClimont (Tarras) 5/7, Leevi Hanson (Balmac A) 4½/7.

View Intermediate crosstable
View Intermediate individual scores (not accurate in some cases due to board shifting between players)

In the Primary section George St Normal proved convincing winners over defending champions Maori Hill – these were the only teams not to benefit from a 4-point bye in the nine-team competition. George St finished first on 24/27 by a clear margin. Maori Hill were second on 18 points and St Joseph's Cathedral School A finished third on 17½ points.

Leading individual scorers were Board 1: Samuel Kelly (George St) 6/7, John Mengel (Maori Hill) 5/7, Ava Williams (St Joseph's A) 4½/6; Board 2: Oliver Hobbs (George St) 7/7, Jung Hoon Kim (Maori Hill) 6/7, Sean Kerr (Kaikorai B) 4/6; Board 3: Jake Owen (George St) 6/7, Ben Casey (St Joseph's B) 4/6, Joseph Brenner (St Joseph's A) 3½/6, Daniel Brienesse (Waverley Park) 3½/6; Board 4: Nathaniel Miller-Coote (St Joseph's A) 5/6, Harrison Tonkin (George St) 5/7.

View Primary crosstable
View Primary individual scores (not accurate in some cases due to board shifting between players)

Thanks to Dunedin North Intermediate School for providing the venue once again.

Otago/Southland Secondary Interschool Teams Championship 2016 – 18 June

Eight teams from four schools played for the twelfth annual Otago Secondary Interschool Teams' Championship at Otago Boys' High School on Saturday 18 June. Kavanagh College returned to the competition after a break of several years, taking on multiple teams from hosts Otago Boys’ High School and regular competitors Logan Park High School and John McGlashan College.

The hosts' A team defended their title convincingly. The team won all their individual games bar one – Naser Tamimi was upset on board 1 by Taine Box of the OBHS B team. OBHS A finished first on 27/28, ahead of the OBHS B team, second on 23½ points and Logan Park A, third on 17½ points. These three teams qualify for the South Island finals in Ashburton on 31 August, while OBHS A go on to the national finals in Palmerston North on 24-25 September. Leading individual scorers were Board 1: Taine Box (OBHS B) 7/7, Naser Tamimi (OBHS A) 6/7; Daniel Wallace (LPHS A) 5/7; Board 2: Riley Jellyman (OBHS A) 7/7, Max Lough (OBHS B) 6/7; Board 3: Joe McKee (OBHS A) 7/7, Nic Elkins (OBHS C) 5/7; Board 4: Sean Lau (OBHS A) 7/7, Ethan Lau (OBHS B) 6/7, Grant McNaughton (LPHS A) 5/7. Thanks to Otago Boys’ High School for providing the venue once again.

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View individual scores

Winter Rapid Open – 11 June

The Winter Rapid Open drew a very healthy field of 22 to play chess in front of the channel 39 camera. The local station was covering the event after being alerted by President Bob Clarkson as a promotional idea. As well as a strong local turnout, Ross Black came from Christchurch, Brian Williams from Palmerston North and Nigel Cooper all the way from Waiheke Island. Ross Black and Terry Duffield were the only casualties of upsets in the first round to Sean Lau and Taine Box respectively. In round two Wolfie Martin drew with Cooper, while Ethan Lau defeated Williams, both presaging tournament results that showed their ratings were too low. Meanwhile top seed Quentin Johnson survived a pawn sacrifice for strong attacking pressure from Naser Tamimi, when the latter went wrong in the complications. The third round saw Johnson just defeat strong resistance from Riley Jellyman, mating with a few seconds left on the clock. He was joined in the lead by Rene Sterk, playing in his second rapid open after a break of seven years, after defeating second seed Hamish Gold. The battle between the leaders in the fourth round ened in a vistiory for Johnson after Sterk went initiated a faulty combination and lost a piece. Martin moved into second place half a point behind with a defeat of Gold. Half a point behind him, Sterk, Jellyman, Tamimi and Black were all in contention going into the final round. Johnson essayed a speculative piece sac against Martin, which bore fruit when the latter failed to find the best defence, taking first with 5/5. Black and Sterk drew to join Martin in shared third on 3½, behind Jellyman, who defeated OBHS teammate Tamimi to take second place on 4 points. the undre 1600 grade was won by Martin, ahead of a four-way tie for second on 3 points between Tamimi, Joe Mckee, Vee-Liem Saw and Duffield. The U1200 grade was won by Ethan Laau, also on 3, ahead of Sean Lau, Box, and Carlssen van Rooyen tied for second on 2 points.
The next rapid open is the Spring Rapid on Saturday 3 September.

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Swiss Rapid – 25 May

The Swiss Rapid was convincingly won by second seed Iain Lamont. He drew with top seed Quentin Johnson in round four and defeated all is other opponents to take clear first on 5½/6. Naser Tamimi had a greta tournament to finish clear second on 5 points, losing only to Lamont in round 2. A point further back was Leighton Nicholls, who missed two rounds due to illness. Of the group on 3½, Sean Lau and Taine Box plundered the most rating points.

View Crosstable and Rating performances

Shuffle tournament – 6 May

13 players took part in the shuffle chess tournament, which was a six round Swiss. Random starting positions and a 5 minutes 3 seconds Bronstein time limit threw up some very disorienting middlegames, and removed the experience advantage of some players, but not the Lau brothers. Top seed Quentin Johnson managed to survive three lost positions on his way to 6/6 and first place, ahead of Ryan Lau second on 4½, with Sean and Ethan Lau sharing third on 4 points.

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Club Championship – 27 April

After the first leg of the 2016 Club Championship, John Sutherland leads the A grade on 4/5, half a point ahead of Leighton Nicholls, while former champion Iain Lamont is a further half point behind. Quentin Johnson's 2 points are unlikely to be enough to defend his 2015 title. Terry Duffield gained rating points on 1½, and Geoff Aimers rounded out the field on 1.

The B grade was dominated by OBHS team mates Riley Jellyman and Naser Tamimi. Riley finished on 4/5 just half a point ahead of Naser. Top seed Brent Southgate dropped points to these two but finished next on 3 points, followed by Vee-Liem Saw on 2 after a late promotion from the C Grade. Hamish Gold on 1½ and David Reid on 1 point found the going tough this year.

The C grade was a six-round Swiss. John Armstrong started with a string of wins, but two late losses left him on 4/6 half a point behind returning member Shoji Fukushima on 4½. Late surges by Ryan and Sean Lau put them next on 3½, overtaking Taine Box whose early momentum ran out, finishing on 3.

The new rules this year mean that each grade start with a base score and/or a scaling factor, to allow performances to be roughly compared between grades, based on the average rating of the field in each grade. That allows players in different grades to compete for the same trophy on fairer terms than in the past. The Championship totals in the link below show the effect of these adjustments.

View all crosstables
View A-Grade crosstable and rating performances
View B-Grade crosstable and rating performances
View C-Grade crosstable and rating performances

Blitz tournament – 16 March

The five minutes time limit gave everyone a chance in any game, with no player scoring less than two wins or avoiding less than two losses. The competition for first was close, with a four-way tie for first.
Final scores: 1-4 Quentin Johnson, Iain Lamont, Leighton Nicholls & Naser Tamimi 8/10; 5 Riley Jellyman 6; 6-7 Taine Box & Ryan Lau 4; 8 Vee-Liem Saw 3; 9-11 Ethan Lau, Shoji Fukushima & John Armstrong 2.

Alan Chang Memorial – 9 March

The Alan Chang 10 minute hourglass tournament again produced very tough competition for both the tournament victory and the Alan Chang Trophy for the biggest upset. New member Taine Box staked a claim of the trophy with a huge upset win over Terry Duffield in the first round. Another new member Ethan Lau came very close in round three with an upset win over David Reid. But Box emphasised his grip with a win of returning member Shoji Fukshima in round 4 to in effect be first and second in terms of greatest upset. Upsets throughout the event resulted in a fascinating battle for victory in the tournament. Top seed Quentin Johnson drew with Geoff Aimers and then lost to second seed John Sutherland. Sutherland in turn drew with Riley Jellyman and lost to third seed Iain Lamont. Thus Lamont was the only undefeated player and won the tournament half a point ahead of Sutherland, Aimers, Johnson, Jellyman, and Naser Tamimi tied for second on 3½ points. Taine Box and Ethan Lau pocketed many rating points for their efforts.

View Crosstable and Rating performances

Autumn Rapid Open – 5 March

The 2016 Seasonal Rapids to determine the winner of the Westpac 30-30 Trophy began with the Autumn Rapid, with a healthy 18 players turned out on Saturday afternoon. Former club member David Weegenaar, visiting from Christchurch, was top seed although he was the first to admit that his high rapid rating was based on only a handful of games. This was borne out in the first round, when Weegenaar miscalculated when trying to win against Naser Tamimi in a very tricky and probably level position and lost. Another major upset was caused by Riley Jellyman losing his queen to Taine Box. Leighton Nicholls and Quentin Johnson were the only players to reach 3/3 and contested the lead in round 4. An unsound exchange sacrifice paid off for Johnson who took the sole lead on 4/4 followed by Nicholls, Tamimi, Rick Loos of Oamaru, Sean Lau & Joe McKee all on 3 points. The final round saw Johnson escape with a draw after earlier overlooking a nice tactic by Tamimi, to secure 1st place. Nicholls beat McKee and Loos beat Sean Lau to share second place. The under 1600 grade was won by Tamimi on 3½, ahead of McKee 2nd on 3 points. The under 1200 grade went to Sean Lau on 3 ahead of a three way tie for second on 2 points between Ryan Lau, Box and Martin Brook making a strong debut in an open tournament.

The next rapid open is the Winter Rapid on Saturday 11 June.

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2016 Otago chess club AGM – 10 February

Bob Clarkson stayed on a President, as did all the other main officers. Subscriptions also remained the same. The 2016 committee comprises:

President: Bob Clarkson; Vice President: Brent Southgate; Secretary: Leighton Nicholls; Treasurer: John Sutherland; Director of Junior Play: Quentin Johnson; Past-President: Geoff Aimers; Committee members: Terry Duffield, Naser Tamimi & Riley Jellyman; Auditor: Bob Glass; Patron: Bob Glass.

Opening Night – 27 January

The traditional Presidents vs Vice Presidents match was between teams of five players at a time limit of Bronstein 50 mins plus 2s per move. The teams were well chosen and evenly matched, so the overall result came down to then final game, fittingly between VP Brent Soughgate and President Bob Clarkson. Clarkson won to take the match for the Presidents team 3-2.

President vs Vice President
Bob Clarkson 1-0 Brent Southgtate
Quentin Johnson 1-0 Leighton Nicholls
Geoff Aimers ½-½ Naser Tamimi
Terry Duffield 0-1 Riley Jellyman
John Armstrong ½-½ David Reid