Watch this space for up-to-date news of chess events from the Otago region.
Autumn Rapid Open - 1 March
The Autumn Rapid Open drew a healthy field of 33, with players coming
from France, Christchurch, Timaru, Oamaru and Dunedin. The field was strong at the top with a
karge contingent of unrated players of unknown strength. There were two prize grades: Open
and U1400.
Round 1 saw only a couple of upsets of older players succumbing to Oamaru juniors: 3rd seed
Quentin Johnson conceded a draw to Sean Balbalin and 6th seed Grant Kerr lost to Caleb
MacDonald.
Round 2 saw more carnage, with Tony Chiwuzoh's Bird Opening beating up 2nd seed Riley
Jellyman and Oscar Lobb defeating 4th seed Mat King. Caleb MacDonald scored his second
upset win, this time over French visitor Gabriel Barbe.
Round 3 saw just four players left on 3 points at the half-way mark: Top seed Ollie Archer,
5th seed Romero Suggate, Oscar Lobb, who upset John Robinson, and Caleb MacDonald, who
won his 3rd upset over Tosh Stewart. Meanwhile Johnson lost an upset to another Oamaru
junior, this time to Paul Gudoy.
Round 4 left just two players sharing lead on 4/4: Archer beat Lobb on board 1 and
Suggate ended MacDonald's run of upsets on board 2. Joining Lobb and MacDonald
in the group on 3 points were Jellyman, who beat Gudoy, Jonno Christie who upset
King, Greg Familton who upset Robinson, Jacob Chritie, who upset Pratik Jadhav
and Tony Chiwuzoh, who beat Matthew Murphy.
In round 5 Archer beat Suggate on board to move to 5/5 and take the sole lead into
the final round, guaranteeing himself at least a share of first place. The chasing
pack was mde up of Jellyman, who defeated Lob on board 2 and Chiwuzoh, who beat Jacob
Christie on board 3. MacDonald drew with Jonno Christie to drop back half point, while
Familton lost to Johnson.
In the final round Archer capped off a great tournament by quickly beating Chiwuzoh on
board 1 to finish first on 6/6. The board 2 game Jellyman - Suggate was shortly afterward
agreed drawn, guaranteeing both a share of 2nd place. MacDonald was unable to join them,
losing to King, but Johnson finally outlasted Jonno Christie in a time scramble to win
the final game to finish and join the group in second place on 4½.
The U1400 grade was won by Jacob Christie, after he upset Lobb to finish on 4 points. Second
in the U1400 grade went to Gudoy, who drew with Kerr, Balbalin, who drew with Robinson
and Scott Samuel, who beat the other French vistor, Maxime Leprovost to join them on 3½.
Allan Chang Memorial – 25 February
The Allan Chang 10 minute hourglass tournament had a turnout of 19 participants over the two weeks. The trophy goes to the largest upset (based on club rapid rating difference January 2026). The unusual time limit can encourage reckless play and plenty of upsets.
Returning member Lewis Kim won the trophy this year by recording the biggest upset on the first night with a win over top seed Quentin Johnson (difference 394 club rapid rating points). Kim won both his games and leads the perpertual rapid on +32 on the back of his performance. Highest points: Johnson 4/5, Romero Suggate 3/3, and Kerry Peng 3/4.
View Crosstable and Rating performances
2026 Otago chess club AGM – 11 February
Alf Loretan stood down as President and remains on the committee as Past President.
Iain Lamont was elected as the new President. Geoff Aimers stayed on as Vice-President.
Brent Southgate was voted to stay on as Secretary. Jonno Christie was elected Treasurer
and Quentin Johnson stayed on as Financial Reviewer and Director of Junior Play.
Bob Glass remained as Patron. Terry Duffield and Tyne Grant were elected as committee
members.
2026 Subscriptions were raised $5 from 2025 to cover the increase in NZCF registration
fees: Ordinary $140, Unwaged $120 and Junior $75. The Probationary one month sub was
left at $20.
Subs are now due and can be paid to the Otago Chess Club (Inc), Westpac A/C 03-0905-0169820-00.
The 2026 committee comprises:
President: Iain Lamont; Vice President: Geoff Aimers; Secretary: Brent Southgate; Treasurer: Jonno Christie; Director of Junior Play: Quentin Johnson; Past-President: Alf Loretan; Club Captain: (outside Committee - TBC); Committee members: Terry Duffield and Tyne Grant; Financial Reviewer: Quentin Johnson; Patron: Bob Glass.
The club constitution was re-ratified for the changes made at the SGM in December to qualify for tax exemption status with Inalnd Revenue. The club voted to co-nominate Richie Christie of Invercargill chess club to be the Southern South Island councillor on the NZCF council.
Blair Freeman Blitz 1 - 4 February
The first Blitz tournament for the 2026 Blair Freeman trophy took place on 4 February and had a turnout of 16 players. Oscar Lobb won easily with a perfect 7/7, giving him a 100 point gain on the Blitz Perpetual Handicap to start the year. Romero Suggate took second place on 6 points, while third went to Ben Suazo on 5 points.
View the final crosstable.
President vs Vice President - 28 January
The opening event for 2026 was the traditional President vs Vice President
match on 28 January. This year Alf Loretan's President's team drew with
Geoff Aimers' Vice President's team 4½-4½ in a satisfyingly close
match.
Individual scores: (President's Team white on boards 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9)
Alf Loretan ½-½ Geoffrey Aimers
Ryan High 0-1 Quentin Johnson
Mathew King 1-0 Tyne Grant
Bob Clarkson 0-1 Jonno Christie
Aidan Dixon 0-1 David Reid
John Armstrong 0-1 Oscar Lobb
Thisun Kuruppuarachchi 0-1 Oliver Lee
Toan Nguyen 1-0 Kerry Peng
Zack M 0-1 Michael Nguyen