Watch this space for up-to-date news of chess events from the Otago region.
Richard Sutton Trophy - 3 December
This year's tournament was the usual FIDE-rated swiss, which was contested by 18 players, although only about twelve players were regularly playing most rounds. Iain lamont took the early lead on 3/3, after the other top seeds Quentin Johnson lost to Jonnon Christie in round 2 and Ben Suazo drew with Ryan High in the same round. Iain was a piece for a couple of pawns up against Suazo in round 4, but prolonged resistence in a R v R & B ending eventually resulted in a blunder and Suazo turned the tables to win and take over the lead. Lamont went on to drop a piece to Johnson in round 5 while Suazo took a half-point bye. This left Suazo and Johnson in the joint lead going into the final round on 4/5, with Hamish Gold and Kerry Peng just behind on 3½. Johnson-Suazo ended in a draw allowing Gold to catch tie them in first place on 4½/6 with a defeat of Peng. Lamont won his final game gains David Reid to finish 4th on 4 points. Hamish Gold, Kerry Peng and Jonno Christie made the biggest rating gains, though the latter missed the final two rounds due to illness.
View the View
Vega output
and all games to download in pgn.
Club Championship – 22 October
Starting on 10 September with two grades, the final game was completed on 22 October. Following teh SouthIsland Championship, attendance dropped off steeply, with two players dropping out of the A Grade and several from the B Grade.
In the A Grade Ben Suazo won with 3/3 being unable to play two of his opponents. Second was shared by Mathew King 2/2 and Quentin Johnson 2/3. 4th went to Ezekiel Stewart on 1/2 while 5th was shared by Hamish Gold and Ryan High on emerged the join winners on 4/5, ahead Elliot Munro third on 3½ points. Hamish Gold and Ryan High shared 5th on ½/4.
The B Grade was won convincingly by Jonno Christie on 5½/6, 2 points ahead of new member Kerry Peng on 3½ points. John Armstrong,, John Gibb and Rogan-Joe Sloan finished tied ofr 3rd on 3 points.
Quentin Johnson carried his 2 point advantage over Ben Suazo from leg 1 to take the Senior Championship on an aggregate score of 12½ ahead of Suazo on 11½. Ezekiel Stewart's aggregate score of 9½ was enough to clinch the Intermediate Championship, despite only playing two games in this leg, ahead of Jonno Christie on 8 aggregate points. John Armstrong added to his trophy tally this year by taking the Junior Championship on and aggregate score of 5 points, a point and a half clear of Bob Clarkson.
The rules 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 Johnson (Senior Champion) 12½; 2 Ben Suazo 11½; 3 Ezekiel Stewart (Intermediate Champion) 9½;
4-5 Jonno Christie & Alexander Sun 8; 6 Elliot Munro 7½; 7 Ryan High 7; 8 Tony Chiwuzoh 6½;
9-10 Hamish Gold & Qi Le Kong-Lim 6; 11 Tyne Grant 5½; 12-16 John Armstrong, Terry Duffield,
Alf Loretan, Oliver Lee & Oscar Lobb 5; 17-18 Mathew King & Mark Edwards 4;
19 Bob Clarkson 3½; 20-24 Brent Southgate, Jacob Christie, Kerry Peng, David Reid & Eddy Li 3;
25-27 John Gibb, Rogan-Joe Sloan & Jason Barrett 2½ 28 Iain Lamont 2; 29-30 Ross
Buckland & Joseph Brown 1½ 31-32 Ruthren Senthilkumar & Ben Alnashi 1;
33-34 Hayden Baxter-Kilgour & Father Andrew 0.
View
all crosstables
View
A-Grade crosstable and rating performances
View
B-Grade crosstable and rating performances
South Island Rapid Championship 2025 - 28 September
The South Island Rapid Championship was held on the Sunday after the South Island Championship at the Leviathan Heritage Hotel in Dunedin and was supported by The Otago Community Trust. The turnout of 66 players was one more than the Standard, but not quite the record for this event. Nevertheless, with only six rounds the possibility of two joint winners on 6/6 while remote was real.
Rounds 1 & 2: Most went with seeding, although Nick Cummings conceded a draw to Cadence Yu on board 7 in round 1 and in round 2 Mike Steadman lost to Richard Liu on board 1, while Richie Christie lost to Cory Broad on board 9 and Cunmmings drew again, with Thomas Keontges.
Round 3: This round started to see more upsets - generally the youndger generation defeating their elders. One exception was Richard Dare drawing with 5th seed mathew McNabb on board 5. After this round only seven players were on 3/3: Eddie Lee, John Stark, Alex Nedyhalov, Kendrick Zhang, Isabelle Ning, Dion Wilson and Richard Liu. At least this meant the danger of joint winners on 6/6 had been averted.
Round 4: And then there were four - the whittling down of players on a perfect score continued. Kendrick Zhange beat Eddie Lee on board 1, while John Stark took revenge for his defeat at the hands of Isabelle Ning in the main event on board 2. Alex Nedyhalov knew took mucch about his former student Dion Wilson not to take advantage and win their board 3 match, while Richard Liu continued his run of defeating older players - this time Matthew McNabb - on board 4. Since the board 5 match of Cadence Yu and Richard Dare was a draw, there was a full point gap between the top four on 4/4 and the rest of the field.
Round 5: John Stark and Richard Liu drew on board 1, which meant Alex Nedyhalov was able to take the sole lead on 5/5 when his Grand Prix Attack/Wing gambit hybrid bore fruit against Kendrick Zhang on board 2. Joining Zhang on 4 points with a chance for a minor place were Eddie Lee, Quentin Johnson, Zachary Yu, Jadhav Pratik and Richard Dare, who beat respectively Rommel Ong, Daniel Winsley, Cadence Yu, Alexander Sun and Hanes Van Niekerk.
Round 6: In the final round John Stark prevailed in his board 1 clash with leader Alex Nedyhalov to overhaul him and claim a share of first and the South Island Rapid Trophy for 2025 on 5½/6. He was joined by Richard Liu in first place, who beat Eddie Lee on board 2 in a tactical melee. Lee's attack looked to carshing through, when he grabbed a poisoned knight and was subject to a mating attack on his own king. Joining Nedyhalov in third place on 5 points were Zachary Yu, who beat Quentin Johnson, avenging his loss in the standard event, and Kendrick Zhang, who beat Richard Dare. The U1800 grade was shared by Dion Wislon and Pratik Jadhav on 4 points (as Richard Liu had taken the higher prize). The U1400 grade went to Alan Truong, also on 4 points, with second equal shared by Hannes Van Niekerk and Hasanli Babaranda on 3½.
View 2025 South Island Rapid Championship standings, live broadcast on Lichess and livestream on twitch and the brilliant article by Tyne Grant in Chess Aotearoa NZ Vol 3 No.4
South Island Championship 2025 - 27 September
The South Island Championship 2025 took place on 24-27 September at the Leviathan Heritage Hotel in Dunedin and was supported by The Otago Community Trust. A record entry of 65 players turned out for the 76th edition of the tournament, hosted by the Otago Chess Club to commemorate its 150th anniversary.
Round 1: Right from the outset there were upsets inflicted on the top seeds. 3rd seed Ed Rains lost to Greg Familton and 5th seed Eddie Lee lost to Hamish Gold - these two were both awarded upset prizes for the round for their efforts. David Weegenaar made a brief comeback to tournament chess after many years of inactivity - beating Akash Patel, but then withdrawing from the event due to other priorities.
Round 2: The seeds continued to tumble with top seed Mike Steadman conceding a draw to Sriram Muthukumaran on board 1, while 2nd seed Matthew McNabb did likewise to Alexander Sun on board 2. Further down 10th seed Kendrick Zhang also drew with Richie Christie, and Gold chalked up a second upset - holding Nick Cummings to a draw. However the biggest upset of the round was Cleb MacDonald taking out Phil Coleman to clain the book prize for the round.
Round 3: Thanks to Richie Christie the technical glitches to the live DGT boards were fixed this round and so the top twelve boards were broadcast from this point, so go along with the live twitch streaming set up by Rogan-Joe Sloan - possible a first for a New zealand chess tournament. On board 1 John Stark was the beneficiary for a default by Willian Liu, due to illness. Lower down Quinn Song alsio defaulted for illness to Fraser McIntosh. On board 2 Thomas van der Hoorn cause a minor upset in defeating sixth seed Cohen Young. A bigger upset on board 6 was the last game of the round to finish, when Mike Steadman couldn't hold the ending of R + B + K vs Q + P + K against Dion Wilson. However teh upset prizes of the round were awarded to John Gibb, returning to tournament chess after a long absence, beating Ezekiel Stewart, and a second book prize to Caleb MacDonald, this time for his win over veteran of many South Island Championships, Dan Dolejs.
Round 4: the upsets continued, with Isabelle Ning overcoming 4th seed John Stark on board 1 to reach 4/4. She was joined by Quentin Johnson after he defeated Dion Wilson on board 2, while Thomas van der Hoorn and Leo Baker halved the point on board 3 to be the only players on 3½ ahead of the chasing pack on 3. Jerome Tao claimed an upset prize for this win over Mat King, as did Michael Bazanov for defeating Hamish Gold.
Round 5: Isabelle Ning moved into the sole lead on 5/5 soon after Quentin Johnson blundered a couple of pawns in a difficult position on board 1. Leo Baker and Ed Rains drew on board 2, while John Stark was beaten by Thomas van der Hoorn on board 3 when the latter's exchange sac resulted in recovering the material plus a strong passed pawn. This left van der Hoorn half a point off the lead on 4½ with Johnson and Baker joined on 4 points by Zachary Yu and Justin Wang, who beat Nadia Braganza and Richard Liu respectively. The upset book prize for the round went to Scott Samuel for his win over Akash Patel.
Round 6: Thomas van der Hoorn and Isabelle Ning drew on board 1 after the position closed, so Ning retained her lead on 5½/6. Joining van der Hoorn on 5 points was Leo Baker, who beat Quentin Johnson on board two after the latter passed up sevral winning chances only to finally blunder a piece, and Justin Wang, who mated Zachary Yu when the latter mistakenly declined his piece sac. Three players closed to within a point of the lead in the next group on 4½: William Liu, who beat Matthew McNabb, Ed Rains, who beat Jerome tao and Cohen Young, who beat Nick Cummings. Richard Liu and Sreenikesh Miriyala won the upset prizes for this round. The former for his win over top seed Mike Steadman, who was not showing his best form this tournament, and the latter for his win over Dan Bell.
Round 7: The board 1 match up of Leo Baker and Isabelle Ning proved once again how difficult rook endgames are, as the result swung between a draw and win for Ning a couple of times. Eventually Ning overlooked a stalemate trap and had to relinquish one of her pawns for a drawn outcome. Tha allowed Thomas van der Hoorn to catch Ning in the lead on 6/7 when his board 2 opponent Justin Wang mistakenly allowed a forced rook swap to a losing bishop ending from a level position. No-one was able to join Baker on 5½, as board 2 Cohen Young - Ed Rains was drawn, and on board 4 Kendrick Zhang defeated William Liu, the only other player starting the rpound on 4½ points. The nine players on 5 points with an outside chnace at a prize going into the final round were Young, Rains, Zhang, Wang, Zachary Yu, Dion Wilson, Richard Liu, Nadia Braganza and Alexander Sun. The upset prize for the round again went to two claimants: Nadia Braganza for her win over Eddie Lee, and to Michael Bazanov for his win over Shoji Fukushima.
Round 8: Isabelle Ning made sure of at least first equal on 7/8 with victory over Cohen Young on board 1 when his weakened kingside allowed transition to a winning ending. Thomas van der Hoorn traded too many pieces to retain any winning chances against Zachary Yu on board 2, and a draw eventuated, meaning Ning was was first alone. The draw proved enough for van der Hoorn to take clear second place on 6½, as Leo Baker couldn't make the most of his wining chances over Dion Wilson in a minor piece endning on board 3 and had to settle for a draw. joining Baker in a tie for third on 6 points were Kendrick Zhang, who beat Nadia Braganza, and Justin Wang, who beat Alexander Sun. Ed Rains' draw with Richard Liu left him out of the prize money on 5½, but this was enough to secure the South Island Championship trophy for 2025 as the highest placed South Islander. Richard Liu's score of 5½ put him first in the U1900 section, with Braganza and Jerome Tao sharing second on 5 points. The U1600 section was won by Michael Bazanov on 4½, with John Gibb, Alf Loretan and Kerry Peng sharing second on 4 points. The final round upset prize went to Rogan-Joe Sloan for his win over Shoji Fukushima.
View 2025 South Island Championship standings, live broadcast
on Lichess and livestream on twitch
Otago Daily Times coverage:
article by Mark John on 25 September,
article by John Lewis on 26 September,
subscriber article on 29 September and the brilliant article by Tyne
Grant in Chess Aotearoa NZ Vol 3 No.4
Blitz Championship 3 – 3 September
The third Blitz tournament was held on 3 September with ten players taking part. Elliot Munro secured first place with 6½/7. Second was Ben Suazo on 6, with Tyne Grant third on 4½ points being the only player to take half a point off Munro. The Christies, Jonno and Jacob (no relation) were 4th= on 4 points, wuth Ryan High on 3½, Alf Loretan on 3½, John Gibb and Kerry Peng on 2 points, and Ross Buckland on 0.
Club Rapid Championship – 27 August
The second leg involved promotions and demotions between grades accoring to the rules, The joint winner of the B Grade in leg 1 Jonno Christie replaced Iain Lamont in the A Grade. A number of players dropping out of leg 2 meant that Ezekiel Stewart and Oliver Lee were promoted to the B Grade, with Ryan High dropping down, and the C and D grades collapsed to a single C grade.
The A grade was not completed as both Ben Suazo and Mathew King were ill on the days they were due to play Quentin Johnson. After al the other games were completed it was clear that Johnson had an unassailable lead and would be Senior champion on 17 aggregate points, even if he lost all his remaining games, these games were left unplayed.
The B Grade was afected by Mark Edwards only completing his games against one opponent. Zeke Stewart won the grade on 3/4 with Hamish Gold 2nd on 2½. This meant these two jointly the Intermediate Championship on an aggregate score of 11 points.
The C Grade was a six-round swiss and Ryan High won easily on 5/6 despite losing to Rogan-Joe Sloan in the final round. Second was shared by Sloan and Brent Southgate on 4 points while 4th= was shared by Terry Duffiled, John Armstrong and Al Loretan on 3. This proved enough for John Armstrong to capture the Junior Championship on an aggregate score of 7 points. The handicaps are derived from the difference in expected score between the average NZCF rating of each grade.
View
combined Crosstable and Rating performances
View
Grade Crosstables
Otago Under 20 (Junior) Championship – 23 August
A good field of 35 players turned out at the Otago Chess Club to contest the 2025 championship - mostly from Dunedin with a large contingent of players from Oamaru. The number of players meant that the number of rounds would be reduced to six in order to stay on schedule. The pre-tournament favourite was defending champion Alexander Sun (18, UOx), though Tyne Grant (17, LPHS), Paul Gudoy (15, Waitaki BHS) and Henry Le (15, Trinity), Naoki Kozakai (17, UO) Tyne Grant (16, LPHS) and Conor Kerr (13, Kings) were among those expected to challenge him.
The seeding, which was mainly based on age groups, lead to many upsets from the first round onwards. Two key results from round 1 involved pre-tournament favourites: Kozakai beat Kerr on board 3 in a well played ending, and Gudoy prevailed over Hilarie Guan (13, Columba), though the significance of this wasn't immediately apparent.
In Round 2 Grant lost to Eddy Li (13, Kings) after accidentally dropping a rook. Meanwhile Hugh Walker (12, JMC) won his second upset against Rundell Pelayo (15, Waitaki BHS) to be on 2/2 among the leaders.
Round 3 thinned out the leaders on 3/3 to just three players: Sean Balbalin (16, Waitaki BHS) beat Li on board 2. He was joined by Walker, who won his third upset against Roshan Ashraf (15, LPHS) on board 4. Gudoy drew with Eshaan Atre (14, LPHS) on board 3, and in the last game to finish, Sun lost on time on board 1 to Le, who had just 2 seconds left on his own clock. This major upset meant that Balbalin, Le and Walker lead on 3/3 at the halfway mark, with Gudoy, Atre and Caleb MacDonald (13, St Kevins) on 2½.
In round 4 Walker stormed to the sole lead on 4/4 after defeating Blabalin on board 1. Le and Gudoy fought out a draw on board 2 leaving Le chasing on 3½, along with Atre, who beat MacDonald on board 3. Lining up in the chasing pack on 3 points Balbalin and Gudoy were Sun, who beat Kerr, Grant, who beat Michael Nguyen (12, DNI), Rundell Pelayo, who beat Haley Guan (14, Columba), L, who beat Scott Samuel (14, OBHS) and Hilarie Guan, who beat Henry Zhong (14, Kings).
Round 5, the penultimate round, saw le beat Walker on board 1 to end his stunning run against the odds and to replace him as sole leder on 4½/5. This was because Sun beat Atre on board 2 to stay on touch on 4 points along with Walker, and Grant who beat Gudoy on board 3, Rundell Pelayo who beat Balbalin on board 4 , and Hilarie Guan, who beat Li on board 5. Joining Atre on 3½ with some chances for a major prize was MacDonald, who beat Ruben Pelayo (16, Waitaki BHS) on board 6. Tomide Adebowale (12, JMC) was not able to join this group, losing to Kozakai.
The 6th and final round saw Sun win quickly over Walker on board to to move to 5/6 and maximise his chances for first. He was joined by Hilarie Guan, after she won her 5th straight game on board 3 over Rundell Pelayo. However, on board 1 it gradually became apparent that Henry Le was winnig his game against Tyne Grant, and he duly did so to secure clear first place and the JJ Marlow trophy for 5½/6. Alexander Sun and Hilarie Guan shared second place on 5 points, with Hilarie also picking up the Best Female prize. Both Eshaan Atre and Caleb MacDonald won, over Balbalin and Thisun Kuruppuarachchi (14, OBHS) respectively, to tie for 4th equal overall on 4½ and share the U16 first and second prizes. Hugh Walker's total of 4 points guaranteed him a share of the U13 prize, along with Michale Nguyen, who beat Samuel in the final round to catch him on 4 points. The Best Team prize was shared on 11/18 points by the Waitaki Boys' HS 1 (Paul Gudoy, Rundell Pelayo and Sean Balbalin) and Logan Park (Eshaan Atre, Tyne Grant and Roshan Ashraf) Teams. The Columba Team (Hilarie Guan, Alexa Choie and Haley Guan) were only a fraction behind on 10½.
View crosstable and team standings
Otago/Southland Under 13 Championship – 9 August
30 players turned out from Oamaru, Queenstown, Invercargill, and Dunedin at the Otago Chess Club to compete in this year's championship. Seedings were based mainly on ages but in a field of young players it is experience that counts. Players expected to do well were Samantha Coleman (12, SGHS) , Michael Nguyen (12, DNI), Hugh Walker (12, JMC), Tomide Adebowale (12, JMC), Artus Pointe (12, DNI) Alex Lai (11, Balm) and Okitha Babaranda (9, Salf).
In round 1 Okitha Babaranda beat the higher seeded Chuli Yan (12, JMC) but this was not unexpected. Angus Slabbert (10, GSNS) also beat teh higher seeded Paul Bertoli (12, Trin).
In round 2 there were no unexpected results, with Okitha Babaranda again winning against a higher seed, this time over Eamon Henderson (12, Trin).
Round 3 saw Hugh Walker defeat Alex Lai with a fine rook sacrifice to force mate. Joining Walker on 3/3 were Samantha Coleman, who beat Artus Pointe, Tomide Adebowale, who beat Michael Nguyen, and Okitha Babaranda who beat Henry Spijkerbosch (11, QTP). these four were a point clear of the field.
In round 4 Tomide Adebowale beat Samantha Coleman to move to 4/4. He was joined by Okitha Babaranda, who beat Hugh Walker. A group of seven chasers on 3/4 formed behind these two.
Round 5 was a close battle on board 1. Eventually in a game of mutual chances Okitha Babaranda beat Tomide Adebowale to take the sole lead on 5/5. Joining Tomide on 4/5 were Samantha Coleman, who beat Paul Bertoli, Michael Nguyen, who beat Matvei Gordon (9, Maori Hill), Artus Pointe, who beat Hugh Walker, and Alex Lai, who beat Olivia Ma (10, Columba).
The sixth and penultimate round saw Okitha Babaranda beat Michael Nguyen to move to 6/6 and at least a share of first place. Artus Pointe kept his hopes alive by beating Tomide Adebowale to stay in touch on 5/6. However Samantha Coleman overstepped the time limit before being able to mate Alex Lai after determined resistence, so a draw resulted as Alex lack mating material. Apart from Babaranda, the leading contenders in the u11 section were Angus Slabbert, Alexander Christie (10, St Clair) and Jonas Robertson (10, Kaikorai Prim), all on 4/6.
The final round saw Okitha Babaranda beat Artus Pointe to win the event on 7/7. Samantha Coleman beat Michael Nguyen to take sole second place on 5½ and the best girl prize. Tomide Adebowale beat Alex Lai to join Artus Pointe on 5/7 and share third prize. Also on 5/7 was Angus Slabbert, who beat Alexander Christie, but with Babaranda taking 1st prise, Slabbert was awarded the U11 section first prize. Second equal U11 on 4 points were Alexander Christie, Jonas Robertson and Frederik Osborne (10, St Clair). The team prizes went to the John McGlashan team of Tomide Adebowale, Hugh Walker and Chuli Yan for the U13 on a combined 12½ points and to the George St team of Angus Slabbert, Max Yao and Muaaz Bin Asrar for the U11 on a combined total of 12 points.
View crosstable and Team standings
Swiss Rapid – 6 August
The Swiss Rapid went back to a swiss format this year after experimenting with an arena format last year. Even with only four rounds and 17 players there was one very decisive winner: third seed Elliot Munro scored 4/4 to win a point clear of the field. Tied for second Ian Lamont and Hamish Gold on 3 points, while 4th was shared by Ryan High, Leighton Elliot and Quentin Johnson on 2½/4. The biggest rating gainers were High, Leighton and Terry Duffield, who scored an upsate victory over Johnson in round 1.
View Crosstable and Rating performances
Cleland Trophy – 24 July
The Cleland Trophy had a good turnout of 24 players. A few games from theRapid Championship were finished during teh first roudn so some players took half point byes. The The early leaders on 2½/3 were Iain lamont, Ben Suazo, Tyne Grant and Mat King, the first two having drawn their third round game while the other two had taken a half point bye at some stage. In round 4 Lamonth beat Grant and Suazo beat King to leave Lamont and Suazo sharing the lead on 3½/4, apoint ahead of the trailing pack of King, Grant, Terry Duffield, Quentin Johnson and Jonno Christie, the latter two having drawn their game. In round 5 Lamont beat Duffield to move to 4½/5. Johnson beat Suazo and Christie beat Grant to stay in touch with Suazo on 3½, whiel king had a second half point bye. The final round saw Suazo beat Christie to catch Lamont brielfy until Johnspon-Lamont ended in a draw. Thus Iain Lamnot took the trophy for 2025 with an unbeated 5/6, with Benedict Suazo second on 4½. Johnson finished tied for third with King on 4 points, after the latter defeated Hamish Gold. Jonno Chritie sharing 4th bagged a lot of rating points, as Did David Reid.
View Crosstable and Rating performances
Club Rapid Championship - 18 June
21 players contested the first leg of the club rapid championship for 2025. The grades were set using the NZCF Rapid ratings under the rules.
The A grade regulars, Quentin Johnson and Ben Suazo, were outseeded by Iain Lamont and Mathew King, making for a very strong grade. Johnson benefitted from a number of errors on the part of his opponents to win the grade convincingly on 5½/6 ahead of SUazo and King on 2½ and Lamont 4th on 1½ points.
The B Grade was was incredibly close between the top three placegetters, Jonno Christie and Tony Chiwuzoh on 4/6 1st=, and Hamish Gold on 3½/6 3rd, who all won and lost a game to each other. The final placings were decided by their results against the Ryan High, 4th on ½/6, who had a rough tournament.
The C Grade was was won by Oliver Lee on 5/6, with Tyne Grant second on 4/6 and Terry Duffield 3rd on 3/6. Fu Qiang Sun played two games and defaulted the rest to finish on 0/6.
The D Grade was a six-round swiss, and first went to returning member Ezekiel Stewart on 6/6. He has clearly put in work since over the break, making his rating of 1431 somewhat out of date. Second went to John Armstrong on 4/6 and third to Brent Southgate on 3/6. New member Eddy Li scored a creditable 2½/6 for 4th.
In the combined cross table below the inter-grade handicaps of 5%frac12;, 3, and 1½ points have been added to the A, B, and C grades, showing the overall standings after the first leg. The handicaps are derived from the difference in expected score between the average NZCF rating of each grade.
View
combined Crosstable and Rating performances
View
Grade Crosstables
Blitz Championship 2 – 11 June
On 11 June the second Blitz event for the Blair Freeman Trophy was held with 8 players and a time limit of Bronstein 5 mins plus 3 seconds delay per move. The tournament was jointly won by Alex Nedyhalov on 5½/6, who dropped only half a point to Tony Chiwuzoh. Mark Edwards was second on 5 points and Chiwuzoh was third on 3½. Johnson won their individual game but conceded draws to Alexander Sun and Alf Loretan, while Duffield won all his other games. New member Eddy Li did well to finish 4th= with Tyne Grant on 3 points in his first blitz event.
Otago Secondary Interschool Teams Championship 2025 – 24 May
A good turnout of 15 teams from nine schools played for the twentieth annual
Otago/Southland Secondary Interschool Teams' Championship on Saturday
24 May in the Logan Park High School Library.
See
Otago Daily Times photo and video.
Match Points with Game Points as a tie-break meant once again that the result was in contention right to the last round. Only three teams won their first two matches: top seed Logan Park A, 2nd seed Kings HS A and 4th seed OBHS A. Third seed Trinity College were once again upset in round 1 by Logan Park B holding them to a 2-2 draw.
In round 3 Logan Park A and Kings HS A squared off, with a 3-1 victory to Logan Park A. OBHS A shared the lead on 3/3 after a narrow 2½-1½ win over Trinity. That the next team were Logan Park B on 2½ showed the strength in depth of the hosts.
In round 4 The top two teams met, with again a 3-1 win to Logan Park A over OBHS A giving them the outright lead on 4/4 for the first time. Kings A comfortably defeated Logan Park C 4-0 to join OBHS A in the chasing pack on 3 points, along with Logan Park B, who were held 2-2 by OBHS B.
In round 5 the Logan Park A and Logan Park B reversed their result of the previous year, this time Logan Park A were the victors 3-1 to move to 5/5. In the battle of the chasers, OBHS A narrowly prevailed over Kings A 2½-1½ to be the only team still within 1 point of the leaders. Behind them on 3 points were a large group contending for the minor places: Kings A, John McGlashan, Wakatipu A, Logan Park B, Trinity, and Logan Park C.
The sixth round was made the final round, due to slippage of the playing schedule. Logan Park A with a 4-0 sweep against Logan Park C made sure of overall victory on 6/6 match points (and 20 game points). OBHS A in a tough final round held a 2-2 draw gainst Logan park B to secure second place on 4½ match points (14 gp). Kings HS A were the only team on 3 points to win, defeating Trinty 3½-½ to take clear third place on 4 match points (and 17½ gp), as John McGlashan and Wakatipu A drew 2-2 to finish on 3½, along with Kings B and Logan Park B.
Leading individual scorers were Board 1: Ramon Quennell (Logan Park B) & Eddy Li (Kings B)
5/6, Ruairi Gillon (John McGlashan) & Jacob Christie (pushthepawndude) 4½/6;
Board 2: Eshaan Atre (Logan Park A) 6/6, Joseph Kelly (Trinity) & Aidan Dixon (Logan Park B)
4½/6;
Board 3: Oliver Lee (Kings A) 5½/6, Jeremy Frei (OBHS B) 5/6, Noah Wilson (OBHS A) 4½/6;
Board 4: Geordie Stephenson (Logan Park A), Henry Zhong (Kings A) & Randika Dassamayake (OBHS B)
5/6.
Thank you to Logan Park High School and John Major for once again providing the excellent venue.
View
crosstable
View
full scores with game points
Otago Primary and Intermediate Interschool Teams Championship 2025 - 17 May
13 teams from 11 schools played for the twenty-first annual Otago Primary and Intermediate Interschool Teams' Championships at Trinity College Library. The eight Intermediate and five Primary teams competed in a single tournament with separate prize sections.
There was no clear favourites in the Intermediate section, as Balmacewen were taking part again this year, and defending champions Oamaru Int had a significantly changed line-up compared to their team in 2024. George Street was clear favourite in the Primary. The first round had no upsets. But the second round saw a 2-2 draw between Oamaru and Balmacewen A, where the result was affected by a penalty for breaking the playing rules on talking to teammates during the play - this proved significant to the final standings. John McGlashan and DNI were the only teams on full points after 2 rounds, so played each other in round 3, witha 4-0 sweep to John McGlashan. They lead on 3 match points from Balmacewen A and Oamaru on 2½, with George St leading the Primary section on 1½ after defeating St Clair 4-0 in round 3. In round 4 John McGlashan were held 2-2 by Balmacewen A, while DNI gained ground by beating Oamaru, as did James Hargest, beating Balmacewen B. George St held the Primary lead with a 3½-½ win over Trinity. Round 5 saw John McGlashan held to a nother 2-2 draw, this time by Oamaru. This allowed Balmacewen A to catch them in the lead on 4/5 match points with a narrow 2½-1½ vistory over DNI. James Hargest was next on 3½ after drawing 2-2 with George St, who kept the Primary lead on 3 points, ahead on St Clair on 2½ after they drew 2-2 with Kaikorai. Round 6 saw the top four teams assert themselves, having played each other already: John McGlashan beat Balmacewen B 4-0 to move to 5 points. Balmacewen A kept with them beating James Hargest 3½-½. DNI beat Trinity 3-1 to move to 4 points, as did Oamaru, beating George St 3-1. This last result saw St Clair take over the lead in the Primary section, moving to 3½ match points after receiving the bye. The final round saw John McGlashan win the Intermediate trophy on 6 match points (23½ game points) with a 4-0 sweep of Trinity B. Balmacewen A defeated St Clair, also 4-0, but had to be content with second place on 6 match points (22 gp). The battle for third was even closer, with Oamaru beating James Hargest 3-1 to clinch it on 5 match points (18½ gp) , as DNI's 3-1 win over George St left them 4th on 5 match points (18 gp).That meant St Clair took the Primary section on 3½ match points (11 gp) and George St were 2nd in the Primary section on 3 match points (14 gp).
View
Primary and Intermediate crosstable
View
Primary and Intermediate Full Crosstable with individual scores
Leading Intermediate individual scorers were Board 1: Fynn Still (Oamaru) 6/7, Michael Nguyen
(DNI) & Anderson Scott (Balmacewen A) 5½/7;
Board 2: Tomide Adebowale (John McGlashan) 7/7, Artus Pointe (DNI) 5½/7, Luka Faria (Oamaru)
5/7;
Board 3: Hugh Walker (John McGlashan) 7/7, Alex Lai (Balmacewen A) 5½/7, Santiago Fernandez Perez
(DNI), Dan Dias (James Hargest) & Arav Bankoti (Balmacewen B) 5/7;
Board 4: Oliver Chisnall (Balmacewen A) 6½/7, Liam Tamayo (Oamaru) 6/7, Ray Zhang (John McGlashan)
& Matthew Suwanarusk (Trinity College A) 4½/7.
Leading Primary individual scorers were Board 1: Jonas Robertson (St Clair) 6/7, Max Yao
(George St),
Alexander Christie (St Clair) & Oscar Coffey (Macandrew Bay) 3/7;
Board 2: Angus Slabbert (George St) 4/7, Freddie Osborne (St Clair) 3½/7, Aiden Kim (Arthur St)
3½/7;
Board 3: Louis Duffy (Arthur St) 3/7, Muhammad Hadeed Khizar (George St), Sean van Voornveld
(Macandrew Bay A) & Liam Miller (Kaikorai) 2½/7;
Board 4: Jaime Bauchop (Arthur St*) 5/7, Muaaz Bin Asrar (George St) & Anne Bertolli (Macandrew Bay) 4½/7.
Thanks again to Daniel Kelly and Trinity College for providing the great venue.
Graham Haase Memorial - 14 May
The Graham Haase Memorial 2025 chess tournament had a great turnout with 26 players taking part. The tournament was closely contested, with 5th seed Elliot Munro the only player to win his first three games to lead outright, ahead of Iain Lamont, Quentin Johnson and Mark Edwards all on 2½. In round 4 Munro drew with Edwards in round 4, not quite converting a winning ending, while Johnson-Lamont was also an eventful draw of many missed opportunities on both sides. So Elliot held the lead going into the final round, with the chasing pack on 3 point expanded to include Tyne Grant and Oliver Lee. The final round saw Lamont defeat Grant to finish on 4 points. Edwards did not take part and Lee lost to Ryan High, so the final game to finish Munro-Johnson, would decide the placings. In the end Quentin Johnson prevailed in a complicated rook ending to join Iain Lamont in first equal on 4/5. Sharing third on 3½ were Elliot Munro, Ryan High and Zeke Stewart. But the biggest rating gains were made by the group on 3 points: Tyne Grant, Bob Clarkson, Mark Edwards, Oliver Lee and Terry Duffield.
View Crosstable and Rating performances
Club Championship – 9 April
The first leg of the 2025 Club Championship is complete save for a couple of games in the A Grade that will either be completed or defaulted.
Top seed Quentin Johnson secured first place in the A Grade with 4½/5. His only draw was to Elliot Munro, who finished second on an unbeaten 3½/5. At this stage past champion Benedict Suazo is next on 2½/5, though he coudl be matched or overtaken depending on the last two results.
The B Grade tournament was won convincingly by Zeke Stewart on 4½/5, beating his main rival Oscar Lobb in the final round. Lobb finished second on 3 points, with Ryan High third on 2½. Tyne Grant was next on 2 points, and Jonno Christie and Hamish Gold shared fifth place on 1½.
The C Grade resulted in a 4-way tie for first on 4/6 between Terry Duffield, Alexander Sun, Alf Loretan and Bob Clarkson, after Sun entered the championship late while home in Dunedin temporarily from Oxford. New member Eddy Li had a strong showing, tying for fifth with John Armstrong on 3½.
The rules 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 fair terms. 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
Autumn Rapid Open - 2 March
The Autumn Rapid Open drew a small field by recent standards of 18, with players coming
from Dunedin and Invercargill. The field was pretty strong with anyone in the top half having a
reasonable chance to win. There were two prize grades: Open and U1700. Results went according
to seeding in the first round though Elliot Munro vs Tony Chiwuzoh seemed a tough first round
match-up due to Chiwuzoh's rapid rating lagging his strength a bit.
Round 2 saw the first upsets, with Richie Christie beating top seed Iain Lamont on board
one, Qi-Le Kong-Lim and Quentin Johnson drawing on board 2, Mark Edwards beating Ashwin
Gogate on board 3 and Gary McLean scoring a win over Daniel Bell.
Round Three saw Munro and Richie Christie sharing the lead on 3/3/ after wins over
Edwards and Jonno Christie (no relation) respectively. Johnson and Kong-Lim kept up
on 2½, beating lamonth and Ashwin respectively.
Round 4 saw Richie Christie take the sole lead on 4/4 by beating Munro on board 1. Kong-Lim
won against Edwards to stay half a point behind, but Johnson's challenge was ended by a loss
to Pratik Jadhav. joining Munro and Jadhav in the group on 3 points were Chiwuzoh, who beat
Samson Kazakov, and Jonno Christie who beat Andrew Khytko.
In round 5 Richie Christie secured at least a share of first place by chalking up a win over
Kong-Lim to move to 5/5. Munro and Chiwuzoh stayed wthin range on 4 points, beating Jonno
Christie and Jadhav respectively.
In the final round Richie Christie capped off a great tournament by beating Chiwuzoh on
board 1 to finish first on 6/6. The board 2 game Kong-Lim - Munro was eventially drawn,
which assured Munro of sole secong place on 4½. There was no third prize, though
this position was shared by Kong-Lim, Chiwuzoh, Jadhav and Edwards on 4 points, with Chiwuzoh
taking 1st in the U1700 grade. Second in the grade was Jonno Christie on 3½ after
holdiong on to draw his final game against Johnson.
Allan Chang Memorial – 26 February
The Allan Chang 10 minute hourglass tournament had a turnout of 29 participants over the two weeks. The trophy goes to the largest upset (based on club rapid rating difference January 2025). The unusual time limit can encourage reckless play and plenty of upsets.
Tony Chuwizoh won the trophy this year by recording the biggest upset on the first night with a win over Quentin Johnson (difference 281 club rapid rating points). Mark Edwards won all seven of his games to record the biggest point tally and leads the perpertual rapid on +55on the back of his performance. Johnson scored 6/7 and Chiwuzoh 5/7.
View Crosstable and Rating performances
2025 Otago chess club AGM – 12 February
Alf Loretan was re-elected as the President.
Geoff Aimers stayed on as Vice-President. Brent Southgate was voted to stay on as Secretary.
Iain Lamont was elected Treasurer, and Quentin Johnson took on the role of Financial Reviewer
and stayed on as Director of Junior Play.
Bob Glass remained as Patron. Terry Duffield, Tyne Grant, Ryan High, Tony Chiwuzoh and Mark
Edwards were elected as committee members.
2025 Subscriptions were left the same as 2024: Ordinary $135, Unwaged $115 and Junior $70.
Subs are now due and can be paid to the Otago Chess Club (Inc), Westpac A/C 03-0905-0169820-00.
The 2025 committee comprises:
President: Alf Loretan; Vice President: Geoff Aimers; Secretary: Brent Southgate; Treasurer: Iain Lamont; Director of Junior Play: Quentin Johnson; Past-President: Terry Duffield; Club Captain: (outside Committee - TBC); Committee members: Tyne Grant, Ryan High, Tony Chiwuzoh and Mark Edwards; Financial Reviewer: Quentin Johnson; Patron: Bob Glass.
Amendment were made to the club constitution to bring it in to line with the new act governing incorporated societies, in preparation for reregistering under the new act in 2026.
Blair Freeman Blitz 1 - 5 February
The first Blitz tournament for the 2025 Blair Freeman trophy took place on 5 February and had a turnout of 17 players. Leo Malcolm won easily with a round to spare on 6/7, losing only in the final round once first was guaranted. Quentin Johnson was second on 5½, drawing with Oscar Lobb and losing to Ryan High. Third was shared by Tony Chiwuzoh and Smuel Mitchell on 5 points.
View the final crosstable.
President vs Vice President - 25 January
The opening event for 2025 was the traditional President vs Vice President match on 29 January. This year Alf Loretan's President's team narrowly defeated Geoff Aimers' Vice President's team 4-3.