KIWI CHESS

Queenstown Chess Classic 2012

2012-01-24T19:34:00.000-08:00

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

Rk. Name FED Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3

1 GM Johansen Darryl K AUS 2403 7.5 0.0 7 4 Claims trophy on tie break

2 GM Li Chao B CHN 2693 7.5 0.0 6 5

3 GM Zhao Jun CHN 2569 7.5 0.0 6 4

4 IM Akshat Khamparia IND 2414 7.0 0.0 6 5

5 GM Rozentalis Eduardas LTU 2592 7.0 0.0 6 4

6 Tao Trevor AUS 2422 7.0 0.0 6 4

7 GM Hansen Sune Berg DEN 2572 7.0 0.0 5 4

8 GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar IND 2639 7.0 0.0 5 4

9 GM Bojkov Dejan BUL 2553 6.5 0.0 6 5

10 FM Ikeda Junta AUS 2349 6.5 0.0 6 5

11 Bird Andrew AUS 2216 6.5 0.0 6 5

12 FM Steadman Michael NZL 2258 6.5 0.0 6 5 New Zealand Champion

13 WGM Sukandar Irine Kharisma INA 2325 6.5 0.0 6 4

14 Dragicevic Domagoj AUS 2277 6.5 0.0 6 4

15 FM Illingworth Max AUS 2388 6.5 0.0 5 5

16 FM Cheng Bobby AUS 2375 6.0 0.0 6 5

17 FM Smith Robert W NZL 2273 6.0 0.0 6 5

18 Zelesco Karl AUS 1990 6.0 0.0 6 4

19 FM Stojic Dusan AUS 2294 6.0 0.0 6 4

20 GM Bischoff Klaus GER 2537 6.0 0.0 5 5

21 IM Dive Russell John NZL 2345 6.0 0.0 5 5

22 IM Morris James AUS 2354 6.0 0.0 5 4

23 GM Zhao Xue CHN 2551 6.0 0.0 5 4

24 GM Jones Gawain C B ENG 2653 6.0 0.0 5 4

25 IM Solomon Stephen J AUS 2375 6.0 0.0 5 4

26 IM Ly Moulthun AUS 2376 6.0 0.0 4 5

27 IM West Guy AUS 2323 6.0 0.0 4 4

28 IM Garbett Paul Anthony NZL 2290 5.5 0.0 5 5

29 IM Van Riemsdijk Herman C BRA 2401 5.5 0.0 5 5

30 WGM Nadig Kruttika IND 2234 5.5 0.0 5 5

31 GM Haznedaroglu Kivanc TUR 2455 5.5 0.0 5 5

32 Pyke Malcolm AUS 2132 5.5 0.0 5 5

33 FM Hartvig Ove Weiss DEN 2210 5.5 0.0 5 5

34 Tang Jason AUS 2030 5.5 0.0 5 5

35 FM Wallis Christopher AUS 2259 5.5 0.0 5 4

36 IM Xie George Wendi AUS 2459 5.5 0.0 5 4

37 WGM Gu Xiaobing CHN 2244 5.5 0.0 5 4

38 Drummond Matthew AUS 2227 5.5 0.0 5 4

39 Schon Eugene AUS 2188 5.5 0.0 5 4

40 Matheson Laurence AUS 2167 5.5 0.0 4 5

41 Li Zuhao Luke NZL 2165 5.5 0.0 4 4

42 Dordevic Ivan NZL 2060 5.0 0.0 5 5

43 FM Lukey Stephen G NZL 2261 5.0 0.0 5 5

44 Bennett Hilton NZL 1965 5.0 0.0 5 5

45 Chen Pengyu AUS 2056 5.0 0.0 5 4

46 Pinic Noel NZL 2066 5.0 0.0 5 4

47 Dale Ari AUS 1994 5.0 0.0 5 4

48 Liu Yi AUS 2072 5.0 0.0 5 4

49 Shen Daniel NZL 2182 5.0 0.0 5 4

50 IM Brown Andrew AUS 2215 5.0 0.0 4 5

51 Repplinger Marc GER 2241 5.0 0.0 4 5

52 WIM Lauterbach Ingrid ENG 2053 5.0 0.0 4 5

53 Kempen Leon AUS 1999 5.0 0.0 4 5

54 Burns Christopher John NZL 2022 5.0 0.0 4 5

55 Koerber Matthias GER 1916 5.0 0.0 4 4

56 Goodhue Nathan NZL 1945 5.0 0.0 4 4

57 FM Jones Brian AUS 2092 5.0 0.0 4 4

58 Setiabudi Allen AUS 1966 5.0 0.0 4 4

59 Ansell Alan NZL 2079 5.0 0.0 3 4

60 FM Reilly Tim AUS 2266 5.0 0.0 3 4

61 Armstrong Malcolm J ENG 2016 5.0 0.0 3 4

62 WFM Milligan Helen NZL 1979 4.5 0.0 4 5

63 WIM Guo Emma AUS 2010 4.5 0.0 4 5

64 King Mathew NZL 1961 4.5 0.0 4 5

65 Fuatai Fuatai NZL 2031 4.5 0.0 4 5

66 Lovejoy David AUS 1939 4.5 0.0 4 5

67 Mitchell Robert NZL 1672 4.5 0.0 4 5

68 Safarian Alek AUS 2036 4.5 0.0 4 4

69 Machdoem Andhika NZL 2129 4.5 0.0 4 4

70 Fairbairn Stephen CAN 2052 4.5 0.0 4 4

71 IM Ker Anthony F NZL 2359 4.5 0.0 4 4

72 Johnson Quentin J F NZL 2127 4.5 0.0 4 4

73 Lester George E AUS 2008 4.5 0.0 4 4

74 Benson Christopher NZL 1924 4.5 0.0 4 4

75 Li William Xiang Wei NZL 1672 4.5 0.0 3 5

76 WIM Maroroa Sue NZL 2020 4.5 0.0 3 5

77 Selnes Hamish AUS 1904 4.5 0.0 3 5

78 Cekulis Maris AUS 1640 4.5 0.0 3 5

79 Duneas John NZL 2087 4.5 0.0 3 4

80 WGM Smokina Karolina MDA 2167 4.5 0.0 3 4

81 Stuart Peter NZL 1991 4.5 0.0 3 4

82 Holland Dennis AUS 1958 4.5 0.0 3 4

83 Simmonds Leteisha AUS 1643 4.5 0.0 3 4

84 Louie Ryan AUS 1677 4.5 0.0 3 3

85 Ilic Ilija AUS 2010 4.5 0.0 3 3

86 Gao Hans NZL 1924 4.5 0.0 2 5

87 Mcdonald John NZL 2068 4.0 0.0 4 5

88 Tsagarakis Angelo AUS 1883 4.0 0.0 4 5

89 Seabrook Roy NZL 1873 4.0 0.0 4 4

90 Voon Richard AUS 1933 4.0 0.0 4 4

91 Zhang William Jie Wen NZL 1849 4.0 0.0 4 4

92 Watharow Sean AUS 1929 4.0 0.0 3 5

93 Rains Edward NZL 1872 4.0 0.0 3 5

94 Zhang Leo NZL 1587 4.0 0.0 3 5

95 Hughes Jack AUS 1351 4.0 0.0 3 5

96 WFM Tsoi Nicole NZL 1715 4.0 0.0 3 4

97 Guo Jamie-Lee AUS 1379 4.0 0.0 3 4

98 Davies Geoff NZL 1943 4.0 0.0 3 4

99 Vuglar Shanon AUS 1581 4.0 0.0 3 4

100 Brown Kevin M AUS 1728 4.0 0.0 2 5

101 Flitney Adrian AUS 1959 4.0 0.0 2 4

102 WIM Andersson Christin SWE 2123 4.0 0.0 2 4

103 Holt Kenneth AUS 1914 4.0 0.0 2 4

104 Forster William NZL 1910 4.0 0.0 2 4

105 WFM Setiabudi Megan AUS 1755 4.0 0.0 2 4

106 Jackson L Ross NZL 1947 3.5 0.0 3 5

107 Clarkson Robert NZL 1529 3.5 0.0 3 5

108 Ayaz Hacer TUR 1846 3.5 0.0 3 5

109 Nijman Arie J NZL 1834 3.5 0.0 3 5

110 Tionko Efrain AUS 1865 3.5 0.0 3 4

111 Lim Kian Hwa MAS 1922 3.5 0.0 3 4

112 Press Harry AUS 1884 3.5 0.0 3 4

113 Yao Winston Yow-Jen NZL 1807 3.5 0.0 3 4

114 Judkins Gary NZL 1619 3.5 0.0 3 4

115 WFM Smith Vivian J NZL 1752 3.5 0.0 3 4

116 Rains Timothy NZL 1737 3.5 0.0 3 4

117 Gold Hamish NZL 1830 3.5 0.0 3 4

118 Booth Anthony NZL 1834 3.5 0.0 3 4

119 Holdaway Stewart NZL 1746 3.5 0.0 2 5

120 Ang Alphaeus Wei Ern NZL 1643 3.5 0.0 2 5

121 Liu Brian NZL 1825 3.5 0.0 2 5

122 Aldridge Alan L NZL 1945 3.5 0.0 2 5

123 Millikan Erlend USA 1760 3.5 0.0 2 4

124 WFM Fairley Natasha NZL 1798 3.5 0.0 1 4

125 Davis Justin NZL 1985 3.0 0.0 3 5

126 Renzies Elliott AUS 1668 3.0 0.0 3 5

127 Cooper Nigel NZL 1802 3.0 0.0 3 4

128 Shierlaw Hamish NZL 1495 3.0 0.0 2 5

129 Kay Bruce NZL 1823 3.0 0.0 2 5

130 Nicholls Leighton NZL 1618 3.0 0.0 2 4

131 Pieri Enzo ITA 1771 3.0 0.0 2 4

132 Watson Jean AUS 1571 3.0 0.0 1 4

133 Stromer Kurt NZL 1640 2.5 0.0 2 5

134 Brockway Andrew NZL 1848 2.5 0.0 2 5

135 Janisz Andrew NZL 1989 2.5 0.0 2 5

136 Gloistein Bruce H NZL 1787 2.5 0.0 2 5

137 Beckman John AUS 1719 2.5 0.0 2 5

138 Dong Olivia NZL 1114 2.5 0.0 2 5

139 Yeten Huseyin CYP 1781 2.5 0.0 2 4

140 Brockman Roland AUS 1703 2.5 0.0 1 5

141 Roura Federico NZL 1850 2.5 0.0 1 5

142 Louie Jared AUS 1230 2.5 0.0 1 4

143 Frater Dylan NZL 0 2.0 0.0 2 5

144 Her Seong-June NZL 1385 2.0 0.0 2 5

145 Clayton Ben NZL 0 2.0 0.0 1 4

146 Marks Joe AUS 1221 1.5 0.0 1 5

147 Capper David NZL 1802 1.5 0.0 1 4

148 van Rooyen Carlssen NZL 1003 0.5 0.0 0 4

2012 Australian Championship

2012-01-07T22:49:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to GM Darryl Johansen on winning the Aussie Champs in great style.

Final Standings

Rk. Name FED Rtg Pts.
1 GM Johansen Darryl K AUS 2403 8.5
2 GM Zhao Zong-Yuan AUS 2564 7.5
3 IM Smirnov Vladimir RUS 2401 7.5
4 IM Xie George Wendi AUS 2440 7.5
5 IM Solomon Stephen J AUS 2384 7.5
6 IM Ly Moulthun AUS 2376 6.5
7 IM Wohl Aleksandar H AUS 2404 6.5
8 FM Ikeda Junta AUS 2349 6.5 67.0
9 FM Khamparia Akshat IND 2414 6.0
10 Dragicevic Domagoj AUS 2247 6.0
11 Tan Justin AUS 2160 6.0
12 IM Morris James AUS 2364 5.5
13 FM Stojic Dusan AUS 2287 5.5
14 FM Cheng Bobby AUS 2345 5.5
15 Smirnov Anton AUS 2063 5.5
16 Liu Yi AUS 2039 5.5
17 FM Wallis Christopher AUS 2268 5.5
18 FM Jordan William AUS 2267 5.5
19 McClymont Brodie AUS 2049 5.0
20 FM Nakauchi Gene AUS 2116 5.0
21 Muller Jonas AUS 2023 5.0
22 FM Illingworth Max AUS 2401 4.5
23 FM Steadman Michael NZL 2269 4.5
24 Bird Andrew AUS 2216 4.5
25 Zulfic Fedja AUS 2087 4.5
26 Tang Jason AUS 2008 4.0
27 Zelesco Karl AUS 1976 4.0
28 Matheson Laurence AUS 2126 3.5
29 Ferozkohi Ihsan GER 2125 3.5
30 Chen Pengyu AUS 2094 2.5

2012 Queenstown Chess Classic

2011-12-31T14:37:00.000-08:00

A strong Palmy Club contingent is heading to Queenstown where their will be more Grandmasters in New Zealand than has been seen in many years.

2012 Queenstown Chess Classic,

Queenstown,
New Zealand
15th-23rd January 2012
Incorporating the official NZCF 119th NEW ZEALAND CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS
A cash prizefund of NZ $30,000 is guaranteed

Complete info here

Entries so far (January 2012 FIDE ratings; italic are NZCF national ratings):

1 2693 GM Li Chao (CHN)

2 2653 GM Gawain Jones (ENG)

3 2639 GM Surya Ganguly (IND)

4 2592 GM Eduardas Rozentalis (LTU)

5 2572 GM Sune Berg Hansen (DEN)

6 2569 GM Zhao Jun (CHN)

7 2553 GM Dejan Bojkov (BUL)

8 2551 GM Zhao Xue (CHN)

9 2537 GM Klaus Bischoff (GER)

10 2459 IM George Xie (AUS)

11 2455 GM Kivanc Haznedaroglu (TUR)

12 2422 Trevor Tao (AUS)

13 2414 IM Akshat Khamparia (IND)

14 2403 GM Darryl Johansen (AUS)

15 2401 IM Herman Van Riemsdijk (BRA)

16 2388 FM Max Illingworth (AUS)

17 2376 IM Moulthun Ly (AUS)

18 2375 IM Stephen Solomon (AUS)

19 2375 FM Bobby Cheng (AUS)

20 2359 IM Anthony Ker (NZL) NZ Champion

21 2354 IM James Morris (AUS)

22 2349 FM Junta Ikeda (AUS)

23 2345 IM Russell Dive (NZL)

24 2325 wgm Irene Sukandar (INA)

25 2323 IM Guy West (AUS)

26 2294 FM Dusan Stojic (AUS)

27 2290 IM Paul Garbett (NZL)

28 2277 Domagoj Dragicevic (AUS)

29 2273 FM Bob Smith (NZL)

30 2266 FM Tim Reilly (AUS)

31 2261 FM Stephen Lukey (NZL)

32 2259 FM Chris Wallis (AUS)

33 2258 FM Mike Steadman (NZL)

34 2244 wgm Xiaobing Vivian Gu (CHN)

35 2241 Marc Repplinger (GER)

36 2234 wgm Kruttika Nadig (IND)

37 2216 Andrew Bird (AUS)

38 2215 IM Andrew Brown (AUS)

39 2210 FM Ove Hartvig (DEN)

40 2188 Eugene Schon (AUS)

41 2182 Daniel Shen (NZL)

42 2167 wgm Karolina Smokina (MDA)

43 2167 Laurence Matheson (AUS)

44 2167 Yi Liu (AUS)

45 2165 Luke Li (NZL)

46 2132 Malcolm Pyke (AUS)

47 2129 Andy Machdoem (NZL)

48 2127 Quentin Johnson (NZL)

49 2123 wim Christin Andersson (SWE)

50 2092 FM Brian Jones (AUS)

51 2087 John Duneas (NZL)

52 2079 Alan Ansell (NZL)

53 2068 John McDonald (NZL)

54 2066 Noel Pinic (NZL)

55 2060 Ivan Dordevic (NZL)

56 2056 Pengyu Chen (AUS)

57 2053 wim Ingrid Lauterbach (ENG)

58 2052 Stephen Fairbairn (CAN)

59 2036 Alek Safarian (AUS)

60 2031 Fuatai Fuatai (NZL)

61 2030 Jason Tang (AUS)

62 2022 Chris Burns (NZL)

63 2020 wim Sue Maroroa (NZL)

64 2016 Malcolm Armstrong (ENG)

65 2010 wim Emma Guo (AUS)

66 2008 George Lester (AUS)

67 1999 Leon Kempen (AUS)

68 1994 Ari Dale (AUS)

69 1991 Peter Stuart (NZL)

70 1990 Karl Zelesco (AUS) 71 1989 Andrew Janisz (NZL)

72 1985 Justin Davis (NZL)

73 1979 wfm Helen Milligan (NZL)

74 1965 Hilton Bennett (NZL)

75 1961 Mathew King (NZL)

76 1959 Adrian Flitney (AUS)

77 1958 Dennis Holland (AUS)

78 1947 Ross Jackson (NZL)

79 1945 Nathan Goodhue (NZL)

80 1939 David Lovejoy (AUS)

81 1933 Richard Voon (AUS)

82 1924 Chris Benson (NZL)

83 1924 Hans Gao (NZL)

84 1922 Kian Hwa Lim (MAS)

85 1916 Matthias Körber (GER)

86 1914 Kenneth Holt (AUS)

87 1910 Bill Forster (NZL)

88 1908 Hamish Selnes (AUS)

89 1884 Harry Press (AUS)

90 1883 Angelo Tsagarakis (AUS)

91 1873 Roy Seabrook (NZL)

92 1872 Edward Rains (NZL)

93 1865 Efrain Tionko (AUS)

94 1850 Federico Roura (NZL)

95 1849 William Zhang (NZL)

96 1848 Andrew Brockway (NZL)

97 1846 (?) Hacer Haznedaroglu (TUR)

98 1834 Tony Booth (NZL)

99 1834 Arie Nijman (NZL)

100 1830 Hamish Gold (NZL)

101 1823 Bruce Kay (NZL)

102 1807 Winston Yao (NZL)

103 1802 David Capper (NZL)

104 1802 Nigel Cooper (NZL)

105 1798 wfm Natasha Fairley (NZL)

106 1787 Bruce Gloistein (NZL)

107 1781 Huseyin Yeten (CYP)

108 1771 Enzo Pieri (ITA)

109 1760 Erlend Millikan (USA)

110 1752 wfm Viv Smith (NZL)

111 1746 Stewart Holdaway (NZL)

112 1737 Tim Rains (NZL)

113 1728 Kevin Brown (AUS)

114 1719 John Beckman (AUS)

115 1715 wfm Nicole Tsoi (NZL)

116 1703 Roland Brockman (AUS)

117 1677 Ryan Louie (AUS)

118 1672 William XW Li (NZL)

119 1672 Bob Mitchell (NZL)

120 1668 Elliott Renzies (AUS)

121 1643 Leteisha Simmonds (AUS)

122 1643 Alphaeus Ang (NZL)

123 1619 Gary Judkins (NZL)

124 1618 Leighton Nicholls (NZL)

125 1587 Leo Zhang (NZL)

126 1581 Shanon Vuglar (AUS)

127 1571 Jean Watson (AUS)

128 1529 Robert Clarkson (NZL)

129 1495 Hamish Shierlaw (NZL)

130 1385 Seong-June Her (NZL)

131 1006 Brian Liu (NZL)

132 1003 Carlssen van Rooyen (NZL)

133 unrated Maris Cekulis (AUS)

134 unrated Ben Clayton (NZL)

135 unrated Jamie-Lee Guo (AUS)

136 unrated Jack Hughes (AUS)

137 unrated Jared Louie (AUS)

Palmerston North Chess Club Championship

2011-12-14T17:36:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to GM Mark Noble on winning Palmerston North's strongest ever Club Championship.

Click on table to enlarge

4th Gordon Hoskyn Memorial

2011-12-10T14:31:00.001-08:00

Grandmaster Clash

The debate for the title of "Strongest Chess Club in New Zealand" hotted up yesterday at the 4th Gordon Hoskyn Memorial Rapid in Palmerston North.
Palmerston North Star players have been dominating NZ Chess of late. Wellington Club fearing Palmy top players GM Mark Noble and FM "Big Ben" Hague, sparing no expense cunningly brought in a ringer, a big ringer, former World Champion no less! former World junior under 20 Champion GM Helgi Gretarrsson (2462) from Iceland !
This brought an very exciting Grandmaster vs Grandmaster Clash with palmy's own local GM, in small little outback palmy, a place regarded as an intellectual backwoods by the big centres, a mighty battle unfolded. If this wasn't exciting enough two more titled players had also shown up including the Current New Zealand Champion IM Ker.
Sadly absent was one of Palmy's best FM "Big Ben" Hague rumored to have been kidnapped by NZ Grand Prix staff in order to avoid giving him Grand Prix points.

Prize winners

A-Grade

1st GM Helgi Gretarrsson (2462)
2nd IM Anthony Ker (2375)
3rd= FM Scott Wastney (2283)
John McDonald (2029)
Michael Nyberg (2026)

B-Grade
1st= Ross Jackson
Justin Davis
Mathew King
Bill Forster
Jack James
Chris Smith
James Stewart

C-Grade
1st Jack James
2nd= Layla Timergazi
Nicholas Moore
Brent Cooze

"17 out of 22 players received prizes including grade and upsets prizes"

More results to follow.

Palmerston North Chess Club Championship

2011-11-25T14:11:00.000-08:00

Click on the scoretable to see it more clearly

Palmerston North Chess Club Championship

2011-11-13T19:11:00.000-08:00

Palmy Players Dominate NZ Chess

2011-10-30T19:44:00.000-07:00

Over the past few months it is clear Palmerston North Chess has had a certain chess explosion.
All results are in more detail here http://www.newzealandchess.co.nz/results.html
Palmerston North Players are in bold.

September 24th-25th 2011 - Interschools Finals, Mount Maunganui.
Secondary
1st Auckland Grammar (26) Hans Gao (6/7) Daniel Shen (7/7), Luke Li (7/7), Alex Huang (6/7) 2nd Macleans College (18) Leo Zhu (3/7) Alan Chen (4.5) Henry Jiang (6/7) Bill Li (4.5)
3rd Palmerston North Boys High (16.5) Jack James (3) Michael Yuan (4.5) Daniel Yuan (3.5) Sam Li (5.5)
A great achievement for Palmy Boys High considering the level of competition faced

Special mention to James, Jack who is NZ under-14 Rapid Champion

October 8th 2011 - Kapiti Rapid, Kapiti.
A-Grade
1st Ben Hague (2292) 5½/6
2nd= Mark Noble & Anthony Ker 4½
B-Grade
1st= Michael Yuan & Daniel Yuan 4½
3rd= David Paul, Jack James & Itay Ben-Dom 4
C-Grade
1st= Henry Li & Layla Timergazi
3rd= Robert List, John Gillespie, Dylan Frater & Nicholas Moore

October 16th 2011 - Hamilton Chess Club Mooving Rapid, Hamilton.
1st Ben Hague with 6/6.

October 29th - 30th 2011 - Merv Morrison, Auckland. Open:
1st= John Duneas and Ben Hague 5½/7

This latest win for FM Ben Hague at the Merv Morrison was a fine achievement. Coming into the final round Ben needed a win against one of New Zealand's most active FM's Michael Steadman to guarantee first prize. Here is the result.

Hague,B (2292) - Steadman,M (2269) [A80]
Merv Morrison (7), 30.10.2011

1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 3.d5!?
Not a very popular move which seems to take the game away from normal Dutch type positions. FM Steadman seemed surprised by this move judging by his play over the next few moves.

3...Be7

It seems many moves are possible here but Be7 I don't think is best.3...exd5 4.Qxd5 d6 5.g3 Nf6 6.Qb3 Na6 7.Be3 d5 8.Bg2 c6 9.c4 dxc4 10.Qxc4 Bb4+ 11.Nbd2 Qd5 12.0-0 Qxc4 13.Nxc4 Bc5 14.Rfd1 Bxe3 15.Nxe3 Ke7 16.Nd4 g6 17.Nc4 Nc5 18.Na5 Ne6 19.Nxe6 Kxe6 20.Rd3 Re8 21.Rad1 Kf7 22.Kf1 Re5 23.Nc4 Rc5 24.b3 Nd5 25.Bxd5+ cxd5 26.Rxd5 Rxd5 27.Rxd5 Be6 28.Rd4 Kf6 29.Ke1 b5 30.Na3 Rb8 31.Rd6 a5 32.Nc2 Ke7 33.Ra6 a4 34.Nd4 Bd7 35.Kd2 Rc8 36.Rb6 Rc5 37.e3 axb3 38.axb3 Kf7 39.b4 Rd5 40.h4 Kg7 41.Ke2 Kh6 42.Nb3 Re5 43.Nc5 Be8 44.Re6 Rxe6 45.Nxe6 Bf7 46.Nf4 Bc4+ 47.Kd2 g5 48.hxg5+ Kxg5 49.Ng2 Kf6 50.f4 Ke6 51.Nh4 Bf1 52.Kc3 Bh3 53.Kd4 Kd6 54.Nf3 Bg2 55.Ng5 h5 56.Nf7+ Ke6 57.Ne5 Kd6 58.Nd3 Bf3 59.Nc1 Bg2 60.Ne2 Bf3 61.Nc3 Bc6 62.Kd3 Ke6 63.Kd4 Kd6 64.Nb1 Bf3 65.Nd2 Bc6 66.Kd3 Ke6 67.Nb3 Kd5 68.Nc5 Kd6 69.Kd4 Bg2 70.e4 fxe4 71.Nxe4+ Ke6 72.Nc3 Kf5 73.Nd5 Bf3 74.Ne3+ Kf6 75.Kc5 Be2 76.Nc2 Bf1 77.Nd4 Bd3 78.Nxb5 Kf5 79.Nd6+ 1-0 Vachier Lagrave,M-Vaisser,A/Mulhouse FRA 2011

3...Bd6!? 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e4 Bb4 8.e5 Qe7 9.Bd3 0-0 10.0-0 Bxc3 11.bxc3 exd5 12.c4 dxc4 13.Bxc4+ Kh8 14.Re1 Nc6 15.Qd5 a5 16.a4 Nb4 17.Qd2 Qc5 18.Bb3 Ra6 19.h4 Rg6 20.h5 Rg4 21.e6 dxe6 22.Ne5 Rd4 23.Ng6+ Kg8 24.Qe3 Nd5 25.Bxd5 Rxd5 26.Nxf8 Qxe3 27.Rxe3 Kxf8 28.Rd3 Rxd3 29.cxd3 Bd7 30.Rc1 c6 31.f3 Ke7 32.d4 Be8 33.Kf2 Bxh5 34.Rb1 b5 35.axb5 cxb5 36.Rxb5 a4 37.Rb7+ Kf6 38.Rb8 Ke7 39.Ke3 Be8 40.Rb6 g5 41.d5 exd5 42.Kd4 h5 43.Kxd5 f4 44.Ke5 Bd7 45.Rg6 a3 46.Rg7+ Ke8 47.Rxg5 1-0 Yermolinsky,A-Poehlmann,R/San Francisco 2003

4.dxe6 dxe6 5.Qxd8+ Bxd8 6.e4! Nc6

6...fxe4 7.Ng5 Nc6 The computer still gives this position as equal but why give yourself a weak pawn on e6.

7.exf5 exf5 8.Bc4 Nf6 9.0-0

9...h6?!

The position looks deceptively drawish,black has certain problems with development and King position he must solve and this move helps neither. Better is 9...Bd7 10.Nc3 Be7 11.Bf4 0-0-0 White has only a small edge.

10.Re1+ Be7 11.Bf4 Kd8 Black is now clearly worse, it is hard to believe Steadman has done anything really wrong to deserve being on the edge of defeat.

12.Nc3 g5?

This is already the losing move! h6 and g5 have done nothing for black's position while white has made clear quiet but forceful moves directly helping his position. Black has huge development problems, note white's rooks are ready to infiltrate black's camp while black's rooks haven't moved and have no clear way to enter the game. [12...Bb4 13.Ne5 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Bd7 15.Rad1 Rf8±]

13.Ne5! Nxe5

13...gxf4 14.Nf7++-

14.Bxe5 Rh7

Better is 14...Rf8

15.Nb5?!

This is still winning but white could mop up the game even quicker with... 15.Rad1+ Bd7 16.Be6 White is winning a piece at minimum here.

15...Bd7 16.Bxc7+

16.Rad1 This is stronger again.

16...Ke8 17.Bd6 Rc8 18.Bxe7

1-0

White is winning an exchange as well as having an enormous positional advantage.

These comments were made by the arbiter on chess chat about this game.

Steadman looked drained of energy to me after round6 where he had a short draw. Recall he even needed a nap before round7. Probably not helped by warm stuffy conditions in the tournament hall and the neighbour building a garden shed with loud metal grinder noise. Certainly not conducive for a chess tournament.

Quite a pathetic argument. Ben travelled 500+ kilometers to play in this tournament which is in Steadman's back yard and Ben had the same tournament condition's as everyone else. The reality is he got caught out in an opening he didn't really know and simply got crushed by a very Strong opponent. It happens to all of us.

Palmerston North Chess Club Championship

2011-10-28T13:13:00.000-07:00

The palmy champs are slowly moving in the direction of the finish line and at this point Ben Chris and Mark are the favourite's to win. This coming Wednesday will see the two top players Ben and Mark face off where if Ben is able to win would put him firmly in the driver's seat for first.

One of the big upsets of the tournament was Jack James 1784 win over John McDonald 2114
The following position is from their game White(John) to move

John tried 17. d5? and lost after 14 odd moves in a rather unusual game. The position is quite tricky anyway but white's best chance was 17.Ne4!? when 17...Nxd1 runs into Nxd6+ followed by Rb3 when white is better so black's best is 17...Bf8 keeping the position balanced if tricky.

This next position is from last week's game Chris Burns - Mark Noble black to move.

Black with more time on his clock now than at the start of the game played the shocker 41...Rd7? and simply resigned after 42.Rxc5! when black cannot recapture because of the Bb3 threat to pin the Queen to the King. Better is 41...Kh7 or Qe7 and we have a pretty equal endgame.

Palmerston North Chess Club Championship

2011-10-28T12:48:00.000-07:00

Palmerston North Chess Club Championship

2011-10-12T18:58:00.000-07:00

Latest Results

5/10/2011

FM Mark Noble 2300 - Mathew King 1990 1-0
FM Ben Hague 2292 - James Stewart 1890 1-0
Justin Davis 2082 - Jack James 1784 1-0
John McDonald 2114 - Chris Burns 2119 0-1

12/10/2011

FM Mark Noble 2300 - John McDonald 2114 1-0
FM Ben Hague 2292 - Justin Davis 2082 1-0
Chris Burns 2119 - Mathew King 1990 0-1

Current Standings

1. Chris Burns 2119 6/7
2. Mathew King 1990 4.5/8
3. FM Mark Noble 2300 4/4
4. Justin Davis 2082 3.5/8
5. John McDonald 2114 3/7
6. FM Ben Hague 2292 3/3
7. Jack James 1784 2/6 2/7
8. James Stewart 1890 0/8

Palmerston North Chess Club Championship

2011-09-28T18:06:00.000-07:00

The Palmerston North Club welcomes it's newest member FM Ben Hague who has a FIDE rating of 2292 which makes him the highest rated member in the club. Winner of the Waikato Open last year he will definitely add to the Palmy Club's prestige. The Strongest ever Palmerston North Chess Championship just got stronger!

Latest result's

21/09/2011

FM Mark Noble 2300 - Justin Davis 2082 1-0
Jack James 1784 - Mathew King 1990 0-1
James Stewart 1890 - Chris Burns 2119 0-1

28/09/2011

Justin Davis 2082 - FM Ben Hague 0-1
Mathew King 1990 - James Stewart 1890 1-0
Jack James 1784 - John McDonald 2114 0-1

Current Standings

1. Chris Burns 2119 5/5
2. Mathew King 1990 3.5/6
3. John McDonald 2114 3/5
4. Justin Davis 2082 2.5/6
5. Jack James 1784 2/6
FM Mark Noble 2300 2/2
6. FM Ben Hague 2292 1/1
7. James Stewart 1890 0/7

The B grade is being led by Club President Dennis Davey who has been a member of the club for 30 years!

*Please note all rating's are NZCF except for FM Ben Hague which is FIDE

Palmerston North Club Championship Round 5

2011-09-17T21:03:00.000-07:00

Results

FM Mark Noble 2300 - James Stewart 1890 1-0
Chris Burns 2119 - Justin Davis 2082 1-0
John McDonald 2114 - Jack James 1784 0-1

Palmerston North Club Championship Round 4

2011-09-12T23:31:00.001-07:00

Results

Mathew King 1990 - Chris Burns 2119 0-1

Justin Davis 2082 - John McDonald 2114 1-0

James Stewart 1890 - Jack James 1784 0-1

Club Championship Round Three

2011-09-02T14:47:00.000-07:00

Results

Chris Burns 2119 - FM Mark Noble 2300 Postponed

James Stewart 1890 - Mathew King 1990 0-1

Jack James 1784 - Justin Davis 2082 0-1

Death of the "Dark Horse" Star - Genesis Potini (1965 - 2011)‏

2011-08-28T22:10:00.000-07:00

Star of the award winning 2001 documentary "Dark Horse" - Genesis Potini has died of a Heart Attack aged 46 on the 15th August 2011

Genesis Potini - Gisborne's speed chess maestro, specialized in running opponents up against the clock, often trash-talking his way to victory. He was also known as a formidable communicator, a teacher , chess coach and up-front advocate for Mental Health issues.

Widely respected for his phenomenal achievements in promoting the educational benefits of chess, particularly in the poor communities.

Genesis' thoughts on the benefits of chess in education at

Dark Horse Star in action !

Genesis Potini (1613) vs Justin Davis (1647)
Waitakere 2006
White to Play

Black concerned at White's forces aiming at his King, decides to play it safe with 13...h6
but Genesis has seen further and unleashes a nasty surprise ......

The World Championship Cycle

2011-08-27T16:07:00.000-07:00

Today the 2011 FIDE World Cup was officially opened by FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Tomorrow the first round is scheduled at 15:00 local time (11:00 CET). 128 participants from all over the world will fight in a knock-out that will last more than three weeks and should deliver three participants for the next Candidates tournament/matches, as part of the new World Championship cycle.
Rotorua hosted the Oceania Zonal which was won by Australian Zhao, Zong-Yuan . This enabled him to compete in the World Cup, there is a extensive interview on him here. Unfortunately no New Zealand players managed to qualify for the full list of participants here is the official site

Club Championship Round Two

2011-08-26T14:55:00.000-07:00

Results

Justin Davis 2082 - FM Mark Noble 2300 Postponed

Chris Burns 2119 - James Stewart 1890 1-0

John McDonald 2114 - Mathew King 1990 1-0

Jack James 1784 -Bye

Chess at the Square

2011-08-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

Below is part of a recent article from the Mawatu Standard. Palmerston North Club official's helped set this up in the square.

Chess pieces a good Start

After spending millions of dollars making Palmerston North’s Square attractive, it’s time to look to the details that will make people want to linger there.
Visiting urban design guru David Engwicht said without things that encouraged people to participate in the life of the space, The Square would be ‘‘used as a corridor, to get from one place to another’’

A International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster for Manawatu

2011-08-20T14:18:00.000-07:00

Mark Noble (pictured below) has currently moved to the Manawatu area and is currently playing in the Palmerston North Club Championships. He is best known as a International Correspondence chess Grandmaster and has recently qualified for two world finals where he will try and battle his way to becoming World Champion! Both of these are outstanding achievements.

More information can be found here and a radio interview here.

His over the board play also put's him at the top New Zealand chess. He is a former New Zealand Junior champion 1981-2, former 2 time North Island champion, he achieved his FIDE master title in 1992, represented New Zealand at the 1996 Yerevan Olympiad and played in two New Zealand championship's.

Outside of the major cities Palmerston North must now be the strongest club in New Zealand. A good club needs strong organisers as well as strong players to make it successful, hopefully we can attract more master strength players to our region to encourage this growth.

Club Championship's Round One

2011-08-18T19:57:00.000-07:00

The A grade had a last minute entry in FM Mark Noble which was a welcome surprise.

Round One results

A Grade
Chris Burns 2119 - Jack James 1784 1-0
James Stewart 1890 - John McDonald 2114 0-1
Mathew King 1990 - Justin Davis 2082 1/2-1/2
FM Mark Noble 2300 - Bye

A Grade Draw Round 2 24th August

Justin Davis 2082 - FM Mark Noble 2300
Chris Burns 2119 - James Stewart 1890
John McDonald 2114 - Mathew King 1990
Jack James 1784 -Bye

B Grade Results
Martin - Dennis 1-0
Stewart - Yuri 1-0
David- Cedric 0-1

Wanganui Congress 2007 Rapid Championship

2011-08-12T20:44:00.000-07:00

The video features two top class players which I am sure one will remember more fondly than the other. video link

Game Viewer 2

2011-08-11T23:34:00.001-07:00

Play chess online

Game Viewer

2011-08-11T23:08:00.000-07:00

(show chess board)(hide chess board)

The Strongest ever Palmerston North Club Championship

2011-08-06T13:42:00.000-07:00

Since I have been a member of the Palmerston North Chess Club we have the strongest field that I have ever encountered, I would say the strongest of all time unless someone more knowledgeable in Palmy chess can refute my statement. In either case in looks to be an exciting event. It is especially good to see the return of Martin Sims one of the strongest local players and more competent chess organisers in New Zealand.

Round One starts this coming Wednesday the 17th of August. One game per night at a time control of 75 minutes with a one minute increment.
A Grade is a double round robin.
Anyone is welcome to play in the B Grade.

A-Grade entries

1.Chris Burns 2119
5. John McDonald 2114
4. Justin Davis 2082
3. Mathew King 1990
2. James Stewart 1890
6. Jack James 1784

Draw for round one

Chris burns 2119 v Jack James 1784
James Stewart 1890 v John McDonald 2114
Mathew King 1990 v Justin Davis 2082

Round two

Chris Burns 2119 v James Stewart 1890
John McDonald 2114 v Mathew King 1990
Jack James 1784 v Justin Davis 2082

B Grade is an open ended round robin (full details available from club captain) headed by Martin Sims and Stewart Holdaway. The draw will be done on the night but be early to catch it.

Palmerston North NZCF Active Rating List

2011-07-26T18:47:00.000-07:00

The red column is the National rank, blue column is Standard rating followed by date of last active period and green is Rapid rating followed by date.

i - inactive

* - Provisional

j - Junior

s - Senior

unr - unrated

The Royal Game

2011-07-14T21:05:00.000-07:00

But is it not an offensively narrow construction to call chess a game? Is it not a science, a technique, an art, that sways among these categories as Mohomet's coffin does between heaven and earth, at once a union of all contradictory concepts: primeval yet ever new; mechanical in operation yet effective only through the imagination; bounded in geometric space though boundless in its combinations... as proved by evidence, [chess is] more lasting in its being and presence than all books and achievements; the only game that belongs to all people and all ages; of which none knows the divinity that bestowed it on the world, to slay boredom, to sharpen the senses, to exhilirate the spirit . . .
Children can learn its simple rules, duffers succumb to its temptation, yet within this immutable tight square it creates a particular species of master not to be compared with any other - persons destined for chess alone, specific geniuses in whom vision, patience and technique are operative through a distribution no less precisely ordained than in mathematicians, poets, composers, but merely united on a different level.

Stefan Zweig

Upper Hutt Rapid Photos

2011-06-25T19:43:00.000-07:00

Palmerston North Chess Club is Moving

2011-06-25T17:17:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday the 29th the Palmy chess club is moving to a much nicer venue at the Hearing house 435 Church street. Two rooms will be available one for analysis and drinks the other for serious games. The club will be open by 7:30pm sharp.

The following club night is on a Tuesday July the 5th, and from then on every Wednesday.

The first tournamnet of the new venue is the Rapid Championship played at a time control of 25 +5 at two rounds per night with a total of 6 rounds.

Two club tournaments have recently been completed the 60/60 which Mathew King won with a perfect score and the 10/10 which Justin Davis won with a perfect score.

Upper Hutt Rapid

2011-06-25T15:14:00.000-07:00

No Name Loc Total 1 2 3 4 5 6

1 FM Scott Wastney 2253 6 19:W 13:W 4:W 2:W 5:W 3:W
2 Brian Nijman 1997 5 8:W 6:W 3:W 1:L 15:W 5:W
3 Justin Davis 1973 4 7:W 18:W 2:L 16:W 6:W 1:L
4 Ben Thomas 1986 4 10:W 9:W 1:L 5:L 14:W 8:W
5 Alan Ansell 2087 4 11:W 15:W 16:W 4:W 1:L 2:L
6 Mathew King 1901 4 12:W 2:L 7:W 17:W 3:L 11:W
7 Jack James 1496 3.5 3:L 21:W 6:L 11:W 9:D 15:W
8 Lawrence Farrington 1744 3.5 2:L 12:W 18:W 15:D 13:W 4:L
9 David Paul 1768 3.5 20:W 4:L 17:L 12:W 7:D 16:W
10 David Capper 1572 3.5 4:L 20:W 15:L 18:W 16:D 17:W
11 Bruce Kay 1594 3 5:L 14:W 13:W 7:L 17:W 6:L
12 Nicholas Moore 1223 3 6:L 8:L 19:W 9:L 20:W :W
13 Ross Jackson 1929 3 14:W 1:L 11:L 20:W 8:L 21:W
14 Robert List 1455 3 13:L 11:L 21:W 19:W 4:L 18:W
15 Alistair McGowan 1798 2.5 21:W 5:L 10:W 8:D 2:L 7:L
16 Stewart Holdaway 1763 2.5 17:W 19:W 5:L 3:L 10:D 9:L
17 Brian Luo 967 2 16:L :W 9:W 6:L 11:L 10:L
18 Layla Timergazi 947 2 :W 3:L 8:L 10:L 21:W 14:L
19 Andrew Brockway 1749 2 1:L 16:L 12:L 14:L :W 20:W
20 Dylan Frater unr 1 9:L 10:L :W 13:L 12:L 19:L
21 William Qihao Zhang 1217 1 15:L 7:L 14:L :W 18:L 13:L

Waitakere and ICC Tournaments

2011-06-11T14:32:00.000-07:00

National Master Leonard McLaren won the Waitakere Licensing Trust Open with a score of 5/6, Palmerston North was represented by Justin Davis who finished on 2.5/6. Crosstable taken from here, full results here. The Waitakere is clearly one of the bigger and better tournaments on the New Zealand chess calendar. Unfortunately the games from these tournaments are not easily available which is rather sad.

I was unable to take part in the Auckland tournament and had to console myself with the Internet Chess Club Open. Top prize of $600 was won by World Number 8 Hikaru Nakamura. The attractive part of the tournament were the grading prizes including u2200, u2000, u1800 and u1600 each 1st place was worth $200 2nd $100 and 3rd was a years free membership to ICC. I finished out of the prizes but had some interesting games along the way.

The ICC open consisted of 4 qualifiers of 11 rounds, in the game below I am white.

The time control is 3 0 so moving quickly is quite important so when I played 20.Qg5 threatening mate I thought maybe I have a chance until my opponent bashed out 20...Nb3# oops. Luckily I was able to redeem myself on the very last game of the tournament

I am white in the position below

My opponent rated 300 points higher than me hammered down the move 10...b5 allowing a 11.Nf6# and probably one of my quickest wins in blitz.

Waitakere Licensing Trust Chess Open

2011-05-05T22:26:00.000-07:00

The biggest tournament before Queenstown in January will be the Waitakere Licensing Trust Open June 4th-6th. Nearly $7000 in prizes and a great way to play people close to you in rating, avoiding the annoying swiss pairings of playing only people alot higher or alot lower rated than you.

All Details can be found here

Palmerston North Blitz Championship

2011-05-05T22:08:00.000-07:00

The Blitz tournament is normally the first event every year at the club and finished in March.
Group sections are double round robin
Quarter final best of 3
Semi and Final's best of 5

Group A

Mathew King 4
Jack James 4
Stewaret Holdaway 4
Yuri 0

Group B

Justin Davis 6
Dennis Davey 4
John Baker 2
Jacob Donnelly-King 0

Quarter Finals

Justin - Yuri 3-0
Mathew - John 2-1
Stewart - Dennis 2.5- .5
Jack- Jacob 2-0

Semi-Finals

Justin - Stewart 3-1
Mathew - Jack 2.5-3.5 (after going up 2.5 to .5 I proceeded to lose all games from then on.)

Finals

Justin - Jack 5-0

For four years running I believe Justin Davis takes the title of Palmerston North Chess Club blitz champion.

North Island Championship

2011-05-01T19:41:00.001-07:00

Photo's Courtesy of Shaun Waugh

Turnbull house the excellent venue for the North Island Championship. To the right out of the picture is the Beehive.

Round Two

A former NZ Champion following the games

North Island Championship 2011

2011-04-30T19:56:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to FM Robert Smith on winning the North Island championship.

This years tournament attracted a pathetic number of entries, only 25 with a large number of local players missing from Wellington and other near by towns. The venue and playing conditions were very good, no dirty plastic sets were used only nice quality wooden ones and their was no major noise issues. Palmerston North was represented by myself and Jack James. I placed 4th equal on 5/8 and had chances for more. Jack is Palmerston North's highest rated Junior and is clearly improving winning against two higher rated opponents in Stracy and Dolejs, his score of 4/8 enabled him to take a share of first place in the C grade. The tournament was top heavy with IM Ker, IM Garbett and FM Smith well above the rest and it was no surprise whoever won this mini tournament would take first place. Smith was able to beat Ker and all other games between them were drawn so once again Congrats to Bob on winning with a convincing score of 7.5/8

Results can be found here and here

North Island Championship 1981 and now

2011-04-18T19:09:00.000-07:00

Going over some old New Zealand chess mags I stumbled upon a stellar issue from 1981 which included an article about the North Island championship. As I am competing in this years North Island championship it was with great interest to me what happened some 30! years ago. The tournament was held at New Plymouth between May 18-23 and attracted a "good field" of 54 players. The "leading lights were Paul Garbett, lasts years co-winner Mark Levene,Premier reserve champion Tony Dowden and Aucklanders Ewen Green,Robert Smith,Peter Stuart and Peter Weir". It may seem funny now but smoking was prohibited in the building which was not the norm some 30 years ago.

Going into the final round the top of the crosstable was Weir 6 Garbett 5 1/2 Green, Levene, Stuart, Dowden, Sarfati, Spiller, Gibbons, Lynn 5. In stunning fashion Garbett was able to beat Weir in the final round to become the 1981 North Island champion. Palmerston North was represented by 19th placed Dave Cooper on 4.5 (ahead of former NZ champ D Lynch 4) and 41. R. Wood 3.

Many of the strong players from 1981 some 30 years ago are still around and still at the top of New Zealand chess, both FM Smith and IM Garbett are competing in this year's North Island and will be among the favourites again to win the NI title.

118th New Zealand Chess Championship

2011-02-07T14:21:00.000-08:00

International Master Anthony Ker is again New Zealand champion finishing on 9/11 1.5 points ahead of the field. Not only was he undefeated but he beat all his close rivals leaving a strong impression of dominance. Results and games

FM Steadman,M (2362) - IM Ker,A (2444) [A41]118th NZ Championship 2011 Auckland Round 3 Board 1, 04.01.2011
1.Nf3
Round three of the championship and it is Ker's first titled opponent and an expected rival for first place.
1...d6 2.d4 Bg4
The Wade defence an expected choice from IM Ker. It is quite surprising that Ker does not deviate from his opening repertoire trusting he will know his pet lines better than anyone.
3.e3

Other more popular moves include 3.c4 Nd7 4.Nc3 e5
3.e4 Nf6 (3...Nd7 4.c4 e5 5.Be2) 4.Nc3 e6 5.h3 Bh5 6.Qe2 (6.g4!?)
3.Nbd2 Nf6 4.h3 Bh5 5.e4 e6 6.Bd3
3...c6
3...Nd7 4.c4 e5 5.Nc3 Ngf6 6.Be2 c6 7.0-0 Be7 8.e4 0-0 9.Be3 Bh5 10.Nd2 Bg6 11.d5 Nc5 12.f3 a5 13.Nb3 Nfd7 14.Nxc5 Nxc5 15.Qd2 Qc7 16.Rad1 Rfd8 17.g4 h6 18.Kg2 a4 19.Rh1 Bh4 20.Kh3 Qe7 21.Qc2 a3 22.b4 Na6 23.Qb3 c5 24.bxc5 Nxc5 25.Bxc5 dxc5 26.d6 Qg5 27.Rd3 h5 28.Rf1 hxg4+ 29.fxg4 Qh6 30.Kg2 Bg5 31.Rh3 Bh4 32.Rd1 Rd7 33.Bf3 Ra6 34.Nb5 Qg5 35.Qd3 Qf6 36.Qd5 Rc6 37.Rd3 Bg5 38.Rxa3 Ra6 39.Rxa6 bxa6 40.Qa8+ Rd8 41.Qxa6 Be3 42.Qa5 Bxe4 43.Qe1 Qf4 44.Qg3 Bxf3+ 45.Qxf3 Qxc4 46.Qxe3 Qxb5 47.Qxe5 Re8 48.d7 0-1 Tregubov,P-Akobian,V/Khanty-Mansiysk RUS 2009
3...Nf6 4.Be2 c6 5.c4 Qc7 6.Nc3 e5 7.h3 Bh5 8.b3 Nbd7 9.Bb2 Be7 10.Rc1 e4 11.Nd2 Bg6 12.g4 h6 13.h4 Rd8 14.b4 d5 15.cxd5 Bxb4 16.dxc6 Qxc6 17.Qb3 Qd6 18.Nc4 Qe7 19.a3 Bxc3+ 20.Bxc3 Nd5 21.Bb4 Nxb4 22.Qxb4 Nf6 23.Ne5 Qxb4+ 24.axb4 Nd5 25.Kd2 h5 26.g5 Bf5 27.b5 f6 28.gxf6 gxf6 29.Nc4 Bg4 30.Bxg4 hxg4 31.Rcg1 f5 32.Ra1 Rh7 33.Rxa7 Rc7 34.Ra4 Kf8 35.b6 Rc6 36.Rb1 Rdc8 37.Rb5 Ne7 38.Kc3 Rh6 39.Rc5 Rb8 40.d5 f4 41.d6 Ng6 42.h5 g3 43.fxg3 fxg3 44.hxg6 Rxg6 45.Ra1 Kg7 46.Rc7+ 1-0 Bischoff,K-Schlindwein,R/Germany 2001
4.c4 Nd7 5.Be2 e5 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Bxf3 g6 8.Nc3 Ngf6 9.0-0 Bg7 10.b4
10.d5 c5
10...0-0 11.b5 Qc7 12.bxc6 bxc6 13.Ba3 Rfe8
13...exd4 14.exd4 Nb6 15.Qd3

14.dxe5
The following pawn sac by Ker is interesting. White could decline the pawn by 14.Qd3 and finish development but white has no reason to step away from complications.
14...Nxe5 15.Bxd6 Nxf3+ 16.gxf3 Qd7 17.Kg2 Red8 18.Bh2 Qe6 19.Qe2

For the sacrificed pawn black has damaged white's King safety caused the bishop on h2 to be out of play and currently has the initiative. It must also be realised the extra pawn is doubled and will be hard to convert a win with even in an endgame.
19...Nh5 20.Rac1 Bxc3
It may seem strange to swap black's good bishop for white's knight but 20...Qe7 21.Ne4 f5 22.Ng3 Nf6 Black's attack is not progressing.
21.Rxc3 Rd4 22.e4
22.Rh1 Rad8 23.Rc2 R4d7
22...Rad8 23.Qe3 c5 24.Qg5 Rc8 25.Qe5 Qa6
Maybe better is 25...Qd7 26.Qg5² Both sides have equal chances although white's position is harder to play. (26.Rb1? f6-+)
26.Rb1 Qxa2 27.Rb8± Black has got his pawn back but white now has chances for a good counter attack.
27...Rdd8

28.Rb7?
White misses his chance 28.Rcb3!? Black is forced to bring his Queen back to defend which costs him a pawn leaving white clearly better. 28...Qd2 29.Qe7 Rf8 (29...Rxb8 30.Rxb8 Rxb8 31.Bxb8 Nf4+ 32.Bxf4 Qxf4 33.Qxc5±) 30.Rxc8 Rxc8 31.Rb7 Nf4+ 32.Bxf4 Qxf4 33.Rxa7±
28...Rd2 29.Bg1 Qa1 30.f4?
30.Rb8 Rxb8 31.Qxb8+ Kg7 32.Rb3 (32.Qe5+ Nf6 33.f4 Qe1 34.Kh2 Rd1-+) 32...Qd4 33.Rb7 g5 34.Rxa7 Nf4+ 35.Kh1 Qc3 36.Kh2 Ng6 (36...Qxf3 37.Qe5+ Kh6 38.Qf6+ Kh5 39.Qxf7+ Kh4 40.Qxh7+ Nh5 41.Qf5) 37.Qg3 h6 black still has a nice edge and will break through soon anyway.
30...Rd1-+ 31.Bh2 Rh1 32.Qd5
32.Rb8 Qf1+ 33.Kf3 Rxb8 34.Qxb8+ Kg7 35.Qe5+ Nf6 36.Kg3 h5 37.h4 Qe2 38.Kg2 Re1 39.Re3 Qf1+ 40.Kg3 Rxe3+ 41.fxe3 Qxc4 42.f5 Qxe4 43.Qxe4 Nxe4+ 44.Kf4 Nd2 45.e4-+]
32...Qf1+ 33.Kf3 Rf8 White resigns
33...Rf8 34.Bg3 Rxh3 35.Qg5 Qd1+ 36.Ke3 (36.Kg2 Qh1#) 36...Rh1 37.f3 Nxg3 38.Qxg3 Re1+-+ 0-1

118th NZ Chess Championship Round One

2011-01-02T22:28:00.000-08:00

More information can be found here

Round One Championship results

No Name Result Name
1 Russell Dive 1:0 Peter Stuart
2 Richard Taylor 0:1 Anthony Ker
3 Robert Smith 1:0 Alan Ansell
4 Hilton Bennett 0:1 Michael Steadman
5 Bruce Watson ½:½ Nathan Goodhue
6 Fuatai Fuatai ½:½ Daniel Shen
7 Leonard McLaren 1:0 Ross Jackson
8 Luke Li 1:0 Helen Milligan
9 Matthew Barlow 1:0 William Forster
10 Hans Gao 1:0 Antonio Krstev
11 Noel Pinic ½:½ Judy Gao
12 Hamish Gold 0:1 Robert Gibbons
13 Ivan Dordevic ½:½ Winston (Yow-Jen) Yao

The first round had a couple of upset results. The position below is from Luke Li (1992) verse WFM Helen Milligan (2148). Luke has just tried an interesting knight sac on c5 for 2 pawns unfortunately for Helen she continues in Luke's spirit of sacrificing and play's 21....Rxf5? and then falls apart later with 24...b5?? With the sequence 21...Ne3 22. Bxd7 Nxc7 23.Bxe8 Nxa1 24. Rxf8+ Kxf8 25.Bd7 Ne8! to hold up d6 which is more important than retreating the knight. 26. Bf5 Nd6 27. Bd3 Bg7 White is in the game, although this line does look complicated as black's knight has to stay on a1 with no way of getting out so it seems even better is 21...Qg7 and then 22....Ne3 with equal chances although black's position requires high energy to maintain.

The next position shows a missed opportunity by FM Bruce Watson (2321) against Nathan Goodhue (2030). The game ended in a draw but right here White can snip another pawn by 27.Bxe5 and black cannot take back because the queen would be pinned by white's rook to his King. White played the routine 27. h3 and had to be satisfied with a draw at move 51 after some up and down play by both sides.

The next position below is Matthew Barlow (2137) verse Bill forster (1990). Bill has played a good game so far but now loses the plot and plays 32...Nd4 forgetting about his a pawn which Barlow swiftly takes after 33. Bxd4 Bxd4 34.Qxa5 white won in 63. Black had the much better 32...Bd4 with equal play.

The top seeds had their usual easy first round game. Below is IM Russel Dive (2460) verse Peter Stuart (2070). Dive has trotted out his usual English opening which Stuart seems to be coping with so far, until now. Black tries a trick with 33. ...Nf5 which just drops a piece after 34. Rxf8 Rxf8 35. Bxf8+ +\-. 33...Ng8 was best although white is still slightly better because of his Q-side majority but black is still well in the game.

The position below is from the wild game Ivan Dordevic (2080) verse Winston Yao (1676). White has bashed out a dubious attack against black's Sicilian dragon and has come to the moment of victory. Crushing is 27.Bxf7+ when kxd7 leads to mate after 28. Qxg6+ and if 27...Kd7 28. fxg6 and the g pawn is crushing. Instead perhaps due to some sort of chess karma white plays Qh7 losing all of his advantage and black manages to force a perpetual at move 45.

118th New Zealand Chess Congress

2010-12-18T21:37:00.000-08:00

The next big chess event in New Zealand is the 118th New Zealand congress. As a 1964 NZCF and a 1959 Fide rated player I find the Championship entries list to be rather troubling. In my opinion, I give you a list of the only exceptions a player should be granted entry into the Championship if they don't meet the rating requirements.
1) A current North or South Island champion
2) A promising junior rated atleast over 1800
3) Last years Major open winner
In all other cases such exceptions granted only lessen the quality of the New Zealand championship and take away from the Major open. Apart from this the 118th Chess Congress looks like a good event.

The 118th New Zealand Chess Championship will be an 11-round Swiss system tournament, with a minimum of 18 players, open to all NZ players with a current NZCF standard rating of 2000 or higher, or a FIDE rating of at least 2100. In the event of fewer than 18 qualified players entering, sufficient Major Open entrants will be invited, in order of rating, to bring the field up to 18. In the event of no more than 12 entries being received, the Championship will be conducted as a round robin of 12 players.
The Championship will be FIDE rated and overseas players may be invited by the NZCF council. Players are reminded that the North Island Champion, South Island Champion, and Junior Champion are eligible to play in the Championship.
Any NZ player who does not fulfil the rating requirements set out above may apply to be treated as a special case; the player must demonstrate exceptional circumstances. Please apply to the NZCF, Box 216, Shortland Street, Auckland 1010.

Entries so far (NZCF November ratings, with November FIDE in brackets): IM Russell Dive 2460 (2375), IM Anthony Ker 2444 (2336), FM Scott Wastney 2375 (2300), FM Bob Smith 2371 (2287), FM Mike Steadman 2362 (2285), Daniel Shen 2258 (2187), Leonard McLaren 2244 (2207), Bruce Wheeler 2190 (2122), Helen Milligan 2148 (2028), Matthew Barlow 2137 (2140), Antonio Krstev 2129 (2094), Noel Pinic 2121 (2035), Bob Gibbons 2086 (2022), Ivan Dordevic 2080 (-), Peter Stuart 2070 (2025), Richard Taylor 2065 (1929), Alan Ansell 2050 (2001), Hilton Bennett 2046 (1974), Nathan Goodhue 2030 (1996), Fuatai Fuatai 2027 (2017), Ross Jackson 2013 (1966), Luke Li 1992 (1943), Bill Forster 1990 (1908), Hans Gao 1987 (1842), Judy Gao 1964 (1897), Hamish Gold 1927 (1841), Winston Yao 1676 (-).

This is an NZCF Grand Prix Superclass event, the first of the 2011 season.

The Major Open will be an 11-round Swiss system tournament open to all NZ players with a current NZCF standard rating of under 2000. Players with a current NZCF rating over 2000 are not eligible.
Entries so far (NZCF November ratings): Peter Fraemohs 1999, David Evans 1984, Caleb Wright 1936, Bruce Kay 1802, Don Stracy 1796, Arthur Casilang 1746, Bob Mitchell 1726, John Pakenham 1715, Nicole Tsoi 1711, Simon Lyall 1695, Wayne Puepuemai 1687, Scott Yang 1648, Eric Wu 1624, Michael Roberts 1622, David Rong 1604, Malo Puepuemai 1501, George Chen 1473, Hao Jia 1459, William J W Zhang 1409, Hristo Kolev 1397, Andrew Geng Li 1354, John Ansell 1320, Cathy Fan 1308, Alphaeus Ang 1235, Leo Zhang 1209, Linton Rudkins 1141, Allen Fan 1018, Olivia Dong 1000, Bella Qian 975, Brian Lim.

Oceania Zonal Rotorua 2011

2010-12-18T21:18:00.000-08:00

A new Fide ratings list is due out in January so ratings are subject to change before the tournament

Open Section Entry list as at 19 December 2010

1) GM Zong-Yuan Zhao (AUS) 2586
2) GM David Smerdon (AUS) 2531
3) IM George Xie (AUS) 2478
4) IM Stephen Solomon (AUS) 2397
5) IM Gary Lane (AUS) 2373
6) FM Moulthun Ly (AUS) 2321
7) FM Bobby Cheng (AUS) 2316
8) FM Max Illingworth (AUS) 2304
9) FM Bob Smith (NZL) 2287
10) FM Mike Steadman (NZL) 2285
11) FM Tim Reilly (AUS) 2276
12) IM Vladimir Feldman (AUS) 2262
13) FM Junta Ikeda (AUS) 2262
14) FM Stephen Lukey (NZL) 2244
15) Gareth Oliver (AUS) 2210
16) Andrew Brown (AUS) 2175
17) Eugene Schon (AUS) 2157
18) *David Hacche (AUS) 2119
19) Joselito Marcos (PNG) 2095
20) FM Brian Jones (AUS) 2084
21) Shaun Press (PNG) 2067
22) Justin Tan (AUS) 2052
23) Tristan Stevens (AUS) 2050
24) Noel Pinic (NZL) 2035
25) Andrew Fitzpatrick (AUS) 2032
26) Helen Milligan (NZL) 2028
27) Fedja Zulfic (AUS) 2024
28) *Justin Davis (NZL) 2023
29) Fuatai Fuatai (NZL) 2017
30) Manoj Kumar (FIJ) 2009
31) Leon Kempen (AUS) 2003
32) *Hilton Bennett (NZL) 1974
33) Adrian Flitney (AUS) 1974
34) William Lynn (NZL) 1962
35) Brandon Tangaibasa (SOL) 1932
36) Nicholas Deen-Cowell (AUS) 1917
37) Sanmogan Goundar (Fij) 1904
38) *Amir Karibasic (AUS) 1902
39) *Dan Dolejs (NZL) 1892
40) Richard Voon (AUS) 1890
41) Roberto Hernandez (PLW) 1833
42) Bruce Gloistein (NZL) 1817
43) Joshua Bishop (AUS) 1803
44) Nigel Cooper (NZL) 1769
45) Francesco Antoniazzi(AUS) 1685
46) Matthew Bennett (AUS) 1660
47) Tito Cabunagan (PLW) --

* Provisional entries

Queenstown Chess Classic 2012

2010-12-04T16:40:00.000-08:00

2012 Queenstown Classic - confirmed!

New Zealand's most prestigious international Open tournament, The Queenstown Chess Classic, will return for a 3rd edition 15th-23rd January 2012. The $50,000 in sponsorship is being provided by New Zealand Chess Grandmaster Murray Chandler. As with the previous Queenstown events (in 2006 and 2009), the 2012 Classic will be a fully-fledged International Open tournament. It will feature nine rounds over nine days, and will incorporate the 119th New Zealand National Championship. The tournament website www.queenstownchess.com will be updated regularly over the coming months.

Palmerston North Chess Club Champions

2010-12-04T16:34:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to A grade winner Justin Davis and B grade Champion Jack James

Oceania Zonal Rotorua 2011

2010-12-02T23:36:00.000-08:00

Oceania Zonal 2011 Entries (including "*" - provisional entries)as at 2 December 2010

1) GM David Smerdon (AUS) 2531
2) IM George Xie (AUS) 2478
3) IM Stephen Solomon (AUS) 2397
4) IM Gary Lane (AUS) 2373
5) FM Bobby Cheng (AUS) 2316
6) FM Max Illingworth (AUS) 2304
7) FM Bob Smith (NZL) 2287
8) *FM Mike Steadman (NZL) 2285
9) *FM Tim Reilly (AUS) 2276
10) IM Vladimir Feldman (AUS) 2262
11) FM Junta Ikeda (AUS) 2262
12) Gareth Oliver (AUS) 2210
13) *Andrew Brown (AUS) 2175
14) Eugene Schon (AUS) 2157
15) *Quentin Johnson (NZL) 2128
16) *David Hacche (AUS) 2119
17) Joselito Marcos (PNG) 2095
18) FM Brian Jones (AUS) 2084
19) *Shaun Press (PNG) 2067
20) Justin Tan (AUS) 2052
21) Tristan Stevens (AUS) 2050
22) Noel Pinic (NZL) 2035
23) Andrew Fitzpatrick (AUS) 2032
24) Helen Milligan (NZL) 2028
25) *Justin Davis (NZL) 2023
26) Fuatai Fuatai (NZL) 2017
27) Manoj Kumar (FIJ) 2009
28) *Leon Kempen (AUS) 2003
29) *Hilton Bennett (NZL) 1974
30) Adrian Flitney (AUS) 1974
31) Brandon Tangaibasa (SOL) 1932
32) *Amir Karibasic (AUS) 1902
33) *Dan Dolejs (NZL) 1892
34) Roberto Hernandez (PLW) 1833
35) Bruce Gloistein (NZL) 1817
36) Nigel Cooper (NZL) 1769
37) Francesco Antoniazzi(AUS) 1685
38) Tito Cabunagan (PLW) --

*- Provisional entry

Homepage

Oceania Zonal Rotorua 2011

2010-11-27T11:52:00.000-08:00

Rotorua, New Zealand

Oceania official World Chess Championship and Women's Chess Championship Qualifying Event

in the Millennium Hotel, Rotorua

Tuesday 25th to Monday 31st January 2011

Organised by the NEW ZEALAND CHESS FEDERATION

Official webpage

NZCF November Active Ratings List

2010-11-18T00:24:00.000-08:00

New Zealand Top 10

1. IM Russell Dive 2460
2. IM Anthony Ker 2444 (Current NZ Champion)
3. IM Ben Martin 2427
4. FM Roger Nokes 2383
5. FM Scott Wastney 2375
6. IM Puchen Wang 2372
7. FM Robert Smith 2371 (Current North Island Champion)
8. FM Michael Steadman 2362
9. FM Nic Croad 2346
10. IM Paul Garbett 2328

Palmerston North and Central North Island Top Players

Chris Burns 2145
Justin Davis 2111
John McDonald 2098
Allen Ansell 2050
Prince Vetharaniam 2016
Mathew King 1964
Martin Post 1931
James Stewart 1904
Jack James 1679*
Stepen Taylor 1667
John Ansell 1320

Other Players do not have an active rating or only have a rapid rating

*Provisional rating

Important Olympiad positions

2010-10-23T13:46:00.000-07:00

The following position is from FM Smith 2282 - GM Ragger 2628
Smith has currently outplayed his much higher opponent to reach this position, the game ended in a draw but how can white now increase his advantage here to almost ensure the full point?
It must be noted in 2001 GM Ragger was a 2104 rated Junior. Not bad improvement

Olympiad 2010 Final Standings

2010-10-03T23:10:00.000-07:00

Open

Gold Ukraine 19

Silver Russia 1 18

Bronze Israel 17

55. Australia(49) 12

91. New Zealand (92) 10

143. Papau New Guinea (117) 6

Women

Gold Russia 1 22

Silver China 18

Bronze Georgia 16

46. Australia (53) 12

82. New Zealand (72) 9

Olympiad 2010 Final Round Eleven

2010-10-02T19:19:00.000-07:00

Open
Board 39

88 United Arab Emirates (UAE) - 92 New Zealand (NZL) 2 1/2 - 1 1/2

GM Salem A R Saleh 2501 - FM Smith Robert W 2282 1-0

FMA lHuwar Jasem 2265 - FM Steadman Michael 2309 1-0

Omar Noaman Ali Ali 2220 - FM Croad Nicolas 2297 1/2-1/2

FM Abdulwahab Marwan 2089 - Han Daniel 2200 0-1

Women
Board 38

72 New Zealand (NZL) - 77 Guatemala (GUA) 1-3

WFM Milligan Helen 2033 - WIM Mazariego-K Carolina 2086 0-1

WIM Maroroa Sue 1981 - Mencos Claudia 1912 1/2-1/2

WCM Chen Eachen 1966 - Figueroa Julissa 1792 0-1

WFM Fairley Natasha 1777 - Sotomayor Villatoro Silvia 1777 1/2-1/2

Olympiad 2010 Round Ten Standings

2010-10-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

Open Standings

1. Ukraine 18

2. Russia 1 17

3. Israel 16

4. Poland 15

5. Hungary 15

6. Armenia 15

7. Spain 15

8. France 15

68. Australia (49) 10

78. New Zealand (92) 10

145. Papau New Guinea (117) 4

Ukraine has all but wrapped up the gold needing only a drawn match against Israel in the final round, although I'm not sure on the tiebreak system used if Russia 1 was to win over Spain in their last round encounter.

The New Zealand Open team has performed excellently but faces a tough task in the last round to keep a positive result on the final crosstable facing a higher ranked UAE. FM Robert Smith has had some good results on board one chiefly a draw against 2628 rated GM Ragger Markus and a win over 2394 IM Solomon Kenny. FM Michael Steadman has performed excellently beating higher rated IM Kobese Watu 2370 and a draw against GM John Shaw rated 2446. FM Nic Croad struggled in the first rounds but had a good win over Scotland's IM Burns-Mannion Stephen R 2372. Daniel Han has performed the worse but had a good win over Iraq's IM Noah A. H. Al-Ali 2397. The Open team's best match results must be beating Ireland (75) and drawing with Iraq (76) and South Africa (81).

Women Standings

1. Russia 1 20

2. China 16

3. Ukraine 15

4. Georgia 15

5. Russia 2 15

6. Poland 15

36. Australia (53) 12

72. New Zealand (72) 9

So Russia 1 have guaranteed themselves gold with a dominating performance.

The New Zealand Women's team have not performed as well as their last olympiad but currently look set to finish higher than their rank of 72, playing 77 ranked Guatemala in the final round. The two best performers have clearly been WIM Sue Maroroa and WFM Natasha Fairley. Sue drawing with WGM Kaps Darja rated 2300 is her best result. WFM Helen Milligan has had a tough task on board one playing many players abover her rating. WCM Eachen Chen has had mixed results but had a good win over WFM Ovezova Maisa 2117. The teams best results are a draw over Turkmenistan (44) and win against Egypt (73) and a close call against the much higher rated Australia(53) losing only by half a point.

Olympiad 2010 Round Ten

2010-09-30T21:51:00.000-07:00

Men
Board 30

92 New Zealand (NZL) - 71 Belgium (BEL) 1-3

FM Smith Robert W 2282 - IM Saibulatov Daniyal 2400 0-1

FM Steadman Michael 2309 - IM Polaczek Richard 2385 ½ - ½

FM Croad Nicolas 2297 - FM Vandenbussche Thibaut 2333 ½ - ½

Han Daniel 2200 - FM Rooze Jan 2288 0-1

Women
Board 33

51 ICSC (ICSC) - 72 New Zealand (NZL) 4-0

WIM Baklanova Tatiana 2247 - WFM Milligan Helen 2033 1-0

WCM Mucha Annegret 2005 - WCM Chen Eachen 1966 1-0

WIM Gerasimova Olga 2218 - WFM Fairley Natasha 1777 1-0

Myronenko Natalya 1945 - WFM Smith Vivian J 1827 1-0

Olympiad 2010 Round nine

2010-09-30T00:57:00.000-07:00

Open
Board 39

92 New Zealand (NZL) -133 Kenya (KEN) 3½ - ½

FM Smith Robert W 2282 - Gilruth Peter 2202 1- 0

FM Steadman Michael 2309 - Singe Philip 0 ½ - ½

FM Croad Nicolas 2297 - CM Mukabi John 2074 1 - 0

Han Daniel 2200 - Atwoli Joseph 0 1 - 0

Women
Board 25

84 IBCA (IBCA) - 72 New Zealand (NZL) 1½ - 2½

WIM Zsiltzova-Lisenko Lubov 2282 - WFM Milligan Helen 2033 ½ - ½

WCM Stolarczyk Anna 2071 - WIM Maroroa Sue 1981 ½ - ½

Karsokaite Irena 1660 - WCM Chen Eachen 1966 0 - 1

Valner Shafiga 0 - WFM Fairley Natasha 1777 ½ - ½

Olympiad 2010 Round eight

2010-09-28T23:27:00.000-07:00

Open
Board 39

81 South Africa (RSA) -92 New Zealand (NZL) 2 - 2

IM Solomon Kenny 2394 - FM Smith Robert W 2282 0-1

IM Kobese Watu 2370 - FM Steadman Michael 2309 0-1

FM Steel Henry Robert 2300 - FM Croad Nicolas 2297 1-0

IM Johannes Manyedi Mabusela 2288 - Han Daniel 2200 1-0

Women
Board 28

72New Zealand (NZL)-43 Bosnia & Herzegovina (BIH) 1-3

WFM Milligan Helen 2033 - WIM Boric Elena 2286 0-1

WIM Maroroa Sue 1981 - WFM Dengler Dijana 2088 ½ - ½

WCM Chen Eachen 1966 - Dedijer Sanja 2055 ½ - ½

WFM Fairley Natasha 1777 - Dedijer Mira 1973 0-1

Results are http://chess-results.com/tnr36795.aspx?art=0&rd=7&lan=1&turdet=YES&flag=30&m=-1&wi=1000

Official site http://www.ugra-chess.com/

Olympiad 2010 Round Seven

2010-09-27T22:37:00.000-07:00

Open
Board 49

92 New Zealand (NZL) - 106 Panama (PAN) 3 - 1

FM Smith Robert W 2282 - IM Baules Jorge 2335 ½ - ½

FM Steadman Michael 2309 - FM Sanchez Jorge 2163 1-0

FM Croad Nicolas 2297 - FM Arosemena Jose Luis 2203 ½ - ½

Han Daniel 2200 - Aizpurua Patrick 0 1-0

Women
Board 23

72New Zealand (NZL)-44 Turkmenistan (TKM) 2 - 2

WFM Milligan Helen 2033 - WGM Geldiyeva Mahri 2260 0-1

WIM Maroroa Sue 1981 - WFM Hallayeva Bahar 2174 ½ - ½

WCM Chen Eachen 1966 - WFM Ovezova Maisa 2117 1-0

WFM Fairley Natasha 1777 - WFM Atabayeva Gozel 2116 ½ - ½

Olympiad 2010 Round Six

2010-09-26T23:45:00.000-07:00

Open
Board 37

63 Scotland (SCO) - 92 New Zealand (NZL) 2 1/2 - 1 1/2

GM McNab Colin A 2445 - FM Smith Robert W 2282 1-0

GM Shaw John 2446 - FM Steadman Michael 2309 1/2 -1/2

IM Burns-Mannion Stephen R 2372 - FM Croad Nicolas 2297 0-1

FM Morrison Graham 2345 - Han Daniel 2200 1-0

Women
Board 41

79 Jordan (JOR) - 72 New Zealand (NZL) 1-3

Emad Tania 1955 - WFM Milligan Helen 2033 0-1

Dahdal Lougain 1885 - WIM Maroroa Sue 1981 0-1

Boshra Alshaeby 1798 - WCM Chen Eachen1966 1-0

Nuimat Rayah0 - WFM Fairley Natasha 1777 0-1

Olympiad 2010 Round Five Standings

2010-09-25T18:35:00.000-07:00

Open

1 Georgia 10 MP
2 Hungary 10 MP
3 Armenia 10 MP
4 Ukraine 9 MP
5 Netherlands 9 MP
6 Russia 2 8 MP
7 Czech Republic 8 MP
8 Russia 1 8 MP
9 Azerbaijan 8 MP
10 United States of America 8 MP
76 New Zealand (92) 5 MP

Women

1 Ukraine 10 MP
2 Russia 1 10 MP
3 United States of America 9 MP
4 Hungary 9 MP
5 Georgia 8 MP
6 China 8 MP
7 Poland 8 MP
8 India 8 MP
9 Russia 3 8 MP
10 Serbia 8 MP
75 New Zealand (72) 4 MP

MP = Match points
2 points for a match win

Photo's of the NZ teams can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/shaunpress/Olympiad2010#

Olympiad 2010 round five

2010-09-25T03:08:00.000-07:00

Open
Board 44

76 Iraq (IRQ) - 92 New Zealand (NZL) 2 - 2

Ahmed Abdul Sattar abdulwhhab 2342 - FM Smith Robert W 2282 ½ - ½

FM Al-Ali Hussein Ali Hussein 2364 - FM Steadman Michael 2309 ½ - ½

IM Al-Saffar Araz Basim Mohammed 2348 - FM Croad Nicolas 2297 1-0

IM Noah A. H. Al-Ali 2397 - Han Daniel 2200 0-1

Women
Board 35

72 New Zealand (NZL) - 53 Australia (AUS) 1 ½-½ - 2½ - ½

WFM Milligan Helen 2033 - WIM Caoili Arianne 2243 0-1

WCM Chen Eachen 1966 - Nguyen Thu Giang 2108 1/2 - 1/2

WFM Fairley Natasha 1777 - WIM Dekic Biljana N 2104 1/2 - 1/2

WFM Smith Vivian J1827 - WFM Reid Vaness 1839 1/2 - 1/2

Olympiad 2010 Round Four

2010-09-25T02:55:00.000-07:00

Open
Board 30

92 New Zealand (NZL)-45Austria (AUT)½ :3½

FM Smith Robert W 2282 - GM Ragger Markus 2628 ½ - ½

FM Steadman Michael 2309 - GM Shengelia David 2587 0 - 1

FMCroad Nicolas 2297 - IM Neubauer Martin 2428 0 - 1

Han Daniel 2200 -IM Danner Georg 2422 0 - 1

Women

Board 34

73 Egypt (EGY) - 72 New Zealand (NZL) 1½:2½

Elgohary Myada 1751 - WFM Milligan Helen 2033 0 - 1

Elansary Eman 1836 - WIM Maroroa Sue 1981 0 - 1

WGM Mona Khaled 2103 - WCM Chen Eachen 1966 1 - 0

WIM Basta Sohair 2030 - WFM Fairley Natasha 1777 ½ - ½

Olympiad 2010 Round Three

2010-09-23T02:34:00.000-07:00

A great result for both teams to take out Ireland especially the open group who was outranked.

Open
Board 47

92 New Zealand (NZL) -75 Ireland (IRL) 2 1/2 - 1-1/2

FM Smith Robert W 2282 - IM Collins Sam E 2431 0-1

FM Steadman Michael 2309 - FM Astaneh Lopez Alex 2393 1-0

FM Croad Nicolas2297 - FM Daly Colm 2277 1-0

Han Daniel 2200 - Fitzsimons David 2229 1/2-1/2

Women
Board 45

72 New Zealand (NZL) -107 Ireland (IRL) 3 1/2 - 1/2

WFM Milligan Helen 2033 - Alfred Emily 0 1/2 -1/2

WIM Maroroa Sue 1981 - Shaughnessy Elizabeth 0 1-0

WCM Chen Eachen 1966 - Hearne Sarah-Jane 0 1-0

WFM Fairley Natasha 1777 - WCM O'Boyle Una 0 1-0

New Zealand Women's team on right of picture from an earlier round.

Olympiad 2010 Round one Tactics

2010-09-21T23:37:00.000-07:00

Natasha Fairley is black in this position and played the unfortunate d2?? but by simply moving the rook black should cruise to victory. The game ended in a draw

Michael Steadman has just played Rbc8 what tactical shot did he miss

Olympiad 2010 Round two

2010-09-21T22:58:00.000-07:00

Open
Board 72

144 Mauritania (MTN) - 92 New Zealand (NZL) 1-3

Mohamed Cheikh Boidiya Sidi 0 - FM Smith Robert W 2282 0-1

Daouda Sabar Ousmane 0 - FM Steadman Michael 2309 0-1

Hemam Moulaye Brahim 0 - FM Croad Nicolas 2297 1/2-1/2

Ould Taleb Mohamed Ahmed 0 - Han Daniel 2200 1/2-1/2

Women
Board 33

80 Puerto Rico (PUR) - 72 New Zealand (NZL) 3-1

WFM Segarra Choe Tammy 2014 - WFM Milligan Helen 2033 1/2-1/2

Pacheco Medina Hilzandryly 1875 - WIM Maroroa Sue 1981 1/2-1/2

Sanchez Rodriguez Wilmairi 1812 - WCM Chen Eachen 1966 1-0

Comas Colon Rinelly 1696 - WFM Fairley Natasha 1777 1-0

Olympiad 2010 Round one

2010-09-21T00:49:00.000-07:00

Pictures from the opening ceremony

Please note pairings are not in colour order.

Open

Board 18

91 New Zealand (NZL)-18 Cuba (CUB)

FM Smith Robert W 2282 - GM Bruzon Batista Lazaro 2679

FM Steadman Michael 2309 - GMQuesada Perez Yuniesky 2614

FM Croad Nicolas 2297 - GM Corrales Jimenez Fidel 2599

Han Daniel 2200 - GM Hernandez Carmenates Holden 2563

New Zealand lost all games

Women

Board 12

70 New Zealand (NZL) - 13 Slovenia (SLO)

WFM Milligan Helen2033 - WGMKrivec Jana 2309

WIM Maroroa Sue 1981 - WGMKaps Darja 2300

WCM Chen Eachen 1966 - WIMRozic Vesna 2289

WFM Fairley Natasha 1777 - WFMBajt Indira 2204

Natasha and Sue drew but NZ lost 1-3

World Chess Olympiad 2010 Khanty-Mansiysk Siberia, RUSSIA

2010-09-16T15:40:00.000-07:00

Three days to go and the somewhat troublesome Olympiad begins. Good luck to both teams. I have donated a small amount to the olympiad fund but I figure if we all make a small effort it can only help.

The New Zealand Open team is ranked 90th out of 157 teams with an average rating of 2272. Ahead of Papau New Guinea (114th) but behind Australia (50th). The top 3 teams are Russia, Ukrine and China.
The Women's team is ranked 72 out of 118 with an average rating of 1952* (see http://www.newzealandchess.co.nz/Olympiad2010/olympiad2010.html for more details). The 3 top teams are Russia China Ukraine.

Official site http://www.ugra-chess.com/
Result's and information http://chess-results.com/tnr36795.aspx?art=0&lan=1&turdet=YES&flag=30&m=-1&wi=1000

3rd Gordon Hoskyn Memorial Rapid Tournament

2010-08-21T19:32:00.000-07:00

21st August 2010 - 3rd Gordon Hoskyn Memorial Rapid, Palmerston North

A-Grade
1st Justin Davis
2nd= Mathew King IM Anthony Ker

B-Grade
1st Daniel Yuan
2nd= Micheal Yuan, David Bell, Jack James

Upset prizes
1.James Stewart (1754) - for win against IM Anthony Ker (2363)

2.Jack James (1384) - for win against David Capper (1642)

3.Cerdic Backhouse (1406) - for win against David Capper (1642)

4. Mathew King (1832) - for win against John McDonald (2042)

5. Justin Davis (1909) - for draw against IM Anthonuy Ker (2363)

Directors of Play :- Stewart Holdaway and Dennis Davey

Special thanks to Stewart Holdaway for the excellent job done as tournament director, general organising and sponsoring of this event.

A-GradeRound Robin
Name Rating Total

1 Davis,Justin 1909 4/5

2 King, Mathew 1832 3.5/5

3 IM Ker,Anthony 2363 3.5/5

4 Smith,Chris 1863 2/5

5 Stewart,James 1754 1/5

6 McDonald,John 2042 1/5

B-GradeSwiss
No Name Loc Total 1 2 3 4 5

Yuan, Daniel 1549 4.5
Yuan, Micheal 1528 3
Bell, David 1571 3
James, Jack 1384 3
Brockway, Andrew 1624 2.5
Capper, David 1642 2
Backhouse, Cedric 1406 2
Luo, Brian 953 0

Due to unforeseen circumstances this years tournament was a slight change from last year. The A-grade was a 5 round robin and the B grade a small 8 player swiss. . The tournament was a great success but next year will probably bring a return to the open format. Unfortunately due to the blog format I cannot bring a complete crosstable easily but in case your wondering IM Ker lost to James Stewart in the first round and drew with Davis in the second leaving the tournament wide open for an unlikey winner. Congratulations to all who managed to come away with a prize.

Complete results to be found here also http://web.mac.com/xrissmith/Chess/NZ/tourn2010gh.htm

Wang Draws Kamsky

2010-08-03T23:42:00.000-07:00

Former New Zealand champion has managed to take a half point off the current US champ and all around elite GM Gata Kamsky. Congratulations Puchen Wang.

IM Wang Puchen (2469) - GM Kamsky,G (2702)
[B42] 38th World Open King of Prussia USA (7), 04.07.2010

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 g6 6.0-0 Bg7 7.Nb3 d6 8.N1d2 Nf6 9.Nc4 b5 10.Nca5 Bd7 11.c4 0-0 12.c5 dxc5 13.Nb7 Qe7 14.N7xc5 Rd8 15.Bg5 h6 16.Bh4 Nc6 17.Qe2 g5 18.Bg3 Nd4 19.Nxd4 Qxc5 20.Nb3 Qb6 21.Rac1 Rac8 22.h4 Be8 23.hxg5 hxg5 24.e5 Nd5 25.Rxc8 Rxc8 26.Qg4 Nf4 27.Bxf4 gxf4 28.Qxf4 Rd8 29.Rd1 Rd5 30.Be2 Rxe5 31.Bf3 a5 32.Nd2 Rf5 33.Qg4 Kf8 34.Ne4 Rd5 35.Rxd5 exd5 36.Ng3 Bxb2 37.Bxd5 Qc5 38.Qf5 Qc1+ 39.Kh2 Qc3 40.f4 Qh8+ 41.Nh5 Qh6 42.g4 Qg6 43.Qc8 Qd6 44.Qf5 a4 45.Ng3 Qg6 46.Kg2 b4 47.Qc8 Qb6 48.Ne4 Qb5 49.Qd8 Qe2+ 50.Kg3 Qe3+ 51.Kg2 Qxf4 52.Bc6 Qe5 53.Kf3 b3 54.Bxe8 Qxe8 55.Qd2 f5 56.gxf5 Qh5+ 57.Kg2 Qxf5 58.Qb4+ Kg7 59.Qxa4 bxa2 60.Qxa2 Qxe4+ 61.Kf2 Bd4+ 62.Kg3 Be5+ 63.Kf2 Qf4+ 64.Ke1 Bc3+ 65.Kd1 Qf1+ 66.Kc2 Qe2+ 67.Kb3 Qe6+ 68.Ka3 Qd6+ 69.Kb3 Qd5+ 70.Ka3 Qc5+ 71.Kb3
½-½

RIP Ted Frost 1927-2010

2010-07-24T20:09:00.000-07:00

Ted Frost 1927-2010 passed away peacefully 15th July, aged 83

A nice article can be found at the wellington chess club web site.

I remember Ted from my first tournament, the 2005 New Zealand Congress. Ted was a guest speaker and among other things described playing Murray Chandler in the Major Open, back a few years ago now. Sadly he stopped playing over the board chess a while ago but he became a New Zealand Correspondence championship player. One event I remember clearly (or not so clearly as the result may be) was his victory over Gordon Hoskyn at the Wanganui Club Presidents verse Club Captain's team match. If anyone has the score of this game it would be great to see it published.

The following game is a nice win for Ted against David Lynch who in 3/4 years was to become NZ Champion.

Frost,Edward GA- Lynch,David [D53]Napier v Hastings, 1947
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.e3 h6 7.Bf4 c6 8.Rc1 0-0 9.Qc2 Re8 10.a3 Nb6 11.c5 Nbd7 12.Bd3 Nh5 13.Ne2 f5 14.h3 g5 15.Bh2 Nhf6 16.Ne5 Nxe5 17.Bxe5 Rf8 18.g4 Qe8 19.Kd2 Ne4+ 20.Ke1 fxg4 21.hxg4 Qf7 22.Bxe4! Qxf2+ 23.Kd2 dxe4 24.Qxe4 Rf3 25.Rcf1 [25.Qg6+ Kf8 26.Bg7+ Kg8 27.Bxh6+ Kh8 28.Qg7#]

1-0

Palmerston North Chess Club Rapid Championship

2010-06-24T23:12:00.000-07:00

Final Standings

1st Justin Davis 6/6

2nd Mathew King 5/6

3rd Stewart Holdaway 4/6

4th Cedric Backhouse 3.4/6

5= Dennis Davey Johan Van Vurren 3/6

7th Clive 2.5/6

8th Frank Visser 1/6

9th =Jack James Derrick 0/6

My first tournament this year for the club was a rather predictable event. Chess has a great thing called ratings National (NZCF) and international (FIDE), these ratings are usually accurate and Justin being the top seed won this event. Below is my game against him.

King,M (1829) - Davis,J (1863) [B01] Palmerston North Club Rapid Championship, 25+5, 11.06.2010

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6

A favourite move of GM Tiviakov. This opening is solid but in general doesn't give black many winning chances at the GM level.
4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 c6 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Nc4 Qc7 8.Qf3 Nb6 9.Bf4 Qd8 10.Be5

10...Be6
10...Bg4 11.Qg3 h5 12.f3 Be6 13.Ne3 Nbd5 14.Ncxd5 Nxd5 15.Nxd5 Qxd5 16.Bd3 f6 17.Bb8 h4 18.Qc7 Kf7 19.Qxb7 c5 20.Qxd5 Bxd5 21.c4 Bxf3 22.Bxa7 Bxg2 23.Rg1 Rxa7 24.Rxg2 cxd4 25.Bg6+ Kg8 26.c5 ½-½ Grischuk,A-Tiviakov,S/Sochi 2006
11.Ne3
11.Na5 Nbd5 12.Nb3 Nxc3 13.Qxc3 Bd5 14.Qg3 b5 15.Bd3 g6 16.0-0 Bg7 17.Rfe1 0-0 18.h3 a6 19.Nc5 Ra7 20.a4 Qa8 21.c3 Nh5 22.Qe3 Bxe5 23.Qxe5 Ng7 24.Be4 Rd8 25.axb5 axb5 26.Ra6 Rxa6 27.Nxa6 Bxe4 28.Nc7 Qb7 29.Rxe4 Rd7 30.Na6 Rd6 31.Nc5 Qb6 32.Qxe7 Nf5 33.Qe8+ 1-0 Chernov,V-Muse,D/Berlin GER 2010
11...Bd5
11...Nbd5 12.Ncxd5 Nxd5 13.c3 f6 14.Bg3 Bf7 15.Bc4 e6 16.0-0 Be7 17.Nxd5 cxd5 18.Bb5+ Kf8 19.Rfe1 g6 20.Bd3 Kg7 21.Bf4 a6 22.a4 Re8 23.Qe2 Bd6 24.Bxd6 Qxd6 25.Qd2 Re7 26.f4 Be8 27.Qf2 Bd7 28.Re3 Rg8 29.Qh4 Rf7 30.a5 Qc7 31.Rf3 Kf8 32.Qe1 Ke7 33.Qd1 Kd8 34.Qb3 Kc8 35.c4 Bc6 36.Rf2 Kb8 37.c5 Kc8 38.Qc3 g5 39.Re1 gxf4 40.Rxe6 Bd7 41.Rd6 Rg4 42.Be2 Rh4 43.Bf3 Re7 44.Rxd5 Re3 45.Qc2 Qxa5 46.Rf1 Re1 47.Rh5 Bb5 0-1 Valentine,B-Crouch,C/London ENG 2009
12.Nexd5 Nbxd5 13.Bc4 Qa5?!
A mistaken plan Justin acknowledeges after the game. Better is 13...e6 if 13...Qb6 14.0-0!
14.0-0 Nxc3 15.bxc3 Nd5 16.Rab1
Black is in serious difficulties now in fact I would say losing. His king is still in the center and the bishop on f8 needs a pawn to move before it can be developed.
16...b6 17.Rb5!

I was very happy with the position now, the problem is I had used a good chunk of time and was under 5 minutes as opposed to Davis who still had over 10 minutes.

17...Qa4

This rook is untouchable because after cxb5 Bxb5 f7 and a8 are hanging Bc6+ is also coming putting the black king in great danger.

18.Bxd5 cxd5 19.Qxd5 Rc8 20.Qb7 Qc4 21.Rb3

This was my first tournament of the year and the rust is starting to show I saw Rc5 but couldn't analyse it properly in the time pressure. Winning is 21.Rc5! Rxc5 22.dxc5 Qxc5 23.Qa8+ Kd7 24.Rd1+ Ke6 25.Bd4

21...f6 22.Bd6?
Now I simply missed 23...Kd8. At the 2009 Gordon Hoskyn memorial tournament FM Nic Croad gave me a strong observation. He roughly stated that after looking at my games I seem to play a few moves and then sacrifice something and sometimes when you have the advantage simple play is best. Of course 22.Bg3 is the sane choice.

22...exd6 23.Re1+ Kd8 24.Qxa7 Qc7 25.Qa4

25.Qa6 This would give white some compensation.

25...Qc6 26.Qa6

Black won in a few moves after mutual mistakes, white hanging his rook being the final one.

0-1

I will now give a segment out of the book Masters of the Chess Board by Richard Reti on Emanuel Lasker

"In analysing Lasker's tournament games I was struck by his lasting and at first incredible good luck. There are tournaments in which he came out on top and won almost every game, though in a losing position in every other game, so that many masters spoke of Lasker's hypnotic influence over his opponents. What is the truth? Again and again I studied Laskers games too discover the secret of his success. There is no denying the fact that over and over again Lasker's lay-out of the game is poor, that he is in a losing position a hundred times and nevertheless wins in the end. The hypothesis of lasting luck is too improbable. There is only one answer which may sound paradoxical at first blush: Lasker often deliberately plays badly. The motive is not far to seek. It was Dr. Tartakower who created the paradox which my give us the explanation: " a game is always won through a mistake, either the opponent's or one's own."

The reason I include the above quote is to try and bring attention to the point a plus/minus evaluation does not automatically translate to a won game, sometimes we feel (especially when playing certain players) because we have a winning position we surely must win the game. Unfortunately this is not always the case. Now Masters of the chess board was first published back in 1933 so it is probably ok to question Reti's conclusion because in my humble opinion he is giving Lasker too much credit. Lasker was undoubtley a great practical player but to say he played into losing position's purposely is going too far.

A game of chess does not travel down a flat road, it is fill of up's and downs as can be seen from my game. What matters most is you concentrate on each move until the end. Sounds simple enough right?

3rd Gordon Hoskyn Memorial Rapid Chess Tournament

2010-06-11T19:57:00.000-07:00

When:
August 21st 2010

Where:
Evelyn Rawlins room 1st floor of Square Edge 47 The Square Palmerston North

Format:
5 round robin 25 minutes plus 5 seconds per move

Prize fund:
A grade 1st - $180 2nd - $70
B grade 1st - $150 2nd - $60

Entry fee:
$35

The palmerston North Chess club meets every thurseday at the Intermediate Normal school on Ferguson Street at 7:30pm sharp.

Club president : Dennis Davey (06) 353-0193
Club Captain : Stewart Holdaway 027-329-4399

Olympiad 2010

2010-05-18T23:49:00.000-07:00

19th September - 4th October 2010 - World Chess Olympiad, Khanty-Mansiysk, Siberia, RUSSIA

The New Zealand teams have been announced

Open

FM Smith, Robert FIDE 2274 NZCF 2357

FM Steadman, Michael FIDE 2252 NZCF 2335

FM Lukey, Stephen FIDE 2244 NZCF 2318

Han, Daniel FIDE 2200 NZCF 2233

Thornton Giovanni FIDE 2195 NZCF 2230

Team Captain Hilton Bennet

Women

WFM Milligan, Helen FIDE 1995 NZCF 2093

Chen, Eachen FIDE 1994 NZCF 1887

WIM Maroroa, Sue FIDE 1926 NZCF 2034

Fairley, Natasha FIDE 1777 NZCF 1844

Wu, Shirley FIDE 1763 NZCF 1871

Team Captain WFM Vivian Smith

Going by the players listed above it seems we have a JAFA explosion!

The women's team looks good but what has happened to New Zealand's top rated players.

No Grandmasters but ok we only have one and he is mostly retired.

But no International masters is the most shocking then then add Han at 18th and Thornton at 20th on the active rating list and the open team looks extremely weak compared to two years ago. Han and Thornton's inclusion is more a failure of other top players than an achievement for those too, but ok good on them for stepping up some one had to.

GM Gawain Jones Palmerston North Simul

2010-04-22T23:21:00.000-07:00

After a long break I couldn't resist posting my first win over a grandmaster not played over the internet.

GM Jones,G - King,M [A68] Palmerston North Simul, 16.03.2010

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 0-0 6.Nf3 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Be2 exd5 9.cxd5

9...a6?!

Not the best move as far as theory is concerned.

9...Bg4 A Solid line

9...Re8 10.e5 dxe5 11.fxe5 Ng4 12.Bg5 Qb6 A rather sharp and unclear possibility.

10.0-0 Re8 11.e5 dxe5 12.fxe5 Ng4 13.e6 fxe6 14.d6 Nc6 15.Ne4 Nd4 16.Nxd4 Bxd4+ 17.Kh1 Nf6

I was tempted by 17...Nxh2 but after 18.Rf4 I couldn't see anything great.

18.Qxd4?!

Not a completely sound move but the psychological prejudice noted by Nimzowitsch speaks volumes.

As soon as the sacrifice of the queen falls within one's field of vision it immediately becomes clear that this is the move that has to be played.

Gawain said he didn't like Bg5 as it would allow me to sacrifice my queen.

18.Bg5 Is better, black must find the queen sac 18...Nxe4!? 19.Bxd8 Rxd8 20.Bg4 Nxd6 But now it will turn out that black's position cannot maintain any blockade and white will crash through with a strong attack. 21.Rc1 b6 (21...e5 22.Rxc5 Bxg4 23.Qxg4 Bxc5 24.Qe6+ Kg7 25.Qxe5+ Kg8 26.Qxc5) 22.Qf3 Rb8 (22...Ra7 23.Qb3 c4 24.Qg3 b5 25.Qh4 Bb6 26.b3) 23.Rce1 e5 24.Bxc8 Rbxc8 25.Qd5+ Kg7 26.Rxe5 Bxe5 27.Qxe5+ Kg8 28.Qe6+ Kg7 29.g4+-

18...cxd4 19.Nxf6+ Kg7 20.Nxe8+ Qxe8 21.Bg5 e5

Better is 21...Qc6 22.Bf6+ Kg8 23.Rac1 (23.Bxd4 Qd5 24.Bc3 Qxd6 25.Bf3 Qc7-+) 23...Qxd6

22.Bf6+ Kg8 23.Be7?

23.Rac1! Be6

(23...b5 24.Rc7 Bd7 25.Bf3 e4 26.Bd1 h5 27.Bb3+ Kh7 28.Bxd4+-;

23...d3 24.Bxd3 e4 25.Bc4+ Be6 26.Bxe6+ Qxe6 27.Rc7 Rf8 28.Rg7+ Kh8 29.Rxg6+ Rxf6 30.Rgxf6 Qd5+-)

24.Rc7 Qf8 25.Re7 Bf7 26.Bxe5 Re8 27.Rfxf7 Qxf7 28.Rxf7 Kxf7+-

23...Bf5 24.Rae1 Qc6 25.Rc1 Qb6?

25...Qa4 26.Bc4+ Kg7 27.Bb3 Qb5 28.Kg1 Black is better

26.Bc4+

26.Rc7! d3 27.Bd1 Be6 28.Bf6 Qxd6 (28...Qb5 29.Rg7+ Kf8 30.Bxe5+ Bf5 31.Bb3 Qxb3 Forced to avoid mate) 29.Rg7+ Kf8 30.Bxe5+ Bf5 31.Bxd6+ Kxg7

26...Kg7 27.Bb3 Rd8

Better is 27...Qb5

28.Rc7

28.Bxd8 Qxd8-+ Black will be two pawns down and the queen has chances to cause havoc.

28...Rd7! 29.Rxf5

29.Rxd7 Qb5 30.Bf8+ Kxf8 31.Rf7+ Ke8 32.Re1 Kd8 33.Kg1-+

29...gxf5 30.Rxd7

30...Qb5!

One of the best moves I have had the opportunity to make. White is now officialy busted but of course being only a 16 board simul I am basically playing at a rapid time control so the win must be calmly played out.

31.Bf8+ Kxf8 32.Rf7+ Ke8 33.Rxf5 Kd7 34.Rf6 Qc5 35.h4 e4 36.Rh6? Qc1+

The power of the queen is undeniable

0-1

Photo's and pgn to be found here

http://web.mac.com/xrissmith/Chess/NZ/GM_Simul.htm

Australasian Chess Match of the Decade

2009-07-28T00:14:00.000-07:00

August 1st-6th 2009

Australasian Chess Match of the Decade: IM Puchen Wang v GM David Smerdon, Auckland.

Sponsored by Chess Enterprises New Zealand.

Venue: "Old Boys' Pavilion" at Auckland Grammar School in Mountain Road (off Khyber Pass). Six game match, one game a day, starting at 4pm. Spectators welcome.

You are also invited to attend an informal get-together to meet Puchen and David at the Copthorne Harbourcity Hotel Tactics Bar on Friday evening, July 31st between 6.00 and 8.00 pm. This will be a fundraising evening as well to support the Chess Friends Trust. Donations of support will be most welcome & proceeds passed on to the Trust to help support New Zealand chess development.

more info at

http://www.newzealandchess.co.nz/calendar.html

http://www.chessnz.co.nz/

San-Sebastian

2009-07-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

After securing a 1 point lead midway through the tournament the American Nakamura looked set to be an easy winner. However Ponomariov was able to steadily catch up as Nakamura drew game after game with many being short draws, perhaps taking a leaf out of Kramnik's play book. After 9 rounds Ponomariov and Nakamura where tied so it came down to a blitz play-off which of course suited the blitz expert Nakamura.

The following position is from game one
Nakamura - Ponomariov white to move

White has just played g5 which black replied hxg5 the sharp eye of Nakamura had a surprise coming

33. Qxe5!

The game concluded

33...Kf7

33...fxe5 34.Bh5+ leads to mate

34. Qg3 g4 35. Bxg4 Qc5 36.Bxe6+!

1-0

Nakamura was able to win the second blitz play-off game and claim outright first. Congratulations Hikaru. The 12th world champion Karpov had I would imagine the worst tournament of his life finishing on 1.5 out of 9. It is clear that even for a former World champion how much work is needed to stay at the top of the chess ladder. Karpov may even fall out of the top 100 after this result, But I am sure all of this will be forgotten if he beats Kasparov in their exhibition match in September.

Official website http://www.donostiachess.com/en/ where full results to the other tournaments running along side this are available.

Palmerston North Club Rapid Championship

2009-07-16T01:23:00.000-07:00

Stephen Taylor Mathew King and Justin Davis tied on 5/6 to share first place.

After winning my first 5 games beating my main rival and securing first place I just wasn't up to the task in my last round . Full credit to Taylor for bringing intensitity and capatilising on my mistakes to get a share of first. I have to admit that losing to Stephen was tough to take, It was my first loss to someone lower rated than me since losing to James Stewart in Wanganui last year (although he is now higher rated than me on the latest NZCF rating's list.) But I learnt alot from that loss and will duely do the same with this one.

On a happier (atleast for me) note I am going to show my game with the top seed.

Davis,J 1881 - King,M 1758 [E92]Palmy Rapid Championship (4.1), 25.06.2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.dxe5

This could be seen to rain on black's aggressive intentions, but not all people who play the King's Indian Defence are one dementional monster's craving a K-side attack at any cost.

7...dxe5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9.Nd5

Not the most popular choice. A previous game of ours was agreed drawn on move 8 at white's suggestion in the Club Captain's verse Presidents team match in 2008. White is aiming for a solid position with (in theory) minmul losing chances.

9.Bg5 is a more popular option.

9...Nxd5 10.cxd5 c6

The center must be attacked before white is able to consolidate it.

11.Bc4 b5

This is what was analysed after our earlier game and we agreed black is doing fine.

12.Bb3 Bb7 13.Bg5 Rd7 14.0-0-0 cxd5 15.Bxd5 Bxd5 16.Rxd5

16.exd5 Rc7+ 17.Kb1 Nd7 18.Nd2 f5 19.f4 h6 20.Be7 exf4 21.Bd6 Rcc8 22.Bxf4 g5 23.Be3 f4 24.Bf2 Nf6 25.Nb3 Rd8 26.Rhe1 Rxd5 27.Rxd5 Nxd5 28.Nc5 a5 29.h4 gxh4 30.Bxh4 Ne3 31.Rg1 Nf5 32.Bf2 Re8 33.Nd3 Rd8 34.Kc2 Bd4 35.Rf1 Be3 36.Be1 Nd4+ 37.Kb1 Ne6 38.Kc2 Nd4+ 39.Kb1 Ne6 40.Kc2 b4 41.g3 Nd4+ 42.Kb1 f3 43.Ne5 Rc8 44.Bf2 Bxf2 45.Rxf2 Re8 46.Nd3 Re3 47.Rd2 Kg7 48.b3 Re2 49.Kc1 Rg2 50.Nf4 Rxd2 51.Kxd2 f2 0-1 Herraiz Hidalgo,H-Illescas Cordoba,M/Ayamonte 2002

16...Rxd5 17.exd5

17...f6

This move was based on inferior thinking. I thought a bishop coming to e7 followed by the pawn supporting it with d6 was good for white. It turns out that white would be over extended and black would suffer no difficilties.

17...Nd7 18.Be7 Re8 19.d6 h6 20.Rd1 Rc8+ 21.Kb1 f5 22.Ne1 e4 23.Nc2 Kf7 24.Ne3 Ke6 25.f3 Be5

18.Be3 Nd7 19.Kb1!?

White will now have first show at the c-file

19...Nb6?!

I decided to defer the pawn advance not convinced I was better and allowed white a chance to cause a permanent structural hit.

Better is of course 19...f5 20.Rc1 f4 21.Bc5 e4 22.Ng5 Nxc5 23.Rxc5 e3!? I just couldn't evaluate this in due time but black is doing well.

20.Bxb6 axb6 21.Rc1

Probably better is 21.Rd1 Kf7 22.Nd2 Ra4 23.Nf1 Ke7 24.Ne3= but white is still believing in his so called "colour advantage" . This is not a reference to ethnicity by the way :)

21...Rd8 22.Rc6?!

Justin still believes he holds the advantage and proudly emphasizes his rook controls the historicaly strong c-file (see the game Botvinnik - Alekhine AVRO Tournament Holland 1938. Annotated in My Great Predessors book volume 2 game 36)

22...Rxd5 23.Rxb6?

White misses black's next move but then to see such a move as powerful is not easy.

23...e4!

The knight's legs are cut from under him.

24.Ne1

Slightly less losing maybe 24.Nh4 g5 25.Rb8+ Bf8 26.Re8 gxh4 27.Rxe4 h3! But with this move black is a piece ahead and will have targets in the form of white's affected K-side.

24...Rd1+ 25.Kc2 Rxe1 26.Kd2 Ra1!

Justin is a resourceful player in difficult positions and I must be vigilant with any counterplay white can generate. White's only real counterplay will be his queenside pawns hence why this is better than going after the k-side pawns. It is important not to relax even in a clearly winning position, the game must still be won. As after all black's extra bishop is yet to play an important role.

Still winning is 26...Rg1 27.Rxb5 Bh6+ 28.Ke2 Rxg2 29.Rb8+ Kf7 30.Rb7+ Ke6 31.Rxh7 Rxh2 32.b4 e3!

27.a3 Bh6+ 28.Ke2 Ra2 29.Rxb5 Bc1!

White now will not get even a single pawn for the piece and his only real source of counter play is eliminated. White play's on hoping to swindle black in the time scramble.

30.Rb8+ Kg7 31.Rb7+ Kh6 32.Kd1 Bxb2 33.a4 Bd4 34.Rb4 Bxf2 35.Rxe4 f5 36.Rc4 Ba7 37.Rh4+ Kg5 38.Rxh7 Rxa4 39.Ke2 Ra2+ 40.Kf3 Ra3+ 41.Ke2 Bc5 42.g3 Re3+ 43.Kf1 Kg4 44.Rh4+ Kg5 45.Rc4 Bd6 46.Kf2 Ra3 47.Kg2 Kf6 48.Rc6 Ke6 49.Rc2 Be5 50.Rc6+ Kd5 51.Rc2 Rb3 52.Kh1 Ra3 53.Rd2+ Ke6 54.Re2 g5 55.Rc2 g4 56.Rc6+ Kd5 57.Rc8 Ke4 58.Re8 Kf3!

Checkmate is coming.

59.h4 Bxg3

0-1

Kramnik Wins Dortmund

2009-07-12T15:03:00.000-07:00

Kramnik's style of chess may not gain a huge fan base but he once again proved his critics wrong. In his first classical tournament this year he was able to achieve some important milestones. In round 4 he finally won a game with the black pieces against Naiditsch, his last one (in a classical time control) was way back in 2006 against Topalov in their World championship match. In round 8 Kramnik was able to crush top seed Magnus Carlsen who had been leading the tournament throughout. This win gave Kramnik the lead which was bolstered by a final round win to finish on +3 undefeated.

July NZCF Active Rating List

2009-07-07T03:15:00.000-07:00

Palmerston North Players

Rank Name Standard rating Rapid rating

24. Charles Ker 2108 2002

55. Justin Davis 1970 1881

77. Mathew King 1889 1750

145. Jeremy Smith 1685* unr

184. Taylor Stephen 1605 1646

239. Dylan Chen 1477* 1493

Stewart Holdaway i 1645

Damon White unr 1533*

Kim, Teh Gyu unr 1473*

Ryan Hill unr 1463*

Matthew Howe unr 1453*

Savern Reweti unr 1407*

DanielYuan unr 1405 *

Michael Yuan unr 1386*

John Young unr 1386*

JuYoung Kim unr 1358*

Dennis Davey unr 1309

Terry Lee unr 908*

Ricky Kim unr 899*

i = inactive
*=Provisional
unr= unrated

Oceania Zonal 2009

2009-07-03T21:08:00.000-07:00

The recent Oceania Zonal come to a finish with (Aus) GM elect David Smerdon winning the Open section and (Aus) WIM Arianne Caoili winning the women's to each claim a spot in the coming World Cup. For the Kiwi contingent Sue Mararoa gained the Womens International Master title and Mike Steadman was finally able to clinch the Fide Master title.

The following game is from the last round of the Oceania Zonal.

Scott,R (2261) - Steadman,M (2262) [A40]2009 Oceanic Zonal Open Tweed Heads (9.6), 26.06.2009
1.d4

Steadman had a rough start to the Zonal losing in round's 3 and 4 to lower ranked oponents. He was then able to win the next 4 games giving him a chance for a good finish, all that stood in his way was a former Kiwi now Aussie resident Ronald Scott. Scott on the other hand was having a great tournament and was coming off a win in round 7 against IM Rujevic and a draw in round 8 against IM West.

1...g6 2.c4

A critical last round game, both players need a win to claim the FM title.

2...Bg7 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.g3 b5

6.Nbd2

White is not willing to grab a pawn believing black's compensation to be sufficient.

6.cxb5 a6 7.bxa6 Qa5+ (7...Nf6 8.Nc3 0-0 9.Bg2 Bf5 10.0-0 Nxa6 11.Ne1 Qd7 12.e4 Bh3 13.Rb1 Rfb8 14.b3 Bxg2 15.Nxg2 Ng4 16.Bb2 Nc7 17.Qc2 Bd4 18.Kh1 Ne5 19.Qe2 Qc8 20.f4 Ng4 21.Qf3 Rb4 22.h3 Ne5 0-1 Nikolic,P-Topalov,V/Linares 1997/) 8.Bd2 Qxa6 9.Nc3 Nf6 10.e4 Qb6 11.Bb5+ Bd7 12.a4 0-0 13.0-0 Bg4 14.Kg2 Na6 15.h3 Bc8 16.Re1 Nc7 17.Bc4 Ba6 18.b3 Nd7 19.a5 Qa7 20.Qc2 Rab8 21.Ra4 Rfe8 22.Bf4 Nb5 23.Nxb5 Bxb5 24.Ra2 Qc7 25.Bd2 Qa7 26.h4 Qa6 27.Bf4 Bxc4 28.Qxc4 Qa8 29.Ra4 Rb7 30.e5 dxe5 31.Bxe5 Nf6 32.a6 Rd7 33.Bxf6 Bxf6 34.Qxc5 Rxd5 35.Qc4 Rd4 36.Qb5 Rd5 37.Qc4 Rd4 38.Qb5 Rd5 39.Qe2 Rb8 40.Qe4 Rxb3 41.Rd1 e6 42.a7 Kg7 43.Nh2 Bd8 44.Kh3 h5 45.Nf1 Rb7 46.Rxd5 exd5 47.Qd4+ Kh7 48.Ra6 Rb1 49.Kg2 Rb5 50.Kh2 Be7 51.Ne3 Bc5 52.Qf6 Rb7 53.Nxd5 Rxa7 54.Nc7 Qg8 55.Rc6 Bf8 56.Qd4 Ra2 57.Kg2 Bg7 58.Qd5 Rb2 59.Rd6 Rb8 60.Rd7 Rf8 61.Qb3 Kh8 62.Qd5 Bf6 63.Qd6 Bg7 64.Nd5 Re8 65.Qf4 Re5 66.Nc7 Rf5 67.Qe4 Qb8 68.Qe8+ Qxe8 69.Nxe8 Bf8 70.Nd6 Bxd6 71.Rxd6 - Nikolic,P-Cheparinov,I/Amsterdam 2007/

6...a6 7.Bg2 Nd7 8.0-0 Nb6 9.e4 e6

A double edged move but Black has some problems developing his K-side.

9...Nf6 10.e5!?

10.Qb3?!

This move allows black to break down white's center. Better is 10.dxe6 Bxe6 11.cxb5 axb5 12.Qe2 b4 13.Rd1 White succeeds in keeping an edge. Black's king is still in the center and because of the coming e5 pawn push black will be hard pressed to hold his position togeather. black's best is probably 13...Ne7 (13...Bxa2?! 14.e5 d5 15.e6!) 14.e5 0-0 15.Ne4 Bc4 16.Qe1 Bd5 17.Nxd6 White has an edge but the position is still quite tricky.

Good for white is 13...Qc7 14.Ng5 Ne7 15.Nxe6 fxe6 16.Bh3 Qd7 17.Nb3±

10...Ne7 11.cxb5

11.e5 This doesn't work anymore 11...bxc4 12.Nxc4 Nxc4 13.Qxc4 exd5 14.Qf4 Nf5

11...exd5 12.exd5 0-0 13.Rd1 axb5 14.Qxb5 Bd7

Also good is 14...Nexd5 15.Ne4 f5 16.Nc3 Ba6 17.Qb3 Bc4 18.Qc2 Nb4 19.Qb1 Re8

15.Qd3 Ba4

15...c4 16.Qf1 Qc7 17.Ng5 Rfe8 White's pieces are unable to coordiante and the d5 pawn is falling.

16.Re1 Nexd5 17.a3 Qd7 18.Rb1 Bb5 19.Qc2 Rfe8 20.Ne4 f5 21.Neg5?

21.Nc3 had to be played

21...Rxe1+

21...h6! 22.Nh3 g5 23.Rxe8+ Rxe8 The knights wil be forked.

22.Nxe1 Re8

23.Nef3?

The pressure of this game is clear. White now gives black a second chance to win a piece. 23.Bd2 is better where Black is still better but not winning.

23...h6 24.Nh3 g5 25.Bxg5 hxg5 26.Nhxg5 Re2 27.Qd1 Rxb2

Normally it is a good idea to trade pieces when you are up material but this is not always the case. 27...Bxb2 with Nc3 coming would put white on the run.

28.Rxb2 Bxb2 29.Nh4

The smoke has cleared a little and black has a bishop for a pawn. White's only chance is to create pressure against black's somewhat exposed King. White is however in a dead lost position. 29...Bd4

Safer is 29...Bc4 30.Qh5 Nf6 31.Qg6+ Qg7 32.Qxf5-+ and White's trick's are almost over

30.Qh5

30...Nf6?!
The pressure is now reaching critical mass and Steadman plays an inferior move, but in all fairness the position is still quite compliceted and black has some tricky threats to deal with.

Winning is 30...Qg7! Perhaps not played because of 31.Nxf5 But 31...Bxf2+! Leads to mate in 13! 32.Kxf2 Qb2+ 33.Ke1 Qc3+ 34.Kd1 (34.Kf2 Qd2+ 35.Kg1 Qe1+ 36.Bf1 Qxf1#) 34...Qa1+ 35.Kc2 Qa2+ 36.Kc1 Qxa3+ 37.Kd2 Qb2+ 38.Ke1 Qb4+ 39.Kd1 Qb1+ 40.Kd2 Nc4+ 41.Ke2 Nce3+ 42.Kf2 Qc2+ 43.Kg1 Qxg2#

31.Qg6+ Qg7 32.Qxf5
32.Qxg7+ Kxg7 33.Ne6+ Kg8 34.Nxf5 White has won another pawn but the position is now simplified and black should win without too much difficulty.
32...Bd7 33.Qf4 Be5
33...Ng4 34.Ne4 d5 35.h3 dxe4 36.hxg4 Qxg4 Is an easy win.
34.Qc1 Ng4 35.h3 Nh6 36.f4 Bd4+ 37.Kh2 Nf7 38.Ngf3 Bb2 39.Qe1 Qc3
39...Bxa3 40.Qb1 Bb4 41.Nf5 Qf6-+
40.Qe4 Qf6 41.Qb7 d5 42.Ng5 Bxa3?!
Black has enough material advantage now was the time for piece trades.
42...Nxg5 43.fxg5 Qe6 (43...Qxg5 44.Qxb6) 44.Nf5 Bxa3 45.Ne7+ Kg7
46.Nxd5 Nxd5 47.Qxd5 (47.Bxd5 Qxh3+-+) 47...Qxd5 48.Bxd5 Bb5 49.h4 c4 50.Be4 Be8 51.Kh3 c3 52.Bc2 Bg6 53.Bb3 Be7 54.Kg4 c2 55.Bxc2 Bxc2 56.h5 Bd1+ 57.Kh4 Kg8 58.g4 Kf7 59.Kh3 (59.h6 Kg6) 59...Bxg5-+
43.Bxd5 Nxd5 44.Qxd7 Ne7

Now the win for Black is no where is sight and more importantly White has taken the initiative and the change from a lost position to unclear has given white a confidence boost while Steadman must be wondering how his won game has turned into this.
45.Ne6 45...c4 46.g4 Ng6?
46...Bd6 47.Kg1 Qa1+ (47...Bxf4 48.Nxf4 Qxh4 49.Qe8+ Kg7 50.Nh5+ Kg6 51.Nf4+ Kf6 52.Nh5+ A draw again or black can risk it with 52...Ke5 53.Qxf7 Qe1+) 48.Kf2 Qb2+ 49.Kg3 Qc3+ 50.Kg2 Qd2+ 51.Kf1 Qc1+ (51...c3 52.Qe8+ Kh7 53.Qxf7+ Kh6 54.g5#) 52.Kg2 Qd2+ 53.Kf1 Qd3+ 54.Kf2 Kh7 55.Nf5 Black has a perpetual and at a glance I couldn't find anything better. With time I am sure better moves will be found.

47.Nxg6 Qxg6 48.Qc8+ Kh7

49.Qxc4

The table's have turned and white now has a definate advantage in his 3 connected passed pawns on the K-side. Black's c-pawn was not just a pawn it was an important source of diversion it was after all 3 squares away from becoming a Queen.

49...Bd6 50.Kg2 Qf6 51.Qe4+ Kg8 52.g5 Qb2+ 53.Kg3 Qb3+ 54.Kh4 Nh8 55.g6?! 55.Nd4 This should win. 55...Qf7 56.f5 Be7 57.Ne6 Qe8 58.Kg4 White must not rush the pawn advance, black is toast.

55...Be7+ 56.Kh5??
better is 56.Ng5 although most variations lead to a draw Bxg5+ 57.Kxg5 Qg3+ 58.Kf6 Qh4+ 59.Ke5 Qxh3 60.f5 Nxg6+ 61.fxg6 Qc3+ 62.Kf5=; 56.Kg4 Qd1+=

56...Qxh3#

0-1

An epic battle where either side could have won. I imagine Scott will be devastated for a long time losing in such a way.
Congratulations to Michael Steadman on achieving the FM title and more importantly stopping another Australian getting one!

July FIDE Rating List

2009-07-03T18:02:00.000-07:00

Country rank by average rating of top 10 players

Top Countries

1. Russia 191 GM's
2. Ukraine 72 GM's
3. Israel 42 GM's
4. China 25 GM's
5. Azerbaijan 17 GM's
6. United States of America 65 GM's
58. Australia 3 GM's
71. New Zealand 1 GM

Russia has a total of 1906 titled players compared to New Zealand's 28!

The Top 5 Players

1. GM V. Topalov (Bulgaria) 2813
2. World Champion V. Anand (India) 2788
3. GM M. Carlsen (Norwegian) 2772
4. GM L. Aronian (Armenia) 2768
5. GM D. Jakovenko (Russia) 2760

New Zealand's Top 5

1. GM M. Chandler 2518
2. IM P. Wang 2465
3. IM R. Dive 2371
4. FM R. Nokes 2327
5. IM A. Ker 2321

Local players

Wanganui
J. McDonald 2080
C.Burns 2054

Palmerston North
M. King 1963
J. Davis 1939

Oceania Zonal 2009

2009-06-19T18:16:00.000-07:00

The Oceania Zonal begins soon with rounds 1 and 2 being played today. Lets hope the New Zealand contingent can inflict some suffering on our Australian counter parts and bring home some master titles and norms.

http://www.gardinerchess.com/oceaniazonal/oceaniazonal2009.htm

10/10 Tournament game

2009-06-11T15:58:00.000-07:00

Davis,Justin (1881) - Holdaway,Stewart (1641) [D07] Palmy Club 10/10 (5.1), 05.2009

1.Nf3
It is important to realise this is a game where each side has only 10 minutes each for the entire game. So blitz rules apply. I will elaborate more on this in a following article.
1...d5 2.d4 Nc6 3.c4 Bg4
Stewart is playing his favourite Chigorin defence and white will stumble his way along a main line surprisingly.

4.Nc3
4.e3 e5 5.Qb3 Bxf3 6.gxf3 exd4 7.cxd5 Ne5 8.exd4 Nd7 9.Nc3 Qe7+ 10.Be3 Qb4 11.Qc2 Ngf6 12.Bb5 Rd8 13.0-0-0 a6 14.Ba4 Be7 15.Rhg1 g6 16.Bh6 b5 17.Bb3 Nb6 18.Rge1 Kd7 19.Bf4 Rc8 20.a3 Qa5 21.Bg5 Ng8 22.Bxe7 Nxe7 23.Ne4 Rb8 24.Nf6+ Kd8 25.Rxe7 Kxe7 26.Qxc7+ Nd7 27.Qxa5 1-0 Steinitz,W-Chigorin,M/Havana 1889
4...Nf6 5.e3 e6 6.Be2
6.h3 Bh5 7.cxd5 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 exd5 9.Bd2 Bb4 10.Bd3 0-0 11.0-0 Qe7 12.Rfd1 Rfd8 13.Rab1 Rab8 14.a3 Bxc3 15.Bxc3 Ne4 16.Be1 Re8 17.Rbc1 Qd6 18.Rc2 Re6 19.Rdc1 Rbe8 20.Qd1 Ng5 21.Bf5 Rf6 22.Qg4 Ne4 23.Bxe4 dxe4 24.Qg3 Qd7 25.b4 Rg6 26.Qh2 h6 27.b5 Ne7 28.Rxc7 Qxb5 29.Qe5 Qxe5 30.dxe5 Rb6 31.e6 fxe6 32.Bc3 a6 33.a4 Kf7 34.Bd4 Rb3 35.a5 Kg6 36.g4 Rb5 37.Rd7 e5 38.Bb6 Nc6 39.Rcd1 Re7 40.R7d6+ Kf7 41.h4 Re6 ½-½ Williams,S-Jones,G/Swansea 2006
6...Bd6 7.0-0 0-0 8.h3 Bh5 9.Nd2?!

An unnecessary move which gives black a chance to push for more than equality. Now this statement is true in theory but in a blitz game white is just taking the game in his prefered direction. Davis prefers positions with a clear strategic plan and does not like to have his King attacked. At the cost of development he has enabled a trade of pieces which simplifies the position. His center and King-side will now be more stable and he will be able to start his plan of Queen-side expansion. The benefit of a long term plan is extremely valuable.
9...Bxe2 10.Qxe2 b6?!
10...Qd7 Finishing development is more important than stopping a white pawn coming to c5. The reason c5 is not a threat is black can counter the pawn chain with an e5 break or simply b6 after the bishop has retreated. It is also important to realise that white is behind in development.
11.a3 Ne7 12.b4 c5
A double edged move which is not bad in itself but causes black to play on white's side of the board.
12...Ng6 13.c5 Be7 14.c6 a6 And white's queenside push is premature.
13.dxc5 bxc5 14.b5
White is continuing with his simple plan and now has a potential passed pawn on the Queen-side. 14...a6 15.a4 Bc7
15...axb5! This throws a spanner in the works. White would love to recapture with a pawn but it just doesn't work out very well.
16.axb5? Rxa1 and off goes the rook
16.cxb5 Qa5 17.Bb2 c4 18.Rfc1 Ng6 19.Nf3 Nd7 And black has an excellent outpost on d3 for a knight, the Queenside pawns are blocked and white has no clear way to make progress.
best is 16.Nxb5 Be5 17.Ra3 Atleast in this variation white has not given black some good piece play.
16.Ba3 Qd6 17.g3 Rfd8
Better is 17...Ba5 18.Rfc1 Bxc3 19.Rxc3 Rfc8
18.bxa6 Qe5?!
18...Ba5=
19.Nb5

19... Rxa6?
Now black is losing a piece. And soon the game.
20.Nf3 Qh5 21.Nxc7 Qxh3?
Stewart makes a valiant effort to try a K-side attack but his material deficit is just too much.
22.Nxa6 Ng4 23.Rfb1 e5 24.Qf1 Qh6 25.Nxc5 e4 26.Qg2 exf3 27.Qxf3 Qh2+ 28.Kf1 Rd6 29.Qxg4?!
29.Rb8+ Nc8 30.Rxc8+ Rd8 31.Rxd8#
29...Rf6 30.Ra2 Qh1+ 31.Ke2 Qxb1 32.Rb2
1-0

Palmerston North Club Rapid Chess Championship

2009-06-11T15:34:00.000-07:00

Thursday June 18 will be the start of the 6 round swiss Rapid Championship. The schedule is 2 rounds a night over 3 nights. The Palmy club is open every Thursday night at 7:30pm at Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School on Ferguson Street.

Palmy Club 10/10

2009-06-11T15:21:00.000-07:00

Results to be found at http://www.newzealandchess.co.nz/ on the results page.

Waitakere Licensing Trust Open 2009

2009-05-22T05:04:00.000-07:00

May 30-June 1 2009 - 32nd Waitakere Licensing Trust Open, Auckland
This tournament is shaping up to be quite a strong and popular event. Here is the link for entrie's so far with over 50 to date including GM Jones, IM Dive and FM Smith as the top seeds.

RIP Richard Sutton 1938 - 2009

2009-05-09T01:51:00.000-07:00

New Zealand chess has lost a great player.
A tribute article from the Otago Daily times is here.
http://otagochess.wikispaces.com/ODT090505

Palmy 60/60 game

2009-05-08T22:14:00.000-07:00

Baker,J (unr) - King,M (1885) Palmy Club 60/60 (5.1), 30.04.2009

I finished the tournament on a perfect score but my last round opponent played a nice game to come within a whisker of beating me. John Baker had defeated 2nd seed Stephen Taylor earlier in the tournament and would no doubt have finished higher up in the standings if he didn't default round 4.

26.Bxh6! gxh6
Black could decline the sacrifice by 26...Qd6 27.Bf4 Qd7 and still have some compensation for the pawn deficit. Being the stronger player I thought the sacrifice must be accepted as a matter of honour. It must be refuted! Sometimes one's ego can blur the lines of common sense.
27.Qxh6 Qd6?
I would like to say I saw the whole Bf8 line and was not satisfied with a draw by repetition so decided to sac my Queen. Reality is I missed the fact the Queen covered the f4 square!
27...Bf8 28.Qf6 Qc7 29.Qg5+ Bg7 30.Nd5!? Qd6 31.Nf6+ Kf8 32.Nh7+ Kg8 33.Nf6+ Kf8 =
28.Rf4! Qxf4
Still losing but possible to play is 28...Rc5 as pointed out by Stewart after the game 29.Rcf1 Bg5 30.Rg4 Re5 31.Rxg5+ Rxg5 32.Qxg5+ Kf8 33.Qf6 Rd7 34.e5 Qc6 35.Bd5
29.Qxf4 Bd6 30.Qh6 Bf8 31.Qg5+ Bg7 32.Rf1 I should also mention that I am down to my last 7 minutes 15 behind my opponent and the time control is flat rate!
32...Kf8

33.Nxb5?
Right at the point where the final blow should be delt white has a brain explosion. Caught in my time pressure he is moving too quickly not thinking about his moves and ultimately gives me the chance I was praying for.
Winning is 33.Ne2! White doesn't have a mate but black is just lost suffering from an ultimately indefensible position.
33...axb5 34.Qh5
34.h4! And the march of the h-pawn up the board will ensure an edge for White still.
34...Rd7 35.Rf4?! Rc2 36.e5?? After playing 30 odd moves and gaining a winning position white throws it all away in the space of 3 moves!
36...Bxg2+ 37.Kg1 Ne2+
White's best is to give his queen for the knight or suffer heavy material losses with Kh2 so white resigned.
0-1

Palmy 60/60 Game

2009-05-08T15:46:00.000-07:00

Taylor,S (1605) - Holdaway,S (1580) [B12]Palmy Club 60/60 (Round 3), 04.2009

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Bd3?!

Richard Reti in the book Masters of the Chess board comments on this move best.
"Although white controls more territory, Black has the better bishop after the exchange on d3. As white is consequently inclined to be weak on white squares, correct play by his opponent will make it impossible for him to break through with f4-f5, which ordinarily be the form of attack indicated. It seems, therefore, that in this variation of the Caro Kann Black has rather the advantage."
Better is 4.Nf3 going for the short system or if you prefer the sharp stuff the complicated 4.Nc3 and 5.g4 is interesting.
4...Bxd3 5.Qxd3 e6 6.Nf3 Qb6
6...Nd7 and c5 was a little safer. The queen may become harassed later.
7.0-0
The rest of the game the notes are supplied by Stewart Holdaway taken from the weekly Palmerston North Club chess Magazine.
7...c5 8.b3 cxd4 9.Qxd4 Bc5 10.Qf4
Even better looks to be 10.Qg4 hitting the weak g7 square. 10...g6 11.c4 dxc4 12.bxc4 Looks good for white.
10...Ne7
The position is now equal. My plan was pretty simple. Gang up on the e5 pawn.

11.Ba3 Ng6 12.Bxc5 Qxc5 13.Qd2 Qc7 14.Re1
14.c4 dxc4 15.Na3 0-0 (15...Nxe5?! 16.Nxe5 Qxe5 17.Nxc4) 16.Nxc4 Rd8=
14...Nc6 15.Qe2
15.c4 dxc4 16.Na3 Qd8 (16...Ngxe5 17.Nxe5 Nxe5 18.Nb5 and white is better) 17.Qxd8+ Rxd8 18.Nxc4 Ke7 gives black a slight advantage.
15...0-0
This was the position I had envisioned when I played 12...Qxc5. I thought Black must be slightly better because white has ti defend e5, is weak on the dark squares and Black will be able to put pressure on the c-file.

16.Nbd2

16.c4 dxc4 17.bxc4 Rfd8 gives black a slight edge.

16...Rfd8 17.Rac1

Stephen was critical of this move after the game and argued he should have played. 17.c4 then if 17...d4 18.Rad1. However c3 (stopping d4) is the best move when after 18...Qb6 black has a slight pull.

17...Rac8 18.c4 d4

I have finally got the passed pawn I wanted.

19.Qe4 Rd7 20.h4

I was expecting this as I thought it was the only way for White to get counter play. However, I didn't realise how strong it was.

20...h6

Stopping all those nasty Ng5 ideas.

21.h5 Nge7 22.Nb1 Rcd8 23.Na3 a6 24.Nb1 Nf5 25.g4 Nfe7 26.Nbd2

26.Qd3 leaves black with only a small advantage.

26...d3

I was convinced I wa winning now. But...

27.a3 Nd4 28.Kg2 Nec6

29.Nxd4??

The losing mistake but black was already on top. Better is [29.g5 hxg5 30.Nxg5]

29...Rxd4 30.Qe3 Rxg4+ 31.Kh3 Rg5 32.f4 Rxh5+ 33.Kg4 Rf5 34.Rc3 Qe7 35.b4 g5! 36.fxg5 Rxg5+ 37.Kh3 Rh5+ 38.Kg2 Qh4 39.Rg1 Rg5+ 40.Kf1 Rxg1+ 41.Qxg1+ Qg5 42.Qf2 Nxe5 43.Ne4 Qf5 44.Nf6+ Kg7 45.Qxf5 exf5 46.Nh5+ Kg6 47.Nf4+ Kh7

White now oversteps the time limit

0-1

Palmerston North Club 60/60 tournament

2009-05-07T16:01:00.000-07:00

Final Standings

1st
5/5
Mathew King 1885

2nd=
4/5
JuYoung Kim 1358
Dennis Davey 1309

4th=
3/5
Stewart Holdaway 1580
Stephen Taylor 1605
Terry Lee 908
David Kweon unr

8th
2.5
John Baker

9th=
2/5
Johan Van Vuuren
Ricky Kim
Dan Kim
Ryan Kim
Jay Lee

14th
1.5/5
Frank Visser
John Kim (t)
John Kim (s)

17th=
1/5
Jacob King
Andrew Parker
Jake Kim
Jack Jung

Fourth FIDE Grand Prix

2009-04-28T12:40:00.001-07:00

FIDE may be critised for many things but this tournament cannot be one of them. Even with top players as Carlsen and Adams pulling out we have a very hard fought and exciting tournament. With one round to go Aronian and Leko have a one point lead over the field and will face each other in the final round. I am unsure what would happen in a result of a tie for first but I believe it will have a major effect on whether Aronian or Leko choose to fight or just play safe.

Round 13 Pairings.

Ivanchuk Vassily-Kamsky Gata
Bacrot Etienne-Alekseev Evgeny
Svidler Peter-Grischuk Alexander
Gelfand Boris-Karjakin Sergey
Eljanov Pavel-Akopian Vladimir
Kasimdzhanov Rus.-Mamedyarov Shak.
Aronian Levon-Leko Peter

The games are due to start quite late NZ time around midnight so I imagine not many of us can follow them live.
Videos at www.chessvibes.com
Reports at www.chessbase.com
Official page http://nalchik2009.fide.com/

Oceania Zonal 20-26 June 2009

2009-04-27T01:10:00.000-07:00

The Oceania Zonal held at the great location of the Gold Coast, is fast approaching. This is a great tournament to get master titles and the winner qualifies for the World Cup which is part of the World chess championship cycle. Each federation gets 1 player seeded into the tournament where all costs are covered for the tournament (atleast thats my understanding). IM Anthony Ker took this spot by winning the 2009 New Zealand closed championship at Queenstown, but by looking at the entries he has pulled out giving IM Paul Garbett the spot instead. I do notice that 3 other NZer's finished on the same score as Garbett at Queenstown so it must have been a close call.
Official site http://www.gardinerchess.com/oceaniazonal/oceaniazonal2009.htm

Sydney International Open

2009-04-17T21:57:00.000-07:00

The Parramatta chess festival has come to a close with an exciting finish that left 4 players tied at the top on 7/9 Aus GM Johansen Darryl K Aus IM Xie George Wendi IND GM Kunte Abhijit and ENG GM Jones Gawain C B (although according to GM Ian Rogers here he is now living in NZ!).

GM Daryl Johansen was awarded the SIO title on tiebreak and the four players shared $10,000.

Full results here
Related links here

New Zealand's best performer was Hilton Bennett who I believe was the only NZ'er to have a positive performance.

North Island Championship

2009-04-13T15:42:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to IM Russell Dive for winning the North Island Championship.

Russel Won his first 6 straight games beating his main rivals FM Bob Smith and Michael Steadman. Zhang was able to hold Dive to a draw in round 7 and in round 8 Goodhue was offered a half point present, ensuring first place.

The field had a reasonable 31 entries but was boosted by many strong players over 2000. 5 of the top 11 players in the country made it.

North Island Championship

2009-04-04T01:47:00.000-07:00

Entries to date are

Neil Cruden
Simon Lyall
FM Bob Smith
WFM Viv Smith
Quentin Jones
Mike Steadman
Gary Judkins
Justin Davis
FM Stephen Lukey
Hans Gao
Bob Mitchell
Federico Roura
Alan Ansell
Mathew King
Ryan Lee
Winston Yao
Simon Ward
John McDonald
Hamish Shierlaw
Gavin Marner

It would also be a surprise not to see the top local Wellington players FM Croad, IM Dive, and current North Island champ IM Ker.

Auckland Weekender

2009-04-02T01:35:00.000-07:00

The recent Auckland Weekender chess tournament was the first FIDE rated event if the year. Bob Smith won the event with 5/6. Full results are available here http://www.newzealandchess.co.nz/results.html.

Wanganui (Don't get me started about the so called "incorrect spelling") resident and the highest FIDE rated local plaer John McDonald has provided his game against the tournament winner. Italics are my additions.

Smith,R (2323) - McDonald,J (2077) [A43]Auckland Chess Weekender, 03.2009

1.d4 Nf6
Bob later said he was expecting
1...d5 2.Nf3 c5 3.d5 g6 4.g3 b5

Here, Bob sank into deep thought for around 20 minutes, perhaps wondering how to protect d5. 5.Bg2 Bb7 6.c4 Bg7 7.0-0 d6
7...0-0 8.Nfd2 a6 9.Nc3 d6 10.a4 b4 11.Nce4 Nbd7 12.Ra2 Nxe4 13.Nxe4 Nf6 14.Nxf6+ exf6 ½-½ Romanishin,O-Gipslis,A/Dresden 1998
8.a4 bxc4 9.Nc3 0-0 10.Nd2
So White has managed to hold the d5 pawn, but he isn't out of the woods just yet.
10...Ba6 11.Nb5 Nbd7 12.Nxc4 Nb6 13.Nca3 Qd7 14.Rb1 Rab8 15.b3 Rfc8 16.Be3

16... Qb7
White had 15mins to make 40 moves, Black had 25mins.
16...Bb7!? 17.Nxa7 White's d pawn is not possible to defend and Nxa7 is forced to keep the material balance.
17...Re8 18.N7b5 Nbxd5 19.Bd2 Black's extra center pawn should guarantee an advantage. 17.Nc3 Qa8
Here my plan was to try to play Bb7 at some point but I couldnt quite wangle it.
18.a5 Nbd7 19.Bh3 Rc7 20.Qd2
7mins left
20...Ne5 21.f3 Rcb7 22.Qa2 Rc7 23.Rfd1 h5 24.Qd2 Rcb7
24...h4 looks interesting
25.Qa2 Rb4 26.Nc2 R4b7 27.Na3 Ne8 28.Bd2 Rc7

1/2-1/2

John finished a credible equal second.

Palmerston North Chess Club News

2009-03-29T22:19:00.000-07:00

Thursday April 2nd is the Start date for the Palmy Club's Annual 60/60 tournament.

The club is open every Thursday at 7:30pm at Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School on Ferguson Street. Contact Club President Dennis Davey (06) 353- 0193 or Club Captain Stewart Holdaway 027 329 4399 for more details.

Pictured is the Burnham Cup. Palmerston North has battled Wanganui two years running for the Cup and won on each occaison, will this year be a third?

The advantage of time

2009-03-22T17:48:00.001-07:00

Post,M (2090) - King,M (1930) [A45]Queenstown chess classic (7.35), 21.01.2009

The position above is black to move. Black's queen is under attack and his pawn on d4 is also weak. Black is however better
21...Qa6?
The move I played in the game which gives white a chance to grab the pawn and have possible winning chances but after the better
21...Qb6
Now White cannot take the pawn with the queen because the knight hangs but what happens if
22.Nxd4
Well this is the reason I titled this post the advantage of time. My initial analysis had the following forced line
22...Rad8 23.Rhd1 Rd7 24.Qb2 Red8 25.Ke3
The only move to keep the piece and I iniatially thought
25...Re8+ 26.Kf2 Red8 27.Ke3 Re8+ 28.Kf2 Red8 29.Ke3 Re8+
Is an easy draw and the best on offer for black, it turns out after a little more research into the position their is a nice shot with a very nice follow up.

25...Rxd4!
I found this winning line 2 months after game.
26.Rxd4 Re8+! 27.Kf2 (If 27.Kd2 Qe6 28.Qc3 Qe2+ 29.Kc1 Rc8! wins the queen) 27...Rc8! 28.Kg3 (also losing is 28.Ke3 Rc2 29. Qb3 Qc7 the fork is unstoppable) Rc2 29.Qxc2 -/+ forcing white to give up his queen for whatever he can get.

13th World chess champion Gary Kasparov was a big fan of always going over old analysis because you never know what interestings things you may find with a fresh and deeper look.

Palmerston North Blitz Championship

2009-03-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

Semi Finals
Best of 5

Mathew King 3 - Stewart Holdaway 2

Stephen Taylor 2.5 - Justin Davis 2.5

The match was tied after 5 games. According to the tie break rules set out Stephen chose the time of 5 - 3 and Justin chose colours and decided to be white. Black had draw odds. Davis won.

Final
Best of 5

Justin Davis 3 - Mathew King 2

March NZCF Active Rating list

2009-03-12T02:08:00.000-07:00

The full list is here
http://www.hpchessclub.org.nz/nzcfratings.html

Palmy players to make the list are

National rank Name Standardard rating Rapid rating

27th Ker, Charles M 2108 2002

55th Davis, Justin M 1968 1881

84th King, Mathew J 1885 1758

146th Smith, Jeremy A 1685 * unr

183th Taylor, Stephen 1605 1646

247th j Chen, Dylan 1477 * 1493

Holdaway, Stewart i 1641

White, Damon unr 1533*

j Kim, Teh gyu unr 1473*

j Hill, Ryan unr 1463*

j Howe, Matthew unr 1453*

Reweti , Savern unr 1407*

j Yuan, Daniel unr 1405*

j Yan, Michael unr 1386*

Young, John unr 1384*

j Kim, JuYoung unr 1358*

j Kim, Ricky unr 899*

j = junior
*= provisional
i= inactive

Palmerston North Blitz Championship

2009-03-12T01:12:00.000-07:00

Pool A

Stephen Taylor - 4

Frank Visser - 3

John Kim - 2

Jacob King - 1

Jake Kim - 0

Pool B

Stewart Holdaway - 4

John Baker - 3.5

Ricky Kim - 2.5

John Kim - 1

John Baker and Ricky Kim played a sudden death match to decide the second placing. John won.

Pool C

Mathew King - 3

JuYoung Kim - 2

Terry Lee - 1

Ryan Km - 0

Pool D

Justin Davis - 3

Dennis Davey - 2

Andrew Parker - 1

Jack Jung - 0

Quarter Finals

Best of 3 match

S. Taylor 2 - D. Davey 0

S. Holdaway 2 - J. Kim 0

M. King 2 - J Baker 0

J. Davis 2 - F. Visser 0

Semi finals and finals to take place next week.

The semi final pairings are -

S. Taylor - J. Davis

M. King - S. Holdaway

Most semi finalist strolled through their games with a funny exception of Stewart Holdaway offering a draw in a lost position to the strong junior of the club Juyoung Kim. Kim however decided with 10 seconds left to stewarts 1 min plus that he should win and then duly lost on time.

Grischuk wins Linares

2009-03-08T11:45:00.000-07:00

It seems to be the year for new faces winning super tournaments first at the Corus chess festival and now Alexander Grischuk wins Linares for the first time. He just finished ahead of Ivanchuk on tie-breaks by having more wins.

Final Standings

1. Grischuk, Alexander 8 RUS 2733

2. Ivanchuk, Vassily 8 UKR 2779

3. Carlsen, Magnus 7.5 NOR 2776

4. Anand, Viswanathan 7 IND 2791

5. Radjabov, Teimour 6.5 AZE 2761

6. Wang Yue 6.5 CHN 2739

7. Aronian, Levon 6.5 ARM 2750

8. Dominguez Perez, Leinier 6 CUB 2717

The event was a double round robin. The prize fund was 314,000 Euros, with the winner getting 100,000 Euros, followed by 75,000 and 50,000 Euros for second and third place.

World champion Anand didn't have a great tournament losing to Carlsen for the first time and finishing at just 50%. Carslen must also be a bit disappointed losing to Wang unneccessarily and stuffing up a win against Radjabov even though his 3rd place is still in the prizes.

North Island Championship 2008

2009-03-02T14:38:00.000-08:00

With the North Island Championship not too far away I thought it might be interesting to look at game from last's year's tournament. Anthony Ker is the current NZ champion including Rapid and Lightning formats and is also the current North Island Champion. It would be interesting to note if anyone else in New Zealand's long chess history has had as many national titles at one time.

Stuart,P (1996) - Ker,A (2342) [A86]North Island Championship Tauranga (3.1), 16.07.2008

1.c4 g6 2.g3 f5 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nc3 0-0 6.Nf3 e6 7.0-0 d6 8.b3 Nbd7 9.Bb2 c6 10.Qc2 Qe7 11.Rad1 e5 12.dxe5 dxe5 13.e3 e4 14.Ne1 Ne5 15.f4 Neg4 16.Qe2 Be6 17.Nc2 Rfd8 18.Rxd8+ Rxd8 19.Rd1 c5 20.h3 Nh6 21.Kf2 Nf7 22.Rxd8+ Nxd8 23.Qd2 Nc6 24.Bf1

24...Qd7
White's queen must be challenged. It cannot be allowed a dominating position pressuring down the only open file. One interesting aspect to note is for such a closed position only minor pieces will be left on the board after the coming exchange.
25.Qxd7 Nxd7 26.Na4 Bf8
With a closed position black can get away with this move for now abviously wishing to avoid exchanges.
27.Be2 Kf7 28.Nc3 Nf6
White has an outpost on d5 and black on d3. The position is very much equal.
29.Na4 h6 30.Ba3 b6 31.Bb2 g5 32.Nc3 Bg7 33.Kg2 g4 34.h4?!
Closing the position does not help white. Black has a possible square for his knight on h5 attacking a weak g3 pawn. Also hxg4 is no longer in the air where white could have split black's pawn's at a convienent moment or atleast tie white down to this idea.
On the other hand it does make black's life a little harder to get the break through needed for victory.
Possible is 34.Nb5 h5 35.Nc7 Bd7 36.Bc3 a6
34...Nd7

35.Kf2?!
Such a move is surprisingly inferior letting Ker increase his advantage.
35.Na4 Bxb2 36.Nxb2 Nb4 37.Nxb4 cxb4 38.Na4! Nc5 39.Nxc5 bxc5 40.Kf2 White has succeeded in blockading the postiion where black cannot make any progress. 40...Bd7 41.Ke1 Ke6 42.Kd2 a5 43.Bd1 Kd6 =
35...Nb4! 36.Nxb4 cxb4 37.Na4 Bxb2 38.Nxb2 Nc5
Black has a new outpost for his knight and white is in some difficulties
39.Ke1
39.Na4 Nxa4 40.bxa4 Ke7-+ Black is winning a pawn and the game.
39...Ke7 40.Kd2 Kd6 41.Kc2

42... Bd7
It is still not so easy for black to create a winning breakthrough.
41...a6!? 42.Nd1 Bd7 43.Kb2 a5 44.a4 bxa3+ 45.Kxa3 Nd3 46.Bxd3 exd3 47.Kb2 a4 48.Nf2 d2 49.e4! Ke6 50.exf5+ Kxf5 51.Ka3 Bc6 52.bxa4 Bf3 53.Kb4 d1Q 54.Nxd1 Bxd1 55.Kb5 Ke4 56.Kxb6 Bxa4 57.c5 Bd7 58.Kc7 Bf5 59.c6 Kf3 60.Kd6 Kxg3 61.Ke5 Bd3 62.c7 Ba6 63.f5 Kh2 64.f6 g3 65.f7 g2 66.f8Q g1Q 67.Qxh6 And still black has no easy road to victory but this is far from forced.
42.Kd2 Ne6 43.Bd1 Kc5 44.Be2 a6 45.Nd1 Ng7 46.Nf2 Nh5 47.Nh1 a5 48.Kc2 a4 49.Kd2 Be6 50.Kc2
50.Bd1 axb3 51.axb3 b5 52.cxb5 Kxb5 53.Be2+ Kb6 54.Kc2 Nf6 55.Nf2 Nd7 56.Kb2 Nc5 57.Bd1 Nd3+ 58.Nxd3 exd3 59.Kc1
50...a3
A very interesting decision. Black closes the position to keep a far advanced pawn on a3.Black may have ideas of a sacrifice on c4 to try and promote his far advanced a pawn to a queen.
51.Bf1 Nf6 52.Nf2 Ne8 53.Nd1 Nd6 54.Be2 Nb7 55.Bf1 Na5 56.Nf2 Bc8 57.Be2 h5
58.Bf1 Bb7 59.Be2 Nc6 60.Bf1

60... Nd4+!
Probably the only move to really try and complicate things the problem is it should still only be enough for a draw.
Another move that is not so forcing is 60...Ne7 but their is just no easy way through. 61.Bg2 Ba6 62.Bf1 b5 63.cxb5 Bxb5 64.Bxb5 Kxb5 65.Kd2 Kc6 66.Nd1 Nd5 67.Ke2 Nb6 68.Kd2 Nd7 69.Kc2 (69.Ke2 Nc5 70.Kd2 Nxb3+-+) 69...Nc5 70.Nf2 Kd5 71.Nd1 Nd3 72.Kd2 Kc5 73.Kc2 Ne1+ 74.Kd2 Nf3+ 75.Ke2 with a probable draw.
61.Kc1?!
61.exd4+ Kxd4 62.Bg2! This move ensures white of the draw and black has to be careful not to over extend. 62...Ke3 (62...e3 63.Bxb7 exf2 64.Bg2 Ke3 65.Kd1 f1Q+ 66.Bxf1 Kf3 67.Kd2 Kxg3 68.Ke3 Kxh4 69.Kf2 g3+ 70.Kf3 Black is lost.) 63.Nd1+ Ke2 64.Kc1 Ke1 (64...Kd3? 65.Bf1+ Kd4 66.Kd2 Black is just a piece for a pawn down.) 65.Kc2 Ke2=
61...Nf3 62.Nd1 Ba6 63.Kc2
Better is 63.Nf2 Black is still hard pressed to make any progress. 63...b5 64.cxb5 Bxb5 65.Bxb5 Kxb5 66.Kd1 Kc5 67.Ke2
63...Nh2 64.Bg2?
The losing move.
64.Be2 This is still holding.
64...b5 65.Kd2?
After the better 65.cxb5 Bxb5 66.Nf2 Be2 67.Kd2 Bf3 68.Bxf3 gxf3 69.Ke1 Kb5 If white could pass he would draw but he is required to move under current FIDE laws so black wins.
65...bxc4

0-1

Topalov to Face Anand

2009-03-01T13:23:00.000-08:00

Game seven

Topalov,V (2796) - Kamsky,G (2725) [C07]World Chess Challenge Sofia BUL (7), 26.02.2009

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5
Topalov goes for the main line after avoiding it with 4.Ngf3 in game 5.
4...Qxd5 5.Ngf3 cxd4 6.Bc4 Qd6 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Re1 Be7 9.Nb3
Gelfand shows an interesting Q-sac in the following game 9.Ne4 Nxe4 10.Rxe4 Nc6 11.Nxd4 0-0 12.Bf4 Qc5 13.Nxc6 Qxc6 14.Bd3 b5 15.a4 a6 16.Re3 Bb7 17.Be4 Qxe4 18.Rxe4 Bxe4 19.Qe2 Bd5 20.h4 Rac8 21.axb5 axb5 22.Bg5 Bd6 23.Ra6 Bb8 24.Be7 Rfe8 25.Bd6 Red8 26.Bxb8 Rxb8 27.Ra3 Rb7 28.Rg3 f6 29.Rg4 Rc8 30.Rd4 Rbc7 31.Qxb5 Rxc2 32.b4 h6 33.Rg4 f5 34.Rg6 Kh7 35.h5 R2c7 36.Qd3 Rb7 37.Qg3 Rc1+ 38.Kh2 Rc4 39.b5 Rb4 40.Rxe6 Bxe6 41.Qg6 Drawn Kasparov,G-Gelfand,B/Astana 2001
9...Nc6 10.Nbxd4 Nxd4 11.Nxd4 0-0 12.c3 Bd7 13.Qf3 Qb6 14.Bb3 a5 15.Be3 Bc5 16.Rad1
A normal developing move that leads to wild complications.
16...a4 17.Bc2 Qxb2
Kamsky stubbornly grabs a pawn.
18.Bg5

Topalov is willing and definately prepared to create complications even if it risks losing. Kamsky on the other hand needs a win and decides he must not shy away from complications even if he is black and it generally doens't suit his known style.
18...Nd5
18...Bxd4 Trying to win the bishop on c2 will cost black too much. 19.Rxd4 Qxc2 20.Bxf6 gxf6 21.Rg4+ Kh8 22.Qxf6#
19.c4 Bxd4 20.Qd3
The mate threat must be dealt with.
20...f5 21.Qxd4 Qxc2 22.cxd5 Qxa2 23.Qb6
Right now black is two pawns up but Kamsky must give something back.
23.dxe6?! Bxe6 24.Rd2 Qc4 -+
23...a3
Interesting is 23...Rae8! 24.d6 (24.Qxb7 Rf7 25.dxe6 Rxe6 Black is doing well) 24...Qc4 25.Be7 (25.Qxb7 Bc6) 25...Qc6 26.Qb4 (26.Qxc6 Bxc6 27.Bxf8 Kxf8 Black is better) 26...Qb5 White has a annoying wedge on d6 and e7 but black can give up the exchange being two pawns ahead and most likely have a better game.
24.Be7
24.dxe6 Bxe6 25.Qxe6+ Interesting is the piece sac. (25.Rxe6 Ra6!) 25...Qxe6 26.Rxe6 b5 27.Ra1 b4 28.Re3 h6 29.Be7 Rfb8 30.Rb3 Kf7 31.Bc5 Rb5 32.Be3= But still quite a risky line just for a draw.
24...Rfe8
Kamsky is running short of time once again.
25.Qd6

25...Ba4
The natural Ba4 gives white the advantage. Not only on position but now Kamsky is running to low on time. Topalov is a fantastic practical player but sometimes his moves can be refuted, of course not easily hence why Kamsky needs time to refute them and choosing when to sink into deep thought to do this is important and Kamsky was unable to solve this problem. Now the game is lost along with the match.
25...Kf7 Kamsky admitted he lost confidence and just couldnt make this move which leads to an edge for black. At the chessfm blog he was quoted as saying " I play like a 2200 player in time pressure."
26.Qxe6+ Kh8 27.Ra1 Qc4
Topalov has 30 plus minutes while Kamsky has dived to under 10
28.Rec1!?
GM Marin from chessbase describes this move best. "Objectively speaking, it may be said that it leads White on the verge of defeat, but from psychologycal point of view it defines an approach that eventually won the game for White."
The safe option is 28.Rxa3
28...Bc2 29.Qd7 a2 30.d6 b5 31.Qb7 Reb8?!
31...b4 This is winning. 32.d7 Reb8 33.d8Q+ Rxd8 34.Bxd8 Rxd8 35.Qe7 Rc8 36.Rxa2 Qxa2 37.Qxb4
32.Qc7

32... Rc8?!
32...Bd3! would avoid defeat.
33.Qxc4 Rxc4 34.d7 Bb1 35.Rd1 Kg8 36.d8Q+ Rxd8 37.Bxd8 Bc2 38.Rdc1 b4 39.Rxa2 b3 40.Ra8 Kf7 41.Rb8 Ke6 42.Re1+ Kd5 43.Be7 Ra4 44.Bf8 Ra7 45.h4
1-0

Topalov wins the match and is now scheduled to play Anand.

All in all an interesting and tense match. Kamsky had excellent chances but at critical points was bested by Topalov's great practical play and not his opening innovation's like was to be assumed.

One interesting point coming from Kamsky's interview on chessfm was during the match Kamsky's team would study everyday with water running music blearing and closed doors in case of their Hotel room being bugged!

Palmerston North Chess Club News

2009-03-01T12:41:00.000-08:00

The next club night is the AGM. The Club is open every Thursday from 7:30pm at Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School on Ferguson street. Contact Club President : Dennis Davey (06) 353 0193 or Club Captain : Stewart Holdaway 027 329 4399 for more information.

The Palmerston North Club Blitz Championship is due to be held on the 12th of March. All are welcome as this promises to be a fun event with a nice trophy up for grabs.

Past winners S. Holdaway in 2007 and J. Davis in 2008.