North Island Championship

THe North Island Championship has not been in Palmy since I began playing playing tournament chess so this was a good change. A poor turn out from clubs in the lower north Island caused a weakish field. But what incentive is there, it used to be a ticket to play in the NZ champs but this is now an open tournament. Overall the event was run ok but playing in a hall should be left for kiddie tournaments not FIDE rated events like this. As far as my results go my it was the worst tournament in recent times but I havent played in 3ish years. I enjoyed it non the less with the exception of one game. FM Noble was the expected NI Champ but the surprise was the young Chinese boy winning the event. He played around the 2000 level well above his 1700 rating.

Full results at http://www.newzealandchess.co.nz/Vega2015/wwwNthIsChamps/standing.html



Final Standings 

Pos	ID	T	NAME	Rtg	PRtg	Fed	Origin	Pts	DirE	Cmlt	BucT	S-B	Buc1
1	11	--	Dai, Wenzhi	1714	2242			8.0	0.0	40.0	46.5	39.50	44.5
2	1	FM	Noble, Mark F	2314	2207		MK	7.5	0.0	39.0	51.0	41.25	46.5
3	2	--	Polishchuk, Kirill	2239	1980			6.5	0.0	33.0	51.5	34.50	47.0
4	4	--	James, Jack	2005	2063		MK	6.0	0.0	34.0	51.5	30.50	47.5
5	9	--	Dolejs, Dan	1878	1990		NE	5.5	0.0	31.0	46.5	30.25	46.5
6	3	--	King, Mathew J	2055	1742		PN	5.5	0.0	28.0	50.0	27.00	46.0
7	5	--	Jackson, L Ross	1981	1793		WE	5.5	0.0	28.0	48.5	25.75	44.5
8	6	--	Nicholls, Leighton	1934	1870		OT	5.0	0.0	26.5	47.5	21.75	44.0
9	7	--	Post, Martin J	1919	1753		WA	5.0	0.0	24.0	41.0	19.50	39.0
10	15	--	McDougall, Wayne	1546	1663			5.0	0.0	21.0	38.5	16.00	36.5
11	8	--	Rossiter, Philip E	1911	1787		WE	4.5	0.0	25.0	43.5	16.75	40.5
12	10	--	Cooper, Nigel	1876	1380		CA	4.5	0.0	23.0	33.5	10.75	33.0
13	24	--	Calitz, Hananke	0	1587		MK	4.5	0.0	22.5	35.0	13.25	34.5
14	13	--	Reissner, Alexander	1686	1659			4.5	0.0	22.0	45.5	18.75	42.5
15	14	--	Hooton, Barry R	1555	1464		PT	4.5	0.0	21.5	39.0	15.50	37.0
16	17	--	Nylund, Benjamin	1410	1444		NE	4.5	0.0	20.0	34.0	10.25	33.5
17	12	--	Hill, Ryan	1709	1342		PN	4.0	0.0	21.5	35.5	11.00	35.0
18	16	--	Picken, Oliver	1478	1539			4.0	0.0	18.0	32.5	7.50	32.0
19	18	--	Charles, Dion	1396	1474		MK	3.5	0.0	17.0	38.0	13.75	35.0
20	20	--	Nylund, Micah	1266	1342		NE	3.0	1.0	11.0	29.5	6.25	29.0
21	23	--	McDougall, Nathan	973	1368		HP (r)	3.0	0.0	15.0	31.0	6.00	30.5
22	22	--	Nylund, Timothy	1199	1103		NE	2.0	1.0	11.0	35.5	2.50	35.0
23	19	--	McDougall, Euan	1363	1198			2.0	0.0	9.0	30.5	4.00	30.0
24	21	--	Ross, Sol	1251	809		MK	0.5	0.0	3.5	31.0	1.50	29.0

2012 Chess Olympiad

New Zealands best and brightest chess players are representing their country at the 2012 Chess Olympiad in Turkey. The 11th and last round of the event is tonight 8pm NZ time.The Open team is currently in 99th spot coming into the last round 8 places off it's starting rank but will be looking to win it's match against a similar strength team from Zimbabwe. The Gold medal will come from either Russia, Armenia, or China who are currently first equal at the top of the table. The women's section has Russia and China leading while the kiwi's are sitting in 74th spot not far from their starting rank, they play Paraguay in the last round.
Results Page
Official Site

On another note I am wondering if the Haka would be an acceptable pre match ritual at the olympiad?

Update goto chessbase for the tricky tiebreak situation's

Self Indulgence is always good for the ego

Their are certain milestones a chess player aims for and reaching a rating of 2000 is a definate cause for celebration. It may seem meek compared to the Carlsen's of the world rated 2800+ but still. Once you reach the milestone of 2000 you can be considered an expert level player. As it stands at the moment I am the highest internationally active  rated chess player in the Manawatu (soon to be overtaken but hey every dog has his day in the sun) and have a national rating finally over 2000.

The following game is from last year's Palmy club champs where I defeat the reigning champ at the time.

Davis,J (2082) - King,M (1990) [D17]
Palmerston North CC Chp Palmerston North (15), 24.11.2011

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 e6 7.Nxc4?!

 Black has no opening problem's after this. 7.f3 is the main line; 7.g3!?

7...c5

Best

8.Bf4?

An aggressive move but quite dubious.

8...cxd4 9.Nb5 Bb4+

This move spoil's white's aggressive intention's.

10.Bd2 Be7 11.Bf4 Bb4+ 12.Bd2 Be7

 It had been a long week at work and shifting house and I was no longer fighting for first place so a draw by repition was acceptable. 12...Bc5 This is the move to play for a win for black who really should do so under normal circumstances. 13.e3 (13.Bf4? 0-0! 14.Nc7 Bb4+ I didn't realise at the time that this check is just winning for black! 15.Nd2 e5 16.Bxe5 Ne4 17.Bf4 Bxd2+ 18.Bxd2 Qxc7-+) 13...Nc6 14.exd4 Nxd4-+

13.g4!?

An interesting practicle try although technically black has a winning position now.

13...Bxg4?!
I thought this must be the move but again Justin is resourceful and it turns out white has some good play now. 13...Be4 14.Rg1 (14.f3 Bd5) 14...a6 15.g5 axb5 16.gxf6 Bxf6 17.axb5 Rxa1 18.Qxa1
 Qd5-+
14.Bg2 Nc6
better is probably 14...0-0 15.Bxb7 Nbd7 16.h3 (16.Bxa8?! Qxa8 17.f3 Qd5) 16...Bh5 17.Ba5 Qb8 18.Bxa8 Qxa8
15.Bxc6+ bxc6 16.Ba5

16...cxb5! A huge surprise for white who was looking to confidently convert his advantage. But this move completely changes the character of the position and white completely underestimates black's play. Often when a draw offer is refused play from both sides becomes very tense and you must be ready to enter complications. The computer evaluates a clear edge to white but going further down the line it becomes clear black has excellent compensation for the queen sacrifice. the alternative is 16...Qd7 17.Ne5 Qb7 18.Nc7+ Kf8 19.Nxa8 c5 20.Rg1 h5 21.Nc7 Bd6
17.Bxd8 Rxd8 18.Ne5
18.h3 Bxe2 19.Qxe2 bxc4 20.Qxc4 0-0
 18...Bb4+ 19.Kf1 Bh3+ 20.Kg1 Rd5
Black has only two pieces and some pawns for the queen but white's rooks are out of the game his king is funny and in danger and black has the iniative.
21.Qd3 Rxe5
 21...Bf5 22.Qb3 Bd6 23.Nd3 0-0=ish
22.Qxh3 0-0 23.Qb3
23.Qd3 Rf5 24.axb5 Bc5 25.h4 And perhaps white can slowly consolidate things
23...a5 24.h4
 24.axb5
24...Rxe2 25.Kf1?!
25.axb5
25...bxa4 26.Rxa4 Rd2 27.Rxb4?!
A losing plan better is 27.Rg1 Ne4 28.Rg4 Rxf2+ 29.Kg1 Rf1+ 30.Kg2 Re1
27...axb4 28.Ke1 Ne4 29.f3

29... Nc5! 30.Qc4 Rxb2 31.Qxc5 Rb1+ 32.Kd2 Rxh1 33.Qxd4 b3 White's position is hopeless 34.Kc3 Rb8 35.Qd6 Rc1+ 36.Kb2 Rc2+ 37.Kb1 Rbc8 38.h5 b2 39.Qa6 h6 40.f4 R2c6 41.Qb7 Rc1+ 42.Kxb2 R8c2+ 43.Ka3 Ra1+ 0-1

New Chess Club in Palmerston North

PALMY KNIGHTS

CHESS CLUB

Opening Night: Tuesday, 04^th September 2012

                                    (Every Tuesday)

Time: Students: 5.30pm – 7pm

            Adults: 7.30pm - late

Venue: Hokowhitu Bowling Club

              Albert Street, Palmerston North

Contact: Mark Noble

Home: 06 3237003, Mobile: 027 3382040

Activities during the 5.30pm to 7pm session (anyone welcome)

Play chess and aim to be KING of the ladder

Solve chess puzzles

Learn chess on demonstration board

Learn chess openings

Learn about pins and forks

(With correspondence chess grandmaster Mark Noble)

PLAY CHESS & HAVE FUN

Wellington Easter Open

Place Name                  Feder Rtg  Loc  Score Buch.

 1-2  Wastney, Scott        NZL   2300 2372 5      23.5
      Jackson, L. Ross      NZL   1935 2020 5      20.0
  3   Ker, Anthony F        NZL   2324 2451 4.5    21.5
 4-7  Steadman, Michael     NZL   2230 2353 4      23.5
      Zwahr, Paul           GER   2343 2343 4      21.5
      Sellen, Ian           NZL   1981 2069 4      17.0
      Perry, Roger          NZL   2020 2018 4      15.5
8-11  Goodhue, Nathan       NZL   1956 2070 3.5    20.5
      Nyberg, Michael       NZL   1975 2087 3.5    19.5
      King, Mathew          NZL   1966 2003 3.5    19.0
      Roberts, Michael      NZL   1828 1789 3.5    16.0
12-17 Ansell, Alan          NZL   2095 2207 3      22.0
      Mcdonald, John        NZL   2047 2101 3      22.0
      Forster, William      NZL   1906 2004 3      18.0
      Rains, Timothy        NZL   1715 1782 3      18.0
      Rains, Edward         NZL   1846 1881 3      17.5
      James, Jack           NZL        1730 3      17.0
18-20 Nijman, Brian         NZL   2157 2199 2.5    18.5
      Stone, Andrew         NZL   1927 1963 2.5    17.5
      Sims, I Martin        NZL        1860 2.5    17.0
21-24 Timergazi, Layla      NZL        1302 2      16.5
      Shierlaw, Hamish      NZL        1567 2      14.0
      Whittle, Jonathon     NZL        1700 2      13.5
      Mitchell, Robert      NZL   1684 1594 2      13.5
25-28 Metham, Michael       NZL        1115 1.5    16.5
      Farrington, Lawrence  NZL        1809 1.5    15.5
      Cunningham, Patrick D NZL        1331 1.5    15.5
      Luo, Brian            NZL        1244 1.5    14.0

Congratulations to FM Scott Wastney and especially Ross Jackson  on winning the the Wellington Easter Open. The last round was especially entertaining with all top board's going the distance. Ross beating NZ champion and FM Mike Steadman in the last round was a great result for him. The tournament was run well and was quite strong with half the field over 2000. The one complaint I would say is Wellington Club has the habbit of sorting out the grading prizes to last which leaves them open to be accused of fixing results to help their own players. If this is done at the start of the tournament then it would remove any possble accusations.
Jack James was the only Palmy player to win something taking home the C grade prize. I finished the best among  the Palmy club boys losing only to tournament winner Jackson in a very messy game.

Palmerston North Chess Club Blitz Championship

Congratulation's to Chris Burns on winning the  Palmy Club Blitz (speed chess) Championship.
After being 2 - 0 down in the semi's against John McDonald he was able to win 3 in a row and then comfortably beat Mathew King in the Finals.

Result's
Matches are best of 5
Rating's shown are rapid NZCF

Semi Finals

John McDonald 2067 - Chris Burns 2021   Final Score 2 - 3

Mathew King 1930 - Jack James 1773 Final Score 3 - 1

Finals

Mathew King 1930 - Chris Burns 2021 Final Score 1 - 3


I was happy to make the finals getting revenge for my loss to Jack last year in the semi final's, but it was far from convincing. I lost the first game with white and was able to win two dubious position's in game's 3 and 4 even blowing a piece in the opening in the last game but struggled on with an attack on Jack's king to win the match.
The finals against Chris started badly with me losing on time with white in a equal position. The second game went well to begin with as I was able to win a nice central pawn but then left the piece enprie that captured the pawn 3 moves later! Even though I won game three it I couldn't break the course of the match and Chris was a deserved winner.

Preliminarays groups are double round robin, Quarter final's are best of 3 and Semi's and Final best of 5

Results
Group One


Chris Burns 5
Jack James 3
Dennis Davey 2
James Stewart 2

Group Two

Mathew King 6
John McDonald 6
Stewart Holdaway 4
Martin Sims 3
Yuri 1
Quarter-Finals

Chris Burns 2 vs. Martin Sims 1
Mathew King 2 vs. James Stewart1
Jack James 2 vs. Stewart Holdaway 0
John 2 vs. Dennis 0

Semi's and Final's to be played this coming Wednesday

Pairing's
Mathew King - Jack James
JohnMcDonald - Chris Burns

Notable results where Martin Sims beating John with a nice mating attack, and Dennis the oldest participant beating James twice! who is over 400 point's higher rated. Jack also did well to beat Stewart 2/0 in the Qurater final's, although I remember losing the semi final's last year to Jack so this is perhaps not a great surprise. Stewart was able to get a win off me to cause a tie in group two.

New Zealand Chess March Rating List (Active)

The rating's listed are Standard only for the full list go here

Top 20 New Zealand and  Palmerston North Club

Rank Name Club Rating
 
1 KER, ANTHONY F WE  2451

2 DIVE, RUSSELL J WE  2440

3 MARTIN, BENJAMIN M S CA 3 2431

4 WASTNEY, SCOTT WE  2372

5 CROAD, NICHOLAS WE  2357

6 STEADMAN, MICHAEL V R AC 2353

7 SMITH, ROBERT W MM  2347

8 GARBETT, PAUL A NS  2345

9 HAGUE, BEN AC  2340

10 LUKEY, STEPHEN G CA  2324

11 WATSON, BRUCE R AC  2323

12 MCLAREN, LEONARD J HP  2317

13 LI, LUKE (ZUHAO) HP  2308

14 NOBLE, MARK F PN  2300

15 PINIC, NOEL MM  2267

16 HART, RALPH NS  2260

17 THOMAS, BENJAMIN UH  2254

18 HAN, DANIEL AC  2246

19 WANSINK, ROBERT OT  2245

20 SUTHERLAND, JOHN L OT  2237

47 MCDONALD, JOHN A PN  2101

50 BURNS, CHRIS J PN  2097

80 KING, MATHEW J PN  2003

119 STEWART, JAMES PN  1889

169 HOLDAWAY, STEWART PN  1772

187 JAMES, JACK PN  1730

203 TAYLOR, STEPHEN PN 1695

Queenstown Chess Classic 2012

The Queenstown chess classic was again a great success thanks must go out to Grandmaster Murray Chandler for sponsoring a great event. All info can be found here including photo's and video clips.

The New Zealand championship was hotly contested coming into the last round. FM Michael Steadman and IM Paul Garbett were tied on 5.5 each but Paul had a lower rated opponent and Michael had a strong IM to deal with. IM Dive, FM Lukey

and FM Smith were half a point behind and looking to win their games. Unfortunately for Garbett he surprisingly lost his last round game and Steadman won! Capping off a great final two rounds beating a GM in round 8 along with the following win FM Michael Steadman was a deserving Champion for the his first.

Steadman,M (2275) - Van Riemsdijk,H (2401) [A58]Queenstown Classic Queenstown, New Zealand (9.8), 23.01.2012

1.d4 c5 2.d5 Nf6 3.c4 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bxa6 7.Nf3 d6 8.g3

So we have a Benko gambit where white has decided to take the pawn and why not when a win would guarantee a tie at minimum for the New Zealand championship. The other main line is..

8.e4 Bxf1 9.Kxf1 Nbd7 10.g3 Bg7 11.Kg2 0-0 12.h3 Qb6 (12...Nb6 13.Re1 Nfd7 14.Bf4 Qb8 15.Qe2 Na4 16.Nxa4 Rxa4 17.e5 Nb6 18.b3 Rxf4 19.gxf4 Nxd5 20.Qc4 e6 21.Rad1 dxe5 22.fxe5 Qa8 23.Qxc5 Nf4+ 24.Kg3 Nh5+ 25.Kg2 Nf4+ 26.Kg3 ½-½ Karpov,A-Adianto,U/Cap d'Agde 2002/) 13.Re1 Rfb8 14.e5 dxe5 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.Rxe5 Qb7 17.Qf3 h6 18.Re2 Rd8 19.Be3 Nd7 20.Rd1 Ra6 21.Bf4 g5 22.Bc1 Ne5 23.Qe4 c4 24.Kh2 Qd7 25.f4 f5 26.Qe3 Nd3 27.fxg5 h5 28.Qf3 h4 29.gxh4 Bxc3 30.bxc3 Qxd5 31.Qxd5+ Rxd5 32.Rxe7 Rxa2+ 33.Kg3 Ra1 34.h5 f4+ 35.Kh4 Raa5 36.h6 Rxg5 37.Bxf4 Rh5+ 38.Kg3 Rhf5 39.Rb1 Ra8 40.h7+ Kh8 41.Be3 Rd5 42.Bd4+ Rxd4 43.cxd4 c3 44.Rc7 Rd8 45.Rxc3 Rxd4 46.Rd1 Nf4 47.Rxd4 Ne2+ 48.Kf3 Nxd4+ 49.Ke4 Ne6 50.Kf5 1-0 Gabrielian,A-Bologan,V/Aix-les-Bains FRA 2011/

8...Bg7 9.Bg2 Nbd7 10.0-0

10.Rb1 This is a popular variation among the top players with white doing well at the moment. 10...0-0 11.0-0 Qa5 12.Qc2 (12.Bd2 Ng4 13.Qc2 Nge5 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.b3 Qa3 16.Bc1 Qa5 17.Bd2 Qa3 18.Bc1 Qa5 19.a4 Nf3+ 20.Bxf3 Qxc3 21.Qa2 Qa5 22.Bg5 Ra7 23.Rfc1 Rb8 24.Bd2 Qd8 25.b4 cxb4 26.Rxb4 Rxb4 27.Bxb4 Bb5 28.a5 Rc7 29.Rxc7 Qxc7 30.Bd2 Bd4 31.Qb3 Ba6 32.Kg2 Kg7 33.Qb4 Qc5 34.e3 Ba1 35.Qxc5 dxc5 36.Bd1 Kf6 37.f4 e5 38.Kf2 Ke7 39.Be2 c4 40.Bb4+ Kd7 41.Kf3 Kc7 42.g4 Kb7 43.f5 Bb5 44.Ke4 Ka6 45.h4 Bb2 46.h5 Ba1 47.h6 Bb2 48.Bd6 Kxa5 49.Bxe5 gxf5+ 50.gxf5 Bxe5 51.Kxe5 c3 52.Bd1 Kb4 53.Kd4 f6 54.Bc2 Be8 55.e4 Bb5 56.d6 Bc6 57.e5 fxe5+ 58.Kxe5 Ba4 59.f6 1-0 Wang Yue-Bologan,V/Khanty-Mansiysk RUS 2010/) 12...Nb6 13.Rd1 Nfd7 14.Bd2 Nc4 15.Be1 Rfb8 16.Qc1 Nde5 17.Nxe5 Nxe5 18.h3 Bc8 19.b3 c4 20.f4 Nd7 21.Qe3 cxb3 22.axb3 Qd8 23.Na4 Nf6 24.Bf2 Bf5 25.Rbc1 Rb4 26.g4 Bd7 27.Rc6 Rab8 28.Rd3 Bxc6 29.dxc6 Qc7 30.Be1 R4b5 31.Nc3 Ra5 32.g5 Nh5 33.Nd5 Rxd5 34.Bxd5 e6 35.Bf3 Rb5 36.Bc3 e5 37.fxe5 Bxe5 38.Bxe5 Rxe5 39.Qd2 Qa7+ 40.Kg2 Qe7 41.h4 d5 42.b4 Qd6 43.b5 Re6 44.Bxh5 gxh5 45.Rxd5 Rxe2+ 46.Qxe2 Qxd5+ 47.Kg3 Qd6+ 48.Kf3 Qd5+ 49.Kf4 Qd6+ 50.Ke4 Qe6+ 51.Kd3 1-0 Korobov,A-Caruana,F/Moscow RUS 2012/

10...0-0

10...Nb6!?

11.Ne1

Not a common move. White has many choices such as 11.Qc2,h3,Re1,Bf4,Rb1

11...Ne8 12.Nc2 Nc7 13.Ne3

13.Bd2 Nb6 14.b4 Bc4 15.bxc5 Nbxd5 16.Nxd5 Bxd5 17.cxd6 Qxd6 18.Bf4 e5 19.Bg5 Qe6 20.Nb4 Bxg2 21.Kxg2 Qf5 22.Qd2 h6 23.Be3 Rfd8 24.Qc2 Qxc2 25.Nxc2 Nd5 26.a3 Rdc8 27.Rfd1 Nc3 28.Rd7 Nxe2 29.Nb4 Nd4 30.Nd5 Rc2 31.a4 Nf5 32.Ne7+ Nxe7 33.Rxe7 e4 34.Ra3 Bf8 35.a5 Bxe7 36.Ra4 Bc5 0-1 Moulain,J-Mensch,E/France 1996

13...Nb5 14.Bd2 Nd4 15.Re1

White's piece construction looks akward but it is solid for the moment.

15...Qc7 16.b3

Black's pawn sac in the Benko gambit is based on positional grounds. Black will place his heavy pieces on the open a and b file's and along with the bishop at g7 and black's knight's hovering around

squares like e5 and possible c5 after a pawn push the pressure on white's queenside is quite hard to deal with.

16...Rfb8 17.Rb1 Nb6 18.h3 Bc8 19.Nc2 Bd7 20.Ne3

White's play is drifting 20.e3 Nb5 21.Nxb5 Bxb5 22.a4 Bd3 23.a5 Nd7 24.e4 c4 25.b4!?

20...Qc8

20...c4!?

21.Kh2 h5 22.Nf1?!

Even though it may feel ridiculous having moved back and forth already,the knight move back to c2 is better. 22.Nc2 c4 23.Nb4=

22...Bf6

22...c4!?

23.e3 Nb5 24.Ne4 

24...Bg7

Black underestimates white's temporary pawn sac. Better is 24...Rxa2 25.Nxf6+ exf6 26.Ra1 Qa6 27.e4 And black has more than equalised.

25.a4 Nc7 26.Bc3!

Protecting the pawn doesn't work 26.Nc3?! c4 27.bxc4 Nxc4 28.Rxb8 Rxb8 29.Ne2 Nb2 30.Qc2 Bxa4 31.Qe4

26...Nbxd5 27.Bxg7 Kxg7 28.Nxd6!

Now black's strong bishop which he tried to save being traded with 24.... Bg7 has left the board, and he is still a pawn down.

28...exd6 29.Bxd5 Nxd5 30.Qxd5 Ra6 31.h4

The key point to this position seems to be the weak hanging pawn's at d6 and e5.

White's knight on f1 has some nice squares to work with to attack these pawns and help with the advance of white's queenside pawn's

31...Be6 32.Qd3 Rb4 33.Nd2 Qa8?!

Better is 33...Rab6

34.e4

White hits on the winning plan of pushing a pawn to e5 a typical motif in the Benko. 34.Qc3+ Kg8 35.e4 Qb7 36.e5 d5 37.Qxc5 Rc6 38.Qe3 Qc7

34...Kg8 35.Qc3 Rab6

 35...Qb7 Transposing to the variation above was black's best.

 36.e5

 Suddenly black's position is under some strain

36...Bf5?!

 36...Rc6 37.exd6 Rxd6 38.Nf3 Qc6 39.Rb2 Rd5 40.Rd2 (40.Ne5 Qd6 41.Nc4 Qb8 42.Rxe6 fxe6 43.Qe3 Qe8 44.a5²) 40...Qa8 41.Rde2 Rf5 42.Ng5 Qd5 43.Nxe6 fxe6 44.a5 Rxb3 45.Qc2 Rbf3 46.a6±

37.Rbc1 Qb8? 38.exd6?!

 38.Nc4! Rxb3 (38...Rb7 39.Nxd6 Rd7 40.Nxf5 gxf5 41.Qf3 Rxb3 42.Qxf5 Rd8 43.Rxc5 Rb2 44.e6 It is mate soon to follow.) 39.Qa5 Rc6 40.exd6 Rc8 41.Re7 Rd3 42.Qe1 Qb3 43.a5 Rd4 44.Re8+ Rxe8 45.Qxe8+ Kg7 46.Qe5+ Kg8 47.Ne3 Qa2 48.Kg1 Qe6 49.Rxc5 Qxe5 50.Rxe5 Be6 51.a6 Rxd6 52.Ra5+- 38...Rxd6 39.Re3 Be6?

39...Re6

40.Ne4 Rdd4 41.Nxc5 Bd5 42.Kg1 Qc8 43.Kf1 Bc4+

The position has become extremely tense. White is two pawns up and is now winning. Black has started a tactical sequence going for his best chance to complicate matters.

44.Nd3?

Throwing away the New Zealand championship in one move. Remembering at move 40 each player gets an extra 60 minutes this is quite an unbelievable mistake. A typical one for a last round of a tournament when so much is at stake. 44.bxc4!Winning is simply taking the piece but the point of this move is

not so

easy to see. 44...Qxc5 (44...Rbxc4 45.Qxc4+-) 45.Re8+ Kh7 46.Rc8!+-

44...Qh3+?

 Letting white off the hook. 44...Rxd3 45.Rxd3 Bxd3+-+ And white must lose a piece. 46.Kg1 Qxc3 47.Rxc3 White doe have two pawns for the piece but they are too weak to cause any problems for black 47...Be4 48.a5 Bb7 49.Kf1 Rb5 50.Ke2 Rxa5-+

45.Ke1 Ba6 46.Rd1 Qd7?

The final mistake.

46...Qg2= 47.Qc5 Qh1+ 48.Kd2 Qb7 49.Kc1 (49.Ke1 Qh1+ 50.Kd2 Qb7=) 49...Rbc4+ 50.bxc4 Rxc4+ 51.Qxc4 Bxc4 52.Nb2 Be6 53.Rdd3=

47.Qxb4!

Basically trading two rooks for the queen where white's 2 extra pawns will be a simple win. 47.Qxb4 Rxb4 48.Nxb4 Qa7 49.Nxa6 Qxa6

1-0

FIDE Rating's List March 2012 (Active)

Top Players

Rank Name Title Country Rating Games B-Year


1 Carlsen, Magnus gm NOR 2835 13 1990

2 Aronian, Levon gm ARM 2820 13 1982

3 Kramnik, Vladimir gm RUS 2801 0 1975

4 Anand, Viswanathan gm IND 2799 0 1969

5 Radjabov, Teimour gm AZE 2784 13 1987

6 Nakamura, Hikaru gm USA 2771 23 1987

7 Caruana, Fabiano gm ITA 2767 32 1992

8 Karjakin, Sergey gm RUS 2766 13 1990

9 Morozevich, Alexander gm RUS 2765 10 1977

10 Ivanchuk, Vassily gm UKR 2764 23 1969


Top New Zealand (Active players)



# Name Title Fed Rating G B-Year

1 Wang, Puchen im NZL 2431 5 1990

2 Dive, Russell John im NZL 2340 9 1966

3 Croad, Nicolas fm NZL 2334 9 1980

4 Ker, Anthony F fm NZL 2324 8 1967

5 Garbett, Paul Anthony im NZL 2292 9 1952

6 Watson, Bruce R fm NZL 2276 0 1960

7 Smith, Robert W fm NZL 2262 9 1956

8 McLaren, Leonard NZL 2238 0 1964

9 Lukey, Stephen G fm NZL 2236 9 1968

10 Steadman, Michael fm NZL 2230 19 1962

Wang has been in America for some time now so is unfortunately not really a local player anymore. Russell Dive's world rank is 3691 (active players).

Top Palmerston North (Active Players)

34 John McDonald  2047

45 Chris Burns        1994

59 Mathew King     1966

71 Justin Davis         1926



Country rank by average rating of top 10 players


                    Average GMs IMs Total Titled

1 Russia       2744 213 485 2087

2 Ukraine     2697 79 199 485

3 China          2661 29 23 112

4 Armenia      2659 33 22 84

5 Hungary      2657 51 104 411

6 France      2657 46 95 338

7 United States of America 2647 71 119 557

8 Israel         2644 39 45 157

9 India          2642 25 76 207

10 Azerbaijan 2640 20 16 73

77 New Zealand 2296 1 6 31


Full results - http://ratings.fide.com/toplist.phtml