North Island Championship 1981 and now

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oceania Zonal Rotorua 2011

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

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Oceania Zonal Rotorua 2011

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

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