The final two rounds of this years Summer Rapid was played on Wednesday evening.

In the A Grade there was no suprises as the top 2 seeds, who had already played each other previously and drawn, won both their round leaving them 1st and 2nd respectively. Here are the final standings in the A Grade –

Katrine McCarthy       5.5

John Worn                    5.0

Barry Hooton               4.0

Paul Norris                    3.0

John McRae                  3.0

Meliton Gesmundo      2.5

Paul Postma                   2.0

The B Grade showed some of the weaknesses inherent in the fact that we have to play as one swiss tournament (i.e. A and B grades all together) because of low numbers.

Graeme Coleman and Stefan Brzozowski were joint leaders going into the final two rounds however Graeme lost against an A grader and then received a 1 point bye. Stefan on the other hand defeated an A grader and then lost to the top sead (Katrine). As well as this Solomon Lefe’e played two B grade players (winning both) and caught up. Final standings are as follows –

Stefan Brzozowski        3.0

Graeme Coleman          3.0

Solomon Lefe’e              3.0

Caleb Lefe’e                    2.0

Rhoslyn Lapworth         1.0

Pauline Thomas             1.0

William Lefe’e                 1.0

James Anderson               0

There is a possibility of separating the grades but there are a number of considerations –

1. Every week there are people who don’t turn up – sometimes 1 or 2 but sometimes many.

2. It is noticeable that in this tournament the A grade players were there every week but in one week there were 4 B grade players missing.

3. We could still play separate tournaments if people are willing to except a win by default. In the case of tournaments where there are only one round per night, there is a possibility of opponents playing during the week before the next round. In this case though the rule should be  – The person that turns up on club night can enforce the default if they cannot or are unwilling to play outside club night.

4. The A grade would be a round robin but this creates a problem if a higher rated player turns up after the first round. This probably could be overcome by contacting the higher rated players before the tournament.

The next graded tournament is the Winter Cup starting 19 June and I think this should be considered as the B Grade invariably has this problem. If you would like to discuss please email me [email protected]

The next tournament starting 17th April is the Autumn Cup (Katrine Metge Cup). This is 5 rounds with swiss format and one single group. Time control is 1 hour + 30 seconds from move one. As usual you need to be there before 7.30 or let Paul Postma know that you wish to enter.

Last week saw a strange deposit in our cheque account – MEGA FEE $40 asked John McRae about it, he said it was Paul Postma’s NZCF Reg. and NZ Chess mag subs. Thought the mag subs was $23 so the total should be $43.

So emailed Bill Forster – “… for Papatoetoe we have been charging $4.00 times 5 copies plus $3.00 postage equals $23.00 [per issue]. We can offer the same terms even if you now want less than 5 copies per issue. ….. the NZCF account number is ANZ Bank 01 0535 0073257 00 …”

The cost per copy is $4.60      [ $4 + $3 divided by 5 = 60cents]

The cost per year is $18.40     [ 4 issues per year]  Not $23

There are 3 NZers playing in the Sydney International Open at the moment – Luke Li, Fuatai Fuatai and Gavin Marner. After round 6 Luke is on 3.5 having played 2 GMs and 1 IM . He had a draw against one of the GMs and drew with the IM. At the moment he is in 22nd place out of a field of 68. Fuatai is 44th on 2.5 points and Gavin is also on 2.5 points in 49th (on tiebreaker system).

Luke will be playing another GM today (round 7) – Zoltan Varga from Hungary.

Wednesday evening saw a few draws in the A Grade (genuine draws). On the night Katrine McCarthy managed 1.5 from the 2 rounds which sees her leading on 3.5, by a half a point. Following on 3 points are John Worn and Barry Hooton who both got a half point in round 3 and then played each other in round 4 for another half point.

The rest of A Grade is as follows –

Meliton Gesmundo       2.5

Paul Norris                      2.0

John McRae                     2.0

Paul Postma                     1.0

Stefan Brzozowski had the best night in the  B Grade. Stefan won both his games to lead the B Grade on 2 points with Graeme Coleman. Following these two leaders in the B Grade are as follows –

Solomon Lefe’e            1.0

Caleb Lefe’e                  1.0

Rhoslyn Lapworth       1.0

Pauline Thomas            1.0

James Anderson            0

The final two rounds will be paid next Wednesday 10th April.

On Wednesday 27 March we played the first 2 rounds of the Summer Rapid. There is an A and B Grade even though we are pairing as one tournament.

The standings after round 2 –

A GRADE

Katrine McCarthy      2

John Worn                   2

Barry Hooton                2

Meliton Gesmundo       1

Paul Norris                     1

John McRae                   1

Paul Postma                    0

B GRADE

Graeme Coleman           1

Solomon Lefe’e               1

Caleb Lefe’e                      1

Rhoslyn Lapworth           1

Stefan Brzozowski            0

Pauline Thomas                 0

Starting on the 27/3/2013 is the Summer Rapid (Bruce Marsick Cup). This competition will be six rounds over 3 nights, hence 2 rounds per night, with a time control 30/30. There will be a B Grade winner (cut of will be determined after the first night).

As usual you will need to arrive before 7.30pm to enter or contact the club or Paul Postma if you are going to be a bit late.

Visitors are very welcome to enter – cost is $3 per night.

Paul Postma 2997735 0210330548

Barry Hooton 5277250 0274506140

Andrew Michael continued his winning ways in the final round quickly capitalising on a dubious sac and then a blunder. Congratulations Michael on a clean sweep in your first tournament back at Papatoetoe.

Here are the results of the final round in board order –

Paul Postma – Andrew Michael 0-1

Katrine McCarthy – John Worn 1-0

John McRae – Paul Norris 0-1

Krishi Narayan – Graeme Coleman 0-1

Barry Hooton – Pauline Thomas 1-0

Final Standings –

1. Andrew Michael    5.0

2. Katrine McCarthy  4.0

3= John Worn             3.0

3= Paul Norris              3.0

5. Yash Narayan           2.5

6= Paul Postma            2.0

6= John McRae           2.0

6= Krishi Narayan      2.0

6= Meliton Gesmundo 2.0

6= Graeme Coleman   2.0

11. Barry Hooton           1.5

12= Pauline Thomas    1.0

12= Satnam Singh         1.0

12= Solomon Lefe’e       1.0

12= William Lefe’e         1.0

16= James Anderson      0

16= Rhoslyn Lapworth  0

16= Jagmahan Singh      0

16= Basant Singh             0

16= Caleb Lefe’e                0

Here is Andrew’s game –

Paul Postma – Andrew Michael

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. f3 d5 4. Bg5 Bg7 5. Qd2 Nc6 6. e3 Be6 7. Nge2 a6 8. Nf4 o-o 9. Nxe6 fe 10. a3 Qd7 11. o-o-o b5 12. Nxb5? axb5 13. Bxb5 Rfb8 14. a4? Rxb5 15. axb5?? Ra8# 0-1

Round four, the penultimate round, was played on Wednesday and the clash of the top 2 may have settled the tournament winner but of course anything may happen in the last round.

The top boards and their results were –

1. Andrew Michael   vs  Katrine McCarthy   1-0

2. John Worn            vs  Paul Postma             1-0

3. Yash Narayan        vs  John McRae             0.5-0.5

4. Meliton Gesmundo vs Graeme Coleman  1-0

The leader board is as follows –

Andrew Michael       4

Katrine McCarthy     3

John Worn                  3

Yash Narayan              2.5

Andrew Michael vs Katrine McCarthy (queens pawn game)

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Bf5 3. e3 e6 4. Bd3 Bg6 5. Ne5 Nd7 6. Nxg6 hxg6 7. Nd2 c6 8. Nf3 Ngf6 9. c3 Bd6 10. Qc2 Qe7 11. Bd2 e5 12. de Nxe5 13. Nxe5 Bxe5 14. h3 a6 15. o-o-o o-o-o 16. Kb1 Bd6 17. f3 Bg3 18. Be1 Nh5 19. Bxg3 Nxg3 20. Rhe1 Rhe8 21. Qa4 Qc7 22. Qg4+ Kb8 23. f4 Ne4 24. Bxe4 Rxe4 25. Rd4 R8e8 26. Qf3 Rxd4 27. cxd4 Re4 28. Rc1 Qe7 29. Rc3 f5 30. Qf2 Kc7 31. Kc2 Kd6 32. Qd2 Kc7 33. Rd3 Qd6 34. Qa5+ Kb8 35. Rb3 Kc8 36. Qb6 Qb8 37. Qc5 Re8 38. Kd2 Qc7 39. a4 b5 40. ab cb 41. Qxd5 Kb8 42. Rc3 Qa5 43. Qd6+ Ka7 44. Qd7+  1-0

Round three was played on the 6/3 and wins by the top seeds saw the leader board narrow to Katrine McCarthy and Andrew Michael out in front. These two players will clash in the next round so the outcome will be interesting. Results of the top boards were –

Katrine McCarthy vs Paul Postma    1-0

Andrew Michael   vs Paul Norris       1-0

Meliton Gesmundo vs John Worn     0-1

Krishi Narayan     vs Yash Narayan   0-1

Leaders-

Katrine McCarthy     3

Andrew Michael         3

Paul Postma                2

Yash Narayan              2

John Worn                   2

John McRae               1.5

On the top board black made some basic opening errors which Katrine took advantage of and never let go. Here is the game –

Katrine McCarthy vs Paul Postma (Ruy Lopez) 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.o-o Nxe5 5.d4 Bd6 6.dxe5 Nxe5 7.Nxe5 Bxe5 8.Qd5 Bxh2+ 9.Kxh2 Qh4+ 10.Kg1 c6 11.Qe5+ Kf8 12.Bd3 d6 13.Qxe4 Qxe4 14.Bxe4 d5 15.Rd1 Be6 16.Bf3 h6 17.Be3 g6 18.Bd4 Rh7 19.a4 b6 20.Bf6 Re8 21.c4 h5 22.cxd5 Bg4 23.dxc6 Bxf3 24.gxf3 h4 25.c7 Rh4 26.Rd8 Rf5 27.Rxe8+ Kxe8 28.c8=Q#

Last wednesday evening we played round two of the Summer Cup. The top three boards involved all the leading players from round one. On board 1 Katrine McCarthy, playing black, won against Paul Norris in nine moves (see below). Board 2 Andrew Michael won against John Worn and board 3 was a victory for Paul Postma against John McRae.

Leading scores are Katrine McCarthy, Andrew Michael and Paul Postma all on 2 points.

Followed by Yash Narayan, Krishi Narayan, John Worn, Paul Norris and Meliton Gesmundo on 1 point.

Paul Norris vs Katrine McCarthy (Albin Counter Gambit)

1. d4     d5

2. c4     e5

3. de     d4

4. a3 (normal is Nf3)  Nc6

5. Nf3    Bg4

6. Nbd2  Qe7

7. b4      o-o-o

8. Bb2   Nxe5

9. Nxd4 (oops- should be Nxe5)  Nd3++