Chess in Christchurch

So, the big move was complete - we had arrived safely in New Zealand in April 2012 - stopping over in LA for 5 days of fun at Disneyland. What an amazing place, the kids 2 and 4 loved it, so did the wife and I!!

Moving halfway across the world took some adjusting, so chess was on hold for 2012 and I finally went along to the Canterbury Chess Club in 2013. Once again, a warm welcome, particularly from the club secretary, Craig, who remains a good friend today.

I vaguely remember my first night there, think it was a lightning evening and I finished 3rd, so was pleased enough.

I played there for the next 8 years, winning 4 tournaments - the Club Lightning Champs in 2013 and a fun event called the Gambit Trophy in 2013, 2014 (shared) and 2015. The Gambit was a fun event, 6 rounds of rapid chess over 3 nights, each night there was a fixed opening - always a gambit, so you got to play it with White and Black, against different opponents though. It favours faster players (me) and this with a good general knowledge of openings.

I also served on the committee for 7 years, 5 as Treasurer and 2 as Club President.

The club's attendance on any given night was anything from 10 to 50, but probably averaged around 20 odd.

During my time there we had 2 FIDE Masters (FMs) and 3 Candidate Masters (CMs), plus a few more 2000 plus players, so it was reasonably tough at the top. I made the field for the A Grade of the Club Championships every year from 2013 to 2019 (Top 8).

During this time I also played in a few other New Zealand events.

The South Island Championships (New Zealand is basically 2 Islands, North and South)

2013 Only played the Rapid Champs, finished 4th =, drew with the 2nd and 3rd placed finishers, = 3rd highest placed South Islander
2014 Again, only played the Rapid Champs, finished 5th, was seeded 5th
2016 Rapid 12th= , seeded 7th...
2016 Standard 12th = , seeded 14th
2017 Standard 4th, undefeated
2019 Rapid 1st = , South Island Rapid Champion
2019 Standard 7th = , seeded 14th, 3rd = South Islander
2020 Rapid 8th = , seeded 4th
2020 Standard 10th = , seeded 9th

Other
2017 New Zealand Championships 24th = , seeded 28th
2021 Arie Nijman Memorial 11th = , seeded 8th

So nothing too fantastic, but I had established myself, won 5 trophies and had some top finishes.

NOTE: The Canterbury Chess Club - meets Wednesday and Thursday nights at their clubrooms at 9/27 Tyne Street, Riccarton, Christchurch. The clubrooms are open from 7pm until approximately 10pm (short time controls) or 11pm (standard time controls) on Wednesdays, noting that the last few games occasionally run longer. Tournament games start at 7:45pm. The club's junior and casual sessions run from 6:15pm till 9pm on Thursdays (except for public holidays).