Russell Dive Takes Blitz Title

The blitz title was held in the upstairs analysis room, as we lost our usual spacious surroundings because of earthquake damage. I was worried it would be cramped, but actually we managed to get all the players in quite comfortably. 28 people took part (up from 24 last year), including Karthik's 6 year old brother Pramodh - surely the youngest player ever in a Wellington Chess Club tournament? - and new member Australian Efrain Tionko, resident in Wellington for the next year.

I was co-defending Blitz champion, along with Michael Nyberg and Brian Nijman. However, as soon as I saw Russell Dive and Anthony Ker walk through the door, I suspected that defending this title would be problematic! Scott Wastney was also there, but the New Zealand champion does not tend to perform so well at the fastest time controls.

Arguably the sensation of the night was Layla's defeat of Scott in the preliminaries. After all, how many times has a reigning New Zealand champion been beaten by a 12 year old girl in any form of the game? Admittedly, Layla is not just any old 12 year old girl, but the brand new NZ junior (under 20) rapid champion, and NZ schoolgirl champion!

However it was Russell Dive who took the honours, adding the Blitz title to the Rapid title he won last week. The only person who beat him all evening was Alan Aldridge. 3 players qualified for the final from each of the 2 preliminary groups, and Russell saw off all the opposition there. Congratulations Russell! - back to his good old scary form.

Here are the results:

Blitz Preliminary Group A

Cross Table

No
Name
Total
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
#13
#14


1
Dive, Russell
12
*
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1


2
Nyberg, Michael
11
0
*
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1


3
Forster, Bill
9
0
1
*
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
1


4
Timergazi, Layla
9
0
0
1
*
1
0
1
1
0
1
1
1
1
1


5
Wastney, Scott
9
0
0
0
0
*
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1


6
Aldridge, Alan
8
1
0
0
1
0
*
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
1


7
Frost, Paul
8
0
0
1
0
0
1
*
0
1
1
1
1
1
1


8
List, Robert
7
0
0
1
0
0
1
1
*
0
0
1
1
1
1


9
Cook, John
6.5
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
*
1
½
1
1
1


10
Facchini, Fabrizio
5
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
*
1
1
1
1


11
Cunningham, Pat
2.5
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
½
0
*
0
1
1


12
Sknar, Andrew
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
*
0
1


13
Sknar, Andriy
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
*
1


14
Konakanchi, Pramodh
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
*

Blitz Preliminary Group B

Cross Table

No
Name
Total
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
#13
#14


1
Ker, Anthony
13
*
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1


2
Pomeroy, Arthur
11
0
*
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1


3
Sellen, Ian
11
0
0
*
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1


4
Tionko, Efrain
8.5
0
0
0
*
1
0
½
1
1
1
1
1
1
1


5
Brockway, Andrew
8
0
0
0
0
*
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1


6
Whittle, Jonathon
7.5
0
0
0
1
1
*
1
0
1
½
1
0
1
1


7
Farrington, Lawrence
7.5
0
1
0
½
0
0
*
0
1
1
1
1
1
1


8
Jackson, Ross
7
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
*
0
1
1
1
1
1


9
Walters, Taina
5
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
*
1
0
1
1
1


10
Wight, Joshua
4.5
0
0
0
0
0
½
0
0
0
*
1
1
1
1


11
Konakanchi, Karthik
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
*
1
0
1


12
Aumeier, Beate
2
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
*
1
0


13
Wevita, Roshan
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
*
1


14
Bennett, Sarah
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
*

Blitz Final

Cross Table

No
Name
Total
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6


1
Dive, Russell
5
*
1
1
1
1
1


2
Ker, Anthony
4
0
*
1
1
1
1


3
Nyberg, Michael
3
0
0
*
1
1
1


4
Pomeroy, Arthur
2
0
0
0
*
1
1


5
Sellen, Ian
1
0
0
0
0
*
1


6
Timergazi, Layla
0
0
0
0
0
0
*