Coming up Classic Championship 2026 21 Jul 2026 Did you know No quarter given: Steve Ascic and Matthew Sweeney have played 25 times, never a draw. Did you know Prefers White (≥50 games as each colour): Siyuan Wu, 63% as White vs 42% as Black (22-point edge). Winner 2026 Winter WonderBlitz Kumaresan, Aditya Did you know 101 WCC tournaments are catalogued on this site. Did you know Marathon night: 158 rated games were played in a single evening at the 2025 Blitz Ladder on 9 September 2025, the club's busiest night at the board. Coming up Blitz Championship 2026 8 Sep 2026 Did you know Biggest tournament upset by seed: Edmund Esterbauer entered the 2022 Champs Warmup as the #10 seed and won outright. Did you know Longest WCC tournament by round count: 2023 Quick March (12 rounds). Winner 2026 June Swiss Soutter, Jake Did you know The Returner, biggest gap between two WCC tournaments by an active regular: Mehmed Ceylan sat out 31 months between the Wollongong 2023 Spring Holiday Rapid and the 2026 April Holiday Rapid. Did you know Highest ACF rating ever recorded at a WCC tournament: Jordan Morris at 2204, first at the 2024 Wollongong Blitz Championship. Coming up 960 Classic 2026 15 Sep 2026 Did you know Across all 6,654 rated games at WCC, White wins 48%, Black wins 46%, and 6% end in a draw. Did you know Prefers Black (≥50 games as each colour): Jye Giddings, 61% as Black vs 41% as White (19-point edge). Winner Wollongong Rapid June Planiden, Chayne Did you know Largest WCC tournament by field size: 2026 January Classic (39 entrants). Did you know Busiest year at the board: 2023 saw 1822 rated games played at WCC. Coming up Classic Championship 2026 21 Jul 2026 Did you know No quarter given: Steve Ascic and Matthew Sweeney have played 25 times, never a draw. Did you know Prefers White (≥50 games as each colour): Siyuan Wu, 63% as White vs 42% as Black (22-point edge). Winner 2026 Winter WonderBlitz Kumaresan, Aditya Did you know 101 WCC tournaments are catalogued on this site. Did you know Marathon night: 158 rated games were played in a single evening at the 2025 Blitz Ladder on 9 September 2025, the club's busiest night at the board. Coming up Blitz Championship 2026 8 Sep 2026 Did you know Biggest tournament upset by seed: Edmund Esterbauer entered the 2022 Champs Warmup as the #10 seed and won outright. Did you know Longest WCC tournament by round count: 2023 Quick March (12 rounds). Winner 2026 June Swiss Soutter, Jake Did you know The Returner, biggest gap between two WCC tournaments by an active regular: Mehmed Ceylan sat out 31 months between the Wollongong 2023 Spring Holiday Rapid and the 2026 April Holiday Rapid. Did you know Highest ACF rating ever recorded at a WCC tournament: Jordan Morris at 2204, first at the 2024 Wollongong Blitz Championship. Coming up 960 Classic 2026 15 Sep 2026 Did you know Across all 6,654 rated games at WCC, White wins 48%, Black wins 46%, and 6% end in a draw. Did you know Prefers Black (≥50 games as each colour): Jye Giddings, 61% as Black vs 41% as White (19-point edge). Winner Wollongong Rapid June Planiden, Chayne Did you know Largest WCC tournament by field size: 2026 January Classic (39 entrants). Did you know Busiest year at the board: 2023 saw 1822 rated games played at WCC.

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Deep Thinkers

24 March 2024 · Illawarra

Find out all about what the Wollongong Chess Club is up to.

Completed Tournament

Top seed, Ngoc Hai, went on to win our Rapid March with a perfect 8/8. A full two points clear of second place. Congratulations to Ngoc Hai and to all of our prize winners. For a full table of results, check out the bottom of this newsletter!

Our prize winners are as follows:

1st Place ($45) - Ngoc Hai Nguyen 8/8

2nd Place ($30) - Greg Kurrell 6/8

Under1650 Prize ($30 First, $20 Second)

Shared 1st ($25) - Brendan Bermingham, Mile Romic 5/8

Under1400 Prize ($30 First, $20 Second)

1st Place - John Robeille 3.5/8

Shared 2nd ($10) - Matt Sweeney, Fernando Barasoain 3/8

Unrated Prize ($20)

1st Place - Aravind Kumar 4.5/8

Prize categories based on number of players of a given rating group.

This coming week!

We are back to Classic with a time control of 60min plus 30sec per move.

This tournament will run from Tuesday 26th March to Tuesday 23rd April.

Please arrive by 6:45pm at the latest in order to register for a 7pm start.

Being classic, we have one game per night. You are required to record the moves of the game for the entire game. With an increment of 30sec, you cannot stop recording before the end of the game. If you need help recording, or need to learn, please speak with us before the tournament starts. We will ensure someone helps you out.

ANZAC Rapid - Ready to go!

Our ANZAC Rapid is up online and we have already started receiving entries from outside of our club. We will continue to advertise and get more players here to play. You can download an entry form from the NSW Chess Association website or pick one up from us on Tuesday night. We hope to have most club members along to represent Wollongong as we take on the visitors.

We will continue to update you each week as we get closer.