Coming up Classic Championship 2026 21 Jul 2026 Did you know Prefers Black (≥50 games as each colour): Jye Giddings, 61% as Black vs 41% as White (19-point edge). Did you know No quarter given: Steve Ascic and Matthew Sweeney have played 25 times, never a draw. Winner 2026 Winter WonderBlitz Kumaresan, Aditya Did you know Longest WCC tournament by round count: 2023 Quick March (12 rounds). 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 Blitz Championship 2026 8 Sep 2026 Did you know Largest WCC tournament by field size: 2026 January Classic (39 entrants). Did you know Biggest final-round flip: at the 2023 Top and Tail Rapid 2, Steve Ascic took a 1-point lead into the last round, lost to Vincent Qiang, and watched the title walk away. Winner 2026 June Swiss Soutter, Jake Did you know WCC has hosted 6,654 rated tournament games on file. Did you know Prefers White (≥50 games as each colour): Siyuan Wu, 63% as White vs 42% as Black (22-point edge). Coming up 960 Classic 2026 15 Sep 2026 Did you know Most decisive WCC tournament: 2025 January Holiday Rapid, 1% of games drawn (1 of 84). 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. Winner Wollongong Rapid June Planiden, Chayne Did you know Busiest year at the board: 2023 saw 1822 rated games played at WCC. Did you know Drawing-circle tournament: 2023 Summer Classic, 19% of games drawn (11 of 59). Coming up Classic Championship 2026 21 Jul 2026 Did you know Prefers Black (≥50 games as each colour): Jye Giddings, 61% as Black vs 41% as White (19-point edge). Did you know No quarter given: Steve Ascic and Matthew Sweeney have played 25 times, never a draw. Winner 2026 Winter WonderBlitz Kumaresan, Aditya Did you know Longest WCC tournament by round count: 2023 Quick March (12 rounds). 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 Blitz Championship 2026 8 Sep 2026 Did you know Largest WCC tournament by field size: 2026 January Classic (39 entrants). Did you know Biggest final-round flip: at the 2023 Top and Tail Rapid 2, Steve Ascic took a 1-point lead into the last round, lost to Vincent Qiang, and watched the title walk away. Winner 2026 June Swiss Soutter, Jake Did you know WCC has hosted 6,654 rated tournament games on file. Did you know Prefers White (≥50 games as each colour): Siyuan Wu, 63% as White vs 42% as Black (22-point edge). Coming up 960 Classic 2026 15 Sep 2026 Did you know Most decisive WCC tournament: 2025 January Holiday Rapid, 1% of games drawn (1 of 84). 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. Winner Wollongong Rapid June Planiden, Chayne Did you know Busiest year at the board: 2023 saw 1822 rated games played at WCC. Did you know Drawing-circle tournament: 2023 Summer Classic, 19% of games drawn (11 of 59).

← All newsletters

Deep Thinkers

19 May 2024 · Illawarra

newsletter

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

Completed Tournament - Rapid

Our recent Rapid tournament was a huge success with over 30 players participating. We also welcomed a visitor from Gunnedah Chess Club on the final night.

Standing can be seen below.

PRIZES!!

Open Category

1st ($60): Chayne Planiden

2nd ($50): Bevan Clouston

3rd ($40): Zeljko Kanostrevac

Rated 1500 - 1700

1st ($50): Taras Wansbrough

2nd= ($10): Ben Bryant, Marco Quaranta, Ed Esterbauer, Brendan Bermingham

Rated Under 1500

1st ($50): Alex Gunn

2nd ($20): Fernando Barasoain, Ethan Carruthers

Unrated Prize ($30): Yousif Alsamirae

Next Tournament

On Tuesday 21st May we will be running a blitz tournament.

The time control will be 5min plus 2sec per move. We will play 9 rounds in one night.

Please ensure you arrive and register at 6:45pm.

We will start the round one by 7:10pm and finish round nine at approximately 9:45pm.

Classic Tournament - 28th May

Our next classic tournament begins on Tuesday 28th May. There will be one game per night with a time control of 60min plus 30sec per move. Most games will be finished before 10pm but the time control allows for longer games.

This tournament will be run slightly differently with random pairings. This means that we will not be matching up stronger players with weaker players in round one, instead you can be paired with anyone on the same score as you. This will continue throughout the tournament, though you will still get a balance of colours and will not play the same person twice throughout the tournament. We hope that this will lead to you playing against people in the club that you usually do not get the chance to be paired with. We will be trialling this as a possible format for the occasional tournament.

Random Pairing are uncommon but if you have specific questions, please ask Bevan.

They have been used even at high level tournaments to mixed feedback. They should allow for a more exciting tournament for most players. If you want to read an article about people’s response to them (and some arguments for them) click below.

Random Pairings Article