Coming up Classic Championship 2026 21 Jul 2026 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. Winner 2026 Winter WonderBlitz Kumaresan, Aditya 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 Busiest month at WCC: April, 898 rated games played across all years on file. Coming up Blitz Championship 2026 8 Sep 2026 Did you know In Round 1 at WCC, the lower-rated player has won 13% of decisive games (87 of 649). Did you know WCC has hosted 6,654 rated tournament games on file. Winner 2026 June Swiss Soutter, Jake Did you know No quarter given: Steve Ascic and Matthew Sweeney have played 25 times, never a draw. Did you know Most decisive WCC tournament: 2025 January Holiday Rapid, 1% of games drawn (1 of 84). Coming up 960 Classic 2026 15 Sep 2026 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. Did you know Highest ACF rating ever recorded at a WCC tournament: Jordan Morris at 2204, first at the 2024 Wollongong Blitz Championship. Winner Wollongong Rapid June Planiden, Chayne Did you know Longest WCC tournament by round count: 2023 Quick March (12 rounds). 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 Classic Championship 2026 21 Jul 2026 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. Winner 2026 Winter WonderBlitz Kumaresan, Aditya 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 Busiest month at WCC: April, 898 rated games played across all years on file. Coming up Blitz Championship 2026 8 Sep 2026 Did you know In Round 1 at WCC, the lower-rated player has won 13% of decisive games (87 of 649). Did you know WCC has hosted 6,654 rated tournament games on file. Winner 2026 June Swiss Soutter, Jake Did you know No quarter given: Steve Ascic and Matthew Sweeney have played 25 times, never a draw. Did you know Most decisive WCC tournament: 2025 January Holiday Rapid, 1% of games drawn (1 of 84). Coming up 960 Classic 2026 15 Sep 2026 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. Did you know Highest ACF rating ever recorded at a WCC tournament: Jordan Morris at 2204, first at the 2024 Wollongong Blitz Championship. Winner Wollongong Rapid June Planiden, Chayne Did you know Longest WCC tournament by round count: 2023 Quick March (12 rounds). 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.

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Deep Thinkers - Wollongong Chess Club News

1 September 2024 · Illawarra

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

Classic Championship Underway!

We’re crossing the halfway point and we already have Jay as our sole leader. Will he be able to maintain the lead? He is in hot pursuit from 4 players including Chayne, Jordan, Bevan and Marco.

We had some exciting performances from board 1 this week with both sides managing to gift their opponents a queen!

Preliminary Pairings

August Weekender

We had 4 players representing WCC in the Sydney August Weekender including Hai, Jordan, Martin and Vincent. Big congratulations to Vincent for his amazing 4.5/6 performance with =3rd. He only lost one game and it was to an International Master!

Is chess a game of deception? On day 2 in the car to Sydney, Hai and Martin sitting in the back seat found out they were playing each other! Both players now trying to get in each other’s head, the clocks hadn’t started but the game had already begun.

August Weekender Results

Wollongong Juniors

It’s been a big month of tournaments as our Juniors played out the Winter One-Day Tournament in Fairy Meadow. Well done to Alex and Ben for holding their nerves and tying for 1st on 7/8!

Wollongong Winter Junior Chess Results

Game of the Week

Koe is quickly becoming one of our most improved players and had a fantastic game as black against the strong and speedy Chayne! Unfortunately the time pressure led to the advantage collapsing but Koe definitely had the pressure on the board.

How would you play this position to take advantage of the sidelined king?

There is no killing blow, this lesson is all about dynamic play.

Play it out yourself!