Coming up Classic Championship 2026 21 Jul 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 Prefers Black (≥50 games as each colour): Jye Giddings, 61% as Black vs 41% as White (19-point edge). Winner 2026 Winter WonderBlitz Kumaresan, Aditya 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 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 WCC has hosted 6,654 rated tournament games on file. Did you know No quarter given: Steve Ascic and Matthew Sweeney have played 25 times, never a draw. Winner 2026 June Swiss Soutter, Jake 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 960 Classic 2026 15 Sep 2026 Did you know Highest ACF rating ever recorded at a WCC tournament: Jordan Morris at 2204, first at the 2024 Wollongong Blitz Championship. Did you know Biggest tournament upset by seed: Edmund Esterbauer entered the 2022 Champs Warmup as the #10 seed and won outright. Winner Wollongong Rapid June Planiden, Chayne 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 Largest WCC tournament by field size: 2026 January Classic (39 entrants). Coming up Classic Championship 2026 21 Jul 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 Prefers Black (≥50 games as each colour): Jye Giddings, 61% as Black vs 41% as White (19-point edge). Winner 2026 Winter WonderBlitz Kumaresan, Aditya 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 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 WCC has hosted 6,654 rated tournament games on file. Did you know No quarter given: Steve Ascic and Matthew Sweeney have played 25 times, never a draw. Winner 2026 June Swiss Soutter, Jake 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 960 Classic 2026 15 Sep 2026 Did you know Highest ACF rating ever recorded at a WCC tournament: Jordan Morris at 2204, first at the 2024 Wollongong Blitz Championship. Did you know Biggest tournament upset by seed: Edmund Esterbauer entered the 2022 Champs Warmup as the #10 seed and won outright. Winner Wollongong Rapid June Planiden, Chayne 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 Largest WCC tournament by field size: 2026 January Classic (39 entrants).

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Deep Thinkers - Wollongong Chess Club News

4 August 2025 · Illawarra

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

Club Championships!

Our club championships have been running smoothly. We are two rounds in and it isn’t too late to join. Join tomorrow and get two half point byes, you will start on 1/2 and be paired against someone on a similar score. Our provisional draw is below. If we have people join tomorrow, or people who cannot make it, the draw may change. We want people preparing for their opponents in the club championships so we endeavour to not change the top half of the draw. This draw will also be posted on Facebook.

Recent Winners!

We would like to congratulate the following players on winning recent tournaments:

Winter Holiday Rapid: Yehu Marucha and Jay Pham 6/7

2025 Blitz Championships: Louis Serfontein 10/11

Wollongong Autumn Classic Tournament: Steve Ascic 5/6

Join us on Facebook!

We have a full calendar up on Facebook now. We have also listed it below.

Follow our Facebook Page for further information on calendars and upcoming events.

Join our Facebook Group if you have anything you’d want to discuss!

As we resume our DT newsletter we are looking for games or content you want included. If you have had an interesting position in a game, let us know. If there is something you would like to see at the club or in the newsletter, let us know.