Coming up Classic Championship 2026 21 Jul 2026 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. Winner 2026 Winter WonderBlitz Kumaresan, Aditya Did you know Drawing-circle tournament: 2023 Summer Classic, 19% of games drawn (11 of 59). Did you know Largest WCC tournament by field size: 2026 January Classic (39 entrants). Coming up Blitz Championship 2026 8 Sep 2026 Did you know Prefers White (≥50 games as each colour): Siyuan Wu, 63% as White vs 42% as Black (22-point edge). 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 Across all 6,654 rated games at WCC, White wins 48%, Black wins 46%, and 6% end in a draw. Did you know Busiest month at WCC: April, 898 rated games played across all years on file. Coming up 960 Classic 2026 15 Sep 2026 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 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 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 247 distinct players have appeared in a WCC tournament. Coming up Classic Championship 2026 21 Jul 2026 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. Winner 2026 Winter WonderBlitz Kumaresan, Aditya Did you know Drawing-circle tournament: 2023 Summer Classic, 19% of games drawn (11 of 59). Did you know Largest WCC tournament by field size: 2026 January Classic (39 entrants). Coming up Blitz Championship 2026 8 Sep 2026 Did you know Prefers White (≥50 games as each colour): Siyuan Wu, 63% as White vs 42% as Black (22-point edge). 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 Across all 6,654 rated games at WCC, White wins 48%, Black wins 46%, and 6% end in a draw. Did you know Busiest month at WCC: April, 898 rated games played across all years on file. Coming up 960 Classic 2026 15 Sep 2026 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 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 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 247 distinct players have appeared in a WCC tournament.

← All newsletters

Deep Thinkers - Wollongong Chess Club News

24 August 2025 · Illawarra

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

Club Championships!

We have a four way tie at the top of the competition. Bevan has played the other three players so needs to float down to play Jet. The competition continues to get intense!

Famous Game - A king hunt

This week’s game was play by E. Lasker. Most people have heard of Emmanuel Lasker, but this was Edward Lasker. They were often confused as they were active players at about the same time, often playing in the same tournament. This game has become the quintessential king hunt! This game has earnt the name Fatal Attraction.

d4 e6 2. Nf3 f5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Bxf6 Bxf6 6. e4 fxe4 7. Nxe4 b6
Ne5 O-O 9. Bd3 Bb7 10. Qh5 Qe7 gets us to the following position

in which Edward Lasker found the brilliant queen sacrifice!!

Qxh7+ Kxh7 12. Nxf6+ Kh6 13. Neg4+ Kg5 14. h4+ Kf4 15. g3+ Kf3 16. Be2+ Kg2 17. Rh2+ Kg1 18. Kd2# 1-0

The one thing I never liked about this game… he missed out on castling to give mate.

Wollongong Junior Chess

Today was the Wollongong Junior Chess Tournament. We had some fantastic games played and a very close competition. Congratulations to Shiraz who won the tournament on a score of 6.5/8 Shiraz lost no games but drew to two players visiting from Goulburn (Christian and Sreyaa) and to Siyuan who also plays at our club.

Don’t give up!!

We have had a member submit a puzzle for you to look at! Please feel free to send through things you’d like in the newsletter.

In the following position, white is down two pieces but can still win! Can you find white’s win also? Answer in next week’s newsletter.

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.