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 Largest WCC tournament by field size: 2026 January Classic (39 entrants). Winner 2026 Winter WonderBlitz Kumaresan, Aditya 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. Coming up Blitz Championship 2026 8 Sep 2026 Did you know Most decisive WCC tournament: 2025 January Holiday Rapid, 1% of games drawn (1 of 84). Did you know Longest WCC tournament by round count: 2023 Quick March (12 rounds). Winner 2026 June Swiss Soutter, Jake 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. Did you know 101 WCC tournaments are catalogued on this site. Coming up 960 Classic 2026 15 Sep 2026 Did you know Drawing-circle tournament: 2023 Summer Classic, 19% of games drawn (11 of 59). Did you know Busiest year at the board: 2023 saw 1822 rated games played at WCC. 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 Across all 6,654 rated games at WCC, White wins 48%, Black wins 46%, and 6% end in a draw. 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 Largest WCC tournament by field size: 2026 January Classic (39 entrants). Winner 2026 Winter WonderBlitz Kumaresan, Aditya 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. Coming up Blitz Championship 2026 8 Sep 2026 Did you know Most decisive WCC tournament: 2025 January Holiday Rapid, 1% of games drawn (1 of 84). Did you know Longest WCC tournament by round count: 2023 Quick March (12 rounds). Winner 2026 June Swiss Soutter, Jake 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. Did you know 101 WCC tournaments are catalogued on this site. Coming up 960 Classic 2026 15 Sep 2026 Did you know Drawing-circle tournament: 2023 Summer Classic, 19% of games drawn (11 of 59). Did you know Busiest year at the board: 2023 saw 1822 rated games played at WCC. 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 Across all 6,654 rated games at WCC, White wins 48%, Black wins 46%, and 6% end in a draw.

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Deep Thinkers - Wollongong Chess Club News

21 September 2025 · Illawarra

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

Our Club Rapid Championship starts this week (23/9)

Our Club Rapid Championship will go for three weeks with 3 games per night. The time control is 15 minutes + 10 seconds per move.

NSW Country Teams Championship

Newcastle is hosting the 2025 NSW Country Teams Championship during the weekend of 29/30 November.

The event will be contested by teams of three players. There will be six rounds - three rounds on each day. Entry fee is $60 per team or $20 per player. I will send out further details over the coming months. Entry is open to all NSW residents. Team entries are welcome, but if there are single (or two) players who wish to enter, we should be able to find players to join them to form a team.

Let the Wollongong committee know if you’re interested.

NSW Rating Fee

NSW charge an annual rating fee of $10 per person, the club pays this fee for new members (2025) and passes the fee on to returning members. Some people haven’t paid this and we will be collecting money from those people. If you are unsure if you’ve paid, please check with us. If anyone is suffering a hardship they can reach out to the committee.

FIDE Grand Swiss

The FIDE Grand Swiss is complete and two players: Anish Giri and Matthias Blubaum have qualified for the the Candidates Tournament.

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.