Coming up Classic Championship 2026 21 Jul 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 No quarter given: Steve Ascic and Matthew Sweeney have played 25 times, never a draw. Winner 2026 Winter WonderBlitz Kumaresan, Aditya Did you know Busiest month at WCC: April, 898 rated games played across all years on file. 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 Prefers White (≥50 games as each colour): Siyuan Wu, 63% as White vs 42% as Black (22-point edge). Did you know 247 distinct players have appeared in a WCC tournament. Winner 2026 June Swiss Soutter, Jake 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 Biggest tournament upset by seed: Edmund Esterbauer entered the 2022 Champs Warmup as the #10 seed and won outright. 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 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 Across all 6,654 rated games at WCC, White wins 48%, Black wins 46%, and 6% end in a draw. 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 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 No quarter given: Steve Ascic and Matthew Sweeney have played 25 times, never a draw. Winner 2026 Winter WonderBlitz Kumaresan, Aditya Did you know Busiest month at WCC: April, 898 rated games played across all years on file. 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 Prefers White (≥50 games as each colour): Siyuan Wu, 63% as White vs 42% as Black (22-point edge). Did you know 247 distinct players have appeared in a WCC tournament. Winner 2026 June Swiss Soutter, Jake 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 Biggest tournament upset by seed: Edmund Esterbauer entered the 2022 Champs Warmup as the #10 seed and won outright. 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 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 Across all 6,654 rated games at WCC, White wins 48%, Black wins 46%, and 6% end in a draw. Did you know Largest WCC tournament by field size: 2026 January Classic (39 entrants).

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Deep Thinkers - Wollongong Chess Club News

5 October 2025 · Illawarra

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

Our Club Rapid Championship continues for one more week (7/10)

Our Club Rapid Championship has 3 games per night. The time control is 15 minutes + 10 seconds per move.

Wollongong Chess Club Annual General Meeting (AGM)

Our AGM is coming up on the 21st of October at 6:30pm at Collegians Wollongong. During this meeting we will give members updates on our priorities as a committee and also hold votes for club president and the club committee.

Gosford Open Weekender

The Gosford Open Weekender is coming up on 25th and 26th of October. If you would like more information about the tournament, click the icon below.

Brendan Bermingham brilliancy

Last week I gave the position below in our Deep Thinkers email and asked if you could find the best move for white. The best move is Bxf7+, which Brendan found in a game against me (Koe Bowmaker-Ksiazek). After he plays Bxf7, Kxf7 is the only legal move. Brendan then played Ng5+. If I play Ke8 he can play Ne6 and trap my queen. If I play Kg7, he can play Ne6+ which also wins my queen. I found the best move which is Kg8 which allows me to not lose my queen but my king is in danger after losing the protection of the f7 pawn. Now you can see why playing Nbd7 was a mistake. It allows the knight to get to the e6 square which if I didn’t play Nbd7 would be controlled by my bishop on c8. Sacrificing on f7 or f2 is common because the king is the only defender of that pawn. If you castle kingside your rook will also defend that pawn which is why castling early is often a good idea.

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.