Coming up Classic Championship 2026 21 Jul 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 Longest WCC tournament by round count: 2023 Quick March (12 rounds). Winner 2026 Winter WonderBlitz Kumaresan, Aditya 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 Biggest tournament upset by seed: Edmund Esterbauer entered the 2022 Champs Warmup as the #10 seed and won outright. Coming up Blitz Championship 2026 8 Sep 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 Busiest year at the board: 2023 saw 1822 rated games played at WCC. Winner 2026 June Swiss Soutter, Jake 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 Largest WCC tournament by field size: 2026 January Classic (39 entrants). 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 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 Wollongong Rapid June Planiden, Chayne Did you know Most decisive WCC tournament: 2025 January Holiday Rapid, 1% of games drawn (1 of 84). 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 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 Longest WCC tournament by round count: 2023 Quick March (12 rounds). Winner 2026 Winter WonderBlitz Kumaresan, Aditya 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 Biggest tournament upset by seed: Edmund Esterbauer entered the 2022 Champs Warmup as the #10 seed and won outright. Coming up Blitz Championship 2026 8 Sep 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 Busiest year at the board: 2023 saw 1822 rated games played at WCC. Winner 2026 June Swiss Soutter, Jake 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 Largest WCC tournament by field size: 2026 January Classic (39 entrants). 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 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 Wollongong Rapid June Planiden, Chayne Did you know Most decisive WCC tournament: 2025 January Holiday Rapid, 1% of games drawn (1 of 84). 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

18 May 2026 · Wollongong Chess Club

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

Graded Classical Tournament Final Round

When: 19th of May 7pm-10pm

Registration: No later than 6:50pm. If you arrive after that you will miss the round. Half point byes are available for two rounds per tournament besides the last two rounds.

Location: Wollongong Collegians Auditorium (3A Charlotte Street)

Cost: $5 each week

Time control: 60+30

Number of rounds: 5 rounds (last round on 19th of May)

Who can play: Anyone who knows the rules of chess. If you don’t know the rules of chess we can teach you.

Players will be graded into two swiss tournaments by rating. This should ensure more competitive games from round 1. You can join the tournament at any round.

Below are the provisional pairings. If you have a bye on the provisional pairings, this is likely to change and you might get a game if people don’t turn up or new people join.

Online Tournament

When: 29th of May 7pm-9pm

Registration: No later than 7pm. If you arrive after that you will miss the first round. You cannot join the tournament after round 3.

Cost: Free

Time Control: 8+3

Number of Rounds: 6 rounds. 10 seconds between rounds. If you need to withdraw mid-tournament, click the withdraw button.

How to participate and play:

Step 1: Create a lichess account (click the link below).

Create a Lichess account

Step 2: Join the Wollongong Chess Lichess team. The team joining code is WollongongChess. Once you join the team you can see the upcoming tournaments (click the link below).

Wollongong Chess Lichess team

Step 3: Click the tournament you want to participate in. When you click the link you will be taken to a tournament lobby. You must then click the join button to be registered as a player. Don’t click join until you are there on the night so you don’t register and forget you joined the tournament.

Join us on Facebook!

We have a full calendar up on Facebook now. 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!

We are looking for games or content you want included in this newsletter. 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.