FIDE Social Chess Storytelling Challenge New Zealand’s Evguenia Charomova won the Social Commission Choice Award for her video Checkmate Autism and the Power of Chess (producer/co-director Evguenia Charomova, director Carlos Vintimilla) Congratulations! The video can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly-SkJNxTnQ This initiative received a total of 56 entries, including 43 grassroots

3 rounds have been completed in the 2026 Bob Wade Memorial Masters in Auckland. Bob Wade Memorial Masters (9 rounds) GM Daniel Fernandez leads on 2.5/3, followed by GM Michael Adams and GM Gabor Nagy on 2/3 On 1.5 are GMs Li Tian Yeoh and Jacek Stopa, IM-elect Felix Xie

The full pairings for the 5 round robins are here: Bob Wade Memorial Masters Hilton Bennett Memorial Masters Arthur Pomeroy Memorial Masters Peter Weir Memorial Masters Middle Game Chess Foundation Challengers

The Bob Wade Memorial Masters and other events starts this afternoon at the Waipuna Hotel & Conference Centre in Auckland. This series of tournaments was made possible through the support of the Middle Game Chess Foundation and FIDE’s Planning and Development Commission (PDC). The headline event offers IM and GM

The upcoming chess Olympiad takes place from 15-28 September 2026 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Applications for the New Zealand Open and Women’s teams are now open and close on Saturday 31 January 2026′ Applicants should read the NZCF Code of Conduct for the 2026 Olympiad: https://compete.newzealandchess.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/NZCF-Code-of-Conduct-Olympiad-2026.pdf This online form should be

133rd New Zealand Chess Congress New Zealand Chess Championships Prizewinners 1st= GM Daniel Fernandez, GM Jacek Stopa & FM Felix Xie 4th William Rui Liu 5th Hayden Steele, Haran Salasan, CM Edward Rains, CM Justin Zhide Wang Under 1900 1st= Hayden Steele, Haran Salasan, CM Justin Zhide Wang 2026 New

The 2026 NZ Rapid Chess Championships is underway in Invercargill. 70 players are taking part. Follow the top 14 boards live here: https://lichess.org/broadcast/new-zealand-rapid-chess-championships-2026/round-1/kBmtHFFW#boards Vega results and pairings here: https://www.vegaresults.com/vega/index.php?id=6446 Photos to follow.

Final Results NZ Junior Champion / School,Pupil Champion Richard Jingjie Liu 2nd – Ethan Harrison & Dion Wilson Joint Schoolgirls / Girls Champions Tracy Tang & Hasanli Hewa Babaranda Under 16 Jesse Harrision Under 14 Richard Jingjie Liu Under 12 Ethan Zhirui Wang Under 10 Chuyang Liu Meritorious Performance Prizes

NZ Champs (5 Rounds) GM Daniel Fernandez (England) leads on 4.5, followed by IM elect Felix Xie (NZ) and GM Jacek Stopa (Poland) on 4 NZ Major Open (5 Rounds) Ethan Harrison (USA/NZ) & Jesse Harrison (USA/NZ) lead on 4.5, followed by Ting Liang (NZ), Aidan Malcolm (NZ) and Martin

It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the passing of Don Stracy on 29 December 2025. Ross Jackson writes: Don is remembered with great affection by his long-standing friends at Wellington Chess Club. Don was a solid chess player, intensely foccussed at the board, and after, win or lose,