Champions Trophy 2015 Report

View Champions Trophy detailed results

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The Champions Trophy tournament for 2015 attracted 94 avid competitors from all across New Zealand to Alexandra Park in Auckland. Based on the feedback we received and the photos the event was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Chess Power Staff

Paul Macdonald and Bruce Pollard were the Official Arbiters with Paul doing a lot of coaching too.

This year we had a number of Junior arbiters helping too! Prabhanjan Muthukannan and Suruthi Sureshkumar assisted with arbitration in the afternoon.

And Theo Tusa assisted Israfil Roshdi on the product desk. Israfil also was our photographer.

And last but not least, Edmund Khor managed the puzzles for the day.

The Chess Power team for the Champions Trophy

There was good spirits amongst the Chess Power team

 

The Venue

The event was held in the Rutherford Lounge at Alexandra Park. Special thanks go to Jacquline, Ali and the catering team from Alexandra Park for ensuring the event ran smoothly.

Goodie Bags galore! Everything is ready this evening before the event

Each Goodie bag was individual named with a personalised name badge,
a rating wristband, a Chess Power pen and an old kiwi favourite, a chocolate fish!

A sea of red and black was the colour theme for the event

Table 1 - this is where the toughest battles will take place!

The Product Desk offered a wide range of Chess sets, clocks, games and books!

But this was what the players were really here for - the Champions Trophy™ prizes

The Tournament begins!

Table 1 (far side): Rishit Patel vs Gaurav Pahuja
Table 2 (close side): Kieran Hodson vs Brijesh Sivabalan

Sravan Renjith (close right) punches well above his size
Sravan had the best performance across all Juniors

Euan McDougall (3rd place overall) launches an attack against Dre Unwins (Wellington) king

Girl Power! Nina Nguyen shows the South Island has some strength
as she battles Logan Daly from the North Shore, Auckland

David Evans (Christchurch) starts to realise how strong girls can be in Chess
as he tries to survive agaisnt Crystal Changwong (Auckland)

Timothy Nylund (Nelson) gets creative with his King against Kirsten Daly (Auckland)

Winning in Chess is all about how you stick out your tongue

You didn't believe me did you!

Even Bruce, our arbiter, knows the tongue is an important tool when used correctly!

Leon Meier from Christchurch was one of the nicest kids you could meet

Spandan Mukherjee from Wellington tries to break through Brijesh Sivabalan's defences
Brijesh, through tenacious defence, managed to win this crucial game

Rishit Patel (Auckland) enjoys an important win against Ted Nguyen from Invercargill

William Lesiak from Auckland starts to pressure Waikato-based Jasmine Podmore's King

Two strong Auckland juniors (Euan McDougall vs Kashyap Choudhary)
push each other to the limit in the final round drawing a big crowd

Award Winners

Merit Award winners - 4 points or below

More Merit Award Winners - we couldn't fit them all in

And even more Merit Award Winners!

Credit Award Winners - 4.5 or 5 points from 9 games

Excellence Award Winners - 5.5 or 6 points from 9 games

Distinction Award Winners - 6.5 points or more from 9 games
Back Row (from left) : Brijesh Sivabalan (Auckland), Rishit Patel (Auckland), Kirsten Daly (Auckland)
Kate Song (Auckland), Kieran Hodson (Wellington), Ngoc Minh Tri Nguyen (Auckland), Gaurav Pahuja (Auckland)
Front Row (from left) : Euan McDougall (Auckland), Sravan Renjith (Auckland)

Spot Prizes

Puzzle Challenge Prizes

Mackenzie Lister - Knights Tour Challenge winner
Mackenzie won an openings card game for getting Zero in the knights tour challenge

Jai Crowe (Timaru) - Knights Tour Challenge Winner
Jai won a book of his choice for getting Zero in the knights tour challenge

Special Prizes

The following players won spot prizes:

Junior Division: Shawn Woo

Intermediate Division: Thomas Lloyd

Senior Division: Alex Clayton

Richard Engel won the overall prize for the tallest tower

And there were two winners of the most creative tower : The team Allan Woodford/Theo McMillian + Bronson & Byron Skipper. Unfortunately we didn't capture photos of their wonderful creations ;-(

Individual Overall Champion Trophies

Kate Song [left] (Auckland) was the best girl on tie-break.
Kirsten Daly (Auckland) came 2nd on tie-break

Sravan Renjith (Auckland) was the Junior Champion with 7 points from 9

Gaurav Pahuja (Auckland) was the best intermediate
with 7.5 from 9 and came 2nd overall

Brijesh Sivabalan (Auckland) came 4th overall and was the best Senior with 7 from 9

Ngoc Minh Tri Nguyen came clear 1st and is this years
Champions Trophy Overall Champion.
Tri Nguyen was awarded the Junior Master title in recognition of his efforts.

Chess Power would like to especially thank all the parents and teachers for giving their children this wonderful gift of participating in the Chess Power Champions Trophy. We look forward to you joining us next year in 2016!

View Tournament Results

View Champions Trophy Photo Album on Facebook