Welcome to the Perth Chess Club

North Woodvale Primary School, 4 Chichester Drive (Cnr Trappers Drive), Woodvale WA 6026

Perth Chess Club is a senior club based in the Northern Suburbs. We meet each Wednesday from mid-January to early December. For most of the year, players compete in ACF-rated tournaments that involve playing one game per week at a slow time control.

Information about the club, including a map of its location, is available on the Club Info page.

The FIDE Laws of Chess 2023 are available for viewing by following the link.

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Mary Thomson Cup

(2024-03-21)

Report from Rob Maris:

The Mary Thomson Cup was well supported by club players with 48 competing. Tournament organiser Dylan Gough allocated players into really well matched groups and Daniel Clarke arranged for the games to go onto the club website.

Derek Elkington made a successful return to the club after a break since 2021. Even though he was the lowest rated player in the A group, he played strongly to score 4/7; this included a last-round difficult draw against an in-form Jacob Gibson! This draw meant that Jacob finished 2nd on 5 points, just half a point behind 1st placed Rob Maris.

The B group was convincingly won by Ashvin Balavignan on 6/7. Ashvin has also had very impressive results recently at the Perth International Open and the Metro Club Championship, so is well on his way to a rating around 2000! The other junior in the B group was the lowest rated Eric Deng; he finished 2nd on 5 points, with Derek Roebuck only half a point behind.

The C group was the closest scoring group – only 1 and a half points separated 6 players! The other two players were Franz Oswald and Gerard Akers, who both played strongly to share 1st place with 5 and a half points – well ahead of their younger opponents!

In the D group Charles Knight scored 6/7 to triumphantly take 1st place, with Martin Leech and Tristan Weijermars equal 2nd on 4 and a half points. Mark Hagendoorn did well on his return to the club after a long break, scoring 4 points and equal 4th with improving Rafik Nauom.

The E group was a 16-player 7-round swiss. The top-rated player Max Otis has improved a lot recently, so he won the group with a dominant 7/7! Bruce Lanham was the best of the rest, achieving 2nd place on 5 points. Grant Porteus played much better in the later part of the tournament to finish 3rd on 4.5 points; this included a last round victory over an improving Ahmad Dawoud.

Cross tables for all groups are on the Tournament page, along with games for viewing and download (PGN); final round games will be added soon.

Ratings update

(2024-03-02)

The Ratings page has been updated with the March ACF and FIDE ratings. Note that the FIDE rating system has undergone some changes this month, with the 1000-2000 range being compressed to 1400-2000, leading to rating increases for players under 2000. The new FIDE rating floor is 1400.

Club in recess; 2024 calendar

(2023-12-10)

The Perth Chess Club is closed for the holidays, and will re-open on 10 January with the first night of the Allegro Open Tournament. The Calendar for 2024 has now been posted. Note that all five classical tournaments will be FIDE-rated.

Norbert Muller Cup

(2023-12-10)

Report from Dylan Gough:

The last Perth Chess Club tournament of the year has recently concluded. The Norbert Muller Cup was played over 4 divisions (A-D) with A-C being 8-person round-robins and D being an all-in 7-round Swiss.

A total of 43 players entered and some great and exciting chess was played in all divisions. In a couple of cases the final results for placings were not decided until the final games.

Well done to all winners below.

Group A
Finishing 1st was Gyula Plaganyi, who played excellent chess and was consistently producing great results to win with a score of 5 out of 7. Equal 2nd was shared between Marc Saxon and Rob Maris, the latter finishing strongly after a slow start.

Group B
The runaway winner of this division was also the youngest member, Ashvin Balavignan, who nearly clean swept the competition with 5 wins and two draws. One draw was with the highest seed Dylan Gough, and the other was with the eldest member of the group and second place getter, 94-year-old Wolfgang Leonhardt, who finished on a remarkable 5.5. Third place went to a tremendous result from Ashley Michael who finished with 4.

Group C
1st place went to Gerard Akers, whose consistency and resurgent chess has produced great results and a win in this tournament. He was followed closely by Calan Curtis, who finished on a respectable 5 out of 7. Justim Massam finished in 3rd place with 4.5.

Group D
This was a 7-round swiss tournament which produced some interesting upsets and results. It was eventually won by relative club newcomer Rafik Naoum, closely followed by a resurgent Charles Knight, half a point back on 5.5, and a junior who had the tournament of his chess life to date in Sebastian Gough, who finished on 5/7.

Games are available for viewing and download (PGN) on the Tournament page.

A big thank you to all involved in the club this year and me and my family wish you all a great and safe Christmas and a prosperous and successful New Year. I look forward to seeing you all in 2024 for more great chess.

Kindest regards,

Dylan Gough
Perth Chess Club - tournament director

Ratings update

(2023-12-07)

The Ratings page has been updated with the December PCC, ACF, and FIDE ratings.

2023 Windup photos

(2023-12-07)

Photos from the trophy presentation for 2023 are now on the Photos page. As well as the tournament trophies, there is also Rob Maris winning the inaugural Club Spirit Award. From his nomination: "Rob is usually the first to arrive and last to leave each week. He opens up and takes on the biggest role in setting up the tables, chairs and boards; as well as also packing them all away at the end of the night."

Harris-Edwardes

(2023-10-17)

At a recent club night, Carter Kerr presented a win of his at the Harris-Edwardes interclub tournament; the game is now available to view here.

Wolfgang Leonhardt and John Brooke Cups

(2023-10-09)

Report from Dylan Gough:

Perth Chess Club has recently completed its annual Wolfgang Leonhardt and John Brooke Cups for 2023.

Firstly, the Wolfgang Leonhardt cup saw 24 people play 7 rounds of chess with a rating level of 1600 or higher. At the end of the seven rounds the results showed an equal place finish at the top of the leader board by the two highest ranked players in the competition.

Derwent Maggs and Jay Lakner both scored 6 points out of 7 with some brilliant chess playing and were only separated at the end of the tournament by 0.5 tiebreak points, indicating the quality and level both gentlemen played.

In third place CM Gyula Plaganyi finished with a commendable 5 out of 7. Newcomer Michael Selby finished strongly with some great results to finish outright 4th with 4.5 out of 7.

Thank you to all for your commitment and flexibility to make this tournament a success.

In the John Brooke Cup a last game save from Calan Curtis against veteran player Mark Howard, who played such a great game, resulted in a draw after many movers and handed the outright win to Calan with 6 points out of 7.

Very well played by Calan, who played well above his rating to win the division. Second place was shared between Mark Howard, Martin Leech and young Jaswanth Ram Sethuraman who also played above his rating to finish on 5 out of 7.

The John Brooke cup consisted of 29 players and was played over 7 rounds.

Much thanks go to Rob Maris, Daniel Clarke and Marc Saxon for their assistance and support throughout the tournament.

Our next classical tournament will take place on Wednesday 11th of October when players will be competing against other players of similar rating levels in the final classical tournament of the year, the Norbert Muller Cup. I hope to see you there.

Cross tables and games are available for viewing and download (PGN) on the Tournament page.

Ratings update

(2023-10-01)

The Ratings page has been updated with the October PCC and FIDE ratings.

(Note that FIDE ratings for players who also play at the Metro club have been calculated incorrectly this month, and these ratings may be corrected in future.)

Ratings update

(2023-09-05)

The Ratings page has been updated with the September ACF and FIDE ratings.

Calendar update

(2023-08-18)

The Calendar for the rest of the year has been updated, following the postponement of round 2 of the current tournaments due to the Matildas' World Cup semi-final.

Allegro Championship

(2023-08-11)

The Perth Chess Club's ACF-Quick-rated Allegro Championship was played earlier this year on 31 May and 7 June; the cross table is now on the Tournament page.

Fred Maris Cup

(2023-07-24)

Report from Dylan Gough:

As we enter into the second half of 2023, our club continues to grow both in numbers and in standard. Our tournaments continue to attract a greater number of players and our external events such as the Harris/Edwardes Trophy and Bernard Anton Shield currently place us as the premium adult club in Perth.

This is largely due to the immense amount of hard work that we as a club put into these specialised events. From the players, to the committee, to you the players and all those behind the scenes, the continued success of Perth Chess Club is a welcome testament to you all. Thank you.

Perth Chess Club has recently completed its third major tournament of the year, the prestigious Fred Maris Cup. Forty-four people over 6 closely contested groups played high-quality chess over a number of weeks. Groups A-E were played in round-robin format between 6 players, whilst group F played a fourteen-person swiss tournament over 6 rounds.

Below are the final standings for each group:

Group A:

1st:4.0/5Derwent Maggs
2nd:3.5/5Rob Maris
3rd:2.5/5Jay Lakner

Group B:

1st:4.0/5Ned Curthoys
2nd:3.0/5Daniel Clarke
3rd:2.5/5Dylan Gough

Group C:

1st:4.0/5Abhay Bhatia
=2nd:3.0/5Lennon Kerr
=2nd:3.0/5Franz Oswald

Group D:

1st:5.0/5Carter Kerr
=2nd:3.0/5Martin Leech
=2nd:3.0/5Justin Massam

Group E:

=1st:3.0/5David Hounsome
=1st:3.0/5Colin Walker
=1st:3.0/5John Brooke
=1st:3.0/5Grant Porteus

Group F:

1st:6.0/6 Calan Curtis
=2nd:4.0/6 David Frankland
=2nd:4.0/6 Lindsay Bordas
=2nd:4.0/6 Leo Ross

Well done to all the winners. Games are available for viewing and download (PGN) on the Tournament page, along with the cross-tables.

Bernard Anton Shield

(2023-07-14)

The Perth Chess Club defeated the Metro Chess Club 44-28 in this year's interclub match. A photo of most of the Perth team at the Metro home leg, and some family members, is available on the Photos page.

Ratings update

(2023-06-05)

The Ratings page has been updated with the June PCC, ACF, and FIDE ratings.

Club Championship

(2023-05-28)

(Update 2023-05-29: Games from all rounds are now available for viewing and download (PGN) on the Tournament page.)

Report from Dylan Gough:

The 2023 Perth Club Championships have completed for another year and this year saw the greatest turnout ever. The tournament saw a record 54 entrants participate in 7 rounds of high quality chess.

The winner of the tournament literally came down to the last game of the final night on board 1, where newcomer and welcome member Viktor Spirin defeated an in-form Iker Hernandez Mendez to secure first place with a fantastic score of 6 out of 7. A win from Jamie Laubbacher in the last round helped him to leapfrog Iker for second place and Iker secured third place with some impressive chess over all the weeks. Well done to these three guys.

This year for the first time we will be introducing a reserves prize for the best performance of any player 1600 in rating and below. This year that prize goes to Lennon Kerr, one of our youngest players and one of a collection of many fast-improving juniors in today's game. Well played Lennon, keep up the good work.

A tournament like this is never possible without all the work behind the scenes in addition to coming along and playing. Special mention must go to Rob Maris and the crew who help with setup and pack away every week, often being the first to arrive and the last to leave. Also for the diligent team of Daniel Clarke, Dave Barry and others who consistently ensure that the games are PGN'd and placed onto the website for all to enjoy. The Tournament page also shows the cross table.

Thank you and congratulations to everybody for making this tournament a success. See you again next year.

Mary Thomson Cup

(2023-03-27)

(Update 2023-03-31: The PGN for the final round is now available on the Tournament page.)

Report from Dylan Gough:

Wednesday the 22nd March saw the conclusion of the 2023 Mary Thomson Cup. This year there was a record number of players (54) over six playing groups, all of which were closely contested right down until the last games were played. Below is a list of the final results.

Congratulations to the final six winners:

Group A: Jay Lakner
Group B: Ross List and David Barry
Group C: Dylan Gough
Group D: Ashley Michael
Group E: Kobe Wu and Jean Michel Maujean
Group F: John Brooke

Congratulations to these players having topped their division despite some tough opposition.

Also a thank you and acknowledgement goes out to those members who diligently put together and collated the PGN's every week. These are (as usual) available on the Tournament page, along with the cross tables.