The New Zealand Junior Chess Championships were held from 2nd July to 7th July at St. Paul’s School, Auckland. The tournament was organised by Waitakere Chess Club.
The Championships included a rapid tournament conducted on the first day in which forty nine players from across New Zealand participated.
The title for the NZ Junior Rapid Champion was won by Hans Gao who is also New Zealand number one ranked played in the U-14 category. Hans won the title after a tiebreaker higher score as he tied with Luke Li who is New Zealand number one ranked player in the U-16 category.
After being pipped second in the rapids Luke Li played an impressive 6.5/7 to win the NZ Junior Champion title. This tournament saw forty five participants. The girls title was won by WFM Nicole Tsoi who scored 4.5/7.
Title obtained / Participant
NZ Junior Champion 2012 – Luke Zuhao Li (2210)
2nd Overall – Hans Gao (1975)
Joint 3rd Overall – Leo Zhang
Joint 3rd Overall – Hristo Kolev
Joint 3rd Overall – William Zhang (1808)
NZ School Pupils Champion – Luke Li (2210)
NZ School Girls Champion – WFM Nicole Tsoi (1766)
Under 16 Open Champion – Luke Li (2210)
Under 14 Open Champion – Hans Gao (1975)
Joint under 12 Open Champion – Leo Zhang
Joint under 12 Open Champion – William Zhang (1808)
Under 10 Open Champion – Alphaeus Ang
Under 8 Open Champion – Allen Fan
Under 16 Girls Champion – WFM Nicole Tsoi (1766)
Under 12 Girls Champion – Olivia Dong
Under 10 Girls Champion – Jasmine Zhang
Under 8 Girls Champion – Nicole Qin
Article contributed by Akshay Sureka and Keong Ang (Arbiters), John Francis (President – Waitekere Chess Club)
Nice!