An Official NZCF Online Interclub Competition
An official NZCF Online Interclub Competition is now up and running. The next event is scheduled for May 26th. Here is the tournament link.
The idea of an official NZCF online interclub competition emerged from the informal inter-city and inter-club matches that were hastily organised in the early days of the Covid-19 crisis. Here's a summary of all of the matches that have been played to date.
| Date | Summary | Winner | Link | PGN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9th June 2020 | Official competition #4, 7 teams | Wellington Chess Club | Lichess link | processed raw |
| 26th May 2020 | Official competition #3, 10 teams | Auckland Chess Centre | Lichess link | processed raw |
| 12th May 2020 | Official competition #2, 10 teams | Auckland Chess Centre | Lichess link | processed raw |
| 28th April 2020 | First official competition, 10 teams | NZCF | Lichess link | processed raw |
| 13th April 2020 | Unofficial multi-team competition, 4 teams | Auckland Chess | Lichess link | processed raw |
| 1st April 2020 | Unofficial Auckland v Wellington match | Auckland Chess | Lichess link | processed raw |
The PGN downloads are available in raw and processed versions. The processed versions include player names and handles (rather than just handles) and identify the teams in each game. Games are not included in the processed version unless both players' real identity is known. Remember that these matches are intended as a replacement for over-the-board chess during the Covid crisis and players do not operate using the internet anonymity of traditional online play.
The interclub competition runs on Lichess.org, using their Arena automatic pairing system. Unfortunately there is an upper limit of ten teams in the these competitions, a limit we bumped into by the time of the first official competition on April 28th.
Interclub matches are held fortnightly on Tuesdays, from 7:30pm – 9:30pm, using a time control of 3 minutes + 2 seconds per move increment.
Note that the first official competition was won by the official NZCF club. This club serves as a strong interclub team, a home for all NZ players whose normal club is not yet participating in the online interclub competition. The club also holds individual online tournaments fortnightly on the Tuesdays when interclub is not running, so there is NZCF chess every Tuesday. All players interested in open online events should join the NZCF team.
There are two options for players who wish to participate in the interclub matches;
- Play as a club – clubs will need to have a Lichess Team for this, and at least 5 players entered on the night
- Play as part of the NZCF team.
- Currently living in New Zealand
- Registered with FIDE as NZL
- NZ citizen
To join the NZCF Lichess team players will require a free Lichess account – it is easiest for administrators if players use their name as their account name, but if a player already has an account under another handle, including their real name in their profile is essential to make it easier for administrators to work out eligibility. This is not an anonymous online exercise. Using real names (either in the account name or profile) also seems to have avoided cheating (always a fear surrounding online play), so is another reason to encourage it.
The next interclub event is listed at the top of this page. Alternatively it can always be found on the NZCF team page.
To enter, players should go to the tournament link and click “JOIN” and select a team to play for. Please only play for a club you're a normal member of. If you aren't firmly affiliated to one of the other clubs, play for NZCF. NZCF is a formidable team, and fun to play for.