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“Every chess master was once a beginner.”
Irving Chernev

Chess is a Way of Life!
Welcome to the Armidale Chess Club the home of people who love playing chess. Whether you are a serious player, up and coming grandmaster or just someone who loves playing chess socially we are the club for you.
World Chess Campion Garry Karparov was right when he said, "Chess is life in miniature". All the beauty, surprise and complexity of life play out on the 64 squares of the chess board. Come and enjoy life with us. Make new friends and take your chess playing to the next level.
“The beauty of chess is it can be whatever you want it to be. It transcends language, age, race, religion, politics, gender, and socioeconomic background. Whatever your circumstances, anyone can enjoy a good fight to the death over the chess board.”
GM Simon Williams
The Chess Club
IS CLOSED THIS COMING WEDNESDAY
(Wednesday 24th November).

The church is using the hall this Wednesday and so we will need to postpone the club meeting for only this Wednesday.
See you at Chess next Wednesday!

Club Meeting Time ...
Wednesday 7pm to 9:30pm
at
Armidale District Baptist Church Hall
- on the corner of Rusden and
Jessie Streets
(The hall is at the rear of the car park that can be entered from Rusden St)
The Spring Rapid Tournament will be held very soon.
Watch this space for information about registering for the Tournament
Sam Burr is our Winter Blitz Tournament Champion!
After a solid and well fought Blitz tournament one person stood as the obvious Blitz Champion for 2021. Sam Burr had a near perfect score to win as our 2021 Blitz Champion. Congratulations Sam!


-
Armidale Chess Club Is not meeting THIS WEDNESDAY (24th) BUT will be back next Wednesday.
The Church needs to use the hall this Wednesday.
Call Andrew (0408 401 534) for more information.
Listen to Rick when he was on Radio
SATURDAY 10th July 2021


Listen here ...
There was a three-way tie for second place.

Challenger Division
Most Recent Articles
The Challenger Division of the tournament was hotly contested. Khaiam Ali won the final round without a loss, closely followed by Mary Wilke. Their individual game was the decider for Top Player in the Challenger Division.


Kaitland Parker and Tony Ewen receive the Encouragement Award for their play within the tournament.
Encouragement Awards


Thank You to All Players
Throughout the tournament I was impressed with the level of integrity and grit in all the players. Everyone played their hardest within the challenging Blitz time limit. All were good sports in the games they played. I was very aware that for a number this was the first Chess Tournament in which they have played. Also we had the challenge of playing with masks because of COVID restrictions. Thank you to everyone who was part of the Winter Blitz Tournament in 2021.
Photos of the Winter Blitz Tournament
You can move the photos around to look at them or click on any photo to see them in full-size
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World Champion of the Month
Each month we will showcase one of the Chess World Champions.
August 2021
The first official World Champion
Wilhelm Steinitz

The first Official World Chess Champion was Wilhelm Steinitz. He was World Champion from 1886 to 1894, however many believe that he was the world's top player from 1866. Steinitz was unbeaten in match play for 32 years (1862 to 1894). Steinitz gained the crown as the first official World Chess Champion when he played a match against Johannes Zukertort in America in 1886. The match was played at three venues; New York, St Louis and New Orleans. The winner was to be the first to win 10 games no matter how many draws. Steinitz won the match with in impressive score of 10 wins, 5 draws and 5 losses (total score: 12.5 vs 7.5). Though this win made Wilhelm Steinitz the first official World Chess Champion it should be noted that it was Steinitz himself who insisted that the match contract include the wording that the match was for "the Championship of the World"!
Video of the Week
Do you plan when you play chess? Planning is an essential part of the middlegame. Here is an instructive video by Stjepan Tomi ("Hanging Pawns" Youtube Channel). Stjepan is one of our partners.