Overall, this was the largest NZ Chess Championship Congress ever held with a total of 637 entries across all categories which included the NZ Championships, Major Open Championships, NZ Rapid Championships, NZ Lightning ( Blitz) and NZ Junior Championships.
The Congress was officially opened by visiting British Chess Champion GM Gawain Jones on 02 January.
Tied for first in the NZ Championships were GM Gabor Nagy (Hungary) and FM Felix Xie (NZL) who both finished on 7.5/9
They both share the NZ Open Championship title, but Felix becomes NZ Champion and will have his name engraved on the famous Silver Rook, inscribed with every New Zealand Champion going back to the first, Henry Hookham, in 1879.
In 3rd place was FM Alphaeus Ang on 7/9, an excellent result following on from his 2nd place in the recent Australian Masters in Melbourne where he gained an IM norm.
4th equal was shared by overseas visitors IM Herman Van Riemsdijk from Brazil and Chinese FM Yining Chen on 6.5/9. Herman was presented with a special Honorary Friend of NZ Chess Award for participating in his 10th NZ Championship.
The Major Open Championships ( for players under 2100 ) was a success for youth and age with a shared first place between veteran ( 80+) Ceferino Isaac and teenager Alex Pan who both scored 7.5/9. In 3rd place was 11-year-old Sai Somaraju on 7/9 in a field of 103 players.
The Rapid & Lightning Championships were also won outright by GM Nagy. In the Rapid Championship he finished on 8.5/9 with the NZ Championship trophy being awarded to NZ players FM Alphaeus Ang, IM Russell Dive and Daqi Mao ( who all finished on 7.5/9 with IM Herman Van Riemsdijk).
In the Lightning Championships GM Nagy also dominated with 8.5/9 with NZ players IM Sravan Renjth and FM Felix Xie ( who both finished on 7.5/9 with FM Yining Chen ) being awarded the NZ Lightning trophy.
Chinese FM Yining Chen was awarded the trophy by NZCF president Nigel Metge for the best result by a female player in the NZ Championship.
See related story in New Zealand Chess Championship Underway in Auckland – Asian Chess