FM Daniel Gong is a new champion of New Zealand. The youngster from Auckland won his maiden national title just a few days before his 19th birthday.
The New Zealand Championship (dating back to 1879!), a nine-round Swiss tournament, took place in Christchurch on the South Island and brought together 24 players. The future champion got off to a flying start winning four straight games but faced very dangerous opponents – seven times NZ champion IM Russell Dive and the defending champion FM Nicolas Croad – in Rounds 5 and 6.
Daniel rose to the occasion and ground down both rivals in long endgames to grab a commanding lead. Gong made three draws in the end to finish on 7½/9, a half-point ahead of another youngster CM Felix Xie (pictured above), who claimed silver. Fourteen-time NZ champion IM Anthony Ker and FM Nicolas Croad scored 6 points each and tied for third place. The bronze goes to Ker, who has a slightly better Buchholz.
Final standings:
| 1 | FM | Gong, Daniel Hanwen | 2352 | 7½ |
| 2 | CM | Xie, Felix | 2301 | 7 |
| 3 | IM | Ker, Anthony F | 2441 | 6 |
| 4 | FM | Croad, Nicolas | 2449 | 6 |
| 5 | IM | Dive, Russell J | 2388 | 5½ |
| 6 | McNabb, Matthew D | 2231 | 5½ | |
| 7 | Sole, Michael D | 2004 | 5 | |
| 8 | FM | Lukey, Stephen G | 2353 | 5 |
| 9 | CM | Rains, Edward | 2178 | 5 |
| 10 | Winter, Ryan | 2186 | 5 |
The Junior NZ Championship run concurrently with the Major Open. The winners in five age groups are:
U8 Leo Yitao Lian
U10 Justin Zhide Wang
U12 Emily Gan, William Rui Liu, and Ryan Hwang
U14 Isabelle Yixuan Ning
U16 Ollie Archer
2022 NZ joint junior champions – Ollie Archer and Gavith Dharmasena
Girl Champion – Isabelle Yixuan Ning
The NZ Championship also includes rapid and blitz events scheduled for January 11 and 12.
Official website: newzealandchess.co.nz/
Photo: NZ Chess Federation Facebook page
From fide.com