Author: Sue Maroroa
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Gawain is the New Zealand Chess Champion
I didn’t want to write any posts before he actually finished his game so here is a delayed post a few days later. Gawain drew his final round against Brazilian GM Alexandr Fier and since all other results were already played it meant that he won the NZ Chess Championship with a score of 7.5/9.…
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Gawain leading the Tournament
Gawain is currently 5.5/6 and is playing White today against FM Alexei Kulashko. Alexei was on the Olympiad team in 2002 (as was I) but after that dropped off from the chess scene so it’s nice to see former players back in action. I can’t note much about the games as I haven’t been in…
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Happy New Year and the New Zealand Chess Open
Today is Round 2 of the New Zealand Chess Open. The tournament is being held at the New Zealand National Chess Center in Devonport (weddings can be held in the church venue) – the brainchild of NZ’s only GM Murray Chandler. You can read more about the chess center here. There are 6 Grandmasters in…
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Politiken Cup
It’s summertime and probably the peak time of year if you are a chess professional. There are many tournaments all over Europe that can be so fun to play in. Last year we went to Ikaros and spent a lovely week there. Like last year, Gawain is now playing in the Politiken Cup held in…
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4NCL Final Weekend
The final weekend of the Four Nations Chess League (otherwise known as the 4ncl) always falls on the first May bank holiday. This time the venue was Hinckley Island Hotel in Leicestershire. The last two weekends have moved to the Holiday Inn Birmingham Airport where all Division 1 &2 will be played next season. I…
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Paris in the Springtime
I’m lucky enough to be able to travel in my job (not as much as Ga) and this time we headed to Paris. I didn’t know what to expect as I’ve never been before – we were meant to go for my friend Larissa’s 21st but unfortunately during this time I had my passport/visa issues…
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Happy 24th Birthday to me
10 days ago, I turned 24. I was in a way dreading it but I’m so happy with my life. I kind of felt like now I will be heading into “proper” adulthood, that now I wouldn’t be able to do childish thing not that I’m so immature or anything. I guess most people would…
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Apologies! & Gawain now in Iceland.
It probably shows that we don’t update as often as we would like as I checked a couple of days ago the website but found myself unable to access it. It seems we didn’t pay our hosting fees (messages were sent to spam) and was actually very close to having our website deleted forever. I…
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Bunratty Chess Festival
At the moment, I’m in LA enjoying the sun. Today I went to Manhattan Beach and had a chipwich. What is that you might ask – another great American invention! Gawain on the otherhand is hard at work in Bunratty, Ireland defending his title. You can read his report on last year’s tournament here. This year…
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Rugby Mania
So in my last post I mentioned my new sport, rugby. It all started last year while watching the London 7s at Twickenham. We went as a big group and me and my friend thought we could out do our husbands – we were not so confident in our rugby skills so decided to try…
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Happy (Belated) New Year
Dear Readers, I’m so sorry it has been so long since we have last written an update. Obviously life has been busy and so many things have happened! Gawain played his first match in December at Kensington Olympiad during the London Chess Classic, this was a great experience for him. He played his Guildford (from…
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Poker Stars Isle of Man Chess International
Back in April, we found out about a strong chess tournament that was going to be held in the Isle of Man. Now it’s October and the first round starts today. The line up is impressive with Gawain being 7th seed. In the Masters the first prize is £6000 and the ladies 1st prize is £2000.…
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2014 Chess Olympiad
My last Olympiad was in Khanty Mansiysk playing for New Zealand in 2010. I missed the 2012 Istanbul Olympiad due to visa issues. I was denied a spousal visa for the UK but it sorted itself out. Unfortunately, I was without my passport for 9months but I have it back now. Since then, I switched…
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Ikaros Ίκαρος” Open
It’s been a busy summer time. Firstly we headed of to Ikaros where I played chess and Gawain went on holiday, then for me I headed back to London for work and Gawain went to the Politiken Cup. I have also made my debut for England at the 2014 Chess Olympiad (that will be my…
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Politiken Cup
After a week off in the beautiful island of Ikaria in Greece. Gawain is back at work in Denmark. He’s currently playing in the Politiken Cup (also known as the Copenhagen Chess Festival but not in Copenahgen) and is joint 2nd= with 4.5/5. Our Aussie friends are also playing in the tournament, GM Dave Smerdon, FM…
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Zalakaros Open – Round up
Our time in Zalakaros came and went so quickly! It feels like we’ve been here forever (just over a week) but we haven’t been able to do so much. It’s weird when I’m explaining to our non chess playing friends what your schedule is like when you are playing a tournament. They really can’t believe…