Ralph Hart and Stephen Lukey finished level at the national seniors championship run by the Howick-Pakuranga Chess Club, where a Legends title was awarded for the first time
Ralph Hart and Stephen Lukey have been named joint New Zealand Seniors chess champions at the national championship organised by the Howick-Pakuranga Chess Club.
The pair finished level on 5 points from 6 rounds, and under the tournament conditions titles and prizes are shared equally when players tie.
The championship ran from 17 to 19 July in the Carbine Room at the Waipuna Hotel and Conference Centre in Mount Wellington.
A Legends title was awarded for the first time, and it went to Ceferino Isaac.
The prize goes to the highest placed player aged over 80 on 1 January, and Isaac took it on 3.5 points, finishing tenth equal in the overall field.
It is worth $150 in book vouchers.
Robert Smith and Nick Cummings were named joint New Zealand Veterans champions, the title for the highest placed player aged over 64.
Both finished on 4.5 points, in a group of four who tied for third overall.
Robert Gibbons was third in the Veterans section on 4 points.
Forty-one players entered, all of them New Zealanders.
Entry was open only to players aged over 49 on 1 January.
The tournament was a six-round Swiss event under New Zealand Chess Federation rules, with 90 minutes each player and a 30-second increment per move.
The Senior and Veteran sections each carried prizes of $250, $150 and $100, and no player could claim more than one.
Games were broadcast live online through Lichess.
The chief organiser was Paul Spiller, a former president of the New Zealand Chess Federation.
The club meets downstairs at the Howick Bowling Club on Tuesdays, with juniors from 6.30pm and the senior club from 7.45pm.
