I beat the New Zealand Chess Champion!
Another day, another blog from New Zealand! I've been enjoying my time here in Aotearoa, soaking up the views and relaxing with my family. But I haven't completely forgotten about chess. Over the course of time, I've been able to play at multiple chess clubs around the country and test my skill against some of the strongest champion and amateur players out there.
In this blog I'll be taking you from the hustle and bustle of a busy world to the chessboard of a farmer's market in Dunedin, a pub in Queenstown, a club on the North Shores of Auckland, and more!
Stay tuned for the epic finale; the clash of titans, where I take on the reigning National Champion of New Zealand in a blitz game!
Table of Contents:
- Playing Joe, Rogan: Otago/Dunedin.
- Casual chess at a pub: Queenstown.
- My first club tournament: Hamilton.
- Lightning chess with high stakes: Auckland.
- Aftermath.
Playing Joe, Rogan: Otago/Dunedin.
Our journey first takes us to the beautiful city of Dunedin, the South Island's biggest port. It was a cloudy day, but with a hint of excitement lurking in the air; a perfect day to... visit the farmer's market! That's right. Chess doesn't just happen in five-star hotels or fancy venues, it can happen anywhere anytime. Even in a busy farmer's market.
Back to my story. As I was ambling along with my family, I saw a curious sight amongst the fruit-laden tents and meat pie stands. It was a sight I'm all too familiar with, a couple of chessboards and a clock. Standing behind said chessboards (or sitting on a chair, I should say) was the man they call Rogan Joe. That's right, Rogan Joe.
No, sadly not that Joe Rogan. But I have no doubt that Rogan Joe is better than Joe Rogan at chess!
Anyways, let's get back to the chess again. This was my first experience with a chess hustler, a person who plays chess in public more or less for a living against random passersby. There are many famous videos of influencers playing chess hustlers, with some very funny results!
A chess hustler is an individual who plays chess in public spaces, such as parks or streets, often for financial gain. They may engage in low-stakes games, employing tactics like trash talk or cheating, while some can earn a substantial income from their chess skills.
-Internet Search
Well if that didn't describe Rogan Joe to a turn! He was quite strong, around the 1700 FIDE range, and he gave me quite a good game! Here's how it went.
A bit of an unfortunate blunder in the beginning by him, without that it would have been a very tough struggle. My first in-person game played in New Zealand, and what a start! (Discounting some games that I played against my cousin in Hamilton.)
Well done Mr. Rogan! Or Mr. Joe, whichever one works for you!
Casual chess at a pub: Queenstown.
About a week later I was in Queenstown, soaking up the thrills of the world's adventure capital. Seeing the sights was so amazing: I saw someone bungee jump, went to the ski fields and Coronet Peak, and got to jet boat down Skipper's Canyon. But what could be more adventurous than chess?
While surfing on the 'Net, my mom found out about a chess club that met every fortnight in a pub to hang out and play some blitz. It just so happened that we were going to be in Queenstown for one of the dates and so one evening saw me trekking to the bar for some games.
The first gentleman I played was a good warm-up; we played two friendly games and I won both of them in short order. But the best part wasn't the game itself, it was the community that comes around the game. We discussed both of the games after, and I enjoyed that more than playing them.
For my final two games I played the club's "Numero Uno", a pilot by the name of Mike. One thing to know about pilots, they're always confident and always tough. Our first game I had black and established a slight advantage against a doubled pawn, before Mike rushed with a pawn storm and hung a fork.
Game #2, wow, what a game. I had White and let's just say: I was lost.
Well played Mike! Well played!
If this wasn't a wake-up call to never underestimate your opponent, I don't know what is. I had the early advantage, but stumbled with the sacrifice and was lost for quite a while. I was very fortunate to know one of the greatest chess quotes of all time by one of the best players of all time: Savielly Tartakower.
Victory belongs to the one who made the second-last mistake.
~Savielly Tartakower
I made the second to last mistake, but held on. What a game!
My first club tournament: Hamilton.
My wandering ways have so far taken me from the city of Dunedin on the East Coast of the South Island, to Queenstown hidden in the mountains, and now the road leads to Hamilton in the North Island. Bustling with commerce and suburbs, Hamilton is located near the top of the North Island, and is one of New Zealand's bigger inland cities.
While I was sojourning in Hamilton, my cousin (the same one that I played before Rogan Joe!) there invited me to a tournament that was happening that night at a school. It was a casual club, not rated, with plenty of fun for all. I was eager to go along, relishing the thought of putting my skill on the board against others.
There were about 30 players there that night, mostly young students with a scattering of older gentlemen. It was a six-round Swiss tournament with a mix of skill levels, from beginners to serious players. I was unofficially the highest rated player there, but I found out that several of the other people there were rated above 2100 on chess.com, and the games were by no means easy.
The first game I had white and won a queen with a Colle trap. If you're going to play the Colle (or if your opponent plays it), keep this trap in mind.
Then the next game I had black against one of the best players in the club, a player roughly 2100 online named Ishaan. I was able to remember the game after the tournament concluded and saved it here. Enjoy!
In the third round I had white and won with an attack against an uncastled king.
The fourth game saw me playing an older gentleman who was a strong club player in times past. Unfortunately, he hung a bishop and lost the game. I enjoyed chatting with him afterwards about Invercargill and other tournaments. Community is often the best part of a chess tournament.
The fifth game was nuts.
Playing with the white pieces against the only other undefeated player in the tournament, I got an advantage out of the opening but failed to convert it into anything major. I got a passed pawn on the d7 square, but soon lost it and traded down into an opposite coloured bishop endgame with queens.
As our time ticked down, chaos began. I hung a rook for a bishop, then lost all my pawns, then he traded the rook back for the bishop in order to enter a queen endgame with extra pawns for him, and then he pushed his pawn to within two squares of promotion. As happens in queen endgames, I began the checks, checking left and right with wild abandon. In the midst of these checks, he suddenly hung his queen, just out of the blue, and resigned on the spot!
I was lost, but then I won.
The final game I played my brother, @ChessicalMoves, yet again. We both were happy for the tournament to be over, so we played slow and I eventually won in the middle-game after a powerful pawn push.
On paper, the scoreboard says that I won with 6/6, but that does not come near to describing the drama and intense game-play that went on at the board. Fun night out!
Lightning chess with high stakes: Auckland.
And now we arrive at the finale of our chess journey throughout Aotearoa. It is only fitting that the final tournament of the year is in New Zealand's biggest city, Auckland. The so-called 'City of Sails' is also home to the biggest chess clubs in New Zealand, with many of the best players in Oceania calling this metropolis home.
I looked at two clubs for competitions that I could play in while I was here, and I found several tournaments that looked interesting. The Auckland Chess Centre(ACC)is the biggest club in Auckland, but the main tournament going on was a weekly classical tournament with one classical game every week. That wasn't going to be much fun, and only being able to play one game wouldn't have been great.
With that option exhausted, I looked to the second club for a competition. The North Shore Chess Club(NSCC) is a club that runs FIDE rated events at different times to the ACC events, and one of them I could attend. That tournament is the NSCC Lightning Championship, a nine round Swiss tournament with a blitz time control of 3+2. As I researched more, I saw the quality of opponents at the NSCC Lightning Championship, and the highest rated seed was FM Felix Xie, the New Zealand Champion. That settled it! I was heading to the North Shore for a date with destiny, for a game against the National Champion.
I got to the club early, had some dinner with my family who came along and was able to scout out the place well beforehand. There were around 30 players that registered, and most of them boasted ratings above 1600. This tournament was FIDE rated, and I didn't have a FIDE blitz rating, so they gave me a rating of 1800 for pairing purposes. I was feeling confident, ready to play some chess, pull an upset or two, and shake up the ranks.
(Special thanks to Gia, known online as @Flan, for helping me find information on the chess clubs in Auckland and for providing key insight into choosing the NSCC Lightning Championship. Thank you!)
Time to enter New Zealand chess with a bang.
I'm here, let's announce my arrival.
Round 1: I started off my career in New Zealand against John; an older gentleman rated around 1550. I had the black pieces and played my Tiger Modern, John replied with a c4 push and a king-side fianchetto. This setup often takes the sting out of my Tiger, but I established a secure pawn structure and slowly pushed for the win. Eventually John's flag fell and I claimed my first FIDE blitz win.
Round 2: The second game saw me playing the white side against an Indian named Ayaan. Ayaan is rated around 1650, and gave me much more of a fight against my Colle. (Below you can see the beginning of the game and some analysis of a Colle when Black pushes c4.)
Later in the game I blundered my g2 pawn due to Black getting the light squared bishop active, but he decided not to take it, to my utter astonishment. We traded into a minor piece endgame where I had a bishop and Ayaan had a knight and I slowly pinned down his pawns and converted cleanly. Two wins so far!
Round 3: For my third game I was paired against a higher rated player for the first time, Candidate Master Kendrick, rated 1900 and roughly my strength. I was feeling confident and ready to pull an upset.
Alas, I was overconfident. Moving too fast from the black side of a Caro-Kann, I hung a knight fork and lost the exchange. I've saved these types of games many times in classical, but here I wasn't able to and conceded the point after a long endgame.
I wasn't too upset about losing, more upset that it was a simple fork that I'd lost to. I know I can play at a very high level, but it's about doing so consistently. Oh well. It happens to us all.
Round 4: After that sad display of chess by me in the previous round, I got my next game with the white pieces against Billy (rated ~1600) and proceeded to take out my frustration on him. (Sorry Billy!) I played another Colle which turned into an open game with lots of piece play. After some time of maneuvering, I won a piece, and then checkmated with a queen and knight.
Round 5: My opponent this round was none other than @Flan, the same @Flan that helped me to find this tournament! We've played before online, but it was such a cool experience to meet him in-person and then to play him over the board! Thank you @Flan for all of your help and for the fun game!
I should say that the game was fun for me, @Flan may have seen it differently! I had White for the second game in a row and played 1.d4, @Flan responded with a Dutch Defense. I've faced the Dutch before in classical and always done well against it, so I was happy to see the f5 push. After a middlegame fistfight, I emerged up material and went on to convert the game. Well done @Flan, I look forward to a rematch!
Round 6: Now here comes the game you've been waiting for. Without further delay, I I present to you my next opponent, FIDE Master Felix Xie.
Felix was on top of the tournament, undefeated with a perfect score of 5/5. I was incredibly excited to get a game against him, and I was ready to play my best. That being said, I was also very nervous, and it was all I could to do to stop my hands from shaking and knocking over the pieces.
But I was excited! And after the game concluded I managed to record the moves and save them online, thus providing us all with a game that will be on my highlight reel for years.
The only way to adequately express my feelings after this game through text is with exclamation points. LET'S GOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No matter that I hung a simple fork against a 1900. No matter that my play was shaky at times and I was traumatized with my opening. No matter that the odds were never in my favour and that the chances of beating an experienced National Champion at my level were close to nil.
Take me seriously, I'm here with a bang. I'm here to declare my arrival as a competitor.
Felix is the highest rated player I've beaten in OTB play, and this win will be with me for years.
By the way, epic photo right there of me pressing the clock. Thanks, Mom, for getting that!
Round 7: After my big win last round, I was flying high, feeling on top of the world. I began to have dreams of winning my next three games, maybe even winning the whole tournament! Those dreams soon fell to reality, as I went on to lose this game in abysmal fashion.
I had White this round against an 1800 who was playing very well. I went for another Colle and traded many pieces without further ado, eventually reaching a position where we both had a queen, a rook, and a knight; along with several pawns. I thought this would be a steady endgame grind, but to my disgust I was the one who was ground down and fell victim to a combination of time pressure and pressure on the board against my king. What can I say, he played better than me this game.
Round 8: Although that last game left me a bit demoralized, I shook it off and went to my next game with gusto. In the penultimate round I played CM Justin, another young fella who earned the Candidate Master title through zonal play. That aside, he was rated around 2050 and was clearly a very strong player. I was expecting a tough game and was not disappointed.
I had White for the second game in a row and played yet another d4 opening. Justin responded with an English Defense (1...b6), and I responded with c4. We locked up the center and maneuvered around each other for many moves until something finally happened.
And something did happen! After some shuffling and trading, Justin finally let me into his position. With a powerful pin against his queen, I was able to win a pawn and set up passers on c5 and d5. Then things started to go downhill. He had several pieces aimed at my king and I decided to trade most of them to make things easier. However, I forgot about one diagonal that his queen could use, and disaster struck. Despite being up two passed pawns and only a queen, rook and bishop each left on the board, I hung checkmate with my pieces far away from the defense of my king.
Round 9: Man. Another completely winning position that I let slide. Tough lesson to learn, you would have thought I've learned already!
Oh well. The win against Felix kept my spirits high, knowing that no matter what, this was a good tournament.
In the final round, I played a gentleman by the name of Daniel. He was rated close to 1700, but at that point I didn't care about rating that much. All I knew was that I had one more game to play, one more chance to impress in Auckland, and I was not about to let that chance go.
I had the black pieces and played a Sicilian. After some trading, I started my push, trying to get something meaningful, something that I could turn into a win. Daniel put up stiff resistance, and we traded down into a knight-vs-bishop endgame yet again. This time I had the knight and was able to pick off White's pawns one by one, eventually winning the game.
That was really fun! The highlight of the day was undoubtedly beating Felix Xie, and I'll remember this tournament for a long time.
It's funny to say this, but my initial rection after the tournament was: I can do better. I let slip a completely winning game against a 2100 and should have held on for a draw in Round 7. If the results were different in those games, I'd be walking out with 7.5/9, instead of 6/9.
Felix understandably went on to win the rest of his games and win the tournament with 8/9. Justin and Kendrick split second with 7/9, and the rest of the tournament fell in behind.
The full tournament details and final standings can be found here.
Playing chess in New Zealand has been one of the best experiences of my life. From a farmer's market to a pub, a high school to a club championship, chess can take you anywhere in the world.
Chess can take you anywhere in the world.
~theeldest1
This journey has been utterly amazing to take you on, and the games have been great to play! From chess hustlers to champions, I've taken them all on and scored a total of 17/20 across these tournaments.
This is a great way to warm up for the 133rd New Zealand Chess Congress 2026! The first few games helped me to get back into the rhythm of chess - after a break when I was in transit to NZ and traveling around the country - and the NSCC Lightning gave me top competition to fight.
Below you'll see a map of New Zealand, with the different tournaments that I played highlighted.
I traveled all around the country to bring you chess, I hope you've enjoyed reading! The green flag at the bottom of the map (above) is where the Chess Congress will be. I'll be playing that at the beginning of January.
It's been awesome taking you on this journey! Wherever you are, chess can unite us all. Chess is a language that everyone can speak, the game of kings to make us all rise.
Have a blessed day!
