Many thanks to Michael Freeman who advocates strongly for documenting and preserving the history of chess in New Zealand, and who has provided much of the material collected here. His personal Poison Pawn website is an external resource with a wealth of historical New Zealand chess material.

This well maintained Wikipedia Page records every New Zealand Championship winner (New Zealand champion). Winners of other important New Zealand national championships are also listed, including the NZ Rapid Championship, Major Open, Premier Reserve (archaic), Women’s Championship, North and South Island Championships, and Correspondence Championship. There’s interesting ancillary information such as multiple NZ Championship winners and double (Championship and Rapid) winners.

The NZ Games Database that was created and maintained by the late Peter Stuart has been under NZCF stewardship since April 2018. You can view the database here.

The genesis of the NZCCA goes back to the 1920s. In those days A.O. Gray from Christchurch was an overseas member of the British Correspondence Chess Association. In 1932 Gray persuaded the BCCA to conduct a tournament for New Zealand players only. By 1933 he had sufficient members for such an event and in that year the first NZ tournament began. It was a double rounder and the competitors were A.O. Gray himself, H.R. Abbott (Christchurch), R.E. Baeyertz (Auckland), R.O. Scott (Wanganui), J.A.C. Barnes (New Plymouth), E.F. Tibbitts (Rotorua). Scott won this inaugural event and Abbott was second.

Gray continued enrolling members and at the end of 1934 had 34 members of the BCCA in NZ. In 1935 Gray became Secretary of what was now the BCCA NZ Unit. Trophies were obtained and in March 1935 three trophy tournaments and a handicap event began. By 1938 there were 60 members, and at this point Gray decided that NZ were strong enough to run alone and so severed the connection with the BCCA except for remaining an affiliate of that body.

When Gray died in March 1941 he left the NZCCA with around 60 members. G. Howard Brown of Napier took over as Secretary. Sadly, Brown passed away after he had been in office only one month.

Then began a testing time for the NZCCA. J.F. Lang of Dunedin consented to fill the secretarial gap until other arrangements could be made. This period was in the middle of World War II.

In August 1942 R.O. (Bob) Scott from Wanganui agreed to take over as Secretary. This he soundly did until 1946, when a work relocation saw Spenser Smith take over. Membership more than doubled in the late 1940s to a peak of 195 in 1950.

In 1960, with membership having dwindled again to 80 members, a group of members from Auckland, led by A.L. (Alan) Fletcher took over and set about reviving things. It was during this Auckland period that membership of ICCF was finally sought. Donald Brunt became tournament director, a role he carried out for seventeen years.

In 1978, at the age of 70, Alan Fletcher passed the Secretary role to J.W. (Sandy) Maxwell of Wellington whilst Brett Sinclair took on the Chairman role.

In 2013 the committee of NZCCA agreed to merge as a sub-committee of the NZ Chess Federation, and remaining funds were passed to NZCF for safe keeping.

Michael Freeman took on the role of administrator for membership and event entries.

NZCCA still conducts an annual NZ Championship with play via the ICCF server, see the Correspondence page.

These MP3 files (part 1) and (part 2) are recordings of an extensive radio interview with 20 times New Zealand champion Ortvin Sarapu. The interview was broadcast on Radio Pacific on 9th April 1990. Courtesy of Ross Jackson, from his memorabilia collection.

The FIDE website is excellent for recent ratings history, but this interesting table (courtesy of Michael Freeman) shows New Zealand FIDE ratings in the first three decades of the system’s adoption. As Michael notes, look at the small number of players as we only rated a few events. Yet NZCA probably had just as many players locally as now across clubs.

The tables below summarise the performances of all players who have represented New Zealand at Olympiads and Asian Team tournaments. Thanks to Michael Freeman for collating the statistics. Supplementing the statistics are a series of team photographs. If you have formal team or player photos from International team tournaments, or NZ Congresses, please send them to the web administrator for potential publication on this site.

Name	No	Years	Points	Games	+	=	–	%	Bd Medals
Smith, Robert	12	1976, 1982-1986, 1990, 1994, 1998-2004, 2008-2010	56.5	119	35	43	41	47.48%	0-0-0
Dive, Russell John	12	1988-1990, 1994, 2000-2008, 2012-2018	55.5	120	38	35	47	46.25%	0-0-0
Sarapu, Ortvin	10	1970-1974, 1978-1988, 1992	61.5	116	36	51	29	53.02%	0-0-0
Small, Vernon	8	1976-1988, 1992	45.0	85	26	38	21	52.94%	0-0-1
Ker, Anthony	8	1988-1990, 1994, 2000, 2004-2006, 2014, 2018	37.5	76	27	21	28	49.34%	0-0-0
Garbett, Paul Anthony	6	1974, 1986, 1990-1992, 2006, 2012	23.0	61	18	10	33	37.70%	0-0-0
Wastney, Scott	5	1996-2002, 2016	30.0	52	23	14	15	57.69%	0-0-0
Chandler, Murray Graham	4	1976-1980, 2008	28.0	45	22	12	11	62.22%	0-0-0
Kulashko, Aleksei	4	1998, 2002, 2016-18	20.5	39	16	9	14	52.56%	0-0-0
Martin, Benjamin	4	1990-1992, 1996, 2000	22.5	45	16	13	16	50.00%	0-0-0
Nokes, Roger	4	1982, 2004-2008	17.0	40	11	12	17	42.50%	0-0-0
Wang, Puchen	3	2004-2006, 2014	19.0	28	15	8	5	67.86%	0-0-0
Hague, Ben	3	2014-18	15.0	26	11	8	7	57.69%	0-0-0
Anderson, Bruce	3	1970, 1978-1980	19.5	35	17	5	13	55.71%	0-0-0
Steadman, Michael	3	2006, 2010-2012	15.5	29	12	7	10	53.45%	0-0-0
Green, Ewen	3	1970, 1974-1976	17.0	33	10	14	9	51.52%	0-0-0
Green, Peter	3	1998-2000, 2004	13.5	27	8	11	8	50.00%	0-0-0
Dreyer, Martin	3	1990-1992, 1996	13.5	28	11	5	12	48.21%	0-0-0
Sarfati, Jonathan	3	1986-1988, 1992	14.5	31	9	11	11	46.77%	0-0-0
Kerr, Alan Grant	3	1970-1974	15.0	36	10	10	16	41.67%	0-0-0
Stuart, Peter	3	1972-1974, 1978	15.0	41	5	20	16	36.59%	0-0-0
Lukey, Stephen	3	1994, 2008, 2016	8.5	24	8	1	15	35.42%	0-0-0
Li Zuhao, Luke	2	2012-2014	9.0	17	8	2	7	52.94%	0-0-0
Dowden, Tony	2	1982, 2002	9.5	18	8	3	7	52.78%	0-0-0
Croad, Nicolas	2	2010-2012	11.0	21	7	8	6	52.38%	0-0-0
Love, Tony	2	1986, 1994	8.0	17	4	8	5	47.06%	0-0-0
Evans, C. A.	1	1970	8.5	12	8	1	3	70.83%	0-0-0
McKenzie, Peter	1	1994	5.5	9	5	1	3	61.11%	0-0-0
Wade, Robert Graham	1	1970	9.0	15	7	4	4	60.00%	0-0-0
Gong, Daniel	1	2018	5.0	9	5	0	4	55.56%	0-0-0
Carpinter, Bernard Alan	1	1972	7.0	13	5	4	4	53.85%	0-0-0
Sutton, Richard John	1	1972	8.5	17	4	9	4	50.00%	0-0-0
Aptekar, Lev	1	1980	5.0	11	3	4	4	45.45%	0-0-0
Han, Daniel	1	2010	5.0	11	4	2	5	45.45%	0-0-0
Levene, Mark	1	1984	5.0	11	3	4	4	45.45%	0-0-0
Gollogly, David	1	1984	4.0	9	2	4	3	44.44%	0-0-0
Weir, Peter	1	1978	3.5	7	3	1	3	50%	0-0-0
Noble, Mark Frederick	1	1996	5.0	12	2	6	4	41.67%	0-0-0
Van Dijk, Tom	1	1972	4.5	11	3	3	5	40.91%	0-0-0
Fairhurst, William Albert	1	1974	4.0	10	1	6	3	40.00%	0-0-0
Bjelobrk, Igor	1	2002	3.5	9	2	3	4	38.89%	0-0-0
Cornford, Lindsay	1	1976	2.5	8	0	5	3	31.25%	0-0-0
Freeman, Michael R.	1	1996	0.5	2	0	1	1	25.00%	0-0-0
Krstev, Antonio	1	1998	2.0	8	2	0	6	25.00%	0-0-0
Leonhardt, Wolfgang	1	1976	0.5	3	0	1	2	16.67%	0-0-0

Name	No	Years	Points	Games	+	=	–	%	Bd Medals
Smith, Vivian	15	1978, 1982-1994, 1998-2010	79.5	168	57	45	66	47.32%	0-0-1
Milligan, Helen	6	2008-2018	23.5	56	14	19	23	41.96%	0-0-0
Maroroa, Sue	5	2002-2010	18.5	42	13	11	18	44.05%	0-0-0
Stretch, Winsome	5	1976-1984	19.5	58	13	13	32	33.62%	0-0-0
Otene, Edith	5	1992-1998, 2002	16.5	55	12	9	34	30.00%	0-0-0
Foster, Fenella	4	1978-1980, 1984, 1988	22.5	41	20	5	16	54.88%	0-0-0
Fairley, Natasha	4	2006-2012	18.0	38	14	8	16	47.37%	0-0-0
Sheehan, Teresa	3	1994-1998	20.0	34	15	10	9	58.82%	0-0-0
Sievey, Jackie	3	1982, 1986-1988	20.0	37	16	8	13	54.05%	0-0-0
Gao, Judy	3	2008, 2012-2014	14.0	26	12	4	10	53.85%	0-0-0
Courtney, Helen	3	1992, 2000, 2004	9.0	32	6	6	20	28.13%	0-0-0
Terry, Lillian	3	1976-78, 1988	4.5	25	3	3	19	18.00%	0-0-0
Meyer, Marany	2	2012-2014	10.0	17	8	4	5	58.82%	0-0-0
Zhang, Jasmine	2	2016-18	10.5	20	8	5	7	52.50%	0-0-0
Charmova, Evgenia	2	2002-2004	11.0	22	8	6	8	50.00%	0-0-0
Chen, Eachen	2	2006, 2010	9.5	21	8	3	10	45.24%	0-0-0
Tsoi, Nicole	2	2012-2014	6.5	17	5	3	9	38.24%	0-0-0
Parlane, Lynn	2	1984, 1996	6.5	19	5	3	11	34.21%	0-0-0
Tweddell, Eva	2	1986, 1994	6.0	22	4	4	14	27.27%	0-0-0
Timergazi, Layla	1	2014	7.0	10	6	2	2	70.00%	0-0-0
Punsalan, Vyanla	1	2018	6.0	10	5	2	3	60.00%	0-0-0
Flower, Anne	1	1980	4.5	8	3	3	2	56.25%	0-0-0
Qin, Joy	1	2018	5.0	9	3	4	2	55.56%	0-0-0
Metge, Katrine	1	1990	7.5	14	6	3	5	53.57%	0-0-0
McIntosh, Isabel	1	1990	5.5	12	5	1	6	45.83%	0-0-0
Braganza, Nadia	1	2016	4.0	9	3	2	4	44.44%	0-0-0
Sheehan, Rosaleen	1	1996	4.5	11	3	3	5	40.91%	0-0-0
Brightwell, Darryl	1	1980	4.0	10	3	2	5	40.00%	0-0-0
Song, Kate	1	2016	4.0	10	3	2	5	40.00%	0-0-0
Mikhailik, Eleonora	1	2000	4.5	14	3	3	8	32.14%	0-0-0
Martin, Lynne	1	1982	2.5	8	2	1	5	31.25%	0-0-0
Qin, Nicole	1	2018	2.5	8	2	1	5	31.25%	0-0-0
Lourenco, Eva	1	2016	1.0	4	1	0	3	25.00%	0-0-0
Mills, Glenys	1	1990	0.5	2	0	1	1	25.00%	0-0-0
Cater, Amy	1	1992	2.0	9	1	2	6	22.22%	0-0-0
Hollis, Ailea	1	1976	2.0	11	2	0	9	18.18%	0-0-0

Name	No	Years	Points	Games	+	=	–	%	Bd Medals
Freeman, Michael R.	3	1983, 1993-1995	12.5	22	10	5	7	56.82%	1-0-0
Chandler, Murray Graham	2	1974-1977	8.0	12	6	4	2	66.67%	0-0-1
Smith, Robert	2	1981, 1995	10.0	17	7	6	4	58.82%	0-0-0
Ker, Anthony	2	1983, 1995	8.5	15	7	3	5	56.67%	0-1-0
Anderson, Bruce	2	1977, 1993	5.0	13	4	2	7	38.46%	0-0-0
Gibbons, Robert	2	1974, 1999	2.0	11	2	0	9	18.18%	0-0-0
Watson, Bruce	1	1981	6.5	8	6	1	1	81.25%	0-1-0
Garbett, Paul Anthony	1	1977	5.5	7	4	3	0	78.57%	0-1-0
Hopewell, Michael	1	1983	4.5	6	4	1	1	75.00%	0-0-1
Carpinter, Anthony	1	1981	5.5	8	4	3	1	68.75%	0-0-1
Love, Tony	1	1993	5.5	8	4	3	1	68.75%	0-1-0
Green, Ewen	1	1977	2.0	3	1	2	0	66.67%	0-0-0
Small, Vernon	1	1977	4.0	7	3	2	2	57.14%	0-0-1
Clarke, Peter Hugh	1	1974	2.0	4	2	0	2	50.00%	0-1-0
Sarapu, Ortvin	1	1977	3.0	6	3	0	3	50.00%	0-0-0
Lukey, Stephen	1	1993	3.5	8	3	1	4	43.75%	0-0-0
Hopewell, Nigel	1	1999	2.5	6	2	1	3	41.67%	0-0-0
Day, Andrew	1	1974	2.5	6	1	3	2	41.67%	0-0-0
Carpinter, Bernard Alan	1	1983	2.0	6	1	2	3	33.33%	0-0-0
Dowden, Tony	1	1995	3.0	9	2	2	5	33.33%	0-0-0
Sutherland, John	1	1993	2.0	6	2	0	4	33.33%	0-0-0
Flude, David	1	1974	1.0	4	1	0	3	25.00%	0-0-0
Sarfati, Jonathan	1	1983	1.5	6	0	3	3	25.00%	0-0-0
Goffin, Peter	1	1974	1.0	5	1	0	4	20.00%	0-0-0
Noble, Mark Frederick	1	1983	1.0	6	0	2	4	16.67%	0-0-0
Green, Peter	1	1999	1.0	8	0	2	6	12.50%	0-0-0
Spiller, Paul	1	1999	1.0	8	1	0	7	12.50%	0-0-0
Bennett, Hilton	1	1999	0.5	7	0	1	6	7.14%	0-0-0

A Collection of NZ Representative Team Photographs