Happy Holidays

On behalf of NZCF and Council, I thank each of you for your time, energy and service to chess throughout the year.

2025 has been a good year: we’ve seen strong participation in national events, the success of our next generation, and the continued rise of New Zealand players on the international stage. These achievements reflect the hard work of all the clubs, volunteers, administrators, coaches, organisers, arbiters, parents, teachers and others.

While there were a number of notable performances throughout the year, the recently concluded Oceania Youth Chess Championships saw some fantastic results as New Zealand players won both the open and girls under 20 tournaments (Felix Xie and Isabelle Ning respectively) as well as the open under 16 and girls under 14 tournaments (Kendrick Botong Zhang and Lauren Ng respectively). Congratulations to all the NZ medallists (titles in brackets subject to formal confirmation by FIDE):

U8 Girls
SILVER: Fiona Chenxi Li 4.5/9

U10 Girls  
BRONZE: Linyu Wang 6/9 (WCM)

U12 Open    
BRONZE: Richard Liu 7/9 (CM)

U14 Girls  
GOLD: Lok Jim (Lauren) Ng 7/9 (WFM)

U16 Open    
GOLD: Kendrick Botong Zhang 7.5/9 (FM + IM norm)
SILVER: William Rui Liu 7/9 (CM)

U16 Girls  
SILVER: Emily Cathay Gan 6.5/9  (WCM)

U18 Girls
SILVER: Luna Yuexiu Xu 6/9 (WFM)

U20 Open    
GOLD: Felix Xie 6.5/9 (IM + GM norm)

U20 Girls  
GOLD: Isabelle Yixuan Ning 8/9 (WIM + WGM norm)
BRONZE: Sarah Wanyao Sun 6/9 (WFM + WIM norm)

We look forward to another successful year ahead for chess in New Zealand, starting at Congress in Invercargill 2-12 January (players can still sign up!), the Oceania Youth Chess Championships in April in Christchurch, the Olympiad in September in Uzbekistan and all the other tournaments throughout.

A reminder that, as approved at the Special General Meeting in October, NZCF will be transitioning to the new membership model next year. I am pleased to confirm that NZCF has partnered with Sporty (sporty.co.nz) to deliver NZCF’s membership management system. Sporty is NZ’s largest provider with over 750,000 (not a typo) players of various sports in their member management system, so they know what they are doing. They also provide ‘freemium’ options for clubs i.e. a free website and access to their member management system (including emails) and forms, and clubs can pay for upgrades but don’t have to. 

Also, a reminder that incorporated societies (affiliate member clubs) need to reregister by 4 April 2026 or close down. NZCF circulated a template constitution, but happy to forward and/or guide clubs through it if help is needed – just let me or Richie know.

I also thank our funders and sponsors, particularly the Middle Game Chess Foundation, Pub Charity, Kiwi Gaming Foundation and the Lion Foundation.

On behalf of the New Zealand Chess Federation and Council, I wish you and your families a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, and I hope to see a few of you at Congress.

Craig Hall
NZCF President
President@newzealandchess.co.nz