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New Zealand Championship 1977/78 The 85th New Zealand Championship congress took place from the 27th of December 1977 to the 8th of January 1978. It was hosted by the Civic Chess Club at the YWCA in Wellington and sponsored by Windy Music, a local private radio station. The prize fund attracted a strong field that included Ortvin Sarapu, Murray Chandler, Paul Garbett, Vernon Small, Philip Clemance, Ewen Green, Bruce Anderson, Kai Jensen, Peter Stuart, Craig Laird, Robert Smith and Roger Perry. The final result produced a surprise winner in the form of Craig Laird and although he may have had a share of luck his win was fully deserved. Crosstable: 1 Laird * 1 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 8 2 Sarapu 0 * ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 7½ 3 Green 0 ½ * 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 7 4 Chandler ½ 1 0 * 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 6½ 5 Small 1 0 ½ 1 * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 6 6 Stuart 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ ½ 1 0 1 5½ 7 Garbett ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 * 1 ½ ½ 1 1 5½ 8 Jensen 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 * 1 1 1 1 5½ 9 Clemance 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ 1 5 10 Anderson ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 * 1 0 4 11 Perry 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 ½ 0 * ½ 3 12 Smith ½ 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 1 ½ * 2½ Primary source: New Zealand Chess Magazine, Vol. 4 No. 1 (February 1978), pp. 4-17.  page 2 of 3; games 26-50 of 66  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 26. C Laird vs E M Green   1-0 36 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 E04 Catalan, Open, 5.Nf3 27. V Small vs Chandler 1-0 48 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 B33 Sicilian 28. P Garbett vs O Sarapu   ½-½ 35 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 C10 French 29. R Perry vs P W Stuart 1-0 30 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 B48 Sicilian, Taimanov Variation 30. R W Smith vs P Clemance   0-1 60 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 B52 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack 31. Chandler vs B R Anderson   0-1 41 1978 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed 32. E M Green vs R W Smith   1-0 41 1978 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 E82 King's Indian, Samisch, double Fianchetto Variation 33. P Garbett vs R Perry   1-0 39 1978 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 A16 English 34. P Clemance vs V Small   ½-½ 74 1978 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 B44 Sicilian 35. O Sarapu vs K Jensen   1-0 41 1978 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 C70 Ruy Lopez 36. P W Stuart vs C Laird   0-1 64 1978 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 A16 English 37. K Jensen vs Chandler   0-1 29 1978 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 B31 Sicilian, Rossolimo Variation 38. C Laird vs P Garbett   ½-½ 80 1978 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 A45 Queen's Pawn Game 39. R W Smith vs P W Stuart 0-1 22 1978 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 B21 Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4 40. R Perry vs O Sarapu   0-1 21 1978 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 B32 Sicilian 41. V Small vs E M Green   ½-½ 11 1978 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 B40 Sicilian 42. B R Anderson vs P Clemance 0-1 30 1978 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 A71 Benoni, Classical, 8.Bg5 43. P Garbett vs R W Smith 1-0 86 1978 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 B04 Alekhine's Defense, Modern 44. P Clemance vs K Jensen   0-1 19 1978 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed 45. P W Stuart vs V Small   0-1 53 1978 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 A21 English 46. O Sarapu vs Chandler 0-1 40 1978 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 A49 King's Indian, Fianchetto without c4 47. E M Green vs B R Anderson   ½-½ 36 1978 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 E80 King's Indian, Samisch Variation 48. R Perry vs C Laird   0-1 31 1978 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 C50 Giuoco Piano 49. K Jensen vs E M Green   ½-½ 30 1978 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 B81 Sicilian, Scheveningen, Keres Attack 50. V Small vs P Garbett   ½-½ 38 1978 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 C26 Vienna  page 2 of 3; games 26-50 of 66    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   Jan-13-19    Jonathan Sarfati: Craig Laird won this by playing the best chess! 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