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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 1 of 3; games 1-25 of 66  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. R W Smith vs V Small   ½-½ 45 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 B21 Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4 2. P Garbett vs Chandler   0-1 49 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 B33 Sicilian 3. E M Green vs O Sarapu   ½-½ 28 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 E42 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 c5, 5.Ne2 (Rubinstein) 4. R Perry vs K Jensen   0-1 30 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 C45 Scotch Game 5. C Laird vs B R Anderson   ½-½ 70 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 A46 Queen's Pawn Game 6. P W Stuart vs P Clemance   ½-½ 20 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 A35 English, Symmetrical 7. B R Anderson vs R W Smith   0-1 44 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 A04 Reti Opening 8. Chandler vs R Perry 1-0 18 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 B72 Sicilian, Dragon 9. E M Green vs P W Stuart   ½-½ 60 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 A84 Dutch 10. O Sarapu vs V Small   1-0 26 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 D80 Grunfeld 11. K Jensen vs C Laird   0-1 41 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 C44 King's Pawn Game 12. P Clemance vs P Garbett   ½-½ 47 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 B47 Sicilian, Taimanov (Bastrikov) Variation 13. R W Smith vs K Jensen   0-1 30 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 A57 Benko Gambit 14. V Small vs B R Anderson   ½-½ 26 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 C85 Ruy Lopez, Exchange Variation Doubly Deferred (DERLD) 15. C Laird vs Chandler ½-½ 13 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 B30 Sicilian 16. P W Stuart vs O Sarapu   ½-½ 41 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 A14 English 17. R Perry vs P Clemance   ½-½ 49 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 B73 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical 18. P Garbett vs E M Green   0-1 33 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 B83 Sicilian 19. P W Stuart vs P Garbett   1-0 71 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 A10 English 20. O Sarapu vs B R Anderson   1-0 63 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 A65 Benoni, 6.e4 21. E M Green vs R Perry   1-0 44 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 D94 Grunfeld 22. Chandler vs R W Smith   1-0 48 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 B72 Sicilian, Dragon 23. K Jensen vs V Small   ½-½ 20 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 A07 King's Indian Attack 24. P Clemance vs C Laird   0-1 31 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 B00 Uncommon King's Pawn Opening 25. B R Anderson vs K Jensen   0-1 40 1977 New Zealand Championship 1977/78 C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed  page 1 of 3; games 1-25 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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