Sixteen-year-old Felix Xie competing at the tournament in Auckland, where he finished first equal. Photo: Facebook / NZ Chess News
After a gruelling nine-day tournament, New Zealand has crowned two new national chess champions.
Grandmaster Gabor Nagy from Hungary and 16-year-old FIDE Master Felix Xie both finished first on seven out of nine games - with zero losses.
Sixty-one competitors played in the nine-day tournament in Auckland, which consisted of nine games of classical chess, with games ranging from around two to five hours long.
Co-champion Felix Xie told Morning Report he wasn't expecting the win, "I [thought I] might have been in contention for top five".
Xie said he started learning chess when he was around four and a half and contesting tournaments when he was eight.
He was feeling self-assured after tying with Grandmaster Gabor Nagy.
"It doesn't mean I'm as good as him, but it certainly shows that I can hold my own against top players."
Xie is heading into year 13 at Rangitoto College, and on top of his school schedule he said he studied chess up to seven hours a day.
New Zealand has only ever had one Grandmaster chess player, Murray Chandler, and Xie hoped to be the second.
"I'm hoping to get the title of Grandmaster in the future, which is the highest title one can achieve in chess.
"It takes a lot of work, but I want to achieve that and hopefully influence more people in the current generation to show that it's possible with hard work and talent."
To become a Grandmaster, a person needs to achieve a FIDE rating of 2500 and win three Grandmaster Norms. Xie's rating currently sits at around 2300.
He hoped to earn the title within the next four to five years.
Norway's Magnus Carlsen. Photo: ARUN SANKAR
As well as winning the national chess championship, Xie also commented on the recent scandal surrounding chess world number one Magnus Carlsen.
Carlsen was ejected from the World Rapid Chess Championship for wearing jeans.
Xie said chess tournaments in New Zealand were a lot more relaxed.
"Jeans are allowed, we don't have such a strict dress code.
"I've seen people wearing jandals, I've even seen people come in barefoot. So I guess it's pretty relaxed."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
