Thanks to a couple of books by C.J.S. Purdy I had heard of the name Saul Goldsmirh (1911-1988), an importer and merchant from Wellington, New Zealand who was also involved in the country's politics.
I did not know it, but the English player Murray Chandler (born 1960) was born in Wellington, New Zealand. William A. Fairhurst (1905-1982) was born in England, but business interests caused him to move to New Zealand around 1970 and he retired there.
Back issues of magazines of the New Zealand Chess Federation was a gold mine containing the names of many unheard of players and their games.
The first chess club in New Zealand was formed in September 1863 in Dunedin. The New Zealand Chess Association came into being in the 1870s. The association, re-founded in 1892, conducts the annual championship. New Zealand was one of the earliest countries to make use of the telegraph to play interclub matches in 1866.
In 1938, writing in the New Zealand Chess Gazette, R.O. Scott, the champion of Wanganui, wrote that it was not possible to compare the New Zealand chess standards favorably with that of other countries because of the country's isolated position, but things were changing because there existed a greater number of first class chess books than were formerly available to New Zealand players.
The 1948 New Zealand Championship saw introduction of the Swiss System in five preliminary rounds as a means of selecting the Championship finalist and determining the players in the other sections.
In Dunedin, the summers are cool, the winters are short and very cold and it is windy and partly cloudy year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 39°F to 64°F and is rarely below 34°F or above 72°F.
In 1948 the tournament started on December 26th and players arrived in town expecting the typical cool weather for the summer with its share of hail, rain and wind, but instead they were surprised to be greeted by such fine weather that many players shed themselves
of ties, coats and pullovers. That was a time when men often wore suits in public. Many made do with older suits from the 1930s. Suit vests fell out of favor as an excess use of fabric. New suits were made with a wool-rayon blend instead of wool and often with patterned (especially striped) fabric.
In the following game played in the fifth round, Lang, made a solid bid to take a point from Wade who was leading. Lang came out of the opening with a very promising position, but mishandled the postion and in the end allowed Wade to win a game he shouldn't have. Lang was the joint New Zealand champion in 1954. He was also prominent in the country's correspondence chess organization.
[Event "New Zealand Championship, Dunedin"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1948.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "J.F. Lang"]
[Black "Robert Wade"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 14.1"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "1948.??.??"]
{QP Opening} 1. d4 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. Bd3 c5 4. c3 Qc7 5. Nd2 {Wade believed that
Lang was intending to play the Stonewall with 6.f4 which explains his next
move.} (5. f4 Nc6 (5... g6 {The fianchetto is a safe, solid way to meet both
the Stonewall and the Colle Attack.} 6. Nf3 Bg7 7. O-O Bf5 8. Bxf5 gxf5 9. Nbd2
Nbd7 {Equals. Herzog,A (2350) -Petschar,K (2325) Austria 1994}) 6. Nf3 Bg4 7.
O-O e6 8. h3 Bf5 9. Bb5 Bd6 {black is better. Jovicic,R (2184) -Zmijanac,D
(2127) Belgrade 2016}) 5... e5 {Unusual, but not bad. Normally black would
play 5...Bg4 or 5...g6} 6. dxe5 Qxe5 7. Ngf3 Qc7 {A tempo has been the cost of
preventing white from playing the Stonewall, but now he has the advance of the
e-Pawn available as in the Colle.} 8. e4 {Even after this advance white has no
more than equality.} Nc6 9. O-O (9. e5 {was tempting.} Nd7 10. O-O {Black wins
the e-Pawn, but it gains him nothing because after} Ndxe5 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. Re1
Be7 13. Bb5+ Nc6 14. Qh5 {equals.}) 9... Bg4 {This turns out to be a not so
good idea.} (9... Be6 10. exd5 Bxd5 11. Re1+ Be7 12. Ne4 Nxe4 13. Bxe4 Bxe4 14.
Rxe4 Rd8 15. Qe2 O-O {with about an even position.}) 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Re1+ (
11. Qa4 {was a promising alternative.} Be6 (11... Bd7 12. Qe4+ Nce7 13. Bc4 Bf5
14. Bb5+ Kd8 15. Qe2 Nf4 16. Qe1 Kc8 17. Nc4 Nd3 18. Qe3 {white is better.})
12. Ng5 O-O-O 13. Nxe6 fxe6 14. Bb5 Bd6 15. Bxc6 Qxc6 16. Qxc6+ bxc6 17. Ne4 {
white is better.}) 11... Be7 12. Ne4 {The move 12.Qa4 was still good.} O-O-O {
Even though white's pieces are aimed at the K-side this is not as good as 12...
O-O as Lang now shows.} (12... O-O 13. Neg5 Nf6 14. Qc2 h6 {and white has no
more than equality because black 's defensive resources are adequate.}) 13. Ng3
h6 (13... Nf4 {Wade believed this led to white getting the better game.
However, after} 14. Bxf4 Qxf4 15. Re3 h5 {white does not have anything...
neither does black.}) 14. h3 Be6 {[%cal Od5c3]} 15. Qc2 {[%mdl 8192] Wade
thought this was a good move because the square f5 is a vital square to
exchange off black's pieces, hinder black from launching a K-side P-storm and
at the same time attack black's K. He was correct about it being a vital
square, but white's taking time to add the Qs support to f5 was incorrect.} (
15. Bf5 {At once is correct.} Nxc3 16. Qc2 Nd5 (16... Bxf5 17. Qxf5+ Qd7 18.
Qxd7+ Rxd7 19. bxc3 {White has a decisive advantage.}) 17. Bxe6+ fxe6 18. Nh5
Bd6 19. Qg6 Rhg8 20. Rxe6 {with complications in which both sides have chances.
}) 15... Nf4 {Wade was willing to allow a weakening of his K-side Ps in order
to obtain some rather vague attacking chances. Unfortunately for him, he
missed an excellent opportunity to gain a solid advantage.} (15... Ncb4 {
[%mdl 512] After this life is good for black.} 16. cxb4 (16. Qe2 Nxc3 17. bxc3
Nxd3 {Black is better.}) 16... Nxb4 17. Qe2 Nxd3 {Here, too, black has an
excellent game.}) 16. Bf5 g5 17. Qe4 {Wade was happy to see this as he feared
17.Bxf4, but 17.Qe4 is hardly a mistake.} (17. Bxf4 gxf4 18. Nh5 Bd6 19. Rad1
Bxf5 20. Qxf5+ Kb8 21. Qe4 {White stands well thanks to black's weak Ps.})
17... Kb8 18. Bxf4 {Equally good was 18.Bxe6} gxf4 19. Nh5 Bd5 20. Qxf4 {
White might have done better by keeping the Qs on and playing 20.Qe2} Bd6 {
One gets the feeling that Wade believed he was attacking, but the fact is that
the position favors white after this move. It would have been to black's
advantage to trade Qs and go into an ending.} (20... Qxf4 21. Nxf4 Bxf3 22.
gxf3 Bg5 {with an equal position.}) 21. Qe3 Rhe8 {Speaking of white's next
move Wade commented, "Perhaps 22.Qxe8 was best," Indeed, white would have been
vastly superior. A safer move for black would have been 21...Ne7, but at the
same time this move sets a little trap.} 22. Qd3 (22. Qxh6 {This is inadequate.
} Rh8 23. Qe3 Rxh5 {with a piece for two Ps.}) (22. Qxe8 {There is no good way
to meet this move because black's Q is unable to cope with the activity of the
Rs.} Rxe8 (22... Be7 23. Qxd8+ Bxd8 24. Rad1 Bxf3 25. gxf3 {White won all five
Shootouts.}) 23. Rxe8+ Nd8 24. Nf6 Bc6 25. Rd1 {White's pieces are beginning
to swarm all over black.} a6 26. Ne5 Ka7 {Has black gained some breathing room?
} 27. Nxc6+ Nxc6 28. Be4 {In this position, too, white scored five Shootout
victories.}) 22... c4 23. Qc2 (23. Qxd5 {is an obvious blunder.} Bh2+ 24. Nxh2
Rxe1+ 25. Rxe1 Rxd5 26. Ng3) 23... Bxf3 24. gxf3 {It would have been safer to
eliminate one of the Rs first with 24.Rxe8+} Rg8+ 25. Bg4 {White is lost, but
in the long run it would have been better to get out of the pin with 25.Kf1}
Ne5 26. Kf1 Nd3 {Not only is the N on a strong square, white's Q is shut out
of the game. White must now prevent ...Bc5. Black is clearly winning.} 27. Re4
Bc5 28. Rxc4 f5 {Black is trying to get his Q to h2 deciding the game.} 29. Nf4
{Giving up a piece, but it is his best move. That being the case, you know
white's position is really bad!} Nxf4 30. Qxf5 Nd3 {In order to play . ..Qh2}
31. Kg2 {Prevents Qh2+.} b5 32. b4 bxc4 33. bxc5 Qxc5 34. Rb1+ Ka8 35. Qxc5
Nxc5 36. f4 {Giving up and why not? He is a R down.} h5 {White resigned.} 0-1
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