The race started on January 23rd and things got off to a bad start shortly thereafter when one of the favorites, Restless, lost its mast and had to withdraw. The other 19 yachts sailed in fair weather, but later that afternoon a yacht named Joy withdrew from the race. Its skipper, an experienced seaman named George Brasell, later said that he felt there was something wrong and he got out before it happened.
Brasell's premonition turned out to be right. That evening the wind shifted and by the following evening a severe storm with gale force winds and heavy seas had developed. Most of the yachts either returned to Wellington, found shelter along the coast or rode out the storm at sea.
Only one yacht finished the race, the Tawhiri, which arrived in Lyttelton at 6:55 a.m. on January 26th, three days after the start of the race.
Two yachts, Husky and Argo, were lost along with their 10 crew members.
An inquiry found that Argo had collided with another yacht early in the race and that may have affected its seaworthiness and it probably foundered on the evening of January 23rd or the following day. A similar time period was suggested for Husky's loss.
In other big news, the 1951 waterfront dispute was the biggest industrial confrontation in New Zealand’s history when it lasted 151 days, from February to July. At its peak 22,000 waterside workers (known as wharfies) and other unionists were involved.
The waterfront was important in New Zealand’s economy and had long been a flashpoint for conflict. The government backed the employers and sent troops onto the Auckland and Wellington wharves to load and unload ships. Against the backdrop of the Cold War, the opposing sides denounced each other as Nazis, Commies, traitors and terrorists.
The year ended with the New Zealand Chess Championship opening on Tuesday, December 26, at 10:30 a.m. by the mayor of Christchurch, R. M. McFarlane.
The winner was David I. Lynch (April 20, 1910 - September 26, 2002, 92 years old). Lynch was born and lived in Hastings, New Zealand and was New Zealand North Island Champion in 1949 and won the New Zealand Championship in 1951. He was also the country's Correspondence champion on three occasions in the 1940's and 1950's.
The following year in the 1952 championship Lynch was the player who stopped Ortvin Sarapu, who was playing in his first NZ championship, from getting a perfect 11-0 score when they drew in the last round. In the the early 1980's GMs Eduard Gufeld and Murray Chandler both played simultaneous displays in New Zealand and Lynch, then in his 70s drew with both.
In this championship the level of play apparently was not especially high. Ortvin Sarapu had just moved to New Zealand from Estonia and at the end of the tournament he played a simultaneous and scored +19 -2 =2. His opponents included six from the championship: Turner, Fletcher, Scott, Whitlock, Crawford (who managed a win) and Lang plus 10 from the Major Open! Of the championship participants only Crawford managed to score.
Sarapu would go on to win or share the New Zealand Championship 20 times between 1952, when he won his first championship with 10.5 points out of 11 games, and 1990, when he tied for first.
Another interesting side note was the fact that several entrants failed to show for the Congress because of a railway strike. Five players from Auckland got within 90 miles of Christchurch and then managed to take a taxi to the event!
Playing in the Major Open was a player named Warne Pearse who tied for places 11-12 (out of 18) with a score of 5.5-5.5. In his younger years Pearse had been a notable figure in New Zealand tennis. His tennis career was interrupted by WWI in which he was wounded while serving in the military. In 1922, he and his tennis partner, Miss McLaren, managed to defeat the national mixed doubles champions.
Pearse's brother, Richard William Pearse, was a New Zealand farmer and inventor who performed pioneering aviation experiments. Witnesses interviewed many years afterward described observing Pearse flying and landing a powered heavier-than-air machine on March 31, 1903, nine months before the Wright brothers flew.
David I. Lynch–R.O. Scott1–0A00New Zealand Champ, Christchurch1951Stockfish 15
Semi-Slav: Botvinnik System 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.c3 f6 4.f3 e6 Black is
threatening to capture on c4 and hold it with ...b7–b5. White can avoid this
in a number of ways. Most games continue 5.Bg5 or 5.e3. 5.g5 This involves
a sharp P-sacrifice, while 5.e3 restricts the dark-squared B from its natural
development to g5. dxc4 6.e5 This is questionable, the most popular, and
best move being the sharp 6.e4 6.g3 is a more modern variation. bd7 7.g2 e7 8.0-0 0-0 9.c2 d5 10.xe7 xe7 11.e5 xe5 12.dxe5 with black
having a slight advantage. Hebden,M (2520)-Kaidanov,G (2500) Hastings 1989 6...b4 More effecient was the standard 6...b5 6...b5 7.a4 b4 8.g3 h6 9.d2 xd4 10.f3 b6 and black is better. Lukjanovas,V (1902)-Tommasini,E
(2171) Hammelburg 2009 7.e3 This is questionable. Better was 7.Bxf6 7.xf6 xf6 8.xc4 c5 9.b3 equals. 7...a5 The threat is 8...Ne4. 7...b5 also results in black obtaining a slight advantage after 8.e2 c7 9.0-0 0-0 8.xf6 8.xc4 is not quite sufficient. For example... e4 9.0-0 xg5 10.h5 xc3 11.bxc3 0-0 12.xg5 f6 13.h5 fxe5 14.f4 White does not have
enough compensation for his piece. 8...gxf6 This is the wrong capture.
Better was 8...Bxc3+ 8...xc3+ 9.bxc3 xc3+ 10.e2 gxf6 11.c1 b4 12.xc4 0-0 and black is slightly better. 9.xc4 xc3+ 10.bxc3 xc3+ 11.d2 a5 12.d3 White is a P down, but black has lost so much time
with Q moves that white can be considered to have sufficient compensation for
the P minus. c3 This move doesn't accomplish anything even though white has
to move his B again because back has also moved his Q several times. Black's
problem is that he has no good squares for his pieces and his K-side is
compromised, so it is difficult to suggest any move that is completely
satisfactory. 12...e7 13.0-0 b6 14.f4 a6 15.xa6 xa6 16.f5 d5
is the Stockfish way and white is better. 13.e2 a5 14.0-0 d7 15.c4
The N lands on a good square with a gain of time by attacking the Q. c7 16.e4 b5 17.e3 b6 18.c1 Threatening Bxb5 d6 Black's position
has gradually been drifting downhill with the result that by this point
white's position is considerably better. 19.g4 Regaining his P. e5
The decisive mistake as it loses a couple of Ps. 19...d7 20.d5 exd5 21.exd5 xd5 22.c2 0-0 23.fd1 Although white is two Ps down the exposed
position of black's Q and K give white devastating attack. Just as an example..
. e6 24.d3 f5 25.e3 g6 26.g3 h8 27.d3 d6 28.xf5 e5 29.xe5 xe5 30.xh7 with a winning attack. 20.dxe5 xd1 The exchange of Qs
avoids a direct attack, but he is still left with a very poor position. 21.xf6+ e7 22.fxd1 c4 22...b7 runs into 23.xb5 23.xc4 bxc4 24.xc4 e6 25.xc6 The rest is a formality. xa2 26.d5+ f8 27.f4 b3 28.d3 b8 29.f6 e6 30.f5 b1+ 31.f2 b2+ 32.f3 b3 White has a forced mate after this. Avoiding it by 32...Kg7 was possible,
but it would only prolong the game. 33.d8+ e7 34.xh8 d1+ 35.e3 Black resigned. 35.e3 e2+ 36.d3 c2+ 37.xe2 d1+ 38.e3 a5 39.e8# 1–0
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