The capital of New Zealand is Wellington and as the crow flies it’s 8,590 miles away from where I live. Of course, a crow couldn’t fly from here to there, but if they could, they commonly fly only 6 to 12 miles a day as they stop to feed and roost and at that rate, for a crow, a trip to Wellington would take 2-4 years. You can make the trip in an airplane in about 23 hours which is still a long time.
Back in 1958 the North Island’s championship was held in New Plymouth, a city on the west coast of North Island. It’s known for its coastal walkway, a park that has botanical gardens and bird life while sub-alpine forests and waterfalls characterize the Egmont National Park to the south.
It sounds like a nice place to live. The average temperature for the year is 56.0°F (13.3°C). The warmest month, on average, is February with an average temperature of 63.0°F (17.2°C). The coolest month on average is July, with an average temperature of 49.0°F (9.4°C). The highest recorded temperature in New Plymouth is 86.0°F (30°C), The lowest recorded temperature is 29.0°F (-1.7°C), which was recorded in June.
The 1958 North Island Championship was a tie between J.R. Phillips and Ortvin Sarapu with Phillips getting the title on tiebreaks.
The two players in this game both met tragic ends. 
James Rodney Phillips (1942 - September 19, 1969) became the youngest player ever to win New Zealand’s national championship when he captured the title in January 1957 at age 14, a record that stands to this day.
He was coached by the Estonian born master Ortvin Sarapu, who spotted his talent at the age of 10.
Phillips played in the World Junior Championship in The Hague in 1961 and finished fourth in his preliminary group, thereby missing out on a place in the final group of 12. However he won the reserve group to finish 13th overall.
Phillips competed in the 1967 British championship which was won by Jonathan Penrose; Phillips finished in a tie for 10th place out of the 36 competitors with a score of 6-6.
He was found drowned in Wellington Harbor on September 19, 1969...suicide was suspected.
Roger A. Court was the North Island co-champion in 1956 and 1963. He was New Zealand champion in 1963/64. He won or tied for the NZ Correspondence Championship four times (1958, 1959, 1962 and 1966). Court tragically died of an asthma attack in 1962 at the age of 32.
Rodney Philips–Roger A. Court1–0C41N. Island Champ, New Plymouth, NZ1958Stockfish 15.1
C41: Philidor Defense 1.e4 e5 2.f3 d6 Today this old defense is known as
a solid defense, but it's seldom seen at the top level because not only is it
heavily analyzed, but it is too passive. 3.d4 f6 Statistically speaking
the much more popular 3...exd4 tends to strongly favor white. 4.c3 4.dxe5 is best met by xe4 4...dxe5 5.xd8+ xd8 6.xe5 and the threat to f7
means white has won a P and has a clear advantage 5.d5 c5 with full
equality for black. 4...bd7 5.c4 e7 6.0-0 0-0 7.e2 c6 8.a4 c7 9.h3 h6 10.dxe5 10.a2 a5 11.e3 e8 12.c4 f8 13.fd1 with equal chances.
Smejkal,J (2570)-Rukavina,J (2460) Leningrad 1973 10...dxe5 10...xe5
is equally playable. 11.b3 e8 12.d4 f8 13.f4 g6 14.f3 d7 15.e3 ad8 with equal chances. Ginzburg,Y (2356)-Kodinets,K (2409) Internet 2004 11.h4 c5 Ignoring the pin on the f-Pawn is going to cause problems for
black as white now concentrates his attention on it. 11...h7 12.f5 c5 13.xe7 xe7 14.f4 e6 15.f5 xc4 16.xc4 a5 17.b4 a6 18.bxa5 b4 19.xb4 xb4 20.a3 Draw agreed. Kurajica,B-Penrose,J Hastings 1966 12.g6 d8 13.f4 White is better. d6 14.f5 Preventing ...Be6 but offering black
a chance to get back into the game. 14.e3 is preferred by engines, but
threading through a messy tactical situation at the board could prove quite
difficult! exf4 15.xf4 e6 16.xe6 xe6 17.xf6 17.xe6 fxe6 18.xh6 h2+ 19.h1 e5 20.g4 g3 20...gxh6 21.xh2 21.d2 is equal. 17...gxf6 18.f1 e5 19.g4+ f8 20.xe6 fxe6 21.e2 with unclear
complications. In Shootouts using Stockfish white scored +2 -0 =3, but the
endings were long and tricky. 21.xe6 g7 is equal. 14...h7 15.h4
Black has succeeded in forcing back the N and defend his f-Pawn and so he has
managed to equalize e7 But this passive defense is unsatisfactory. 15...b5 This strong counterattacking move keeps him in the game. 16.axb5 b7 17.bxc6 xc6 18.d5 ab8 with an equal opportunityy position. 16.f3 b6
Again, too passive. 16...b5 is less good than last move, but it would still
give white something to think about. 17.g4 This signals the
beginning of a decisive attack. g8 18.h4 d7 Better was 18...Kg8 18...h8 19.g5 b7 19.g2 Not bad, but better and more spectacular was 19.Ng5+!
To be fair making all the necessary calculations OTB would not be easy nor
practical! 19.g5+ hxg5 20.hxg5 c5+ 21.h1 h6 22.h2 Better than the
immediate capture of the N h8 23.gxh6 b7 23...g6 24.fxg6+ fxg6 25.g5
wins...the B is untouchable,,, xg5 26.f7+ g8 27.h7+ xh7 28.xh7# 24.g5 af8 25.g6+ fxg6 26.f3 e8 27.g3 f6 28.g5 ff8 29.d2 f6 30.f1 f8 31.h3 c8 32.hxg7+ xg7 33.xh8 wins e6 34.h6+ f7 35.fxe6+ e8 36.xf6 xe6 37.g7 e7 38.hxf8+ d7 39.xe6 c7 40.xe7# 19...f8 20.g5 h8 21.h2 Black puts up a chivalrous defense, but in the end white's
attack is just too strong. h5 22.e2 g6 23.g3 c5+ 24.h1 d4 25.e2 a5 26.b3 b5 27.axb5 cxb5 28.d5 b7 28...xd5 makes things a bit more
difficult for white. 29.exd5 d4 30.fxg6 fxg6 30...xa1 31.xf7 31.a2 b4 32.f3 c3 and white still has some work to do. 29.fxg6 xd5 Of
course 29...gxg6 first was better...still hopeless, but better. 30.xh5+ g7 31.f5# Philips conducted a nearly flawless attack. 1–0
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