Bob Wade memorial masters

Starting in about a week's time, from 15 to 21 January 2026, Auckland will host what will easily be one of the strongest chess gatherings ever staged on New Zealand soil. At the Waipuna Hotel and Conference Centre, organiser Paul Spiller, with the support of FIDE’s Planning and Development Commission and the Middle Game Chess Foundation, will oversee a series of five round-robin tournaments held in memory of Bob Wade and several other towering figures in New Zealand chess.

The Bob Wade Memorial Masters is the flagship event of the series. It will be a rare New Zealand tournament offering opportunities for both Grandmaster and International Master norms. Alongside it run the Hilton Bennett, Arthur Pomeroy and Peter Weir Memorial Masters, as well as the Middle Game Chess Foundation Challengers, together forming a week-long celebration of competitive chess and historical continuity. Hilton Bennett will be fondly remembered by some Malaysian chess players as this New Zealander was a regular face in many editions of our own Malaysia Chess Festival in Kuala Lumpur until his death in 2022.

Bob Wade himself needs little introduction to many. Born in Dunedin in 1921, he went on to win three New Zealand Championships before relocating to Britain in 1950, where he added two British titles to his record and represented his adopted country at seven Chess Olympiads. Awarded the International Master title that same year, Wade was also a formidable organiser and official, becoming an International Arbiter in 1958. Beyond the board, he left his mark as an author, editor at Batsford, and famously as a behind-the-scenes contributor to Bobby Fischer’s preparation for the 1972 World Championship match. Yet for many, his greatest legacy lies in his quiet, sustained mentoring of younger players. Wade passed away in 2008.

Bob Wade

The memorial event bearing his name was first staged in Auckland in 2021 by the Howick–Pakuranga Chess Club, with Paul Spiller at the helm. Subsequent editions in 2023 and 2025 evolved into elite ten-player round robins, producing winners such as Samy Shoker in 2023, and Zong-Yuan Zhao and Gábor Nagy jointly in 2025. The Bob Wade Memorial Masters has now established itself as the premier event of the series and one of the few places in New Zealand where IM norms could realistically be earned.

Headlining the 2026 edition is England’s Michael Adams, one of the finest players Britain has ever produced. At his peak, Adams reached a FIDE rating of 2761 in 2013. This is still the highest ever achieved by a British player. A semi-finalist in the World Championship cycles of the late 1990s and early 2000s, and a finalist in 2004, he remains a formidable competitor. Now rated 2635 in the January 2026 rating list, he is a nine-time British Champion, most recently crowned last year, and the reigning World Seniors (50+) Champion. 

Supporting him is a formidable cast. Defending champion Gábor Nagy (2439) of Hungary returns, alongside Malaysia’s first Grandmaster, Yeoh Li Tian (2503). England’s Daniel Howard Fernandez (2527), Poland’s Jacek Stopa (2330), and Australia’s James Morris (2422) add further depth, while New Zealand is strongly represented by Tom Middelburg (2345) and Sravan Renjith (2342), both Olympians in 2024, as well as Felix Xie (2379), the current national champion and IM-elect. Rounding out the field is FIDE Master Daniel Gong Hanwen (2246), himself a two-time New Zealand Champion.

Taken together, it is an exceptional lineup with five Grandmasters, three International Masters, an IM-elect and a FIDE Master. This, at the far edges of the chess world where ambition, memory and opportunity can align. For Bob Wade, who spent his life building bridges across generations and continents, it would have been a fitting sight.