Playing six chess games in a row under time pressure is hard enough, but Ben Hague decided to make his Saturday more demanding with an early start to catch a flight to Napier.
Despite the gruelling schedule, the Aucklander emerged the clear winner of the day-long Hawke's Bay rapid chess tournament, held at the Art Deco Masonic Hotel.
"It was tiring because I got up at 5am to catch the plane down from Auckland," Mr Hague said.
"But it's a good tournament, with a nice spacious venue."
The key game during the day was his clash with visiting Czech player Jaroslav Shanel, who finished second in the tournament.