British Chess News Round-Up: June/July 2004

Last Edited: Monday September 13, 2004 7:39 PM

Games accompanying this report: County Championship Final (1); County U175 Final (3); Joe Soesan Memorial (3); Dyfed Open (Feb) (64); EACU op (June) (1); WCU Knock-Out (May) (24).

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2003/4 BCF Schools Championship. 143 teams took part in this long-running competition which dates back to 1958 and used to be sponsored by The Times and (before that) The Sunday Times. The finals were held on 26 June at the Nottingham Moat House. The 2004 winners were Monmouth School who beat Haberdashers Askes 4½-1½ in the final. In the 3rd/4th play-off Bluecoast Oldham beat Southend HS, also by 4½-1½. The Best Game Prize (judged by Graham Lee) went to Jac Thomas of Monmouth School. Contrary to what it says in a press release published on the WCU website, Monmouth is not the first school from outside England to have won it: that honour belongs to Dundee High who won it in 1969. Since then Ayr Academy has twice taken the trophy to Scotland, and Methodist College, Belfast, have taken it to Ireland. So in fact Wales is the last home nation to get their hands on the trophy! Full results on the SCCU website: http://www.sccu.ndo.co.uk/times.htm

Central London Rapidplay (27 June 2004): U225 (17 players): 1 Lawrence Trent (210, Barking) 5/6, 2-4 Bob Eames (198, Hackney), Michael Franklin (190, Richmond), Li Wu (188, Wanstead) 4½. Major U165: (17 players): 1-2 Stanley Chola (152, Reading), Subin Sen (131, Ilford) 4½/6, 3-4 Chris Clegg (149, Kingston), Helge Hjort (140, Hendon) 4. Minor U120 (56 players): 1-2 Peter Lord (112, Hayes), Jonathan Rubeck (102, Hendon) 5½/6, 3-5 Peter Szabo (110, Ilford/Metropolitan), Michael Connock (108, St. Albans), Geng Somupillai (100, Wimbledon) 4½/6. My thanks to John Weightman for the press release.

Central London Congress (3-4 July 2004): U225 (17 Players): 1 Colin S Crouch (217m, Pinner) 4½/5, 2 Robert Gwaze (223m, Watford) 4, 3 James Sherwin (204m, Bath) 3½, Major U170 (26 Players): 1 Adeoye Dasaolu (165, Hallmark Kingfisher) 4½/5, 2-3 Dana Hawrami (155, Ilford), Brendon O’Gorman (152, DHSS) 4. U125: (35 players) 1 Kevin P. Lenaghan (118, Metropolitan) 5/5, 2-3 Ben Cameron (104, Willesden), Jonathan Rubeck (102, Hendon) 4. My thanks to John Weightman for the press release - which named the winner as 'Colin S Crunch'. The BCF website seems to have taken this literally...

Coulsdon Rapidplay (3 July 2004): The final round of the 2003-4 Coulsdon Grand Prix saw 37 entrants to the final graded sections Rapidplay of the season. The prize winners after the six rounds were as follows: Open (mixed with Under 170): 1 Jovica Radovanovic (Mind Sports) 5½/6 (£30), U170 (mixed with Open): 1 Stuart Hamilton (Coulsdon) 5 (£30), 2-4 Helge Hjort (Hendon), Alfredo Luaces (Hastings), Peter A Williams (Coulsdon / Richmond) 2 (£ 5). U140: 1 Paul Jackson (Coulsdon) 6/6 (£30), 2 Rob Hamilton (Coulsdon) 4½ (£15), 3 Peter D Williams (Basingstoke area) 4 (£10). U110: 1 Lana Boztas (Ashtead) 5/6 (£30), 2-3 Paul Barkshire (Crystal Palace), Howard Curtis (Coulsdon) 4 (£12-50). U80: 1 Caroline Robson (Barnet Elizabethans) 6/6 (£30), 2-4 Siddharth Basetti (Ashtead), Greg Charles (Purley area), Periasam Subramaniyan (Ashtead) 4 (£ 8-50). The Coulsdon Quickplay Grand Prix winners all receive half priced entry into the Rapid Play and Blitz tournaments for next season (August 2004 - July 2005). They are: Open Danny Gormally (SE London), U200 Michael Franklin (Coulsdon, Richmond), U160 Jinwoo Song (Kingston), U120 James Foster (Coulsdon), U80 Ishan Ramdewar (South Norwood, Coulsdon). Thanks to Scott Freeman.

County Championship Finals (3 July 2004): the BCF English County Championship Finals were played at Hinckley Leisure Centre. Greater Manchester beat the holders Kent 8½-7½ in the final of the Open (full scores here); this was Greater Manchester's second title, the first being in 1990. The Minor Counties competition was won by Bedfordshire who beat Norfolk by 9-7 (full result). In the U175 Essex beat Devon 10-6 (full result). In the U150 final Cambridgeshire defeated Lancashire 9-7 (full result). In the U125 final Shropshire beat Middlesex 10-6 (full result). In the U100 Norfolk beat Essex 6½-5½ (full result). Website: http://www.bcf.org.uk/events/bcfnatteam/county2004/index.htm

East Anglia CU Congress (Newmarket, 12-13 June 2004). The annual EACU Congress also doubles as the event to determine the EACU's nominee to the Smith & Williamson British Championship. This year's Open event attracted 25 entrants, and the overall winner was IM Colin Crouch (Pinner) with 4½/5. Joint second, and the highest placed EACU player on tie-break, was David Spence (Ipswich) with 3½/5. David fully deserves his British Championship place as he was the only player to take half a point from Colin Crouch, in a game he should have won (with 30 g5 - see game). Three other EACU players also scored 3½/5 - Steve Gregory (Ipswich), Graham Smith (Milton Keynes) and Norman Hutchinson (Royston) - all of whom have been rewarded with "wild card" entries into the 2004 British Championship. We wish them all well in their Championship ambitions. Grading prizes in the Open section were won by Patrick Ribbands (Cambridge City), Richard Donaghay (Ely) and Steven Pride (Cambridge City). The Under-130 Tournament attracted only 12 entries, but all the games were very hard-fought. The eventual winner was Colin Payne (Norwich Dons) with 4/5, his first ever tournament win, closely followed by Greg Tebble (also Norwich Dons) with 3½/5. The grading prize was won jointly by Roger Smith (Diss) and Michael Coughtrey (Clacton), while the junior prize was won by Daniel Chan (Thamesdown). The whole congress was a joy to control, a dodgy clock during round 4 providing the only opportunity to display knowledge of the laws of chess. The moral to controllers is, though, check every single clock before every single round! Open: 1 Colin Crouch (Pinner) 4½/5, 2-5 David Spence (Ipswich), Steve Gregory (Ipswich), Norman Hutchinson (Royston), Graham Smith (Milton Keynes) 4. U130: 1 C Payne 4, 2 G Tebble 3½, 3-4 M Coughtrey, R Smith 3. Thanks to Richard Freeman for sending the report.

Frodsham Rapidplay (4 July 2004): Over 125 players entered in three sections, which threw up a number of surprises, not least the triumph in the Minor section of 69-year-old Jack Simmons. Major: 1-2 David Jameson (Caergwrle), Martin Burns (Stockport) 5/6 (£102.50 each), 3-6 P Woodfinden (Knutsford), R Westwood (Cannock), G Morris (Urmston), R Clissold (Warrington) 4½. Minor: 1 John Simmons (Rhyl) 5½/6 (£115), 2-4 P Bull, T Whitaker, L Rabbitte 5 (£44). Junior: 1-3 A Littlewood, R Bowler, N Taylor (£25). Grading prizes: T Lambert, J Wright, R Thomson, G Lea. Thanks to Martin Regan

Golders Green Rapidplay (17 July 2004): Open: 1 IM Aleksandar Colovic (220) 5/6 (£60), 2 Lawrence Trent 210 4½ (£30), 3-4 Grzegorz Osipiak (205), Robin Haldane (171) 4 (£20.00), 5-7 IM Colin Crouch (225), Antony Hynes (187), Tim Rogers (156) 3½. U160: 1 Daniel Ellis (149) 5½/6 (£60.00), 2 Arunas Gedvilas (138) 5 (£30.00), 3-4 Tumen Buyandalai (UNG), Andres Campos (e150) 4½. U130: 1 Anthony D. Brown (UNG) 5½/6 (£30.00), 2 David Nathan (UNG) 5 (£15.00), 3 Eliot Hoving (J) (UNG) 4½. U100: 1 Sheila Dines (F, J 89) 5½/6 (£60.00), 2 Ken Hedger (V 97), Alan Trent (89) 5 (£15.00). 96 players competed over four sections. £455.00 in prizes were awarded. Thanks to Adam Raoof for sending the report. Website: http://www.adamraoof.tk

Golders Green Rapidplay (19 June 2004): Open: 1 IM Richard Palliser 5/6, 2-3 Jame Sherwin, Martin Taylor 4½. U160: 1 Ajoy Solomon 6/6, 2-3 Daniel Ellis, Chris Duggan 4½. U130: 1 Brendan O'Gorman 5½/6, 2 Kevin Lenaghan 5. U100: 1 Ken Hedger 5½/6, 2 Sheila Dines 5. 84 players competed over four sections. Thanks to Adam Raoof for sending the report. Website: http://www.adamraoof.tk

Hartlepool Rapidplay (26-27 June 2004), sponsored by GTTravel Ltd. The tenth and final rapidplay on this year's North-east rapidplay circuit was held in St Matthews Hall, Hartlepool over the last weekend in June. It only attracted a modest entry but many of the top players on the leaderboard were present and the sections were fiercely contested. There were only nine entries for the Open which did cause a few pairing problems for the organisers but not for Charlie Storey (Newcastle). He easily won this section with an impressive 10/11, fully 2½ points clear of Clive Waters (Tynemouth) on 7½/11. Open: 1 Charlie Storey (Newcastle, 179) 10/11 (£100), 2 Clive Waters (Tynemouth, 179) 7½ (£50), 3 Paul Hutchinson (White Rose, 190) 7 (£25). Major U141 (12 entries): 1 David Patrick (Halifax, 136) 7½/11 (£100), 2 Bernie Price (Athenaeum & Hartlepool, 119) 7 (£50), 3-5 Steven Aitchison, Geoff Collyer, Clive Davies 6½ (£8.50 each). Minor U101 (15 entries). 1 Ron Ratter (Consett & Gateshead Libs, 98) 8½/11 (£100), 2-4 Gary Clarke, Matthew Hammond, Dave Parlour 8 (£25 each). Thanks to Keith Smith for the report. Website: http://www.dcca.org.uk

Hawick Congress (June 25-27 2004): 22-year old IM Stewart Haslinger of Formby (2440) took first prize of £300. Top-rated Borders player Martin Mitchell (2086) was second on 4/5, defeating Steve Mannion in the second round. In the Challengers tournament, Hawick-based Alan Armstrong came 2nd equal. Full results: Open 1 IM Stewart Haslinger (Formby) 4½, 2 Martin Mitchell (Berwick) 4, 3-6 Neil Berry (Edinburgh), IM Mark Condie; Alan Grant (Cathcart); IM Steve Mannion (Cathcart) 3½. GM Colin McNab went home empty-handed, losing to Haslinger in round five. Challengers 1-2 David Stewart (Bank of Scotland), George Ellames (Morpeth) 4/5, 3-6 Alan Armstrong (Kelso), Hugh Flockhart (Lasswade), David MacConnell (Bankton), Antonio Moneva-Jordan 3½. Major: 1 Michael Stanners 4½, 2 John Smith (Grangemouth) 4, 3-5 PT Costello (Kings), Anthony Foster, Michael MacDonald-Cooper (Kirriemuir) 3½. Minor: 1 Bruce Wallace (Dundee & Victoria) 4½/5, 2 Alex Clark (Dundee & Victoria) 4, 3-4 Steven MacGregor, Fergus Thomson (Pentland Hills) 3½. Website: http://www.chessscotland.com/event2004/hawick_intro.htm

5th Joe Soesan Memorial Cup (Coventry, April-June 2004): The 2004 Joe Soesan Memorial Cup was held at the Standard Triumph Recreation Club in Coventry with games played weekly between April and June 2004. This location is the home of Whoberley Chess Club of which Joe was a member for several decades. Many of the 47 entrants knew Joe Soesan personally having played against him in local or national inter-club matches or tournaments, or as a team member in the Warwickshire County side. Final scores were: 1 Dr MJ Donnelly 5½/6, 2-4 E Goodwin, A Baruch, D Ireland 5 (Goodwin wins the second prize of a chess-playing computer on tie break), 5-11 A Moisseenkov, F Eastwood, A Dawson, T Burgess, D Filer, M Johnstone, M McGregor 4, etc. (47 players). My thanks to Mike Donnelly for sending the report and games.

Manchester Summer Congress (9-11 July 2004): 1st Russell James (Warwicks) 4½; 2-6th John Stephenson (Undercliffe), Peter Hempson (Eccleshall), Carl Gorka (Cheddleton), Graham Burton (Peoples), John Wareing (Halifax) 4. Source: http://www.bcf.org.uk/national/mcf-summer_jul04.htm

Monmouth (16-18 July 2004): If you are on your way to play in a Welsh tournament these days... be very afraid. You might just run into the path of a 2600+ rated super-grandmaster who has a second home in the area... Monmouth Open: 1 Julian Hodgson (Swansea Valley) 5/5, 2-4 James Sherwin (Bath), Nick Jakubovics, Richard S Jones (Swansea) 4. Women's Championships (run as part of the Open): 1 Debbie Evans-Quek (Swansea) 3½/5, 2-3 S Blackburn (Holmes Chapel), O Smith 2½/5. Major: 1 D Carpenter 4½/5, 2-3 R Clegg (Huddersfield), SM Chadaway 4. Minor: 1 A Papier (Downend) 5/5, 2 K Smith (Sidcup) 4, 3-6 I Blencowe, JH Preece, AD Robinson, Yinglun Teng (Cardiff) 3½. Reserves: 1 J Hendricksen (Halesowen) 4½/5, 2 C Hansford (N. Gwent) 4, 3-5 A Gilbertson, S Lazarus Monmouth, J Evans (Halesowen) 3½. Website: http://www.welshchessunion.co.uk/html/congress_results.html

Andrew Martin World Record Confirmed (rec'd 8 July 2004): "... Andrew Martin today received a certificate and a letter from Guinness World Records informing him that he has been successful in setting a new World Record. The entry, which may appear in the next edition to be published, reads: "The record for the most simultaneous games of chess played by an individual against different opponents is 321 and was set by International Chess Master, Andrew Martin (UK), at Wellington College, Crowthorne, Berkshire, UK on 21st February 2004." Congratulations to Andrew Martin and thanks from Andrew and me to everyone who contributed to make this possible. Regards, Terry Lynch". My thanks to Jim Earwicker for forwarding this information.

Midland Open (11-13 June 2004): 1-2 Mark Hebden, Russell James 5/6, 3-6 Simon Knott, Jesper Sisask, Richard Bryant, Martin Burrows 4½/6. Minor/ Julius Silverman Section: 1 Graham Ashcroft 5½/6, 2 Sean Hewitt 5/6, 3-4 James L Thompson, Richard Desmedt 4½/6. Website: http://www.bcf.org.uk/national/midland_jun04.htm

Newport Open (Date?): 1 Alan Spice (Cardiff) 4/5; 2-6 James Sherwin (Bath), N Beveridge (Monmouth), MJR White (Bristol Uni), I Ponter (Downend), J Hardie (Cardiff) (25 played). Further Info: http://www.welshchessunion.co.uk/html/newport_2004.html

6th North London Individual Blitz, in memory of Sam Black (20 July 2004). 39 entries: 1 Colin Crouch 10½/12 - £140; 2 Lawrence Trent 10/12 - £70; U160 Helge Hjort 7½/12 - £20; U120 John Bygrave and Alan Trent 5/12 - £10 each; Upset Prize: Senthurin Sathyanandha - £20. Thanks to Gary Cook for the results. Website: http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~cernunos/nccl/history/blitz/blitz_ch.htm

Obituary: Peter M Shaw (1920-1993). Peter Shaw died last October (2003) aged 83. He was a former President of the British Chess Federation (1982-5) and a past president of Surrey County Chess Association. Website: http://www.bcf.org.uk/national/obit-shaw.htm

Obituary: Jack Speigel (1931-2004). Jack Speigel died on 4 July, aged 72. In 1957 he founded the Southend Easter Congress, which has always been one of the best events on the UK tournament circuit. He continued to run it for many years, and later enhanced it by adding the prestigious Redbus Grandmaster Knock-Out, sponsored by his nephew Cliff Stanford. He was also a prominent player and organiser in Essex in general, and for Cavendish. There is a full obituary on the SCCU website: http://www.sccu.ndo.co.uk/rdc.htm and (by Peter Wilson) on the BCF website: http://www.bcf.org.uk/national/obit-speigel.htm

Stewarton Bonnet Guild Chess Allegro (13 June 2004): 1 Stephen Mannion (Paisley), 2 Danny McGowan (Tiree), 3-5 Graeme Kafka (Edinburgh University), Joe Redpath (Edinburgh), Alan Grant (Cathcart). Major: 1 David Potts (East Kilbride). Minor: 1 Amy Officer (Perth). Thanks to John Montgomery.

Welsh (WCU) Challenge Cup (June/July 2004): 1st Cardiff 5; 2nd Nidum Liberals 3(11); 3rd Cardigan 3(8); 4th Monmouth 1.

Yeovil Summer Congress (25-27 June 2004): Open: 1-2 Richard S Jones (Swansea), John Sugden (Hastings) 4/5, 3 Peter Poobalasingam (Millfield) [Junior] 3½. Major: 1 Sarah Hegarty (Millfield) 4/5, 2-6 Mark Abbott (Exmouth), Brendan O'Gorman (DHSS), John Footner (Telford), Chris Purry (Frome), John Gorodi (Teignmouth) 3½. Minor: 1 Keith Spooner (Highcliffe) 4½/5, 2-3 Les Cutting (Yeovil), Clive Pemberton (Coventry) 4. Website: http://www.bcf.org.uk/national/yeovil_jun04.htm

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