CONGRESSES

Updated 28.8.01

CONGRESS RESULTS

COULSDON (10 minute) BLITZ 27th August 2001
24 played. 1 Simon Williams (Richmond) 6½/7; 2-5 Gary Kenworthy (Barbican), Marcus Osborne (Coulsdon), Ian Snape (Beckenham), Stuart Hamilton (Coulsdon) 5... Grading U180 Ian Snape, Stuart Hamilton; U130 Louise Sinclair (Waltham Forest), Douglas Barber (Purley) 4; U90 Joe Fraser (Crowborough) 3½
Results Scott Freeman

37th BERKS & BUCKS CONGRESS at Reading, 25-27 August 2001
Championship over 170 (18 pl) 1 Gerald Moore (Hounslow) 4/5; 2-4 Gavin Lock (Coulsdon), Ian Henderson (Earley), Martin Taylor (Rainham) 3½...
Challengers 172-152 (14 pl) 1-2 Stephen Clark (Gerrards Cross), Michael Bushill (Henley on Thames) 4/5; 3-4 Colin Costello (Southall), John Townsend (Maidenhead) 3½...
Reserves A 149-129 (16 pl) 1 Matthew Harborne (Basingstoke) 4/5; 2-3 Oliver Payne (Basingstoke), Dinah Norman (Guildford) 3½...
Reserves B 129-113 (16 pl) 1 Michael Price (West London) 5/5; 2-3 Jeff Fleischer (London E1), Thomas Rixon (Hemel Hempstead) 3½...
Reserves C 111-90 (14 pl) 1-2 Gerald Blight (Reading), David Maddock (Reading) 4; 3-4 Edwin King (Oxford), Tony Heslop (North Oxford) 3½...
Reserves D U89 (14 pl) 1 Richard Dawson (Thatcham) 4½/5; 2-3 William Foster (Newbury), Paul Maddock (Presentation College) 3½...
Cup presented by Mrs Stean in 1976 for best performance by an under 14 player: - Peter Poobalasingam (Richmond Juniors)
Lightning Tournament (24 pl: 4 sections of 6) Final: Liam Varnam beat Peter Poobalasingam
Results Nigel Dennis

32nd THANET CONGRESS 17-19 August 2001
Open (27 pl) 1 Julian Hodgson (Hackney) 5/5; 2-3 MR Taylor (Rainham: Kent Champion), N Crickmore (Ilford) 4½... Grading U180 AR Talbot (Nuneaton). Best Thanet: no qualifying player
Major U160 (30 pl) 1 P Zabrocki (Folkestone: Kent Major Champion) 4½/5; 2 D Cutmore (Wood Green) 4; 3-6 A Atkinson (Canterbury), RJ Wilcox (Wimbledon), B O'Gorman (DHSS), O Finnegan (Broadstairs) 3½... Grading U140 C Linford (The Holt). Best Thanet D Law (Margate)
Intermediate U125 (36 pl) 1-2 Paul Smith (Brighton & Hove), R Burroughs (Hutton) 4½/5; 3 K Findley (Birchington: Kent Intermediate Champion) 4... Grading U110 R House (Medway). Best Thanet S Guy (Ramsgate)
Minor U100 (35 pl) 1-2 A Fraser (Beckenham: Kent Minor Champion), J Cutting (Broadstairs) 4½/5; 3-4 LR Jones (Beckenham), P de Rivaz (Haywards Heath) 4... Best Thanet R Day (Whitstable)
Special prizes Senior Over 60 CJ Gardiner (Falmouth); Junior U15 R Friend (Herne Bay); Female Players with 50%+ Ljubica Lazarevic (Grays), Sue Farrington (Beckenham) 3/5
Results Tony Hargreaves

ESSEX CHAMPIONSHIP at Writtle, 14-15 July 2001
30 played. 1 Eddie Dearing 203 (Cambridge Univ) 5/5; 2 Marc Brazier 166 (Maldon) 4; 3-6 Robin Slade 160 (Chelmsford), Andy King 158 (Grays/Shell), Bob Latter 154 (Brentwood), Tom Winter 135 (Maldon)... Grading U150 1 Tom Winter; 2-3 Peter Laundy 130 (Basildon), Ljubica Lazarevic 108 (Grays) 4.
Source: Chessex

COWLEY BLITZ 25th June 2001
Lester Millin writes:
The Summer Cowley Blitz was a great success raising £125 towards the costs of Naomi Miller and Jonathan Lappage who will be playing in the European and World Youth Championships respectively this autumn. The 53 players enjoyed the hospitality of the Cowley Community Centre, the warm night encouraging the players to consume large quantities of generously priced amber liquid.
     Former Cowley member, Simon Charles, travels from near Watford to play, and this time he came with another Watford player, Jim Lumsden, who emerged as the winner. Previous winners of the Blitz include Peter Wells, Keith Arkell, Simon Ansell, and Harriet and Adam Hunt.
     We had worried that Steve Giddins (grade 184)'s negative publicity in the SCCU Bulletin May Issue ("rather than turning out against 150-players from places like Didcot and Cowley") might damage our latest event, but we are pleased to say that Steve's views are not shared in Oxfordshire. [rjh: It's also in Open Forum 17.5.01, and Lester's taken it completely out of context!]
Results (Cowley unless stated. 5 double rounds.)
1 Jim Lumsden 182 (Watford) 9½/10; 2 Jonathan Lappage 165 8½; 3-6 Tim Dickinson 187, Gerard O'Reilly ungraded, Dave Hackett 181 (Witney), Jochim (sic) Wittman 199 (Oxford C), Paul Cooksey 184 (Witney) 7½; 8-9 James Buchanan 121, Ray Starkie 164 7; 10-12 Neil Jenkinson 136 (Morris), Alan Rawlings 130, Matthew Rose 202 (Oxford City) 6½... U110 Stephen Ilic (Morris); U90 Naomi Miller; U70 Daniel Lappage. Best Cowley Dave Bruce; Best Cowley U140 Stephen Bough. Junior U14 Daniel Hitchens; U11 Beau Schofield (Magdalen College School); Best female censored; Best slow starter 0/2 Robin Carr; Best very slow starter[!!] 0/4 Malcolm Brindley (North Oxford)

COULSDON RAPIDPLAY 9th June 2001
Scott Freeman writes:
Today's Coulsdon Rapidplay had 43 players. It would have been 44 had someone not lost their car keys. Or even more had the Derby not been on locally, had there not been another Rapidplay in London, had their not been a Congress in the south Midlands, and had the weather not been so pleasant. Was that all the excuses?......Yes, I think that's it. It was a good day though.
Results:
1 Danny Gormally (Coulsdon) 5½ £80; 2-3 Paul Georghiou (Barnet) £50 (incl half share U200 grading prize), Stephen Hawes Horsham £75 (incl half share U200 & half share U170) 5... Grading U170 Chris Clegg (Kingston), Adeoye Dasaolu (London), Matthew Dignam (Berkhamsted), Gavin Lock (Coulsdon/Crawley) 4 £5; U130 Matthew Harbourne (Camberley/Basingstoke) 4 £55 incl share of U170; U90 Selina Khoo (Surrey Juniors), Jacques Tivillier (Chislehurst/Coulsdon) 3 £25

COULSDON BLITZ 28th May 2001
Scott Freeman writes:
We had 23 players for our 7x10 mins each event and the results were as follows:
1 Marcus Osborne (Coulsdon) 6½/7; 2-3 Ian Snape (Kent), Tony Cullen (?) 5½... Grading U160 Stuart Hamilton (Coulsdon) 5½; U135 Dave Cork (Coulsdon) 4½; U110 James Lin (Coulsdon), Joe Fraser (Crowborough) 3½

ILFORD CONGRESS 26-28 May 2001
The Congress was held at Valentines School Ilford in stifling heat. Alternative accommodation within the school is already under consideration for next year.
Open (40 pl) 1 Alex Chernaiev (Russia) 5½/6; 2-4 Colin Crouch (Drunken Knights), Jeff Goldberg (Ilford), Odondoo Ganbold (Mongolia [also allegedly Indonesia]) 4½... Best Junior Tim Woodward (Westminster School). SCCU Championship shared by Colin Crouch and Jeff Goldberg. BC Qualifier Jeff Goldberg
Major U160 (57 pl) 1 Tim Mestani 5½/6; 2-3 Steve Williams (Colchester), Peter Morrey (Reading) 5; 4-6 Kenan Boztas (Ashtead), Stewart Trent (Ilford - also shares prize for best Essex Junior), Karl Forman (Coventry Transport) 4½...
Minor U120 (46 pl) 1 Dana Hawrami (Ilford) 5½/6; 2-3 Paul Baker (Braintree) Alastair Hung (Basildon) 5... Best Essex Junior (shared) Heather Walker (Customs) 4½
Results John Philpott

COULSDON BLITZ 10/10 7th May 2001
1 Ian Snape (Kent) 6½/7; 2 Alan Prizant (Coulsdon) 6... Grading U160 Jessie Gilbert (Coulsdon), Brian Allan (Coulsdon) 4½; U140 Dave Cork (Coulsdon/Crawley), Norman Harris (Charlton) 4; U110 Steve O'Neil (Bourne End), Fred Coombes (Coulsdon), Daniel Gliddon (Coulsdon), Phil Hunt (Streatham) 2½
Total entry 24 players. Results Scott Freeman

45th SOUTHEND EASTER 13-15 April 2001
Open (98 pl) 1 Stefan Shikerov (Surrey) 6½/7; 2 David Ledger (Bedford) 6; 3 Keith Arkell (4NCL White Rose) 5½; ... Grading U191 Edmund Player (Stowmarket) 5; U176 David Howell (Crowborough), Peter Lane (Nottingham University) John Feavyour (Saxmundham) 4½; U161 Donald Chaudhry 5; U146 Jason Roberts (Waltham Forest) 4½; U120 Peter Poobalasingam (Richmond Junior), Christopher Hampton (Maldon), Graham Walker (Customs) 4. British Championship Qualifier Robert Eames (Hackney)
5-Round 'A' (18 pl) 1-3 Ron Harman (Cavendish), Trevor Coote (Brentwood), David Pearse (Maldon) 4/5...
5-Round 'B' (20 pl) 1 Dave Raeburn (Southend) 4/5; 2-5 Roy Hare (Basildon), Maurice Siegel (Westcliff), John Sneesby (Basildon Junior), Alistair Hung (Basildon) 3½...
5-Round 'C' (20 pl) 1-3 Jim Luck (Grays), Paul Baker (Braintree), Nicholas Jellett (Customs) 4/5...
5-Round 'D' (20 pl) 1 Adam Yardley (Rayleigh) 4½/5; 2-3 George O'Toole (Temple Sutton), Steve Valentine (Tonbridge & Hadlow) 4...
Lightning (20 pl) 1 Simon Williams (Hackney) 4½/5; 2-4 Matthew Broomfield (South Norwood), Roland Payne (London), David Spence (Middlesbrough) 4...
Results Howard Grist

COULSDON EASTER 13-14 April 2001
Open 1-2 Peter Sowray (Richmond), Muhai Suba (Romania) 5/6 £150; 3 Paul Georghiou (Barnet) 4½ £50... Grading U190 Andrew Bigg (Beckenham), Thomas Rendle (Hastings) 3½ £25
Under 170 1 Thomas Nixon (Richmond) 5/6 £160; 2-4 Teresa Khoo, Phil Stimpson (Guildford), Neville Twitchell (Hastings) 4½ £40... Grading U150 Eddie Bromilow 4, Frank Fields (Dulwich Pirate), Edward Leung (Ealing) 4 £13.50...
Under 150 1 Mark Goodwin 5/6 £140; 2-4 Anthony Duncan, A Neviazsky (Richmond), D Weston-Lewis (Wimbledon) 4½ £35... Grading U110 Anton Chernikov 4½ £35
Under 90 1 David Wallis (Coulsdon) 5½/6 £120; 2 Alan Fraser (Beckenham) 5 £60; 3 Brian Williamson (Coulsdon) 4½ £30... Grading U60 Fred Coombes (Coulsdon), Michael Collins (Coulsdon) 2½ £15
Results Scott Freeman

KINGS HEAD RAPIDPLAY 1st April 2001
1-4 Humphrey Andolo (Reading), Colin Crouch (Harrow), Harriet Hunt (Cambridge), Andrew Ledger (Bedford) 5½/6; 5 Ameet Ghasi (Birmingham) 5; 6-9 Adeoye Dasaolo (London), Jessie Gilbert (Coulsdon), Stuart Hamilton (Coulsdon), David Howell (Crowborough) 4... Junior 12-13 Shaun Alley (Newham), Sarah Hegarty (Woking) 2½; U10 George O'Toole (Temple Sutton) 2½. 148 played.

COULSDON RAPIDPLAY 25th March 2001
U200 (11 pl) 1 Paul Georghiou (Barnet) 5½/6 £80; 2 David Howell (Crowborough) 4 £40...
Under 160 (14 pl) 1-2 Paul Kelly (Hastings), David Sedgwick (Coulsdon) 5/6 £52.50...
Under 120 (18 pl) 1 Charlie Linford (The Holt) 6/6 £60; 2-3 Michael Bridger (Kings Head), Jinwoo Song (Kings Head) 4½ £15...
Under 80 (22 pl) 1 Sam Siebert 5/6 £50; 2-4 Garry Bennett (Crawley), John Harvey, Jacques Tivillier (Chislehurst) 4½ £8.50
Results Scott Freeman

RICHMOND RAPIDPLAY 4th March 2001
See the Richmond Junior site

YATELEY MANOR INTERNATIONAL 19-21 January and 3-4 February 2001
This was an open event and part of the Terence Chapman Group Grand Prix. The format provides the opportunity for 9 FIDE rated games over 2 weekends – rather than the usual 9 day format. The venue was Yateley Manor School, near Camberley on the borders of N Hampshire, Berkshire and Surrey.
     This is the second year the tournament has been held and once again the event was highly thought of by both players and spectators with many of last year's players returning.
     Results:
1 Paul Littlewood IM 7/9 £220; 2 Colin Crouch IM 6½ £120; 3 Kevin Bailey 6 £60; 4-5 Matthew Broomfield, Andrew Bigg 5½; 6-7 Thomas Rendle, Anna Partington 5... 30 [or 28?] played including Cathy Forbes WIM and Jessie Gilbert WFM.
Results Ray Clark

KIDLINGTON CONGRESS 2-3 February 2001
See the Oxfordshire CAWebsite

COULSDON BLITZ 13th January 2001
"Bearing in mind we were holding a blitz, which is a narrower market than rapidplay and there were 2 London Rapidplays taking place, we were delighted to get 30 for this event. Thank-you to those who made it. The atmosphere was great and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, including the arbiter (me), who had great fun trying to pair the last 3 or 4 rounds, ably assisted by David Sedgwick." - Scott Freeman. [David Sedgwick was playing.]
1 Danny Gormally (Coulsdon) 11½/12 £80; 2 Julian Hodgson 11 £40; 3 James Sherwin (Grendel) 10½; 4 Jessie Gilbert (Coulsdon: Grading U200 £25) 8; 5 Michael Franklin (Coulsdon/Richmond) 7½; 6-7 Alexander Baron (Crystal Palace: Grading U140 £25), Ian Snape 7; 8-10 Marcus Osborne (Coulsdon), Donny Muter (Richmond Juniors), Rory O'Kelly (Mushrooms) 6½...

COULSDON RAPIDPLAY 16th December 2000
attracted 72 players.
1-2 Jovanka Houska 201 (Slough), Andrew Ledger 235 (Redhill) 5½ £65... Grading (£50 each) U200 Stephen Hawes 165 (Horsham) 5; U170 Anna Partington 128 (Ashtead) 4½; U130 Edward Leung 117 (Richmond Juniors) 4; U90 Selina Khoo 85 (LEH) 3½
Results Scott Freeman

HITCHIN (47th HERTS CA) CONGRESS at Hitchin Boys School 2-3 December 2000
Premier (29 pl) 1-2 M Steadman (British Championship qualifier), D Tan 4/5; 3-7 L D'Costa, J Fraser-Mitchell (best Herts), A Ram, L Trent, M Walker 3½... Grading 180-195 L Trent; U180 J Fraser-Mitchell
Challengers U170 (25 pl) 1 I Okosieme 4½/5; 2 J Burrows 4; 3 R Starkie 3½... Grading U155 S Charles (best Herts) 3...
Major U145 (39 pl) 1 R Mycroft (best Herts) 4½/5; 25 K Chojnacki, R Killeen, P Lim, S Pride 4... Grading U131 M Dignam, S Smith, G Trebble 3...
Minor U120 (46 pl) 1-2 S Deva, A Duncan 4½/5; 3-5 J Donald, P Seet, S Williams 4... Grading 90-104 T Plenty 3½; U100 P Brander, G Chapman, C Davie 3... Best Herts R Harrison 3
     J Glynne Jones Memorial Trophy, for the best performance by a Herts/Cambs/Norfolk/Suffolk junior in an adult event, was awarded to Richard Mycroft for his score of 4½ in the Major. Two years ago Richard won the Minor event. This year his rise in grade forced him up to the Major but it hasn't stopped him winning!
     Club team prize Norwich Dons (J Burrows, S Moore, G Tebble, C Tuffin) 63%; School Team Roundwood "A" (R Carr, A Crocker, R Scott, E Williams) 60%
     Sunday Junior events:
Under 18/14 (11 pl) 1 C Turner 6/6; U14 winners D Allen, C Heppell 4½
Under 12 (26 pl) 1 C Anguelov 5½/6; 2-4 T Harbour, A O'Toole, J Asquith 4½...
Under 10 (16 pl) 1 O Friedlander 6/6; 2-6 E Kilich, C Belfield, R Carr, T Hierons, E Williams 4½...
Under 8 (12 pl) 1-3 E Gilmour, R Scott, R Williams 4½/6...
Results Jeremy Fraser-Mitchell

WHITSTABLE RAPIDPLAY 2nd Dececmber 2000
Open (22 pl. A tremendously strong Open, with 2 GMs and 5 IMs, and David Howell highly placed among other aspirants.) 1 Danny Gormally 238 5/6; 2-4 Colin Crouch 227, John Emms 254, Aaron P Summerscale 240 4½; 5-6 David W Howell 154, Heather S Richards 177 4; 7-9 Martin Taylor 172, Michael J Basman 212, James T Sherwin 202 3½; 10-12 David S Tucker 182s, Harriet V Hunt 218, J Ezra Lutton 136 3...
Major U160 (16 pl) 1 Amir AM Habibi 141 5/6; 2-3 Martin Cutmore 143, Teresa Khoo 121 4½; 4-5 (and share Kent Ladies title) Anna Partington 128, Claire Summerscale 125 4; 6 Jonathan Marrow 122 3½...
Minor U120 (20 pl) 1-2 Keith Findley (Birchington: 100), Alexandra Wilson 114 5/6; 3-4 Michael Muttiah (Beckenham & Bromley: 103), Geoffrey L Bishop (Chislehurst: 116) 4½; 5-6 Marc Bryant (Hastings: 113), John Healy (Edgbaston: 102) 4; 7-8 Malcolm Snashall (Whitstable: 118s), David Ridout (Maidstone: 111) 3½...
Novices U80 (18 pl) 1 Harry Ryan-Smith 76 5/6; 2-5 Eddie Ridley (Herne Bay: 41), Chris Russell (Tunbridge Wells: 77), Ruben Wilberg, Aram Karakashian 70 4½; 6 Christopher Jones 65 4...
Oyster Rapidplay for Ladies (16 pl: envisaged as a strong Open, but the stronger entries migrated to other sections) 1 Claire Morris 95 (Kent Ladies Minor Champion) 5/6; 2-3 Chantal Sirisendra 85, Eleanor Hayden 53 4½; 4-6 Sarah Broadbent 86, Heather Russell-Kay 72, Louise Woodcock 4; 7-8 Stephanie Barraclough 88, Karen Jones 74 3½...
Results Us. We were controlling. Chief Controller was Bob Wade. Now there's a man who's put something into the game. He threatened to play in
Neil McDonald's Simul
afterwards. Don't think he did, but we haven't got the results.

COUNTIES TEAM RAPIDPLAY CHAMPIONSHIP at Bedford, 1st October 2000
12-board Swiss, 4 rounds, all moves in 25 minutes. The entry of 12 teams is believed to be a record for this event.
1 Yorkshire A (average grade 193) 34½/48; 2 Warwickshire (177) 31½; 3-4 Essex (183), Hertfordshire (163) 28; 5 Buckinghamshire (156) 26½; 6 Bedfordshire A (169) 25½; 7 Yorkshire B (153) 24; 8 Norfolk (115) 22; 9 Cambridgeshire (141) 21; 10 Northamptonshire (141) 17½; 11 Bedfordshire B (114) 17; 12 Leicestershire (130) 12½
Norfolk were clear winners of the handicap competition incorporated in the event. No one's told us the rules¹, but it looks to make very good sense.
"Yorkshire clearly meant to retain their title..."
Results John Philpott
¹ 5.10.00: John's told us. The intention was that the handicap winner should be "the team that plays furthest above itself on the day". The handicap actually applied seems to have been based on a team's expected score against everyone present, including itself. This was possibly not the most obvious way of doing it, but it seems to have given the right answer.

COULSDON RAPIDPLAY 23rd September 2000
"Another successful and highly enjoyable day for everyone, especially boosted by Chelsea hauling back a 3-1 deficit away to that disgusting team from up north!" (Your Webmaster dissociates himself entirely from these remarks.)
Under 200 1 Marcus Osborne 5.5 Coulsdon £80; 2-4 David Wood, Donny Muter (Richmond Jun), David Howell (Crowborough) 4 £13.35...
Under 160 1 Michael Kobylka (ISH) 5½/? £70; 2 Paul Jackson (Coulsdon) 4½ £35
Under 140 1 Paul Smith (Knolls Knight) 5½ £60; 2 2 Douglas Forbes 5 £30...
Under 80 1-2 Jacques Tivillier (Coulsdon), Stuart Wallace (Brighton) 4½ £37.50
Results Scott Freeman

BRAINTREE CONGRESS at Braintree Leisure Centre, 16-17 September 2000
Open (22 pl) 1 Andrew Webster (South Norwood) 4½/5; 2-3 Nathan SW Alfred (Cambridge Univ), Edward J Dearing (4NCL White Rose) 4; 4 Simon JB Knott (Stock Exchange) 3½; 5-8 Jessie LC Gilbert (Coulsdon & Purley), Stephen J Gregory (Ipswich), Thirumurugan Thiruchelvam (Richmond Juniors), Timothy DM Woodward (Westminster School) 3...
Under 160 (28 pl) 1 Aidan T Corish (Upminster) 4½/5; 2 Daren R Harris (Ipswich) 4; 3-14(!) Kenneth D Castle (Hertford), Michael J Clapham (Ipswich), Matthew J Dignam (Berkhamsted), Mark S Gray (Ipswich), Kevin P Greenacre (Ipswich), David Hutchings (Wickford), Leslie J Jones (Ipswich), Robert W Keough (Middx Congresses), Theresa Khoo (Surrey Juniors), E Josiah Lutton (Basildon), Steven A Marriott (Streatham), Caius AW Turner (Powdermill) 3...
Under 130 (31 pl) 1 Paul R Baker (Braintree) 4½/5; 2 Mark K Goodwin (Bourne End) 4; 3-7 John Bradley (Dunmow), Gerald M Conley (Buckley), Chris RD Cook (Potters Bar), Michael J Coughtree (Essex), Alistair Hung (Writtle) 3½...
Under 100 (29 pl) 1-2 Sidney G Manning (Maldon), Alan Trent (Ilford) 4½/4; 3 Colin V White (Chelmsford) 4; 4-6 Abigail E Flint (Chelmsford), Selina Khoo (Surrey), John E Lambert (Clacton) 3½...
"The congress lost a few entrants because of the fuel crisis, but at least 1 entrant only played because of the petrol shortage - his planned trip to North Wales was called off so he played chess instead."
Results David Millward

31st RICHMOND RAPIDPLAY 10th September 2000
Open (30 pl) 1 Simon Williams (Sussex Univ) 5½/6; 2 Peter Large (SW London) 5/6; 3-4 (and Grading U195) Colin Purdon (Bracknell), Laurence Webb (E London) 4½...
"Major" (19 pl) 1 Peter Walters (Hayes Middx) 5/6; 2-3 Thomas Nixon (Kew/RJCC), Jonathan Somekh (SW London/RJCC) 4½... Grading U140 Victor Castaleda (Ascot) 4
"Intermediate" (42 pl) 1 Mario Houska (Maidenhead) 5½/6; 2 James Foster (Newbury) 5; 3-8 Sarah Hegarty (Woking), Alistair Hung (Chelmsford), Ibar Murphy (Hounslow), Sam Phillips (NW London), Peter Szabo (Ilford), Dominic Weston-Lewis (SW London) 4½... Grading U100 Selina Khoo (Weybridge), Tom Rixon (Hemel Hempstead) 4
"Minor" (27 pl) 1-2 Antonio Gonzalez (SW London), George O'Toole (Southend) 5/6; 3-4 Reyana Fayyaz (Effingham), Chris Smith (Bishops Stortford) 4½... Grading U50 Callum Negus-Fancey (W London/RJCC) 4
Results Richard James

COULSDON CONGRESS 2-3 September 1000
"A super event with the following results from a 5 round congress:"
Open Alexander Cherniaev (Russia) 5/5 £160; 2 Aaron Summerscale (Slough) 4 £80; 3-5 Desmond Tan (St Pauls), Heather Richards (Whitstable), Andrew Bigg (Beckenham) 3½ £22... "The Under 190 grading prize was won by Heather Richards and Andrew Bigg, so I added the prizes together and divided by 3."
Under 175 1-2 Eesha Karavade (India), Adeoye Dasaolu 4½/5 £105; 3 Claire Summerscale 4 £35... Grading U150 C-J De Mooi (Brighton), Raymond Gosden (Whitstable) 3½ £10
Under 130 1 Jonathan Bryant (Streatham) 4½/5 £120; 2-3 Poppy Aarons (Hampstead), Stuart Hamilton (Coulsdon) 4 £45... Grading U110 Robert Davidson (Brighton) 3½ £15
Under 90 1 David Wallis (Coulsdon) 4½/5 £100; 2 Alan Fraser (Beckenham) 4 £50; 3-6 John Eyre (Cockfosters), Alex O'Toole (Essex Junior), Stuart Wallace (Brighton), Brian Williamson (Coulsdon) 3½ £6.25... Grading U50 George O'Toole (Essex Junior) 3 £10
Results Scott Freeman

36th BERKS & BUCKS CONGRESS at Maidenhead, 26th-28th August 2000
Championship (over 166: 16 pl) 1 Joseph Conlon (Reading/Cambridge Univ) 4½/5; 2-3 Matthew Broomfield (South Norwood: age 16), Martin Taylor (Rainham) 3½...
Challengers (137-166: 16 pl) 1 Ian Henderson (Earley/Southampton Univ) 4/5; 2-3 Tim Willinger (Plymouth), Maxim Jeffries (Slough) 3½...
Reserves A (109-133: 16 pl) 1 Joel Bird (Imperial College London) 4½/5; 2-5 Eddie Bromilow (Sidcup), Geoff Naldrett (Stoke Poges/ Slough), Matthew Marquis (Emmer Green, Reading: age 13), Roy Brown (Reading) 3½...
Reserves B (88-109: 16 pl) 1 Thomas Rixon (Hemel Hempstead) 4½/5; 2-4 Malcolm Dent (Reading), Gordon Brown (Reading), Leslie Kirkland (Petersfield) 3½...
Reserves C (U87: 14 pl) 1 David Macklin (Met Office, Bracknell) 4½/5; 2 Brian Hicks (Slough) 4; 3-4 Hugh Furlong-Johns (Cookham), Richard Dawson (Oxford) 3½...
Lightning Tournament (30 pl) 1 Martin Taylor (Rainham); 2 Matthew Broomfield (South Norwood)...
The cup presented by Mrs Stean in 1976 for the best performance by an under 14 player was won by Matthew Marquis (Emmer Green, Reading)
Results Nigel Dennis. A brevity appears in the Games page.

THANET CONGRESS at Broadstairs, 18-20 August 2000
Open (23 pl) 1-3 J Anderson (Grays), MR Taylor (Rainham), JR Bayford (Folkestone) 4/5... Taylor & Bayford share Kent closed title. Grading U180 AR Talbot (Rugby); Best Thanet PR Watson (Canterbury)
Major U160 (34 pl) 1 R Harskin (Magdalen College School) 4½/5; 2-3 (and share Kent title) M Cutmore (Ashford), MR Wiltshire (Dartford) 4... Grading U140 Gavin Josephs (Dartford); Best Thanet Harry Sharples (Margate)
Intermediate U125 (32 pl) 1 Paul Smith (Brighton/Hove) 4½/5; 2-5 Ivor C Smith (Whitstable), J Couzens (Broadstairs), Ian Josephs (Monaco) 4... Smith & Couzens share Kent title. Grading U110 Norman Tidy (Cobham); Best Thanet MR Croft (Margate)
Minor U100 (26 pl) 1-3 G Van Vuuren, Michael Page (both Broadstairs), B Williamson (Coulsdon) 4/5... Best Thanet MP Smalling (Ramsgate)
Kortex Chess Prize for best improvement on grade: CJ Leeson (Solihull)
Senior (over 60) Prize AJ O'Shea (Folkestone)
Results Tony Hargreaves

COULSDON RAPIDPLAY 15th July 2000
Scott Freeman reports:
We had a superb event at Coulsdon with 57 players entering, grading evenly spread from top to bottom. The pairings were so strange that going into the last round, the players on bottom board had both only had 1 white so far in the event. It was that kind of day.
     The highlight was probably Stuart Hamilton (98) expressing disappointment that his rival had agreed a very quick draw to try and win the grading prize, knowing Stuart was playing David Ledger. Stuart then took out his fury on an unsuspecting Ledger in just 13 moves. The game has been submitted for the best game prize!
Results:
1 Graeme Buckley (Bushbury) 5½/6 £100; 2-4 James Sherwin, Andrew Ledger (Redhill, etc), Marcus Osborne (Wallington) 5 £25... Grading U200 Osborne £34; Peter Taylor (Beckenham) 4½ £17; U170 Stephen Hawes (Horsham) 4½ £50; U130 Stuart Hamilton (Coulsdon) 4½ £50; U90 David Wallis (Coulsdon) 3½ £50

Earlier material is in the Archive.