CONGRESSES

Updated 29.8.00

CONGRESS RESULTS

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 Stein in 1976 for the best performance by an under 14 player was won by Matthew Marquis (Emmer Green, Reading)
Results Nigel Dennis

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

COULSDON RAPIDPLAY 17th June 2000
Open 1 Julian Hodgson (Hackney) 6/6; 2 Marcus Osborne (Wallington) 5...
U170 (merged with Open) 1-4 Chris Clegg (Kingston), Steven Hawes (Horsham), Adrian Matthews (Leighton), Adeoye Dasaolu (no club) 3½/6...
U130 1 Sarah Hegarty (Ashtead) 5½/6; 2-3 Howard Curtis (Coulsdon), Ian Philipson¹ (Legal & General) 4...
U90 1 Jacques Tivillier (Coulsdon, Chislehurst) 6; 2 John Harvey (Didcot) 4½...
Results Scott Freeman
¹ Originally published as Filipinos. "Me wretched spell checker corrected something that shouldn't have been corrected." - SGF

30th RICHMOND RAPIDPLAY 4th June 2000
Open (16 pl) 1 Simon Williams (Sussex Univ) 5/6; 2 Peter Large (SW London) 4½; 3-4 James Sherwin (Bradford-on-Avon/USA), Laurence Webb (E London) 4... Grading U190 Murugan Thiruchelvam (New Malden/RJCC) 3
"Major" (14 pl) 1 Donny Muter (W London) 5½/6; 2 Steven Coles (Teddington) 4½; 3-6 Morris Bernadt (SE London), Robert Heaton (New Malden/RJCC), Richard James (Twickenham), Dan Mayers (Wadhurst/USA) 3½... Grading Bernadt, Heaton
"Intermediate" (21 pl) 1 Peter Flint (Chelmsford) 5½/6; 2-3 Edmund Birkhamshaw (Beckenham), Jeff Fleischer (E London) 4½... Grading U100 Nicholas Baranga (NW London), Michael Harris (East Molesey) 4
"Minor" (24 pl) 1-2 Alistair Hung (Chelmsford), Henry Kingston (Cambridge/RJCC) 5½/6; 3 Chris Smith (Bishops Stortford) 4½; 4-7 Neil Axe (Rochford), Clive Birkhamshaw (Beckenham), Ian Moody (Orpington), Adam Prescott (Sussex) 4...
Results Richard James

ILFORD CONGRESS 27-29 May 2000
John Philpott writes:
In 1950, the Ilford Chess Club celebrated its jubilee by organising a Whitsun Chess Tournament at the Ilford County High School for Girls at Gants Hill. The following year the event was taken over by the Essex Chess Association, and the Ilford Chess Congress became a regular feature of the Tournament Calendar. In later years, rising costs of accommodation forced the event to move to new premises. In the Centenary Year of Ilford Chess Club the event appropriately returned to its original venue, now renamed Valentines High School, and achieved an entry which was almost double that of the previous year's congress at Basildon, and which should secure the future of the event.
Open (36 pl) 1 Aaron Summerscale (Slough) 5½/6; 2-3 Charles Tippleston (Northampton), Lawrence Trent (Ilford) 4½... Junior Prize Thomas Rendle (Hastings & St Leonards) 4
Major U160 (58 pl) 1 Eric Key (York) 5½/6; 2-3 Chris Fegan (Writtle), Donny Muter (Fulham) 5
Minor U130 (45 pl) 1 Charles Costeloe (Muswell Hill) 5½/6; 2-3 Jonathan Burrows (Norwich Dons), Alan Hawrami (Wanstead & Woodford) 5
The prize awarded by the David Wood Memorial Trust for the best performance by an Essex Junior was shared by Julian Winkworth (Wanstead & Woodford) and Alex O'Toole (Temple Sutton) who played in the Major and Minor respectively and each scored 4.

KENT JUNIOR CA: FAMILY TOURNAMENT at Sevenoaks, 28th May 2000
42 played. 1 Oliver Cooley (Biggin Hill) 6/6; 2-3 Paul Richards (Whitstable), Kenrick de Nazareth (St Olaves Prep) 5; 4 John Andrew 4½... Family Prize (and biggest trophy) the de Nazareths 8½/12.
     A controller filled in, just for round 6, and won his game. He's a GM. Well, all right, his opponent wanted a go at him. But they don't take this tournament all that seriously. Main attraction is the silly prizes (Worst Cap, Biggest Giggler, Best Team Name, and so on. Not forgetting the Four-Whites-in-a-Row Prize).

COULSDON RAPIDPLAY 6th May 2000
had 49 players.
1 Aaron Summerscale 6/? £100; 2-3 Susan Lalic, Graeme Buckley, Marcus Osborne, Donny Muter 5 £37½0... Grading U200 Marcus Osborne £12½0; U170 Donny Muter £12½0; U130 David Barron, Phil Gilberg 4 £25
Results Scott Freeman

SURREY EASTER CONGRESS at Carshalton, 21-24 April 2000
4.5.00, updated 6.5.00
Scott Freeman writes:
After 25 years of running the event, Bill Waterton, Martin Cath and Fred Manning decided to sit back and take a well-earned rest. All 3 visited the congress in different ways, although only Fred chose to sit and do battle over the board, registering 2½ points.
     The Surrey County Chess Association had decided to "contract out" the event and the Coulsdon Chess Fellowship took on the task of running the whole event. Many players asked why we left Sutton library. There were two main reasons. Firstly, the cost of Sutton Library last year was about £1,000 more than this year's venue and in addition, they have now turned the area where we had the Minor and Novice into office space.
     We held most of the entry fees at last year's prices to try and encourage more players to play. Probably the most disappointing thing was the lack of entries for the Novice tournaments.
     Another area of concern was the number of withdrawals mid-event. The feeling of those left, and the arbiters, was that we were there to play chess and it should not have been just about winning prizes. Conversations took place about measures taken in the West Country to prevent withdrawals¹, although it was recognised that the inability to provide a substantial extra prize fund due to the lower entries may have contributed to the unusually high numbers pulling out early.
Frank Winter Memorial Open (60 pl) 1 Andrew Webster (South Norwood) 6/7 £400; 2-4 John Benjamin (Richmond); Graeme Buckley (Bushbury), Peter Kemp (Streatham) 5½ £117...British Championship qualifiers not yet known. We await details from the BCF Congress Director of players already qualified. [rjh: The list on his website doesn't seem to have been updated since August.]
Premier U170 (41 pl) 1 Andrew Horton-Kitchlew (ISH) 6/7 £240; 2 Craig Young (St Albans) 5½ £120; 3-6 Dominic Gibbs (Flying teapots), Martin Page (Insurance), Ido Porat (Israel) 5 £30...
Major U145 (50 pl) 1-2 George Coomber (Coulsdon & Purley), Russell Goodfellow (Tunbridge Wells) 6/7 £180; 3 Stuart Hamilton (Coulsdon & Purley) 5½ £80; 4-7 Lucy Broomfield (South Norwood), CJ De Mooi (Brighton), Norman Harris (Charlton), Adrian Waldock (Guildford/Richmond) 5 £10...
Minor A U120 (45 pl) 1-2 Sarah Hegarty (Woking), Edward Leung (Richmond Juniors) 4½/5 £90; 3-4 Keith Findley (South Norwood), Tristan Clayton 4 £30...
Minor B U120 (42 pl) 1 Paul Seet 5/5 £120; 2 Edward Leung (Richmond Juniors) 4½/5 £60; 3 Joseph Farrell (Metropolitan) 4 £40; 4-10 Victor Bluett (Wallington), James Chapman (Danson), Robert Davidson (Brighton), Anthony Duncan (Islington), David Howes (Coulsdon & Purley), Daniel Lappage (Magdalen College School), David Wheatley 3½ £3...
Novice A U90 (24 pl) 1 Ashley Hegarty (Woking) 5/5 £100; 2-3 Fergus Brown (Surbiton), Fergus Brown (Surbiton) 4 £36...
Novice B U90 (17 pl) 1 Brian Williamson (Coulsdon & Purley) 4½/5 £100; 2-4 Yasmin Ball (Maidenhead), Fred Coombes (Metropolitan), Alan Fraser (Beckenham & Bromley) 3½ £25...
Open Blitz (52 pl) 1 Danny Gormally (Coulsdon & Purley) 6½/7 £50... Grading U200 Shi Porat (Israel) 5½ £25; U170 Ido Porat (Israel), Ross Rattray (Richmond Juniors), Thomas Rendle (Hastings) 5 £9; U140 Jonathan Somekh (Richmond Juniors) 4½ £25; U110 Nicholas Lai Baranga (Barnet Knights) 4 £25; U80 Daniel Gliddon (Coulsdon & Purley) 3 £25
Ladies Prize Sarah Hegarty (Minor A) £25
Family Prize the Hegartys (Ashley, Daniel, Sarah) £25
Hawson Trophy Fred Coombes (Novice B). This splendid trophy, for the best score by a Surrey veteran (over 60), was given to the Surrey County Chess Association by the family of John Hawson, a stalwart both of the Congress and of the County, who died just two days before last year's event (which he was to have played in).
Full tournament charts will shortly be available on the CCF website.
     ¹ What measures?, we asked, and Scott's told us. "I understand that they named, shamed and requested deposits for withdrawals which have almost been eliminated down that way according to Steve Boniface." Naming and shaming we'd happily go along with, on this site. Isn't it rather a bind refunding all the deposits to people who don't withdraw? Maybe not.

SOUTHEND EASTER CONGRESS 21-24 April 2000
updated 16.5.00
Howard Grist reports:
The attraction of the Redbus Knockout Tournament [below] resulted in a greater number of entrants than recent years and also probably the strongest Southend Open ever. Although there were no GMs playing, there were 4 IMs, 4FMs and 31 other FIDE rated players. This meant that any unrated player could easily get a part-rating if they played well enough, and no less than 10 players proceeded to do so.
Southend Open (85pl) 1 Mark Ferguson (Barbican) 6½/7, 2-3 Andrew Ledger (Bedford), Simon Williams (4NCL Richmond) 6; 4-5 David Ledger (Streatham) Nicholas Pert 5½... Grading 161-180 Edmund Player (Stowmarket), Tim Hebbes (Ilford) 5; 141-160 Kevin Williamson (Leighton Buzzard) 4; 121-140 David Flynn (Southampton) 3½; 106-120 Stewart Trent (Ilford), Kevin Shaw (Great Yarmouth), Jonathan Burrows (Norwich Dons) 3; U106 Ljubica Lazarevic (Grays), Martin Garrod (Portsmouth), Gordon Chapman (Bury St. Edmunds) 2½
     Southern Counties Chess Union Awards: Champion: Mark Ferguson; Under 18 Open Champion: Tim Hebbes; Under 18 Girls Champion: Ljubica Lazarevic. Don't know how many U18s (or girls) played. Update 16.5.00. British Championship Qualifying Place: Richard McMichael (Kings Head).
5-Round "A" (22pl) 1-4 Ian McAllan (Sidcup), Nigel Dennis (Maidenhead), Ivor Smith (Writtle), Maurice Siegel (Westcliff) 4/5...
5-Round "B" (24pl) 1-3 David Hutchings (Wickford), Conrad Jowett (Blackpool), Barry Archer (Southend) 4/5...
5-Round "C" (22pl) 1 Alex O'Toole (Temple Sutton) 5/5; 2-4 Daniel Hardy-Wallace (Basildon), Diane Parsons (Southend), Paul Houghton (Hadleigh) 4...
Derek Field Memorial trophy for highest percentage in the Congress by an Essex Junior: Alex O'Toole (Temple Sutton) 5/5 in 5-Round 'C'
Lightning Tournament (34pl) 1 Simon Williams (4NCL Richmond) 6/6...
The Congress was organised by the Southend-on-Sea Chess Club. Assistance is gratefully acknowledged from Southend-on-Sea Borough Council for use of the Civic Centre, from Redbus Investments Limited and the GFI Group for financial support, and from Barrie Ellen, The Bookshop, Westcliff-on-Sea, for donation of the book prizes.

REDBUS KNOCKOUT TOURNAMENT at Southend, alongside the Easter Congress (above)
A 4-round tournament with 16 competitors
Prizes: Winner £1600; Runner-up £1400; Losing semi-finalists £600 each; second round losers £400 each; First round losers £200 each. Rate of play: Two games at 100 minutes per game plus 30 seconds per move. If scores were tied after these two games, two games at 10 minutes on the clock each. If scores tied after these games, the first player to win a game at five minutes on the clock each went through to the next round.
     We have no information on colours.
ROUND 1
Murray Chandler 0 ½ Mark Hebden 1 ½
Jon Speelman 1 0 ½ ½ 1 Chris Ward 0 1 ½ ½ 0
Bogdan Lalic 1 0 1 1 Nigel Davies 0 1 0 0
Jim Plaskett 0 ½ Luke McShane ½ 1
Jonathan Rowson 1 0 ½ ½ 1 Tony Miles 0 1 ½ ½ 0
Matthew Turner ½ ½ 1 1 Glenn Flear ½ ½ 0 0
Daniel King 0 ½ Michael Adams 1 ½
Peter Wells 1 0 ½ 0 John Emms 0 1 ½ 1
ROUND 2
Mark Hebden 1 0 ½ ½ 1 Jon Speelman 0 1 ½ ½ 0
Bogdan Lalic 1 ½ Luke McShane 0 ½
Jonathan Rowson 1 ½ Matthew Turner 0 ½
Michael Adams 1 ½ John Emms 0 ½
SEMI-FINALS
Mark Hebden 0 ½ Bogdan Lalic 1 ½
Jonathan Rowson ½ ½ ½ 0 Michael Adams ½ ½ ½ 1
FINAL
Bogdan Lalic ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 Michael Adams ½ ½ ½ ½ 1
Results Howard Grist. A more discursive report, incomplete last time we looked (2½.00), appears on the TWIC site.

29th RICHMOND RAPIDPLAY (30/30) at Hampton, 9th April 2000
Open (13 pl) 1 Richard Bates 215 5/6; 2 Simon Williams 219 4½; 3 Gerald Moore 200 4; 4-5 Graeme Buckley 228, Andrew Lewis 198 3½...
Under 160 (10 pl) 1 Donny Muter 152 5/6; 2 Morris Bernadt 127 4; 3 Anna Partington 111 3½; 4 Robert Heaton 122 3...
Under 120 (24 pl) 1 Sebastian Pozzo 93 5½/6; 2 Dominic Bennett 112 5; 3-6 Peter Alexander 94, Anton Chernikov 89, Jeff Fleischer 106, Tony O'Toole 75 4; 7-9 James Porter 60, Timothy Seymour 72, Joe Xuereb 100 3½...
Under 80 (25 pl) 1 Alex O'Toole 69 5½/6; 2-3 Timothy Powell 68, Chantal Sirisena 50 4½; 4-8 Alexandert Brett 63, Adam Gordon 50, Ben Hutter 68, Marco Lizzul 77, George O'Toole 55 4; 9-10 Adam Nakar 50, Chris Smith 50 3½...
Results Richard James

SOUTH HERTS CONGRESS at St Albans, 8th-9th April 2000
1-3 Branko Bogdanovic e200, Ben Savage 186 (Mid Herts), Charles Tippleston 192 (Northampton) 4/5; 4 Paul Georghiou 205 (Barnet) 3½...
"Challengers" 1 Benjamin Morgan 175 (Cambridge Univ) 4½/5; 2-3 Chris Todd 164 (International Students), Philip Bonafont 168 (Gerrards Cross) 4; 4-6 Matthew Madeley 155 (Edmonton), Peter Clarke 152 (Milton Keynes), W Broome 151 (Watford) 3½...
"Major" 1 Karl Foreman 146 (Coventry Transport) 4½/5; 2-4 Anthonk G Kelly 149 (High Wycombe), John Gillibrand 139 (Ormskirk), Dean Martin Hartley 139 (Amber Valley) 4; 5 Lucy Broomfield 135 (South Norwood) 3½...
"Intermediate" 1 Anthony Duncan 115 (Islington) 5/5; 2 Aleksander Milanovic (Mid Herts) 4½; 3-4 Stephen Williams 120 (Cwmbran), John Bradley 121 (Dunmow) 4...
"Minor" 1 John KcKeon 96 (Milton Keynes) 4½/5; 2-3 Jason W Klimach 101 (Ilford), Joe B Farrell 109 (Metropolitan) 5; 4-9 Mike J Coughtrey 102 (Clacton), Steven Collins 109 (Watford), Lawrence Lim 90 (Harrow), James Palmer 96 (St Albans), A Christopher Reeves 94 (Truro), Simon Cage 78 (Royston) 3½...
Best Boy Jason Klimach; Best Girls Naomi Miller 60 (Cowley), Poppy Justine Aarons 96 (Hampstead Juniors) 2½
Results John Leake

ST OLAVES RAPIDPLAY at Orpington, 8th April 2000
Open (4 pl) 1 Danny Gormally 6/6; 2 James Vigus 4½...
Under 160 (combined with Open: 8 pl) 1 Joel Newman 4/6; 2 Thomas Walton 3½; 3 Andrew Heard (Beckenham & Bromley) 3...
Under 120 (16 pl) 1-3 Richard Pollock (Beckenham & Bromley), Konrad Sanders (Eltham College), Matthew Rogers (Dulwich College) 4½; 4-5 Jonathan Marrow (St Olaves), David Ridout (Maidstone) 4...
Under 14 (40 pl) 1 Michael Muttiah (St Olaves) 6/6; 2-3 Edmund Birkhamshaw (St Olaves), James Chapman 5; 4-5 Tim Segal (St Olaves), Nicholas Trussell (Dulwich College) 4½; 6-12 Steven Biggs (St Olaves), David Franklin (Sevenoaks School), James Graves (Kings Canterbury), Alistair Hung (Essex), Andrew Murphy, Stephan Wassermann-Fry (Kings Canterbury), Nicholas Wright (St Olaves) 4...
Under 11 (48 pl) 1 Alex O'Toole (Temple Sutton Southend) 5½/6; 2-3 James McKeever, Sam Siebert 5; 4-8 James Asquith (Sussex), David Christie (Bishop Challoner), George O'Toole (Temple Sutton), Chris Russell (Tunbridge Wells), Lech Sikorski (Bishop Challoner) 4½...
School Prize St Olaves
Results Hanna Cooley

24th KINGS HEAD RAPIDPLAY 2nd April 2000 attracted 126 players
1-3 B Lalic GM (Poisoned Pawns), J Parker IM (Barbican), S Williams IM (Hackney) 5½/6; 4-9 D Lam (Cambridge Univ), JT Ward (Kings Head), A Horton-Kitchlew, P Cawte (SW19), D Gormally IM (Hackney), A Summerscale GM 5; 10-15 T Emiola, M Broom (Lewes), M Chandler GM (Selingen), A Hynes (St James), H Pellumbi (Albania), N Pert (Ipswich) 4½...
     Grading 199-180 Lam, Ward; 179-160 Horton-Kitchlew; 159-140 KB Nicholas (Slough) 4; 139-120 Emiola; 119-100 M Siegal (Westcliff, unless it's M Segal West Wickham!) 3½; U100 S Pozzo 3½.
     Junior (books donated by Batsford) 14-15 A Hung (Writtle) 3; 12-13 T Rendle 4; 10-11 GTO Berry (Richmond Juniors) 2½; U10 D Howell (Crowborough) 4
Results Tony Suttill

1st TAYWOOD RAPIDPLAY 25th March 2000
1 Jonathan Somekh (Richmond Juniors) 5/5 £100; 2-4 Peter Staneland (Taywood), Tom Rixon (Aylesbury), Mike Porter (Drayton) 4 £25...
Results Chris Fewtrell

28th RICHMOND RAPIDPLAY 5th March 2000
Open (18 pl) 1 Simon Williams (Sussex Univ) 5½/6; 2-3 James Sherwin (USA), Desmond Tan (Mitcham) 4½... Grading U190 Adeoye Dasaolu (Enfield), Andy Horton-Kitchlew (London), Martin Taylor (Rainham Kent), Martin Walker (Cambridge) 3½
"Major" (16 pl) 1 Donny Muter (W London) 5/6; 2 Michael Kobylka (N London) 4½; 3-4 Steven Coles (Teddington), Robert Heaton (New Malden/RJCC: also U140 prize) 4...
"Intermediate" (22 pl) 1 Teresa Khoo (Weybridge) 5½/6; 2 Christopher Kreuzer (Teddington) 5; 3-6 Jeff Fleischer (E London), Joe Xuereb (New Malden), Daniel Hegarty (Woking), Sarah Hegarty (Woking) 4... Grading U100 Hegarty, Hegarty
"Minor" (28 pl) 1 Ben Hutter (Epsom) 5½/6; 2 Chris Smith (Bishop's Stortford) 5; 3 Delroy Bennett (Croydon) 4½; 4-8 Jonathan Burt (SW London/RJCC), Fred Coombes (SW London), KM Gause (Thornton Heath), Adam Nakar (Surbiton/RJCC), Ryan Raymond (NW London) 4...
Results Richard James rjcc@globalnet.co.uk

NORTH ESSEX RAPIDPLAY 13th February 2000
attracted 150 players.
Open (19 pl) 1 James Sherwin IM (USA/Avon) 6/6; 2 Ezra Lutton (Basildon) 4½; 3 Jim Howson (Dartford) 4... North Essex title Robin Slade (Chelmsford) 3½
U125 (53 pl) 1-2 Kyle Bennett (Basildon), Charles Heppell (Norfolk) 5½/6; 3 Graham Walker (Southend) 5... North Essex title Alistair Hung (Writtle) 4½
Novice (22 pl) 1-3 Heather Mulrenan (S Walden), Meyrich Hockley (Colchester), Luke Cheveralls (Southend) 5/6...
Under 11 (29 pl) 1 Sam Wass (S Walden) 5½/6; 2 Lee Wicks (Colchester) 5; 3-4 David Smith (S Walden), Hester Klimach (Ilford) 4½...
Under 9 (27 pl) 1 Subin Sen (Ilford) 6/6; 2 Ranita Klimach (Ilford) 5; 3 Matthew Porter (Colchester) 4½...
Source: Chessex

SOUTHEND RAPIDPLAY 30th January 2000
Open (8 entries) 1-2 Andrew King (Grays: takes trophy on tie break), Ezra Lutton (Basildon) 5/6... £42 each
Major U126 (30 ent) 1-4 Richard Cheeseman (Kent), Alistair Hung (Writtle), Alan Hawrami (Ilford), Michale Bridger (Leigh) 5/6 £28½0... Grading U75 Paul Butfield (Leigh) 3½ £10
Under 11 (42 ent) 1-2 Dana Hawrami (Ilford), Abigail Flint (Galleywood) 5½/6 £30; 3 Sam Wass (Saffron Walden) 5 £15; 4-6 David Smith (Saffron Walden), Steven Jarrett (Southend), Ashley Fuller (Southend) 4½ £3½0... Slow Starter Thomas Mehrtens (Great Totham) 2½ £5
Under 9 (40 ent) 1 Subin Sen (Ilford) 6/6 £32; 2-3 Joseph Bloomfield (Saffron Walden), Alex O'Toole (Southend) 5 £17½0; 4-5 Jon Hockley (Harlow), Michel Baumgart (Brentwood) 4½ £5... Slow starters Kimberley Hirst-Jones (Leigh), Lewis Grace (Loughton) 3 £2½0
Results Peter Walker. Cross-tables should be on the Essex Junior site soon.

RICHMOND RAPIDPLAY 15th January 2000
Open (18 pl) 1 IM Peter Large (Putney) 5/6; 2 GM Aaron Summerscale (Slough) 4½; 3-4 IM James Sherwin (Bristol), Gavin Wall (Richmond) 4... Grading U190 Adeoye Dasaolu (Enfield)
Major U160 (19 pl) 1 Ross Rattray (RJCC) 5½/6; 2 Thomas Nixon (RJCC) 5; 3-4 Donny Muter (RJCC), Donald Chaudhry (Hounslow) 4½... Grading U140 Jonathan Somekh
Intermediate U120 (27 pl) 1-2 Edward Leung (RJCC), Alexander Lim (Hounslow) 5/6; 3-4 Mohsen Abedian (Kensington), Matthew Sommer (Camberley)4½... Grading U100 Anton Chernikov, Nicholas Moon, Lakshman Ruthirapathy (all RJCC) 4 Minor U80 (29 pl) 1 Iosef Arutyunyan (London NW1) 5½/6; 2 Matthew O'Conor (RJCC) 5; 3-4 Caroline Robson (Enfield), Marco Lizzul (RJCC) 4½; 5-9 Delroy Bennett (Croydon), Sul Han Bit (Korea), Alex O'Toole (Southend), James Porter (RJCC), Desmond Christy (Crystal Palace) 4
     "Star performer was 12-year-old Jonathan Lappage from Oxford, who beat IM Simon Williams and drew with IMs Marusenko and Sherwin. His rapidplay grade is a modest 123! The Minor section was boosted by the presence of 5 juniors from Korea, who had played a match with Richmond Juniors earlier in the week. However, it was won by ungraded Iosef Arutyunyan, who had just come to support his 7-year-old son."
Results Gavin Wall

GOLDERS GREEN RAPIDPLAY 15th January 2000
Adam Raoof says: "We hold this tournament every month in NW London, very easy to get to, plenty of parking in the area, 10.30am start (last round starts at 4.45 pm promptly) and you can turn up by 11.30 am and still get a half point bye for round one!"
Open (10pl) 1 IM James Sherwin (USA) 5/6 £60; 2 Adeoye Dasaolu 4½ £30... Grading U175 Craig Young, Heather Richards 3
"Major" (19 pl) 1-2 Donny Muter (Richmond) £60, John Reid (ungraded so £30) 5/6... Grading U145 Paul Obiamwe 4
"Minor" (15 pl) 1-4 Chris Kreuzer, CJ de Mooi (Hove), Lucy Smith (Oxford City) Allan McDiarmid 4½/6 £22½0...
"Amateur" (11 pl) 1 Anthony Wyeth (Oxford City) 5/6 £60; 2 Lawrence Lim (Harrow) 4½ £30... Grading U85 Nick Baranga (Hendon Chess Club) 4 £15
Results Adam Raoof

GOLDERS GREEN RAPIDPLAY 11th December 1999 attracted 47 players.
Open 1 Bogdan Lalic (Hackney) 5½/6 £60; 2 Vitaly Kachatkov (RUS) 4 £30; 3 Jim Plaskett (Hastings) 3½... Grading U175 Costas Harris (Hendon) 3½ (free entry)
Major U160 1-2 Donny Muter (Richmond), (Yu Chin) Peter Lim (Harrow) 5/6 £45 each... Grading U145 Douglas Hogan (Middx: 126) 4 £10
Minor U130 1-2 Tyrone Woo (Barbican), Paul Kennelly (Hammersmith) 5/6 £45 each... Grading U115 Dominic Bennett (Canterbury) 3½ £10
Amateur U100 1 David Curtis (Frodsham) 5½/6 £60; 2 Robert Walker (King's Gambit Notts) 4½ £30... Grading U85 Paul Dauncey (Grays: 69) £10
Results Adam Raoof

26th RICHMOND RAPIDPLAY 5th December 1999
Open (14 pl) 1 Gavin Wall (SW London) 5/6; 2-3 Marcus Osborne (Wallington), James Sherwin (USA) 4½... Grading U190 Chetan Deva (Weybridge/RJCC), Alan Punnett (Woking) 3
"Major" (16 pl) 1-2 Steven Coles (Teddington), Paul Dupré (Walton on Thames) 4½/6; 3-5 Donny Muter (W London), Ross Rattray (Cheam/RJCC), Neil Staples (Banbury) 4... Grading U140 Robert Heaton (New Malden/RJCC) 3½
"Intermediate" (22 pl) 1-3 Martynas Andrisiunas (Lithuania), Alex Kelly (Caterham), Edward Leung (W London/RJCC) 4½/6... Grading U100 Sarah Hegarty (Woking) 4
"Minor" (14 pl) 1 Antonio Gonzalez (SW London) 5½/6; 2-3 Paul Dauncey (Grays), Tim Powell (Hoddesdon) 4½; 4-5 Andrew Gillard (Chertsey), Chantal Sirisena (SW London/RJCC) 3½
Results Richard James

HERTS CHESS ASSOCIATION: 46th ANNUAL CONGRESS
at Hitchin Boys School, 4-5 December 1999
Premier (19 pl) 1 S Knott (Hakansson trophy for best Herts player) 4½/5; 2 D Lemoir 4; 3-6 L D'Costa, K Nicholas, S Peters, M Taylor 3½... Grading 180-195 L D'Costa, S.Peters; U180 K Nicholas, M Taylor
Challengers U170 (23 pl) A Horton-Kitchlew 5/5; 2 M Brazier 4; 3-5 A Dasaolu, N Moss, B Valentine 3½... Grading U155 S Charles, I Evans, D Faulkner, C Hetherington (Berry Cup for best Herts player) 3
Major U145 (40 pl) J.Angus Davis Cup for best Herts player) 4½/5; 2 T Khoo 4; 3-6 R Ganger, J Harbour, R Killeen, C Turner 3½... Grading U131 J Harbour 3½
Minor U120 (41 pl) 1-2 C Gardiner, DG Wayte 4½/5; 3-5 J Baldwin, S Buckley, C Costelloe 4... Lee-Johnson Cup for best Herts player: R Mycroft 3½ Grading 90 - 104 J Baldwin; U100 F Batchelor, J Hall 3
     The J Glynne Jones Memorial Trophy, for the best performance by a Herts/Cambs/Norfolk/Suffolk junior in an adult event, was awarded to Lorin D'Costa for his score of 3½ in the Premier. Lorin won the trophy on tie-break ahead of C Turner (3½ in the Major) and R Mycroft (3½ in the Minor), by virtue of playing in the higher grading-limit event.
     Club team prize Bedford Junior CC (John Harbour, Jo Harbour, Tom Harbour, Peter Quarry) 74%
     School team John Henry Newman (D Allen, M Allen, J Akrill, T Gilbert) 58%
Saturday U18 (15 pl) 1 Mark Goodwin 6/6... U14 Tom Gilbert 5; U12 Matthew Allen 4; U10 Yvette Cook 4; U8 Rebecca Allen 3
Sunday U18 (33 pl) 1-2 R Webb (U14 winner), N George (U12 winner) 5½/6; 3 N Baranga 5; 4 A Rosewall (U18 winner) 4; 5 J Harbour 3½...
Sunday U10 (27 pl) 1 Tom Harbour 6; 2 Andrew Alexandrou 5; 3 Katie Nightingale 4½; 4-5 Edward Moss, Gordon Parker (U8 winners) 4...
Results Jeremy Fraser-Mitchell

WHITSTABLE RAPIDPLAY 4th December 1999
Open (14 pl) 1 Michael J Basman IM (Surbiton) 5/6; 2 Laurence E Webb (ISH) 4½; 3-7 Andrew J Bigg (Beckenham & Bromley), Andrew N Greet (UKC), Danny W Gormally IM (Hackney), Heather S Richards (Whitstable), James T Sherwin IM (USA) 3½...
Major U160 (12 pl) 1 Nick Frost (Tiverton) 6/6; 2-5 Raymond Gosden (Whitstable), Amir Habibi (Maidstone), Peter Keeley (Whitstable), Paul E Richards (Whitstable) 3½...
Minor U120 (22 pl) 1 John Segal 6/6; 2-3 Edmund Birkhamshaw (Beckenham & Bromley), Jan Wassermann-Fry (Whitstable) 4½; 4-5 Keith Findley (Birchington), Alexandra Wilson (Sutton) 4; 6-9 Mark A Richards (Whitstable), David Ridout (Maidstone), Matthew Rogers (Dulwich College), Konrad Sanders (Lewisham) 3½...
Novices U80 (25 pl) 1 Sam Siebert (Chislehurst) 5½/6; 2 Edward Ridley (Herne Bay) 5; 3-4 Aram Karakashian (Chislehurst), Iskandar Zaharudoin Megat (UKC) 4½; 5-8 Nathan Hawkins (Folkestone), Robert House (St Olaves GS), Akash Pancholi, Christopher Russell (Tunbridge Wells) 4...
Kent Ladies Championship (5 pl) 1 Claire Lusher (Surrey, but will have a Kent qualification) 5/5; 2-3 (and joint Minor Champions) Katy Cunningham, Karen Jones (both Bromley High) 3½... [Inspection of the Ladies Trophy, on display at the event, has led to a footnote under "Shannon Trophy" in the SCCU Trophies page.]
Schools Trophy St Olaves GS
Results Us. We regret that we left too early to catch the results of the GM Clock Simul given by Aaron Summerscale at the end of the event. 15 boards.

GOLDERS GREEN RAPIDPLAY 13th November 1999
Open (5 pl) 1 Jim Plaskett (Hastings) 5/5 £50; 2-3 Paul Georghiou (Barnet), Roy Royce (Hampstead, formerly Sagall) 4 £10; 4 Howard Mather 3...
"Major" 1 David Edwards (RJCC) £50; 2 Robert Keough (King's Gambit/USAF) £20; 3 Gareth Ellis (Huyton) 4...
"Minor" 1-2 Genga Somupillai (Wimbledon), Alexander O'Neill (Barking) 5/6 £35; 3-4 Lara Osiyemi (Kings Head), Michael Bridger (Hadleigh) 4...
"Amateur" 1-2 Paul Kendall (London E15), David Everitt (Haywards Heath) 4½ £35; 3 David Dunne (Sways) 4; 4 Naomi Miller (Cowley) 3/6
Results Adam Raoof

1st CHESSMASTER BRITISH BLITZ CHAMPIONSHIPS at Imperial College London, 6-7 November 1999
Cash prizes were very generously sponsored by Mindscape, creators of Chessmaster software, who over the weekend gave away 100 copies of their latest product "ChessMaster 7000". Junior prizes of the easy-to-learn game "Boku" were donated by the London Game Company.
     Team Championship Saturday 6th: 12 teams played. 1 Hackney A 61/72; 2 Hackney B 52; 3 Barbican 4NCL 48½... Grading U173 Imperial College A 44; U143 Bucks Juniors 36½; Junior Richmond Juniors A 33. Board Prizes (awarded to players who had not won a main prize): Bd 1 Paul Georghiou (Barnet) 13½/18; Bd 2 Martin Taylor (Imperial College B) 11½; Bd 3 Andrew Cooper (Kings Head A) 12½; Bd 4 Chris Hansell (Bucks Juniors) 12.
     Individual Tournaments Sunday 7th had a total entry of 130.
Championship Section (Open) 1 GM Michael Adams (Truro) 17/18; 2 GM James Plaskett (Hastings) 14½; 3 IM Matthew Turner (Scunthorpe) 12½; 4-6 IM Simon Ansell (Hackney), IM Graeme Buckley (Bushbury), IM Daniel Gormally (Hackney) 12... British Blitz Ladies Champion IM Harriet Hunt (Oxford) 10½. British Blitz Junior Champion Nicholas Frost (Tiverton) 8½ on tie-break from Oliver Cooley, Thomas Rendle, Koichi Nicholas and Ezra Lutton. Grading U210 Jovanka Houska (Slough) 10½; U190 Andrew Horton-Kitchlew (International Students), Alexis Harakis (Hayes Kent), Alistair Compton (Kings Head), Bernard Cafferty (Hastings) 10; U170 Jeremy Davies, Martin R Taylor (both Imperial), Adeoye Dasaolu (London) 10.
Amateur Section (under 150) 1 David M Edwards (Richmond Juniors)15½; 2-4 Alexander Lim (Hounslow), David Howell (Crowborough), Ross Rattray (Richmond Juniors) 12½... Grading U140 Alexander Baron (Crystal Palace) 11½; U130 David Bareham (Thamesdown Juniors) 11½; U120 Mohsen Abedian 11; U110 Christopher Kreuzer (Richmond Juniors) 7. Junior Josiah Lutton (Basildon) 10
Novice Section (under 100) 1 Mikhail Mamon 15; 2-3 Shaun Alley (Newham), Kenji Nicholas (RGS/High Wycombe) 12½... Grading U90 Danielle Gross (Hampstead) 9½; U80 Caroline Robson (Barnet) 9; U70 Antonio Gonzalez (Metropolitan) 7. Junior Jade Smith (Australia) 9½.
More information from Adam Raoof adam@circuit.demon.co.uk or Barry Gale b.j.gale@ic.ac.uk

GOLDERS GREEN RAPIDPLAY 16th October 1999
Open (10 pl) 1 Paul Georghiou (Barnet) 5/6 £60; 2 Scott Wastney (NZ and Wood Green) 4½ 30; 3 IM Tamas Erdelyi (Hungary) 4; 4-5 Dan E Mayers (Marshall), Heather Richards (KJCA) 3½...
Major U160 (14 pl) 1-2 Jonathan Somekh (RJCC), Robert Keough (Kings Gambit) 4½/6 £45; 3-5 Paul Obiamwe (Barnet), AG Kelly (High Wycombe), Steven Coles (London EC4) 4... Grading U145 Obiamwe, Kelly £7.70
Minor U130 (18 pl) 1-2 Alexander Lim (Hounslow), Shane McCabe (IRL/London NW2) 5/6 £45; 3-5 Edward Leung (RJCC), Tyrone Woo (London SW6), Paul Kennelly (Hammersmith) 4... Grading U115 Leung
Amateur U100 (? pl) 1 Chris Rogal (Hendon) 4½/6 ; 2-3 Robert Walker (Kings Gambit), David Everitt (Haywards Heath) 4 £15... Grading U85 Caroline Robson (Barnet) 3½ £10
Results Adam Raoof

NATIONAL COUNTIES TEAM RAPIDPLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS at Sheffield, 9th October 1999
"Preliminary and unofficial" results from David Sedgwick: 1 Yorks A 54/64; 2 Gtr Manchester 48; 3 Yorks B 33½; 4 Derbys 27½; 5 Notts 24½; 6 Surrey 21½; 7 Yorks C 15.

10th MAIDSTONE CONGRESS 24-26 September 1999 had a disappointing turnout of 90 (counting one or two people twice, because they switched to the Rapidplay on day three). On this year's evidence Maidstone is not financially viable. It had already been decided that the Congress would not happen next year.
Open BCQ (20 pl) 1 CR Chandler 215 (Maidstone) 4½/6; 2-3 SW Giddins 188 (Medway), DA Wood 192 (Chatham) 4; 4-8 Jim Bayford 188 (Folkestone), Andrew Bigg 177 (Beckenham & Bromley), Gordon Botley 182 (Lewisham), Simon Buckley 207 (Bath), Matthew Noakes 182 (Maidstone) 3½... Best grading performance in relation to current grade Tim Hebbes 168 (Ilford) 3; Grading U180 Dan Erichsen 164 (Surrey Univ) 3. BCQ Place Cliff Chandler.
Major U160 (13 pl) 1 David Parr 159 (Horsham) 5½/6; 2 Paul Jackson 146 (Coulsdon) 4½; 3 Michael Owen 135 (Folkestone) 4... Best grading performance (etc) Maor Shine 122 (Hendon) 3½; Grading U136 Steve Mills 131 (Maidstone) 3
Intermediate U130 (25 pl) 1 Raymond Gosden 111 (Whitstable) 5/6; 2-4 Michael R Croft 114 (Margate), John E Fowers 113 (Phoenix), Ian Philipson 114 (Hove) 4... Best grading performance (etc) Ron Inglis 94 (Phoenix) 3; Grading U114 Robert Davidson 109 (Hove) 3
Minor U105 (15 pl) 1 Henry Cove 94 (Kilndown) 5/6; 2 Nick Carter 95 (Maidenhead) 4½; 3 Jamie Horncastle 104 (Medway) 4... Best grading performance (etc) Ian Stoneman 74 (S Norwood) 3; Grading U90 Gary Bennett 73 (Hove) 3½
Rapidplay 26th September (17 pl) 1-2 Bernard Cafferty 187S¹ (Hastings), Heather Richards 170 (KJCA) 4½/5; 3-4 Chris M Cooley 196S (Maidstone), Martin R Taylor 166 (Rainham) 3½... Grading U170 John Allan 164S (Maidstone) 3; U135 Neil Lister 116S (Thanet).
     ¹"S" means Standardplay. Most of the grades were Standardplay.
Results Us, but we're open to correction.

BRAINTREE CONGRESS 18-19 September 1999
Open (16 pl) 1 Andrew Webster 231 IM (Sutton) 4½/5; 2-3 John Anderson 192 (Grays), Simon Knott 215 (Herts) 4; 4 Julian Hodgson 253 GM (Hackney) 3½...
Under 160 (34 ent) 1-4 Marc Brazier 148 (Maldon), Darren Harris 147 (Bury), Mark Hubbock 133 (Stevenage), Robert Keough 156 (Brandon) 4/5... Grading U140 David Cannan 130 (Southend) 3½...
Under 130 (36 ent) 1 Ryan Child 123 (Brandon) 4½/5; 2-4 John Bradley 121 (Dunmow), Michael Clapham 125 (Ipswich), Michael Spalding 120 (Ipswich) 4... Grading U115 Benjamin Williams 112 (St Neots) 3½; U105 Graham Walker 101 (Customs Southend) 3½
Under 100 (25 ent) 1 Paul Houghton 81 (Hadleigh) 4½/5; 2-4 Alistair Hung 89 (Writtle), John McKeon 96 (Milton Keynes), Colin White 95 (Chelmsford) 4... Grading U85 Michael Coughlan
Essex Junior Prize Alistair Hung
Best Game Prize is waiting for some more entries.
Results Chessex

GOLDERS GREEN RAPIDPLAY 18th September 1999
Part of the Onyx Grand Prix
Open (4 pl, double-round APA) 1 GM Jonathan Levitt 5/6 £60; 2 GM Jim Plaskett 4½ £30; 3 David Brennan (Welwyn Gdn City) 2; 4 Peter Scott ½
"Major" (11 pl) 1 David Edwards (RJCC) 5/6 £60; 2 Anthony Kelly (High Wycombe) 4½ £30... Grading U145 Paul Carlucci (Morley College) 4
"Minor" (15 pl) 1 Lee Gold (Hendon) 5/6 £60; 2 Alex O'Neill (Ilford) 4½ £30... Grading U115 Ian Willmore (Wood Green) 3
"Amateur" (16 pl) 1 Paul Kendall (Essex) 5/6 £6; 2-4 Ian Rook (Ilford), John Kelly (Northants) Steven Poole (London W6) 4 £10... Grading U85 Alex Brett (Wimbledon) 4
"STILL no sign of the new BCF grading list... but I hope this will be the last time I use the May 1998 Rapidplay list for these tournaments!"
Adam Raoof
rjh: There was a new list around, in an incomplete bare-bones version, and at least one congress has used it. I'm not aware that the BCF publicised it, though it's been mentioned on this site.

25th RICHMOND RAPIDPLAY 12th September 1999
Open (10 pl) 1-2 IM Peter Large (Putney), GM Aaron Summerscale (SE London) 5/6; 3 Jon Benjamin (Sutton) 4... Grading U190 Martin Taylor (Rainham Kent) 3
"Major" (14 pl) 1-2 Steven Coles (Teddington), David Edwards (Worcester Park/RJCC) 5/6; 3 Jonathan Somekh (Barnes/RJCC) 4½... Grading U140 Thomas Nixon (Kew/RJCC) 3½
"Intermediate" (34 pl) 1 Joe Xuereb (New Malden) 5½/6; 2-3 Edmund Birkhamshaw (Beckenham), Dominic Weston-Lewis (SW London) 5... Grading U100 Alexei Chernikov (Wimbledon/RJCC) 4½
"Minor" (26 pl) 1 Timothy Seymour (Sunbury/RJCC) 5/6; 2-3 Abigail Flint (Chelmsford), Kasim Khorasanee (Kingston/RJCC) 4½; 4-8 Stephanie Barraclough (Lindfield, W Sussex) 4, Delroy Bennett (Croydon), Ben Hutter (Epsom), James Porter (Twickenham/RJCC), Tim Powell (Hoddesdon) 4...
Results Richard James. More details on the RJCC site http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~rjcc

Earlier material is in the Archive.