Keverel Chess

The new grading list was published to coincide with the start of the British Championships on Monday.

Here is Exmouth’s section of it. Most of the higher grades are slightly down and the lower grades tend to be slightly up. The outstanding feature is the arrival of Oliver Wensley with a grade of 164. His last known grade was 97 at the age of 12, almost 20 years ago. He was introduced to competitions with an estimated grade of 120, in the assumption that, even with any further experience, he had improved since his pre-teen years. By Christmas this had been upgraded to an estimate of 130, but he continued to go from strength to strength and his grade is now confirmed at 164.

However, even this may be surpassed in September, if and when a new potential member turns up, as he promised. No names just yet.