Keverel Chess

Posts Tagged ‘West of England Congress 2016’

The Final round began at 10 am on Easter Monday. After his gentle draw against Rudd in the previous round Arkell was not inclined to offer any more, lest he be caught, so steered through to a risk-free win against Fallowfield. On Bd. 2 Broek played an Evans Gambit against Rudd, and the two rattled out the opening 12 moves in just a few minutes, at which point Broek forced the win of the exchange, and it was game on. The price the Dutchman paid for that was having his queen trapped in a corner for 22 moves, but held his nerve and eventually won more material, until Black resigned a whole rook down.

The full results were as follows:-

WECU Treasurer, Oliver Wensley, presents Jacqui Barber-Lafon with the Ladies Championship Cup.

The Ladies Champion presents Keith Arkell with the main trophy.

Richard McMichael - clear 2nd

The ungraded J. Stone, won the Minor - the only player to score 7/7.

The opening round having gone mostly according to the form book, Rd. 2 commenced in the afternoon. Again, no major surprises with the top 5 seeds all winning; only 6th seed Andrew Smith lost, having had to meet Keith Arkell so early on. Thomas Broek, having announced his presence with a very quick win in Rd. 1, won again, but from a very interesting position that had problem-like qualities to it.

Here are the results:-

McMichael vs Bass (nearest) & de Coverley vs Broek.

de Coverley vs Broek ending. Black to play and win.

Fallowfield vs Rudd (nearest) & Arkell vs Smith.

Bottom boards in the Minor, with Geoff Taylor between Hazel Welch and Marian Cox. Geoff qualified for the British Championship from the Open a few years ago. |Ill health has subsequently affected his form but not his keenness to keep playing.

88 players foregathered at the Royal Beacon Hotel, Exmouth on Good Friday for the annual WECU Congress. A new development this year was in extending the FIDE rating rules to the Major as well as the Open, and using the latest digital clocks for both sections, which added a 30 second increment each time a move was made.

Many of the faces were returnees, familiar with the town, the venue and the congress routine. However, it’s always good to have a few new people around, if only to add interest to the mix. One such in the Open was Thomas Broek from the Wisver Turen club in the Netherlands, while at the other end of the scale, John Stone from Horley, with an estimated grade of 100, entered the Minor.

Both gave a statement of intent from the off, when Broek beat a local player, Oliver Wensley, in just 12 moves, Wensley having been joint winner of the East Devon Open just a couple of years before. Stone not only won his Rd. 1 game but went on to carve up the field with 7 straight wins, making him the only one to score a maximum, and casting some doubt on the accuracy of his grade estimate.

Everything went according to form, as the day finished with the 5 top seeds in the Open, being the only ones on 2/2 - Keith Arkell, Jack Rudd, Richard McMichael, Thomas Broek and Russell James.

Details:-

General view of the playing hall from the stage.

General view from the other end.

Gamble vs McMichael (nearest) and Broek (W) about to record a quick win against Wensley.