Keverel Chess

The venue in Taunton was the same as in recent years, the Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre, which is relatively central to the area covered by the Union, near the motorway, good parking facilities, modern building, carpeted floor etc. - much to commend it.

Entries were down this year, with 3 teams of 12 in both the Open and Graded Sections. In the Open Section, Devon were the bookies’ favourites as their team outgraded their opponents by between 10 and 15 points on average on each board, while in the Grade-limited section it looked to be a much closer affair. None of the Graded teams got anywhere near the total limit of 1700 points.

It wasn’t long before Devon’s chances took a nosedive as their top 6 boards could must 1.5 pts. It was their strength in depth that rescued them from disaster. The pattern of results coming in made it unclear as to which team was in any kind of telling lead, when suddenly at the end, all 3 teams emerged with 6 points each. No one seemed sure as to the rules regarding tie-breaks - board count was suggested but couldn’t work as Somerset, having won 5 games would have 5 board numbers to add together, compared to Somerset’s 3 wins. The captains readily agreed not to prolong the proceedings by sharing the Cup 4 months each.

If the Open Section had proved close when Devon looked to be certain winners, the Graded turned out to be the other way round, as Dorset ran out clear winners, losing only 2 games and notching up 8 points.

Full details:-

Here are some scenes from the event:-

1st game to finish - Wheeler vs Rudd.

Playing area - general view.

Top boards 1 - 8 (nearest)

Devon's Player of the Year, Robert Thompson, on his way to another win.

Devon's Dr. Jonathan Underwood on his way to a draw.

Devon's Dr. Tim Paulden considers his options.

3 captains happy to share the main cup: l-r Phil Dodwell (Glos); Roger Morgan (Somerset) & Brian Hewson (Devon).

WECU President, Malcolm Steevens (left) presents the Graded Cup to the Dorset Captain, W. John Kelly.