Chasing the title

Six players chasing the top two for British title
Tuesday, August 04, 2009, 09:13

WITH the second week of the British Chess Championships now underway in Torquay, there is a tie for the first place with Grandmasters David Howell and Gawain Jones both on five points from their first six games.

In an 11-round tournament there is still much to play for and there are no less than six players only half a point behind, and nine just one point away from the lead.

In round six, local player Gary Lane lost but has still got 3.5 points; Jack Rudd (Barnstaple) won and is now on 3 points, and Devon Champion Dominic Mackle lost but has still managed a very creditable 1.5 points from his first six games.

Bearing in mind the tremendous competition, this is an excellent performance and it will be interesting to see how the second week turns out.

Not many will know that blind people can play chess. It must be extremely difficult to remember all the moves and the position of the pieces on the board, but Chris Ross – the Braille Chess Association website coordinator, –is doing extremely well.

Over the weekend there was a competition for those who could only play at this time of the week due to work commitments.

In the Open competition, Andy Dunn of the Torquay club came equal third with three points from his five games, but John Gorodi (Teignmouth) was not at his best and scored just one win.

In the Under-140 graded tournament, Peter Halmkin (Teignmouth) had a very creditable 3/5 but it was in the Under-110 graded competition that the local players shone.

Tony Tatam, secretary of the Plymouth club and competition secretary for the Torbay Chess League, came equal first with a magnificent four wins and one draw from his five games.

This also equates to a £140 prize, so his weekend was certainly one he will remember.

In the same competition, Torquay Chess Club’s secretary Norman Tidy had a very commendable 3.5 points that put him into equal third position.

Here is the full article.