About a week ago the new fixtures for the 2014-2015 local league season were posted at the Ballynafeigh CC website. Of course, we were used to official UCU announcements appearing there when its supremo was also the League Controller. Obviously old habits die hard.
A couple of days later the fixture list then appeared at the Lindores CC website, home of the dynamic duo who have taken over control of UCU team and individual tournaments. Obviously continuing the privatisation of their predecessor.
Finally the Division 1 and Division 2 fixtures did appear at the official website. A day or so later there was even an announcement there which, however, bizarrely referred the reader back to the Ballynafeigh CC website for the details.
Anyway the good news was that (despite the hibernation of Lagan CC) with the revival of the Queen's University Chess Club (or to be precise, now re-branded Society) and an extra couple of "second teams", total entries amounted to 16.
When planning this piece, I was going to inquire what was wrong with 8 teams in each Division rather than the announced 7+9 (with the top Division adding a third round of fixtures). Under the UCU plan there will be a total of 21 weeks for Division 1 and 18 for Division 2.
With an even split of teams we could have had a double-rounder for each Division over only 14 weeks. The advantage of this would have been to leave time for some further team competitions with a different format (eg all-NI, rapidplays, handicap, knock-out) which the chattering classes seemed keen on in the Spring.
Still, the announcement over at Fisherwick CC puts this all into perspective. Despite being the reigning Silver King champions and announced as an entrant on all those outlets mentioned above, Fisherwick CC "will not be participating in the Ulster Chess Union organized Belfast & District Chess League 2014-15". However, this is not some Lagan-style hiatus because a full programme events is planned, including "inter club competition."
"Cat among the pigeons" springs to mind.
Wednesday, 1 October 2014
Wednesday, 24 September 2014
Cathal Murphy bags the City Of Dublin Junior chess title
A quartet of Ulster players took part in the recent City Of Dublin championships at the Gresham Hotel in O’Connell Street. Two of The three musketeers Murphy and Kelly (Morrison sat this one out) were joined by another regular southern traveller Gareth Annesley and southern debutant Siebran Westra.
Cathal and Martin both decided to play in the junior section and strictly to their southern ratings of 1190 and 1160 respectively. Cathal topped the 55 player section, finishing on 5.5 from 6, while Martin finished just out of the prizes with a respectable 4 from 6, just managing to hold on to his “unbeaten” record against Irish females with a win over Katherine Bolger in round 1.
Although Cathal won his first five games, two of these, against grading prize winner Suzanne Barry and second placed Adam Murphy (grand prix and Vienna attack respectively) were on a knife-edge throughout with several tactical and checkmate threats and positions played out (see below) Barry actually missed 38...Qf3+ leading to mate in 3, while Cathal missed 22.Qxf8, while under time pressure against Adam Murphy, but went on to win and then closed out the tournament with a win against unknown Polish player Filipski and a closing draw against John Halpenny.
Gareth and Siebran finished with 3.5 and 2 respectively in a tough under 2000 Major section. Siebran started brightly with a win over Denis O’Connell, but suffered two losses and was then drawn against Gareth in round 4 and managed to succumb to Annesley “G-force”. Gareth himself recovered from a slow start to finish on a respectable 3.5 with wins over Siebran, Tom O’Gorman and three draws.
Chess “analysis” was continued late into both evenings in Doyle’s bar, as a great weekend was had by all.
Full results and cross tables can be found on the ICU website.
Any comments and analysis on the appended games are more than welcome.
Games
Games
Cathal and Martin both decided to play in the junior section and strictly to their southern ratings of 1190 and 1160 respectively. Cathal topped the 55 player section, finishing on 5.5 from 6, while Martin finished just out of the prizes with a respectable 4 from 6, just managing to hold on to his “unbeaten” record against Irish females with a win over Katherine Bolger in round 1.
Although Cathal won his first five games, two of these, against grading prize winner Suzanne Barry and second placed Adam Murphy (grand prix and Vienna attack respectively) were on a knife-edge throughout with several tactical and checkmate threats and positions played out (see below) Barry actually missed 38...Qf3+ leading to mate in 3, while Cathal missed 22.Qxf8, while under time pressure against Adam Murphy, but went on to win and then closed out the tournament with a win against unknown Polish player Filipski and a closing draw against John Halpenny.
Gareth and Siebran finished with 3.5 and 2 respectively in a tough under 2000 Major section. Siebran started brightly with a win over Denis O’Connell, but suffered two losses and was then drawn against Gareth in round 4 and managed to succumb to Annesley “G-force”. Gareth himself recovered from a slow start to finish on a respectable 3.5 with wins over Siebran, Tom O’Gorman and three draws.
Chess “analysis” was continued late into both evenings in Doyle’s bar, as a great weekend was had by all.
Full results and cross tables can be found on the ICU website.
Any comments and analysis on the appended games are more than welcome.
[Event "City of Dublin Junior"] [Site "Dublin"] [Date "2014.09.13"] [Round "2"] [White "Murphy, Cathal"] [Black "Barry, Suzanne"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B23"] [WhiteElo "1190"] [BlackElo "970"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2014.09.12"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "IRL"] [SourceDate "2014.09.22"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 d6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Bc4 e5 6. O-O exf4 7. d3 g5 8. Qe1 Bg7 9. Bd2 Bxf3 10. gxf3 Qd7 11. Kh1 O-O-O 12. Rb1 Ne5 13. Bd5 Qh3 14. Qf2 Ne7 15. b4 b6 16. bxc5 dxc5 17. Qe2 Kb8 18. a4 Nxd5 19. Nxd5 Rd6 20. a5 Nd7 21. axb6 axb6 22. Rb3 Kb7 23. Rfb1 Re8 24. Nc3 Ne5 25. Na4 Nd7 26. Nc3 Be5 27. Nb5 Rg6 28. Ra3 Bb8 29. d4 cxd4 30. Qc4 Rc6 31. Qxf7 Rec8 32. Nxd4 $2 Rd6 33. c3 Rf8 34. Qc4 g4 $2 35. Qa6+ Kc7 36. Nb5+ Kd8 37. Nxd6 Bxd6 38. fxg4 $2 f3 $4 39. Bg5+ Ke8 40. Qc8+ Kf7 41. Qxd7+ 1-0
[Event "City of Dublin Junior"] [Site "Dublin"] [Date "2014.09.13"] [Round "4"] [White "Murphy, Cathal"] [Black "Murphy, Adam"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C25"] [WhiteElo "1190"] [BlackElo "1050"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2014.09.12"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "IRL"] [SourceDate "2014.09.22"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 Bb4 4. Nf3 d6 5. Bc4 Nf6 6. O-O Bg4 7. d3 Nd4 8. fxe5 dxe5 9. Bxf7+ Kf8 10. Bb3 Bc5 11. Kh1 Nxf3 12. gxf3 Bh3 13. Re1 Qe8 14. Be3 Bxe3 15. Rxe3 Qg6 16. Qg1 Qh5 17. Qf2 Ke7 18. Rg1 g6 19. Ree1 Rhf8 20. Qc5+ Kd7 21. Rg3 Ne8 $2 22. Nd5 $4 Rf7 23. Nxc7 Rxf3 24. Ba4+ b5 $2 25. Bxb5+ Kd8 26. Nd5 $1 Rxg3 27. Qe7+ Kc8 28. Qxe8+ Kb7 29. Qc6+ Kb8 30. Qc7# 1-0
Tuesday, 2 September 2014
A small announcement
In 1999 I started the Ulster Chess Chronicle to provide a contemporary record of Ulster Chess on the internet. My interest in chess history soon meant that I started writing about past events and players too. After a while the website became a little unwieldy and with off-the-shelf templates like blogger available, I started NI Chess News, so that hopefully it would be a bit easier to edit for me and to navigate for readers.
I've decided now to incorporate the contemporary material accumulated over 15 years at the Chronicle into this website and to create a new Ulster Chess History website for the historical material. Some reports and articles will go to the Ulster Chess Union website which seems only fair because the Chronicle also hosted official pages before the UCU got its own internet presence.
So, for the next while NI Chess News will resemble a construction site, so please be patient while I'm at work on all this. In the meantime you'll notice a change of colour scheme here as I try to replicate the Ulster Chess Chronicle look.
I've decided now to incorporate the contemporary material accumulated over 15 years at the Chronicle into this website and to create a new Ulster Chess History website for the historical material. Some reports and articles will go to the Ulster Chess Union website which seems only fair because the Chronicle also hosted official pages before the UCU got its own internet presence.
So, for the next while NI Chess News will resemble a construction site, so please be patient while I'm at work on all this. In the meantime you'll notice a change of colour scheme here as I try to replicate the Ulster Chess Chronicle look.
Tuesday, 26 August 2014
Ulster Championship 1952: A Welshman wins
Preamble
The 2014 Ulster Senior Championship, held over the August Bank Holiday weekend, was won by Gabor Horvath, who hails from Hungary but was eligible to compete for the title under a residence qualification. In 1931-1932 the local chess clubs went through a process of formally founding the Ulster Chess Union and establishing an Ulster Championship. Rule 1 of the Rules adopted in 1931 for the Ulster Championship stated:
“1. The championship shall be open to chess players born in the Province of Ulster, or who are, and have been, for more than twelve months resident therein.”
The rules have had the odd tweak since then but, as far as I am aware, twelve months residence has always been sufficient. Indeed a number of players, including (now IM) Brian Kelly, have qualified to play and win the title under the residence qualification.
A Time Traveller article, originally published in August 2002, had featured another Ulster Champion who had come to live in Northern Ireland.
Ulster Championship 1952: A Welshman wins
10 competitors entered the 1952 Ulster Championship. The 1951 champion W. D. Kerr was not defending his title, but two former winners, R. A. Heaney (1946) and G. A. Kearney (1950) were taking part. Perhaps the most interesting entry was that of Miss H. F. Chater, the first woman ever to enter the Ulster Championship. She was the aunt of the Vice-Chancellor of Queen's University, Sir Eric Ashby, and had come to Northern Ireland to live with her nephew. She was qualified to compete in the Championship by having been resident in Ulster for the required period of a year. As we shall see the eventual winner of the Championship also qualified by residence.
The tournament was a nine-round all-play-all. After seven rounds the leader was Robert Jones, who had only dropped half-a-point up to that stage. In Round 8 his two main rivals, Heaney and G. J. Boyd had to meet, with Heaney proving victorious. At the same time, Jones suffered a surprising defeat to Miss Chater and lost the lead to Heaney. However, the luck of the draw had paired Jones and Heaney in the last round, so it was still all to play for.
The Ireland's Saturday Night for 12th April 1952 takes up the story:
In the final for the Ulster Championship R. Jones, with a score of 6.5 met R. A. Heaney, who had 7.0 to his credit. The game was a Queen's Gambit Declined. Heaney, with Black adopted the Orthodox Defence, and a keen struggle resulted, which went to 66 moves, when Black resigned. Mr. Jones thus becomes Ulster champion at the first attempt. He won the Intermediate Championship earlier in the season, which is a record.
Final scores: R. Jones 7.5; R. A. Heaney 7.0; G. J. Boyd 6.5; T. C. Gallery 6.0; A. W. Turner and G. A. Kearney 4.0; F. E. Wallace and Miss H. F. Chater 3.5; J. B. Steen 2.0; J. W. B. Dodson 1.5.
The new champion is a Welshman, who taught in Eastbourne Grammar School until the war, when he joined up. After the war he came to Belfast, and is in business here. He is also studying at Queen's for his Arts Degree.
Games
The 2014 Ulster Senior Championship, held over the August Bank Holiday weekend, was won by Gabor Horvath, who hails from Hungary but was eligible to compete for the title under a residence qualification. In 1931-1932 the local chess clubs went through a process of formally founding the Ulster Chess Union and establishing an Ulster Championship. Rule 1 of the Rules adopted in 1931 for the Ulster Championship stated:
“1. The championship shall be open to chess players born in the Province of Ulster, or who are, and have been, for more than twelve months resident therein.”
The rules have had the odd tweak since then but, as far as I am aware, twelve months residence has always been sufficient. Indeed a number of players, including (now IM) Brian Kelly, have qualified to play and win the title under the residence qualification.
A Time Traveller article, originally published in August 2002, had featured another Ulster Champion who had come to live in Northern Ireland.
Ulster Championship 1952: A Welshman wins
10 competitors entered the 1952 Ulster Championship. The 1951 champion W. D. Kerr was not defending his title, but two former winners, R. A. Heaney (1946) and G. A. Kearney (1950) were taking part. Perhaps the most interesting entry was that of Miss H. F. Chater, the first woman ever to enter the Ulster Championship. She was the aunt of the Vice-Chancellor of Queen's University, Sir Eric Ashby, and had come to Northern Ireland to live with her nephew. She was qualified to compete in the Championship by having been resident in Ulster for the required period of a year. As we shall see the eventual winner of the Championship also qualified by residence.
The tournament was a nine-round all-play-all. After seven rounds the leader was Robert Jones, who had only dropped half-a-point up to that stage. In Round 8 his two main rivals, Heaney and G. J. Boyd had to meet, with Heaney proving victorious. At the same time, Jones suffered a surprising defeat to Miss Chater and lost the lead to Heaney. However, the luck of the draw had paired Jones and Heaney in the last round, so it was still all to play for.
The Ireland's Saturday Night for 12th April 1952 takes up the story:
In the final for the Ulster Championship R. Jones, with a score of 6.5 met R. A. Heaney, who had 7.0 to his credit. The game was a Queen's Gambit Declined. Heaney, with Black adopted the Orthodox Defence, and a keen struggle resulted, which went to 66 moves, when Black resigned. Mr. Jones thus becomes Ulster champion at the first attempt. He won the Intermediate Championship earlier in the season, which is a record.
Final scores: R. Jones 7.5; R. A. Heaney 7.0; G. J. Boyd 6.5; T. C. Gallery 6.0; A. W. Turner and G. A. Kearney 4.0; F. E. Wallace and Miss H. F. Chater 3.5; J. B. Steen 2.0; J. W. B. Dodson 1.5.
The new champion is a Welshman, who taught in Eastbourne Grammar School until the war, when he joined up. After the war he came to Belfast, and is in business here. He is also studying at Queen's for his Arts Degree.
[Event "Ulster Ch"]
[Site "Belfast"]
[Date "1952.??.??"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Jones, R."]
[Black "Turner, A.W."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D56"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "1952.02.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "IRL"]
[Source "David McAlister"]
[SourceDate "2008.03.19"]
1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. d4 c6 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Bd3 h6 8. Bh4
O-O 9. O-O dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nd5 {A common variation of the Queen's Gambit
Declined has been arrived at by transposition. Here White usually exchanges
Bishops.} 11. Bg3 f5 12. Nxd5 exd5 (12... cxd5 {might have been better,
leaving support for the f-pawn, which now becomes an object of attack.}) 13.
Bd3 Nf6 14. h3 Ne4 15. Bh2 {Having refused an even exchange, White will not
let his Bishop go for the Knight.} g5 16. Ne5 Qe8 17. f3 Nf6 18. Qc2 Nh5 19. g4
Ng7 20. f4 Bd6 21. fxg5 hxg5 22. Rf3 Bxe5 {The exchange brings White's
dark-squared Bishop to the attack, which soon becomes irresistible.} 23. Bxe5
fxg4 24. Rxf8+ Qxf8 25. Rf1 Qe7 26. Bh7+ Kh8 27. Qg6 Be6 28. Qh6 {Black
resigned as the threatened discovered check will be followed by mate.} 1-0
Game annotations from the Ireland's Saturday Night for 12th April 1952
Starting again
At the beginning of the new millennium, I started a website called the Ulster Chess Chronicle. It was a mix of chess results, news, articles and history. More recently I hived off the news into another blog, NI Chess News, and this also gave me an opportunity to add there a few personal comments on the NI chess scene.
I've now decided to re-start the history part here. Brand new posts on the history of Ulster chess will appear here, but my present intention is to incorporate all the old material here also - though I've not yet worked out how best to do that!
I've now decided to re-start the history part here. Brand new posts on the history of Ulster chess will appear here, but my present intention is to incorporate all the old material here also - though I've not yet worked out how best to do that!
Monday, 23 June 2014
NICS June Rapidplay
Civil Service Chess Club yesterday staged the fourth and final event in its 2013-2014 rapidplay series at the Maynard Sinclair Pavilion. There's already a full report up at the UCU website; you'll also find links there to the results and the final Grand Prix standings over the four events. To that, I'll add here the final crosstable.
No Name Rtg Total 1 2 3 4 5 6As part of the organising team for these events, thanks to all those who competed throughout the series and we hope to do the whole thing again next season.
1 Nicholas Pilkiewicz 1862 5 8:W 7:W 2:W 4:W 5:W 3:L
2 Damien Lavery 1749 4.5 11:W 4:W 1:L 6:W 7:W 5:D
3 Robert Lavery 1481 4 10:W 6:L 4:L 11:W 8:W 1:W
4 David McAlister 1218 3.5 5:W 2:L 3:W 1:L 6:W 9:D
5 Mark Newman 1627 3.5 4:L 9:W 6:W 7:W 1:L 2:D
6 Steven Eachus 1645 3 9:W 3:W 5:L 2:L 4:L 12:W
7 Richard Gould 1555 3 12:W 1:L 8:W 5:L 2:L 10:W
8 Alan Burns 1339 3 1:L 10:W 7:L 12:W 3:L 11:W
9 Peter Wilson 1246 2.5 6:L 5:L 12:W 10:W 11:L 4:D
10 Adrian Dornford-Smith 962 2 3:L 8:L 11:W 9:L 12:W 7:L
11 Drew Ferguson 1251 1 2:L 12:L 10:L 3:L 9:W 8:L
12 Geoff Hindley 1010 1 7:L 11:W 9:L 8:L 10:L 6:L
Sunday, 1 June 2014
League retrospective and suggestions for the future
Belated congratulations to Fisherwick for winning the Silver King for the fourth time in a row and to Bangor for lifting the Strawbridge Cup. The general consensus is that this has been the most interesting League campaign in some time. I agree with that sentiment - everyone will have their own views about exactly why this was so, but for me the reasons were:
So here, for what they're worth, is a set of proposals for the Belfast and District Leagues 2014-2015:
- the exciting tussle for the Division 1 title (despite - or maybe even enhanced by the bizarre events of the last two weeks);
- the arrival of a new powerhouse in the East (Lindores) and an enhanced and rebadged stalwart (Muldoon's) putting extra pressure on the imperious Fisherwick;
- the general increase in strength on the top boards of a number of teams, with a number of strong local players tempted out of retirement and an influx of foreign talent;
- the extraordinary and continuing ability of Ballynafeigh to add extra numbers to the overall equation (some of the other clubs are catching on here too);
- the revival of second teams at the coaxing of the League Controller.
So here, for what they're worth, is a set of proposals for the Belfast and District Leagues 2014-2015:
- League competition again to be between all the Belfast and District clubs, but over a single round and with no split into two Divisions for the rest of the season. Each club would have to list five designated players.
- Therefore this competition would end about the end of January and the winner would receive the Silver King (Division 1 Championship).
- Alongside the competition for the Silver King would be a revamped Strawbridge Cup which would be contested between reserve teams. As some clubs would not be able to field a team in this, the format would probably be a double rounder but whatever format was used, this also would finish approximately end-January. A club could play all but its five designated players in this subsidiary event.
- The top four teams in the Silver King would take part in a new competition - let's call it the "Top 4" or maybe the "Premiership" - in a double rounder over 6 weeks of competition. Not dissimilar to the part 2 of the League as presently organised, but with all the teams starting from scratch. Maybe we could make this over 4 or 6 boards just to change the dynamic a little bit.
- The remaining clubs (plus perhaps any second teams from the Top 4) would compete in a separate competition. We could perhaps revive the "UCU Plate" name and trophy, last played for about a decade ago, for this.
- Finally, to accommodate the increasing numbers of newbie adult players and also to help existing lower-rated "reserve" players, we could add a second subsidiary event for all clubs - an under 1500 Cup, limited naturally enough to players rated under 1500 (and unrated ones).
- So that clubs would be encouraged to enter these new competitions without worrying about having the numbers to fulfill fixtures, players would be able to compete without restriction in all three competitions (except - with the aim of creating a reasonably level playing field - for the designated players in the Premiership). Also, we might arrange these "sub-Premiership" competitions into 4 player events to assist with numbers.
- Finally - as I've probably cut off at least 6 weeks of the season - if there's sufficient appetite for it, we could make good use of the remaining time by reviving some sort of province-wide Cup competition.
Thursday, 22 May 2014
City of Belfast postponed
Just in case you haven't seen this elsewhere, the 2014 City of Belfast Championship, due to take place this weekend at Ballynafeigh Community Centre, has had to be postponed for two weeks to allow for emergency maintenance at the venue. New dates are 7th-8th June, still at the Ballynafeigh clubroom, with the same format as previously announced by the UCU.
Friday, 11 April 2014
UCU Rapid and Spring Simul
The Ulster Chess Union has recently announced two events for the post Easter period. First up will be the Ulster Rapidplay Championship which first moved to a Spring date two years ago. Last year's renewal was held on Easter Monday and saw a significant increase in numbers. Let's hope that this year's slightly later date continues that healthy trend.
The other event is the Grandmaster Spring Simul. Over the years, when club players were asked what they would like to see the UCU organising, a substantial number suggested a simultaneous exhibition by a GM. Of course good players don't come cheap and you'll only get sufficient numbers turning out if the GM opponent is a well-known figure. Last year, Damien Cunningham took the plunge and came up with former World Championship Challenger Nigel Short. Definitely a good choice and the event got an impressive amount of TV coverage. Even a year later, acquaintances are mentioning that they saw me on TV playing chess - always good for the ego! This year the simul-giver is another English GM - Gawain Jones, well known to Irish players, having lived in Ennis, County Clare for part of his teenage years and still a regular (and very successful) competitor in Irish events. Can he match Short's whitewash of last year?
The other event is the Grandmaster Spring Simul. Over the years, when club players were asked what they would like to see the UCU organising, a substantial number suggested a simultaneous exhibition by a GM. Of course good players don't come cheap and you'll only get sufficient numbers turning out if the GM opponent is a well-known figure. Last year, Damien Cunningham took the plunge and came up with former World Championship Challenger Nigel Short. Definitely a good choice and the event got an impressive amount of TV coverage. Even a year later, acquaintances are mentioning that they saw me on TV playing chess - always good for the ego! This year the simul-giver is another English GM - Gawain Jones, well known to Irish players, having lived in Ennis, County Clare for part of his teenage years and still a regular (and very successful) competitor in Irish events. Can he match Short's whitewash of last year?
Monday, 24 March 2014
High speed chess
I dropped in at the Maynard Sinclair Pavilion towards the end of the 3rd NICS Rapidplay and was witness to some high velocity activity. Hoping to take some photographs of the beginning of the final round, I had positioned myself beside the top boards. Immediately after my first attempt, I heard Adrian Dornford Smith say sorry to me for having moved across my sightline. He kindly posed for a close-up to make amends.
However when I checked the "spoiled" pic, there was no sign of Adrian, just a very blurry image. Has Adrian discovered how to move faster than the speed of light? Unlike Adrian, physics is not my strong point but I seem to remember there was once a theory that if you ran backwards sufficiently quickly you could travel back in time. It appears fast-draw Ferguson has been working on this.
Here Drew (spot his speedy right hand) is just completing his journey backwards in time to a point where Ian Woodfield has played his first move but is yet to press his clock. Meanwhile Paul Anderson and Mike Redman are trying to work out what has just happened with their clock display.
Anyway, back to a more conventional report: top seed Redman put in a blitzkrieg of his own on his six opponents to finish with a 100% score. Here's the final standings direct from the Controller's laptop (BTW Mark, ever thought of cleaning the screen?)
However when I checked the "spoiled" pic, there was no sign of Adrian, just a very blurry image. Has Adrian discovered how to move faster than the speed of light? Unlike Adrian, physics is not my strong point but I seem to remember there was once a theory that if you ran backwards sufficiently quickly you could travel back in time. It appears fast-draw Ferguson has been working on this.
Here Drew (spot his speedy right hand) is just completing his journey backwards in time to a point where Ian Woodfield has played his first move but is yet to press his clock. Meanwhile Paul Anderson and Mike Redman are trying to work out what has just happened with their clock display.
Anyway, back to a more conventional report: top seed Redman put in a blitzkrieg of his own on his six opponents to finish with a 100% score. Here's the final standings direct from the Controller's laptop (BTW Mark, ever thought of cleaning the screen?)
Click on the photos to get full-size images
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