ECF rated Christmas Blitz, 20 December
Organiser: Tournament Secretary, Mark Murrell
Controller: Ian Hunnable
Pairings: Vega 8 by Luigi
Format: Nine rounds, G4+2 Blitz
Ratings for pairings: Rapid (Blitz rating list is not yet sufficiently mature)
Introduction
The “Club evening that wasn’t” turned into a Christmas Cracker to remember. Originally, Wanstead House was not going to be open on this last Tuesday before Christmas, but reversal of this decision allowed one more Club evening for which, of course, nothing had been planned. A perfect opportunity to generate more Blitz results for members to add to their new ECF Blitz ratings by holding a Christmas Blitz.
And very popular it was! There were 28 entries, including three invited guests, for whom 9 rounds at G4+2 provided an excellent format.
Guests Colin Ramage from Barking, Robin Oakley from Chingford and one-time Club member, now from Coventry, Dave Filer, helped make a festive evening. In addition to club night regulars, we had the most welcome return of David Spearman and a cross-section of Junior Club.
Bolstered by Ashley’s mince pies – thank you, Ashley – the assembled company produced a pulsating evening of Blitz chess; a veritable Christmas Cracker!
Cross table
Pos NAME Grd T Fed Pts | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | Cmlt BucT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Cawdery, John 2038 ENG 7.0 | +B19 +W11 =B4 =W2 +B12 +W3 -B6 +W7 +B8 | 35.5 49.5 2 Spearman, David 2081 ENG 7.0 | +W23 =B8 =W5 =B1 +W15 +W4 +B3 +W6 =B7 | 34.0 49.0 3 Ramage, Colin R 1852 ENG 6.5 | +B24 +B5 +W6 +W7 +B8 -B1 -W2 =B4 +W11 | 37.0 50.0 4 Murrell, Mark R A 1898 ENG 6.0 | +B14 +W18 =W1 -B8 +W10 -B2 +B12 =W3 +B13 | 30.5 50.5 5 Hodgson, John H 2154 ENG 6.0 | +B17 -W3 =B2 +W20 +B11 =W7 +B13 -W8 +B6 | 29.5 47.5 6 Freeman, Ashley 1976 ENG 5.5 | +B12 +W20 -B3 +W19 =B7 +W8 +W1 -B2 -W5 | 32.5 49.5 7 Whitton, Terry D 1906 ENG 5.5 | +W15 +B16 +W9 -B3 =W6 =B5 +W11 -B1 =W2 | 32.0 50.5 8 Barclay, Paul R 1770 ENG 5.5 | +B26 =W2 +B13 +W4 -W3 -B6 +W17 +B5 -W1 | 31.0 48.0 9 Veselow, Zoe 1275 ENG 5.5 | +B13 +W17 -B7 -W11 +B19 -W12 =B10 +W14 +W22 | 26.5 42.0 10 Mukherjee, Aradhya 1532 ENG 5.5 | -- +W24 +B18 -W12 -B4 +B23 =W9 +B15 +W16 | 23.5 39.0 11 Oakley, Robin J 1800 ENG 5.0 | +W25 -B1 +W23 +B9 -W5 +B17 -B7 +W12 -B3 | 28.0 43.5 12 Demetriou, Jay 1352 ENG 5.0 | -W6 +B21 +W14 +B10 -W1 +B9 -W4 -B11 +W19 | 26.0 46.5 13 Staniland, Philip 1898 ENG 5.0 | -W9 +B14 -W8 +B18 +W23 +B15 -W5 +B19 -W4 | 25.0 42.0 14 Dohon, Almas 1300 ENG 4.5 | -W4 -W13 -B12 +B26 +W22 +B16 =W19 -B9 +W21 | 17.5 37.0 15 Qureshi, Zain 1319 ENG 4.0 | -B7 +W22 =B20 +W16 -B2 -W13 =B23 -W10 +B25 | 20.0 38.5 16 Nickals, Peter A 1640 ENG 4.0 | +B22 -W7 -B19 -B15 +W25 -W14 +B20 +W17 -B10 | 19.0 35.5 17 Filer, David 1617 ENG 4.0 | -W5 -B9 +W26 +B25 +W20 -W11 -B8 -B16 +W24 | 19.0 34.0 18 Green, Alfred 1371 ENG 4.0 | +B28 -B4 -W10 -W13 +B21 -W19 -B22 +W26 +B23 | 17.0 35.5 19 Hutcheson, Ivan 1421 ENG 3.5 | -W1 +B25 +W16 -B6 -W9 +B18 =B14 -W13 -B12 | 20.5 41.5 20 Lataille, Matthias 1656 ENG 3.5 | +W21 -B6 =W15 -B5 -B17 +W24 -W16 -B22 +W26 | 17.5 34.0 21 Suresh, Karun 755 ENG 3.5 | -B20 -W12 +B24 -B23 -W18 =W22 +B26 +W25 -B14 | 14.0 28.0 22 Hau, Hayden Cheuk Yiu 700 ENG 3.5 | -W16 -B15 -W25 +W24 -B14 =B21 +W18 +W20 -B9 | 13.0 32.5 23 Smith, David 1517 ENG 3.0 | -B2 +W26 -B11 +W21 -B13 -W10 =W15 =B24 -W18 | 16.5 38.0 24 Read, Paul 1182 ENG 2.5 | -W3 -B10 -W21 -B22 +W26 -B20 +B25 =W23 -B17 | 9.0 32.0 25 O'Regan, A Fin 1037 ENG 1.0 | -B11 -W19 +B22 -W17 -B16 -B26 -W24 -B21 -W15 | 7.0 31.0 26 Sethi, Ishaan 837 ENG 1.0 | -W8 -B23 -B17 -W14 -B24 +W25 -W21 -B18 -B20 | 4.0 31.5 27 Patnam, Aaryan (W) 700 ENG 0.0 | -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- | 0.0 27.0 28 Hunnable, Ian D (W) 1990 ENG 0.0 | -W18 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- | 0.0 26.0 Generated by Vega - www.vegachess.com
Tournament report
Naming convention in the following report:
First names arre used, unless more than one player in the tournament has the same first name. Refer to above cross table or full names.
There were few shocks in Round 1.
In Round 2 the action started when Colin beat John Hodgson, after an exchange of blunders. Paul Barclay held David Spearman to a draw.
Round 3 saw Mark draw with John Cawdery while Colin continued to make a mark with a win against Ashley.
Leaders after 3: 1 Colin and Terry, 3/3; =3 Paul Barclay, Mark, John Cawdery, 2½; =6 David Spearman, Ashley, Ivan, Zoe, Robin, Aradhya, Jay, 2.
In Round 4 Colin continued his good start by winning the clash of the leaders to take the point off Terry while John Cawdery and David Spearman shared the point and Paul Barclay continued with a win against Mark. Ashley, Robin and Jay stayed in touch beating respectively, van, Zoe and Aradhya. So after four rounds, there were remarkably a single occupant of the first two spots.
Leaders: 1 Colin, 4/4; 2 Paul Barclay 3; =3 John Cawdery, Jay, Ashley, Terry, Robin, 3½.
Round 5 and Colin continued to forge ahead, maintaining his 100% record with the point against Paul Barclay. Wins also for John Cawdery (v Jay), John Hodgson (v Robin), David Spearman (v Zain) and Mark (v Aradhya). Terry and Ashley agreed terms.
Leaders after 5: 1 Colin 5/5; 2 John Cawdery, 4; =3 John Hodgson, Terry, David Spearman, Mark, Ashley, Paul Barclay, 3½.
Round 6: John Cawdery dealt Colin his first defeat, John Hodgson shared the point with Terry, David Spearman kept up with the leaders beating Mark as did Ashley with the win against Paul Barclay.
Leaders: 1 Colin, John Cawdery, 5/6; =3 David Spearman, Ashley 4½; =5 John Hodgson, Philip, Terry, Robin, Jay, 4.
Round 7 and all change: the two leaders both lost, Colin to David Spearman and John Cawdery to Ashley, the winners from these two pairings taking over at the top from their respective opponents. With just two rounds after this, for those on 4/6 only wins would do to chase a podium spot and it was John Hodgson (v Philip) and Terry (v Robin) who met this requirement.
Leaders after 7: 1 David Spearman, Ashley 5½/7; =3 John Cawdery, Terry, John Hodgson, Colin 5; =7 Paul Barclay, Mark, 4½.
Penultimate round, Round 8: the Board 1 pairing of the leaders finished with a win for David Spearman v Ashley who now also saw John Cawdery, with a win v Terry, overtake him. Paul Barclay dealt John Hodgson a blow, while Mark and Colin shared the point.
Leaders with just one to go: 1 David Spearman, 6½; 2 John Cawdery, 6; =3 Paul Barclay, Ashley, Colin, 5½.
Last round, Round 9: David Spearman, leader by ½ a point, needed a win to win outright, but was held to a draw by Terry allowing John Cawdery, with a win against Paul Barclay, not only to join David on the top step, but to take first place on tie-break. Colin finished a lone 3rd with a final win (v Robin, his first since R5), while Mark beat Philip and John had a final success against Ashley to complete the podium places.
Final positions
=1st John Cawdery, David Spearman, 7/9;
3rd Colin, 6½;
=4th Mark, John Hodgson, 6.
Honourable mention
Just missed podium: Ashley, Terry, Paul Barclay, Zoe, 5½/9; and Aradhya, 5½/8.
28 players.
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