Ilford Congress Results

For many years, when the Congress was held at the Ilford County High School for Girls, Gants Hill, the congress was organised in all-play-all sections of six players. The top section, the Premier, was an invitation event and was always played in a roped-off area in the centre of the main playing hall. Below that, there would be the 'Premier Reserves' sections, perhaps A and B, and the Major sections, at least seven of those - the Webmaster has record of having played in Major 'G' in 1966 - and Junior sections. All were groups of six, all-play-all.

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1st Ilford Chess Congress - 1950

Report from 'Chess':

The Ilford Chess Club (founded 1900) had the happy idea of celebrating their Jubilee by holding a Whitsun Chess Congress with sections of six players each. Their enterprise secured a very good response both in numbers - sixty-six players entered - and in quality; and it would appear from this that a regular Whitsun Congress would, as advertisers say, "fill a long-felt want". It is to be hoped that, as was suggested at the closing ceremony, the organisers are sufficiently encouraged by the success of this congress to launch similar ventures in the future.

The congress was opened at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 26th, by the Mayor of Ilford, Alderman John Barker, and play quickly got under way. In the leading event, the Premier, the organisers had instilled a healthy spice of county rivalry, as the three most promising Essex players of today were opposed by rivals from Middlesex and Surrey.

The tournament resulted as under:-

Premier 1950

		1	2	3	4	5	6	Total
1	D.V. Hooper		½	1	½	1	½	3½
2	J. Penrose	½		½	½	1	1	3½
3	O. Penrose	0	½		½	1	1	3
4	A.W. Bowen	½	½	½		0	½	2
5	Dr S. Fazekas	0	0	0	1		1	2
6	Dr J.M. Aitken	½	0	0	½	0		1

None of the competitors in the tournament really hit quite their top form; this may well have been due partly to the fact that the schedule was necessarily very severe, in order to get five rounds with adjourned games into the limited time available. But this general remark does not imply any depreciation on the achievment of the joint victors, who both played definitely sounder chess than any of their rivals. Each was in serious trouble only in one of their games, Hooper against Penrose himself, and J. Penrose against Bowen in the last round.

O. Penrose came an excellent third and was undefeated until the last round. The other players all in varying degrees disappointed. Bowen was reasonably consistent and tenacious when in difficulties but he was not capitalizing his advantages correctly;Fazekas redeemed a lamentable start by vigorous wins in the last two rounds; while Aitken reversed this procedure and met a succession of disasters fater only a moderate start.

The quality of the play was on the whole reasonably good without being distinguished. While the tournament was freer than some from atrocious howlers or spectacular blunders, it was on the other hand lacking in games that bear the hallmark of true quality.

The prize-winners in the other sections were as follows:-

Major A
1-2 Dr B Sturgeon, H.I. Woolverton, 3½/5...

Major B
1 D.V. Lofts, 3½; 2-3 W.G. Whitaker, J.W. Naylor, 3...

Major C
I. Steinberg, 3½; 2 D. Castello, 3...

Major D
1-2 E.F. Norris, J.R. Read, 3½...

Open A
1 P.H. Clarke, 5; 2 D.H. Imrie, 3...

Open B
1 C.R. Worthing, 4; 2 Arthur J Potter, 3½...

Open C
1 E.J. Holmes, 5; 2-3 S.A. Wilkinson, D. Gowler, 3...

Open D
1 R. Chamberlaine, 4; 2 R. Lane, 3½...

All sections six players each

66 entries

Source: Chess - View original report

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4th Ilford Chess Congress - 1953

Report by Harry Golombek, in 'Chess':

The annual Whitsun Congress goes from strngth to strength every year. This time there were no less than 108 competitors and many of the sections were very strong indeed. Great credit goes to the valiant band of organisers, with Messrs. Pugh and Glyde at the head. These not only put in an enormous amount of work beforehand but also strove with success to make the event turn on oiled wheels when actually in progress.

There was an excellent entry for the main tournament, the Premier, in which the present British Champion and a former holder of the title both competed. The favourite, C.H.O'D. Alexander, won first prize without ever being hard pressed. In no game did he have the inferior position and he certainly played the best chess of the congress. He made a flying start by winning nicely against Dr. Fazekas in the first round, but was then well held to a draw by Wade in Round 2. and Phillpis in Round 3. An easy victory in Round 4, over Hooper, meant that he only required a draw from his last-round game, against Blaine, and this he duly achieved without much trouble.

Premier 1953

		1	2	3	4	5	6	Total
1	C.H. O'D Alexander		½	1	½	1	½	3½
2	M. Blaine	½		½	1	0	½	2½
3	D.V. Hooper	0	½		½	1	½	2½
4	R.G. Wade	½	0	½		1	½	2½
5	Dr. S. Fazekas	0	1	0	0		1	2
6	A. Phillips	½	½	½	½	0		2

The tie for second, third and fourth places between Blaine, Hooper and Wade seemed at one stage far from likely. For, when the last round was reached Blaine, Dr. Fazekas, and Hooper all had 2 points each, whilst Wade and Phillips seemed likely candidates for bottom place, with 1½ points each. Hooper offered Phillips a draw in a positionwhere he seemed to have some advantage, but this was rejected by his optimistic opponent, who, however, rleented next move and accepted the draw. Dr. Fazekas and Wade had a game full of ups-and-downs - and blunders. First Dr. Fazekas obtained the better game; then Wade won a piece and could, indeed, have won a second piece but overlooked it. Then again Wade lost back the piece and with Queen, Rook, and three pawns against Dr. Fazekas's Queen, Rook, and two pawns on the same side a draw seemed certain. But instead of exchanging queens and coming down to a dead drawn Rook-and pawn ending, Dr. Fazekas deliberately exchanged off both Rook and Queen when, of course, the pawn ending was lost. Thus a swift change of fortune elevated Wade form equal bottom to equal second, and lowered Dr. Fazekas from second alone to the position Wade might have occupied.

A most curious feature of the tournament was that White did not win a single game but Black won seven. Surely this must be unique in the history of tournament chess.

Premier Reserves 1953

		1	2	3	4	5	6	Total
1	P.J. Oakley		½	½	1	1	1	4
2	P.H. Clarke	½		½	1	½	1	3½
3	W. Heidenfeld	½	½		0	1	1	3
4	Dr. D.B. Scott	0	0	1		½	0	1½
5	A.F. Truscott	0	½	0	½		½	1½
6	H.I. Woolverton	0	0	0	1	½		1½

The results of the other sections were as follows:-

Major A
1st= J.F. Barrett, N.A. Perkins, 4; 3rd R.A. Slade, 3; 4-5= P.B. Cook, A.J. Morrell, 1½; 6th J.B. Hawson, 1.

Major B
1st= Dr. W.G. Barb, O.H. Hardy, E.W. Harrison, J.B. Howson, 3; 5th M. Ellinger, 2½; 6th M.R. Porter, ½.

Major C
1st J.V. Sheldrake, 4½; 2nd S.G. Hayes, 3½; 3rd J.F.S. Rumble, 2½; 4th D. Castello, 2; 5th S. Schroder, 1½; 6th I.J. Benson, 1.

Major D
1st D. Townley, 3½; 2nd L. Turnovsky, 3; 3rd= K.I. Meyer, J.R. Read, 2½; 5th D. Gowler, 2; 6th A. Schofield, 1½.

Major E
1st D. Groen, 5; 2nd W.W. Coe, 4; 3rd T.J. Wheeler, 3; 4th H. Gosling, 2; 5th R.J. Nash, 1; 6th C.C. Turpin, 0.

Major F
1st L.G. Huntingford, 4½; 2nd R.W. Ives, 3; 3rd L. Vine, 2½; 4th G.O.J. Melitus, 2; 5th= G.F. Gray, D.L. Samuels, 1.

Major G
1st J. Petterson, 5; 2nd S.A. Wilkinson, 3½; 3rd G.W. Henlen, 3; 4th D.A. Thomas, 2; 5th R. Dixon, 6th K.W. Wycherley, ½.

Major H
1st A. Flood, 4½; 2nd S.H.C. Lucas, 3½; 3rd R.A. Fuller, 2½; 4th R.O. Stephenson, 2; 5th Arthur J. Potter, 1½;
6th R.A. Hubbard, 1.

Major I
1st= A. Hills, J.A. Speigel, 4; 3rd K.C. Messere, 3; 4th D.H.R. Stallybrass, 2; 5th= F.H. Farman, D.H. Imrie, 1.

Open A
1st L.J. Burtt, 4; 2nd G.B. Hardingham, 3; 3rd = N. Corey, F.C. Shorter, 2½; 5th P.C. Doye, 2; 6th R.F. Edwards, 1.

Open B
1st S. Leff, 4½; 2nd= J.F. Pascoe, W. Pealling, J. Rosenberg, 3; 5th= Mrs S.E.L. Wheeler, P. Crotty, ½.

Open C
1st K.E. Stanley, 3½; 2nd W.L. Bush, 3; 3rd= P.S. Gill, A.G. Ransley, 2½; 5th= Miss N.F. Harris, Mrs J. Ives, 1½.

Open D
1st L.P. Day, 5; 2nd E. Mann, 3½; 3rd D. Messere, 3 4th R. Lane, 2½; 5th Miss L. Anness, 1; 6th Major W.J. Titmas, 0.

Junior A
1st= D.F. Brook, L. O'Sullivan, 4; 3rd P.G. Robinson, 2½; 4th= J. McVicar, D.J. Saady, J.P., Sheehan, 1½.

Junior B
1st I.K. Dallison, 3½; 2nd P.W. Haddock, 3; 3rd= B.E. Boutel, L. Smith, 2½; 5th P.D. Green, 2; 6th G. Benfield, 1½.

Junior C
1st P.F. Wells, 2nd T. Goodhill, 4; 3rd G.R. Barker, 3; 4th J. Briggs, 2; 5th= A. Jarvis, Miss F. Soesan, 1;

All sections 6 players each

108 entries

Source: Chess - View original report

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7th Ilford Chess Congress - 1956

Premier 1956

		1	2	3	4	5	6	Total
1	C. Kottnauer		½	1	1	1	1	4½
2	A. Phillips	½		0	½	½	1	2½
3	P.H. Clarke	0	1		½	½	½	2½
4	R.G. Wade	0	½	½		1	½	2½
5	M.J. Franklin	0	½	½	0		1	2
6	Dr S. Fazekas	0	0	½	½	0		1
Source: Britbase/ChessBase

All 1956 Ilford Premier games in DGT Chess Theatre

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15th Ilford Chess Congress - 1964

Premier 1964

		1	2	3	4	5	6	Total
1	J. Penrose		1	1	1	1	½	4½
2	P.H. Clarke	0		1	½	½	½	2½
3	N. Littlewood	0	0		½	1	1	2½
4	D.V. Mardle	0	½	½		½	½	2
5	R.G. Wade	0	½	0	½		1	2
6	M. Blaine	½	½	0	½	0		1½
Source: Britbase/ChessBase

All 1964 Ilford Premier games in DGT Chess Theatre

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16th Ilford Chess Congress - 1965

Premier 1965

		1	2	3	4	5	6	Total
1	Dr S. Fazekas		½	½	½	1	1	3½
2	W.R. Hartston	½		1	0	1	1	3½
3	N. Littlewood	½	0		1	1	1	3½
4	R.G. Wade	½	1	0		0	1	2½
5	J.E. Littlewood	0	0	0	1		½	1½
6	M.J. Franklin	0	0	0	0	½		½

Source: "Chess", August 1965

All 1965 Ilford Premier games in DGT Chess Theatre

Five games from other sections in DGT Chess Theatre

Game from Junior B - L. Klein v John Nunn

Premier Reserves A
1 R.D. Keene, 3½; 2 T. Goodhill, 3; 3-4 K.W. Lloyd, G.W. Wheeler, 2½; 5 A. Whiteley, 2; 6 R. Cosulich, 1½.

Premier Reserves B
1-2 A.J. Booth, G.A. Dickson, 3½; 3 W.A. Winser, 3; 4 P.L. Roe, 2; 5-6 J. Ebbett, D. Sherman, 1½.

Major A
1 R.J. Stockwell, 4; 2 A.J. McMinn, 3½; 3 D.J. Strauss, 3; I.B.N. Smith, 2; 4 R.G.W. Elwell, 1½; 6 J.T. Pascoe, 1.

Major B
1 J.G. Enticknapp, 4; 2 R.F. Harman, 3½; 3 K.M. Oliff, 3; 4 R.W.H. Polley, 2½; 5 I.A. Friedlander, 1½; 6 A.J. Coldrick, ½

Major C
1-4 Miss E Tranmer, R.C. Bellinger, F.C. Manning, Dr. P.D. Ralph, 3; 5 P.J. Romilly, 2; 6 S. Goldstein, 1.

Major D
1 J.G. Hudson, I. McDonald, 4; 3 K.G. Hyde, 2½; 4-5 J. Eyre, P. Parr, 2; 6 J.A. Speigel, ½.

Major E
1 K. Pruchnicki, 4; 2-3 K. Wilkinson, B.L. McCague, 3½; 4 R. Pool, 2; 5 W.E. Hollingdale, 1½; 6 H.T. Ennis, ½.
Major F

1-2 D.R. Smith, R.H. Watson, 3½; 3 H.M. Wilkins, 2½; 4-5 E.L. Harmer, P.C. Wood, 2; 6 P. Griffiths, 1½.

Major G
1-2 S.R. Capsey, A. Cohen, 3½; 3 D. Watt, 3; 4 A.J. Lait, 2½; 5 M. Brooks, 2; 6 G.F. Yates, ½.

Major H
1-2 Miss D. Dobson, J.G. Jones, 3½; 3 K.M. Hogan, 3; 4 D. Mayers, 2; 5-6 R.I. Turnbull, S. Wilkinson, 1½

Major J
1 G.S. Jacobs, 4½; 2 A. Torn, 4; 3 M.H. Hawley, 2½; 4 J.R. Cotterell, 2; 5-6 D. Castello, H.M. Lawrence, 1.

Major K
1 T. McDade, 2-3 A.J. Brooks, C.J. Tisdell, 3; 4 K.W. Wycherley, 2½; 5 A.J. Potter, 2; 6 H. Gosling, 0.

Major L
1 P. Hershman, 4½; 2 G. Merriman, 4; 3 K. Peters, 3; 4 R. Denston, 2; 5 J. Silvane, 1; 6 M.R. Spinks, ½.

Major M
1 K.M. Weinhold, 5; 2 W. Peeling, 3½; 3 W.J. Thompson, 3; 4 D.G. Ford, 2½; 5 W. Latey, 1; 6 D.M. Hewitt, 0.

Major N
1 A.M.B. Gilder, 4; 2 A. Silvane, 3; 3-5 C.A. Blaxley, H.G. Crews, S.J. Emmerton, 2½; 6 Dr. N.P. Richard, ½.

Major Extra A
1 J.D. Flynn, 4½; 2 J.N. Sugden, 4; 3 C.A.S. Damant, 3; 4 P. Williams, 2½; 5-6 J.M. Gorton, K.S. O'Byrne, ½.

Major Extra B
1 H. More, 3½, 2 P. Vargas, 2½; 3 W.H. Norris, 2; 4 M.J. Coverney, 1½; 5 R.M. Cherry, ½. (5 players only)

Open A
1 C.V. Cadden, 4½; 2 R.L. Goad, 4; 3 A. Glanville, 2½; 4-5 D. Cohen, R.J. Saunders, 2; 6 J. Buis, 0.

Open B
=1 Mrs K. Green, G.O.J. Mellitus, 3½; 3 T.G. Congdon, 3; =4 E. Newnham, W.R. Rayner, 2; 6 E.S. Symonds, 1.

Open C
1 A.A. Brown, 5; 2 Miss E. Whyte, 3; =3 G. Burnett, V. Jenkins, F.C. Shorter, 2; 6 R.H. Shaw, 1.

Open D
1 P.J. Moore, 5; =2 F.H. Fryatt, Rev. Wright, 3; 4 Lady Herbert, 2½; 5 J. Marron, 1½; 6 P. Rosewall, 0.

Junior A
1 B. Osterberg; 4½; 2 S. McMillan, 3½; 3 J. Cavill, 3; 4 D.K. Turnbull, 2½; 5 M.C. Aboudara, 1½; 6 S. Courtney, 0.

Junior B
=1 J. Nunn, M. Frankel, 4; 3 P.W. Loyd, 3; 4 P. Gue, 2½; 5 L. Klein, 1½; 6 D. Eaton, 0.

Junior C
1 P.M.N. Johnstone, 4; 2 P. Scott, 3½; =3 M. Bernie, H.R. Goddard, M. Toone, 2; 6 J. Everitt, 1½.

Junior D
1 R.J. Richmond, 4½; 2 R. Loveridge, 4; 3 V.A. Torn, 2½; 4 P.E. Blackman, 2; =5 P. Haskell, A. Swain, 1.

155 entries in all.

Source: Essex Chess Bulletin, No. 3, June 1965 - with thanks to Ivor Smith.

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17th Ilford Chess Congress - 1966

Premier 1966

		1	2	3	4	5	6	Total
1	P.N. Lee		½	½	½	1	1	3½
2	P.H. Clarke	½		½	1	½	½	3
3	R.D. Keene	½	½		½	½	½	2½
4	Dr S. Fazekas	½	0	½		½	1	2½
5	R.G. Wade	0	½	½	½		1	2½
6	M.J. Franklin	0	½	½	0	0		1
Source: "Chess", June 1966

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18th Ilford Chess Congress - 1967

Premier 1967

		1	2	3	4	5	6	Total
1	P.H. Clarke		½	½	½	½	1	3
2	C. Kottnauer	½		1	½	0	1	3
3	R. Persitz	½	0		½	1	1	3
4	R.D. Keene	½	½	½		½	½	2½
5	P.N. Lee	½	1	0	½		0	2
6	J.B. Howson	0	0	0	½	1		1½

Source: "Chess", July 1967

Apart from three players coming =1st, as in 1965, the event was also remarkable for the second successive year in which Ray Keene drew every game; 10 successive draws in all.

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35th Ilford Chess Congress - 1984

Report by Harry Woolverton in the Ilford Recorder:

"The Coopers & Coburn School at Upminster which proved so satisfactory a venue last year again hosted the 35th of the series of Essex congresses which started at Ilford in 1950. The spacious accommodation together with essential facilities make it eminently suitable for the holding of a large chess gathering.

The entry this year was strong even if short in numbers. 14 of those listed for the Open tournament were graded in excess of 190. The appearance of the remarkable young Bolton player, Nigel Short, at 18 a tall gangling youth who remains pleasantly boyish and who is quite unspoilt by his phenomenal performances, was the main attraction. But although fresh from the winning of a strong tournament in the Soviet Union, he finished ½ point behind another young star, Danny King with whom he fought a hard draw in the last round. Andrew Martin of East Ham, the highest placed Essex player, also shared 2nd place along with J Gallagher. Julian Hodgson, another former infant prodigy, had a disappointing result and finished on 3½, but in these days of win at all costs, it is refreshing to see a top class player accept defeat with such charming grace as Julian does.

The last round pairings of the leaders were:

Short (4½) ½-½ King (5)
Martin (4) 1-0 Halpin (4)
Gallagher (4) 1-0 Hodgson (3½)

Leading scores: D J King 5½, N Short, A Martin and J Gallagher 5, C S Crouch, N Sugden and G Crawley 4½.

Other Essex players scored as follows: I J Myall (Writtle) 3½, M Abrahams (Ilford), A J Phillips and R S Purse (Romford) each with 3, L J Crane (Chelmsford), J D Bakhshi (Old Parks), D Millward (Writtle), R Ellames and J Rogers (both Brentwood (2½), C Ramage )Barking) 2, M Rahaman (Upminster) 1½.

Entries for the Open 69.

Major: M Lyell 6/6, N Crawley (Barking), P Byrne and E Vosa each scored 5, S Land 5½.

Entries for the Major - 100

The main weight of the organisation of the congress fell upon Roy Watts of Upminster".

Harry Woolverton for the Ilford Recorder

Two games from the 1984 Open in DGT Chess Theatre

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47th Ilford Chess Congress - 1996

Report by Peter Walker for the Ilford Recorder:

The 47th Essex Chess Association Congress was held for the first time at Woodlands School, Basildon, and it cannot be said that it was an unqualified success in spite of the hard work of John Sargent and the remainder of the ECA Congress Committee. There were insufficient entries to support an Open Championship and a "Premier" was hastily formed from the few entrants that there were, with greatly reduced prize money. The Major tournament, for players graded under 150, and the Minor, for those under 110, went ahead as planned, but the total entry for the entire Congress was only 98.

Precisely why this was is not entirely clear. Some London-based players no doubt stayed away because of the extra travelling involved (for many years the event has been held in one of the London borough schools which for chess purposes is considered to be Essex). Others were unhappy about the entry fee, which at £25 for the Open might well have dissuaded some competitors.No doubt the Congress Committee will come to a suitable conclusion in plenty of time for next year's event.

The Premier tournament involved fourteen players, and the proceedings were so thoroughly dominated by Scottish 15-year-old Eddie Dearing that by the end of the second day he had a lead of 1½ points with two rounds to go. Originally from Perth, Eddie now lives in Chelmsford and attends the Rainsford School. Such has been the improvement in his chess during the past twelve months that he must now be a serious threat to Karl Mah's hitherto unrivalled supremacy amongst the juniors of Essex. Eddie agreed draws in both of his games on the last day, although in both cases he rejected aggressive lines of play which may well have been winning for him in favour of more solid lines which assured him of first place in the event. Three players shared second place on 4 points. They were Robert McFarland (Lichfield), Andrew Stone (Pinner) and John Friedland (Wood Green).

Another junior dominated the Major tournament, in this case one with no Essex connections whatsoever, other than that he regularly seems to help himself to prize money when he visits the County! Thirteen-year-old Toby Stock (Folkestone) scored 5/6, half a point ahead of four others, to take the £240 first prize. Toby's one loss was to Matthew Broomfield (South Norwood), a mere twelve-year-old, but Matthew finished amongst the group in second place. Jack Speigel (Southend) also scored 4½ as did John Simmons (Wanstead) and Chris Briscoe (Hampton).

In the Minor section, the first prize was actually won by someone old enough to vote. Geoffrey Bishop (Lewisham) scored an impressive 5½/6 to finish half-a-point ahead of Steve Collins (Chelmsford) 5. Three players shared third place on 4½. They were Barry Archer (Hadleigh), William McLaughlin (Metropolitan) and 12-year-old Simon Thanesan (Maidstone).

Peter Walker for the Ilford Recorder

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49th Ilford Chess Congress - 1998

Report by Peter Walker for the Ilford Recorder:

The Essex Chess Association Annual Congress, which took place for the third consecutive year at Woodlands School in Basildon, represented another financial loss for the Association. A meagre total of 97 competitors participated when at least 120 were needed for the congress to break even. It is not surprising that a number of players, especially strong players, are absent, as there was a full weekend of activity in the Four Nations Chess League and, as reported in last week's Recorder, a fair number of Essex players were involved in the Capelle la Grande journey with the King's Head Club. Of course, increased numbers of chess events are all very laudable, but it seems to be the case that there are simply not enough chess players available to support them all.

The Open Championship in Basildon was contested by 21 players, although withdrawals reduced this to 18 by the start of the last round. The only "upset" was Lawrence Trent's win over Tim Spanton, in which Lawrence was outgraded by some 49 points. However, recent form suggests that Lawrence is probably playing around the 180 mark anyway. Lawrence has recently been selected to represent England in the European under-12 Championships which take place in Austria next month, and another competitor in the Basildon event, Thomas Rendle, has been selected for the World Championships in Barcelona in the Autumn, so it was especially interesting to compare their results. There was no doubt that Lawrence had the better tournament as, although the two of them finished on 2/6, Thomas lost his first two games and was then given a 1-point bye. Lawrence lost rounds 2 and 3, his third round opponent being a child prodigy from the 1960s, one Francis Rayner, whose piano playing was so outstanding as a 9-year-old that the BBC made a documentary about him. Francis is still a concert pianist by profession, but plays chess for Wales in his spare time.

Only three players won their first two games. They were Carsten Hansen, a Danish player currently resident in Colchester, Nick Thomas (Leytonstone) and Donald Mason (Solihull). Since both Nick and Donald elected to take half-point byes in round 3, Carsten took advantage of their absence to become the only player to reach 3/3, by winning his game against Bertrand Barlow (Cavendish). On Donald Mason's return for round 4, he found himself facing the Dane and succeeded in holding the draw. Paul Georghiou (Barnet) then joined Carsten on 3/4 by beating John Guilfoyle (Islington). They both reached 4, Carsten beating Nick Thomas and Paul beating Donald Mason, before agreeing a final round draw which enabled them to share the prize money.

The under-160 competition was won by Vladimir Kapanadze (Wood Green). Whereas it is quite common for juniors like Lawrence Trent to play chess of a quality far higher than their grades would imply is likely, this phenomenon is rare in adults. Vladimir has demonstrated in several tournaments that his grade of 128 is very much lower than his true ability, and his 5/6 was actually a grading performance of about 170. Ralph Newton (Rayleigh) was second alongside Ilya Shevelev (Middlesex) and Thirumurugan Thiruchelvam (Richmond), Britain's strongest 9-year-old and England's representative in the under-10 section of the European Championships.

Julian Winkworth (Wanstead) played especially well to share the under-120 title. Julian, another 12-year-old, has been playing at this level a relatively short period of time but has turned in some fine performances in recent months. The two others to score 5/6 were Laurence Cornhill (York) and Andrew Talbot (Rugby).

Peter Walker for the Ilford Recorder

 

 

 

 

 

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