An extraordinary conclusion to the two Championship sections saw the lead switch hands twice in each on the last day, though not so damaging in the Minor.
In the Essex Championship section, defending Champion, FM Bob Eames, led after Saturday’s three rounds with 3/3. Russell White was his nearest challenger on 2½/3. They were paired together in Round 4 on Saturday morning and Russell stunned Bob with a brilliant attack, first a passive sacrifice of a rook, then offering a bishop, all to remove defenders for a mating combination. Bob managed to stave off the initial attack, but Russell had the wherewithal to win with a resulting passed pawn and took over the lead on 3½/4. Meanwhile, Radu Bara joined Bob in second spot on 3/4. But the fireworks were not over. In the last round, new leader Russell was taken aback when Radu beat him and, when John Cawdery completed Bob’s misery by inflicting on him his second defeat, Radu had snatched the Championship outright. Radu said he was lucky, but he made his own luck, recovering from a second round loss to Ralys Vincas to win his remaining games; but he still needed other results to go his way.
Congratulations to Radu Bara on his first success as Essex Champion! John Cawdery, with his game-changing win in the last round, advanced into second place with Russell, both on 3½/5; Bob Eames 3/5. All the Championship games are on the Essex Championships 2026 page – links below.
Similar juggling of places over the last two rounds occurred in the Essex Minor Championship (U1900), though this was a much tighter contest so the changes had a less drastic effect. After three rounds three players shared the lead on 2½: Ryan Colclough, Venkatesh Subramanian and Joshua Davis. In Round 4, Ryan defeated Joshua to take the sole lead, while Venkatesh shared the point with Peter Laundy. Scores after 4 Rounds: Ryan 3½, Venkatesh 3.
In the last round, Ryan stumbled to defeat against George Scola, so finished on 3½/5. But Venkatesh also lost, to Peter Alldridge, and Joshua was held to a draw by Mary Cawdery. The finishing scores show the top seven players within half a point of each other! There was a triple tie on 3½/5 between Ryan, Peter Alldridge and George Scola, followed by a quadruple tie on 3/5 between Mary, Joshua and Andrew Willoughby. Ryan regains the Minor Championship, which he last held in 2024, on tie-break of Sum of Progressive Scores. Congratulations Ryan! ECF LMS link below.
In the U1600 section, more hi-jinks as leader after three, Arjun Kumaran (3/3), lost in Round 4, to Thomas Farmer, who, in contrast to the other two sections completed a consistent tournament: having taken a half point bye in R3, he won all of the four games he played, to finish in 1st place with 4½/5. Leading final positions: 1st Thomas Farmer 4½/5; 2nd Arjun Kumaran 4; =3rd Andrew Daniel, Hantin Wang, Alistair Baillie, 3½. Congratulations Tom! ECF LMS link below.
“Three cracking tournaments!” was organiser Mark Murrell’s comment, after a very successful, weekend. Five games in two days is not just a tough schedule for the players; congratulations to organiser Mark Murrell for his hard work in bringing off three such exciting events and thanks to Arbiter James Robinson. Also, thanks to Ben Harte and Robin Slade who also gave up their time to support the junior contingent.
Gallery slideshow is also on the Championships page.
Links: Essex Championships page | ExCH on ECF LMS | ExU1900 on ECF LMS | Ex U1600 on ECF LMS | Archive: Champions