Exmouth Chess Club got their new season off to their traditional start of the dreaded Buzzer Tournament. Key to the whole event is the battery-powered, home-made device that emits an unmistakable, unmissable warbling buzz every 10 seconds. Whoever’s move it is must move immediately the buzzer sounds, after which the opponent has 10 seconds thinking time.
It never fails to amaze and amuse, the extent to which those 10 seconds seem to vary, from the time one is playing the 1st 6 moves of one’s favourite opening to the final 6 moves or so, when fending off an attack that seems to come from all directions. They’re not the same thing at all.
In spite of the dreaded prospect of a whole evening of this mode of torture, 11 members were keen to get stuck in. In spite of the disparity in grades, the six lowest-graded players all beat someone of a higher grade, and all the top players lost a game, with the exception of FIDE Master Walter Braun, and even he dropped a half point before he got up a head of steam.
The final chart looked like this:
| Name | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Total | ||
| 1 | Bob Jones | 138 | X | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 5½ |
| 2 | Malcolm Belt | 118 | 1 | X | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2½ |
| 3 | Ivor Grist | 75 | 0 | 0 | X | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Barbara Newcombe | 83 | 0 | ½ | 0 | X | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2½ |
| 5 | Chris Scott | 150 | 0 | – | 1 | 1 | X | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 4½ |
| 6 | Alan Dean | 139 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | X | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4½ |
| 7 | Mark Abbott | 177 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | X | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 6 |
| 8 | Simon Blake | 102 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | X | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3½ |
| 9 | Meyrick Shaw | 186 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | X | 0 | ½ | 8½ |
| 10 | Walter Braun | 190e | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | X | 1 | 9½ |
| 11 | Oliver Wensley | 164 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | X | 6 |
Walter Braun (nearest) & Malcom Belt deep in thought. In the backgound Barbara Newcombe plays Club President Mark Abbott and Oliver Wensley faces Simon Blake.
Scott vs Braun & Grist vs Belt, while Alan Dean watches developments.
Wensley vs Blake alongside Newcombe vs Abbott
