100th British – Rd. 9

"British" logos on the front: l-r: Peter Nickels; Devdoot Barman; Kevin Sweeny; Phillip Staniland; Mark "Grace" Murrell & Mike Walden.

..... and Wanstead logos on the back.

Blitz Pairs Championship:

Last evening the special event to be held was a blitz pairs competition. 15 teams of 2 entered, the team members alternating the move but not consulting, and having 15 minutes for all moves.

In 1st place were Oops! consisting of Steven Jones & Robert Thompson (l). 2nd were Disaster Squad consisting of Andrew Horton (in yellow) & Paul Talbot. The four framed by Alex Holowczak (l) & Stewart Reuben.

3rd ere Chocolate Tournament comprising Adam C Taylor & Akito Ogama. 4th were the Wild Hackers comprising Jamie Horton (in red) & Phil Olbison.

Both pictures courtesy of Chris Kreuzer of the Richmond Reivers team 

Ladies Seniors’ Championship Cup:

Just a few minutes ago, (6.00 p.m.) it was agreed that an offer to create a new category and to donate a trophy for it, should be accepted. This will be for a Ladies’ Seniors’ Championship, and a trophy will be donated by the Gibraltar Tourist Office, and will be known as the Gibraltar Cup. Mrs. Whatley will expedite matters with such speed that the cup will be available, fully engraved, for presentation on Saturday morning.  The Federation is grateful to her and the GTO for their generosity.

It all started at the Grand Dinner on Saturday evening, when Mrs Whatley and her immediate neighbour at the table, former British Ladies Champion, Dinah Norman, were talking about the number of trophies available to all the junior girls, and the lack of them for older ladies. She was shocked when Dinah told her there was no prize at all for the best perfomance by a lady player in the Seniors’ Championship. Next morning she got straight on the phone to a Gibraltarian Government Minister and asked whether they could donate a special cup. As they were already sponsoring her son, Stephen Whatley, to play throughout the whole fortnight, the cost of a cup would be no problem.    And so, within a matter of hours, the whole thing was agreed.

This move can only serve to increase further the interest in Seniors chess, which is already apparent in the form of two new sections for seniors and the total entry of 108.

Start of Rd. 9

At the 2.30 start time, there was not a single player present at the top 5 boards, and it took 15 minutes ’till the last one arrived. Under FIDE rules they would have been defaulted, but we tend to take a more relaxed view on these things.

Howell v Gormally.

Lalic v Hebdon

Jones v Ghasi

Gordon v Palliser

Bd. 5: Meszaros v Williams

Chapman v Hegarty - both norm-seekers.

Newton Abbot clubmates paired together; Steve Homer & Robert Thompson

By the end of the round, David Howell had pulled even further ahead of the field, after his opponent, Gormally, walked into a mate, while the other 6-pointers all drew. The top boards finished as follows:-