The 8th Heywood, Lancashire, Chess Congress
June 22-23 2002
Local, regional and international success for Heywood Chess!
150 players from all over the country – and Europe – descended on Heywood Civic Hall last weekend to participate in the Heywood chess congress. Held over two days, participants from Germany, Spain and Hungary were joined by Chess Grandmaster Keith Arkell from Worcestershire. Also represented were Durham, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Thanet!
Lady Mayor Lil Murphy called in during the weekend to see the Grandmaster gradually establish a winning margin in the Open section – though he was pushed all the way by local talent. Especially pleasing was the participation of seven chess players from the Peine Chess Club, Heywood’s twin town. Peine’s Steven Heycke was at one stage looking likely to win his section but had to settle for a grading prize.
Heywood’s Bob Newton grabbed some of the spoils by finishing third in the Major section. Congress organiser Bill O’Rourke was especially surprised to be the winner of a prize himself in the Intermediate section, but put his prize money back into the congress funds before there were any cries of ‘fix’!
"The event has been another spectacular success for Heywood, and it was especially pleasing to see so many youngsters playing" said Bill. "The atmosphere, venue and Civic Hall management and staff were spot on. But it needs to be stressed that without the magnificent support of the Heywood Advertiser, Dunnes Stores, Heywood On-Line and Kumon Maths the event quite simply couldn’t take place – hire of the hall from RMBC is very costly. It’s a pity the council don’t support the event, which brings visitors from all over to our town, like other councils – most events get their Town Halls free, and some even make a contribution towards the running of the event."
Results
HEYWOOD ADVERTISER OPEN
1st GM Keith Arkell (Worcestershire) 4.5/5 £300
2nd= Dale James (3C’s), Oliver Jackson (Cheshire) and Adam Ashton (3C’s) 4/5 £77 each
Grading prize: Chris Dunlop (Crusaders) 3.5/5 £20
DUNNES STORES HEYWOOD MAJOR
1st John Garnett (Elmwood) 4/5 £200
2nd Andrew Jaques (Axa) 3.5/5 £100
3rd= Chino Atako (Atticus) and Robert Newton (Heywood) 3/5 £12.50 each
3rd= and grading prize: Paul Evans (Bray Valley) and Chris Vassiliou (Chorlton) 3.5/5 £23 each
Grading prizes: Mark Taylor (Rochdale) and Edward Taylor (Atticus) 2/5 £10 each
HEYWOOD ON-LINE INTERMEDIATE
1st Gary Gray (Wallasey) 4.5/5 £180
2nd= Suzie Blackburn (Grappenhall), Michael Connor (Great Lever) and Martin Burns (Stockport) 4/5 £45 each
Grading prizes:
U124 Clive Woolley (Urmston) 3/5 £20
125-132 Bill O’Rourke (Heywood) 3.5/5 £20
KUMON MATHS MINOR
1st= Neil Coward (Axa) and Dave Summerland (Rose Forgrove) 4.5/5 £120 each
3rd= Michael Doherty (Chorlton), Maziar Jalini (Rose Forgrove), Angel Gonzales (West End Halifax) and Ed Taylor (Wallasey) 4/5 £10 each
Grading prizes:
102-93 Steve Heycke (Peine) 4/5 £20
92-80 Richard Glover (3C’s), Bruce Maclean (Atticus) and Mark Price (Atticus) 3.5/5 £6.70 each
U80 Michael Compston (3C’s) and Charles Sharp (Padgate) 3/5 £10 each
KUMON MATHS NOVICE
1st Thomas Lawton (Atticus) 4.5/5 £50
2nd Dave Jones (Hunts Cross) 4/5 £20
3rd= Stephen Haddock (Blackburn), James Carrington (Tameside), John Hughes (Chorley), Paul Tinton (Chorley) and Rob Hart (Chorley) 3.5/5 £2 each
Puzzle competition winner: John Hughes (Chorley) £10