The 9th Heywood, Lancashire, Chess Congress

June 21-22 2003

 

Local, regional and international success for Heywood Chess!

Nearly 150 players from all over the country – and Mexico! – descended on Heywood Civic Hall last weekend to participate in the ninth Heywood chess congress. Held over two days, participants from Scotland, Wales, London and Mexico were joined by Chess Grandmaster Nigel Davies from Southport and two International Masters, Steve Mannion of Scotland and Stewart Haslinger of Formby.

This time the Grandmaster didn’t have it all his own way in the VIRIDOR OPEN section and finally it was the International Masters who won out in the final round. Blind player Chris Ross from Sheffield won the grading prize.

Heywood’s Jim Tennant-Smith (a sprightly 76 years old amongst all the youngsters) performed magnificently, finishing equal first in the HEYWOOD ADVERTISER MAJOR section! This was Jim’s best performance for some time, showing you can’t keep a good chess player down.

The HEYWOOD ON-LINE INTERMEDIATE section was a ding-dong affair until the final minutes, finishing with five players tied for first place!

The VIRIDOR MINOR had a clear winner in Mark Stollery of Nelson.

The KUMON MATHS NOVICE saw some great performances from Heywood players, especially Peter Edhouse who finished equal second. Sixteen year old Stephen Diggle of Heywood was only just out of the prizes.

"This time the congress proved a great success for Heywood players, and for the town of Heywood, attracting visitors from all over the country" said organiser Bill O’Rourke. "But it really must be stressed that without the magnificent support of Viridor Waste Management Services, 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 Tourism Department 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

 

VIRIDOR OPEN

1st= IM Steve Mannion (Cathcart), IM Stewart Haslinger (Formby) and Alan Walton (3C’s) 4/5 £176.67p each

Grading prize: Chris Ross (Wombwell) 3/5 £20

British Championship Qualifiers: Alan Walton and Robert Taylor

 

HEYWOOD ADVERTISER MAJOR

1st= Jim Tennant-Smith (Heywood), Chris Vassiliou (Chorlton) and R. Wiltshire (Bearsden) 4/5 £117 each

Grading prizes: Dave Patrick (Courier) and Conor Reaney (Preston) 3/5 £10 each

 

DUNNES STORES HEYWOOD INTERMEDIATE

1st= Roger Chapman (EEC), R. Clegg (Huddersfield), Tony Pawson (Rose Forgrove), R. Taylor (Ashfield) and Rob Tokeley (Nelson) 4/5 £56 each

Grading prizes:

130-124 Brendan Brown (Clitheroe) and Neil Howe (St. Andrews) 3/5 £10 each

U124 Ilya Baros (Rochdale), M. Cave and Richard Desmendt (Wombwell) 3/5 £7 each

 

VIRIDOR MINOR

1st Mark Stollery (Nelson) 4.5/5 £140

2nd= Barrie Wadsworth (Halifax), Richard Glover (3C’s), John McKeown (Southport), Chris Edwards (Calderdale) and Ed Taylor (Wallasey) 4/5 £20 each

Grading prizes:

100-90 Brian Shaw (East Cheshire) and Paul Talbot (Knights) £10 each

89-80 Les Parkinson (Chorley) 3.5/5 £20

U80 Kenneth Parkin (Nelson) and Clifford Hanson (Nelson) 2.5/5 £10 each

 

KUMON MATHS NOVICE

1st Derek Curzon (Chorley) 4.5/5 £50

2nd=  Mark Talbot (Knights) and Peter Edhouse (Heywood) 4/5 £15 each

 

Puzzle competition winner: Jim Tennant-Smith (Heywood) £10

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