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