The 14th Heywood, Lancashire, Chess Congress
June 21-22 2008
14th Heywood Chess Congress pulls in top players from all over the UK, Germany and Poland!
Heywood Chess Club continued to attract top grade players to Heywood last weekend as players descended on Heywood Civic Hall to play in the fourteenth Heywood chess congress. Participants came from all over the UK including Scotland, Wales, London, Worcester, Birmingham and Surrey. These were joined by local players competing over five different sections for prize money, and also nine players from Heywood's twin town Peine in Germany.
The HEYWOOD ADVERTISER OPEN developed into a titanic struggle between chess Grandmaster Keith Arkell of Worcester and the leading Peine player Helge Hintze. They played each other in the final round, but agreed a draw to leave each other as joint winners of the Open. What was noticeable was the strength of this Open section. Young Heywood players Dominic and Liam Rabbitte scored very creditable half marks.
The DUNNES STORES MAJOR was won by Richard Bryant of Shrewsbury. Richard is making Heywood a winning haunt, having won the same event last season. Peine player Jurgen Garbuszus secured second place.
The ANTONIN WELEMINSKY INTERMEDIATE was won by Robert Clegg of Huddersfield. Heywood player Emlyn Dobson shared second place.
In the COVERSURE INSURANCE MINOR, local Oldham players took the first prizes. Steve Flaherty of Heywood took the third prize. But there were also excellent performances from Heywood's Harry Praeger, Liam O'Rourke and Peine's Hans Juergen Ebeling and Nils Brylski.
The KUMON MATHS & ENGLISH NOVICE was won by Antonis Kokossis who travelled all the way up to Heywood from Surrey.
Organiser Bill O'Rourke said "In the chess world Heywood is well-known for providing an excellent chess event. Not only are we bringing players from all over the country and abroad to spend money in the local economy, we are also raising Heywood's profile - most players admit to never having heard of Heywood before the chess congress! The Albany Hotel was full with chess players all weekend, and players were in and out of local shops and the market all weekend. And the icing on the cake was the visit to Heywood of 14 people from our twin town Peine, nine of whom played in the chess congress, and who have been having a great time in Heywood and the surrounding area over the last week. But it is the local sponsors that allow this event to take place - truly magnificent support from the Heywood Advertiser, Dunnes Stores, Coversure Insurance and Kumon Maths & English, without whom the event quite simply couldn't take place. A special thanks from me to them".
Arkell and Hintze share the top prize
Grandmaster Keith Arkell on the right, about to take on strong North West player Brett Lund
Peine players Henrik Schmidt and Jurgen Garbuszus drawn against each other
Keith Arkell, one of Britain's strongest players
Leading German player Helge Hintze about to start play
Nearly 150 players deep in concentration at the Civic Hall
Peine player Ilona Weinkauf left, deep in study
Peine's Hans Juergen Ebeling clearly enjoying himself at the congress
Pole Marek Mazek and Heywood's Dominic Rabbitte
Thomas Wenderhals and Erhard Hentschel also drawn against each other
Results
HEYWOOD ADVERTISER OPEN
1st= Keith Arkell (Worcester) and Helge Hintze (Peine) 4.5/5 £225 each
3rd James Hanley (Lancaster) 4/5 £80
Grading prizes: Dominic Rabbitte (Heywood), Liam Rabbitte (Heywood) and Malcolm Armstrong (Stafford) 2.5/5
DUNNES STORES HEYWOOD MAJOR
1st Richard Bryant (Shropshire) 5/5 £200
2nd= Jurgen Garbuszus (Peine) and John Stephenson £75 each
Grading prize: U148 Clive Davies (Rose Forgrove, Leeds) 3/5 £20
ANTONIN WELEMINSKY INTERMEDIATE
1st Robert Clegg (Huddersfield) 5/5 £160
2nd= Richard Mounce (York), Carl Gartside (High Peak) and Emlyn Dobson (Heywood) 3.5/5 £60 each
Grading prizes:
U133-126 Mick Connor (Widnes)
U121 Geoff Pennington (Preston) and Jean-Luc Weller (York) 3/5
COVERSURE INSURANCE MINOR
1st= Sam Towse (3C’s) and Tom Clements (3C’s) 4.5/5 £120 each
3rd= Neville Pearce (York), Maziar Jalini (York) and Steve Flaherty (Heywood) 4/5 £40 each
Grading prizes: Lee Baron (Bury), Steven Jones (Grappenhall), Liam O’Rourke (Heywood), Brian Slater (Radcliffe), Senik Solomczak (Rochdale), Matthew Wedge Roberts (Hebden Bridge); Geoff Lee (Newcastle), Rob Hart (Chorley), Roger Walker (Belper), Steve Rush (Rhyl), David Innes (Crusaders), Thomas Fielding (Preston)
KUMON MATHS & ENGLISH NOVICE
1st Antonis Kokossis (Guildford) 4.5/5 £50
2nd= Lothian Innes (Crusaders) and Chris Fielding (Preston) 3.5/5 £15 each
Puzzle competition winner: Chris Fielding (Preston) £10
Top Peine players: Hans Juergen Ebeling and Thomas Wenderhals 15 euro