20th Heywood, Lancashire, Chess Congress
June 21-22 2014
20th Heywood Chess Congress players come from all over the country
There was an excellent attendance for the twentieth Heywood chess congress, held at a full Heywood Civic Hall. Participants came from as far as London, Aberdeen, Aberystwyth, Brighton, Scunthorpe, York, Middlesbrough and Newcastle, alongside Heywood and Lancashire players. Five competitors came from our friends in Peine, Germany.
This year the trophy for the VAN LEEUWEN WHEELER OPEN was dedicated to Heywood club member Jim Tennant-Smith, who died in April. This section was very keenly contested and the lead changed many times before joint winners emerged, Mike Surtees of Bolton and Mark Talbot of Aberystwyth, with scores of 4/5.
First place in the DATA MATTERS MAJOR proved impossible to split. Eventually first place was shared by four players. One of the four was Londoner Helge Hjort.
In the LINK4LIFE INTERMEDIATE, John Ryan of Denton was the winner, finishing unbeaten.
In the ANTONIN WELEMINSKY MINOR, local and foreign interest was increased by Dave Almond of Heywood chess club taking the first prize, a very popular winner. And Hans Jurgen Ebling of Peine shared equal second place. Heywood’s Pete Edhouse and Peine’s Sebastian Limbock also won grading prizes.
The KUMON MATHS & ENGLISH NOVICE was won by Phil Shaughnessy of Urmston. David Thorp of Heywood just missed out on the main prizes, half a point off third. Tony Jinks of Heywood and Sebastiam Limbock of Peine won grading prizes.
A chess set donated by the Lancashire Chess Association was raffled and raised £57 for the NSPCC.
Organiser Bill O'Rourke said "I'm really pleased that entry numbers have remained constant despite the general economic situation". Bill stressed the importance of the sponsors to the event: "Without our sponsors, this event could not take place – many thanks to Van Leeuwen Wheeler Steel tubes of Bury and Aberdeen, Data Matters, Link4life and Kumon Maths & English from Heywood. And many thanks to Annette Tennant-Smith for coming along and presenting all the prizes.
Next year's chess congress at Heywood will be take place on June 27-28 2015. Meanwhile the Heywood chess club continues to meet at the Hopwood Unionist Club on Tuesday at 7.30.
Results
VAN LEEUWEN OPEN (crosstable)
1st= Mark Talbot (Aberystwyth) and Mike Surtees (Great Lever) 4/5 £300 each
Mark Talbot also Lancashire Open Champion £25
3rd= Oliver Jackson, Ali Jaunooby (Denton) and Brett Lund (Preston) 3½/5 £33.33 each
U185 Grading Prize: Pavel Asenov (Witney) 3/5 £20
DATA MATTERS MAJOR (crosstable)
1st= Martin Burns (Stockport), Helge Hjort (Hendon), Andrew Jaques (Burnley) and John Wareing 4/5 £132.50 each
Andrew Jaques also Lancashire Major Champion £25
U165 Grading Prize: P Colburn (Braunstone) 3/5 £20
ANTONIN WELEMINSKY INTERMEDIATE (crosstable)
1st John Ryan (Denton) 4½/5 £300
2nd= Robert Dean (Pudsey) and Richard Desmedt (Wombwell) 4/5 £25 each
Lancashire Intermediate Champion: Chris Riley (Preston) £25
Grading Prizes: U151-141 Robert Clegg (Huddersfield), Dean Hartley (Amber Valley) and Chris Riley (Preston) 3½/5 £6.66 each
U141 Fiona Green (Chorlton) £20
ORB ASSOCIATES MINOR (crosstable)
1st Dave Almond (Heywood) 4½/5 £300
Dave Almond also Lancashire Minor Champion £25
2nd= Adrian Dawson (Halifax), Jon Mahony (Leeds) and Hans Jurgen Ebling (Peine) 4/5 £76.66 each
Grading Prizes: William Egan (Scunthorpe) 3½/5 £20, Peter Edhouse (Heywood) 3½/5 £20, Tony Jinks (Heywood) and Sebastian Limbock (Peine) 3½/5 £10 each
KUMON MATHS & ENGLISH NOVICE (crosstable)
1st Phil Shaughnessy (Urmston) 4½/5 £120
2nd= Eric Lesnik (Denton) and Ken Parkin (Enigma) 4/5 £45 each
Puzzle Competition Winner: Phil Shaughnessy (Urmston) £10