21st Heywood, Lancashire, Chess Congress

June 20-21 2015

Heywood Chess Congress and the man from Caracas!

The Heywood Chess Congress has always taken delight in attracting players from all over the country and near Europe. But this year it was graced by a top player, Alexander Hernadez, from Caracas in Venezuela, and another from Alicante!

At another full Heywood Civic Hall, other players came from as far as Barrow, Bury St Edmunds, Cardiff, Chester, Cwmbran, Glasgow, Hamilton, Oxford, Rhyl, Scunthorpe and York, alongside Heywood and Lancashire players.

This year the trophy for the VAN LEEUWEN WHEELER OPEN was competed for by the strongest field for many years, with eight over 200 grade players. However Marple player Daniel Fernandez led throughout and won with 4.5/5. Fernandez immediately travelled to play in Sweden and has won a grandmaster qualification!

First place in the DATA MATTERS MAJOR had to be shared by three players, including Alex Peters from Suffolk. Heywood's 12 year old Nugith Jayawarna was not embarrassed in this strong section. The LINK4LIFE INTERMEDIATE was even closer, with four players sharing first prize.

In the ANTONIN WELEMINSKY MINOR, Con Carey of Heywood Chess Club had a very strong finish but could not quite break into the top places. Ian Mackay of Cumbria took top prize.

The first prize in the KUMON MATHS & ENGLISH NOVICE was shared by Heywood's Derek Marsden with young prodigy San Davies. John Crompton and Peter Hurn of Heywood had good tournaments but not enough to take a main prize.

Organiser Bill O’Rourke said "Heywood's congress is well known nationally and draws new people to our town from all over the country". 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."

Next year's chess congress at Heywood will be take place on June 18-19 2016. The Heywood Chess Club continues to meet at the Hopwood Sports Club on Wednesdays at 7.30.

Results

VAN LEEUWEN WHEELER OPEN (crosstable)

1st Daniel Fernandez (Marple) 4½/5 £300

2nd= Joe McPhillips (Bolton) and Michael Fernandez (Marple) 3½/5 £120 each

U190 Grading Prize: Sarah Hegarty (Marple) 3/5 £20

DATA MATTERS MAJOR (crosstable)

1st= Mitchell Burke (3 Cs), Richard Bryant (Oswestry) and Alex Peters (Bury St Edmunds) 4/5 £150 each

Grading Prizes:

U175 Luke Boumphrey (Atticus) and Martin Burns 3/5 £10 each

U168 Mark Taylor (Rochdale) 3/5 £20

LINK4LIFE INTERMEDIATE (crosstable)

1st= Nick Burrows (Cowley), Robert Dean (Leeds), Chris Jardine (Great Lever) and Gary Hinchcliffe (Barnsley) 4/5 £112.50 each

Grading Prizes:

U156 Armand Catz (Rochdale) 3½/5 £20

U146 Martin Gawne (Barrow) and Joshua Pendlebury (Urmston) 3/5 £10 each

ANTONIN WELEMINSKY MINOR (crosstable)

1st Ian Mackay (Austin Friars) 4½/5 £250

2nd= Sharon Daniel (Wigan), Mark Piedel and Georgia Georgiou 4/5 £66.66 each

Grading Prizes:

Lee Baron (Bury) and Andrew De Santos (Preston) 3/5 £10

Jon Blackburn (Cheddleton) 3½/5 £20

KUMON MATHS & ENGLISH NOVICE (crosstable)

1st= Sam Davies and Derek Marsden (Heywood) 4/5 £90 each

3rd= Martin Cutts (Marple), Gary Jackson and Eric Lesnick (Denton) 3½/5 £10 each

 

Puzzle Competition Winner: Richard Bryant (Oswestry) £10

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