26 January 2014

Bristol Winter Congress 2014

108 people came from all over the country for the Bristol Winter Congress, the best we’ve had (so far!).  There were 32 in the Open, 33 in the Major and 43 in the Minor. The Open was in a separate room, which seemed to go well until a small but noisy church service broke out next door on Sunday morning. Still, it didn’t go on too long, and maybe one or two players got some divine inspiration… We will be rearranging things for the Spring congress (11^th-13^th April), so there will be less disturbance.

Everyone seemed to like the venue, which is in the city centre, and the hotel staff were very helpful and friendly.  The full cross tables can be seen on the league’s website  or at   www.results.tournamentdirector.co.uk

For Brendan O’Gorman’s excellent  photos, go to       http://tinyurl.com/Bristol2014

In the Open and Major we managed to keep the main prize ‘in house’, with Chris Beaumont winning the £250 first prize in the Open,  and Tony Harvey of South Bristol the Major (£180). The Minor section was won by Daniel Rowan from Banbury (£170). All sections had at least two players in joint second.

Treasurer Pete Saunders distributed the £1500 prize fund in such a way that there were 3 main prizes and 3 grading prizes in each section, plus an extra grading prize in the Minor  which was the biggest section. He also decided to include a team prize.  A dozen or so teams of 3 from Bristol clubs competed for a cash prize. It was close fought, with 3 or 4 teams in with a chance till the end,  but Bristol University took it in the final round, with wins by Jack Walpole and Richard Porter in the Minor section,  and a draw for Robert Thompson in the Open. It is planned to repeat the exercise at the Spring Congress, but with ‘made up’ teams from outside Bristol also being able to compete. Should be fun! Entry forms for the congress are now available from me at tugmw@blueyonder.co.uk or the league website, and keep an eye on the blog, http://bristolchesscongress.blogspot.co.uk/  for who has entered. I’ve had one entry already!

The dates for the Steve Boniface Memorial Congress haven’t been set yet, but I’m looking at 13^th-15^th June.  Keep an eye out for that one.