Chaos at the Johnsonville Mall

It was noisy, unpredictable, chaotic.... but it was a brilliant success, thanks to Scott's authoritative, calm, stewardship of the Johnsonville chess tournament initiated by Chris from Village Gifts and supported by the Johnsonville Mall.
The interest was phenomenal, we could have filled many more tables if we had had the space. In the event, we managed to squeeze in an extra five tables, and increased the number of players from 48 to 58. Passing shoppers were still asking me if they could join in as we were just finishing the final games!
Scott had projected 6 rounds, but because of natural delays this was reduced to 5. There was a clear winner - Peter Stoeveken won all his games, but he graciously forewent the trophy, insisting that it be awarded instead to the youngest of the cluster of players on 4/5. This happened to be our very own Karthik Konakanchi, so in a sense the Club scored a double triumph at this tournament.
In short, this was a memorable occasion, and a terrific piece of publicity for the Wellington Chess Club. It was exciting to see so many talented players out there who OUGHT to be coming to our Club. All the flyers that Andrew Brockway brought along disappeared, so I would be surprised if we didn't get at least one new member out of this.

Thanks to everyone who made this happen!