Anthony Wins the Random, Michael Sole the Thematic

I'm sure everyone thought Nic Croad was going to win the Fischer Random for the 4th year running, as he had scored 100% in the first 4 rounds, including a win against Anthony Ker. However, in the last week he drew with Russell Dive in round 5, then lost to Arthur Pomeroy in the last round, thus letting Anthony overtake him for first place. Congratulations Anthony!

In the inaugural thematic tournament, Michael Sole took the title, ahead of the likes of Bill Forster and Edgar Benitez. In the last 2 rounds they had to play both sides of a Von Hennig-Schara Gambit. For those of you who don't know what this is (as I didn't), it goes:
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 cxd4.

Congratulations Michael! As always, it's great to see the young players coming through.

Fischer Random - Final

No Name                Feder Rtg Loc  Total  1    2    3    4    5    6  

1  Ker, Anthony                  2369 5      8:W  7:W  2:W  3:L  6:W  5:W
2  Dive, Russell                 2401 4.5    6:W  4:W  1:L  9:W  3:D  7:W
3  Croad, Nic                    2312 4.5   12:W  9:W  5:W  1:W  2:D  4:L
4  Pomeroy, Arthur               1998 4     13:W  2:L  0:D  0:D  8:W  3:W
5  Aldridge, Alan                1881 3     16:W  6:D  3:L  7:W 10:D  1:L
6  Brockway, Andrew              1545 3      2:L  5:D 13:W 11:W  1:L 10:D
7  Sellen, Ian                   2021 3     17:W  1:L 12:W  5:L  9:W  2:L
8  Chen, Wei Kai                 1699 3      1:L 17:W  0:D  0:D  4:L 15:W
9  Winter, Ryan                  1664 3     15:W  3:L 10:W  2:L  7:L 11:W
10 Jackson, Ross                      3      0:D  0:D  9:L 12:W  5:D  6:D
11 Kibblewhite, Daniel                2.5    0:   0:  15:W  6:L 12:D  9:L
12 Day, Fabian                   1650 2.5    3:L 15:W  7:L 10:L 11:D  0:W
13 Hurndell, Robert                   2      4:L 16:W  6:L 15:W  0:L  0:L
14 Bennett, Sarah                1047 1      0:D  0:D  0:L  0:L  0:L  0:L
15 Stannard, Bobby               1171 1      9:L 12:L 11:L 13:L 17:+  8:L
16 Zhao, Aiden                   1054 0      5:L 13:L  0:L  0:L  0:L  0:L
17 Alcorn, Simeon                1309 0      7:L  8:L  0:L  0:L 15:-  0:L

Thematic Tournament - Final

No Name                 Feder Rtg Loc  Total  1    2    3    4    5    6  

1  Sole, Michael                  1473 5     12:W  5:W 13:W  6:W  4:L  7:W
2  Laking, Robert                      4.5    6:L 21:W  5:W 13:W  3:D  4:W
3  Forster, Bill                  1982 4.5    0:D  0:D  7:W 19:W  2:D  6:W
4  Benitez, Edgar,                1741 4      5:L 12:W 15:W  9:W  1:W  2:L
5  Hall, Nathan                   1281 4      4:W  1:L  2:L 16:W 14:W  8:W
6  Ashe, Michael                       3.5    2:W  7:D 19:W  1:L  9:W  3:L
7  Konakanchi, Karthik            1379 3.5   21:W  6:D  3:L  8:W 19:W  1:L
8  Winsley, Nicholas                   3      9:L 11:W 17:W  7:L 22:W  5:L
9  He, Caleb                      1534 3      8:W 19:W 16:W  4:L  6:L 14:L
10 Heyworth, Nicholas                  3      0:   0:   0:  20:W 16:W 19:W
11 Wevers, Alexis                 1486 3     19:L  8:L 18:W 15:L 17:W 22:W
12 He, Paul                       1413 2.5    1:L  4:L 20:  23:W 15:W 18:L
13 Tagos, Bernardo                1478 2     18:W 17:W  1:L  2:L  0:L  0:L
14 Dixon, Hamish                       2      0:   0:   0:  17:W  5:L  9:W
15 Stannard, Lars                 1365 2      0:D  0:D  4:L 11:W 12:L 17:L
16 Asher, Bruce                   1033 2     17:L 18:W  9:L  5:L 10:L  0:W
17 Farrington, Lawrence           1566 2     16:W 13:L  8:L 14:L 11:L 15:W
18 Deyab, Mohamed                      2     13:L 16:L 11:L  0:  20:+ 12:W
19 Darr, Samuel                   1315 1     11:W  9:L  6:L  3:L  7:L 10:L
20 Stoeveken, Peter                    .5     0:   0:  12:D 10:L 18:-  0:L
21 Carroll, Lewis                 900  0      7:L  2:L  0:L  0:L  0:L  0:L
22 Johnson, Sean                       0      0:   0:   0:   0:   8:L 11:L
23 Forlong-Ford, Colwyn                0      0:   0:   0:  12:L  0:L  0:L