Julian Mazur R7 - Dive Catchable?

Not for the first time it was left to Brian Nijman to show the Wellington chess world that Russell Dive is not totally invincible (just nearly so). We all know the extraordinary way Brian plays, saving game after game with his incredibly tricksy endgame play, usually when he is playing on increment.
Russell seemed to have a lot of pressure early on, but Brian turned it around and when Russell allowed his king to come out of hiding, he was forced to take a draw by perpetual check.

Notes by Brian Nijman




Michael Nyburg won a long game against Nic Croad, after he looked in trouble earlier on. So in the last round Michael will play Russell Dive, knowing that if he can win the game he and Russell will take equal first - otherwise, Russell wins by himself

Round 7

No Name                  Loc  Total  Result   Name               Loc  Total

 1 Dive, Russell         2410 [6]      ½:½    Nijman, Brian      2212 [4.5]
 2 Nyberg, Michael       2104 [4.5]    1:0    Croad, Nicholas    2442 [4.5]
 3 Rossiter, Philip      1886 [4]      0:1    Ker, Anthony       2451 [4]  
 4 Benitez, Edgar        2040 [4]      1:0    Sole, Michael      2008 [4]  
 5 Nicholls, Al          1844 [4]      0:1    Forster, Bill      2017 [4]  
 6 Lyall, Gordon         1945 [3.5]    1:0    Stone, Andrew      2074 [3.5]
 7 He, Caleb             1922 [3.5]    0:1    Sellen, Ian        2024 [3.5]
 8 Tanoi, TE             2016 [3.5]    1:0    Winfield, Alan     1906 [3.5]
 9 He, Paul              1885 [3.5]    1:0    Chen, Wei Kai      1965 [3.5]
10 Jackson, Ross         1964 [3.5]    ½:½    Brockway, Andrew   1836 [3.5]
11 Stöveken, Peter       1827 [3.5]    0:1    Ross, Matt         1867 [3]  
12 Stannard, Lars        1417 [3]      0:1    Mullan, Brett      1825 [3]  
13 Van Der Hoorn, Thomas 1807 [3]      0:1    Dixon, Hamish      1681 [3]  
14 Webster, Jamie        1701 [3]      1:0    Hurndell, Robert   1545 [3]  
15 Aldridge, Alan        1922 [2.5]    1:0    Ashe, Michael      1662 [2.5]
16 Shepherd, Blake       1000 [2.5]    0:1    Wevers, Alexis     1798 [2.5]
17 Singh, Amrit          1000 [2.5]    0:1    Quayle, Jamie      1683 [2.5]
18 Ackroyd, William      1277 [2.5]    ½:½    Rabina, Romeo      1647 [2.5]
19 Farrington, Lawrence  1706 [2]      ½:½    Carroll, Lewis     1422 [2.5]
20 Kibblewhite, Daniel   1537 [2]      1:0    Stannard, Bobby    1485 [2]  
21 Darr, Samuel          1567 [2]      ½:½    Osborne, Geoff     1287 [2]  
22 Asher, Bruce          1178 [1.5]    0:1    Cooke, Xandi       1512 [1.5]
23 Theodosiou, Andreas   1336 [1]      ½:0    Sripathy, Boopathy 1200 [1]  
24 Winter, Ryan          2087 [5]      ½:½    BYE                          
25 Pomeroy, Arthur       2074 [4]      ½:½    BYE                          
26 Laking, Robert        1968 [3]      ½:½    BYE                          
27 Stracy, Don           1606 [2]      0:0    BYE                          
28 Dunlop, Rafe          1246 [1.5]    ½:½    BYE                          
29 Mulheron, Oscar       1000 [0]      ½:½    BYE                          

Cross Table

No Name                  Loc  Total  1    2    3    4    5    6    7  

1  Dive, Russell         2410 6.5   45:1 25:1  9:1  2:1  8:1  5:1  6:½
2  Winter, Ryan          2087 5.5   21:1 18:1 32:1  1:0 16:1  7:1  0:½
3  Nyberg, Michael       2104 5.5    0:½ 40:1 27:0 26:1 30:+ 14:1  8:1
4  Benitez, Edgar        2040 5      0:½ 24:1 16:½ 19:0 21:1 22:1 15:1
5  Ker, Anthony          2451 5     24:½ 31:1 28:1 15:½ 19:1  1:0 18:1
6  Nijman, Brian         2212 5     20:0  0:½ 34:1 24:1 15:1 17:1  1:½
7  Forster, Bill         2017 5     38:1 14:½ 26:1 17:1  0:½  2:0 19:1
8  Croad, Nicholas       2442 4.5   35:1 30:1 17:½ 27:1  1:0 23:1  3:0
9  He, Paul              1885 4.5   52:1 23:1  1:0 29:½ 11:1 15:0 28:1
10 Pomeroy, Arthur       2074 4.5   42:½  0:½ 20:1 14:½ 25:½ 16:1  0:½
11 Sellen, Ian           2024 4.5    0:½ 37:1 14:0 31:1  9:0 35:1 25:1
12 Lyall, Gordon         1945 4.5   49:1 32:0  0:½ 36:1 18:0 24:1 23:1
13 Tanoi, TE             2016 4.5   39:0 41:1 46:1 16:0 33:½ 32:1 27:1
14 Brockway, Andrew      1836 4     54:1  7:½ 11:1 10:½  0:½  3:0 17:½
15 Sole, Michael         2008 4     44:1 22:½ 39:1  5:½  6:0  9:1  4:0
16 Ross, Matt            1867 4     50:1  0:½  4:½ 13:1  2:0 10:0 26:1
17 Jackson, Ross         1964 4     33:1 20:1  8:½  7:0 32:1  6:0 14:½
18 Rossiter, Philip      1886 4     51:1  2:0 40:1 23:½ 12:1  0:½  5:0
19 Nicholls, Al          1844 4     40:0 49:1 38:1  4:1  5:0 29:1  7:0
20 Webster, Jamie        1701 4      6:1 17:0 10:0 49:1 28:0 41:1 34:1
21 Dixon, Hamish         1681 4      2:0 51:1 23:0 40:1  4:0 39:1 35:1
22 Mullan, Brett         1825 4     43:1 15:½ 25:0  0:½ 39:1  4:0 33:1
23 Stone, Andrew         2074 3.5   46:1  9:0 21:1 18:½ 27:1  8:0 12:0
24 Wevers, Alexis        1798 3.5    5:½  4:0 42:1  6:0 31:1 12:0 40:1
25 He, Caleb             1922 3.5   36:1  1:0 22:1  0:½ 10:½ 28:½ 11:0
26 Stöveken, Peter       1827 3.5    0:½ 48:1  7:0  3:0 47:1 30:1 16:0
27 Winfield, Alan        1906 3.5   48:½ 47:1  3:1  8:0 23:0 36:1 13:0
28 Chen, Wei Kai         1965 3.5   47:½ 34:1  5:0 39:½ 20:1 25:½  9:0
29 Laking, Robert        1968 3.5   32:0 42:1 35:1  9:½  0:½ 19:0  0:½
30 Aldridge, Alan        1922 3.5   41:1  8:0 33:1 32:½  3:- 26:0 42:1
31 Quayle, Jamie         1683 3.5    0:½  5:0 44:1 11:0 24:0 49:1 43:1
32 Carroll, Lewis        1422 3     29:1 12:1  2:0 30:½ 17:0 13:0 45:½
33 Stannard, Lars        1417 3     17:0 43:1 30:0 45:1 13:½  0:½ 22:0
34 Hurndell, Robert      1545 3      0:½ 28:0  6:0  0:½ 44:1 45:1 20:0
35 Van Der Hoorn, Thomas 1807 3      8:0 52:1 29:0 47:1 41:1 11:0 21:0
36 Ackroyd, William      1277 3     25:0 45:1  0:½ 12:0 42:1 27:0 37:½
37 Rabina, Romeo         1647 3      0:½ 11:0 47:0 43:1  0:½ 40:½ 36:½
38 Kibblewhite, Daniel   1537 3      7:0 54:1 19:0 41:0 43:½  0:½ 47:1
39 Darr, Samuel          1567 2.5   13:1  0:½ 15:0 28:½ 22:0 21:0 41:½
40 Shepherd, Blake       1000 2.5   19:1  3:0 18:0 21:0 48:1 37:½ 24:0
41 Osborne, Geoff        1287 2.5   30:0 13:0 50:1 38:1 35:0 20:0 39:½
42 Ashe, Michael         1662 2.5   10:½ 29:0 24:0 48:1 36:0 50:1 30:0
43 Singh, Amrit          1000 2.5   22:0 33:0 52:+ 37:0 38:½ 44:1 31:0
44 Cooke, Xandi          1512 2.5   15:0  0:½ 31:0 51:+ 34:0 43:0 50:1
45 Farrington, Lawrence  1706 2.5    1:0 36:0 48:1 33:0 49:1 34:0 32:½
46 Stracy, Don           1606 2     23:0 50:1 13:0  0:½  0:½  0:0  0:0
47 Stannard, Bobby       1485 2     28:½ 27:0 37:1 35:0 26:0  0:½ 38:0
48 Dunlop, Rafe          1246 2     27:½ 26:0 45:0 42:0 40:0 54:1  0:½
49 Theodosiou, Andreas   1336 1.5   12:0 19:0 54:1 20:0 45:0 31:0 52:½
50 Asher, Bruce          1178 1.5   16:0 46:0 41:0 54:1  0:½ 42:0 44:0
51 Ebarle, Joshua        1200 1.5   18:0 21:0  0:½ 44:- 52:1  0:   0: 
52 Sripathy, Boopathy    1200 1      9:0 35:0 43:-  0:½ 51:0  0:½ 49:0
53 Cameron, Will         1292 1      0:   0:   0:   0:  54:1  0:   0: 
54 Mulheron, Oscar       1000 .5    14:0 38:0 49:0 50:0 53:0 48:0  0:½

Wellington Open Rapid Revived!

Although we did not quite get the numbers we were hoping for, the 2019 Wellington Open Rapid was an enjoyable little tournament, with lots of upsets, interest and quality chess.
There was even an international element, with Sydney player Bevan Clouston making it across the Tasman to meet up with his dad who lives in Paraparaumu, and who also played.
36 players started, and when Alan Winfield unfortunately had to withdraw for health reasons, Bill Forster kindly stepped in to make sure nobody had to take a bye.
Russell Dive and Nic Croad couldn't make it, but we did have Scott Wastney and Anthony Ker to keep the standards high. Scott played confident chess from start to finish, while Anthony faltered early on with a draw against Edgar Benitez, and later on was outplayed by Scott.

It was great to see young talent doing so well, and three juniors finished on the same score as Anthony - Caleb He, Paul He and Samuel Darr, all on 4½ points.

Final Cross Table

No Name                        Loc  Total  1    2    3    4    5    6  

1  Wastney, Scott              2363 6     21:1  8:1 17:1  6:1  2:1  7:1
2  Ker, Anthony                2357 4.5   26:1 13:½  3:1  7:1  1:0  6:1
3  He, Paul                    1691 4.5   27:1 12:1  2:0 10:1 11:½ 13:1
4  He, Caleb                   1584 4.5   18:1 11:0 28:1 14:½  9:1 12:1
5  Darr, Samuel                1421 4.5   17:0 35:1 19:1 12:½ 25:1 11:1
6  Pomeroy, Arthur             1969 4     16:1 19:1 11:1  1:0 13:1  2:0
7  Winter, Ryan                1891 4     36:1 20:1 15:1  2:0 17:1  1:0
8  Sole, Michael               1853 4     31:1  1:0 23:1  9:0 22:1 18:1
9  Rafiq Ahmad Ridzuan, Amirul      4     20:0 36:1 21:1  8:1  4:0 19:1
10 Carroll, Lewis              1301 4     37:1 24:0 30:1  3:0 20:1 17:1
11 Tanoi, TE                   1926 3.5   32:1  4:1  6:0 18:1  3:½  5:0
12 Stone, Andrew               1942 3.5   22:1  3:0 24:1  5:½ 14:1  4:0
13 Benitez, Edgar              1816 3.5   28:1  2:½ 25:1 15:1  6:0  3:0
14 Forster, Bill               1944 3.5    0:   0:  16:1  4:½ 12:0 25:1
15 Paul, David                 1962 3.5   23:1 30:1  7:0 13:0 16:½ 24:1
16 Gunawan, Geoffrey           1454 3.5    6:0 34:1 14:0 33:1 15:½ 29:1
17 Lyall, Gordon               1942 3      5:1 29:1  1:0 22:1  7:0 10:0
18 Odulio, Orlando                  3      4:0 32:1 20:1 11:0 21:1  8:0
19 Clouston, Bevan             1800 3     34:1  6:0  5:0 24:1 23:1  9:0
20 Farrington, Lawrence        1530 3      9:1  7:0 18:0 28:1 10:0 31:1
21 Ashe, Michael               1513 3      1:0 31:1  9:0 35:1 18:0 33:1
22 Guo, Benjamin               1313 3     12:0 27:1 29:1 17:0  8:0 30:1
23 List, Robert                1454 3     15:0 33:1  8:0 29:1 19:0 27:1
24 Burns, Guy                  1790 2.5   25:½ 10:1 12:0 19:0 27:1 15:0
25 Loke, Kayden                     2.5   24:½ 37:1 13:0 30:1  5:0 14:0
26 Van der Hoorn, Thomas       1500 2.5    2:0 28:0 34:1 27:0 33:½ 36:1
27 Mangera, Muhammad                2      3:0 22:0 32:1 26:1 24:0 23:0
28 Evans, Oliver               1149 2     13:0 26:1  4:0 20:0 29:0 34:1
29 Scott, David                1591 2     35:1 17:0 22:0 23:0 28:1 16:0
30 Webster, Jamie              1701 2     33:1 15:0 10:0 25:0 34:1 22:0
31 Li, Zac                     1175 2      8:0 21:0 33:0 36:1 35:1 20:0
32 Osborne, Geoff              1281 2     11:0 18:0 27:0 34:0 36:1 35:1
33 Mangera, Suhel                   1.5   30:0 23:0 31:1 16:0 26:½ 21:0
34 Clouston, Anthony           1088 1     19:0 16:0 26:0 32:1 30:0 28:0
35 Mangera, Aamena                  1     29:0  5:0 36:1 21:0 31:0 32:0
36 Kierstead, James            1179 0      7:0  9:0 35:0 31:0 32:0 26:0
37 Winfield, Alan              1937 0     10:0 25:0  0:   0:   0:   0: 

Now here is a remarkable thing. Andrew Stone finished his game early and was watching Anthony Ker lose to Scott Wastney, he memorised the game, and sent it to me, annotated!
I told Scott that Andrew had done this, and Scott sent me his own version, just in case Andrew had got it wrong (he hadn't)

SW - annotations by Scott Wastney
AS - annotations by Andrew Stone






Andrew also annotated his loss to Paul He. Needless to say, Andrew is my hero at the moment.

Ryan Winter

Wastney v Winter

Pomeroy v Ker

Benitez v Paul He

Ed Tanoi

Webster v Guo

Kapiti Derby Burns v Paul

Lyall v Carroll

Stone v Caleb He

Julian Mazur R6 - Dive on the Rampage

When Russell Dive is on form, he is unstoppable, and he is certainly on form at the moment. His entertaining game against Anthony Ker went through many stages, most of which seemed favourable to him. From a Petroff with opposite side castling, Russell played his 9. ...Nc5 idea, which Anthony  struggled against. At one point it seemed the queenside onslaught would break through to Anthony's king, at another point it seemed Anthony's Rook trapped on the 5th rank would have to commit hara kiri, but in the end Russell won with a superior bishop vs knight endgame.

Andrew Stone had definite chances earlier in the game against Nic Croad (29. ...Bd4!), but it fizzled out, and then he lost the rook and pawn endgame. Andrew annotates here

Ryan won a nice miniature against Bill Forster, which he has annotated for us here:

Round 6

No Name                Loc  Total  Result   Name                  Loc  Total

 1 Ker, Anthony        2451 [4]      0:1    Dive, Russell         2410 [5]  
 2 Forster, Bill       2017 [4]      0:1    Winter, Ryan          2087 [4]  
 3 Croad, Nicholas     2442 [3.5]    1:0    Stone, Andrew         2074 [3.5]
 4 Nijman, Brian       2212 [3.5]    1:0    Jackson, Ross         1964 [3.5]
 5 Brockway, Andrew    1836 [3.5]    0:1    Nyberg, Michael       2104 [3.5]
 6 Sole, Michael       2008 [3]      1:0    He, Paul              1885 [3.5]
 7 Pomeroy, Arthur     2074 [3]      1:0    Ross, Matt            1867 [3]  
 8 Mullan, Brett       1825 [3]      0:1    Benitez, Edgar        2040 [3]  
 9 Chen, Wei Kai       1965 [3]      ½:½    He, Caleb             1922 [3]  
10 Nicholls, Al        1844 [3]      1:0    Laking, Robert        1968 [3]  
11 Sellen, Ian         2024 [2.5]    1:0    Van Der Hoorn, Thomas 1807 [3]  
12 Carroll, Lewis      1422 [2.5]    0:1    Tanoi, TE             2016 [2.5]
13 Wevers, Alexis      1798 [2.5]    0:1    Lyall, Gordon         1945 [2.5]
14 Aldridge, Alan      1922 [2.5]    0:1    Stöveken, Peter       1827 [2.5]
15 Winfield, Alan      1906 [2.5]    1:0    Ackroyd, William      1277 [2.5]
16 Hurndell, Robert    1545 [2]      1:0    Farrington, Lawrence  1706 [2]  
17 Osborne, Geoff      1287 [2]      0:1    Webster, Jamie        1701 [2]  
18 Rabina, Romeo       1647 [2]      ½:½    Shepherd, Blake       1000 [2]  
19 Dixon, Hamish       1681 [2]      1:0    Darr, Samuel          1567 [2]  
20 Quayle, Jamie       1683 [1.5]    1:0    Theodosiou, Andreas   1336 [1]  
21 Ashe, Michael       1662 [1.5]    1:0    Asher, Bruce          1178 [1.5]
22 Cooke, Xandi        1512 [1.5]    0:1    Singh, Amrit          1000 [1.5]
23 Dunlop, Rafe        1246 [.5]     1:0    Mulheron, Oscar       1000 [0]  
24 Rossiter, Philip    1886 [3.5]    ½:½    BYE                             
25 Stracy, Don         1606 [2]      0:0    BYE                             
26 Kibblewhite, Daniel 1537 [1.5]    ½:½    BYE                             
27 Stannard, Bobby     1485 [1.5]    ½:½    BYE                             
28 Stannard, Lars      1417 [2.5]    ½:½    BYE                             
29 Sripathy, Boopathy  1200 [.5]     ½:½    BYE                             

Cross Table

No Name                  Loc  Total  1    2    3    4    5    6  

1  Dive, Russell         2410 6     46:1 17:1 15:1  2:1  3:1  6:1
2  Winter, Ryan          2087 5     27:1  8:1 33:1  1:0 24:1  7:1
3  Croad, Nicholas       2442 4.5   31:1 35:1 13:½ 18:1  1:0 16:1
4  Nyberg, Michael       2104 4.5    0:½ 34:1 18:0 20:1 35:+ 14:1
5  Nijman, Brian         2212 4.5   25:0  0:½ 30:1 32:1 10:1 13:1
6  Ker, Anthony          2451 4     32:½ 38:1 21:1 10:½ 12:1  1:0
7  Forster, Bill         2017 4     45:1 14:½ 20:1 13:1  0:½  2:0
8  Rossiter, Philip      1886 4     50:1  2:0 34:1 16:½ 22:1  0:½
9  Pomeroy, Arthur       2074 4     39:½  0:½ 25:1 14:½ 17:½ 24:1
10 Sole, Michael         2008 4     47:1 26:½ 41:1  6:½  5:0 15:1
11 Benitez, Edgar        2040 4      0:½ 32:1 24:½ 12:0 27:1 26:1
12 Nicholls, Al          1844 4     34:0 52:1 45:1 11:1  6:0 28:1
13 Jackson, Ross         1964 3.5   29:1 25:1  3:½  7:0 33:1  5:0
14 Brockway, Andrew      1836 3.5   54:1  7:½ 19:1  9:½  0:½  4:0
15 He, Paul              1885 3.5   51:1 16:1  1:0 28:½ 19:1 10:0
16 Stone, Andrew         2074 3.5   43:1 15:0 27:1  8:½ 18:1  3:0
17 He, Caleb             1922 3.5   36:1  1:0 26:1  0:½  9:½ 21:½
18 Winfield, Alan        1906 3.5   48:½ 42:1  4:1  3:0 16:0 36:1
19 Sellen, Ian           2024 3.5    0:½ 37:1 14:0 38:1 15:0 31:1
20 Stöveken, Peter       1827 3.5    0:½ 48:1  7:0  4:0 42:1 35:1
21 Chen, Wei Kai         1965 3.5   42:½ 30:1  6:0 41:½ 25:1 17:½
22 Lyall, Gordon         1945 3.5   52:1 33:0  0:½ 36:1  8:0 32:1
23 Tanoi, TE             2016 3.5   41:0 44:1 43:1 24:0 29:½ 33:1
24 Ross, Matt            1867 3     49:1  0:½ 11:½ 23:1  2:0  9:0
25 Webster, Jamie        1701 3      5:1 13:0  9:0 52:1 21:0 44:1
26 Mullan, Brett         1825 3     40:1 10:½ 17:0  0:½ 41:1 11:0
27 Dixon, Hamish         1681 3      2:0 50:1 16:0 34:1 11:0 41:1
28 Laking, Robert        1968 3     33:0 39:1 31:1 15:½  0:½ 12:0
29 Stannard, Lars        1417 3     13:0 40:1 35:0 46:1 23:½  0:½
30 Hurndell, Robert      1545 3      0:½ 21:0  5:0  0:½ 47:1 46:1
31 Van Der Hoorn, Thomas 1807 3      3:0 51:1 28:0 42:1 44:1 19:0
32 Wevers, Alexis        1798 2.5    6:½ 11:0 39:1  5:0 38:1 22:0
33 Carroll, Lewis        1422 2.5   28:1 22:1  2:0 35:½ 13:0 23:0
34 Shepherd, Blake       1000 2.5   12:1  4:0  8:0 27:0 48:1 37:½
35 Aldridge, Alan        1922 2.5   44:1  3:0 29:1 33:½  4:- 20:0
36 Ackroyd, William      1277 2.5   17:0 46:1  0:½ 22:0 39:1 18:0
37 Rabina, Romeo         1647 2.5    0:½ 19:0 42:0 40:1  0:½ 34:½
38 Quayle, Jamie         1683 2.5    0:½  6:0 47:1 19:0 32:0 52:1
39 Ashe, Michael         1662 2.5    9:½ 28:0 32:0 48:1 36:0 49:1
40 Singh, Amrit          1000 2.5   26:0 29:0 51:+ 37:0 45:½ 47:1
41 Darr, Samuel          1567 2     23:1  0:½ 10:0 21:½ 26:0 27:0
42 Stannard, Bobby       1485 2     21:½ 18:0 37:1 31:0 20:0  0:½
43 Stracy, Don           1606 2     16:0 49:1 23:0  0:½  0:½  0:0
44 Osborne, Geoff        1287 2     35:0 23:0 49:1 45:1 31:0 25:0
45 Kibblewhite, Daniel   1537 2      7:0 54:1 12:0 44:0 40:½  0:½
46 Farrington, Lawrence  1706 2      1:0 36:0 48:1 29:0 52:1 30:0
47 Cooke, Xandi          1512 1.5   10:0  0:½ 38:0 50:+ 30:0 40:0
48 Dunlop, Rafe          1246 1.5   18:½ 20:0 46:0 39:0 34:0 54:1
49 Asher, Bruce          1178 1.5   24:0 43:0 44:0 54:1  0:½ 39:0
50 Ebarle, Joshua        1200 1.5    8:0 27:0  0:½ 47:- 51:1  0: 
51 Sripathy, Boopathy    1200 1     15:0 31:0 40:-  0:½ 50:0  0:½
52 Theodosiou, Andreas   1336 1     22:0 12:0 54:1 25:0 46:0 38:0
53 Cameron, Will         1292 1      0:   0:   0:   0:  54:1  0: 
54 Mulheron, Oscar       1000 0     14:0 45:0 52:0 49:0 53:0 48:0

Julian Mazur R5 - Russell Extends Lead

Just a quick report this week, I sort of ran out of time a bit.
Russell Dive beat Nic Croad to continue his 100% record and extend his lead to one whole point ahead of the field. Nic spent a while trying to defend an endgame with a bishop against a rook, but it was hopeless. Russell will play Anthony this week, a game that Anthony really needs to win.

Thanks to Andrew Stone for annotating this game against Alan Winfield




 Our youngest player, Paul He, outplayed me completely, I might try to get round to annotating this game some time

Round 5

No Name                  Loc  Total  Result   Name                Loc  Total

 1 Dive, Russell         2410 [4]      1:0    Croad, Nicholas     2442 [3.5]
 2 Ker, Anthony          2451 [3]      1:0    Nicholls, Al        1844 [3]  
 3 Ross, Matt            1867 [3]      0:1    Winter, Ryan        2087 [3]  
 4 Nijman, Brian         2212 [2.5]    1:0    Sole, Michael       2008 [3]  
 5 Aldridge, Alan        1922 [2.5]    -:+    Nyberg, Michael     2104 [2.5]
 6 He, Caleb             1922 [2.5]    ½:½    Pomeroy, Arthur     2074 [2.5]
 7 Stone, Andrew         2074 [2.5]    1:0    Winfield, Alan      1906 [2.5]
 8 He, Paul              1885 [2.5]    1:0    Sellen, Ian         2024 [2.5]
 9 Jackson, Ross         1964 [2.5]    1:0    Carroll, Lewis      1422 [2.5]
10 Lyall, Gordon         1945 [2.5]    0:1    Rossiter, Philip    1886 [2.5]
11 Benitez, Edgar        2040 [2]      1:0    Dixon, Hamish       1681 [2]  
12 Tanoi, TE             2016 [2]      ½:½    Stannard, Lars      1417 [2]  
13 Webster, Jamie        1701 [2]      0:1    Chen, Wei Kai       1965 [2]  
14 Darr, Samuel          1567 [2]      0:1    Mullan, Brett       1825 [2]  
15 Van Der Hoorn, Thomas 1807 [2]      1:0    Osborne, Geoff      1287 [2]  
16 Stöveken, Peter       1827 [1.5]    1:0    Stannard, Bobby     1485 [1.5]
17 Quayle, Jamie         1683 [1.5]    0:1    Wevers, Alexis      1798 [1.5]
18 Ashe, Michael         1662 [1.5]    0:1    Ackroyd, William    1277 [1.5]
19 Hurndell, Robert      1545 [1]      1:0    Cooke, Xandi        1512 [1.5]
20 Farrington, Lawrence  1706 [1]      1:0    Theodosiou, Andreas 1336 [1]  
21 Singh, Amrit          1000 [1]      ½:½    Kibblewhite, Daniel 1537 [1]  
22 Shepherd, Blake       1000 [1]      1:0    Dunlop, Rafe        1246 [.5] 
23 Ebarle, Joshua        1200 [.5]     1:0    Sripathy, Boopathy  1200 [.5] 
24 Mulheron, Oscar       1000 [0]      0:1    Cameron, Will       1292 [0]  
25 Forster, Bill         2017 [3.5]    ½:½    BYE                           
26 Laking, Robert        1968 [2.5]    ½:½    BYE                           
27 Brockway, Andrew      1836 [3]      ½:½    BYE                           
28 Rabina, Romeo         1647 [1.5]    ½:½    BYE                           
29 Stracy, Don           1606 [1.5]    ½:½    BYE                           
30 Asher, Bruce          1178 [1]      ½:½    BYE                           

Cross Table

No Name                  Loc  Total  1    2    3    4    5  

1  Dive, Russell         2410 5     41:1 13:1  6:1  2:1  5:1
2  Winter, Ryan          2087 4     34:1  8:1 23:1  1:0 15:1
3  Forster, Bill         2017 4     47:1 10:½ 30:1  7:1  0:½
4  Ker, Anthony          2451 4     25:½ 44:1 22:1 14:½ 20:1
5  Croad, Nicholas       2442 3.5   21:1 24:1  7:½ 27:1  1:0
6  He, Paul              1885 3.5   52:1  9:1  1:0 17:½ 26:1
7  Jackson, Ross         1964 3.5   29:1 33:1  5:½  3:0 23:1
8  Rossiter, Philip      1886 3.5   49:1  2:0 37:1  9:½ 28:1
9  Stone, Andrew         2074 3.5   38:1  6:0 34:1  8:½ 27:1
10 Brockway, Andrew      1836 3.5   54:1  3:½ 26:1 18:½  0:½
11 Nyberg, Michael       2104 3.5    0:½ 37:1 27:0 30:1 24:+
12 Nijman, Brian         2212 3.5   33:0  0:½ 36:1 25:1 14:1
13 He, Caleb             1922 3     31:1  1:0 19:1  0:½ 18:½
14 Sole, Michael         2008 3     45:1 19:½ 35:1  4:½ 12:0
15 Ross, Matt            1867 3     46:1  0:½ 16:½ 32:1  2:0
16 Benitez, Edgar        2040 3      0:½ 25:1 15:½ 20:0 34:1
17 Laking, Robert        1968 3     23:0 43:1 21:1  6:½  0:½
18 Pomeroy, Arthur       2074 3     43:½  0:½ 33:1 10:½ 13:½
19 Mullan, Brett         1825 3     48:1 14:½ 13:0  0:½ 35:1
20 Nicholls, Al          1844 3     37:0 51:1 47:1 16:1  4:0
21 Van Der Hoorn, Thomas 1807 3      5:0 52:1 17:0 42:1 39:1
22 Chen, Wei Kai         1965 3     42:½ 36:1  4:0 35:½ 33:1
23 Carroll, Lewis        1422 2.5   17:1 28:1  2:0 24:½  7:0
24 Aldridge, Alan        1922 2.5   39:1  5:0 29:1 23:½ 11:-
25 Wevers, Alexis        1798 2.5    4:½ 16:0 43:1 12:0 44:1
26 Sellen, Ian           2024 2.5    0:½ 40:1 10:0 44:1  6:0
27 Winfield, Alan        1906 2.5   53:½ 42:1 11:1  5:0  9:0
28 Lyall, Gordon         1945 2.5   51:1 23:0  0:½ 31:1  8:0
29 Stannard, Lars        1417 2.5    7:0 48:1 24:0 41:1 32:½
30 Stöveken, Peter       1827 2.5    0:½ 53:1  3:0 11:0 42:1
31 Ackroyd, William      1277 2.5   13:0 41:1  0:½ 28:0 43:1
32 Tanoi, TE             2016 2.5   35:0 39:1 38:1 15:0 29:½
33 Webster, Jamie        1701 2     12:1  7:0 18:0 51:1 22:0
34 Dixon, Hamish         1681 2      2:0 49:1  9:0 37:1 16:0
35 Darr, Samuel          1567 2     32:1  0:½ 14:0 22:½ 19:0
36 Hurndell, Robert      1545 2      0:½ 22:0 12:0  0:½ 45:1
37 Shepherd, Blake       1000 2     20:1 11:0  8:0 34:0 53:1
38 Stracy, Don           1606 2      9:0 46:1 32:0  0:½  0:½
39 Osborne, Geoff        1287 2     24:0 32:0 46:1 47:1 21:0
40 Rabina, Romeo         1647 2      0:½ 26:0 42:0 48:1  0:½
41 Farrington, Lawrence  1706 2      1:0 31:0 53:1 29:0 51:1
42 Stannard, Bobby       1485 1.5   22:½ 27:0 40:1 21:0 30:0
43 Ashe, Michael         1662 1.5   18:½ 17:0 25:0 53:1 31:0
44 Quayle, Jamie         1683 1.5    0:½  4:0 45:1 26:0 25:0
45 Cooke, Xandi          1512 1.5   14:0  0:½ 44:0 49:+ 36:0
46 Asher, Bruce          1178 1.5   15:0 38:0 39:0 54:1  0:½
47 Kibblewhite, Daniel   1537 1.5    3:0 54:1 20:0 39:0 48:½
48 Singh, Amrit          1000 1.5   19:0 29:0 52:+ 40:0 47:½
49 Ebarle, Joshua        1200 1.5    8:0 34:0  0:½ 45:- 52:1
50 Cameron, Will         1292 1      0:   0:   0:   0:  54:1
51 Theodosiou, Andreas   1336 1     28:0 20:0 54:1 33:0 41:0
52 Sripathy, Boopathy    1200 .5     6:0 21:0 48:-  0:½ 49:0
53 Dunlop, Rafe          1246 .5    27:½ 30:0 41:0 43:0 37:0
54 Mulheron, Oscar       1000 0     10:0 47:0 51:0 46:0 50:0

Julian Mazur R4 - Russell Dive Leads Alone

Halfway through the Julian Mazur Memorial, and we have a sole leader in Russell Dive, who has won all four of his games. The latest victim was Ryan Winter, who was doing fine until he blundered on move 28.


Half a point behind are Nic Croad and Bill Forster. Nic didn't have it all his own way against Alan Winfield, and was certainly in an uncomfortable position in the middle game, but recovered and won the endgame. Bill won a high quality game against Ross Jackson, here annotated by both players.


Anthony Ker had another minor lapse and only drew against Michael Sole. There were in fact a lot of upsets in this round, as there have been throughout the tournament. In board order:
Michael Sole (2008) drew with Anthony Ker (2451)
Al Nicholls (1844) beat Edgar Benitez (2040)
Matt Ross (1867) beat TE Tanoi (2016)
Lewis Carroll (1422) drew with Alan Aldridge (1922)
Samuel Darr (1567) drew with Wei Kai Chen (1965)
Lars Stannard (1417) beat Lawrence Farrington (1706)
Geoff Osborne (1287) beat Daniel Kibblewhite (1537)

Round 4

No Name                Loc  Total  Result   Name                  Loc  Total

 1 Winter, Ryan        2087 [3]      0:1    Dive, Russell         2410 [3]  
 2 Sole, Michael       2008 [2.5]    ½:½    Ker, Anthony          2451 [2.5]
 3 Croad, Nicholas     2442 [2.5]    1:0    Winfield, Alan        1906 [2.5]
 4 Forster, Bill       2017 [2.5]    1:0    Jackson, Ross         1964 [2.5]
 5 Pomeroy, Arthur     2074 [2]      ½:½    Brockway, Andrew      1836 [2.5]
 6 Rossiter, Philip    1886 [2]      ½:½    Stone, Andrew         2074 [2]  
 7 Nicholls, Al        1844 [2]      1:0    Benitez, Edgar        2040 [2]  
 8 Ross, Matt          1867 [2]      1:0    Tanoi, TE             2016 [2]  
 9 Laking, Robert      1968 [2]      ½:½    He, Paul              1885 [2]  
10 Carroll, Lewis      1422 [2]      ½:½    Aldridge, Alan        1922 [2]  
11 Wevers, Alexis      1798 [1.5]    0:1    Nijman, Brian         2212 [1.5]
12 Nyberg, Michael     2104 [1.5]    1:0    Stöveken, Peter       1827 [1.5]
13 Sellen, Ian         2024 [1.5]    1:0    Quayle, Jamie         1683 [1.5]
14 Chen, Wei Kai       1965 [1.5]    ½:½    Darr, Samuel          1567 [1.5]
15 Ackroyd, William    1277 [1.5]    0:1    Lyall, Gordon         1945 [1.5]
16 Stannard, Bobby     1485 [1.5]    0:1    Van Der Hoorn, Thomas 1807 [1]  
17 Stannard, Lars      1417 [1]      1:0    Farrington, Lawrence  1706 [1]  
18 Theodosiou, Andreas 1336 [1]      0:1    Webster, Jamie        1701 [1]  
19 Dixon, Hamish       1681 [1]      1:0    Shepherd, Blake       1000 [1]  
20 Osborne, Geoff      1287 [1]      1:0    Kibblewhite, Daniel   1537 [1]  
21 Singh, Amrit        1000 [1]      0:1    Rabina, Romeo         1647 [.5] 
22 Dunlop, Rafe        1246 [.5]     0:1    Ashe, Michael         1662 [.5] 
23 Ebarle, Joshua      1200 [.5]     -:+    Cooke, Xandi          1512 [.5] 
24 Asher, Bruce        1178 [0]      1:0    Mulheron, Oscar       1000 [0]  
25 He, Caleb           1922 [2]      ½:½    BYE                             
26 Mullan, Brett       1825 [1.5]    ½:½    BYE                             
27 Stracy, Don         1606 [1]      ½:½    BYE                             
28 Hurndell, Robert    1545 [.5]     ½:½    BYE                             
29 Sripathy, Boopathy  1200 [0]      ½:½    BYE                             

Cross Table

No Name                  Loc  Total  1    2    3    4  

1  Dive, Russell         2410 4     47:1 16:1 12:1  4:1
2  Croad, Nicholas       2442 3.5   29:1 13:1 10:½ 18:1
3  Forster, Bill         2017 3.5   44:1  5:½ 35:1 10:1
4  Winter, Ryan          2087 3     31:1 20:1 11:1  1:0
5  Brockway, Andrew      1836 3     53:1  3:½ 19:1 17:½
6  Sole, Michael         2008 3     41:1 26:½ 27:1  8:½
7  Ross, Matt            1867 3     49:1  0:½ 24:½ 28:1
8  Ker, Anthony          2451 3     34:½ 36:1 30:1  6:½
9  Nicholls, Al          1844 3     43:0 45:1 44:1 24:1
10 Jackson, Ross         1964 2.5   32:1 25:1  2:½  3:0
11 Carroll, Lewis        1422 2.5   15:1 22:1  4:0 13:½
12 He, Paul              1885 2.5   51:1 14:1  1:0 15:½
13 Aldridge, Alan        1922 2.5   33:1  2:0 32:1 11:½
14 Stone, Andrew         2074 2.5   39:1 12:0 31:1 20:½
15 Laking, Robert        1968 2.5   11:0 40:1 29:1 12:½
16 He, Caleb             1922 2.5   37:1  1:0 26:1  0:½
17 Pomeroy, Arthur       2074 2.5   40:½  0:½ 25:1  5:½
18 Winfield, Alan        1906 2.5   52:½ 38:1 21:1  2:0
19 Sellen, Ian           2024 2.5    0:½ 42:1  5:0 36:1
20 Rossiter, Philip      1886 2.5   50:1  4:0 43:1 14:½
21 Nyberg, Michael       2104 2.5    0:½ 43:1 18:0 35:1
22 Lyall, Gordon         1945 2.5   45:1 11:0  0:½ 37:1
23 Nijman, Brian         2212 2.5   25:0  0:½ 46:1 34:1
24 Benitez, Edgar        2040 2      0:½ 34:1  7:½  9:0
25 Webster, Jamie        1701 2     23:1 10:0 17:0 45:1
26 Mullan, Brett         1825 2     48:1  6:½ 16:0  0:½
27 Darr, Samuel          1567 2     28:1  0:½  6:0 30:½
28 Tanoi, TE             2016 2     27:0 33:1 39:1  7:0
29 Van Der Hoorn, Thomas 1807 2      2:0 51:1 15:0 38:1
30 Chen, Wei Kai         1965 2     38:½ 46:1  8:0 27:½
31 Dixon, Hamish         1681 2      4:0 50:1 14:0 43:1
32 Stannard, Lars        1417 2     10:0 48:1 13:0 47:1
33 Osborne, Geoff        1287 2     13:0 28:0 49:1 44:1
34 Wevers, Alexis        1798 1.5    8:½ 24:0 40:1 23:0
35 Stöveken, Peter       1827 1.5    0:½ 52:1  3:0 21:0
36 Quayle, Jamie         1683 1.5    0:½  8:0 41:1 19:0
37 Ackroyd, William      1277 1.5   16:0 47:1  0:½ 22:0
38 Stannard, Bobby       1485 1.5   30:½ 18:0 42:1 29:0
39 Stracy, Don           1606 1.5   14:0 49:1 28:0  0:½
40 Ashe, Michael         1662 1.5   17:½ 15:0 34:0 52:1
41 Cooke, Xandi          1512 1.5    6:0  0:½ 36:0 50:+
42 Rabina, Romeo         1647 1.5    0:½ 19:0 38:0 48:1
43 Shepherd, Blake       1000 1      9:1 21:0 20:0 31:0
44 Kibblewhite, Daniel   1537 1      3:0 53:1  9:0 33:0
45 Theodosiou, Andreas   1336 1     22:0  9:0 53:1 25:0
46 Hurndell, Robert      1545 1      0:½ 30:0 23:0  0:½
47 Farrington, Lawrence  1706 1      1:0 37:0 52:1 32:0
48 Singh, Amrit          1000 1     26:0 32:0 51:+ 42:0
49 Asher, Bruce          1178 1      7:0 39:0 33:0 53:1
50 Ebarle, Joshua        1200 .5    20:0 31:0  0:½ 41:-
51 Sripathy, Boopathy    1200 .5    12:0 29:0 48:-  0:½
52 Dunlop, Rafe          1246 .5    18:½ 35:0 47:0 40:0
53 Mulheron, Oscar       1000 0      5:0 44:0 45:0 49:0

Julian Mazur R3 - Ryan and Russell Accident Free

After 3 rounds of the Julian Mazur Memorial only 2 players have full points, Russell Dive and Ryan Winter. The top two seeds, Anthony Ker and Nic Croad, have both had accidents involving losing half a point. Nic was extremely lucky not to lose to Ross Jackson, only being saved in the end by Ross's extra bishop being on the wrong colour square to promote his h pawn.





Lewis Carroll appeared not to be phased by the fact that he was playing with the big boys. He and Ryan played a fascinating game where the advantage swung from one side to the other. Ryan said afterwards that he didn't have a clue what was going on, but he is a modest young chap, he probably did.





I had a terrible time against Andrew Brockway - after earlier surviving one of his Sicilian Grand Prix onslaughts, I went and fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book.



Thanks to Bill Forster for annotating his entertaining encounter with Peter Stöveken here:






The last game to finish was also rather entertaining for the crowd that gathered around at the end. Michael Nyberg was losing badly to Alan Winfield, but was fighting back as he always does. They repeated moves a couple of times, Alan signalling a draw offer, but Michael decided to vary moves to play for a win even though he was still losing. This worked out rather badly.

Round 3

No Name                  Loc  Total  Result   Name                Loc  Total

 1 Jackson, Ross         1964 [2]      ½:½    Croad, Nicholas     2442 [2]  
 2 Dive, Russell         2410 [2]      1:0    He, Paul            1885 [2]  
 3 Winter, Ryan          2087 [2]      1:0    Carroll, Lewis      1422 [2]  
 4 Ker, Anthony          2451 [1.5]    1:0    Chen, Wei Kai       1965 [1.5]
 5 Winfield, Alan        1906 [1.5]    1:0    Nyberg, Michael     2104 [1.5]
 6 Benitez, Edgar        2040 [1.5]    ½:½    Ross, Matt          1867 [1.5]
 7 Brockway, Andrew      1836 [1.5]    1:0    Sellen, Ian         2024 [1.5]
 8 Stöveken, Peter       1827 [1.5]    0:1    Forster, Bill       2017 [1.5]
 9 Darr, Samuel          1567 [1.5]    0:1    Sole, Michael       2008 [1.5]
10 Mullan, Brett         1825 [1.5]    0:1    He, Caleb           1922 [1]  
11 Pomeroy, Arthur       2074 [1]      1:0    Webster, Jamie      1701 [1]  
12 Stone, Andrew         2074 [1]      1:0    Dixon, Hamish       1681 [1]  
13 Tanoi, TE             2016 [1]      1:0    Stracy, Don         1606 [1]  
14 Van Der Hoorn, Thomas 1807 [1]      0:1    Laking, Robert      1968 [1]  
15 Aldridge, Alan        1922 [1]      1:0    Stannard, Lars      1417 [1]  
16 Shepherd, Blake       1000 [1]      0:1    Rossiter, Philip    1886 [1]  
17 Kibblewhite, Daniel   1537 [1]      0:1    Nicholls, Al        1844 [1]  
18 Nijman, Brian         2212 [.5]     1:0    Hurndell, Robert    1545 [.5] 
19 Ashe, Michael         1662 [.5]     0:1    Wevers, Alexis      1798 [.5] 
20 Cooke, Xandi          1512 [.5]     0:1    Quayle, Jamie       1683 [.5] 
21 Rabina, Romeo         1647 [.5]     0:1    Stannard, Bobby     1485 [.5] 
22 Farrington, Lawrence  1706 [0]      1:0    Dunlop, Rafe        1246 [.5] 
23 Mulheron, Oscar       1000 [0]      0:1    Theodosiou, Andreas 1336 [0]  
24 Asher, Bruce          1178 [0]      0:1    Osborne, Geoff      1287 [0]  
25 Singh, Amrit          1000 [0]      +:-    Sripathy, Boopathy  1200 [0]  
26 Lyall, Gordon         1945 [1]      ½:½    BYE                           
27 Ackroyd, William      1277 [1]      ½:½    BYE                           
28 Ebarle, Joshua        1200 [0]      ½:½    BYE                           

Cross Table

No Name                  Loc  Total  1    2    3  

1  Dive, Russell         2410 3     42:1 12:1 11:1
2  Winter, Ryan          2087 3     36:1 16:1 10:1
3  Croad, Nicholas       2442 2.5   37:1 15:1  9:½
4  Forster, Bill         2017 2.5   39:1  6:½ 29:1
5  Ker, Anthony          2451 2.5   24:½ 30:1 27:1
6  Brockway, Andrew      1836 2.5   51:1  4:½ 26:1
7  Sole, Michael         2008 2.5   46:1 23:½ 22:1
8  Winfield, Alan        1906 2.5   47:½ 31:1 25:1
9  Jackson, Ross         1964 2.5   38:1 34:1  3:½
10 Carroll, Lewis        1422 2     19:1 28:1  2:0
11 He, Paul              1885 2     53:1 17:1  1:0
12 He, Caleb             1922 2     32:1  1:0 23:1
13 Benitez, Edgar        2040 2      0:½ 24:1 14:½
14 Ross, Matt            1867 2     52:1  0:½ 13:½
15 Aldridge, Alan        1922 2     41:1  3:0 38:1
16 Rossiter, Philip      1886 2     50:1  2:0 35:1
17 Stone, Andrew         2074 2     40:1 11:0 36:1
18 Tanoi, TE             2016 2     22:0 41:1 40:1
19 Laking, Robert        1968 2     10:0 45:1 37:1
20 Pomeroy, Arthur       2074 2     45:½  0:½ 34:1
21 Nicholls, Al          1844 2     35:0 43:1 39:1
22 Darr, Samuel          1567 1.5   18:1  0:½  7:0
23 Mullan, Brett         1825 1.5   44:1  7:½ 12:0
24 Wevers, Alexis        1798 1.5    5:½ 13:0 45:1
25 Nyberg, Michael       2104 1.5    0:½ 35:1  8:0
26 Sellen, Ian           2024 1.5    0:½ 48:1  6:0
27 Chen, Wei Kai         1965 1.5   31:½ 49:1  5:0
28 Lyall, Gordon         1945 1.5   43:1 10:0  0:½
29 Stöveken, Peter       1827 1.5    0:½ 47:1  4:0
30 Quayle, Jamie         1683 1.5    0:½  5:0 46:1
31 Stannard, Bobby       1485 1.5   27:½  8:0 48:1
32 Ackroyd, William      1277 1.5   12:0 42:1  0:½
33 Nijman, Brian         2212 1.5   34:0  0:½ 49:1
34 Webster, Jamie        1701 1     33:1  9:0 20:0
35 Shepherd, Blake       1000 1     21:1 25:0 16:0
36 Dixon, Hamish         1681 1      2:0 50:1 17:0
37 Van Der Hoorn, Thomas 1807 1      3:0 53:1 19:0
38 Stannard, Lars        1417 1      9:0 44:1 15:0
39 Kibblewhite, Daniel   1537 1      4:0 51:1 21:0
40 Stracy, Don           1606 1     17:0 52:1 18:0
41 Osborne, Geoff        1287 1     15:0 18:0 52:1
42 Farrington, Lawrence  1706 1      1:0 32:0 47:1
43 Theodosiou, Andreas   1336 1     28:0 21:0 51:1
44 Singh, Amrit          1000 1     23:0 38:0 53:+
45 Ashe, Michael         1662 .5    20:½ 19:0 24:0
46 Cooke, Xandi          1512 .5     7:0  0:½ 30:0
47 Dunlop, Rafe          1246 .5     8:½ 29:0 42:0
48 Rabina, Romeo         1647 .5     0:½ 26:0 31:0
49 Hurndell, Robert      1545 .5     0:½ 27:0 33:0
50 Ebarle, Joshua        1200 .5    16:0 36:0  0:½
51 Mulheron, Oscar       1000 0      6:0 39:0 43:0
52 Asher, Bruce          1178 0     14:0 40:0 41:0
53 Sripathy, Boopathy    1200 0     11:0 37:0 44:-

Julian Mazur Round 2 - More Upsets

Round 2 of the Julian Mazur Memorial was possibly the most well attended club night in recent history, with 24 games being played overall. I had to squeeze in some extra tables from the upstairs room to accommodate everyone.

Although not on the same scale of carnage as last week, still there were three notable wins by lesser rated youngsters against experienced old hands.
The only upsetter from last week who carried on his upsetting ways in round 2 was Lewis Carroll. His win this time was much quicker than round 1, a jaunty 21 moves.





Also on 2 points out of 2 is Paul He, who upset Andrew Stone in a very different kind of game. As Paul pointed out after the game, Andrew missed a forced checkmate, slightly tricky to see, and went on to lose.
We are very grateful to Andrew for showing great sportsmanship and annotating his loss.



 The last major upset was William Ackroyd against Lawrence Farrington. William basically just played better chess, but at the end he had to see the tactic Bxb4! Admittedly, he could also have played it the previous two moves too.

Round 2

No Name                 Loc  Total  Result   Name                  Loc  Total

 1 Croad, Nicholas      2453 [1]      1:0    Aldridge, Alan        1927 [1]  
 2 He, Caleb            1914 [1]      0:1    Dive, Russell         2403 [1]  
 3 Rossiter, Philip     1898 [1]      0:1    Winter, Ryan          2086 [1]  
 4 He, Paul             1879 [1]      1:0    Stone, Andrew         2066 [1]  
 5 Forster, Bill        2018 [1]      ½:½    Brockway, Andrew      1850 [1]  
 6 Sole, Michael        2009 [1]      ½:½    Mullan, Brett         1825 [1]  
 7 Webster, Jamie       1689 [1]      0:1    Jackson, Ross         1961 [1]  
 8 Lyall, Gordon        1945 [1]      0:1    Carroll, Lewis        1442 [1]  
 9 Nyberg, Michael      2104 [.5]     1:0    Shepherd, Blake       1000 [1]  
10 Quayle, Jamie        1684 [.5]     0:1    Ker, Anthony          2456 [.5] 
11 Wevers, Alexis       1807 [.5]     0:1    Benitez, Edgar        2043 [.5] 
12 Sellen, Ian          2023 [.5]     1:0    Rabina, Romeo         1682 [.5] 
13 Hurndell, Robert     1544 [.5]     0:1    Chen, Wei Kai         1968 [.5] 
14 Stannard, Bobby      1461 [.5]     0:1    Winfield, Alan        1903 [.5] 
15 Dunlop, Rafe         1234 [.5]     0:1    Stöveken, Peter       1808 [.5] 
16 Laking, Robert       1965 [0]      1:0    Ashe, Michael         1659 [.5] 
17 Osborne, Geoff       1264 [0]      0:1    Tanoi, TE             2013 [0]  
18 Nicholls, Al         1844 [0]      1:0    Theodosiou, Andreas   1328 [0]  
19 Sripathy, Boopathy   1200 [0]      0:1    Van Der Hoorn, Thomas 1795 [0]  
20 Farrington, Lawrence 1710 [0]      0:1    Ackroyd, William      1258 [0]  
21 Dixon, Hamish        1676 [0]      1:0    Ebarle, Joshua        1200 [0]  
22 Stracy, Don          1612 [0]      1:0    Asher, Bruce          1177 [0]  
23 Mulheron, Oscar      1000 [0]      0:1    Kibblewhite, Daniel   1523 [0]  
24 Stannard, Lars       1408 [0]      1:0    Singh, Amrit          1000 [0]  
25 Nijman, Brian        2203 [0]      ½:½    BYE                             
26 Pomeroy, Arthur      2075 [.5]     ½:½    BYE                             
27 Ross, Matt           1864 [1]      ½:½    BYE                             
28 Darr, Samuel         1520 [1]      ½:½    BYE                             
29 Cooke, Xandi         1506 [0]      ½:½    BYE                             

Cross Table

No Name                  Loc  Total  1    2  

1  Croad, Nicholas       2453 2     28:1 26:1
2  Winter, Ryan          2086 2     29:1 27:1
3  Jackson, Ross         1961 2     30:1 22:1
4  Carroll, Lewis        1442 2     24:1 25:1
5  Dive, Russell         2403 2     46:1 21:1
6  He, Paul              1879 2     47:1 20:1
7  Forster, Bill         2018 1.5   33:1 11:½
8  Sole, Michael         2009 1.5   43:1 12:½
9  Darr, Samuel          1520 1.5   32:1  0:½
10 Nyberg, Michael       2104 1.5    0:½ 23:1
11 Brockway, Andrew      1850 1.5   49:1  7:½
12 Mullan, Brett         1825 1.5   50:1  8:½
13 Benitez, Edgar        2043 1.5    0:½ 37:1
14 Sellen, Ian           2023 1.5    0:½ 41:1
15 Stöveken, Peter       1808 1.5    0:½ 39:1
16 Ross, Matt            1864 1.5   48:1  0:½
17 Ker, Anthony          2456 1.5   37:½ 40:1
18 Chen, Wei Kai         1968 1.5   38:½ 42:1
19 Winfield, Alan        1903 1.5   39:½ 38:1
20 Stone, Andrew         2066 1     35:1  6:0
21 He, Caleb             1914 1     36:1  5:0
22 Webster, Jamie        1689 1     45:1  3:0
23 Shepherd, Blake       1000 1     34:1 10:0
24 Laking, Robert        1965 1      4:0 44:1
25 Lyall, Gordon         1945 1     51:1  4:0
26 Aldridge, Alan        1927 1     52:1  1:0
27 Rossiter, Philip      1898 1     53:1  2:0
28 Van Der Hoorn, Thomas 1795 1      1:0 47:1
29 Dixon, Hamish         1676 1      2:0 53:1
30 Stannard, Lars        1408 1      3:0 50:1
31 Pomeroy, Arthur       2075 1     44:½  0:½
32 Tanoi, TE             2013 1      9:0 52:1
33 Kibblewhite, Daniel   1523 1      7:0 49:1
34 Nicholls, Al          1844 1     23:0 51:1
35 Stracy, Don           1612 1     20:0 48:1
36 Ackroyd, William      1258 1     21:0 46:1
37 Wevers, Alexis        1807 .5    17:½ 13:0
38 Stannard, Bobby       1461 .5    18:½ 19:0
39 Dunlop, Rafe          1234 .5    19:½ 15:0
40 Quayle, Jamie         1684 .5     0:½ 17:0
41 Rabina, Romeo         1682 .5     0:½ 14:0
42 Hurndell, Robert      1544 .5     0:½ 18:0
43 Cooke, Xandi          1506 .5     8:0  0:½
44 Ashe, Michael         1659 .5    31:½ 24:0
45 Nijman, Brian         2203 .5    22:0  0:½
46 Farrington, Lawrence  1710 0      5:0 36:0
47 Sripathy, Boopathy    1200 0      6:0 28:0
48 Asher, Bruce          1177 0     16:0 35:0
49 Mulheron, Oscar       1000 0     11:0 33:0
50 Singh, Amrit          1000 0     12:0 30:0
51 Theodosiou, Andreas   1328 0     25:0 34:0
52 Osborne, Geoff        1264 0     26:0 32:0
53 Ebarle, Joshua        1200 0     27:0 29:0

Round One Carnage at the Julian Mazur

The Julian Mazur Memorial tournament, which is an eight round Swiss of classical chess, began on Thursday.
Normally the first round of a Swiss is a series of massacres where the top half of the club get to pick on players with ratings half their size, with maybe the odd upset to keep things interesting.
There must have been something in the air, however, as there were no fewer than EIGHT upsets right throughout the draw.

Congratulations to (in board order):
- Alexis Wevers who draw with the black pieces with Anthony Ker
- Jamie Webster who (on crutches!) beat Brian Nijman
- Michael Ashe who drew with Arthur Pomeroy
- Samuel Darr who beat TE Tanoi with the black pieces
- Bobby Stannard who drew with Wei Kai Chen with the black pieces
- Lewis Carroll who beat Robert Laking
- Rafe Dunlop who drew with Alan Winfield with the black pieces
- Blake Shepherd who beat Al Nicholls in his first classical game at the club.

Blake Shepherd

Lewis Carroll

Samuel Darr

Here are some games
Russell Dive said after this game that if he had been Alexis he would have tried to beat Anthony from this position. Easy for an International Master to say!




One of the games that wasn't an upset was Kibblewhite v Forster. Interestingly, they also met in the first round of the Summer Cup, and that time it really WAS an upset, the only one. Thanks to Bill for these annotations.



Finally, TE Tanoi gets my vote for sportsperson of the year. It's not pleasant being brought down by an up-and-coming junior, but here he is annotating his own loss. You're a winner in my book, Mr Tanoi!

Julian Mazur Memorial Round 1

No Name                  Loc  Total  Result   Name                 Loc  Total

 1 Ker, Anthony          2456 [0]      ½:½    Wevers, Alexis       1807 [0]  
 2 Van Der Hoorn, Thomas 1795 [0]      0:1    Croad, Nicholas      2453 [0]  
 3 Dive, Russell         2403 [0]      1:0    Farrington, Lawrence 1710 [0]  
 4 Webster, Jamie        1689 [0]      1:0    Nijman, Brian        2203 [0]  
 5 Winter, Ryan          2086 [0]      1:0    Dixon, Hamish        1676 [0]  
 6 Ashe, Michael         1659 [0]      ½:½    Pomeroy, Arthur      2075 [0]  
 7 Stone, Andrew         2066 [0]      1:0    Stracy, Don          1612 [0]  
 8 Kibblewhite, Daniel   1523 [0]      0:1    Forster, Bill        2018 [0]  
 9 Tanoi, TE             2013 [0]      0:1    Darr, Samuel         1520 [0]  
10 Cooke, Xandi          1506 [0]      0:1    Sole, Michael        2009 [0]  
11 Chen, Wei Kai         1968 [0]      ½:½    Stannard, Bobby      1461 [0]  
12 Carroll, Lewis        1442 [0]      1:0    Laking, Robert       1965 [0]  
13 Jackson, Ross         1961 [0]      1:0    Stannard, Lars       1408 [0]  
14 Theodosiou, Andreas   1328 [0]      0:1    Lyall, Gordon        1945 [0]  
15 Aldridge, Alan        1927 [0]      1:0    Osborne, Geoff       1264 [0]  
16 Ackroyd, William      1258 [0]      0:1    He, Caleb            1914 [0]  
17 Winfield, Alan        1903 [0]      ½:½    Dunlop, Rafe         1234 [0]  
18 Ebarle, Joshua        1200 [0]      0:1    Rossiter, Philip     1898 [0]  
19 He, Paul              1879 [0]      1:0    Sripathy, Boopathy   1200 [0]  
20 Asher, Bruce          1177 [0]      0:1    Ross, Matt           1864 [0]  
21 Brockway, Andrew      1850 [0]      1:0    Mulheron, Oscar      1000 [0]  
22 Shepherd, Blake       1000 [0]      1:0    Nicholls, Al         1844 [0]  
23 Mullan, Brett         1825 [0]      1:0    Singh, Amrit         1000 [0]  
24 Nyberg, Michael       2104 [0]      ½:0    BYE                            
25 Benitez, Edgar        2043 [0]      ½:½    BYE                            
26 Sellen, Ian           2023 [0]      ½:½    BYE                            
27 Stöveken, Peter       1808 [0]      ½:½    BYE                            
28 Quayle, Jamie         1684 [0]      ½:½    BYE                            
29 Rabina, Romeo         1682 [0]      ½:½    BYE                            
30 Hurndell, Robert      1544 [0]      ½:½    BYE                            

Russell Wins the Blitz Too!

29 players took part in this year's Blitz championship, which I divided into three groups of 7 and one group of 8, with the idea of the two top players in each group going through to the final. One of the groups ended with a three person tie for top, so, rather than having a tiebreaker, we put them all into the final. And then Nic Croad showed up after a work function, and he was included in the final too, which made it up to 10 players.
Three players won all their preliminary games, Anthony Ker, Michael Nyberg and Michael Sole. In group 3 Russell lost early on to Ryan Winter, but proceeded to win all his other games. Both the He brothers also made it to the finals for the first time.
In the finals Russell had no more accidents, and he won every single game. Nic won all his games apart from the one against Russell, and so he took second place, 1½ points ahead of Anthony who finished on 6½.

So Russell has now won two tournaments in a row. Let's see if he can keep up the good form in the next tournament, the Julian Mazur Memorial.

Preliminary group 1

No
Name
Feder
Rtg
Total
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7


1
Ker, Anthony
 
 
6
*
1
1
1
1
1
1


2
He, Caleb
 
 
4.5
0
*
½
1
1
1
1


3
Sellen, Ian
 
 
3.5
0
½
*
0
1
1
1


4
Pomeroy, Arthur
 
 
3
0
0
1
*
0
1
1


5
Sripathy, Boopathy
 
 
3
0
0
0
1
*
1
1


6
Shepherd, Blake
 
 
1
0
0
0
0
0
*
1


7
Mulheron, Oscar
 
 
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
*

Preliminary group 2

No
Name
Feder
Rtg
Total
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8


1
Sole, Michael
 
 
7
*
1
1
1
1
1
1
1


2
Jackson, Ross
 
 
5
0
*
1
1
1
0
1
1


3
Ashe, Michael
 
 
4
0
0
*
0
1
1
1
1


4
Forster, Bill
 
 
4
0
0
1
*
0
1
1
1


5
Brockway, Andrew
 
 
4
0
0
0
1
*
1
1
1


6
Ackroyd, William
 
 
2.5
0
1
0
0
0
*
1
½


7
Dunlop, Rafe
 
 
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
*
1


8
Cooke, Xandi
 
 
.5
0
0
0
0
0
½
0
*

Preliminary group 3

No
Name
Feder
Rtg
Total
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7


1
Winter, Ryan
 
 
5
*
0
1
1
1
1
1


2
Tanoi, TE
 
 
5
1
*
0
1
1
1
1


3
Dive, Russell
 
 
5
0
1
*
1
1
1
1


4
Aldridge, Alan
 
 
2
0
0
0
*
1
0
1


5
Ross, Matt
 
 
2
0
0
0
0
*
1
1


6
Stannard, Bobby
 
 
1
0
0
0
1
0
*
0


7
Darr, Samuel
 
 
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
*

Preliminary group 4

No
Name
Feder
Rtg
Total
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7


1
Nyberg, Michael
 
 
6
*
1
1
1
1
1
1


2
He, Paul
 
 
5
0
*
1
1
1
1
1


3
Carroll, Lewis
 
 
3.5
0
0
*
1
½
1
1


4
Van der Hoorn, Thomas
 
 
3
0
0
0
*
1
1
1


5
Farrington, Lawrence
 
 
2.5
0
0
½
0
*
1
1


6
Knecht, Roger
 
 
1
0
0
0
0
0
*
1


7
Dixon, Hamish
 
 
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
*

Final

No
Name
Feder
Rtg
Total
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10


1
Dive, Russell
 
 
9
*
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1


2
Croad, Nic
 
 
8
0
*
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1


3
Ker, Anthony
 
 
6.5
0
0
*
½
1
1
1
1
1
1


4
Winter, Ryan
 
 
5.5
0
0
½
*
0
1
1
1
1
1


5
Nyberg, Michael
 
 
4
0
0
0
1
*
1
1
0
0
1


6
Jackson, Ross
 
 
3
0
0
0
0
0
*
1
1
1
0


7
Sole, Michael
 
 
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
*
1
1
1


8
Tanoi, TE
 
 
2
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
*
1
0


9
He, Paul
 
 
2
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
*
1


10
He, Caleb
 
 
2
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
*