49th Torbay Chess Congress Report
13th - 15th November 2015 at the Livermead House Hotel, Torquay
Entrants
Open 19; Major 30; Intermediate 31; Minor 44; giving a total of 124 entrants. This was somewhat down on the previous year.
Prize Winners
Open
Scroll the table to the right to see full details.
| Prize | Winner(s) | Club(s) | Score | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Humphrey Andolo (190) | Plymouth/Downend | 4/5 | Winning £225 and WECU nominated open qualifying event for the 2016 British Championships. |
| Joint 2nd/3rd | Ali R Jaunooby (202) | Denton | 3.5/5 | All winning £69. |
| Paul D Helbig (196) | South Bristol | |||
| Robert Thompson (171) | Bristol University | |||
| Grading Prize 188 – 177 inc | Stephen P Dilleigh (187) | Horfield | 3/5 | Both winning £15. |
| Stephen H Homer (181) | Exeter/Newton Abbott | |||
| Grading Prize Under 177 | Simon Bartlett (168) | Bude/Tiverton | 3/5 | Winning £30. |
Major
Scroll the table to the right to see full details.
| Prize | Winner(s) | Club(s) | Score | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joint 1st | Robert G Taylor (167) | Malpas (Newport) | 4/5 | All winning £84. |
| Paul G Jackson (163) | Coulsdon | |||
| Andrew C Waters (159) | Rainham (Kent) | |||
| Grading Prize 158 – 150 inc | John CH Nyman (154) | King's Head | 3.5/5 | Both winning £15. |
| Roger D Knight (157) | Yeovil | |||
| Grading Prize Under 150 | Jonathan Ayres (139) | Scarborough | 3/5 | Winning £30. |
Intermediate
Scroll the table to the right to see full details.
| Prize | Winner(s) | Club(s) | Score | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joint 1st | Stephen Williams (136) | Cwmbran | 4/5 | All winning £84. |
| Stephen M Chadaway (133 | Olton | |||
| Terence V Greenaway (130) | Torquay | |||
| Grading Prize 133 – 130 inc | Michael Fielding (132) | Patchway | 3.5/5 | Winning £30. |
| Grading Prize Under 130 | Timothy J Crouch (127) | King's Head/Pimlico | 3/5 | Winning £30. |
Minor
Scroll the table to the right to see full details.
| Prize | Winner(s) | Club(s) | Score | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joint 1st | Roy A Ludow (118) | Trowbridge | 4/5 | All winning £50. |
| Philip J McConnell (115) | South Hams | |||
| Martin E Jones (109) | Newquay | |||
| Alan R Fraser (105) | Beckenham and Bromley | |||
| Joshua P Blackmore (101) | Newton Abbott | |||
| Grading Prize 108 – 98 inc | Colin J Gardiner (107) | Barnstaple | 3.5/5 | Both winning £15. |
| Martin Maber ((99) | Taunton | |||
| Grading Prize Under 98 | Adam Hussain (82) | Truro Prep School | 3/5 | Winning £30. |
British Championship Qualifier and a Bursary of £100
Humphrey Andolo
Torbay Individual Championships (incorporated in the Congress)
| Open: Basil Wallis Cup | Humphrey Andolo |
| Major: Challenge Cup | Bill Ingham |
| Intermediate: Intermediate Cup | Terence Greenaway |
| Minor: Candidates Cup | Joshua Blackmore |
Best Score by a Devon Player in the Graded Sections
| Winner of the Ralph Newman Cup: | Terence Greenaway |
Best Score by a Junior
John Whitfield Cup, awarded to the best score by a junior across all 4 sections. The winner was Joshua Blackmore with a score of 4/5 in the Minor.
Team Event
A four player team event was held for the fourth time, with the players making up the team having to come from the same club. There were five teams, Newton Abbott, Plymouth, Teignmouth, Tiverton and Weymouth. Teignmouth won the event with 11/20 narrowing pipping Weymouth who had set the pace earlier in the Tournament. The winning team consisted of Bill Ingham (Major), Nathan Mills (Major), Norman Tidy (Minor) and Mark Cockerton (Minor).
Ray Chubb Presentation
To mark his long years of service to the Congress a special presentation was made to Ray Chubb. A pen, hand made in Torbay from olive wood, was presented to Ray. He made a short speech thanking everyone for their support over the years and wishing them many happy years of playing at the Torbay Congress. All the players showed their enthusiastic appreciation of Ray's dedication to the Congress.
Ray has announced his intention of supporting the Congress next year by entering as a player!
Venue
The Congress was held at the Livermead House Hotel. The 50th Congress will be held at the same venue on 11th - 13th November 2016.
Congress Team
Many people made the Congress a success. The Tournament Controller, Tony Tatam excelled himself with the control of the Congress, the management of the entries, the pairings and the supply of data to the web site. Thanks also go to the team of arbiters John Ariss, Graham Mill-Wilson and Ken Alexander for enabling each section to run so smoothly. Special thanks must go to Phil McConnell who created the Congress website and provided much valuable general advice throughout. He also kept the results and pairings up to date on the website throughout the Congress. A critical part of the Congress was the supply of the equipment. This came from Bob Jones of Keverel Chess, and was delivered and collected by Ray Hunt. Bob Jones also provided his photographic services. The Congress is indebted to Kitson's Solicitors for their generous sponsorship of the event and to Mark Cockerton for being the liaison. Mark Cockerton and Norman Tidy were instrumental in setting up the room up ready for play and in packing away again on Sunday night. Rosemary Pavitt created the wall charts in her lovely cursive script. Thanks also to Mr Rew and the staff of the Livermead House Hotel for keeping up with the demands of the players. There were numerous other people who helped to make the Congress a success. To all of them a big “Thank You”.