Frodsham Congress 2014

[Pat Ridley]

There was a record entry of 132 players taking part in this year’s Congress on 7th-9th February at Frodsham Community Centre, in spite of the clash with the 4NCL Division 3 weekend at Buxton. The outright winner of the Under 210 section was Jim Burnett (Doncaster), conceding just one draw, half a point ahead of Oliver Jackson (an identical result for Oliver to 2012 and 2013).

First place in the Under 160 section was shared between local player Mark Cromwell (Frodsham) and Richard Desmedt (Wombwell), half a point ahead of the three players sharing third place: Reg Clucas (Altrincham and Hale), Mick Connor (Great Lever/Widnes) and Joe Nemcek (Chester).

Roy Watson (Kenilworth) won the Under 120 section with 4.5 points, and there was a four-way tie for second (with 4 points) between Tim Allen (Battersea), Paul Broderick (Newport, Shropshire), Colin Gardiner (Newmarket) and Chris Volk (No Club). The Grading Prize was won by 11 year-old William Lovell (The Hall).

As last year, in view of the unusually large entry additional prizes for ‘Slow Starters’ were awarded in each section.

The Controllers were Roger Edwards, Robert Milner, Matthew Carr and Andrew Davies. With this congress, Roger has retired after 35 years of controlling Frodsham and its predecessor, at Crewe.


Under 210 (23 players)

1st Jim Burnett (Doncaster) 4.5/5.
2nd Oliver Jackson (No Club) 4.
3rd Jeff Smith (Chester) 3.5
Grading Prizes: Harry Baxter (Alwoodley), Richard Clissold (Winwick) 3.
Slow Starters: Martin Burns (Stockport), Neil Thomson (Greenwood, Scotland) 3.
Others on 3: Paul Evans (Lytham Ex-Servicemen), Ben Roberts (Rhyl & Prestatyn),
Mike Surtees (Great Lever/Widnes), Chris Vassiliou (Chorlton).

Under 160 (54 players)

1st = Mark Cromwell (Frodsham), Richard Desmedt (Wombwell) 4.5.
3rd= Reg Clucas (Altrincham & Hale), Mick Connor (Great Lever/Widnes), Jozef Nemcek (Chester) 4.
Grading Prizes: Syringa Camp (Colwyn Bay), Jixin Yang (Chester) 3.
Slow Starters: Jan Kitshoff (Culcheth), Steven Potter (St Helens) 3.
On 3.5: John Cawston (Lady Ann Middleton), Neil Coward (No Club), Stephen Fanning (Heywood), Roger Greatorex (Llangollen), Dean Hartley (Amber Valley), Gareth Haslinger (Formby), Ray Williams (Chester).
Others on 3: Robert Clegg (Huddersfield), David Gillespie (Greenwood, Scotland), Christopher Lewis (Newport, Shropshire), Brendan O’Gorman (DHSS).

Under 120 (55 players)

1st Roy Watson (Kenilworth) 4.5.
2nd= Tim Allen (Battersea), Paul Broderick (Newport, Shropshire),
Colin Gardiner (Newmarket), Chris Volk (No Club) 4.
Grading Prize: William Lovell (The Hall).
Slow Starters: Arthur Banks (Malpas & Whitchurch), Andrew Camp (Colwyn Bay),
Andrew De Santos (Preston), Bob Greaves (Formby), Stuart Hamilton (Rhyl & Prestatyn), Angus Weir (Frodsham) 2.5.
On 3.5: Sam Beardmore (Cheddleton & Leek), Patrick Coleman (Lytham Ex-Servicemen), John Grady (Formby), Paul Heard (No Club), Paul Jackson (Morecambe),
Edward Patten (Formby), Phillip Shaughnessy (Urmston).
On 3: Martin Cockerill (Wallasey), Joe Dilworth (Formby), Geraint George (Wrexham),
Chris Goy (Frodsham), John Grave (Penrith), Dewi Jones (Holywell),
Frank McGuigan (Frodsham), John Simmons (Rhyl & Prestatyn)

The Team Prize (a digital clock) was won by Frodsham (10.5/15), half a point ahead of Chester 1, Formby A and Widnes.

The full cross-tables are at http://www.tournamentdirector.co.uk/results

[Andrew Camp]

Thank you for a great tournament.

[Brendan O'Gorman]

Photos http://tinyurl.com/Frodsham2014