English Chess Forum

This report was by John Wheeler:

Hampshire Chess Association 2009 Congress.
(Eastleigh, 6-8 Nov, 2009)

Mike Yeo (Wessex) regained the Hampshire County Championship after a gap of 7 years. He was a point clear of the field after 4 rounds, but finally had to share first place with former champions Steven Kawuma (Southampton) and Dominic Tunks (Emsworth), all scoring 4.5 pts. Mike had the better tie-break score.

Richard McMaster (Portsmouth) won the grading prize with 4 pts, and in the process damaged the chances of several serious contenders for the county title.

Both of the lower sections were deservedly won by Southampton University students this year. The new Under-150 section was won by Sal Awangku with a round to spare – he finished with 5.5 pts.

And the new Under-125 champion is Alex Beaney, who scored 5 pts and had a better tie-break than Ken Sullivan (Portsmouth).

Here are the full results:

Open.
1=. Steven Kawuma, Dominic Tunks and Mike Yeo (4.5 pts).
Mike Yeo is county champion on tie-break.

Under-170 Grading Prize: Richard McMaster (4 pts)

Under-150
1. K. Awangku (5.5 pts)
2. Peter Manning (4 pts)
3=. Tim Allen, Phil Foley and Ian Matthew (3.5 pts)
The 3rd prize winners also shared the Under-140 grading prize.

Under-125

1=. Alex Beaney and Ken Sullivan (5 pts)
3. Kevin Sawers 4½ pts

Under-100 Grading Prize: John Davis (3.5 pts)

Google Maps shows six different site locations for Eastleigh College all in Chestnut Avenue. I assume it is one amorphous site.

Anyone which building is used?

John Wheeler's report is on the Hampshire website (http://www.hampshirechess.co.uk/ and follow links). I was impressed that the Deputy Mayor presented the prizes and took an obvious interest in the decisive last game.
Extract from report below ----

"Congress Report
(Eastleigh, 12-14 Nov, 2010)

Mike Yeo (Wessex) successfully defended his title at the Hampshire County Championships at Eastleigh. The critical game was in the 5th Round, when Mike appeared to be losing to former champion Dominic Tunks, but emerged from the time scramble with a winning position. Dominic Tunks shared second place with another regular competitor, David Pye.

The Grading prize was shared by David Fowler, Maurice Lawson and Steven Payne, with David taking the trophy on tie-break.

The Major section was a very close contest. Tom Slater and Richard Desmedt finally emerged at the top with 4.5 points each. They were followed by Matt Chapman and Steve Smith half a point behind.

The Grading Prize in the Major was also a three-way tie, between David Fields, Paul Hurn and John Wiseman, all on 3.5 points.

Ken Sullivan won the Minor section outright this year with 5 points, and took the County U-125 trophy. He had scored 5 points last time, but lost the title on that occasion on tie-break. This time, his game with Ashraf Syed was the last to finish, and provided a grandstand climax for the spectators, including the deputy mayor of Eastleigh. Ken had to win this game to achieve first place. 2nd place was shared by Ashraf Syed and Kevin Sawers, each with 4.5 points.

The Under-100 Grading prize was won outright by Tony Roberts with an excellent score of 4 points.

Here are the full results:

Open.
1. Mike Yeo (Wessex) (5 pts).
2nd= Dominic Tunks (Emsworth) and David Pye (Hampshire) (4.5 pts)

Under-175 Grading Prize: David Fowler (Southampton University), Maurice Lawson (Reading) and Steven Payne (Salisbury) (3 pts)
David Fowler wins the Len Walters trophy on tie-break.

Major (Under-160)
1st = Tom Slater (Southampton University) and Richard Desmedt (Wombwell) (4.5 pts)
3rd = Matt Chapman (Fareham) and Steve Smith (Chichester) (4 pts).

Under-140 Grading Prize: David Fields (Winchester), Paul Hurn (Southampton) and John Wiseman (Southampton) (3.5 pts).

Minor (Under-125)
1. Ken Sullivan (Portsmouth) (5 pts)
2nd = Ashraf Syed (Fareham) and Kevin Sawers (Southampton) 4½ pts

Under-100 Grading Prize: Tony Roberts (Southampton) (4 pts)

John Wheeler (Sec, Hampshire C.A.) 15/Nov/2010"