Lawrence Cooper lost an Armageddon playoff with black to John Pitcher in the Open. A 13-year old, I think graded 110 finished third though! I forget his name
The Major (U155) was won by Chris Smith, a 17-year old graded 130. Won his first four games, then drew his final game against the Warwickshire board 4. He himself is Warwickshire board 16. I reckon he'll be graded ~ 175 when the grades eventually come out. At least, that's how good he is. Whether the grades show that is another matter, of course...
The Minor (U105) was won by Manpreet Sangha, a 14-year old graded 79. I finished fifth after losing to Manpreet in the last round. We had a moral dilemma. Someone would win with 4.5/5 if we drew (which our game clearly was), and since I know him well, we pondered whether one of us should resign and play in the play-off and split the money. In the end though, I thought it best to play it out for a draw. Although, I blundered and lost.


Both Manpreet and Chris go to my former school, so that's good news. Although, I think this adds weight to the "juniors are undergraded" theory. It can't be coincidence that all the strong juniors in the tournament pretty much won their sections or came close to it.
Aside from mistaking the Church Hall with the Village Hall on the first day and needing a local to guide me to the right place, it was a good tournament, and very well-run. Hopefully it'll be held next year.