Nottingham Congress

[John Swain]

The 46th Nottingham Congress will take place on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th April 2023 at Nottingham High School.

The online entry system has just gone live and may be seen at: http://congress.nottinghamshirechess.org/

For an entry form, see: http://congress.nottinghamshirechess.or ... m_2023.pdf

This is a five-round event with a rate of play of 95 mins + 10 seconds increment.

There are five sections:
Open (prizes £750, £325, £150 and U2150 and U2050 rating prizes of £50 each)
U1950 Major (prizes £150, £100, £50 and U1900 rating prize £30)
U1750 Intermediate (prizes £150, £100, £50 and U1700 rating prize £30)
U1550 Minor (prizes £150, £100, £50 and U1500 rating prize £30)
U1350 Improvers (prizes £150, £100, £50 and U1150 rating prize £30)

[John Swain]

Recently posted on the Nottinghamshire Chess Association website:

"We are now pleased to add that, as at 23:00 on Thursday 13th April, we have reached our published limit of 160 entrants.

It is possible that a few extra entries may be able to be accommodated, however these will need to be reviewed and confirmed by a member of the tournament committee.

Therefore the links will remain open, and (for technical reasons) any further entries submitted will get the usual automated confirmation email, BUT such potential entrants should not make any travel/accommodation bookings without a follow up email confirming a place is available."

[Chris Rice]

Mark Hebden won the Open

[John Swain]

Mark Hebden won the Open

Congratulations to GM Mark Hebden who collected £750 as winner of the Open, and to all the other prize-winners. Mark last won the event outright in 2012 (he was joint winner with two others in 2014).

Thanks are due to: our generous sponsor Marcel Taylor; the Nottinghamshire Chess Foundation which underwrote the event in the case of a financial loss (which fortunately didn't happen); the 153 players who competed in five sections, which is an entry level similar to pre-pandemic times; the control team; not least, the parents who staffed a hot drinks facility and a competitor who donated his prize, all of which raised nearly £294 for Disasters Emergency Committee's Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

The Nottinghamshire Chess Association's website will, in due course, provide more details including the prize-winners in each section: https://www.nottinghamshirechess.org/

[Mike Alderson]

From round 3:

[Event "Nottingham Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.04.15"] [Round "3"] [White "Potter, John M"] [Black "Tompson, John C"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C25"] [WhiteElo "2147"] [BlackElo "2055"] [PlyCount "61"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.04.18"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 exf4 4. Nf3 g5 5. h4 g4 6. Ng5 h6 7. Nxf7 Kxf7 8. d4 d5 9. Bxf4 Bb4 10. Be2 Bxc3+ 11. bxc3 Nf6 12. e5 Nh5 13. O-O Nxf4 14. Rxf4+ Ke7 15. Qd3 Qg8 16. Raf1 Be6 17. Qb5 Rb8 18. c4 dxc4 19. Qc5+ Ke8 20. d5 Bxd5 21. Rf8+ Qxf8 22. Rxf8+ Rxf8 23. Qxd5 Ne7 24. Qxc4 h5 25. Qxc7 Rc8 26. Qxb7 Rxc2 27. Qb5+ Rc6 28. e6 Kd8 29. Qb8+ Nc8 30. Qe5 Ke7 31. Qg7+ 1-0

[John Swain]

Results, including prize-winners and a short report on the 46th Nottingham Congress, may be found at:

https://www.nottinghamshirechess.org/wp ... s-2023.pdf