Inaugural Wells Chess Congress 8th - 10th March 2024

[Christopher Lamming]

More photos here:

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBhhKx

[Kevin Thurlow]

Thanks Brendan and Chris for photos

[Keith Arkell]

Chris Strong implied there would be another one in his opening comments to Round 5. The organizers did a great job. Keith Arkell won with 4.5/5, drawing in the last round to Supratit Banerjee (who doubtless was prouder of that than his other played draw), second on 4 were Oleksandr Matlak (Wells), and Pengxiao Zhu (Devon).

And for my outright 1st place I gained precicely 0.1 of a rating point, while sharing 1st with one other, at the Simon Bartlett Memorial, cost me 5.9

I must keep reminding myself that I am a name, not a number

[Kevin Thurlow]

"And for my outright 1st place I gained precicely 0.1 of a rating point"

that does seem a bit harsh!

I notice that I seem to be higher seeded these days than when I played tournaments when I was rated 200 points higher. People rated 2300 - 2000 don't seem to play much.

[Keith Arkell]

I notice that I seem to be higher seeded these days than when I played tournaments when I was rated 200 points higher. People rated 2300 - 2000 don't seem to play much.

Possibly also because those 2300-2000 rateds who have remained active have been dragged down by numerous games v the excessively underrated kids we encounter these days.

[Ian Thompson]

Possibly also because those 2300-2000 rateds who have remained active have been dragged down by numerous games v the excessively underrated kids we encounter these days.

I would like to think you're right and it's not down to old age/senility.

My next tournament starts on Saturday and, with the current entry list, I can look forward to playing an 11 or 12 year old rated 1603. The 260-ish points uplift his rating got in March makes no difference at all to me because he's still rated more than 400 points below me.