Shropshire Chess Congress 5-6 January 2013

[Steve Rooney]

2013 SHROPSHIRE CONGRESS - ENTER NOW!

The Shropshire Chess Congress takes place on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 January 2013.

• Open
  Major 160 and under
  Minor 125 and under

We are aiming to build on the terrrific support we had last year with a bigger and even better congress in 2013. We can offer a warm welcome at a great venue in central Telford just off the M54 and close to the rail station and we will once again promise superb food, courtesy of the resident chef, and increased prizes.

Hope to see many forumites there.

Full details and online entry form at - http://www.shropshirechess.org/Tourname ... s_2013.htm

[Steve Rooney]

Approaching 50 entries for the Shropshire Congress. Well ahead of this stage last year, although we started a bit earlier this time. Still plenty of room for more!

[Steve Rooney]

Just booked a hotel room for someone this morning and there are still some good rates and availability at booking.com for the Saturday night of the Shropshire congress. For those who don't know the area, beware that whilst Ironbridge is an attractive small town near to Telford, with the historic bridge and riverside setting, some local hotels add Ironbridge to their name but they are nowhere near it! If you're playing three rounds on Saturday, however, you probably won't see much of the local sights anyway.

Our resident chef is also re-running our acclaimed Chess Menu - with prices held at last year's level - see attached pdf.

Hope to see lots of forumites there. Any questions, just ask.

[Steve Rooney]

Entries to date:

http://www.shropshirechess.org/Tourname ... ntries.htm

[Steve Rooney]

We are delighted to have two titled players at this weekend's Shropshire congress. Stephen Gordon GM and (Shropshire's) John Cox IM head a strong Open section with seven more at 195+ competing for our £350 first prize. More welcome - titled or untitled!

We now have 116 congress entries; the online list is accurate as of lunchtime with more to process from this afternoon's batch. Still space for more though. We will accept entries right up to Saturday morning (15 minutes before the start) although it would clearly help if you don't wait till then and use the online entry system, or at the very least email your details through.

Hotel rooms in central Telford were still available when I checked earlier today.

Any queries, just PM me.

[Steve Rooney]

Almost ready for the off ... entries are still coming in, but this is what the Open looks like at the moment:

SHROPSHIRE OPEN 5-6 JAN 2013
1 Stephen Gordon GM 3Cs/Wood Green 246
2 John Cox IM Barbican 220
3 Philip Briggs Tamworth 210
4 Don Mason Shirley 209
5 Russell James Rushall 205
6 Antony Hynes Warks Select 202
7 Nigel Ferrington Telepost 201
8 Alan Walton 3Cs 201
9 Tomasz Sygnowski West Bromwich 201
10 Oliver Jackson 198
11 Iolo Jones Cardigan 197
12 Craig Whitfield Cheddleton and Leek 189
13 Robin Moss 187
14 David Cooper Bushbury& Brewood 185
15 Pavel Besedin South Birmingham 184
16 Nicholas Walker West Bromwich 183
17 Gavyn Cooper Newport 183
18 Richard Bryant Telepost 182
19 Daniel Abbas 3Cs 182
20 Jeremy Fallowfield Stourbridge 181
21 Golam S Ali Sutton Coldfield 178
22 Michael Fernandez Marple 177
23 David Gostelow Shifnal & Telford 173
24 Richard Smith Olton 172
25 Francis Best Shrewsbury 170
26 Colin Roberts Wellington 169
27 Peter Lovatt Malpas 169
28 John Footner Shifnal & Telford 169
29 Wiliam Bates Priorslee Lions 167
30 Nathanael Paul Newport 165
31 Thomas Robinson Redditch 165
32 Andrew Smith Tamworth 165
33 Phil Bull Wolverhampton 164
34 Steve Rooney Church Stretton 162
35 Tim Lane South Birmingham 162
36 Richard Croot Hereford 161

It's going to be a tough weekend for some of us - I must have a word with whoever set the grade boundaries.

Last chance to join the fun.

[Alex Holowczak]

It's going to be a tough weekend for some of us - I must have a word with whoever set the grade boundaries.

At the time of writing, the player seeded 40 (out of 44) in the Major sympathises...