11th Hartlepool Weekend Congress, 20-22 May 2005

The 11th Hartlepool Weekend Congress was held in the Borough Hall on Hartlepool's Headland last month and it attracted over 80 entries including a fair representation of players from outside the north-east. Mr Marshall organised the event with the assistance of Donna Boxx and others and the prize fund for the five sections was as follows:

Open, Major, Inter and Minor sections: 1st £200 2nd £100 3rd £50.

Novice section: 1st £60 2nd £30 3rd £10.

In addition there was one qualifying place to this year's British Championships available to the top player eligible in the Open and two paid places for juniors aged under 16 for the 6th Ampleforth Junior Masters event.

Finally, as per last year, the BCF Centenary Shield was to be awarded to the highest points scoring team of four players and there were four teams registered for this event before round 2. Hartlepool I, comprising of Bernard Price (Inter), Graham Matthews (Inter), Bill Wilson (Minor) and Peter Harker (Minor), won this trophy with 12 points.

Unusually every section was won outright by a single player and local woodpushers did especially well, winning three out of the five sections. The best performance over the weekend was by Mark Griffiths of Harrogate chess club who won all five games in the Minor section; the only person at the Congress with the perfect score, so well done to him.

Mr Marshall and Miss Boxx presented the winners with their cheques at the end of the 5th round on the Sunday evening and Mr Marshall completed his address by thanking Hartlepool Borough Council for their generous sponsorship and for the use of the venue. He also expressed his appreciation for the efforts of the Northumbria Junior Chess Association who ran the Bob Hammond Junior Congress in Constables Bar on the Saturday.

Finally ChessDirect brought a selection of their products to the Congress as per previous years.

The Open - time limits: 36 in 1hr 40 min + 20 mins

The local boy 'dun good' in the Open with Bret Addison (Hartlepool) coming through in the final round to snatch outright victory with 4/5. He won £200 in prize-money as well as the qualifying place to the British Championships, which this year will be held on the Isle of Man.

Three finished in joint second - David Armbruster (Sunderland), Michael Round (Rose Forgrove) and Rajko Vujatovic (London) all scored 3½ points and each picked up £50.

Rajko Vujatovic looked like he was running away with the Open after three rounds. He had beaten Bret in the second round and was leading the pack with 3/3. However he stumbled against David Armbruster in the fourth round and he could only manage a draw in the final round in a tricky Queen + pawn endgame. The fifth round game between Bret Addison and David Armbruster decided who would win the Open and Bret's experience at this level proved too much for the young Sunderland player - he eventually simplified down to an endgame where he was a full three pawns up.

Ankush Khandelwal won one of the places to this year's Ampleforth Junior Masters with his score of 1½/5.

The Major (U161) - time limits: 36 in 1hr 40 min + 20 mins

Another section and another winner from County Durham. Nigel Hall, won the Major outright with 4/5 and he picked up £200 in prize-money. Three were second with 3½ points - John Garnett (Elmwood), Brian Harkness (Consett) and Antonio Moneva-Jordan (Tynemouth) each picked up £50.

Nigel, who is a regular player for the Hetton Lyons chess club, only dropped the one draw over the board in the final round against Antonio Moneva-Jordan when he was assured of outright victory. Well done to him and also to Amy Officer - she won the second place to the 6th Ampleforth Junior Masters with a score of 2/5.

The Inter (U121) - time limits: 36 in 1hr 40 min + 20 mins

The Inter section also finished in a win for a County Durham player but it was a close run thing.

Stephen Ormerod (Darlington) won with 4½/5 and he picked up £200 in prize-money. Bernie Price (Athenaeum & Hartlepool) came second with 4/5, winning £100 and two finished in joint third. David Buckell (Nelson) and Sheila Dines (Coulsdon) each picked up £25 for a score of 3½/5.

The final round game between Steve Ormerod and Sheila Dines, was well worth watching as the game first swung one way and then the next. Sheila started a nasty attack on the King-side which resulted in winning an early pawn. Steve's development was hampered by the fact that he hadn't been able to castle early and it looked grim after he lost a second pawn.

However the Darlington player managed to create some wicked counterplay along the flank by pushing his a pawn to a3 where it threatened the White King. The nature of the game changed when he gained control of the key h8-a1 diagonal and he threatened to mate his young opponent on b2 with his Queen and Bishop.

The position was uncomfortable for Sheila and she lost a Rook for a Bishop. Steve then exposed a vulnerable King to a series of damaging checks and, after relentless pressure, he managed to capture Sheila's Queen for a Rook. The game was nearly up for the Coulsdon player and eventually, after a time scramble, Steve secured the point and the section win.

The Minor (U91) - time limits: 36 in 1hr 40 min + 20 mins

The top performance of the weekend was by Mark Griffiths (Harrogate) who won five games in a row to finish a full point clear of Matthew Holborow (King's) and Giles Moseley. Mark won £200 in prize-money and the two in joint second picked up £75 each. Mark had the satisfaction of being the only player in the tournament who scored 5/5 so congratulations to him.

His final round game, was against the experienced Gary Clarke of Consett chess club, who is always there or thereabouts in the Minors. However Gary never really got going in this crucial game and it wasn't long before the Harrogate player had initiated a devasting Queen-side attack, using his Queen, Knight and Rook. Mark won the a pawn early on and then he brought his Bishop into the action to continue his assault on Gary's weakened King. The Consett player's position looked desperate and shortly afterwards he was forced to resign - he had been given a sharp reminder in why it is important to castle in the opening.

The Novice (U66) - time limits: 65 mins per player per game. Two games per round.

David Castle (Guisborough) won the Novice with 8/10, winning £60 and David Wells of Harrogate finished second with 7½/10, winning £30. Reece Needham of West Notts was third with 7/10 winning a tenner.