April 22nd - 25th

THE 2011 WELSH CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Report from Glyn Sinnett

The 57th Welsh Chess Championships took place at the Park Inn, Llanedeyrn, Cardiff over seven rounds split into three sections over the Easter weekend. Seventy seven players took part, with 24 players in the Closed, 34 players in the Major Open and 19 players in the Minor. The arbiters for the congress, were John Thornton, Kevin Staveley and Ian Eustis.
First Minister for Wales, Carwyn Jones opened the championships by making the first move for white and  Welsh patron CJ deMooi, closed the championships.

Opening Ceremony video courtesy of Viv and Richard Martin

The final results are as follows :

Closed Championship

=1st Howard Williams, Sven Zeidler 5.5/7
3rd David Sands 5/7
=4th Tim Kett, Richard S Jones 4.5/7
=6th Allan Pleasants, Alan Young, David Jameson, Tom Brown 4/7
=10th Joe Fathallah, Gareth Morris, Jason Garcia, Gerry Heap, James Thomas, Michael Lexton 3.5/7
=16th Olivia Smith, Paul Kelly 3/7
=18th Lee Davis, Nigel Ralphs, Rudy Van Kemenade 2.5/7
21st Alex Bullen 2/7
22nd Ernest M White 1/7

Ioan Rees 2.5/4 Joseph David Turner 0.5/2

This was Howard Williams 18th Welsh title – a remarkable achievement. Tying with him was Sven Zeidler of Abergavenny.

James Thomas won the Under 21 title, and Olivia Smith won the Ladies Championship. Grading prize of u2000 was shared between Joe Fathallah and Gerry Heap.

CJ de Mooi (Patron of WCU) presenting the trophy to
Joint Champions - Howard Wiillams and Sven Zeidle

 David Sands   3rd in the Championship

James Thomas   U21 Champion

Open Games - Click the pulldown arrow to show the list.

Tom Weston Major/Open

1st Rafal Gozdz 7/7
2nd Ian Thompson 6/7
=3rd Deio Parri, Mark Thomas, Nigel Beveridge, Robert Dineen, Paul Bridges, Richard Hanscombe 4.5/7
=9th Peter Ehsandar, John Bowers, Lynda Roberts, Julie Wilson, Bill Hunt, Luke Kostanjsek 4/7
=15th Juan Rodriguez, Julie Van Kemenade, David Buttell, Alex Wills, William Elworthy, Jeremy Jones 3.5/7
=21st Tom Thorpe, Hugh Price, Malcolm Probert, Vince Williams, Frank Trombley, Matthew Francis, Ben Thomas, Callum Spooner 3/7
=29th Steve Vickery, Damon Davies, Robert Muza 2.5/7
=32nd Nicholas Evans, Beryl Hughes 1.5/7
34th Kevin O’Rourke 1/7

A perfect score of 7/7 for Rafal Gozdz of Cardiff, beating top seed Ian Thompson into second place, and a 500 grading points difference. Third place was shared between six players, and the u1700 grading prize was shared between William Elworthy and Jeremy Jones.

Winner of the Tom Weston Memorial Open/Major - Rafal Gozdz

Jeremy Jones accepting U1700 Grading Prize

John Bishop Minor

1st Kim Topley 7/7
2nd Sam White 5.5/7
=3rd Lauren Davies, Ken Hannah 4.5/7
=5th Sam Jukes, Rhys Bennett, Nathan Trickey, Ezala Beni 4/7
=9th Andrew Trickey, John Basterfield, Alyssa Wang, Owen Bennett 3.5/7
=13th John Eddershaw, Jeremy Pye 3/7
=15th James Evans, Carl Bennett, Megan Richards 2.5/7
18th Chris Smith 2/7
19th Victoria Massey 1/7

A perfect score of 7/7 for Kim Topley of Henley, but the Minor Trophy goes to Sam White of Barry for the second consecutive year. Third place was shared between Lauren Davies of Bridgend and Ken Hannah of Barry.
 

The John Bishop Memorial Trophy - winner: Sam White

Jnt 3rd Lauren Davies

Playing Hall