Newcastle Chess Congress
The Third Newcastle Chess Congress on Saturday attracted 117 eager competitors to the Slieve Donard Hotel.
In the Open Tournament, American FIDE master Paul Whitehead celebrated Independence Day early by winning his fourth consecutive Irish tournament. Dubliners B Palmer and P Carton were second and third respectively, with Newcastle's N Carton getting the grading prize. There were shocks galore in the Major when 3 of the bottom 4 seeds won prizes, namely P McKeown (1st), R Carter (2sn) and I Todd (grading prize). Only J Galloway (3rd) justified his top seeding.
Roger Beckett tipped to win the Minor - pipped joint-seconds J Harvey and P Willcocks at the post, with grading prizes for A Thompson and a resurgent H Mathews. The Under-13 Novices was won by JA Beattie, who beat his brother RS Beattie and H Ball into second place with the Under-11 prize going to Dara Carton.
The intricate tapestry of this week's game was woven by just two "Freds".
