Fisherwick Winter Tournament - So Far
For this season, the Fisherwick Tournament has again been separated into pre and post-Christmas Swiss tournaments. In contrast to last year though, each of these tournaments have been stretched to a marathon 10 rounds.
This extension came as a surprise not only to tournament controller Neil Green, but also to Civil Service player Chris Kelly. Chris arrived last Monday evening to discover that not only was it not the tournament’s final round as he had believed, but that the competition was only halfway through.
Not that this lengthy format has deterred the punters, however, a fact aided by the allowance of two travelling byes per player aiming to remain eligible for a prize. Twenty two entries from six different clubs have thus far made for a very healthy and competitive tournament.
| David Ruben | ½ v ½ | Chris Kelly |
| Ray Devenney | 0 v 1 | John Masterson |
| Stewart McConaghy | 0 v 1 | Gerry Pollock |
| Chris Millar | ½ v ½ | Ian Woodfield |
| Bernard Jaffa | 1 v 0 | Alex Beckett |
| Ananda Srinivasan | 0 v 1 | Sam Ferris |
| Owen Wilson | 0 v 1 | John Bryars |
| David Seaby | 0 v 1 | Cathal Murphy |
| James Fairley | 0 v 1 | Kevin O’Neill |
These scores left the overall standings in the condition illustrated below. Ratings shown are those correct at the start of the tournament:
| PLACE | PLAYER | RTG | CLUB | POINTS |
| 1-3 | John Masterson | 1902 | QUB | 4.5 |
| Gerry Pollock | 1481 | Fisherwick | 4.5 | |
| David Ruben | 1627 | Fisherwick | 4.5 | |
| 4 | Chris Kelly | 1651 | Civil Service | 4 |
| 5-8 | Ian Woodfield | 1655 | Fisherwick | 3.5 |
| Bernard Jaffa | 1525 | Fisherwick | 3.5 | |
| Ray Devenney | 1875 | Fisherwick | 3.5 | |
| Sam Ferris | 1684 | Fisherwick | 3.5 | |
| 9-12 | Chris Millar | 1492 | QUB | 3 |
| Stewart McConaghy | 1502 | Shorts | 3 | |
| Neil Green | 1714 | Fisherwick | 3 | |
| Sam Flanagan | 1536 | Fisherwick | 3 | |
| 13-17 | Ananda Srinivasan | 1478 | Fisherwick | 2.5 |
| Alex Beckett | 1344 | Fisherwick | 2.5 | |
| Richard Gould | 1483 | Fisherwick | 2.5 | |
| John Bryars | 1194 | Fisherwick | 2.5 | |
| CJ Murphy | 780 | RVH | 2.5 | |
| 18-19 | James Fairley | 1028 | Fisherwick | 2 |
| Eddie Li | U/g | MCB | 2 | |
| 20-21 | David Seaby | 1047 | Fisherwick | 1.5 |
| Owen Wilson | 955 | Bangor | 1.5 | |
| 22 | Kevin O'Neill | 835 | Civil Service | 1 |
The standings indicate that 1st place is still very much up for grabs. All of the top 8, or at least those of their number that have not shown too high a propensity to take travelling byes, are still in contention.
The prospects appear to be good for QUB player and top seed, John Masterson. His steady form and unbeaten record has brought him to a shared lead, and with a travelling bye still held in reserve. John shares that lead with two Fisherwick veterans, Gerry Pollock and David Ruben.
Much credit is clearly due for Gerry who, after a shaky start, has seen his stock rise considerably. Four wins on the bounce – the longest winning streak in this year’s tourney to date – has seen him climb the table to joint first. The latest on the end of “a Pollocking” was Stewart McConaghy, an opponent of Gerry’s on numerous occasions at recent Fisherwick tournaments.
The third member of the top three, David Ruben, has been consolidating early wins with solid drawing performances against the tournament’s top seeds in the last couple of rounds.
In conclusion, four weeks to go and all to play for!
