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Fisherwick Winter Tournament - So Far

On Monday 13th November, the second half of this season's Fisherwick got under way. Read on to find out how the competition has progressed 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 ½Chris Kelly 
Ray Devenney 0 v 1  John Masterson 
Stewart McConaghy  0 v 1Gerry 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:

          

PLACEPLAYER RTGCLUBPOINTS
1-3 John Masterson1902QUB4.5
  Gerry Pollock1481Fisherwick4.5
  David Ruben1627Fisherwick4.5
4 Chris Kelly1651Civil Service4
5-8  Ian Woodfield1655Fisherwick3.5
  Bernard Jaffa 1525Fisherwick3.5
  Ray Devenney 1875Fisherwick3.5
  Sam Ferris 1684Fisherwick3.5
9-12  Chris Millar 1492QUB3
  Stewart McConaghy 1502Shorts3
  Neil Green 1714Fisherwick3
  Sam Flanagan 1536Fisherwick3
13-17  Ananda Srinivasan 1478Fisherwick2.5
  Alex Beckett 1344Fisherwick2.5
  Richard Gould1483Fisherwick2.5
  John Bryars 1194Fisherwick2.5
  CJ Murphy 780RVH2.5
18-19  James Fairley 1028Fisherwick2
  Eddie Li U/gMCB2
20-21  David Seaby 1047Fisherwick1.5
  Owen Wilson 955Bangor1.5 
22  Kevin O'Neill 835Civil Service

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!

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