I have to confess I was thinking I probably wouldnt be playing. I only include myself if we have an odd number. As I am not best at playing fast games of chess - usually loosing on time. But today we have 7 players so I played.

On arrival I saw in the restaurant Adrian Dornford-Smith and Danny Roberts enjoying the excellent well priced food. Part of the timing of the tournament is to allow players to enjoy lunch overlooking the Cricket green.

The format is a relaxed tournament with a time control of 20mins and 5 sec increment - so not a blitz finish. We usually manage to fit in 5 rounds and today was no different.

We had two new faces - Tony Scullion who doesnt have a rating but in my game against him I felt he had a good position and I was only lucky to win as the position got complicated and he put a foot wrong - I think he could be a player to watch. The other new face was Kiran Bemarker who has a US rating of approx 1900. So with David Blair and Danny Roberts we had a strong field. Also playing was Chris Kelly, Peter Wilson and Adrian Dornford-Smith - so no easy games.

Round 1

Results

No Name           Rtg  Total  Result   Name                  Rtg  Total

 1 Kiran Bemarkar 1900 [0]      1:0    Christopher Kelly     1495 [0]  
 2 Peter Wilson   1469 [0]      1:0    David Blair           1847 [0]  
 3 Danny Roberts  1805 [0]      1:0    Adrian Dornford-Smith 1197 [0]  
 4 Tony Scullion  1000 [0]      0:1    Mark Newman           1531 [0]  

by Swiss Perfect (TM)  www.swissperfect.com

Chris Kelly proves hes tough by beating Kiran Bemarker whilst Peter Wilson gets a good win over David Bair opening up the competition a bit. Tony Scullion plays well but Mark is lucky and get a point.

Round 2

Results

No Name              Rtg  Total  Result   Name                  Rtg  Total

 1 Mark Newman       1531 [1]      1:0    Kiran Bemarkar        1900 [1]  
 2 Peter Wilson      1469 [1]      0:1    Danny Roberts         1805 [1]  
 3 David Blair       1847 [0]      1:0    Adrian Dornford-Smith 1197 [0]  
 4 Christopher Kelly 1495 [0]      1:0    Tony Scullion         1000 [0]  

Mark Newman and Kiran Bemarkar have a seriously complicated position. Mark again is lucky and Kiran makes a mistake allowing his King to be opened up. Danny continues his wins and beats Peter Wilson.

Round 3

Results

No Name                  Rtg  Total  Result   Name          Rtg  Total

 1 Danny Roberts         1805 [2]      0:1    Mark Newman   1531 [2]  
 2 Kiran Bemarkar        1900 [1]      0:1    Peter Wilson  1469 [1]  
 3 Christopher Kelly     1495 [1]     .5:.5   David Blair   1847 [1]  
 4 Adrian Dornford-Smith 1197 [0]      1:0    Tony Scullion 1000 [0]  

A totally unexpected result Mark beats Danny - again Danny had a better position but kept his Queen attacked for too long by one move allowing an exchange that gave Mark a piece. Peter Wilson beats Kiran and Chris Kelly gets a draw against David Blair. Adrian winning over Tony who is giving us all a tough game.

Round 4

Results

No Name                  Rtg  Total  Result   Name              Rtg  Total

 1 Mark Newman           1531 [3]      1:0    Peter Wilson      1469 [2]  
 2 David Blair           1847 [1.5]    0:1    Danny Roberts     1805 [2]  
 3 Adrian Dornford-Smith 1197 [1]      0:1    Christopher Kelly 1495 [1.5]
 4 Tony Scullion         1000 [0]      1:0    Kiran Bemarkar    1900 [1]  

Mark beats Peter with a missed check leading to a win. Tony proves his worth by beating Kiran.

Round 5

Results

No Name              Rtg  Total  Result   Name                  Rtg  Total

 1 Christopher Kelly 1495 [2.5]   .5:.5   Mark Newman           1531 [4]  
 2 Danny Roberts     1805 [3]      1:0    Tony Scullion         1000 [1]  
 3 Peter Wilson      1469 [2]     .5:.5   Adrian Dornford-Smith 1197 [1]  
 4 Kiran Bemarkar    1900 [1]      1:0    David Blair           1847 [1.5]

The last round and Christopher Kelly has an advantage with a couple of pawns on the sixth rank but luckily for Mark who crosses his fingers and offers a draw which is agreed. Adrian pulls off a draw against Peter and Kiran wins against David.

A day full of exciting chess and some upsets.

Standings

Place Name                  Loc  Score M-Buch. Buch. Progr.

  1   Mark Newman           1531 4.5       7.5  12.5   14.5
  2   Danny Roberts         1805 4         5.5  11.0   12.0
  3   Christopher Kelly     1495 3         5.0  10.5    8.0
  4   Peter Wilson          1469 2.5       7.5  13.5    8.5
  5   Kiran Bemarkar        1900 2         7.0  12.5    6.0
 6-7  David Blair           1847 1.5       7.5  13.0    5.5
      Adrian Dornford-Smith 1197 1.5       7.0  12.0    3.5
  8   Tony Scullion         1000 1         9.0  15.0    2.0

The Winners:

Winner: Mark Newman

Second: Danny Roberts

Grading Prize: Christopher Kelly.

After New Year we will be having the 3 remaining Lacksidasicals - watch this space for dates.