Pride of place for the whole weekend has to go to Javi, who claimed the Warwickshire Blitz title just ahead of Jude on tie-break. They each scored 9/14 to share 2-4th place with Thomas Sygnowski, a full 4 points behind runaway winner IM Yichen Han, who was ineligible for the county title (but not the prize money!). Trailing in far behind were myself (6pts/9th place) and Bruce (5.5 pts/10th place) in a disappointingly small field of only 11 starters.
There were 2 KCC participants in the Major section, with Joshua on the podium in clear third place with 9/14, in a field of 15 starters. His cause was aided by a totally undeserved win over Ben, from a position a full piece down with no compensation. Ben finished in a tie for 8-11th on 6.5 pts and both our chaps ended up above their starting rank.
The Intermediate section saw 4 KCC entrants, and the accent was decidedly on youth. Dhairya was the star, coming clear second with an excellent 10/14 performance (15 players). Keatan scored 7.5 for a share of 5th/6th, followed by Lionel (tied 7-10th with 7 points) and George right behind on 6.5 pts (tied 11-13th). There was no official KCC representation in the Minor section, but congratulations have to go to Dhairya's dad, Sagar, who finished 10th =, well above his start rank. Can't think why Keatan's dad, Nash, wasn't also taking part!
Sunday's rapid tournaments saw many of the same faces in action, but Javi, Jude, Ben and Lionel were missing from the Blitz contingent while only David and Rhys joined the fray anew. Overall, though, numbers were much higher for the Rapid than the Blitz.
I took advantage of some rather friendly pairings to top the KCC entrants in the Open, with 4.5/7pts (4-6th), while David played much better opposition in scoring 4pts as he finished tied 7-9th. Joshua, unable to blag his way into the Major section for the Rapids, was a further half point behind (tied 10-12th) and Bruce's disappointing weekend saw him score 3 to tie for 13-17th place. The title of Warwickshire Rapid Champion was retained by John Pitcher, while Yichen Han comfortably completed a double success on the weekend.
Keatan flew the lone flag for KCC in the Major, and finished on 50% for a share of 7-14th place, but in the Intermediate section 3 of KCC's finest went into battle and we ended with 2 people on the podium. Star performer was Rhys, who came second alone with 5.5/7 - half a point behind the shock winner who had started as the absolute bottom seed! George followed half a point behind Rhys sharing 3/4th place but having cause to regret his loss on time from a superior position against the tournament winner, which stopped a good tournament from being an exceptional one. Dhairya couldn't quite repeat his prize winning performance of the day before, but still managed a highly respectable 4 points and a share of 8-11th place.
So 6 prize winners for KCC, including a county champion. All good omens for the rapidly approaching club season ahead. All in all this was a fun event, which I would strongly recommend - though maybe give the Blitz a miss if you are over the age of about 25! It will be far too quick and you will end up losing on time. And yes, I am speaking from bitter experience.
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| Javi receives the stunningly impressive Warwickshire Blitz trophy from local chess supremo Alex Holowczak |
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