CHESS CORNWALL
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Diary - 2017/18 Season

Camborne Club Championship

Ian George is the new club champion following a last round draw with Robin Kneebone who finished 2nd= on 3½ together with David Jenkins and Colin Sellwood. There were 16 entries. Round by round and results here.

Ian George (Controller)


Cornwall v Surrey - 12th May

This match, played at East Huntspill Community Hall, Somerset, resulted is a win for Surrey by 12 - 4. Full result here

Mark Hassall


Devon 12 - 4 Cornwall

Played on Sunday 25th March, 2018 at Plymouth Bridge Club.

As can be expected our once in twenty years victory didn’t happen this year. Toby Willis made his debut and drew with the experienced Brian Gosling. David Saqui had a fascinating game with both side having swopped off the major pieces and left with four minor pieces each.

Full results here
Bd.6: Twine 0-1 Kneebone
Bd.11: Trudeau 1-0 Cowley

Mark Hassall

Camborne Gambit Tournament - Friday 23rd March

Ten players braved the wintry conditions to come to the Camborne club for a five round Swiss in which the opening for each round was drawn by lot from a list of 14 gambits. This format gave rise to many exciting games. The buffet provided by Debbie was much appreciated by everyone.

There was a welcome, if brief, return to active play after four years by Philip Williams who finished 1st= with Ian George.

The openings were:

Congratulations to all those who came out to play in a style not necessarily within their comfort zone. We hope for a few more when we hold another gambit tournament next season.

Final Standings

Ian George


County Annual Congress

The annual congress was held at Carnon Downs Village Hall on Friday 9thto Sunday 11th March. The controller was Hugh Brown.

In the Emigrant Cup defending Cornwall champion James Hooker (Camborne) was unwell and unable to defend his title. At the start of the final round Mark Watkins led by a ½-point ahead of Jeremy Menadue who won their encounter and became Cornwall champion for the fifth time with 4/5. Gary Trudeau, Mark Watkins and David Saqui finished equal 2nd on 3½/5. Jan Rodrigo continued his improvement by winning the under 150 grading prize in his first appearance in the Emigrant.

The Falmouth Cup was won by Exeter University (Penryn) first year student and Carrick member, Toby Willis, with a 100% score (5/5). An entirely self-taught player, Toby said that he had learned the game using the chess materials on YouTube. This was his first tournament. Keith Brewer, Jason Henderson and Bryan Jones finished equal 2nd on 3½/5. Another rapidly improving player, Tom Oates, won the under 110 grading prize with 3/5.

Crosstables here.

Ian George

Penwith Club Championship

The 2018 Penwith Club Championship was a six-round Swiss rapidplay tournament, played over three consecutive Tuesday evenings in January and February. The event was played with great fighting spirit, there being only one draw in the 32 contested games! The new club champion is Ian George, scoring 5/6 in a welcome return to tournament play, and winning on tie-break from David Saqui, who had the satisfaction of being the only player to beat Ian (with an entertaining seconds-to-spare mate from an apparently lost position, [completely lost, more like!. - IG]). My particular thanks to Mark Watkins, who controlled the tournament with a perfect touch.

Full cross-table here.

David Jenkins


Cornwall v Somerset - 20th January, 2018

The match was close all the way through with Somerset pulling ahead at the end of four hours. Special mention should be made of David and Jason who stepped in at short notice and drew against higher graded opponents. The difference in resources between the two sides was shown by comparing the two Somerset reserves with our two: an average of approximately 100 grading points.

We are still in the hunt to qualify for the inter regional competion later in the year.

Full results here

Mark Hassall

Camborne Christmas Rapidplay

Our annual Christmas quickplay was held this year on 15th December, controlled by Ian George. The winner was Colin Sellwood with 4½/5. There were 16 players.

As usual the delicious refreshments provided by Debbie were the highlight of the event. Many thanks to all the players who brought one or more items for the prize-giving, ensuring that nobody went home empty handed.

Final Standings

Ian George

Cornwall v Gloucestershire - 25th November, 2017

This match was played at Shillingford Village Hall and resulted in a win for Cornwall by 12 - 4. This was a good result: better than average grading would suggest. The score excluding the defaults was still 8 - 4 Full result here.

Mark Hassall


Cornwall Junior Championships

The Cornwall Junior Championships were held at Marazion School on Saturday 18th November. Results will be published here shortly.

Kenton Richings (Junior Secretary)


Cornwall B v Devon B - 4th November 2017

For the first time in a significant number of years this match was played on a different date to the first team match and limited to players graded under 160.

We played at a new venue in the village hall at Altarnun near Launceston. There must be something about this venue as 16 out of the 17 players asked to play agreed. We therefore turned out our strongest second team for a number of years to meet the all-conquering Devon seconds.

We were outgraded by an average of 9 points per board which suggests a score of 9.5 v 6.5. After two hours we were ahead 9.5 v 6.5 on a crude material count. After three hours the actual score was 5 v 11 to Devon!

Full result amd match captain's report here

Mark Hassall


WECU Jamboree

This took place at Kenn Village Hall on 19th September and was organised by our county captain, Mark Hassall. The "A" section featured five teams and the Cornwall team achieved a score of 5/12, our best performance since 1994. The "B" section contained only two teams, Cornwall "B" and Torbay League. The final score was 6-6 with Cornwall winning on board count.

Full results here

Mark Hassall


Last updated 10/6/2018