James Hooker (Penwith) narrowly won the county championship on tie-break ahead of David Saqui (Penwith), both 4/5. James was rarely in trouble during the event; although he dropped a piece against Robin Kneebone he could easily have won that game given his compensation in the form of Robin’s time trouble. David’s play belied his age as he again demonstrated that he remains one of the best veterans in England. Equal third were Robin Kneebone (Carrick) and Simon Bartlett (Bude) 3/5. The grading prize was won by Richard Clark (Newquay) whose brave decision to tackle the Emigrant was rewarded with several tough games where he troubled high-graded opponents.

The Falmouth Cup competition, for players graded under 146, was won comfortably by Philip Walters (Carlisle) with 4.5/5. Although now living away from the county, he moved to Newquay at the age of 8 and lived there until leaving for university. During that time he was a member of the Newquay club. He has generously donated his prize money to junior chess (or for a clock). We hope to welcome him back in the future. Under the rules approved at the 1974 AGM anyone who has lived in the county for at least seven consecutive years in the past is eligible to be awarded the trophy. He passes that test easily and is therefore the winner of the The Falmouth Cup as well as the tournament winner. David R Jenkins (Calstock) and Martin Jones (Newquay) won the grading prizes.