Defending Cornwall champion James Hooker (Camborne) retained the Emigrant Cup in a close-fought competition; his score of 3.5 from 5 games placing him ahead of Robin Kneebone, (who missed a win in the last round game against Hooker), Mark Watkins, Colin Sellwood and Gary Trudeau all on 3/5.

James has become extremely hard to beat because of his calm and resourceful approach. Colin Sellwood showed, yet again, that on his day he can beat anyone; and Gary Trudeau had his best result for some time. Adam Hussain (Truro Prep School and Carrick), just 11 years old, made his debut in order to gain tough practice to prepare to represent England in Romania in two months’ time. He scored just one draw but claimed to have enjoyed the experienced and learned a lot.

This is only the fifth time since the Emigrant was first held in 1904 that a player has won it three times in a row. He also played everyone who finished in 2^nd to 6^th positions

The Falmouth Cup for players graded under 146 was won with 4.5/5 by Penwith club member Jan Rodrigo, whose fine play belied his relative inexperience. Jan was pushed all the way by twelve-year-old Harvey Richings who showed great promise for the future by scoring 4/5 and achieving a grading result of over 140. Also in second place was Martin Jones. Several new players, reflecting the growth in two of the county’s clubs, Carrick and Penwith, enjoyed the weekend and Thomas Oates (age 13), David Walton, Ben Jago and John James all scored well.

The inder 120 and under 100 grading prizes were won by Anton Barkhuysen (Camborne) and John James (Penwith) with 3/5. The junior prize was won by Thomas Oates (Camborne) with 3/5