Whilst the event was controlled by Roger Edwards, with a certain amount of hindrance from myself, its existence was purely down to the efforts of Traci Whitfield who proved once again that doing it yourself is the best way of getting things done. Everyone was appreciative of her efforts, and are hoping that she will retain the enthusiasm to make a similar event happen again next year.
The timetable was designed to make commuting easy without imposing early morning or late night driving on competitors, and we were pleased to be able to adhere to the announced schedule which involved only 30 minutes between rounds. The venue was spacious and could easily accommodate twice the numbers without encroaching on peoples personal space.
Over 90 people entered, of whom 88 reached the starting line. As ever some fell by the wayside before the end of the event, including a few who selfishly failed to show on Sunday without warning of their intent to withdraw. Under such circumsatnces even if it is possible to repair their intended opponents, such new pairings are not always closely in accordance with Swiss principles.
A few people seemed surprised that they were expected to keep a proper record of their games (where do they normally play?), but otherwise there was little to cause concern. Doubtless a rate of play that involved no intermediate time control helped.
| Premier (U180) | Major (U140) | Minor (U100) | ||||
| 1st= | 4 | Harry Lamb (Bolton) David Cooper (Bushbury) Malcolm Armstrong (Stafford) | 4 | Tim Lane (S Birmingham) Pete Leary (Rushall) Stephane Pedder (Stafford) | 4½ | Chris Sergeant (Walsall) Harinder Dhesi (Sutton Coldfield) |
| 3rd= | 4 | Roy Watson (Kennilworth) Colin White (Chester) John Donovan (Birmingham) Henry Bradley (Chorley) | ||||
| Grading | U160 Andrew Price (Leamington) | U120 Ben Zitha (Fenton) Andrew Farthing (Worcester) Nathan Talbot (St Helens) | U80 Carl Mustafa (Fenton) U60 Owen Clarke (Leamington) Russell Edwards (SASCA) |