Tournaments
Here we publicise details of chess tournaments and other chess events - both future ones which may be of interest to local players, or past ones which were attended by members of Colwyn Bay Chess Club.
Future Events
The 53rd Rhyl Chess Congress will take place from 10th - 12th May 2019
There are three sections. In addition to the Open there are Major(U160) and Minor(U120) sections.
Here is an entry form.
The 4th North Wales Chess Congress
This Congress is being held at Venue Cymru in Llandudno from 21st - 23rd June 2019.
Further details are here.
Past Events
The 3rd North Wales Congress was held Venue Cymru in Llandudno from 22nd - 24th June 2018
There was a £1,625 guaranteed prize fund thanks to the sponsorship of wholesale.chess.co.uk
More details are available here: North Wales Congress 2018
The Rhyl Chess Congress took place from 11th - 13th May 2018
Mike Surtees(Great Lever) won the Open with Colwyn Bay's David Jameson finishing second.
Full results are available at Rhyl Open 2018
Michael Connor(Great Lever) and Mark Bastow(Colwyn Bay) were joint winners of the Major.
Full results are available at Rhyl Major 2018
Robert Owens(Woodvale), Les Philpin and Jack Yang(Chester, aged 11) jointly won the Minor.
Full results are available at Rhyl Minor 2018
28th July 2017 - British Chess Championships were held in Llandudno.
The UK’s premier chess tournament was held in Llandudno for the first time in July 2017.
Please visit the dedicated championship website for more details: Recent British Championship events.
30th June - 2nd July 2017 - 2nd North Wales FIDE Open.
Please click here to access the dedicated page for a summary of the 2nd North Wales FIDE Open, which incorporated the 4th Colwyn Bay Chess Congress.
12th - 14th May 2017 - A strong show at Rhyl Congress
A strong performance by David Jameson (3.5 pts) saw him take third place against formidable opposition in the Open at Rhyl Chess Congress, just trailing Mike Surtees and grandmaster Nigel Davies, who shared top prize.
Other Colwyn Bay players who did well were Tim Soar (3pts), who won a grading prize in the Major (U161) and came in 7th against much higher graded players; and Barrie Wells (3pts) who came in 9th.
Terry Burgess (1.5) also deserves a mention for being the final game to finish in the Minor on Sunday at 5.30pm, playing Jack Yang, 70 years or so his junior and holding out for 70 moves.
3rd - 5th February 2017 - Frodsham Chess Congress U160
Attending Frodsham for the first time, though I knew the venue from having played Chester League matches there. In particular this Congress offers a bye available in any round apart from Round Five, and, two byes on Saturday if you wish to partake in the Go tournament which takes place that day.
However I always prefer to play as much chess as possible to get maximum experience for the money you pay. Especially the Friday night can be a bit of a lottery as it is the most popular round for a bye to be taken, so you have a chance of a favourable draw. As it was I was drawn Black against a 132 player. The match was delayed by ½ an hour as his opponent did not turn up, and I was without an opponent. This suited me as I had driven straight from work, having finished at 6pm, I gained a vital ½ hr rest. As the game went on to 10.55 I was able to stage a recovery late in the game and won from a previously lost position. Too tired to drive back to Llandudno I checked into the Days Hotel at Helsby Services on the M56 for the night.
The following morning, well rested and not having had to drive from Llandudno, I was able to record my first ‘scalp’ of 2017 beating Ray Williams who is graded 149. Even better we both had an hour on our clock when Ray resigned, giving me nearly 3 hours before Round 3. I was able to have lunch, walk the dog, and check out the Go tournament. Round 3 I faced the Grob Attack, which I thought nobody played anymore. I was able to hold out for forty moves despite having no real strategy prepared.
I drove home that night and arrived about 8 in the evening. Again I was able to get a good night’s sleep before driving up on the Sunday. Again lady luck favoured me, I beat a 151 graded player again from a previously lost position. Strangely enough it was now my turn to play g2-g4 and the move played a key part in my victory.
Again I had 3 hours to spare and walked the dog twice and walked into Jixin Yang’s training tournament for Cheshire & North Wales Juniors, two of which were from Colwyn Bay, so there is hope for the future. In the final round, with 3/4 I thought I was assured of some prize money but this was not necessarily the case. I went a piece down against Mark Cromwell, but recovered to have a good attack, eventually having king + 3 pawns against king + knight. My opponent was able to draw in time trouble to his credit so I finished with the third highest score, the same as seven others. As two players tied for second place I presume 2nd and 3rd prizes were combined and divided between them as I only received £15, being 50% of the grading prize.
I found at least three of the games very hard work and making the journey 4 times was very tiring. However I thought I was justified in playing ‘above my grade’ as even 150 graded payers make blunders. Imogen Camp took a bye on the Friday and lost both games on Saturday, recovering to win her Sunday games to achieve a performance above her grading.