We had 32 players at our latest Open Blitz tournament. We were pleased to welcome 17 non-members. As usual it was played in our spacious community centre hall with the large projector screen used for pairing and results throughout the 6 rounds.
There was a large variation in player strength, from unrated up to over 2000, with an average of around 1500. As usual the Swiss Manager program pairs players who have the same (or nearly the same) number of points after each and every round, without playing the same person twice and giving roughly equal white and black games to each player.
Congratulations to all the players for enduring the tough 5 minutes plus 3 second increment Blitz time control. This made for some interesting games, all under the watchful eye of our club ECF Arbiter Thomas West – thanks Thomas.
After the 6 rounds there was a close finish with 4 players on 5 points out of 6, which meant the top 4 were split only by the tie breaks:
In first placed was Jon Ady.
In second place Colin Purdon.
A special mention for a fantastic performance goes to 1262 rated junior Shaurya Zadoo, well done!
In fourth place was Mohammad Mozaffari.
Jon Ady, Mohammad Mozaffari, Shaurya Zadoo and Colin Purdon.
The final cross table is below and if you click on the image, you can then get all the details, individual performance results etc from chess-results.
The Camberley A team had a very successful season, though fell agonisingly short of two major trophies. We led Division 1 (which Camberley have not won since 2008) until the very last match of the season, being pipped at the post by Crowthorne by just one point. Similarly, we reached the final of the Premier Precision Trophy, being beaten by a very strong Reading side. Though we came up just short in these competitions, this should not detract from the consistently very high level of chess that was played by the team’s regular players – our results back this up! We will be back again next season to hopefully get over the line.
Berkshire League Division 2 (Tim Bland)
This season the Camberley B team, operating in Division 2, came third overall. It was a tough season with some very close matches that didn’t quite go our way on occasion. We still hit the podium but finished 3 points adrift of the top placed Bracknell A.
This is a strong league, where we often face players rated well over 1900 or 2000 on the top boards. The season features 10 matches and significant travel, so there are no easy games. We lost 1 match, won 5 and drew 4. I’m pleased with the result even if it means we have to give the trophy back… temporarily.
15 different Camberley players graced the boards this season. I was fortunate to welcome Mike Morgan and Tristan Nowell as new players into the fold this year; both had strong performances. Thanks to everyone who played. Special nods for performance rating go to Adrian (2105), Paul Sloane (1962), Aditya (1960!), and I was personally quite pleased to hit a performance rating of 1885 across 6 games.
I was also very proud to drag coax Steve out of his unnecessarily early retirement. Steve played 2 games and scored 100%. So he’ll be on the sheet next year whether he likes it or not. With that said, if there are any Camberley players who want to play in the team, regardless of your rating, please let me know and I will ensure you are at least offered an opportunity to play this coming season. All are welcome.
Berkshire League Division 3 (Josh Jackson)
This season with Camberley C was an absolute treat, my first as captain that allowed me, and the rest of the team to see some of the great highs and lows that come with the game of chess.
Through the season, the team remained undefeated, quite the feat in the face of an everlasting horde of underrated juniors. We did well not to let that get the best of us, and pushed on to give the league winners their only two draws and to finish second overall. (Reading won every other game!)
We were unfortunate not to win the league I think, trailing by only two points, seven points clear of third place.
Great performances all around, with what feels like the majority of matches finishing with results down to the last board. Either to secure us a deserved win, or to bag a tight draw against a tough opponent. There were many nail-biting finishes, often with both teams standing over the final game watching blunders be made and material won by either side.
I would like to give a shout-out to some key players that delivered over the season.
Aditya with a performance rating of over 2000, scored 3/3 in key games taking down the top board where those points mattered the most for the result.
Daniel, who remained reliable with 6/7 often squeezing points out of endgames with only a slight advantage.
Tristan Nowell, who (if we ignore Bg2 in the first game of the season) played incredibly well and out-booked every opponent and has improved massively over this first season at the club with 3/4. I will never forget the sheer joy coming from hearing how he smoked his opponent with an obscure Tal variation Caro Kann.
On a personal note, the past season saw me get to play the most chess I have ever played, improving over roughly 100 rating points and having a blast along the way scoring 8/9. although sadly dropping a point where it mattered most.
Thank you to everyone for playing, hopefully next season we can do the same if not better!
Surrey Border League Division 1 (Bob Smith)
Our Camberley A Team played in the SBL Division 1 for the first time in a number of years. Against very strong teams from Farnham, Guildford and Reading our play deserved more than the 5 ½ game points we achieved across the 6 games and we also managed at least ½ point in each game. Our best match of the season was a close 3-2 defeat away to Farnham. This also featured 2 of the best games of the season where both Zac and Ian won on boards 1 and 2 against top opposition. Ian’s fiery dragon sent his opponent home within the first hour! The other game to highlight was Simon’s draw with IM Nigel Povah at home to Guildford. We had 12 players represent with Zac, Ian and Bob playing 4, Simon, Paul, Tim, and Mike playing 3 games each. Overall, despite the challenge faced against higher rated opposition on all boards in every match the team represented the club well. It wasn’t often that we could play our strongest team due to school, work and travel so thanks to everyone who stepped in to ensure that we did field a team for each match.
Surrey Border League Division 3 (James Roberts)
Camberley B Secure Joint-Top Finish in Solid Division 3 Debut
Camberley B have concluded a successful campaign in Division 3, demonstrating that the squad is well equipped to compete at this higher level following recent promotion. The team delivered a strong performance across the season, finishing joint-first on match points alongside Guildford C. Out of six fixtures, Camberley B secured four victories and suffered two defeats, accumulating a total of 8 match points. The team narrowly missed out on the title, finishing tied on 8 match points but with 15.5 game points to Guildford C’s 16.5.
Season Results Overview – September 29, 2025: The season opened with a 4-1 away defeat against Guildford C. – November 13, 2025: The team rebounded with a 3-2 away victory against Farnham C. – December 4, 2025: Momentum continued with a 3.5 – 1.5 home win over Godalming A. – January 29, 2026: A secondary encounter with Guildford C resulted in a 1.5 – 3.5 loss at home. – March 12, 2026: The squad completed a season double over Farnham C with a 3-2 home win. – April 1, 2026: The season concluded with a 3.5 – 1.5 away triumph against Godalming A, consolidating the team’s position at the top of the table.
A Dramatic Title Race The conclusion of the season provided plenty of drama. Camberley B completed all six fixtures early and sat at the top of the table, having only dropped points in the two matches against Guildford C. At that stage, Guildford C still had three matches left to play, making an outright league title for Camberley look unlikely. However, a combination of a forfeited match and Godalming defeating Guildford in the final game of the season allowed Camberley B to finish level on match points.
Overall an excellent season, and a huge thank you to all the members who played. Some honourable mentions to the team regulars; Bob Smith, Jan Demjan and David Bean.
Surrey Border League Division 5 (Bob Wooding)
First, I would like to say this has been the most enjoyable season I’ve been involved in.
The Camberley C team started with a 2-3 loss against Godalming a bit of a shock and a wake-up night. We followed with 2 wins and then played Crowthorne away which we drew. Crowthorne won this division last season so we knew this was a good result.
Next up was away at Woking who at this stage were top of the league. Our team had an unbelievable night at Woking winning 1/2 -4 1/2 with great wins from Tristan Searle, Jake and Lee Conyard and Tim Bland.
From that evening I decided to play the strongest team possible and we followed up with wins against Godalming Guildford and Farnham. At this stage of the season Josh Jackson came back into the team and didn’t stop winning.
Second from last game Crowthorne at home and the match started really well with Josh and Jake winning 2-0 up what could go wrong – well our top 3 boards all lost for the only time of the season Lee, Tim and then myself losing on time
The next week was our last match at home against Woking who now only needed a Draw to win the league. And what a match. First up was a win from Josh then a defeat for Tristan. Tim Bland was getting crushed on board 1 then out of the blue his opponent makes a mistake and we’re 2-1 up, my match goes down to the last seconds and I lose the ending – 2-2. Down to Lee who was in an equal position with a minute on his clock, his opponent Graham Andrews has 30 seconds left and cracks under pressure by making his move and not pressing his clock 3-2 to us and we’ve won the league!
We had 9 players play in total, with the standout player being Lee Conyard with 6 wins from 7 games.
I would like to thank everyone who played. Thanks for a great season!
Surrey Border League Rapid Division 1 (Steve Harley)
The Rapid A team had by far its best season yet. We were able to field some really strong teams throughout the season. Jon Ady and Dildarav Lishoy were mainstays on the top two boards; they both scored 60+% against some very strong opponents. In the first half of the season we beat Godalming and Crowthorne comfortably, but lost 5.5-2.5 away at Farnham. However in January we had a fantastic result beating Farnham 4.5-3.5 in the return match (notably featuring Jon 2-0 Clive Frostick). A further win away at Crowthorne retained our hopes of finishing level with Farnham. Unfortunately we lost our last match 3-5 at Godalming, with Jon having a very rare 0-2 setback against their star player Gwilym Price. Nine members played in the team this season – thanks to everyone that turned out for the team.
Surrey Border League Rapid Division 2 (Bob Wooding)
The Rapid B team finished 2nd in its first season and I wanted to go one better this season.
We started with a win against Godalming then went to Farnham. Steve Harley came into the team for his first game and came up against Tim Davis; this was a match I thought we were going to lose until Steve won his second game giving us a draw.
After 2 more wins, including revenge over Farnham, we played Crowthorne away and again Steve got the short straw having to play Happy Derrick Johnson.
The match ended drawn and after winning all our remaining matches we won the league by a clear point.
8 different players played with stand-out performances from Daniel (7 wins from 8), Steve (9 1/2 from 14), Josh (8 1/2 from 14) and myself (10 from 12).
Thanks everyone who played and it was really great to win the league!
Surrey Border League Cups (Steve Harley)
In the Bell Trophy team went out 2-3 in the first round at home to Bracknell, with wins for Seb Twisk and Lee Conyard.
The Haslemere Trophy was altogether more successful. I round 1 we avenged last year’s defeat in the final by beating Godalming away. As always, I chose players who I was confident would overperform their ratings. We were heavily outrated and needed only 2.5/10 to win the match. As it turned out we scored 1.5 in the first round of games, and another 2 in the second round to go through comfortably. Only the captain, acting as sacrificial lamb on board 1, did not score at least half a point.
The semi-final at home to Fleet and Farnborough was a bizarre and memorable occasion. F&F went full on, with GM Simon Williams on top board, and 2000+ players on 2-5. The average rating difference was 457 points, meaning they need to win 10-0. Towards the end it was 8-0, with me clinging on to a possible draw against Clive Frostick (a ringer for the evening) and Jack Maiden playing out a tense ending versus their captain Lee Savill (rated 460 points above Jack).
Jack brilliantly gave up a piece to get passed A and H pawns; Lee’s Knight could not stop both of them. In time trouble they agreed a draw to give us a fantastic 0.5-9.5 victory.
Jack Maiden’s draw clinched the title
After the incredible semi, the final at Crowthorne was relatively straightforward. Again we were outrated, this time by an average of 190 points, which meant we needed 3/10 to win. David Bean and Lee Conyard both won their first games to get us close, then Lee and I both won in the second and David drew, to score us 4.5 and victory.
It was a great pleasure to captain the Haslemere team – it is my favourite format and the handicap system really makes every game exciting. Thanks to all 8 players who represented us over the three matches.
The annual club blitz championship was held on May 14th.
Janaka said “Congratulations Simon. Thanks for the organisers and special thanks to Thomas, Daniel and Steve. Fantastic tournament and I had the best chess day in my life. The most noticeable thing in the whole tournament is the energy and the vibe that ran throughout the tournament. Also the tournament was very smooth, rapid and fast. I hoped everyone enjoyed it as much as I did irrespective of where you played top or bottom . Thanks again and heartful of appreciation for the organisers again”
Bob S said “Excellent evening. Well done to Simon and to everyone else who played. And to Daniel and Thomas for keeping it all under control.”
Mike M said “Thanks for organising (and running (and playing)) in the event!! Very enjoyable (if a little nerve wracking).”
Our winner Simon said “I suppose I should thank all those who made this victory possible, especially the two who blundered their queen, another two who lost on time, the one who gifted me mate in 1 when possibly winning, and at least 2 more who snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. I’m not sure I really deserve this win!”
The final standings of tonight’s tournament – thanks for playing all!
Camberley entered two teams in the latest in this series of Rapid tournaments, organised by Peter Hornsby in aid of Oxfam. Once again, the event was hosted by Eton College in impressive and historic surroundings. Our A team (Jon, Martin, Aditya and Steve) were the reigning champions from the last event in November 2025.
The format was 20/20 Rapid, which means 20 minutes plus no increment, which these days is unusual and proved quite a challenge for some of us.
Overall our A team finished in third place (W4, D1, L1) and the B team were ninth (W2, D1, L3). The winners were Maidenhead (W5, D0, L1) and second were Queen Mary’s University (W4, D1, L1).
As reigning champs we arrived in confident mood, with an unchanged team. Maidenhead had entered only the evening before the event – it was clear when we arrived that they were taking it seriously with Andrew Smith and Bohdan Terler on boards 1 & 2.
Our first match was a fairly straightforward 4-0 victory against UK Armed Forces Chess association. In round 2 we were straight into the serious stuff against Maidenhead. Jon had a great win after a long battle against Andrew, but Martin succumbed to the excellent Bohdan (who scored 6/6 on the day). Aditya and I won to secure an excellent 3-1 victory (against the eventual winners).
Another 3-1 win in round 3 against Reading Uni & Alumni put us in the lead. In round 4 we played another team new to the event, Queen Mary’s University. They looked pretty good, and so it proved in a 2-2 draw. Martin and I both lost, me from a piece up.
Then came the big showdown – the Camberley A vs Camberley B “Derby”. There was quite an upset on board 1 as Bob Smith beat Jon, who uncharacteristically “forgot that Knights move backwards”. Martin and Aditya beat Jan and Tristan respectively, and it came down to me vs Warren on 4. I was well on top a piece up for a long time but somehow managed to hang my queen very close the end of the time control – sadly for Warren, he missed it with only seconds left on his clock and lost the game, so the match ended 3-1.
Going into the final round we “only” needed to beat Sussex Juniors, who were mid-table having earlier been beaten 3-1 by Maidenhead and 4-0 by QMU. However. The pesky kids played really well – Jon was down a pawn but managed to wriggle out for a win, I was completely outplayed as white in a Catalan. Both Martin and Aditya tried to grind out wins from fairly even positions, but Aditya could not make progress and drew, and in the last game Martin over-pressed and lost a N and P ending, which his young opponent played very well indeed. In the end it was a painful 1.5-2.5 defeat, but no hard luck stories – we just got outplayed by some good juniors.
Our individual scores were:
Jon – 5/6 (one loss to Bob Smith, good win against Andrew Smith)
Martin – 2/6 (not really his day, was up against some strong players on board 2)
Aditya – 5.5/6 (brilliant MVP performance, continuing his great recent form and getting better and better in front of our eyes)
Steve – 4/6 (the usual up and down stuff)
B team report (by Tristan Nowell)
Unlike the A team, we were unburdened by the weight of expectation entering the tournament so started the day in a jovial mood.
We got things off to an excellent start with back to back 4-0 thrashings of London women’s and Reading university B with clinical performances across all 4 boards. That put us at the top of the table and on top board. This was, in retrospect,a slight over-achievement, as we were promptly put back in our place with a 4-0 hammering from Queen’s University (highlight of this round was me playing a perfectly memorised 10 moves only to blunder mate in 2 straight after).
We then faced Eton college and managed a respectable 2-2 draw, although I again threw away a great position to squander a potential win for the team. This then saw us face off against our fellow club mates in Rd 5. We were unsurprisingly outplayed on boards 4-2 but with what might have been the biggest giant killing of the day – Bob Smith pulled off a dramatic upset to take a full point from FM Jon Ady.
We entered the final round with another extremely tough match up against eventual winners Maidenhead. In a reverse of the previous round we were conclusively beaten on boards 1-3 but Warren on board 4 pulled off the most ruthless of swindles. Coming back from a time deficit and a full rook down he took advantage of an illegal move to level things on the clock and in true Warren style somehow salvaged the game.
Overall a great day with the team earning a respectable 2.5 out of 6 having faced all of the eventual top 3.
Final individual scores:
Bob Smith: 3/6 (including an incredibly impressive win over Jon Ady)
Jan Demjan: 3/6 (played solidly throughout putting up tough fights in every game)
Tristan Nowell: 2/6 (not my day – had a mix of good games and some that I would like to forget!)
Warren Wright: 4/6 (excellent dogged performance as always. Refusing to go quietly even when down material and earned himself a very respectable 4/6).
Ca A vs MaCa A vs Re UniCa A vs QMUCa A vs CA BCa A vs Sussex JCA A vs Re Uni and Ca B vs QMUCa B vs L WomenCa A vs Ma (2)Ca B vs QMU and Ca A vs Re UniMa vs Ca Bplaying hallCa A with prizesJonAdityaCa A with prizes (2)the players
On the last Thursday club night before Christmas 2025, we ran a fun Chess960 tournament. It was 6 rounds, 5 minutes each player with no increment. Unlike previous years, castling was allowed as per Chess960 rules.
Games were unrated and not to be taken too seriously!
Each rounds pairings were displayed on the big screen, then after players were seated correctly and ready, a new Chess960 starting position was generated on the screen, read out, and the round was started without much time to study the often peculiar setup!
There were some very strange games, like one where both players castled one after the other, both incorrectly (they were castling like you do on the kingside but on the queenside). The lack of an increment meant a number of games ended when one player ran out of time in easily winning positions. It was decided straight after the event that we must have an increment in future.
Anyway it was a relaxed fun event with a clear winner – well done Jon who won all 6 games. A great performance by Aditya in 2nd with 5 points, followed by Daniel on 4 points. Jon said that the Chess960 format is very strange and he only started formulating any plans after the 3rd game!
Well done to all in a challenging event to play in. Final Cross table and some photos are below:
Last Saturday several members of the club played in 2nd University Of Reading Rapidplay. The last one was only in March, despite feeling like it was last year. Nevertheless we scored some great results and thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the day.
In the Open, we had FM Jon Ady leading the charge, with Adrian, Martin, Peter and Daniel spread throughout the section.
In the U1500, Jan, Josh, Janaka and Neale representing Camberley.
Last year’s challengers section winner Jake, in true magnus style, declined to defend his title. I’m sure this was all part of an elaborate plan to declare this tournament’s winner false, that’s what chess champions do – right?
A win for Camberley!
Yes that’s right, we’re two for two on University of Reading tournaments!
Congratuations to Jon, who took home the win in the open section with a perfect 6/6.
In the last tournament, the highest rated player was rated 2073, and the open section only had 20 entrants. This time, the section grew to 26 players, with top seed being IM Peter Large, at 2334, with plenty more ~2000 rated players to up the competition quite a bit.
It goes without saying the star performance of the day was from Jon. One game worth highlighting was Jon’s round 4 clash against his 40-year rival and the top seed, IM Peter Large. This was the defining moment for Jon not only taking the lead, but most likely taking the rest of the tournament in a sweep.
Camberley also took home the rating prize, with Daniel Seaton scoring an impressive 3/6 in a tough section.
FM Jon Ady wins the open
Daniel wins the rating prize
Another notable performance from the open, from a UoR player Adam Smith must also be mentioned, despite being rated only 1617, Adam took down an IM, beat a 2000-rated player, and drew with Adrian! Taking home 3rd place, with a performance rating of 2130, ending on 4.5/6. Hats off to you Adam, that’s a stonker of a tournament run.
In the Challengers, the lead was constantly split between a third of the field, with each round knocking only one player out of the running for first. By the last round, there were four different players that could have won the section, depdending on how things went.
Jan and Josh were both sitting in second and fourth respectively at the end of round 3. Looking like one, or both of them were going to take home a podium finish in the section. Unfortunately, in round 4, Jan suffered an unfornuate loss, but that still kept him in the running as now there were seven players all within a point and a half, and in the running for the top spot.
In round 5, there was a board two face-off between the two Camberley members. Sadly, a draw would see them both take a substantial hit to winning chances if the other top boards had decisive victories. And naturally, a decisive victory would only see one player in the running for first in the last round.
Josh took home the win there, with a fast opening that saw Jan’s pinned c6 Knight take an overload of pressure from a Qa4 pin followed by a textbook Catalan Ne5 opening the sniper on g2. With a few trades and checks, Josh was a pawn up and comfortably better. The game was decided moments later where Rd1 pinned Jan’s bishop to his Queen, ultimately winnning the peice and the game.
In the last round, Josh was on 4.5 alongside fellow unbeaten player Emile, whom he had drawn against in round 3. Somehow and by some miracle Josh held a dead lost endgame to a same-coloured bishop draw, finishing on 5/6, and remaining undefeated. It all came down to board one, where every possible result would crown a different victor. On that board, Emile took home the win. Therefore taking first place, on 5.5/6. Josh took home second place on 5/6.
Overall, a great result for Camberley, with a win and a second place finish.
A huge thank you to James Connors and the Univeristy of Reading Chess Club, for not only running a great tournament, but for also doing a fantasic job in increasing the entrants and growing the tournament since the last one. It was a really fun day, and we look forward to the next!
Full results here (click the images to go to the chessresults page):
Camberley Chess Club were pleased to be able to support the 20/20 Chess Championships at the prestigious Eton College venue. These championships are an unrated team-of-four, 6 round, rapid-play event with no membership requirements with all the net profits going to Oxfam, their chosen charity. The time control was 20 minutes each with no increment.
We entered 3 teams of 4 players and turned up not really knowing how we would perform against a wide variety of teams, 16 in total.
It was a well organised and fun event – thank you to everybody who helped, all the organisers, Eton College staff and boys and Peter Hornsby, the Founder and Tournament Director.
There were many close team matches.
The Camberley C Team of Bob Wooding, Warren Wright, Janaka Jayasinghe and Tristan Nowell won 2 rounds and drew one achieving 2.5 points.
Warren had the standout game for the C team. With the rest of the team already lost and a piece down in an endgame with a 1600+ rated opponent, Warren found a devastating pin that eventually allowed him to promote. Other standout games were Tristan’s slightly bitter sweet 9 move checkmate against a 9 year old junior and Janaka’s grinding endgame win with the whole room packed up and ready to go home. Captain Bob had a characteristically consistent tournament, win loose or draw, pushing his opponents into deep waters. Overall, a great day and a respectable finish of 2.5 out of 6 in a strong field.
The B team of Siddarth Ramaraju, James Roberts, Nisandu Liyanawaduge and Jan Demjan had a tough start, losing 0-4 to one of the pre-tournament favourites. However a bounce back 4-0 win set them up for the rest of the day, having some close battles in the remaining matches scoring 2 points.
Sid’s Rook endgame technique with low time to win match 5 was brilliant to watch, and overall strong play from board 1. James hanging mate in 1 followed by winning all his remaining games. Nisandu, despite struggling on the clock, had winning positions in almost every game – playing some excellent chess. Jan was very consistent throughout the day, however in one match was a Queen up, lost it to a tactical oversight, then proceeded to win the tricky rook endgame. Certainly a roller-coaster to watch!
The Camberley A Team of Jon Ady, Martin Wallman, Aditya Sengupta and Steve Harley achieved 5.5 points out of 6 and narrowly won the event.
Jon typically won his games quicker than the rest finished theirs! Martin’s first game went terribly wrong and was completely losing when he “threw” his knight and a pawn at his opponent’s king, which opened up the position to a possible perpetual check. His draw offer was refused and then his opponent walked into a Queen and pawn mate! The key matches were in round 3 against Orpington and round 4 against Reading University A. In round 3 Jon and Martin won quickly, but Aditya and Steve were both outplayed, for a 2-2 draw. Round 4 seemed to be going the same way; we were 2-1 up with just Steve’s Q&P endgame to finish. It was a topsy turvy affair, which finally resolved when Steve’s opponent mistakenly allowed the queens to be traded off with just a few seconds left, and Steve raced his king over to gobble up the last pawn. Despite Steve’s flag falling it was a draw because his opponent only had a bare king left. The half point meant we won 2.5-1.5. In the next round Orpington and Reading Uni A drew 2-2, which left us in the lead on our own, which we converted with fairly easy wins in the last two rounds. Overall, both Jon and Martin achieved impressive 100% records of 6 wins. We were presented with the very elegant Chess Set and Board Trophy (to keep until the next competition is held).
The 2025 Keith Richardson Memorial Tournament was held on Saturday 27th Sep at Camberley Chess Club. Keith was a valued club member from the 1970s, an International Correspondence Grandmaster and very well known in the English chess community. He played for the club right up to his death in 2017. He suffered from Parkinson’s disease and a significant contribution to Parkinson’s UK will be made from this events proceeds. The ECF said “Keith was one of the nicest chess players they have ever come across”
Congratulations to IM Nigel Povah, winner of our Keith Richardson rapidplay tournament for 2025. Nigel scored 5.5/6. Second was Dildarav Lishoy Gengis Paratazham and third was Tom Farrand, who were both unbeaten on 5/6.
The junior prize went to Adam Sefton and the highest U-1600 rating prize went to Siddarth Ramaraju.
Game Showcase: A killer attack from the Blackmar-Diemer by Tom Farrand , who finished third overall
Thanks to all the participants for supporting this event and making it so friendly and enjoyable.
Special thanks to Thomas West for doing an excellent job as tournament ECF arbiter, Steve Harley and Martin Wallman for organising and running the event and everyone who helped with the setting up and clearing away.
Last but certainly not least, a special thank you to Nigel Povah and Tom Farrand for donating their prize winnings to the tournament, and Parkinson’s UK.
The 2026 event is planned for the last Saturday in September.
The prize winners
Junior winner – Adam Sefton
U-1600 winner – Siddarth Ramaraju
3rd place – Tom Farrand
2nd place – Dildarav Lishoy Gengis Paratazham
1st place – IM Nigel Povah
Junior winner – Adam SeftonU-1600 winner – Siddarth Ramaraju3rd place – Tom Farrand2nd place – Dildarav Lishoy Gengis Paratazham1st place – IM Nigel Povah
Cross table and Photos
Click on the cross table below to go to the tournament chess-results site to get individual performance ratings, details etc.
