Tuesday 1 March 2016

The Bristol Spring Congress 2016 was held at  Bristol Grammar School (BGS)  Febr 26-28th.  There were 76 players in total.   
  There were a couple of unusual features about this congress.  We had very equal distribution between our 3 sections, all between 22- 27.  And for the first time www.chess-results.com was used.  This allowed all pairings to be available in advance, as well as displaying results and grading performance.
  Next congress June 10-12th followed by the Steve Boniface Memorial Aug 26-28th.  And watch out for our new web site coming soon  www.bristolchesscongress.com

  FIDE rated OPEN-  This section ended in a tie for first place between our regular GM Keith Arkell and FM Ezra Kirk, teammates in the 4NCL, both with 4 ½.  Sole third place was won by Steven Meek on 3 ½.
    GM Arkell displayed to the watching crowd in the last round why he is considered a world class endgame specialist.  With just a few minutes each left (plus increment) he won a dramatic game in the last round.  As Keith said afterwards, “I went from being lost, to worse, to equal, to better, to won.”
   Third place Steven Meek won a 16 move miniature against the third seed, trapping his queen in the middle of the board.
   And 14 year old Max French upset American Daniel Malkiel to overcome 300 points grading difference.

  All games from the open can be found (shortly) on www.chessit.co.uk


1
1
GM
ENG
2457
4ncl Cheddleton
4,5
2
FM
ENG
2306
4ncl Cheddleton
4,5
3
11
ENG
2012
South Bristol
3,5
4
4
ENG
2164
Battersea
3,0
7
ENG
2072
Horfield & Redland
3,0
8
ENG
2029
3,0
9
CM
GCI
2015
Thornbury Bristol
3,0
10
SCO
2013
Chichester
3,0
20
ENG
1839
3,0
22
IND
1615
3,0
11
3
ENG
2208
Horfield & Redland
2,5
6
ENG
2080
Bristol University
2,5
12
WLS
1983
4ncl Rhyfelwyr Essylwg
2,5
13
ENG
1981
Bath
2,5
23
GRE
1528
2,5
16
14
ENG
1953
Burnley
2,0
15
ENG
1923
Horfield & Redland
2,0
18
5
USA
2162
United States
1,5
16
ESP
1895
1,5
18
ENG
1867
1,5
21
ENG
1773
1,5
22
17
WLS
1894
0,5
23
19
ENG
1844
0,0



  Major

   The Major was won by top seed Chris Purry with 4 points, despite taking a first round bye.  Chris has consistently played in the Open in recent years but his grade has now allowed him to play in the Major.  He is also an experienced arbiter at the Frome Congress in mid May.
   2nd place was shared by 2 local players- James Hennefeld and Howard Millbank.  James is an occasional congress player and said this was his best result in 10 years.  Howard was one of the lowest seeds, but he has been at 160 in his prime.

1
1
ENG
154
Frome
4,0
2
8
ENG
141
Downend & Fishponds
3,5
22
ENG
125
Horfield & Redland
3,5
4
2
ENG
153
Keynsham
3,0
4
ENG
151
Downend & Fishponds
3,0
7
ENG
144
Keynsham
3,0
9
WLS
139
Cwmbran
3,0
11
ENG
137
New Milton
3,0
14
ENG
135
New Milton
3,0
16
ENG
133
Malpas
3,0
17
AUS
132
Kings Head
3,0
20
ENG
129
Hanham Folk Centre
3,0
13
3
ENG
152
Swindon
2,5
5
ENG
148
Bristol & Clifton
2,5
13
ENG
136
Bristol & Clifton
2,5
15
ENG
134
Bath
2,5
17
6
ENG
145
Thornbury Bristol
2,0
18
ENG
131
Seaton
2,0
19
ENG
131
Bristol Cabot
2,0
23
ENG
114
Peterborough
2,0
24
ENG
91
Patchway
2,0
22
10
ENG
138
Keynsham
1,0
12
ENG
137
Patchway
1,0
25
FRA
80
1,0
25
21
ENG
128
Kings Head
0,0


  Minor

  The Minor was won by last minute entry Jason Blaxill, a local Bristol player.  2nd place was shared by Geoff Ainsley and David Mc Geeney.  Interesting to note that the top 5 players were all within the top 6 seeds.

1
8
ENG
117
South Bristol
4,5
2
1
ENG
123
Calderdale
4,0
2
SCO
123
Bristol Cabot
4,0
4
3
ENG
123
Bath
3,5
5
ENG
121
Bristol University
3,5
18
ENG
100
Downend & Fishponds
3,5
7
4
ENG
121
Solihull
3,0
6
ENG
120
Yate & Sodbury
3,0
10
ENG
111
Bristol Cabot
3,0
11
ENG
108
Bristol University
3,0
14
ENG
104
Taunton
3,0
12
7
ENG
120
Bristol University
2,5
9
ENG
114
Yate & Sodbury
2,5
12
ENG
106
Keynsham
2,5
13
ENG
105
Dorset *
2,5
22
WLS
91
2,5
24
ENG
87
Yate & Sodbury
2,5
18
15
ENG
103
Bristol Cabot
2,0
16
ENG
101
Horfield & Redland
2,0
17
ENG
101
Mutual Circle
2,0
19
ENG
99
Hanham Folk Centre
2,0
23
ENG
91
Horfield & Redland
2,0
25
ENG
85
Bath
2,0
24
20
ENG
99
Seaton
1,5
21
ENG
94
Keynsham
1,5
26
26
ENG
84
Downend & Fishponds
1,0
28
ENG
29
Clevedon
1,0
28
27
ENG
60
Peterborough
0,5