26th Blackpool Chess Conference - March 2002
Introduction
The 26th Blackpool Chess Conference attracted its second highest entry of 508 players. The atmosphere as usual was tremendous as all the games are played within the same arena. New for the 2002 event was a potential first prize in the Lancashire Premier Open of £1000, this being made up of £700 first prize plus £300 if someone scored five points, i.e. they won all their games. Whilst the Blackpool Chess Conference attracts many players from all over the country, this year we had more tournaments won by Lancashire players than ever before, with Lancashire players finishing first in four of the tournaments.
In the final round Craig Hanley was the only person in contention for the maximum prize but he was unable to defeat Stuart Haslinger and thus finished on 4½ points.
The report includes a small database of games. Chris Rice from Weekend Chess has analysed two games from the Lancashire Premier Open, including one of Craig Hanley's games, and one game from the Hilton Challengers winner, Malcolm Peacock. Following two games from the Blackpool Major winners, David Gillespie and John McBride, we have a couple of games annotated by Lancashire's board wise Neil Coward. Thanks to Chris and Neil for their analysis.
Prize Winners
| Congress Director: | D Clayton |
|---|---|
| Congress Treasurer: | S Woodcock |
| Chief Controller: | D Welch, BCF Chief Arbiter |
| Number of tournaments: | 6 |
| Prize fund: | £7,440 |
| Number of competitors: | 508 |
Lancashire Premier Open
| Open to all players | |
| Number of competitors: | 45 |
| Controller: | D Welch |
| Prize fund: | £1,600 |
| 1 | C Hanley | Lancaster RGS | 4½ | £700 |
| 2= | S Buckley | Monmouth/Bath | 4 | £150 |
| S Haslinger | Formby | |||
| J Merriman | Streatham | |||
| J Sherwin | Bath | |||
| GP 199-185 | A Ashton | 3C's | 3½ | £33.33 |
| SW Giddins | Hastings | |||
| Li Hu | Manchester University | |||
| GP U185 | J Coleman | Drunken Knights | 3 | £20 |
| C Dunlop | Crusaders | |||
| S Gordon | 3C's | |||
| G Meyer | Redhill | |||
| Li Wu | Nuneaton | |||
| Lady Prize | H Richards | 3 | £50 | |
| Smith & Williamson British Championship Qualifier | ||||
| A Ashton | 3C's | 3½ | £50 | |
Hilton Blackpool Challengers
| For players graded below 175 | |
| Number of competitors: | 83 |
| Controller: | P Purland |
| Prize fund: | £1,150 |
| 1 | M Peacock | Preston | 5 | £500 |
| 2= | S Ghasi | Handsworth GS | 4½ | £200 |
| IR White | Gloucester | |||
| GP 159-150 | A Dasadly | London | 4 | £50 |
| JH Scofield | Crusaders | |||
| GP U150 | P Plant | 3C's | 4 | £50 |
| S Tweedie | Holy Cross, Scotland | |||
| Lady Prize | S Chevannes | Checkmate | 3 | £50 |
Blackpool Major
| For players graded below 140 | |
| Number of competitors: | 96 |
| Controller: | S Woodcock |
| Prize fund: | £1,250 |
| 1= | D Gillespie | Blackpool | 4½ | £375 |
| J McBride | Preston | |||
| 3= | I Abuleela | Atticus | 4 | £25 |
| S Blackburn | Holmes Chapel | |||
| R Blake | Grantham | |||
| SM Chadaway | Hansworth Wood | |||
| CW Davies | Rose Forgrove | |||
| C Woolcock | Barry | |||
| GP 134-130 | D Jameson | Colwyn Bay | 3½ | £50 |
| P Stephenson | PKA | |||
| GP 129-125 | I Abuleela | Atticus | 4 | £25 |
| S Blackburn | Holmes Chapel | |||
| R Blake | Grantham | |||
| C Woolcock | Barry | |||
| GP U125 | V Tormey | Burnley | 4 | £100 |
| Lady Prize | S Blackburn | Holmes Chapel | 4 | £50 |
Southbank Intermediate
| For players graded below 120 | |
| Number of competitors: | 92 |
| Controller: | G Jones |
| Prize fund: | £1,250 |
| 1 | R Ashcroft | Atherton | 5 | £500 |
| 2= | C Atkinson | Crusaders | 4½ | £200 |
| P Chakravorty | Sheffield | |||
| GP 114-100 | R Lawrence | Sutton Coldfield | 3½ | £100 |
| GP 109-105 | PJ Aarons | Hampstead | 4 | £25 |
| K Cox | Gateshead Library | |||
| DJ Hall | Thamesdown Jnr. | |||
| A Robinson | Oldham | |||
| GP U105 | K Pottage | Wakefield | 4 | £50 |
| A Scoular | Swinton | |||
| Lady Prize | PJ Aarons | Hampstead | 4 | £50 |
Fylde Minor
| For players graded below 100 | |
| Number of competitors: | 97 |
| Controller: | S Boniface |
| Prize fund: | £1,250 |
| 1= | J Davies | Oswestry | 4½ | £225 |
| B Maclean | Atticus | |||
| T Loughlin | Ormskirk | |||
| B Yarker | Shipley | |||
| GP 94-90 | P Moss | Hallifax | 4 | £100 |
| S Rush | Reading | |||
| GP 89-85 | D Atkinson | Crusaders | 3 | £14.50 |
| P Broderick | Shifnal | |||
| G Clarke | Consett | |||
| R Ellis | PKA | |||
| G Hayden | Runcorn | |||
| W Morgan | Kynoch | |||
| D Thwaites | Atticus | |||
| GP U85 | D Rabbitte | Swinton | 4 | £50 |
| M Read | Welwyn/Hatfield | |||
| Lady Prize | K Bradley | 3C's | 2½ | £50 |
Standard
| For players graded below 80 | |
| Number of competitors: | 95 |
| Controller: | C Tillotson |
| Prize fund: | £900 |
| 1 | A Mann | Nomads | 5 | £200 |
| 2= | W Derbyshire | Chorley | 4½ | £50 |
| J Kitshoff | Culcheth | |||
| M Tillotson | Crusaders | |||
| GP 74-70 | R Macdonald | Stirling | 4 | £50 |
| GP 69-65 | N Thomas | Thamesdown Jnrs. | 4 | £50 |
| GP 64-60 | C Bellin | Walsall | 3½ | £50 |
| GP 59-55 | J Mackenzie | Leyland | 4 | £50 |
| GP 54-50 | R Bellin | Walsall | 1½ | £50 |
| GP 49-45 | K Fowler | Codden | 3½ | £50 |
| GP 44-40 | C Dixon | Cleveleys | 2½ | £25 |
| L Rabbitte | Swinton | |||
| GP U40 | R Street | Cleveleys Jnrs. | 2½ | £17 |
| P Harker | Hartlepool | |||
| P Sanders | Morecambe | |||
| UG Non Jnr. | B Nuttall | Kings Lynn | 4 | £50 |
| UG Jnr. | A Barker | York | 3½ | £25 |
| P Jackson | AXA | |||
| Lady Prize | N Thomas | Thamesdown Jnrs. | 4 | £50 |
Sharon Furlong Trophy
Awarded to the lady with the highest score overall.
| N Thomas | Standard | Thamesdown Jnrs. | 4 | £16.66 |
| S Blackburn | Major | Holmes Chapel | ||
| PJ Aarons | Intermediate | Hampstead |
Veterans Prize
Awarded to the player with the highest score who is aged over 60.
| B Holland | Standard | Camberley | 4 | £20 |
| B Shaw | Minor | Cheadle |