27/11/2024
Club news 27-11-2024
In the Junior Club
The penultimate round in the junior club championship saw an upset on board 1, when tournament leader James lost an exiting game to Isaiah (photo). Isaiah playing white entered a winning endgame but had only 47 seconds on the clock, while James had 8 minutes. Despite the pressure of the clock, Isaiah held his nerve and converted the win. There were also good wins for Roy, Jingwei and Tal. With one round to go the standings have narrowed at the top. James is still the front runner with 4 points, closely followed by Isaiah and Roy, both on 3.5.
In the Challengers Division, tournament leader Ronan maintained his good form with a win over Noah. Tautua on board 2 keeps up the challenge with a win with the white pieces against Elia. There were also good wins for Manahi, Ryder, Oscar M, Alex T, Ana and Chester, while Orlando and Arlo agreed a draw on board 4. Heading into the last round, its a two horse race with Ronan on 5 points, half a point ahead of Tautua. The race for bronze is tight with Manahi and Ryder leading the chasing pack. It’s set up for a nail-biting finale to the season in both junior divisions.
In the Senior Club
Round 6, the penultimate round of the Club Champs saw no upsets, with the stronger rated player in each match-up coming away with the win. Gordon (on 5½ from 6), David P and Ross (both on 4½) had wins over Mikhael, Guy, and Lars respectively, and now emerge as the only remaining contenders for the title with one round to play. Stay tuned to see if Gordon can secure his fifth title, or if a last round loss sees the other two catch him for a three-way share of the Tom Powell trophy. Results and standings here.