Club Championship Report

Seven people took part in the Club Championship at the weekend, which allowed us to play a six-round Swiss with every player except Rudy receiving one full-point bye. The results were as follows:

1. Rudy Van Kemenade 6
2. Matthew Francis 5
3. Julie Van Kemenade 4
4. Ian Finlay 3
5. John Basterfield 2.5
6. Georgina Gray 2
7. Tony Geraghty 1.5

Congratulations to Rudy, whose domination of Aber chess was confirmed. Congratulations also to Georgina, the lowest-graded player, whose win over Tony was selected by Rudy as the best game of the tournament. Her game against Rudy himself was, he says, the most stubborn defence, and featured a delightful square of four passed pawns on the d and e files. I should have beaten Rudy in round 2 - on the other hand I should have lost to nearly everyone else, especially Georgina, who had a nasty attack against me in the first round and missed a hard-to-see mating line and a more straightforward win of material. But as Snoopy once said, we're not playing should'ves. The eighteen games played produced only one draw.

Many thanks to Tony for organizing it. He turned up on Saturday with several gallons of water for making tea and coffee, only to discover there was no kettle. All part of the learning curve. We might also wear thicker coats next time as even with two fires on the St David's Club can get cold. But there will definitely be a next time, as it was a thoroughly enjoyable event. Tony is now planning an all-play-all rapidplay tournament to be held on club nights.

I am expecting to get my Internet connection restored next week, so will post the tournament games and the missing games from earlier matches over Christmas.