Simon Layhe secured a share of first prize at last weekend’s Scarborough Congress playing in the Intermediate (U1850) section. After a 5 hour trek to the coast on Friday Simon started with a win on Friday night (as did Dave Price). Saturday morning saw a repeat for both, and then in Round 3 Simon was held to a draw by the No.7 seed, with Simon seeded 9th out of 83 entries, as 14 players all shared the lead with 2.5pts. Round 4 saw 6 of these players winning, to all move on to 3.5pts, with Simon among these. Playing board 3 in the final round, Simon’s high seeding gave him the advantage of white pieces and he duly came out on top to guarantee 1st place. With the other top two boards also having positive results he ended in a 3-way tie for 1st place – congratulations to Si !!
Dave P ended with 3 pts to finish in joint 17th out of 74 in the Minor (U1700).
Today has seen the publication of November ratings, and thanks to Karl Lockett’s research, the club has 3 of the top 100 improvers in the country since the October ratings. Unsurprisingly Simon is in this list, together with Karl and our ever improving 10 year-old star – Oskar Jarzynski.
Meanwhile last night the B team had an unexpected win away at Macclesfield. Simon again setting the benchmark with another win on top board against a player rated over 1950. David Hulme defended doggedly to get a draw on board 2, before Dave Lambtom played with aplomb to convert a tricky endgame into a win. Despite being the second lowest rated team in the 1st division, the Bees currently sit at the top of the league tree, albeit very temporary.
Tonight sees the “A” team in action at Alsager in the 1st division, and tomorrow the “D” team host Cheddleton B in division 2.