With the league season completed at the start of this month, recent attention has focused on the four divisions of the Club Championship competitions.
Harry Gardiner (aka the GM crusher) has wrapped up the title of Club Champion by winning division 1 for the 3rd time in 4 years. A brilliant score out of 10/11 to date means Harry remains unbeaten for two years in the top flight, and with one game left cannot be caught. Richard Lee has finished in 2nd place unbeaten with 9.5/12, while Andy Raeburn has finished 3rd with 8.5 pts.
Division 2 remains firecely contested with a 3 way fight to win the division and promotion to the top flight. Jamie Roberts has completed the schedule scoring 6.5/9, with Oskar Jarzynski currently in second place with 6/7 and two games to play, so has it in his control. George Bulbeck is third with 5.5/7 and has the same two games to play (vs Julian Bulbeck and Lukasz Michalek). As Lukasz has only played 3 games so far, he needs to play the two contenders otherwise will have his results cancelled which would mean Jamie faces the deduction of one point through no fault of his own.
Division 3 saw the title decided recently as Nathan Fourie clinched the trophy after wins against closest rival Keith Dudeney and Mike Keenan over the last two club nights. Mal Green is currently second with 6/9, but can still be caught. Just two games remain in this event as nearly everyone has already completed their fixtures.
Division 4 has seen Tommy Cooke win it like a runaway train scoring 11/12 so far with just one game to play. Gerald Parton and David Taylor sit joint second with 8 pts each, but David has one game to play while Gerald has played all 13 games.
This week (Tuesday 27th May) should be a very busy night at the club with 54 entries so far for the annual Swiss Rapidplay. If you have not yet entered please contact David Hulme before Tuesday as the Round 1 pairings are prepared in advance. Entry lists can be seen on the LMS – Open = 18 players, U1600 = 15; U1300 = 21.
Congratulations to Harry, Nathan and Tommy who are all now included on the Club’s Honours List (separate tab on Website) who will be awarded their trophies at the forthcoming AGM.