Alongside the 2017 Hampshire Individual Championship, the Major and Minor Congresses were held. The Major had 23 players participating, but one player dominated winning all six of his games.
This was Geoffrey Brown whose picture is above. Geoffrey had an ECF grade of 153 at this time, although he would normally be found playing in opens as his grade has been in the 180’s before. That said, winning a Major is very difficult, let alone with a maximum score and Geoffrey played some very good games to win the competition.
For a list of the winners of the Hampshire Individual Championship and links to any articles I have written the table on the Hampshire Individual Championship is the best place to look. In addition, the table on the Hampshire Tournaments will detail these and any other tournament articles I have completed. Both of these are available from the menu at the top of the site as well.
Round 1
On a personal view my tournament started off very well, defeating the top seed Joe Coburn with the Black pieces. After this it all went downhill, not winning another game. But I was persuaded by John Wheeler to enter my game for the John Dunleavy Memorial Best Game Prize, and it may be that not many others entered, or the committee were impressed with the game as it won.
A lot of the other games were tough battles with eight of them going over 40 moves. Unlike a lot of tournaments where the 1st round can be a bit of a bloodbath the difference between the players grades was on average only about 18 ECF, which meant you would not expect the higher graded players to win each game.
There are not many of my games which I would add to these articles, but I will make an exception in this case. Click on any move to open a chess board.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph A Coburn | 157 | 0 | Graham Stuart | 137 | 1 |
| Geoffrey M Brown | 153 | 1 | David R Agostinelli | 136 | 0 |
| Ian G Matthew | 134 | ½ | Brendan O'Gorman | 151 | ½ |
| Lukasz Marek Piecha | 150 | 1 | Jeremy Hudson | 132 | 0 |
| Thomas Evans | 130 | ½ | Simon Venables | 149 | ½ |
| Tristan Dray-Pearce | 146 | ½ | Kevin Sawers | 128 | ½ |
| John R Sellen | 126 | 1 | Christopher G Webb | 144 | 0 |
| Phil T Foley | 142 | 1 | Richard J Wright | 123 | 0 |
| Mark R Stone | 121 | ½ | Gillian A Moore | 141 | ½ |
| Alex Dore | 0 | John P Carter | 1 | ||
| Christopher Smith | 137 | 0 | John B Symons | 119 | 1 |
| Peter Manning | 137 | ½ | Bye |
Round 2
Three players moved onto two points. Geoffrey Brown beat John Sellen, Lukasz Piecha accepted the pawn in my Morra Gambit and beat me in a complicated game. Finally, Phil Foley came out top against John Symons.
A nice tactical move by Geoffrey Brown to win a pawn. Although it took another 40 moves to win the game.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geoffrey M Brown | 153 | 1 | John R Sellen | 126 | 0 |
| Graham Stuart | 137 | 0 | Lukasz Marek Piecha | 150 | 1 |
| John B Symons | 119 | 0 | Phil T Foley | 142 | 1 |
| John P Carter | 135 | ½ | Tristan Dray-Pearce | 146 | ½ |
| Simon Venables | 149 | 1 | Ian G Matthew | 134 | 0 |
| Gillian A Moore | 141 | 1 | Thomas Evans | 130 | 0 |
| Brendan O'Gorman | 151 | 1 | Mark R Stone | 121 | 0 |
| Christopher G Webb | 144 | 0 | Christopher Smith | 137 | 1 |
| Richard J Wright | 123 | 1 | Alex Dore | 0 | |
| Jeremy Hudson | 132 | ½ | Joseph A Coburn | 157 | ½ |
| Kevin Sawers | 128 | 1 | Peter Manning | 137 | 0 |
| David R Agostinelli | 136 | 1 | Controller Bye |
Round 3
Of the players on maximum points Geoffrey Brown beat Lukasz Piecha, whilst Phil Foley drew against Brendan O’Gorman. He was joined on two and a half points by Gillian Moore who won the all Southampton Chess Club clash beating Kevin Sawers.
This was an interesting game when a not obvious move was missed after White had already correctly sacrificed a piece for an even game. Although the combination left Black with a Rook and two minor pieces for the Queen, White had four pawns and Black’s pieces were not well placed. A difficult move to spot, let alone play. After exchanging Queens Black soon converted the better position into a win.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lukasz Marek Piecha | 150 | 0 | Geoffrey M Brown | 153 | 1 |
| Phil T Foley | 142 | ½ | Brendan O'Gorman | 151 | ½ |
| John P Carter | 135 | ½ | Simon Venables | 149 | ½ |
| Kevin Sawers | 128 | 0 | Gillian A Moore | 141 | 1 |
| Tristan Dray-Pearce | 146 | 1 | John B Symons | 119 | 0 |
| John R Sellen | 126 | 1 | Graham Stuart | 137 | 0 |
| Ian G Matthew | 134 | 0 | Richard J Wright | 123 | 1 |
| Christopher Smith | 137 | 0 | David R Agostinelli | 136 | 1 |
| Thomas Evans | 130 | 0 | Jeremy Hudson | 132 | 1 |
| Alex Dore | 0 | Christopher G Webb | 144 | 1 | |
| Joseph A Coburn | 157 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Mark R Stone | 121 | ½ | Bye |
Round 4
Ten players took a bye in the Saturday evening game, but 10 players played their third game of the day along with two who had taken an afternoon bye. Geoffrey Brown continued his winning way defeating Phil Foley. Thomas Evans also won, and the other four games were drawn.
At the end of the round this meant Geoffrey Brown was on maximum points on four points. Gillian Moore was a full point behind on her own, with a further nine players a half point behind Gillian. Unless Gillian could get a win against Geoffrey in the fifth round the tournament would be decided before the last round.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geoffrey M Brown | 153 | 1 | Phil T Foley | 142 | 0 |
| Simon Venables | 149 | ½ | Lukasz Marek Piecha | 150 | ½ |
| Jeremy Hudson | 132 | ½ | Kevin Sawers | 128 | ½ |
| Alex Dore | 0 | Thomas Evans | 130 | 1 | |
| Christopher G Webb | 144 | ½ | Mark R Stone | 121 | ½ |
| Joseph A Coburn | 157 | ½ | Christopher Smith | 137 | ½ |
| David R Agostinelli | 136 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Brendan O'Gorman | 151 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Gillian A Moore | 141 | ½ | Bye | ||
| John P Carter | 135 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Tristan Dray-Pearce | 146 | ½ | Bye | ||
| John R Sellen | 126 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Ian G Matthew | 134 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Richard J Wright | 123 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Graham Stuart | 137 | ½ | Bye | ||
| John B Symons | 119 | ½ | Bye |
Round 5
Geoffrey Brown playing Black quickly exchanged Queens against Gillian and then won her a pawn as after BxN, BxB, Nb4 there was a nasty fork on d3 so Gillian wisely castled and gave up the pawn. After this it was a long grind, but Gilian finally threw in the towel on move 66.
It was a round where players with the Black pieces dominated with seven wins and only the one loss. With first place already decided it was the minor places which were still to be fought for, Lukasz Piecha, Simon Venables and Tristan Dray-Pearce all had three and a half points.
Meanwhile three players graded under 140 had three points and were in contention for this prize (John Carter, John Sellen and Kevin Sawers).
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gillian A Moore | 141 | 0 | Geoffrey M Brown | 153 | 1 |
| David R Agostinelli | 136 | 0 | Simon Venables | 149 | 1 |
| Phil T Foley | 142 | 0 | Lukasz Marek Piecha | 150 | 1 |
| Richard J Wright | 123 | 0 | Tristan Dray-Pearce | 146 | 1 |
| Brendan O'Gorman | 151 | ½ | John P Carter | 135 | ½ |
| Jeremy Hudson | 132 | ½ | John R Sellen | 126 | ½ |
| Thomas Evans | 130 | 1 | Joseph A Coburn | 157 | 0 |
| Graham Stuart | 137 | 0 | Christopher Smith | 137 | 1 |
| John B Symons | 119 | 0 | Christopher G Webb | 144 | 1 |
| Mark R Stone | 121 | 0 | Ian G Matthew | 134 | 1 |
| Kevin Sawers | 128 | 1 | Controller Bye | 0 | |
| Alex Dore | ½ | Bye |
Round 6
Despite winning the tournament, Geoffrey Brown continued to fight for maximum points. Playing the Bird again Black’s King was caught in the middle as Black tried to attack on the kingside. But when a Knight managed to be deployed on d6 Black’s position soon crumbled.
This win put stop to Simon Venables chances of second place, leaving the Lukasz Piecha – Tristan Dray-Pearce game key for this placing. Tristan Dray-Pearce pushed too hard with a sacrifice which did not work, leaving Lukasz Piecha with second place one and half points behind Geoffrey Brown.
Of the three players battling for the Under 140 Grading prize only John Carter won, beating Gillian Moore. He therefore was successful in winning this prize.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geoffrey M Brown | 153 | 1 | Simon Venables | 149 | 0 |
| Lukasz Marek Piecha | 150 | 1 | Tristan Dray-Pearce | 146 | 0 |
| John P Carter | 135 | 1 | Gillian A Moore | 141 | 0 |
| Kevin Sawers | 128 | 0 | David R Agostinelli | 136 | 1 |
| Christopher G Webb | 144 | 0 | Jeremy Hudson | 132 | 1 |
| John R Sellen | 126 | 0 | Phil T Foley | 142 | 1 |
| Ian G Matthew | 134 | 1 | Thomas Evans | 130 | 0 |
| Christopher Smith | 137 | 1 | Richard J Wright | 123 | 0 |
| Joseph A Coburn | 157 | ½ | John B Symons | 119 | ½ |
| Mark R Stone | 121 | 0 | Alex Dore | 1 | |
| Graham Stuart | 137 | 1 | Controller Bye |
Other prizes can be seen in the HCA Secretary Report at the bottom of the article, but the Ladies prize was jointly won by Amanda Jones, Maha Chandar, Mansa Chandar and Gillian Moore all had 3 points, and have agreed to share the trophy between them
Final Table
As the basis of this is from the ECF rating site crosstable, which does not take into account byes the rankings do not match the final real positions. But to amend this I would have to recreate the numbers for each player, which I have not done. But the table can be sorted to allow you to do this.
Games
The games from the Hampshire Major were entered by Arthur Brameld and can be played through and downloaded here.
Photographs
All photographs are in the Hampshire Gallery, but I have included a few from the Major.
HCA Secretary Report
The Hampshire Chess Secretary produced a report on the congress, which is below.
Acknowledgements and sources:
- Arthur Brameld for the chess games
- John Wheeler for HCA Secretary Report
- Keven Lamb for photographs