The 2015 Hampshire Chess Championship was held at Eastleigh College between 6th and 8th November 2015. It was split into 3 sections with in total 58 players participating. The Minor tournament saw Southampton University’s Stephen Gow win the Congress and the Parsons Cup.
Picture above of Stephen Gow being presented with the Parsons Cup for best performance by a Hampshire player in the Minor section.
Contents
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.
Tournament
The Hampshire Minor was for players graded under 125 with several regular entrants in the tournament. The current champion James Barnett was defending his title. Unlike the Open and the Major the games are not recorded on duplicate scoresheets, and therefore I do not have any games to include in the article. If you played in the tournament and wish to supply any games or memories of the tournament please do contact me.
Round 1
Several players took a bye in the first round, I have taken the assumption that these were all requested, although it may be that one of these were a controller bye.
Don Creasey had a great start beating one of the top seeds, but apart from that all the higher graded players won their games. Martin Baxter was un-graded, returning to chess after a long break, but probably came into the tournament as one of the favourites, based on his performances since this time. At the time he was certainly eligible for the Minor section as his grading had been around 100 to 110 in the early 2000’s.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don Creasey | 103 | 1 | Timothy S Allen | 121 | 0 |
| James A Barnett | 120 | 1 | Rob Davies | 99 | 0 |
| John Kooner | 103 | 0 | Tim G Cutter | 117 | 1 |
| Jerry Ingamells | 114 | 1 | Brian V Cochran | 95 | 0 |
| David Jerome | 72 | 0 | Graeme Ford | 113 | 1 |
| Steve R Dunleavy | 63 | 0 | James Wallman | 108 | 1 |
| Martin Baxter | UG | 1 | Maha Chandar | 63 | 0 |
| Ivor H Kelly | 124 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Stephen Gow | 113 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Keven A Lamb | 85 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Stephen P Kitley | 100 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Manoj Chandar | 82 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Mike M Henbury | UG | ½ | Bye |
Round 2
Four players remained on maximum points. James Wallman, Martin Baxter, Jerry Ingamells and Tim Cutter. James Wallman beat the higher rated James Barnett which was probably the most surprising of these wins. James passed away in 2024 at the age of 96, therefore he would have been 87 at the congress and he had an excellent result in the tournament. The Camberley Chess Website had more details on his life and the English Chess Forum had a post under the Deaths and Obituaries.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Wallman | 108 | 1 | James A Barnett | 120 | 0 |
| Graeme Ford | 113 | 0 | Martin Baxter | UG | 1 |
| Tim G Cutter | 117 | 1 | Don Creasey | 103 | 0 |
| Jerry Ingamells | 114 | 1 | Stephen P Kitley | 100 | 0 |
| Mike M Henbury | UG | 0 | Ivor H Kelly | 124 | 1 |
| Timothy S Allen | 121 | 1 | Keven A Lamb | 85 | 0 |
| Rob Davies | 99 | 1 | Steve R Dunleavy | 63 | 0 |
| Maha Chandar | 63 | 0 | John Kooner | 103 | 1 |
| Stephen Gow | 113 | 1 | Manoj Chandar | 82 | 0 |
| Brian V Cochran | 95 | ½ | Bye | ||
| David Jerome | 72 | ½ | Bye |
Round 3
The four players on maximum points were paired and James Wallman continued his winning ways, beating Jerry Ingamells. Martin Baxter also won his game against Tim Cutter. The chasing pack included two players half a point behind, both who had taken a half point bye in the first round, and who therefore had won both the games they actually played.
These were Stephen Gow, who beat James Barnett and Ivor Kelly who did the same against Graeme Ford.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Baxter | UG | 1 | Tim G Cutter | 117 | 0 |
| Jerry Ingamells | 114 | 0 | James Wallman | 108 | 1 |
| James A Barnett | 120 | 0 | Stephen Gow | 113 | 1 |
| Ivor H Kelly | 124 | 1 | Graeme Ford | 113 | 0 |
| John Kooner | 103 | ½ | Timothy S Allen | 121 | ½ |
| Stephen P Kitley | 100 | ½ | Brian V Cochran | 95 | ½ |
| Manoj Chandar | 82 | 1 | Mike M Henbury | UG | 0 |
| Keven A Lamb | 85 | 1 | David Jerome | 72 | 0 |
| Steve R Dunleavy | 63 | 0 | Maha Chandar | 63 | 1 |
| Don Creasey | 103 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Rob Davies | 99 | ½ | Bye |
Round 4
Six players took a bye on the Saturday night, but this did not include 87 year old James Wallman. But his winning ways came to an end, as Martin Baxter took the sole lead by beating him. Stephen Gow beat Ivor Kelly to remain just half a point behind, which gave a natural pairing of these two players in round 5. James remained in sole third place on three points.
Worth noting that there were no draws in this round.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Wallman | 108 | 0 | Martin Baxter | UG | 1 |
| Stephen Gow | 113 | 1 | Ivor H Kelly | 124 | 0 |
| Timothy S Allen | 121 | 1 | Manoj Chandar | 82 | 0 |
| Brian V Cochran | 95 | 1 | Mike M Henbury | UG | 0 |
| Keven A Lamb | 85 | 1 | Rob Davies | 99 | 0 |
| Don Creasey | 103 | 1 | John Kooner | 103 | 0 |
| Jerry Ingamells | 114 | ½ | Bye | ||
| James A Barnett | 120 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Graeme Ford | 113 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Timothy S Allen | 121 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Maha Chandar | 63 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Stephen P Kitley | 100 | ½ | Bye |
Round 5
The key game for the tournament was played, and it was Stephen Gow who came out on top, beating Martin Baxter to go from half a point behind, to half a point ahead.
James Wallman bounced back from his loss in round 4 by beating fellow veteran Chandler’s Ford Don Creasey. The leaders going into the final round were:
- Stephen Gow 4.5
- Martin Baxter 4
- James Wallman 4
- Kevin Lamb 3.5
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Baxter | UG | 0 | Stephen Gow | 113 | 1 |
| James Wallman | 108 | 1 | Don Creasey | 103 | 0 |
| Brian V Cochran | 95 | ½ | Timothy S Allen | 121 | ½ |
| Ivor H Kelly | 124 | ½ | Jerry Ingamells | 114 | ½ |
| Manoj Chandar | 82 | 0 | James A Barnett | 120 | 1 |
| John Kooner | 103 | 0 | Keven A Lamb | 85 | 1 |
| Graeme Ford | 113 | ½ | Stephen P Kitley | 100 | ½ |
| Rob Davies | 99 | ½ | Maha Chandar | 63 | ½ |
| Mike M Henbury | UG | 1 | Controller Bye |
Round 6
Stephen Gow had to avoid losing to James Wallman, and he went one better in winning the game. Stephen finished with five and a half points, taking a bye in the first round and winning all the games he played. A well deserved tournament win.
Martin Baxter beat Keven Lamb and finished in second place. Apart from the loss to Stephen, Martin won all his games for a fine tournament. James Wallman finished in a deserved shared third place only losing to the two players players who finished ahead of him. He was joined in third place by Ivor Kelly who beat Don Creasey.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Gow | 113 | 1 | James Wallman | 108 | 0 |
| Martin Baxter | UG | 1 | Keven A Lamb | 85 | 0 |
| Timothy S Allen | 121 | ½ | Jerry Ingamells | 114 | ½ |
| Don Creasey | 103 | 0 | Ivor H Kelly | 124 | 1 |
| Stephen P Kitley | 100 | 0 | James A Barnett | 120 | 1 |
| Graeme Ford | 113 | 1 | Brian V Cochran | 95 | 0 |
| Maha Chandar | 63 | 1 | Mike M Henbury | UG | 0 |
| Manoj Chandar | 82 | ½ | Rob Davies | 99 | ½ |
| John Kooner | 103 | 1 | Controller Bye |
Minor Final Position Summary
Minor tournaments are normally won by improving juniors (remember at this time gradings were only updated twice a year), or new players who were also in the improving stage. This second category probably fits Southampton University’s Stephen Gow as his first grade was only in 2013. But Martin Baxter was a returning player, but had obviously been working on his game as his rating has improved since this time.
Behind these James Wallman’s rating had not changed that much year on year and it was great to see him have an excellent tournament, finishing in joint third place. I am sure he took great joy in his tournament, as it is not easy to place in a Minor, as there are always under graded players. Ivor Kelly had only lost to the tournament winner and had taking a first round bye along with drawing with Jerry Ingamells in the fifth round. Tournament regular (who has supplied the photos) Keven Lamb won the under 100 grading prize.
Also of note was Maha Chander’s winning of the Gillian Moore trophy for the highest scoring female in the Congress.
The information has been obtained from the ECF rating site crosstable, which does not take into account byes therefore 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.
| Rank | Name | Grade | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Baxter | UG | 10+ | 9+ | 11+ | 3+ | 2– | 7+ | 5 |
| 2 | Stephen Gow | 113 | bye = | 16+ | 8+ | 5+ | 1+ | 3+ | 5.5 |
| 3 | James Wallman | 108 | 19+ | 8+ | 6+ | 1– | 12+ | 2– | 4 |
| 4 | Timothy S Allen | 121 | 12– | 7+ | 15= | 16+ | 13= | 6= | 3.5 |
| 5 | Ivor H Kelly | 124 | bye = | 18+ | 9+ | 2– | 6= | 12+ | 4 |
| 6 | Jerry Ingamells | 114 | 13+ | 17+ | 3– | bye = | 5= | 4= | 3.5 |
| 7 | Keven A Lamb | 85 | bye = | 4– | 20+ | 14+ | 15+ | 1– | 3.5 |
| 8 | James A Barnett | 120 | 14+ | 3– | 2– | bye = | 16+ | 17+ | 3.5 |
| 9 | Graeme Ford | 113 | 20+ | 1– | 5– | bye = | 17= | 13+ | 3 |
| 10 | Maha Chandar | 63 | 1– | 15– | 19+ | bye = | 14= | 18+ | 3 |
| 11 | Tim G Cutter | 117 | 15+ | 12+ | 1– | bye = | 0 | 0 | 2.5 |
| 12 | Don Creasey | 103 | 4+ | 11– | bye = | 15+ | 3– | 5– | 2.5 |
| 13 | Brian V Cochran | 95 | 6– | bye = | 17= | 18+ | 4= | 9– | 2.5 |
| 14 | Rob Davies | 99 | 8– | 19+ | bye = | 7– | 10= | 16= | 2.5 |
| 15 | John Kooner | 103 | 11– | 10+ | 4= | 12– | 7– | bye + | 2.5 |
| 16 | Manoj Chandar | 82 | bye = | 2– | 18+ | 4– | 8– | 14= | 2 |
| 17 | Stephen P Kitley | 100 | bye = | 6– | 13= | bye = | 9= | 8– | 2 |
| 18 | Mike M Henbury | UG | bye = | 5– | 16– | 13– | bye + | 10– | 1.5 |
| 19 | Steve R Dunleavy | 63 | 3– | 14– | 10– | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | David Jerome | 72 | 9– | bye = | 7– | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 |
Gallery
HCA Summary
Hampshire’s Chess Association Secretary’s John Wheeler’s report on the 2015 Congress is below. Many thanks to John for sending all his reports for the HCA Archives, as although I had some of these, not being active in the HCA (or any Chess at this time I did not have this one).
Acknowledgements and Sources
- Hampshire Chess Archives
- British Chess Rating System
- John Wheeler
- Kev Lamb for photos