Hampshire Chess Championship 2016 – Minor

The Hampshire Chess Championship was held at Eastleigh College between 4th and 6th November 2016. It was split into 3 sections with in total 44 players participating. The minor had by far the largest participation with 29 players.

The picture above shows joint first place winner Shreyas Royal who was 7 at the time of writing (2023) already has one GM norm and is looking to be the top British player of the future.

If you played in the Congress and wish to add anything or supply an annotated game please do contact me through the comments or at Hampshirechesshistory@gmail.com

Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6

Final Table and Summary
Games
Gallery
HCA Secretary Report

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

Eight players took a first round bye, but this still left 20 players matched with Richard Slade being given a 1 point bye due to the odd number of players. Minor tournaments are normally won by players who are improving quickly, be they new players to the game or juniors who when you check their grades in a couple of years you see huge improvement. In the summary I have completed an exercise on this comparing the grades from 2016 to 2023 to see what improvements (if any) have been seen by the winners of the minor.

Thomas Evans, Tim Cutter, Tim Allen, Alan Fraser and David Cole were the winners in the first round.

Player	Grade	Result	Player	Grade	Result
Paul Eyles	99	0	Thomas Evans	121	1
Kevin Sawers	121	½	Keven A Lamb	92	½
Brian V Cochran	90	½	Jerry Ingamells	120	½
Tim G Cutter	119	1	Don Creasey	90	0
David T Murchie	89	0	Timothy S Allen	118	1
Peter J Hughes	108	½	Rob Davies	89	½
Kenneth Wertheim	77	0	Alan R Fraser	107	1
David M Cole	106	1	David Jerome	71	0
Lucas Summers	58	0	Stephen P Kitley	105	1
Shreyas Royal	104	½	Ryan Cheung	34	½
Richard Slade	101	1	Controller Bye
Michael R Pope	111	½	Bye
David J Archer	110	½	Bye
Dave Williams	108	½	Bye
Martyn J Maber	104	½	Bye
Maha Chandar	91	½	Bye
Charles Charalambous	101	½	Bye
Manoj Chandar	94	½	Bye
Mansa Chandar	68	½	Bye

Round 2

The players from Friday night were joined by the players who took a bye, although a couple of players were not as keen as playing in the morning and took a bye. Due to the odd numbers David Jerome was the unlucky player who had the controller bye this time.

The first surprise was top seed Thomas Evans who lost to David Cole. Thomas Evans rating has almost touched 1800 and going into this tournament he would have been one of the favourites and for this reason this was a bit of an upset. Shreyas Royal was held to a draw by Rob Davies and although this was Rob’s second draw he was well on the way for a great tournament.

Kevin Sawers, Dave Williams, Peter Hughes, Martyn Maber, David Archer and David Murchie joined David Cole in winning their games in the second round although moving into round three only David Cole was on maximum points.

This round saw the Chandler Ford’s Chander family (Mother, Son and Daughter) joining the fray, although it was not the best start as all three lost. Maha has done a tremendous amount of work for Chandler’s Ford main club, captaining the A team and running the finances. In addition, she runs the junior club, which both her Son and Daughter have been key members of.

Player	Grade	Result	Player	Grade	Result
Thomas Evans	121	0	David M Cole	106	1
Alan R Fraser	107	½	Tim G Cutter	119	½
Timothy S Allen	118	½	Richard Slade	101	½
Kevin Sawers	121	1	Stephen P Kitley	105	0
Rob Davies	89	½	Shreyas Royal	104	½
Keven A Lamb	92	½	Michael R Pope	111	½
Dave Williams	108	1	Brian V Cochran	90	0
Mansa Chandar	68	0	Peter J Hughes	108	1
Ryan Cheung	34	0	Martyn J Maber	104	1
David J Archer	110	1	Maha Chandar	91	0
Manoj Chandar	94	0	David T Murchie	89	1
Jerry Ingamells	120	½	Charles Charalambous	101	½
Don Creasey	90	½	Kenneth Wertheim	77	½
David Jerome	71	1	Controller Bye
Lucas Summers	58	½	Bye
Paul Eyles	99	½	Bye

Round 3

Round three saw the only player on full points (David Cole) drop his first half point, as Tim Allen held him to a draw. This allowed four players to catch him as Tim Cutter, David Archer, Richard Slade and Kevin Sawers all won their games.

In addition, Shreyas Royal, Rob Davies, Jerry Ingamells, Ken Wertheim, Don Creasy, Maha Chander, David Jermone and Paul Eyles all won, in a particularly bloodthirsty round, which saw only two draws from the fourteen games. Ryan Cheung had the controller bye in this round.

Player	Grade	Result	Player	Grade	Result
David M Cole	106	½	Timothy S Allen	118	½
Martyn J Maber	104	0	Tim G Cutter	119	1
Kevin Sawers	121	1	Dave Williams	108	0
David J Archer	110	1	Alan R Fraser	107	0
Richard Slade	101	1	Peter J Hughes	108	0
Shreyas Royal	104	1	Keven A Lamb	92	0
Michael R Pope	111	0	Rob Davies	89	1
Charles Charalambous	101	½	Thomas Evans	121	½
David T Murchie	89	0	Jerry Ingamells	120	1
Kenneth Wertheim	77	1	Manoj Chandar	94	0
Don Creasey	90	1	Mansa Chandar	68	0
Lucas Summers	58	0	Maha Chandar	91	1
David Jerome	71	1	Stephen P Kitley	105	0
Brian V Cochran	90	1	Paul Eyles	99	0
Ryan Cheung	34	1	Controller Bye

Round 4

Five players entered the round in joint first place with two and a half points from the three rounds. Three of these players had a bye in the Saturday evening, which meant Richard Slade and David Archer were paired against each other. Richard Slade came out on top and moved into the sole lead.

Shreyas Royal, Rob Davies, Martyn Maber, Dave Williams, Tom Evans, Brian Cochran, Michael Pope, Paul Eyles and Ryan Cheung all won their games as well. There was no Controller bye this round as all players were paired.

As can be seen, the Minor tournament had a larger percentage of wins compared to the Open and Major. As per round three only two games were drawn.

Player	Grade	Result	Player	Grade	Result
Richard Slade	101	1	David J Archer	110	0
Jerry Ingamells	120	0	Shreyas Royal	104	1
Rob Davies	89	1	David Jerome	71	0
Maha Chandar	91	0	Martyn J Maber	104	1
Peter J Hughes	108	½	Charles Charalambous	101	½
Dave Williams	108	1	Kenneth Wertheim	77	0
Thomas Evans	121	1	Don Creasey	90	0
Keven A Lamb	92	0	Brian V Cochran	90	1
Michael R Pope	111	1	David T Murchie	89	0
Paul Eyles	99	1	Mansa Chandar	68	0
Manoj Chandar	94	½	Lucas Summers	58	½
Ryan Cheung	34	1	Alan R Fraser	107	0
Timothy S Allen	118	½	Bye
Kevin Sawers	121	½	Bye
Tim G Cutter	119	½	Bye
David M Cole	106	½	Bye
Stephen P Kitley	105	½	Bye

Round 5

Richard Slade was half a point ahead, but Tim Cutter came out on top in their game and leapfrogged him. Rob Davies beat David Cole and Shreyas Royal did the same against Southampton’s Kevin Sawers. The players went into round six in the lead with four points from their five games.

Half a point behind were five players, leaving much to be contested in round six.

Player	Grade	Result	Player	Grade	Result
Tim G Cutter	119	1	Richard Slade	101	0
Rob Davies	89	1	David M Cole	106	0
Shreyas Royal	104	1	Kevin Sawers	121	0
David Jerome	71	0	Peter J Hughes	108	1
Martyn J Maber	104	1	Michael R Pope	111	0
David J Archer	110	1	Brian V Cochran	90	0
Timothy S Allen	118	1	Dave Williams	108	0
Ryan Cheung	34	1	Thomas Evans	121	0
Stephen P Kitley	105	1	Maha Chandar	91	0
David T Murchie	89	1	Don Creasey	90	0
Kenneth Wertheim	77	½	Paul Eyles	99	½
Keven A Lamb	92	0	Manoj Chandar	94	1
Charles Charalambous	101	½	Alan R Fraser	107	½
Mansa Chandar	68	1	Lucas Summers	58	0
Jerry Ingamells	120	½	Bye

Round 6

Board one between Tim Cutter and Shreyas Royal was a draw, but the other player on four points Rob Davies lost to Richard Slade who joined Tim and Shreyas on four and a half points. Martyn Maber was the other player half a point behind the leaders who also won which meant there was a four way tie for first.

Tim Cutter won the Parsons Trophy as the highest Hampshire player.

Player	Grade	Result	Player	Grade	Result
Tim G Cutter	119	½	Shreyas Royal	104	½
Richard Slade	101	1	Rob Davies	89	0
Peter J Hughes	108	1	Thomas Evans	121	0
Martyn J Maber	104	1	Timothy S Allen	118	0
Ryan Cheung	34	½	David J Archer	110	½
Kevin Sawers	121	1	David M Cole	106	0
Dave Williams	108	1	Jerry Ingamells	120	0
Brian V Cochran	90	0	Stephen P Kitley	105	1
Lucas Summers	58	½	David T Murchie	89	½
Michael R Pope	111	1	Kenneth Wertheim	77	0
Paul Eyles	99	1	Charles Charalambous	101	0
Alan R Fraser	107	0	David Jerome	71	1
Don Creasey	90	0	Maha Chandar	91	1
Manoj Chandar	94	1	Mansa Chandar	68	0
Keven A Lamb	92	1	Controller Bye

Minor Final Position Summary

The Minor was a successful tournament, with the highest number of entries, no withdrawals and high percentage of won games. With one of the shared winners being 7 years old this would have given great publicity to Hampshire Chess and although he was known as a real talent this would have done no harm to proving this point.

But there were also two Hampshire players who also shared first place, as well as the under 100 grading prize showing that Hampshire players were not overshadowed by the visitors.

The prize winners were:

1^st equal (4½ pts) Tim Cutter (Hampshire) (winning the Parsons trophy), Martyn Maber (Taunton), Richard Slade (Chandlers Ford) and Shreyas Royal (Hampstead).
Under-100 Grading Prize (4 pts) Rob Davies (Fareham) and Ryan Cheung (Southampton University)

As mentioned at the start of the article, I have compared the grades of the prize winners from 2016 to 2023 to see what improvements (if any) have been seen. I have converted the grades to ratings for ease of comparison.

Player	2016 Rating	2023 Rating	Change
Tim Cutter	1593	1535	-58
Shreyas Royal	1480	2530	+1050
Martyn Maber	1480	1542	+62
Richard Slade	1458	1758	+300
Rob Davies	1368	1363	-5
Ryan Cheung	955	1786	+831

Grade Comparison

Apart from the standout improvement from Shreyas Royal, two other players have seen a large growth in their rating, with 831 and 300 points improvements. They would certainly not be playing in a Minor tournament now. But as can be seen from the other players with a much smaller increase, and in two cases a decrease, it proves that players that continue to play in minors can (and do) have success.

For this reason, if you are eligible to play in a minor, but think it will always be an improving junior or a new player who will win, this is not the case. If you are on form and get the breaks you can easily get into the prizes. This is just the same for the Major and the Open, as we have seen long standing lower rated players win these tournaments in the past!

You also have the chance that if you draw or beat a player who turns into an IM or GM you have this on your record. This is certainly the case for Ryan Chung, Rob Davies and Tim Cutter who all drew with the now rated 2530 IM Shreyas Royal.

As the basis of the ECF rating site crosstable, which does not take into account byes the rankings on the crosstable 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	Shreyas Royal	104	11=	2=	27+	21+	8+	3=	4½
2	Rob Davies	89	4=	1=	17+	24+	14+	7–	4
3	Tim G Cutter	119	26+	20=	5+	bye =	7+	1=	4½
4	Peter J Hughes	108	2=	28+	7–	23=	24+	13+	4
5	Martyn J Maber	104	bye =	11+	3–	25+	17+	9+	4½
6	David J Archer	110	bye =	25+	20+	7–	15+	11=	4
7	Richard Slade	101	bye +	9=	4+	6+	3–	2+	4½
8	Kevin Sawers	121	27=	12+	10+	bye =	1–	14+	4
9	Timothy S Allen	118	16+	7=	14=	bye =	10+	5–	3½
10	Dave Williams	108	bye =	15+	8–	22+	9–	21+	3½
11	Ryan Cheung	34	1=	5–	bye +	20+	13+	6=	4
12	Stephen P Kitley	105	29+	8–	24–	bye =	25+	15+	3½
13	Thomas Evans	121	18+	14–	23=	26+	11–	4–	2½
14	David M Cole	106	24+	13+	9=	bye =	2–	8–	3
15	Brian V Cochran	90	21=	10–	18+	27+	6–	12–	2½
16	David T Murchie	89	9–	19+	21–	17–	26+	29=	2½
17	Michael R Pope	111	bye =	27=	2–	16+	5–	22+	3
18	Paul Eyles	99	13–	bye =	15–	28+	22=	23+	3
19	Manoj Chandar	94	bye =	16–	22–	29=	27+	28+	3
20	Alan R Fraser	107	22+	3=	6–	11–	23=	24–	2
21	Jerry Ingamells	120	15=	23=	16+	1–	bye =	10–	2½
22	Kenneth Wertheim	77	20–	26=	19+	10–	18=	17–	2
23	Charles Andreas Charalambous	101	bye =	21=	13=	4=	20=	18–	2.5
24	David Jerome	71	14–	bye +	12+	2–	4–	20+	3
25	Maha Chandar	91	bye =	6–	29+	5–	12–	26+	2½
26	Don Creasey	90	3–	22=	28+	13–	16–	25–	1½
27	Keven A Lamb	92	8=	17=	1–	15–	19–	bye +	2
28	Mansa Chandar	68	bye =	4–	26–	18–	29+	19–	1½
29	Lucas Summers	58	12–	bye =	25–	19=	28–	16=	1½