The 2007 Hampshire Chess Championship was held at Eastleigh College between 2nd to 4th November 2007. There were two section, an Open and the U125 and in total there were 23 players in the Open and 23 in the U125. This article is on the U125.
The picture above shows winner Simon Roberts. I don’t know Simon, but this looks like he is being presented with the Parsons Cup by the Mayor of Eastleigh RM Smith, so my assumption is that this is him?
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 Individual Chess Championship has used numerous formats in the last 90 odd years, from the Knockout format in 1930, qualifying sections e.g. 1932 to the current Swiss tournament held over three days. The format used for the 2007 Championship was a six round Swiss with an Open and U125 section. Non Hampshire players were welcome to enter, but were not eligible for the Hampshire trophies.
In total 23 players entered the U125 section with a number of Hampshire regular and non Hampshire players participating. Only the games from the Open were recorded, therefore I do not have any to add to the article. I am happy to add any if they are supplied.
The time control was 40 moves in 100 minutes followed by a 20-minute quickplay finish.
Round 1
The top seeds dominated in the first round, this is often the case in the Open, but not always the Minor where you can find quickly improving players. Yaney Germen who has a Turkish flag on ECF was playing for Southampton chess club until 2009 beat a graded player, but Yaney’s last published grade from 2009 was 141 indicated that this was not unexpected.
You will see that most rounds in the Minor in the congress were particularly bloodthirsty. All played games in the 1st round were decisive!
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark R Stone | 82 | 0 | Andrew P Farthing | 116 | 1 |
| John M Wiseman | 115 | 1 | John W Carr | 79 | 0 |
| James Wallman | 79 | 0 | Simon Roberts | 106 | 1 |
| Kevin Sawers | 103 | 1 | Keven A Lamb | 75 | 0 |
| Rob Davies | 80 | 0 | David Fields | 103 | 1 |
| Trevor A Dickerson | 99 | 0 | Yanay Germen | UG | 1 |
| David T Murchie | 86 | 1 | Robert E Treloar | 99 | 0 |
| Tony D Roberts | 65 | 1 | Stephen J Billett | 72 | 0 |
| Alexander M Gee | 64 | 1 | Kenneth Sullivan | 62 | 0 |
| John E Davis | UG | 0 | Richard Larg | UG | 1 |
| Ray K Hunt | 103 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Brian V Cochran | 90 | ½ | Bye | ||
| John Kooner | 79 | ½ | Bye |
Round 2
Four players moved onto maximum points, with Andrew Farthing, John Wiseman, Simon Roberts and Kevin Sawers all winning their second played game. Tony Roberts, who had a bye in this round and Ray Hunt, who had the same in the first round were half a point behind these four players.
Again there were no draws from the played games.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew P Farthing | 116 | 1 | David T Murchie | 86 | 0 |
| David Fields | 103 | 0 | John M Wiseman | 115 | 1 |
| Simon Roberts | 106 | 1 | Alexander M Gee | 64 | 0 |
| Richard Larg | UG | 0 | Kevin Sawers | 103 | 1 |
| Yanay Germen | UG | 0 | Ray K Hunt | 103 | 1 |
| Brian V Cochran | 90 | 1 | John Kooner | 79 | 0 |
| John W Carr | 79 | 1 | Mark R Stone | 82 | 0 |
| Kenneth Sullivan | 62 | 1 | James Wallman | 79 | 0 |
| Keven A Lamb | 75 | 1 | John E Davis | UG | 0 |
| Stephen J Billett | 72 | 1 | Rob Davies | 80 | 0 |
| Trevor A Dickerson | 99 | 1 | Controller Bye | ||
| Tony D Roberts | 65 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Robert E Treloar | 99 | Withdrew |
Round 3
The four leaders met, as did the two players who had one and half points. Southampton chess club’s Kevin Sawers beat Andrew Farthing. Andrew is not a local player, but in 2007/08 season he certainly was very active in chess tournaments. By my counting he played in 18 tournaments, but this was his last game in this Hampshire tournament, as he withdrew after this round.
It did not all go Southampton’s chess clubs way though as Simon Roberts who played for Portsmouth chess club beat Southampton’s John Wiseman. John would have come into the tournament as one of the favourites as John was normally graded in excess of 125 most seasons. Ray Hunt beat Tony Roberts in the board three pairing. I played Tony twice in the Southampton league in the 2012/13 season, when Tony was graded higher (113) than at this time. Both my games ended in a draw as he was not an easy player to beat. For this reason, this was a good result by Ray.
This was the first round with actual draws from games played, with three games ending with this result.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin Sawers | 103 | 1 | Andrew P Farthing | 116 | 0 |
| John M Wiseman | 115 | 0 | Simon Roberts | 106 | 1 |
| Ray K Hunt | 103 | 1 | Tony D Roberts | 65 | 0 |
| David T Murchie | 86 | 1 | Brian V Cochran | 90 | 0 |
| Stephen J Billett | 72 | 1 | David Fields | 103 | 0 |
| John Kooner | 79 | 0 | Yanay Germen | UG | 1 |
| Stephen J Billett | 72 | 1 | David Fields | 103 | 0 |
| Richard Larg | UG | ½ | John W Carr | 79 | ½ |
| Keven A Lamb | 75 | ½ | Kenneth Sullivan | 62 | ½ |
| Alexander M Gee | 64 | ½ | Trevor A Dickerson | 99 | ½ |
| Mark R Stone | 82 | 1 | James Wallman | 79 | 0 |
| John E Davis | UG | 1 | Controller Bye | ||
| Rob Davies | 80 | ½ | Bye |
Round 4
Simon Roberts and Kevin Sawers were the two players on maximum points and they played in the Saturday evening game. Simon Roberts came out on top, ending the day on four points.
Ray Hunt beat David Murchie, and was in sole 2nd place, half a point behind Simon. Yanay German, who won his game against Stephen Billet moved to three points, which was the same as Kevin Sawers. Six players were just behind on two and a half points.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simon Roberts | 106 | 1 | Kevin Sawers | 103 | 0 |
| David T Murchie | 86 | 0 | Ray K Hunt | 103 | 1 |
| Yanay Germen | UG | 1 | Stephen J Billett | 72 | 0 |
| Kenneth Sullivan | 62 | 0 | Richard Larg | UG | 1 |
| John W Carr | 79 | 1 | Alexander M Gee | 64 | 0 |
| Trevor A Dickerson | 99 | 1 | Tony D Roberts | 65 | 0 |
| Mark R Stone | 82 | 1 | John Kooner | 79 | 0 |
| Brian V Cochran | 90 | 0 | Keven A Lamb | 75 | 1 |
| Rob Davies | 80 | 1 | James Wallman | 79 | 0 |
| John M Wiseman | 115 | ½ | Bye | ||
| David Fields | 103 | ½ | Bye | ||
| John E Davis | UG | ½ | Bye | ||
| Andrew P Farthing | 116 | Withdrew |
Round 5
The board one pairing ended in a draw, which allowed Kevin Sawers, who beat Yanay German to join Ray Hunt half a point behind Simon Roberts in second place. John Carr and John Wiseman were a further half point back beating Keven Lamb and Stephen Billett respectively.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray K Hunt | 103 | ½ | Simon Roberts | 106 | ½ |
| Kevin Sawers | 103 | 1 | Yanay Germen | UG | 0 |
| Keven A Lamb | 75 | 0 | John W Carr | 79 | 1 |
| Stephen J Billett | 72 | 0 | John M Wiseman | 115 | 1 |
| Mark R Stone | 82 | 0 | David T Murchie | 86 | 1 |
| Tony D Roberts | 65 | 1 | Richard Larg | UG | 0 |
| Kenneth Sullivan | 62 | ½ | Trevor A Dickerson | 99 | ½ |
| Alexander M Gee | 64 | 1 | John E Davis | UG | 0 |
| David Fields | 103 | 1 | James Wallman | 79 | 0 |
| John Kooner | 79 | 0 | Rob Davies | 80 | 1 |
| Brian V Cochran | 90 | 1 | Controller Bye | 0 |
Round 6
Simon Roberts drew again, ending in sole first place with four wins and two draws. Ray Hunt and Kevin Sawers also drew their game, and were joined in second place by John Wiseman, who beat Mark Stone.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John W Carr | 79 | ½ | Simon Roberts | 106 | ½ |
| Ray K Hunt | 103 | ½ | Kevin Sawers | 103 | ½ |
| John M Wiseman | 115 | 1 | Mark R Stone | 82 | 0 |
| Kenneth Sullivan | 62 | 1 | Yanay Germen | UG | 0 |
| Trevor A Dickerson | 99 | 1 | David Fields | 103 | 0 |
| David T Murchie | 86 | ½ | Alexander M Gee | 64 | ½ |
| Tony D Roberts | 65 | 1 | Keven A Lamb | 75 | 0 |
| John E Davis | UG | 1 | Stephen J Billett | 72 | 0 |
| Rob Davies | 80 | 1 | Brian V Cochran | 90 | 0 |
| James Wallman | 79 | 1 | John Kooner | 79 | 0 |
| Richard Larg | UG | 1 | Controller Bye | 0 |
U125 Final Position Summary
Simon Roberts won the tournament, with the key game probably being his round four win against Kevin Sawers, who had a chance to catch Simon in the last round, but with his game being drawn finished just behind with two other players.
I have written this article based on the details available, which is limited. If you played or have additional comments please do let me know and I will update the article.
The prize winners of the U125 Tournament were:
- 1st Simon Roberts – 5 points
- 2nd equal John Wiseman, Kevin Sawers and Ray Hunt – 4½ points
- The under 100 prize was shared by Trevor Dickerson and John Carr – 4 points.
- The under 80 prize was won by Ken Sullivan – 4 points
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.
| Rank | Name | Grade | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simon Roberts | 106 | 17+ | 8+ | 5+ | 2+ | 3= | 4= | 5 |
| 2 | Kevin Sawers | 103 | 13+ | 19+ | 14+ | 1– | 7+ | 3= | 4.5 |
| 3 | Ray K Hunt | 103 | bye = | 7+ | 10+ | 12+ | 1= | 2= | 4.5 |
| 4 | John W Carr | 79 | 5– | 9+ | 19= | 8+ | 13+ | 1= | 4 |
| 5 | John M Wiseman | 115 | 4+ | 16+ | 1– | bye = | 15+ | 9+ | 4.5 |
| 6 | Kenneth Sullivan | 62 | 8– | 17+ | 13= | 19+ | 11= | 7+ | 4 |
| 7 | Yanay Germen | 11+ | 3– | 22+ | 15+ | 2– | 6– | 3 | |
| 8 | Alexander M Gee | 64 | 6+ | 1– | 11= | 4– | 21+ | 12= | 3 |
| 9 | Mark R Stone | 82 | 14– | 4– | 17+ | 22+ | 12+ | 5– | 3 |
| 10 | Tony D Roberts | 65 | 15+ | bye = | 3– | 11– | 19+ | 13+ | 3.5 |
| 11 | Trevor A Dickerson | 99 | 7– | bye + | 8= | 10+ | 6= | 16+ | 4 |
| 12 | David T Murchie | 86 | 23+ | 14– | 20+ | 3– | 9– | 8= | 2.5 |
| 13 | Keven A Lamb | 75 | 2– | 21+ | 6= | 20+ | 4– | 10– | 2.5 |
| 14 | Andrew P Farthing | 116 | 9+ | 12+ | 2– | bye = | 0 | 0 | 2.5 |
| 15 | Stephen J Billett | 72 | 10– | 18+ | 16+ | 7– | 5– | 21– | 2 |
| 16 | David Fields | 103 | 18+ | 5– | 15– | bye = | 17+ | 11– | 2.5 |
| 17 | James Wallman | 79 | 1– | 6– | 9– | 18+ | 16– | 22+ | 2 |
| 18 | Rob Davies | 80 | 16– | 15– | bye = | 17– | 22+ | 20+ | 2.5 |
| 19 | Richard Larg | 21+ | 2– | 4= | 6– | 10– | 0 | 1.5 | |
| 20 | Brian V Cochran | 90 | bye = | 22+ | 12– | 13– | bye + | 18– | 2.5 |
| 21 | John E Davis | 19– | 13– | bye + | bye = | 8– | 15+ | 2.5 | |
| 22 | John Kooner | 79 | bye = | 20– | 7– | 9– | 18– | 17– | 0.5 |
| 23 | Robert E Treloar | 99 | 12– | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Gallery
Kev Lamb was able to take numerous photos of the Congress which are included below. Additional photos can be found in the 2007 Hampshire Chess Gallery.
HCA Summary
Hampshire’s Chess Association Secretary’s John Wheeler’s report on the 2007 Congress is below. Many thanks to John for sending all his reports for the HCA Archives.
Acknowledgements and Sources
- Hampshire Chess Archives
- ECF rating system
- John Wheeler for HCA Report
- Keven Lamb for photos
- Eastleigh Borough Council