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 21 in the Open and 22 in the U125. This article is on the Open and a future one will cover the U125.
The picture above shows winner Steve Kawuma being presented with the Silver Rook by the Mayor of Eastleigh RM Smith. Malcolm Clarke was very good at arranging for the Mayor or Deputy Mayor to present the trophies.
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. Non Hampshire players were welcome to enter, but were not eligible for the Hampshire trophies.
In total 21 players entered the Open section and it included previous champions Tony Corkett, Dominic Tunks, Michael Yeo and reigning champion Tom Anderson.
The time control was 40 moves in 100 minutes followed by a 20-minute quickplay finish.
Round 1
The majority of the games went as expected with the higher graded player coming out on top. The exceptions to this were Joe Coburn and David Deacon holding Gavin Lock and Steven Kawuma to draws. Les Allen was normally graded much higher than 129 and his draw with White against Tom Anderson was less of a surprise.
Steven Kawuma, along with his Brother Moses (who won the Silver Rook the following year) were from Uganda and played for Southampton chess club from around this time until 2011. They also played for Uganda in the Olympiad numerous times (2000 to 2010). Although he was ungraded in this tournament, he was soon graded around 200.
Looking at the games unless there were moves not recorded, Tom Anderson was fortunate that Les Allen agreed to a draw, as the final position looked very favourable for White, an exchange and a pawn to the good, although a fair amount of manoeuvring would be require. With the 20 minute quickplay finish this may also have been a factor.
The talented Dominic Tunks played an interesting game against Sherif Gonem.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Edney | 145 | 0 | Anthony R Corkett | 200 | 1 |
| Michael Yeo | 186 | 1 | Martin Wallman | 143 | 0 |
| Joe Coburn | 139 | ½ | Gavin Lock | 181 | ½ |
| David Cordner | 180 | 1 | Paul Hurn | 138 | 0 |
| Sherif Gonem | 135 | 0 | Dominic Tunks | 173 | 1 |
| Didier Dominguez | UG | 0 | Gillian Moore | 131 | 1 |
| Les Allen | 129 | ½ | Tom Anderson | 159 | ½ |
| Richard McMaster | 157 | 1 | Ian Matthew | 129 | 0 |
| David Deacon | 119 | ½ | Steven Kawuma | UG | ½ |
| Christopher Sidle | UG | 1 | Edward Davies | 113 | 0 |
| Peter Williams | 144 | ½ | bye |
Round 2
Top seed Tony Corkett was held to a draw by Richard McMaster which enabled Christopher Sidle and Michael Yeo to move into sole lead by beating Dominic Tunks and Gillian Moore respectively.
There were five other players with Tony Corkett a half point behind the two leaders. These included David Deacon, who was proving he was undegraded by beating current champion Tom Anderson.
Tom Anderson played an unwise sacrifice. Not sure if this was due to a miscalculation, or maybe David’s grade was a factor. David’s rating was much too low, as he was coming back to chess from a break, and soon stabilised between 150’s / 160.
Gavin Lock had a nice finish against Les Allen.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony R Corkett | 200 | ½ | Richard McMaster | 157 | ½ |
| Gillian Moore | 131 | 0 | Michael Yeo | 186 | 1 |
| Dominic Tunks | 173 | 0 | Christopher Sidle | UG | 1 |
| Peter Williams | 144 | ½ | David Cordner | 180 | ½ |
| Gavin Lock | 181 | 1 | Les Allen | 129 | 0 |
| Tom Anderson | 159 | 0 | David Deacon | 119 | 1 |
| Steven Kawuma | UG | 1 | Joe Coburn | 139 | 0 |
| Paul Hurn | 138 | ½ | Didier Dominguez | UG | ½ |
| Martin Wallman | 143 | ½ | Richard Edney | 145 | ½ |
| Ian Matthew | 129 | 0 | Sherif Gonem | 135 | 1 |
| Edward Davies | 113 | 1 | Bye | 0 |
Round 3
Michael Yeo beat Christopher Sidle with Black, when White allowed a pawn push which opened up his Kingside.
David Cordner threw a spanner into Tony Corkett’s chances by defeating him when Tony did not take a pawn which looked to be poisoned, but in fact was not. An excellent win by David, as including this I only have Tony losing twice in the Hampshire Individual (from approx. 50 games).
This win meant David Cordner was half a point behind Michael Yeo. Gavin Lock and Steven Kawuma joined them by beating David Deacon and Richard McMaster.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christopher Sidle | UG | 0 | Michael Yeo | 186 | 1 |
| David Cordner | 180 | 1 | Anthony R Corkett | 200 | 0 |
| David Deacon | 119 | 0 | Gavin Lock | 181 | 1 |
| Richard McMaster | 157 | 0 | Steven Kawuma | UG | 1 |
| Gillian Moore | 131 | 0 | Dominic Tunks | 173 | 1 |
| Edward Davies | 113 | 0 | Peter Williams | 144 | 1 |
| Didier Dominguez | UG | ½ | Tom Anderson | 159 | ½ |
| Joe Coburn | 139 | ½ | Martin Wallman | 143 | ½ |
| Richard Edney | 145 | 0 | Paul Hurn | 138 | 1 |
| Les Allen | 129 | 1 | Ian Matthew | 129 | 0 |
| Sherif Gonem | 135 | 1 |
Round 4
Nine players took the Saturday evening bye, but this still left 12 players who played. Worth looking at the HCA Secretary report on the game as this was key with regards to the Championship.
HCA Secretary Report
Former champion Mike Yeo made the early running, taking the sole lead after three rounds with 3 straight wins. But the turning point came in round four, when Mike played Steven. Steven has played international matches for Uganda in the recent past, and he unleashed a superb rook and queen sacrifice which obliterated all Mike’s chances of a win. The game was drawn.
John Wheeler – 5 Nov 2007
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Yeo | 186 | ½ | Steven Kamura | UG | ½ |
| Peter Williams | 144 | 1 | Christopher Sidle | UG | 0 |
| Dominic Tunks | 173 | ½ | Richard McMaster | 157 | ½ |
| Anthony R Corkett | 200 | 1 | Sherif Gomen | 135 | 0 |
| Martin Wallman | 143 | ½ | Didier Dominguez | UG | ½ |
| Ian Matthew | 129 | 0 | Edward Davies | 113 | 1 |
| Gavin Lock | 181 | ½ | Bye | ||
| David Cordner | 180 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Les Allen | 129 | ½ | Bye | ||
| David Deacon | 119 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Paul Hurn | 138 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Tom Anderson | 159 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Joe Coburn | 139 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Gillian Moore | 131 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Richard Edney | 145 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Sherif Gonem | 135 | Withdrew | |||
| Ian Matthew | 129 | Withdrew |
Round 5
Michael Yeo was still half a point ahead of Gavin Lock, Steven Kamuma, Peter Williams and David Cordner. Peter Williams was graded 144 and was 11 years old. Within 5 years he would be graded 231 and was one of the UK’s top prospects. But he stopped playing in 2012, briefly returned for 18 months from 2016 to 2018 but has not played since 2017. His profile picture on FIDE has him with the Silver Rook.
Peter was taking out of School in 2003 by his parents so that he could complete additional chess training. More details on his move away from chess was on the ECF Forum in 2012.
Gavin Lock and Michael Yeo had a hard fought game which ended with King vs King. There was one point where Gavin missed an opportunity to win a piece. We pick the game up just before this point.
Steven Kawuma moved into top place by beating Dave Cordner. The position was fairly level but David missed a tactical Knight sacrifice which could not be taken, as the Queen would be embarassed.
This left Michael Yeo and Stephen Kawuma in shared 1st place on four points, with Dominic Tunks (who beat Paul Hurn), Gavin Lock and Tony Corkett all half a point behind with one round to play.
Dominic was a bit lucky, as Paul Hurn missed a winning move just near the end.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gavin Lock | 181 | ½ | Michael Yeo | 186 | ½ |
| Steven Kawuma | UG | 1 | David Cordner | 180 | 0 |
| Anthony R Corkett | 200 | 1 | Peter Williams | 144 | 0 |
| Paul Hurn | 138 | 0 | Dominic Tunks | 173 | 1 |
| Christopher Sidle | UG | 0 | David Deacon | 119 | 1 |
| Martin Wallman | 143 | ½ | Les Allen | 129 | ½ |
| Edward Davies | 113 | 1 | Joe Coburn | 139 | 0 |
| Tom Anderson | 159 | 1 | Gillian Moore | 131 | 0 |
| Didier Dominguez | UG | ½ | Richard Edney | 145 | ½ |
| Richard McMaster | 157 | 0 | Withdrawn | 1 |
Round 6
As the two leaders had already met, both had downfloats to two of the players half a point behind. No easy task as these were Tony Corkett and Gavin Lock.
The Yeo – Corkett game was an Sicilian Accelerated Dragon and finished in a draw, although giving the tournament position and with the tie-break in his favour playing on was an option. More than likely the Kawuma – Lock game was still in play (it went to 52 moves) and Michael decided this was the best option, again due to the tie-break. Starting with three wins the Hampshire Championship would go to him if the tie-break was needed.
Looking at the Kawuma – Lock game in more detail, I think the draw from the above game makes complete sense. The chances of this game being drawn seems to be quite high, but in a tricky ending Gavin Lock went wrong, and with two wins on the third day Steven Kawuma was the tournament winner, and the Hampshire Individual Champion.
This was a disappointment for both Gavin Lock who had fought very hard in the game and Michael Yeo whose championship chances disappeared with the decisive result.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Yeo | 186 | ½ | Anthony R Corkett | 200 | ½ |
| Steven Kawuma | UG | 1 | Gavin Lock | 181 | 0 |
| Dominic Tunks | 173 | 1 | David Cordner | 181 | 0 |
| David Deacon | 119 | ½ | Edward Davies | 113 | ½ |
| Peter Williams | 144 | ½ | Tom Anderson | 159 | ½ |
| Les Allen | 129 | 1 | Christopher Sidle | UG | 0 |
| Paul Hurn | 138 | 1 | Martin Wallman | 143 | 0 |
| Joe Coburn | 139 | 1 | Didier Dominguez | UG | 0 |
| Richard Edney | 145 | ½ | Gillian Moore | 131 | ½ |
Games
All the games from the Open games can be downloaded here.
Open Final Position Summary
Steven Kawuma with his four wins and two draws was the tournament winner, with Michael Yeo and Dominic Tunks half a point behind. Steven would share the tournament win again in 2009, but the Individual Championship was won by Michael Yeo. But the trophy would remain in the family in 2008 as his equally talented brother Moses would win. I have not written these articles yet.
The prize winners of the Open Tournament were:
- 1st Steven Kawuma – 5 points
- 2nd equal Michael Yeo and Dominic Tunks – 4½ points
- The under 160 prize and Len Walters Trophy was won by Peter Williams – 3½ points.
- The under 140 prize was shared by David Deacon, Les Allen and Ed Davies – 3½ points. David Deacon won the Peter Marshall Cup on tie-break.
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 | Steven Male Kawuma | 7= | 17+ | 14+ | 2= | 9+ | 5+ | 5 | |
| 2 | Michael J Yeo | 186 | 15+ | 18+ | 13+ | 1= | 5= | 4= | 4.5 |
| 3 | Dominic R Tunks | 173 | 20+ | 13– | 18+ | 14= | 11+ | 9+ | 4.5 |
| 4 | Anthony R Corkett | 200 | 19+ | 14= | 9– | 20+ | 6+ | 2= | 4 |
| 5 | Gavin R Lock | 181 | 17= | 8+ | 7+ | bye = | 2= | 1– | 3.5 |
| 6 | Peter A jnr Williams | 144 | bye = | 9= | 12+ | 13+ | 4– | 10= | 3.5 |
| 7 | David J Deacon | 119 | 1= | 10+ | 5– | bye = | 13+ | 12= | 3.5 |
| 8 | Leslie C Allen | 129 | 10= | 5– | 21+ | bye = | 15= | 13+ | 3.5 |
| 9 | David A Cordner | 180 | 11+ | 6= | 4+ | bye = | 1– | 3– | 3 |
| 10 | Thomas R Anderson | 159 | 8= | 7– | 16= | bye = | 18+ | 6= | 3 |
| 11 | Paul AT Hurn | 138 | 9– | 16= | 19+ | bye = | 3– | 15+ | 3 |
| 12 | Edward G Davies | 113 | 13– | bye + | 6– | 21+ | 17+ | 7= | 3.5 |
| 13 | Christopher Sidle | 12+ | 3+ | 2– | 6– | 7– | 8– | 2 | |
| 14 | Richard G McMaster | 157 | 21+ | 4= | 1– | 3= | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 15 | Martin J Wallman | 143 | 2– | 19= | 17= | 16= | 8= | 11– | 2 |
| 16 | Didier Dominguez | 18– | 11= | 10= | 15= | 19= | 17– | 2 | |
| 17 | Joseph A Coburn | 139 | 5= | 1– | 15= | bye = | 12– | 16+ | 2.5 |
| 18 | Gillian A Moore | 131 | 16+ | 2– | 3– | bye = | 10– | 19= | 2 |
| 19 | Richard H Edney | 145 | 4– | 15= | 11– | bye = | 16= | 18= | 2 |
| 20 | Sherif Gonem | 135 | 3– | 21+ | bye = | 4– | 0 | 0 | 1.5 |
| 21 | Ian G Matthew | 129 | 14– | 20– | 8– | 12– | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Gallery
Kev Lamb was able to take numerous photos of the Congress and some from the Open and playing hall are included below. The full list are on the 2007 Hampshire Congress 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
- Arthur Brameld for games
- Keven Lamb for photos
- Eastleigh Borough Council