The Hampshire Chess Championship was held at Eastleigh College for the last time in 2017. It had been held there since 2000 and had allowed the Congress to grow, as seen by the split into three sections and increase in numbers. From 2018 it moved to the Lysses House Hotel where it has continued to flourish.
The Hampshire Chess Secretary’s report on the championship stated:
We have a new county champion. 18-year-old Southampton University student Michael Fernandez is the new county champion and holder of the Silver Rook. Michael finished 1 point behind the joint winners of the Open Section, Mike Waddington and Peter Anderson, but he was the highest-placed qualified Hampshire player, beating Matt Chapman on tie-break.
John Wheeler
Phil Stimpson won the Under-175 grading prize.
The picture above shows joint first place winners Mike Waddington and Peter Anderson collecting their prizes from the Mayor of Eastleigh.
Luckily Keven Lamb was there to take photographs which always adds to these articles.
Alongside the Open there were Major and Minor tournaments and these will be covered in a separate post.
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
David Cordner held the top seed Michael Fernandez to a draw with Black. David actually held the advantage for the majority of the game and in the final position was a pawn ahead, although the White pawn was looking dangerous.
Jamie Chillton also held Peter W Anderson to a draw, whilst the other games were won by the higher graded player. A nice finish by David Fowler in his game against Mark Potter.
Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Michael H Fernandez | 216 | ½ | David A Cordner | 173 | ½ |
Philip M Stimpson | 168 | 0 | Mike P Waddington | 191 | 1 |
Matt Chapman | 183 | 1 | Timothy J Davis | 165 | 0 |
Mark A Potter | 163 | 0 | David W Fowler | 180 | 1 |
Keith DF Gregory | 180 | 1 | Paul Northcott | 161 | 0 |
James I Chilton | 145 | ½ | Peter W Anderson | 174 | ½ |
Robin Williams | 158 | ½ | Bye | ||
David J Deacon | 157 | 1 | Controller Bye |
Round 2
Mike Waddington was the only player to move onto maximum points, beating David Deacon who had the full point bye in the first round. Two of the other three players on one point drew (Fowler – Chapman) and the other player Keith Gregory lost against Peter Anderson when in an even position he blundered his Queen playing Re5 and after Rh1 the Queen was embarrassed!
Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mike P Waddington | 191 | 1 | David J Deacon | 157 | 0 |
David W Fowler | 180 | ½ | Matt Chapman | 183 | ½ |
Peter W Anderson | 174 | 1 | Keith DF Gregory | 180 | 0 |
Robin Williams | 158 | 0 | Michael H Fernandez | 216 | 1 |
David A Cordner | 173 | 1 | James I Chilton | 145 | 0 |
Paul Northcott | 161 | 0 | Philip M Stimpson | 168 | 1 |
Timothy J Davis | 165 | 1 | Mark A Potter | 163 | 0 |
Round 3
Mike Waddington continued with his excellent start beating the top seed in a complicated Dutch defence.
Peter Anderson and David Fowler also won with Black to remain half a point behind Mike Waddington, whilst Keith Gregory beat Timothy Davis in a long game to remain a half point behind these two players.
Peter Anderson had a pretty mating attack against Matt Chapman
Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Michael H Fernandez | 216 | 0 | Mike P Waddington | 191 | 1 |
David A Cordner | 173 | 0 | David W Fowler | 180 | 1 |
Matt Chapman | 183 | 0 | Peter W Anderson | 174 | 1 |
Keith DF Gregory | 180 | 1 | Timothy J Davis | 165 | 0 |
David J Deacon | 157 | ½ | Philip M Stimpson | 168 | ½ |
Mark A Potter | 163 | ½ | Paul Northcott | 161 | ½ |
James I Chilton | 145 | 0 | Robin Williams | 158 | 1 |
Round 4
If you have been reading the other tournament posts, you will know that round four is the Saturday evening round where players often take a bye. Eight players took this opportunity, leaving just the three matches to be played.
A successful evening for Mike Waddington as he beat David Fowler in a 22-move miniature when it looks as if missed a Bishop sacrifice. Meanwhile Michael Fernandez came out on top against David Deacon and Robin Williams held Matt Chapman to a draw.
At the end of day two Mike Waddington was in the lead on four points, which was one point ahead of Peter Anderson, with four players a further half point behind. The morning game between the first and second placed players would prove crucial, as if Mike could win, he would guarantee top place. With a draw he could still be caught but would still have a great tie-break.
Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mike P Waddington | 191 | 1 | David W Fowler | 180 | 0 |
David J Deacon | 157 | 0 | Michael H Fernandez | 216 | 1 |
Robin Williams | 158 | ½ | Matt Chapman | 183 | ½ |
Paul Northcott | 161 | ½ | Bye | ||
Mark A Potter | 163 | ½ | Bye | ||
James I Chilton | 145 | ½ | Bye | ||
Peter W Anderson | 174 | ½ | Bye | ||
Philip M Stimpson | 168 | ½ | Bye | ||
Keith DF Gregory | 180 | ½ | Bye | ||
David A Cordner | 173 | ½ | Bye | ||
Timothy J Davis | 165 | ½ | Bye |
Round 5
The crucial game between Peter Anderson and Mike Waddington was another Dutch. But the opening did not prove to be as successful for Mike as his one against Michael Fernandez in round three. In particular his white squared bishop’s development was not the best. It moved from c8 to e6, f7, g8! back to f7 finally taking the Knight on g6, but by this stage the game was lost.
A tactical shot on g6 brought home the point for Peter, ending up with a huge pawn on h7 when Mike threw in the towel.
With this win Peter joined Mike on four points from five games, whilst David Fowler was half a point behind after beating Keith Gregory.
Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Peter W Anderson | 174 | 1 | Mike P Waddington | 191 | 0 |
Philip M Stimpson | 168 | ½ | Michael H Fernandez | 216 | ½ |
Matt Chapman | 183 | 1 | David A Cordner | 173 | 0 |
David W Fowler | 180 | 1 | Keith DF Gregory | 180 | 0 |
Paul Northcott | 161 | 1 | David J Deacon | 157 | 0 |
Timothy J Davis | 165 | 0 | Robin Williams | 158 | 1 |
James I Chilton | 145 | 1 | Mark A Potter | 163 | 0 |
Round 6
Both players on four points from five games faced tough opposition in the final round, but both battled through to win their games. Mike beat Robin Williams in 41 moves, whilst Peter won a tricky ending in 62 moves. This meant they were joint first in the tournament, but as neither were eligible for the Hampshire Individual Title.
This was won by Michael Fernandez (on tie-break from Matt Chapman) who played c3 as his first move against Paull Northcutt! This was followed up by a pretty sacrifice later in the game.
You could say c3 is a bit disrespectful, but I have always been of the opinion that you can play any move you like in the opening and also Paul Northcutt has been known to play a3 and h4 for his first move (as well as f4, although that is less controversial).
Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mike P Waddington | 191 | 1 | Robin Williams | 158 | 0 |
David W Fowler | 180 | 0 | Peter W Anderson | 174 | 1 |
Michael H Fernandez | 216 | 1 | Paul Northcott | 161 | 0 |
David A Cordner | 173 | ½ | Philip M Stimpson | 168 | ½ |
Timothy J Davis | 165 | 1 | James I Chilton | 145 | 0 |
David J Deacon | 157 | ½ | Mark A Potter | 163 | ½ |
Matt Chapman | 183 | 1 | |||
Keith DF Gregory | 180 | 0 |
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.
Rank | Name | Grade | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mike P Waddington | 191 | 7+ | 13+ | 3+ | 4+ | 2– | 6+ | 5 |
2 | Peter W Anderson | 174 | 11= | 8+ | 5+ | bye = | 1+ | 4+ | 5 |
3 | Michael H Fernandez | 216 | 9= | 6+ | 1– | 13+ | 7= | 12+ | 4 |
4 | David W Fowler | 180 | 14+ | 5= | 9+ | 1– | 8+ | 2– | 3½ |
5 | Matt Chapman | 183 | 10+ | 4= | 2– | 6= | 9+ | bye + | 4 |
6 | Robin Williams | 158 | bye = | 3– | 11+ | 5= | 10+ | 1– | 3 |
7 | Philip M Stimpson | 168 | 1– | 12+ | 13= | bye + | 3= | 9= | 3½ |
8 | Keith DF Gregory | 180 | 12+ | 2– | 10+ | bye = | 4– | 0 | 2½ |
9 | David A Cordner | 173 | 3= | 11+ | 4– | bye = | 5– | 7= | 2½ |
10 | Timothy J Davis | 165 | 5– | 14+ | 8– | bye = | 6– | 11+ | 2½ |
11 | James I Chilton | 145 | 2= | 9– | 6– | bye = | 14+ | 10– | 2 |
12 | Paul Northcott | 161 | 8– | 7– | 14= | bye = | 13+ | 3– | 2 |
13 | David J Deacon | 157 | bye + | 1– | 7= | 3– | 12– | 14= | 2 |
14 | Mark A Potter | 163 | 4– | 10– | 12= | bye = | 11– | 13= | 1½ |
Games
The games from the Congress 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 Open and the obligatory picture of the trophies.
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