Report By DOP Keith Farrell
16 hardy warriors entered the fray of the local District Championship - One
emerging victorious, one who has been to the summit before, soon after arriving
back from a secret mission to his motherland - perhaps with some whispered
advice from a descendant of Staunton. Or perhaps John simply played more than
well enough, this being his third District Championship in a row (and fourth in
five years) - and matching him point for point was John Curtis (they drew their
individual encounter) who was defeated only by the dreaded lurgy which forced a
forfeit. Hard on both their heels was the President of Mingara chess club - and
previous prize winner (champ in '91 and '01 while posting a second in '02 he
also managed this year) Mal Murrell. All above mentioned have been NSW Country
Champions - only further evidence that this was a quality local tournament -
with many many hard-fought games where all showed their worth.
Along with the Wyong Shire Cup these local fixtures have been showcases not only
for the top talent but for the other
ranks who have delivered the odd gem. In weekend tournaments (of which
the local area is blessed with three per year - Toukley; Mingara and Gosford
Open) you get a greater preponderance of upset results - yet with the more ample
time limit they were even more pleasantly surprising as they were reflection of
good solid play.
Everyone had their chance to have a taste of victory - some who had been
producing good games but missing out on the points over the last couple of years
saw some repayment for their hard work. Young Ben Guest who trains hard (with
solid success) at track and field and 'cross-trains' with chess produced a
fighting draw with an opponent nearly 700 points higher - Ben had shown us in
the local Teams event he had matured greatly over the last year. Bill Hoseman
too scored a bonus in round one but was quiet till the last two - perhaps rued
that the tournament needed more rounds!
And Duncan who started the club in the mid '70's proved that he was still a
force to be reckoned with. Joe Frias has worked on his game after his recent
return to the sixty four squares (you may have read the report on the common man
tournament) and was rewarded with snaring the performance prize (Bill getting
the second performance prize). Bruce too came back to chess after an extended
break - had a very rough time of it in the previous
tournaments which equated to a more than 200 point rating drop, but ended up
with a 50 percent score and a handy scalp in the last round.
Place Name Loc Score
1 Nutter, John 2060 6.5
2-3 Curtis, John 2348 5.5
Murrell, Malcolm R 1642 5.5
4 Frias, Joe 1416 4.5
5-7 Bassett, Duncan 1412 4
Locke, Leonard 1600 4
Henderson, Bruce 1181 4
8-9 Rizzardini, Armando 1383 3.5
Brown, Phil 1367 3.5
10-11 Farrell, Keith R 1346 3
Hoseman, Bill 1018 3
12 Robinson, Allen 1625 2.5
13-14 Shearwood, Barry 1331 2
Matthews, Sam 1275 2
15 Guest, Ben 929 1.5
16 Wills, Kevin 954 1
No Name Loc Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. Curtis, John 2348 5.5 8:W 7:W 2:D 5:W 3:- 10:W 6:W 2. Nutter, John 2060 6.5 12:W 6:W 1:D 3:W 10:W 5:W 7:W 3. Murrell, Malcolm R 1642 5.5 9:W 14:W 4:W 2:L 1:+ 6:D 8:W 4. Robinson, Allen 1625 2.5 10:W 16:D 3:L 9:W 6:L 8:L 13:L 5. Locke, Leonard 1600 4 14:L 11:W 9:W 1:L 8:W 2:L 12:W 6. Frias, Joe 1416 4.5 11:W 2:L 14:W 7:W 4:W 3:D 1:L 7. Bassett, Duncan 1412 4 13:W 1:L 16:W 6:L 11:W 12:W 2:L 8. Rizzardini, Armando 1383 3.5 1:L 12:+ 10:D 13:W 5:L 4:W 3:L 9. Brown, Phil 1367 3.5 3:L 13:W 5:L 4:L 15:W 11:W 10:D 10. Farrell, Keith R 1346 3 4:L 15:W 8:D 16:W 2:L 1:L 9:D 11. Shearwood, Barry 1331 2 6:L 5:L 12:W 14:W 7:L 9:L 15:L 12. Matthews, Sam 1275 2 2:L 8:- 11:L 15:W 16:W 7:L 5:L 13. Henderson, Bruce 1181 4 7:L 9:L 15:W 8:L 14:W 16:+ 4:W 14. Hoseman, Bill 1018 3 5:W 3:L 6:L 11:L 13:L 15:W 16:W 15. Wills, Kevin 954 1 16:L 10:L 13:L 12:L 9:L 14:L 11:W 16. Guest, Ben 929 1.5 15:W 4:D 7:L 10:L 12:L 13:- 14:L