Tyneside tournaments bring seasonal cheer
WITH Omicron trying its best to play the spoiler role of the Grinch this Christmas, you might be forgiven for thinking that over-theboard chess tournaments, like other indoor gatherings, would be put on hold.
But two local chess events took place successfully this week, thankfully without anyone contracting the virus so far.
One was Gosforth Chess Club’s Christmas Pie & Peas Blitz, which took place on Monday evening at the Gosforth Empire Club & Institute on Salters Road. Thanks to organiser Mick Riding and arbiter Alex McFarlane, a total of
30 players took part in the tournament, and members had a bite to eat and the chance to raise a glass to the season afterwards.
The other event was the 2nd Forest Hall Invitational, which took place over five days at Forest Hall Social Club on Great Lime Road.
This comprised two internationally rated tournaments, including one for players to make International Master qualifications.
A total of three such results (called ‘norms’) allows players to become an International Master, the second-highest qualification in chess. Two players achieved norms at Forest Hall on Tuesday, when the nine-round competition wrapped up. Exeter University student Will Claridge-Hansen, 22, and Dublin’s Tarun Kanyamarala, 17, scored 6 points out of
9 each, which was enough to make the norm. The tournament was won overall by English International Master Matthew Wadsworth, who scored 7. The norms were ClaridgeHansen’s first and Kanyamarala’s third. Going into the final round, three players could score a norm if they each won with the Black pieces.
The unlucky norm hopeful was Forest Hall’s Yichen Han, 14, who could unfortunately only draw his game against Poland’s Maciej Czopor, eventually holding the tricky endgame of rook v. rook & bishop as it became clear his opponent could not checkmate in the regulation 50 moves. Final scores were: 1 Matthew Wadsworth (Guildford) 7; 2-3 Tarun Kanyamarala (Ireland), Will Claridge-Hansen (Exeter University) 6; 4 Yichen Han (Forest Hall)
5.5; 5 Maciej Czopor (Poland) 5; 6-7 David Eggleston (Newcastle), Jonah Willow (Nottingham) 4; Tom O’Gorman (Ireland) 3.5; Jonathan Blackburn (Wales) 3; Neil Bradbury (London) 1.
In the second tournament, a training event for players under 25, four Forest Hall players – Alex Johnston, Morgan Johnstone-French, Ethan Tatters and Arun Mohindra – took on six mostly higher-rated players. While the opposition was tougher than they have faced previously, all the Tyneside players fought well and enjoyed the experience.
Your Christmas puzzles are taken from this week’s Forest Hall International Master tournament. See if you can spot the winning master moves.