This year’s Congress was the first since 2019 with the COVID blight having prevented it taking place since then. The event was well attended and everyone seemed pleased to be taking part in an over the board weekend chess again. The 63 entries exceeded the target number the Congress was costed at meaning the congress was financially self-sufficient.
The Open section went as gradings suggested being won by the top seed Alex Golding, the brother of James Golding who plays for Noah’s Yard and who also did well, scoring 3 points. Adam Musson came joint second with the very good score of 4 out of 5 and might well have done better if he hadn’t lost to Yogesh, a player from Singapore graded only 1375. Apparently, grades are a lot lower in Singapore!
| Name | Club | Grade | Fide No | Score | Prize |
| Alex Golding | Guildford | 2312 | 427241 | 4.5 | 1st |
| Adam Musson | Morriston | 2111 | 424455 | 4 | 2nd = |
| Sam Jukes | Cardiff | 2028 | 37413 | 4 | 2nd = |
| Yogesh Vivek Shelgaonkar | Cardiff University | 1375 | 5825806 | 3 | GP |
The Major tournament Was a very tight affair at the top with no one scoring more than 4 points. Sadly, from our local perspective the prizes were dominated by English based players. However, Neil Stuart played strongly throughout the tournament, ending on 3 points, just losing out in the last round to one of the joint winners.
| Name | Club | Grade | Score | Prize |
| William Phillips | Hatch End | 1734 | 4 | 1st = |
| Ganesh Balaji Kadalarasan | Uxbridge | 1593 | 4 | 1st = |
| David Williams | Downend + Fishponds | 1609 | 3.5 | 3rd = |
| Brendan O-Gorman | DHSS | 1734 | 3.5 | 3rd = |
The Minor results were the complete opposite of the major with all prizes being won by Welsh base players amongst whom the pride of place must go to Vismith Prabhu of White Knights who scored a dominant 4 points in a very tight field. Other local prize winners were Lysa Brooks of Swansea University who shared a very creditable 2cnd place and Andrew Hugh Powell of Castell Nedd who also did well to share the Grading Prize.
| Name | Club | Grade | Score | Prize |
| Vismith Prabhu | White Knights | 1170 | 4 | 1st |
| Ben Bickford | 0 | 3.5 | 2nd = | |
| Lysa Brooks | Swansea University | 0 | 3.5 | 2nd = |
| Alex Kennedy | North Cardiff | 1427 | 3.5 | 2nd = |
| Curtis Lawson Reid | Caerphilly | 1126 | 3 | GP |
| Andrew Huw Powell | Castell Nedd | 1023 | 3 | GP |
| Stephen Maguire | Barry | 952 | 3 | GP |
Thank you very much to all who took part and made this a successful and fun Congress.
Thanks to Brendan O’Gorman for providing the photos which can be viewed here.
The games are now on the Games page.
