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Bill Armstrong
reports
In late January
at Dovedale, (Staffordshire and Derbyshire border) Stan Lovell
and I competed in the under 140 event (for players aged over 50)
and the Senior Championship respectively. Stan scored 3.5 from
5 and shared second place while i managed 3 points and a grading
prize in the championship,I
lost in round 1, to Macdonald-Ross, a former British Junior champion,
whom I first played in the Scottish championship 44 years ago.
But I had to face another former Junior champion (Richard Beach)
in round three and won a hair raising Sicilian where I sacrificed
a rook to prevent him castling and then found a mating combination.
Two draws with players graded over 180 achieved the grading prize
but I missed the winning line in the second draw and could so
easily have shared fourth place with 3.5. Well, it looks easy
when you don't have a clock ticking away. Anyway, I finished with
an event grade of 178 so I should not be too greedy.
For the record,
the winner was an International master, Andrew Whitely, graded
212.
The organiser
is keen to repeat the event at this venue next year and my intention
is to play again and I recommend anyone eligible to consider entering.
My feeling is that the excellent hotel accommodation will be booked
quickly so this is an early warning to B.C.A. members. The hotel
is very isolated so staying somewhere else without transport is
not really an option.
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