B.C.A. Autumn Tournament 2002

The B.C.A. held its Autumn International Tournament at the Elmbank Hotel, York, on 8-10 November 2002. Five rounds were played over the weekend.

In the Open section, Tyson Mordue (Bristol) and Chris Ross (Sheffield) shared top spot with 4 points out of 5, but Tyson took home the trophy on tie-break. Other placings: 3-6 C Chambers (Cheltenham), S Burnell (Leamington Spa), P Cumbers (Shefflield), P Doyle (Dublin) 3.5/5. Grading prizes: H Cohn (London) 3, S Loftus (Dublin) 3, R Waters (Taunton) 2.5.

17-year-old Yan Kit Chan from RNIB New College Worcester won the Minor section (actual or estimated B.C.F. grade 80 or lower) outright with 4.5/5. 2-3 J Osborne (London), G Philips (London) 4. Yan's with followed his 100% score in the B.C.A. Under 21 Championship held at New College in September. He was one of a group of five pupils from the College who had their first taste of competing against adults at York, encouraged by mathematics teacher David Spivey. Other scores by the New College group included A Irving 3, R Allen 3 and D Paskell 2.5

This tournament marked the 70th anniversary of the BCA. On the Saturday evening we had a special dinner with invited guests, including Hans and Steffi Cohn, who have organised and supported chess for the visually handicapped for many years. The dinner was rounded off with musical entertainment from Mike Meaney from Ireland.

The Autumn Tournament was supported by the Skipton Building Society, with additional support from: Normanby Charitable Trust R.M. Burton Charitable Trust Yorkshire Tyne Tees Television Sylvia and Colin Shepherd Charitable Trust York 41 Club

Richard Murphy, B.C.A. Publicity officer
December 2002