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Leamington Rapidplay
Sunday 15 September |
Leamington Town Hall
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Leamington Town Hall first opened in
1884 |
There are no
lamingtons on display, nor spa pools
visible, but if you are after a cream or
foam-filled chess tourney, the annual Leamington
Rapidplay in September is one of the best in the
region in which to brush up your chess under
pressure.
Their 26th Rapidplay (30'
games = 6 games on a Sunday) was held in the
magnificent Town Hall (1884) on the Parade. Very
nice town : Nathaniel Hawthorne, Napoleon III,
Lytton Strachey, Erwin Schrodinger (yes, the cat
guy) & Frank Whittle all sojourned here (as does
Russell Howard!). And in 1872 the first tennis
club in the world was formed in Royal Leamington
Spa.
Anyhow, back to the chess.
Ably run by Messrs Greenland, Belinfante, Elwin,
Holowczak & Holland, this tourney was paperless!
(apart from score sheets and chess paraphernalia
on sale).
Thanks to a portable
Warwickshire computer network using Swiss
Master, the organisers used the latest
technology so that participants could view the
VGA screens to find out their next opponents
before sitting down in the huge hall at the
traditional looking chess boards and tables.
There were 4 graded sections:
These were contested by
players of all ages from about 10 - 70. Players
local to Leamington Spa did very well. This is
not surprising, as it's not so easy to play well
after a long drive to and from the tournament.
Derek "Ruggertackle" Edwards
is usually on the scene, but this year I was the
only member of WCC to attend. Even Witney's top
guns would get a workout --- this year the Open
featured (the very friendly) GMs Ameet Ghasi,
who won the main trophy, & Mark Hebden (2nd), IM
James Cobb & FM Ian Thompson (3= with four
others!).
The Leamington Chess Leagues
seem generally stronger than the Oxon. ones,
with more varied competitions to choose from. In
addition to normal club leagues, they have
Individual KO leagues at Open, U150, U120 & U90
levels, as well as Team KOs (Open, U120, &
U700!). Perhaps Oxfordshire could consider
introducing individual KO's events too.
With 1st, 2nd & 3rd prizes
awarded in each division, plus grading & slow
starter (0/2) prizes, I strongly recommend this
annual one-day Rapidplay to Witney members.
A bonus for me this year were
some hard-earned petrodollars after winning my
final game ...
Richard Weston - Gary
White, [A40]
Leamington RP Rd6, 20.09.2012
1.d4 b6 2.Nf3 Bb7 3.Bg5 h6
4.Bh4 g5 5.Bg3 d6 6.e3 Bg7 7.Bb5+ Nd7 8.h3 Ngf6
9.Nbd2 a6 10.Ba4 b5 11.Bb3 Nb6 12.c4 bxc4
13.Nxc4 Nxc4 14.Bxc4 c5 15.Qb3 Qa5+ 16.Nd2 Bxg2
17.Bxf7+ Kf8 18.0–0–0 Bxh1 19.Rxh1 Qc7 20.Bg6
cxd4+ 21.Kb1 e5 22.Rc1 Qe7 23.exd4 Nd7 24.Ne4
Rb8 25.Qxb8+ Nxb8 26.Rc8+ Qd8 27.Rxd8+ Ke7
28.Rxh8 Bxh8 29.d5 Nd7 30.b4 Nb6 31.Nc3 Kd7
32.Bd3 e4 33.Nxe4 Nxd5 34.Bxd6 Nc3+ 35.Nxc3 Bxc3
36.Bf8 1–0
Richard Weston, Witney CC
20 Sept 2012
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