Suffolk Chess

The four-day Southend Easter Chess Congress took place over the long weekend.   The seven-round Open section is FIDE-rated, and usually attracts a number of strong players.

52 competitors entered the Open, including five Grandmasters and six other titled players.   Seven players from Suffolk entered.   The Suffolk scores were:

David Spence (Bury St Eds)    4½
Edmund Player (Bury St Eds)   4
Martin Fogg (Ipswich)      3½
Adam Taylor (Manningtree)   3½
Steve Gregory (Ipswich)    3
Ian Wallis (Ipswich)         2½
Keith Woodcock (Ipswich)   2

Ed Player had the toughest draw, after he won in the first two rounds.   His three losses were against IM Ameet Ghasi (2452), GM Peter Wells (2491) and in the final round GM Mark Hebden (2518) - see photo below.   He managed to gain five rating points from the event, taking him to 2242.

David Spence had an easier route to his 4½ points, and lost only one game, to FM Dave Ledger.   His rating will fall by 11 points to 2221.

Martin, Adam and Keith all managed small rating gains.

See the full crosstable here.