Suffolk Chess

Stephen Lewis reports:

The Stowmarket Club Championship is well under way with three rounds of a planned six completed.   If time allows the competition will be a five-round Swiss followed by a 6th round 'positional playoff' between consecutive finishers in the standings.

As our membership numbers have increased slightly over the past couple of years (in the main due to returning ex-players and a couple of new juniors) the tournament was introduced to flexibly provide additional competitive matches during the season, and to give our junior members experience in league conditions.

After three rounds it is two of our returning members at the top of the table.   Rob Hayhurst has a clear lead as the only player sporting a 100% record, trailed by half a point by his opponent in round 4, Dave Green.   Stephen Lewis is also half a point behind after sharing a draw with Dave Green in round 3.

At the other end of the table junior members Sohan Gowda and Bethany Young have both picked up some valuable experience, but are still searching for their first points.   They face off in round 4.

A cross-table of the standings is shown here:

Note:   in case of confusion - the tournament was started before the season gradings were published, so the grades shown and used were the best to hand at the time and will continue to be used for the duration of the competition.