The West Wales Chess Congress duly took place over the weekend of the 25th to 27th November.

In the Open section there were 17 entrants and it was won by Iolo Jones of Cardigan on 4 from 5. Bill Hewitt (White Knights), David Guy (White Knights) and Marek Simon (Swansea University) all finished on 3½. Full results are at http://www.chess-results.com/tnr250398.aspx?lan=1

The Major section had 12 entrants with four players finishing on 3½ from 5. Neil Stuart (Swansea University) and Mike Burrows (Morriston) were the top two after tie break. Full results at http://www.chess-results.com/tnr250395.aspx?lan=1

There were 11 competitors in the Minor section and it was won outright by Sipho Donovan (Swansea University) with an impressive 4½ and conceding his only draw to the top ranked player in the section. Full results at http://www.chess-results.com/tnr250392.aspx?lan=1

League Activity

The two matches in Division 1 both involved teams from the White Knights club. On Tuesday a relatively weak White Knights B, not helped by being one board short, were the Emperors’ opponents at Tonna. A repeat of their previous encounter when the Knights won 4½-½ was, therefore, unlikely and so it proved. Three draws and an over the board win on top of the default gave the victory to the Emperors by a comfortable looking 3½-1½.

The following night White Knights C played host to Morriston A and characteristically put up some stiff resistance. There were no draws on any of the boards and Morriston just edged it 3-2. The result boosts Morriston A into top spot but they will need to get a result against White Knights A this coming Monday (5th Dec) if they hope to stay there.

Three matches in Division 2 with more than just kudos at stake. At the University the visitors were the Bluebell team from Neath with both teams mooted as contenders for the title. Bluebell, however, could only marginally improve on their previous score and still came away the losers; this time 3½-1½. The University have now put clear water between themselves and the chasing pack although some of the rest have matches in hand and they could still be caught.

On the same night UK Merlins started to show some of their true potential against second place Giants. Helped somewhat by a default from the visitors Merlins notched up their first win of the season 3-2. They are far from safe, however, and their situation was not helped when, the following night, White Knights D defeated Morriston C 3-2 to give themselves some breathing room and demote Morriston into second from bottom.

Two matches in Division 3. Harriers turned up a player short for the match against Morriston D and defaulted on their top board. They nevertheless managed to make up a bit of ground and went away reasonably happy when the match was drawn. The result moves Morriston D one point ahead of the chasing field all of whom, however, have matches in hand.

The second match in this division was probably the surprise of the week. Going into their match against De la Beche B the Hawks from Upper Killay had lost 5 and drawn 1 from their 6 matches this season; in addition in their previous encounter with the De la Beche team they had been soundly beaten 4-1. It was something of a shock, therefore, to see them reverse the result and send De la Beche B away on the losing side of the same 4-1 score line.

All in all not a bad week for Upper Killay.

04/12/2016