32nd Guernsey International Chess Festival, 15-21 October 2006
Last Edited:
Sunday October 22, 2006 9:13 PM
Sponsored by Fortis Guernsey and the Peninsula Hotel
Report by Kevin Thurlow Guernsey
Chess Club (full pairings, TV report, etc)
Round 7
0930 start, so no sightseeing today
.. but one correction, Rudiger
von Saldern was not the oldest player in the Open.
Round 7
1. T Bakre (4½) draw L Gofshtein (5½)
2. E Porper (5) 1-0 G Lock (4½)
3. T Hillarp-Persson(4½) 1-0 M Fraser (4½)
4. M Burrows (4) 1-0 D Collier (4½)
5. R Morris-Hill (4) 0-1 P Roberts (4)
6. A Reijneveld (4) draw S Wiecker (4)
7. B Westerkamp (4) draw T van Ingen (4)
8. J Pinheiro (3½) 1-0 M Wantoch (3½)
9. T Goris (3½) 0-1 J Havenaar (3½)
10. F Hamperl (3½) 0-1 J Cornelisse (3½)
1=2 Leonid Gofshtein (Israel) (takes trophy on tie-break) and Eduard
Porper (Israel) (6/7) £900 each, 3rd Tiger Hillarp-Persson (Sweden)
(5½) £300, 4-6 Tejas Bakre (India), Martin Burrows (England),
Paul Roberts (Scotland) (5) £120 each.
Ladies - Adry Goris-Schouwstra (3½) £75
Veterans (over 60) - Nigel Dennis, John Dodgson (both England), Desire
Fassaert, HB Tan (both Netherlands) (3½) £20 each
Juniors (under 18) - Stefan Wiecker (4½) (Denmark) £75
Channel Islands - Mark Ozanne (4) (Guernsey) £100
Grading prizes :-
Below Elo 2100 - Bert Westerkamp (4½) (Netherlands) £50
Below Elo 2050 - David Bower, George O'Toole (both England), Rolf Dijksterhuis
(Netherlands), John Donoghue, Stephen Short (both Ireland) (4) £10
each
Below Elo 1900 - Ton van Ingen (Netherlands) (4½) £50
"Holiday".
Round 7
1. J Gibson (4½) 0-1 P Carlucci (5)
2. M Collier (4½) 0-1 C Egan (4½)
3. M Heymuth (4) 0-1 R Paardekam (4)
4. C Brooker (4) draw E Onwezen (4)
5. H Haisma (4) 1-0 G Kershaw (4)
6. P Foster (4) 1-0 M Jongerius (4)
1st Paul Carlucci (England) (6/7) £400, 2nd Colm Egan (Ireland)
(5½) £200, 3- Rene Paardekam, (Netherlands) Henk Haisma (Netherlands),
Paul Foster (England) (5), £60 each
Ladies -Marika Dokter (3½) (Netherlands) £50
Veterans (over 60) - Christopher Brooker and John Gibson (4½) (both
France - yes really!) £25 each
Channel Islands - Russell Finch (4½) (Guernsey)
Grading prizes :-
Below Elo 1700 - Eric Onwezen (4½) (Netherlands)£50
Below Elo 1600 - Michael Collier (4½) (England) £50
Below Elo 1500 - Alan Collins (3½) (England) £50
The prizes were presented after a splendid dinner provided by the Peninsula
Hotel. Hard-working David Sedgwick, who had acted as arbiter, then announced
some special prizes.
Oldest Player in Congress - Heinz Herschmann (England)
Player Travelling Longest Distance to Congress - Tejas Bakre (India)
Player Travelling Shortest Distance to Congress - Terry Harnden (The Vale,
Guernsey)
Most Pointed Comment - "I like your wallchart" - Ray Kearsley
(England) (when it was still devoid of results during round 3
)
Player Who Always Seemed to be Last to Finish - Dave Twitchell (England)
Player Who Seemed to be in the Vicinity of the Bar Most Often - ("A
very close contest amongst several Irish players.) - Kevin O'Shea (Ireland)
(Amusingly, the winner was not in the room when this was announced, as
he was in the bar! He received this prize with great humour.)
Visiting Player Who Was Most Troublesome - No contender
Visiting Player Who Was the Greatest Help - Kevin Thurlow (England)
David said the criteria would be different next year, presumably to discourage
every entrant from lurking in the bar!
Next year's tournament starts on the third Sunday in October.
Round 6
Another sunny day, just right for a stroll along the seafront. Guernsey
is renowned for its wild birds, so I made my way to the RSPB 'hide' near
the landfill site. Seagulls are notorious scavengers, so I guess they
enjoy the food available at the landfill site. I paused for lunch at one
of the kiosks that are dotted round the island. Most of them are now closed
for winter and the proprietor said business was not exactly booming. Typically
though, she gave a friendly reception and was quite eager to talk for
a while. It seems many traditions of the island are disappearing, which
is the way of the world. There used to be a market every Thursday, where
people dressed in the traditional Guernsey costume, but the States of
Guernsey (the local parliament) did away with it. Although Guernsey is
tied to the UK, it is separate in many ways. It is like an associate member
of the European Union, but without the Value Added Tax.
As I mentioned the other day, driving can be exciting. There is a curious
contrast, in that you might find some idiot driving at speed on the wrong
side of the road on a blind bend, but people happily all stop, so someone
can negotiate a junction. Some junctions are considerably more than right
angles. It is noticeable that if someone approaches a pedestrian crossing,
everyone immediately screeched to a halt.
The local paper produced the wonderful headline today, "Will Pauper
be the prince." No, no question mark. This shows the danger of phoning
in reports. Anyway, Porper will doubtless be trying to win today.
Most players speak good English, but there is sometimes a language barrier.
One of the organisers was rather startled when a foreign player asked,
"Do you have the price of a woman?" After a few carefully-worded
questions, he established that the question might be better expressed
as, "Is there a women's prize?"
Round 6
1. L Gofshtein (5) draw E Porper (4½)
2. T Bakre (3½) 1-0 M Burrows (4)
3. J Cornelisse (3½) 0-1 T Hillarp-Persson(3½)
4. M Fraser (3½) 1-0 J Pinheiro (3½)
5. G Lock (3½) 1-0 I Heppell (3½)
6. P Roberts (3½) draw S Wiecker (3½)
7. T van Ingen (3½) draw A Reijneveld (3½)
8. D Collier (3½) 1-0 G O'Toole (3½)
9. J Vickery (3) 0-1 R Morris-Hill (3)
10. M Taylor (3) draw F Hamperl (3)
Board one was not desperately exciting. The other grandmasters kept up
the pressure on the leader. Mark Fraser had a good win over Jose Pinheiro.
Fred Hamperl maintained his position as leading Channel Islands player.
"Holiday".
Round 6
1. C Egan (4) draw J Gibson (4)
2. P Carlucci (4) 1-0 H Haisma (4)
3. M Collier (4) draw C Brooker (3½)
4. R Paardekam (3½) draw P Foster (3½)
5. E Onwezen (3½) draw R Finch (3)
Paul Carlucci was the only winner on the top boards and he took the sole
lead.
Round 7 Pairings
1. T Bakre (4½) x-x L Gofshtein (5½)
2. E Porper (5) x-x G Lock (4½)
3. T Hillarp-Persson(4½) x-x M Fraser (4½)
4. M Burrows (4) x-x D Collier (4½)
5. R Morris-Hill (4) x-x P Roberts (4) I Heppell (3½) [not sure
what's going on here - ed.]
6. A Reijneveld (4) x-x S Wiecker (4)
7. B Westerkamp (4) x-x T van Ingen (4)
8. J Pinheiro (3½) x-x M Wantoch (3½)
9. T Goris (3½) x-x J Havenaar
10. F Hamperl (3½) x-x J Cornelisse (3½)
"Holiday".
Round 7
1. J Gibson (4½) x-x P Carlucci (5)
2. M Collier (4½) x-x C Egan (4½)
3. M Heymuth (4) x-x R Paardekam (4)
4. C Brooker (4) x-x E Onwezen (4)
5. H Haisma (4) x-x G Kershaw (4)
Round 5
The sun was out again this morning after dramatic thunderstorms last
night. Gusty winds still made cliff walks unappealing, but it was pleasant
enough wandering along the beach. The Peninsula Hotel lies (not surprisingly)
on a small peninsula, and it is only a couple of minutes walk to the beach.
There is also one of the many surviving towers built during the Napoleonic
wars, which everyone calls Martello Towers, but apparently wrongly. Unwelcome
visitors upgraded some of the towers and gun emplacements in the early
40s. Some are decaying now, but others have been restored and are open
to visitors. The Occupation was a notable time in Channel Islands history,
and it is commemorated with several museums.
Moving right up to date, a new HMV store opened in town (town = St Peter
Port) today, which caused some excitement as it was opened by Matt Willis,
formerly of Busted, but who has now gone solo. (Note to editor
- Busted were a popular beat combo. Ed: You mean like the Glenn
Miller Band? Thank you for putting me right on that.)
The refreshment area in the hotel contains a television, which has been
tuned to the Champions Trophy cricket. This has attracted some grandmaster
attention. Indian GM Tejas Bakre has been a regular spectator and he was
explaining some of the finer points to Israeli GM Leonid Gofshtein. Meanwhile,
Swedish GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson was fascinated by the complexity of some
of the laws. I attempted to explain LBW to him
.. It was interesting
to discover that Jose Pinheiro won several thousand Euros on a Portuguese
game show.
The Real Ale festival continued in the "Cock and Bull" and
five federations were represented on the Irish night (England, Ireland,
Scotland, Guernsey and Netherlands), although it was strange that the
Irish representative did not appear to know the words of the songs.
Round 5
1. T Hillarp-Persson(3½) 0-1 L Gofshtein (4)
2. J Pinheiro (3½) 0-1 E Porper (3½)
3. M Fraser (3) draw T Bakre (3)
4. G Lock (3) draw D Collier (3)
5. M Burrows (3) 1-0 M Taylor (3)
6. I Heppell (3) draw J Cornelisse (3)
7. A Reijneveld (2½) 1-0 B Westerkamp (3)
8. S Wiecker ( 2½) 1-0 J Havenaar (2½)
9. S Short (2½) 0-1 P Roberts (2½)
10. F Hamperl (2½) draw J Vickery (2½)
Porper seemed to win fairly comfortably, but the top board clash was
anything but clear - Tiger had RRN + 5 v RRB + 5, and was coming under
pressure. Gofshtein produced a nice idea in the time-scramble and won.
Bakre again failed to convert with black.
"Holiday".
Round 5
1. H Haisma (3½) draw M Collier (3½)
2. J Gibson (3) 1-0 G Kershaw (3)
3. E Onwezen (3) draw R Paardekam (3)
4. P Carlucci (3) 1-0 M Heymuth (3)
5. M Stanners (3) 0-1 C Egan (3)
There were some hard-fought games here, and now five share the lead.
Round 4
Although it is a pleasure to negotiate the scenic roads of Guernsey,
there are a few hazards. One very sensible law is that Hire cars are emblazoned
with a large "H" to warn other road users that the driver might
be unaccustomed to the road conditions. The absence of an "H"
frequently means that the driver has not mastered the use of the indicators!
And either one road has been closed for the last few years, or the States
of Guernsey always repair it in mid-October.
There is little serious crime in Guernsey, as evidenced by this report
in the Guernsey Press -
"Witnesses sought over sheep attack"
A group of youths threw stones at a sheep on Sunday at about 1 am at Rue
des Cambrees, Torteval. Shortly after, numerous doors were knocked on.
Police are seeking information.
It is certainly impressive that the police are taking an interest in
this, as it seems unlikely that would happen on the mainland.
Round 4
1. E Porper (3) draw T Hillarp-Persson(3)
2. L Gofshtein (3) 1-0 M Burrows (3)
3. J Havenaar (2½) 0-1 J Pinheiro (2½)
4. M Taylor (2½) draw G Lock (2½)
5. T Bakre (2) 1-0 T Goris (2)
6. B Westerkamp (2) 1-0 M O'Leary (2)
7. J Cornelisse (2) 1-0 C Ippel (2)
8. D Fassaert (2) 0-1 M Fraser (2)
9. P Roberts (2) draw F Hamperl (2)
10. D Collier (2) 1-0 H Morcom (2)
Top board was pretty lively, but ended in a draw. Board two was not exactly
dull either, but Leonid Gofshtein won to take the sole lead. Black had
the advantage in the next two games, but Gavin Lock was unable to convert.
Tejas Bakre produced an artistic finish in his game.
"Holiday".
Round 4
1. C Egan (2½) draw H Haisma (3)
2. M Stanners (2½) draw P Foster (2½)
3. D Guttridge (2½) 0-1 M Collier (2½)
4. J Ruigrok (2) 0-1 P Carlucci (2)
5. M Jongerius (2) 0-1 J Gibson (2)
Several players took a half-point bye.
Round 3
There would not be a tournament without hard work by a number of people.
Peter Rowe and Fred Hamperl from Guernsey have been prominent in organising
the event, but they have received assistance from other members of Guernsey
Chess Federation. Many visitors to the island do not realise that GCF
has been a separate federation for many years, and has its own team in
the Olympiad. In fact Fred got a FM title in the most recent Olympiad.
The arbiter is David Sedgwick, who is running this event for the first
time, although he has played here several times. He is an experienced
arbiter and is doing his best to keep the players happy.
One highlight of my visits to the island is perusal of the Guernsey Press,
the local paper. They carry daily reports of the tournament, but yesterday
my attention was caught by the letters page. This included a diatribe
from the programme manager of hospitality and catering at the local college.
He alleged there were low hygiene standards in some eating establishments
on the island, and said his students were much better behaved. His name?
Steve Bacon.
The annual "Tennerfest" is running in Guernsey at present.
Most restaurants participate, but instead of their usual prices, they
charge just £10-15 for three courses of a rather reduced menu. But
it is good value and good quality. Despite excellent cuisine at the Peninsula,
it is tempting to wander occasionally.
Rain set in this morning, but it soon cleared. In any event it was a
morning for sitting in the car and looking at the scenery through a closed
window.
Round 3
1. T Hillarp-Persson(2) 1-0 P Roberts (2)
2. M O'Leary (2) 0-1 L Gofshtein (2)
3. E Porper (2) 1-0 D Collier (2)
4. J Pinheiro (2) draw M Taylor (2)
5. M Burrows (2) 1-0 F Hamperl (2)
6. I Heppell (1½) draw T Bakre (1½)
7. H Tan (1½) 0-1 G Lock (1½)
8. J Hickman (1½) 0-1 J Havenaar (1½)
9. G O'Toole (1½) draw J Cornelisse (1½)
10. S Short (1½) draw J Vickery (1½)
Boards 2 and 3 finished reasonably early, but Tiger had to work hard
before gaining the full point. Indian GM Tejas Bakre dropped another half
point. The Open features players from 11 federations, and Alan Gravett
from Gibraltar, who counts as English for these purposes.
"Holiday".
Round 3
1. M Heymuth (2) draw C Egan (2)
2. H Haisma (2) 1-0 E Onwezen (2)
3. G Kershaw (2) draw M Stanners (2)
4. M Collier (2) draw R Paardemans (1½)
5. C Brooker (1½) 0-1 D Guttridge (1½)
H Haisma is now sole leader of the Holiday tournament. There are players
from seven federations.
Round 2
Players are now settling in to the event. Sunday is a particularly good
evening to be at the Peninsula Hotel, (the food is always good), as the
starter is a very impressive seafood and cold meat buffet. The unwary
(and the greedy) get stuck into this, without regard to what is to follow.
After a modest selection from the buffet and the soup, I had a very good
and very large plate of roast beef etc. Then they ask what you want for
dessert! Already people are talking of skipping meals.
I visited Pleinmont this morning for an intended scenic walk along the
cliffs, However, there were heavy gusting winds and suddenly this did
not look like a good idea. The scenery is certainly impressive - a curious
mixture of wartime fortifications and rocky cliffs, with the sea crashing
in below, whilst birds of prey soar and hover in the strong winds. After
a while, I watched all this through the car window. Sheltered areas are
still quite warm, and so far the rain has kept away. Peaceful scenery
should be good preparation for chess, especially as I cannot find any
games for my opponent on the database.
I have just been informed that round 1 featured a game between the youngest
(George O'Toole) and oldest (Rudi von Saldern) players in the Open.
Round 2
1. C Wismayer 0-1 T Hillarp-Persson
2. L Gofshtein 1-0 P Taylor
3. B Westerkamp 0-1 E Porper
4. D Fassaert 0-1 J Pinheiro
5. M Ozanne 0-1 M Burrows
6. I Jamieson 0-1 M O'Leary
7. J Cornelisse draw J Hickman
8. F Hamperl 1-0 M Fraser
9. P Roberts 1-0 T Spanton
10. D Collier 1-0 T Goris
Ten players reached 2/2. The top seeds didn't have it all their own way,
and Gofshtein only converted a Q + P v Q ending very late in the day.
There was a television in the refreshment area, showing Champions Trophy
cricket. Understandably GM Bakre was watching this after he finished,
but Tiger was watching later. He said he did not totally understand what
was going on, but he found it fascinating. Channel TV duly showed a short
piece about the chess tournament after the early evening news, and I am
pleased to say my look of combined "polite thank you" and "utter
humiliation" on resignation looked quite impressive. Hollywood beckons.
"Holiday".
Round 2
1. E Onwezen 1-0 J Gibson
2. S Nalichowski 0-1 M Heymuth
3. D Guttridge draw R Paardemans
4. P Carlucci 0-1 M Stanners
5. D Ince draw C Brooker
7 players are on 2/2.
Round 1
After a year away, the festival returned to the Peninsula Hotel, and
there was an immediate increase in entries. There are always a lot of
people who have played here before, but there were new faces to join the
regulars, as well as one or two long-absent friends. The creator of the
event was John Bisson, and sadly he died the day after last year's tournament
finished, but his widow Peggy was on hand this year to welcome the players.
There were one or two changes to the tournament. Initially, one big "open"
tournament was run, but this fissioned into an "Open" and a
"Holiday" tournament for players graded under 145 BCF or under
1760 Elo. However, BCF changed the conversion factor for ratings a couple
of years ago, so this year the "Holiday" event was under 145
ECF, or 1975 Elo. People are still arguing whether this new conversion
formula is justified, and there is a move to revert to the old one, but
I will not bore the reader with the mathematics.
The local paper carried an item furnished by the landlord of the "Cock
and Bull", which coincidentally held a beer festival the same week
as the chess a few years ago. He quickly realised that a deliberate clash
was sensible, and he claims this year that some Dutch players contacted
him beforehand to ensure this was the case before entering the tournament.
Channel TV turned up to film parts of the first round and interviewed
Tiger Hillarp-Persson and your reporter beforehand. We also played a mock
game, and I pointed out to the cameraman I had to resign. "How do
you do that?" "Well, you put your king on its side and shake
hands." So he filmed that, and then insisted I do it again for a
better shot. Resigning twice before the tournament starts is not inspiring!
But at least I now know which line of the Sicilian not to play against
him
.
67 players entered the "Open", including 3 grandmasters and
an international master.
Round 1
1. T Hillarp-Persson 1-0 M Wantoch
2. R Morris-Hill 0-1 L Gofshtein
3. E Porper 1-0 K O'Driscoll
4. D Bower draw T Bakre
5. J Pinheiro 1-0 R Dijksterhuis
6. S Wiecker draw G Lock
7. M Burrows 1-0 C Ippel
8. P Rowe draw J Havenaar
9. M O'Leary 1-0 N Dennis
10. T Borland 0-1 J Cornelisse
Indian GM Bakre was held to a draw, but he had a nightmare journey to
the island, (travelling via Mombasa in Kenya!) so he was probably not
firing on all cylinders. Gavin Lock and Jan Havenaar were also held by
lower-rated opponents. Jan has missed only one Guernsey Festival, a record
equalled only by Rudiger von Saldern of Germany. 26 players won in round
one.
41 players entered the "Holiday".
Round 1
1. M Stanners 1-0 J Ruigrok
2. J Gibson 1-0 J O'Connor
3. M Dokter 0-1 S Nalichowski
4. R Paardermans 1-0 G Naldrett
5. G van Rooijen 0-1 P Carlucci
Mick Stanners produced a shock on board 1, but the other top boards went
as expected. Although Seb Nalichowski is originally from Poland, he is
now resident in Guernsey, so this counts as a local win. 19 players share
the lead.
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