23/08/26 - WARNDON WELL REPRESENTED AT WCA CONGRESS

3 min read

Warndon Chess Club was well represented at this year's Worcestershire Chess Association Closed Congress, with 15 Warndon players taking part in the two-day event at King's School Worcester.

It was a particularly impressive turnout for a club that is still in its first year, with players of all ages and playing strengths competing alongside some of the county's strongest players.

Our Club Secretary, Sarah Burgess, also played an important role behind the scenes, doing a great job assisting the organisers and arbiter throughout the weekend.

The congress attracted a huge entry and, because of the large field, the organisers used Baku accelerated pairings in a single section. This made for some unusual final standings, which don't necessarily give a straightforward picture of how players performed relative to their rating. The Worcestershire Chess Association has indicated that the event is likely to return to sections next year, potentially with an Open section and an Under-1650 or Under-1550 section.

One of the standout performances for Warndon came from Viktor Gorbunov, who pulled off a superb upset against an opponent rated 340 points higher than himself.

Another highlight was Warndon player Phil Austin's impressive 12th-place finish, having started the tournament as the 16th seed.

The Most Enterprising Game - The Paul Sharratt Trophy

There were many award presented by the Mayor of Worcester during the closing ceremony, one of which was for the Most Enterprising Game. This year's prize went to Kevin Hurney of Longbridge, for his game with the Black pieces against Ed Higgs of Worcester City.

The game was a worthy winner of the award. The full game is reproduced below for readers to enjoy.

1. e4 g6 2. d4 d6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Be3 c6 5. Qd2 b5 6. a4 b4 7. Nce2 Na6 8. Ng3 Rb8 9. Nf3 h5 10. h4 Nf6 11. Bd3 Ng4 12. Bf4 Nc7 13. e5 dxe5 14. dxe5 Ne6 15. O-O Qa5 16. Rfe1 Bd7 17. Bc4 Rd8 18. Ne4 Bc8 19. Qc1 Qb6 20. a5 Qc7 21. Bxe6 Bxe6 22. Nf6+ Bxf6 23. exf6 Qd7 24. fxe7 Kxe7 25. Ng5 Qd4 26. Bg3 Rd5 27. Re4 Qd2 28. Qf1 Re8 29. Nxe6 fxe6 30. Qa6 Qxc2 31. Rae1 Kf7 32. Qxa7+ Re7 33. Qb8 Qxe4

Final standings are reproduced below.