Four tie for first at Northumberland Weekender
(Chronicle Chess 13 October 2023)
The Northumberland Congress is one of the country’s great traditional weekend chess events, and this year the event attracted a total of 117 competitors at the Parks Leisure Centre in North Shields.
The Open tournament finished in a four-way tie for first place between Tim Wall (Newcastle), Gustavo Leon Cazares (Gosforth), Roger Coathup (Morpeth) and Rafe Martyn (Cambridge) on 4/5.
The Major tournament was won jointly by Mark McKay and John Liddle (both Gosforth) and Raj Mohindra (Forest Hall) – again, all on 4/5.
The Minor tournament was won by Noel Boustred (Gosforth) and Ethan Tatters (Forest Hall) with 4/5, and the Foundation tournament was won by Alan Johnson (9/10), followed by Campbell Tang (7.5), with Alex Piercy (Gosforth) and Lev Drobiazko (Ukraine) on 7.
The event was ably organised by Mick Riding, with Alex McFarlane and Tom Krause as arbiters.
This week has seen the beginning of the 2023-24 Northumbria League season, with Divisions 2, 4 and 6 playing their first matches.
In Division 2, Morpeth A (relegated from Division 1 last season, but favourites to go back up this season) beat Forest Hall Foxes 4-0, while Gosforth Salters (another strong contender for promotion) beating Gosforth Regents 3.5-0.5.
In Division 4, Gateshead A have taken an early lead, winning 4-0 against Morpeth C. In second place are Gosforth Woodbines, who beat Gosforth Hawthorns 3-1, while in equal third place are Tynemouth C and Forest Hall Squirrels and Tynemouth C, who drew 2-2.
No matches have been reported as taking place yet in Division 6, with at least one fixture (Newcastle University C v Newcastle B) being postponed due to scheduling issues at the start of the university term.
In Division 1, due to start next week, the newly formed Newcastle A team are favourites, having won the championship for the last two seasons as Forest Hall A.
Newcastle meet at the Tyneside Irish Centre, 43 Gallowgate (opposite St. James’ Park) on Mondays from 6:30pm-9:15pm, and the new club has joined forces with Jesmond Junior Club (which meets at Jesmond Library, near West Jesmond metro, on Sundays from 2:30pm-4:30pm).
Newcastle is also starting a Saturday lunchtime drop-in club for all comers at Newcastle City Library, from 11am-1pm, starting on November 4.
Anyone wishing to play for Newcastle in league matches, or to play social and competitive chess at the Irish Centre, Jesmond Library or Newcastle City Library, should contact Tim Wall on: timpeterwall@gmail.com.
Other clubs with new venues include Jesmond, which now plays on Thursdays at the Punch Bowl, at 125 Jesmond Road, and Forest Hall, which has moved from Forest Hall Social Club around the corner to the other main social club in the area, Forest Hall Ex-Servicemen’s Institute on Crescent Way North, on Fridays.