Gormally wins British

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(Newcastle Chronicle, 15 March 2024)

The North East’s top player, grandmaster Danny Gormally of Alnwick, won the British Open Rapidplay Championship ahead of a strong field of 216 players, including four GMs, at Peterborough over the weekend of March 2-3.

Gormally, 47, finished first equal on 9/11, and then won a blitz playoff against Ireland’s No. 1 woman player, Trisha Kanyamarala, to take the title and first prize of £600.

In the regional final of the National Schools Championship, RGS beat St Cuthberts High School Newcastle 4-2. The match was closer than the scoreline suggests, as if the final game on Board 2 had gone to St Cuthberts they would have won 3-3 on board count.

Scores in full:

RGS 4-2 St Cuthberts
1 Ben Robinson 0-1 Tom Weinstein
2 Prachi Arora 1-0 Daniel Tong
3 Naman Berry 1-0 Isaac Lancaster
4 Ethan Ross 1-0 Joseph Messer
5 James Phillips 1-0 Aazmeer Ansari
6 James Reid 0-1 Jan Ericho-Briones

In the Northumberland Individual Championships, Tim Wall (Newcastle) leads the Zollner (Open) Championship with 5/5, followed by Gosforth’s Gustavo Leon Cazares (3/4) and Tynemouth’s David Henderson (2.5/4).

In the Sell (Under 1950) tournament, Paul Bielby (South Shields) is leading with 4/5, followed by Mick Riding (3.5), and Raj Mohindra (Forest Hall), James W Ross (Gosforth) and Dalil Bencheba (Leam Lane) on 2.5.

And in the Gilroy (Under 1700) event, Mark McKay (Gosforth) leads with 5/6, ahead of Dave Peardon (South Shields), Andrew Robinson and Alex Blake (both Gosforth) and Kevin Cox (Gateshead) on 4.

In the 2023-24 Northumbria League, Division 1 has been won decisively by Newcastle A, with 10 match wins out of 10 for a maximum 20 points.
The Newcastle team members also feature high on the individual leaderboard, with Tim Wall and Andy Burnett (8/10), Zheming Zhang (7/9) and Nathan Ekanem (5.5/6).

The Division 2 title looks likely to go to Newcastle University A, who have 14 points from 8 matches. Although Gosforth Salters are just ahead on 15 points from 10 matches, the University are expected to overhaul them in their final two fixtures.

Division 3 has been won by Tynemouth B (17 points from 9 matches), ahead of Gosforth Centurions (15 points from 10 matches).

It’s still undecided in Division 4, where Gosforth Hawthorns have 16 points (11 matches), ahead of Leam Lane Bullets (10 matches) and Gosforth Woodbines (11 matches) both on 14 points.

Division 5 looks set to go to Newcastle University B (16 points from 10 matches), even though Forest Hall Owls (12 points from 9 matches) could still mathematically overhaul them.

In Division 6, Newcastle B (12 points from 7 matches) ae close to wrapping up the title, but Alnwick C (10 points from 9 matches) could still theoretically catch them.

PUZZLES

Puzzle A: White to play.

Puzzle B: White to play.

Puzzle C: White to play.

Puzzle D: White to play.

Answers:

A: 1 Qxh6+ Kxh6 2 Rh4 checkmate.
B: 1 Qxh6+ gxh6 2 Rxh6+ Rh7 3 Bxf6 checkmate.
C: 1 Qxh7+ Kxh7 2 Rh4+ Kg8 3 Rh8 checkmate.
D: 1 Qxf7+ Kxf7 2 Nh6+ Kf8 3 Rg8+ Ke7 Rg7+ Kf8 5 Rf7 checkmate.