Gosforth’s Moreby wins at Northumbria Masters
(Newcastle Chronicle, 30 August 2024)
The Northumbria Masters Congress in Darlington concluded this Bank Holiday Monday with a striking success for Gosforth’s James Moreby, who won the International Master tournament. His IM result, called a norm, means he needs just one more such success to qualify for the title.
Moreby, a former student at Newcastle Royal Grammar School, scored 7/9, winning his tournament a point and a half clear of International Masters Peter Large (England) and Gavin Wall (Ireland) on 5.5.
The congress, which took place at the Dolphin Leisure Centre over five days, attracted 148 players in five sections, including a Grandmaster tournament, which was won by Eldar Gasanov (Ukraine) on 6.5/9. Czech player Ondrej Svanda scored 5.5, making his third and final International Master norm, thus securing the title.
The Masters Open tournament was won jointly by Grandmasters Frode Urkedal (Norway) and Oleg Korneev (Spain) and International Master Jung Min Seo (Sweden), who all scored 6.5/9. In equal fourth place were three young English players: IM Matthew Wadsworth, Jacob Yoon and Avy Dasgupta, on 6.
The Challengers tournament, for players rated under 2000, was won by Lewis Turner (Leicester) on 8/9, followed by Gosforth duo David Armbruster on 7 and Jack Erskine-Pereira on 6.5.
The Major (Under 1700) tournament was won jointly by John Awesome (Newcastle) and Alfie McMonagle (Newcastle University) on 7.5/9.
A total of nine Grandmasters and 11 International Masters played in the congress, the strongest annual event in the North of England. It was supported by the English Chess Federation, the Chess Trust, The Friends of Chess, Durham County Chess Association, Northumberland Chess Association and Northumbria Junior Chess Association. Next year’s event is planned for 21-25 August, 2025 at the same venue.
With the resumption of league chess after the summer break, North East clubs are looking forward to the new season. Teams wishing to enter the Northumbria League, which runs six divisions for clubs in and around Northumberland and Tyneside, should contact Andy Trevelyan: andytrev@gmail.com.
The next tournament coming up is the Newcastle Chess Club Grand Prix Blitz on Tuesday 3rd September at The Old George Inn, just off the Bigg Market. There are seven rounds, and players from any club are welcome to take part. Entry is £5 on the door, and play starts at 7:15pm.
The region’s longest running congress is also coming up at the end of September. The 60th Northumberland Weekend Congress runs at the Parks Leisure Centre, Howdon Road, North Shields, North Tyneside, NE29 6TL from September 27-29. Tournaments Include the Open, Major, Minor and Foundation, and £2,200 in prizes are at stake. To enter, go to: https://northumberlandchess.wixsite.com/congress.
PUZZLES
Puzzle A: Acs-Belezky, 2011. White to play.
Puzzle B: Armas-Illescas, 1987. Black to play.
Puzzle C: Costa-Judit Polgar, 1987. Black to play.
Puzzle D: Judit Polgar-Mamedyarov, 2002.
ANSWERS:
A: 1 Qb4+ Ke6 2 Bc4+! Qxc4 3 Qd6 checkmate.
B: 1…Bxc3 2 Qxc3 Rxe4+ 3 Kd2 Qf4+ 4 Kd1 Bg4+ 5 Kc2 Rc4 0-1.
C: 1…Qf3+ 0-1. If 2 Kc1 Nb3 checkmate.
D: 1 Be7+! Nxe7 (or 1…Kd5 2 Qf3+) 2 Rxe5 Kxe5 3 Re1+ Kd6 4 Qxe6 checkmate.