Northumberland Congress turns 60

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(Newcastle Chronicle, 13 September 2024)

The Northumberland Weekend Congress celebrates its 60th edition later this month at the Parks Leisure Centre, North Shields. Over 130 players are expected to compete for a total of £2,200 in prizes.

The event, which runs from 27th-29th September, began in the 1960s, and is the North East’s longest running annual chess congress. At one time called the Tyne & Wear Congress, it has variously been held at Newcastle University’s Castle Leazes campus, Monkseaton High School, Whitley Bay and Cruddas Park Community Centre, before settling at its current location.

Over the years, the congress’s Open tournament has been won by many Grandmasters (GMs) and International Masters (IMs), and this year’s top seed is GM Daniel Gormally of Alnwick. Gormally’s participation is noteworthy as he has tended to avoid playing in local congresses in recent years, instead preferring national and international competitions.

Based on entries received so far, Gormally’s main rivals for the Open title are likely to be FIDE Masters Tim Wall and Andy Burnett (Newcastle), and David Walker (Leam Lane), plus visiting German player Joerg Raasch. The Open is a great opportunity for North East players to get an International rating.

In the Major tournament, leading contenders include Mick Riding and Mark McKay (Gosforth), Stuart Skelsey (Forest Hall) and Paul Bielby (South Shields).

The top players in the Minor tournament include Antonio Stipanovic (Gosforth), James Flint (Newcastle University), Kevin Cox (Gateshead), Ryan Duff and Noel Boustred (Forest Hall).

And in the Foundation tournament, aimed at newcomers to tournament play with either no rating or a national rating of less than 1450, the leading contenders include Riaan Pathare, Leonardo Trevisan and Ruby Johnstone (Forest Hall), Ross MacDonald and Gautham Satishkumar (Gosforth).

There is still time to enter the congress. Around 100 entries have been received so far, and the total usually rises to between 130 and 150 for all competitions.

This week sees the start of the Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, where England’s Open and Women’s teams are hopeful of competing for the medals. The England Open team consists of grandmasters Nikita Vitiugov, current British Champion Gawain Jones, former British Champions David Howell and Mickey Adams, and Luke McShane. The England Women’s team is led by IM Jovanka Houska, and includes Lan Yao, Harriet Hunt, Katarzyna Toma and nine-year-old prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan.

PUZZLES

This week’s puzzles are taken from the 2024 English Championship.

Puzzle A: Zhu-Gordon. White to play.

Puzzle B: Kumar-Hebden. Black to play.

Puzzle C: Ghasi-Banarjee. White to play.

Puzzle D: Savidge-Boswell. White to play.

ANSWERS:

A: 1 Rxh7+! Nxh7 2 Nf7 checkmate.
B: 1…Rxe4! 2 Bxe4 Bc5 0-1.
C: 1 Rxg6+! Kxg6 (1…fxg6 2 3 Bf8+ Kh7 4 Qf7 checkmate) 2 Nxe5+ Kh6 3 Bf8+ Kh7 4 Qf5 checkmate.
D: 1 Rh8+! (1 Bh7+ Kf8 2 Nxe6+ also wins) 1…Bxh8 2 Qh7+ Kf8 3 Nxe6+ 1-0.