Gormally fends off young guns

(Newcastle Chronicle, 4 October 2024)

Alnwick grandmaster Danny Gormally won the 60th Northumberland Weekend Congress, but only after seeing off a strong challenge from three seriously under-rated junior players.

Gormally, rated 2414, won the Open section with 4.5/5. In equal second place on 4/5 were nine-year-old Louis Cheng (Scotland, rated 2047), 13-year-old Fedir Dyshliuk (Ukraine, rated 1855) and 19-year-old Husain Nakara (India, rated 1591).

In Round 2 Gormally was somewhat fortunate to beat Cheng from a worse position, and he only overcame Nakara (a Newcastle University student) after an intense battle. In the final round, Gormally took a quick draw with Dyshliuk to secure sole first prize. Dyshliuk has lived in County Durham since 2022, when his family left Ukraine to escape the war with Russia.

Two of the North East’s strongest veteran players, FIDE Masters David Walker (Leam Lane) and Tim Wall (Newcastle) struggled to keep up with the pace, finishing in the group in joint fifth place on 3.5/5 alongside Theo Khoury (Oxford) and Tommaso Penna (Tynemouth).

A total of 140 players took part in the congress, held at The Parks Leisure Centre, North Shields over 27-28 September. The winners of each section were:

Open

1st: GM Danny Gormally 4.5/5 (£350 and Tyne & Wear Trophy)
Joint 2nd: Fedir Dyshliuk, Louis Cheng and Husain Nakara 4 (£100 each)
U2000: Sean Gordon (£25)
U1900: Mark B Waterfield 3 pts (£25)

Major

1st: Mark Taylor 4.5/5 (£350)
Joint 2nd: Utku Deniz Demir (Newcastle University) and Joel Tofield-Brown (Tynemouth) 4 (£150 each). Tofield-Brown wins the Ian Lambie Trophy.
U1800: Dave Patterson (South Shields) 3.5 (£25)
U1700: Martin Baxter 3.5 (£25)

Minor

Joint 1st: Daniel Williams and Stephen Williams 4.5/5 (£275 each). Daniel Williams wins the Nora Hunter Trophy.
Joint 3rd: Gary Hunter, Noel Boustred (Forest Hall) and Reese Wright (Gosforth) 4 (£33.33 each)
U1500: Gautham Sathishkumar 2.5 (£25)
U1400: Mark Edmundson 2 (£25)

Foundation

Joint 1st: John Thompson and Zac Aynsley 8/10 (£75 each)
3rd: Joey Pramana (Gosforth) 7.5 (£30)
Best Unrated: Sam Cornwell 7 (£25)

The Stanowski Team Trophy went to Newcastle University, who edged out South Shields on tie breaks.
Outstanding performance by a North East Junior was awarded to Daniel Stewart (Newcastle, 1391 ECF).

The next tournament on Tyneside is the North East Qualifier for the UK Open Blitz Championships, which takes place at Gosforth Empire Club on Sunday 6th October. For last minute entries and further info, contact organiser Mick Riding: mickriding@hotmail.co.uk.

Meanwhile, the 2024-25 season gets underway next week with the start of the Northumbria Chess League. A total of 44 teams participating from 13 clubs will take part in six divisions.

PUZZLES

Puzzle A: White-Gormally, 2024. Black to play.

Puzzle B: Wall-Gordon, 2024. White to play.

Puzzle C: Henderson-Wall, 2024. White to play.

Puzzle D: Gormally-Makkar, 2024. White to play.

ANSWERS:

A: 1…Qxd5 2 Rxd5 Bb7 0-1.
B: 1 Qh6! 1-0.
C: 1 f6+! Nxf6 2 Nxf6 Qxf3 3 Nxe8+ Rxe8 4 Rxf3 and White won.
D: 1 Rd6! 1-0. If 1…Bxd6 2 exd6 wins.