NCA Blitz Championship 2007

David Levens

Thanks to the tremendous amount of hard work and preparation put in by Ian Kingston, the annual Blitz Championship was a big success despite the disappointingly low turnout.

For a mere £3.00 entry fee the contestants had an enjoyable night of chess, which included free coffee, tea, and biscuits, whilst a third of the entrants went away with a prize each!

Mike Barnes was most impressive in winning this event for the fourth year in a row. His score of 6/6 included wins against Alex Posazhennikov, Pete Mercs and Richard Webster. He never seemed to be in any trouble and his endgame finish against Richard Webster was sublime (see below).

The other winners were as follows:

All of these players shared the remaining prize money and each went home £10.00 richer. The team event was won by Gambit, which benefited by gaining a new clock.

Ian Kingston adds:

I’m very grateful to all who helped out on the night – not just the West Nottingham crew, but also some of the competitors, especially Derek Padvis and Tony Wright.

At the risk of embarrassing the NCA President, I’d also like to highlight the surprise performance of his pupil Tracey Clegg in the first three rounds. Despite being the lowest-graded competitor but one, she despatched Bob Taylor, Tony Wright and David Levens to share first place at the halfway stage with Mike Barnes and Alex Posazhennikov – you’d have got pretty long odds against that beforehand.

Finally, here’s the endgame David referred to above. Take the time to look at it – it’s a brilliant tactic to see at any time, let alone in a blitz game.

Results


Name Club Grade Round Score
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 Michael Barnes Gambit 204 +10b +15w +5b +6w +2b +4w 6
2 Alex Posazhennikov University 185 +14w +12b +4w +9b –1w +5w 5
3 Len Darby Nomads 107 –6b +13w +12w =8b +10w +9b 4½
4 Pete Mercs Gambit 176 +21b +11w –2b +15w +7b –1b 4
5 Richard Webster Ashfield 159 +17b +16w –1w +10b +9w –2b 4
6 David Levens West Nottingham 167 +3w +8b –9w –1b +12w +13b 4
7 Phil Morgan Ashfield 134 –11b +21w +16b +17w –4w +8b 4
8 Derek Padvis Gambit 100 +18b –6b +17b =3w +15b –7w 3½
9 Tracey Clegg West Nottingham 60 +13b +18w +6b –2w –5b –3b 3
10 Jonathan Day West Nottingham 119 –1w +19b +11b –5w –3b +17w 3
11 Nikolai Berdunov West Nottingham 100e +7w –4b –10w +14b –13w +18b 3
12 Janos Wagenbach Mansfield 132 +22b –2w –3b +18w –6b +15w 3
13 Robert Taylor Ashfield 127 –9w –3b +19w +16w +11b –6w 3
14 Daniel Lin West Nottingham 118 –2b +22w –15b –11w +20b +16w 3
15 John Collins West Nottingham 132 +19w –1b +14w –4b –8w –12b 2
16 Ross Mackay West Nottingham 43 +20w –5b –7w –13b +21w –14b 2
17 Gary Hopkinson Gambit 101 –5w +20b –8w –7b +19w –10b 2
18 Tony Wright Gambit 154 –8w –9b +20w –12b +22w –11w 2
19 Michael Zhang West Nottingham 82 –15b –10w –13b +21w –17b +22b 2
20 Marcel Taylor Radcliffe & Bingham 120 –16b –17w –18b =22b –14w +21b 1½
21 Robert Willoughby West Nottingham 113 –4w –7b +22w –19b –16b –20w 1
22 John Crawley West Nottingham 68 –12w –14b –21b =20w –18b –19w ½

Ties were broken by sum of progressive scores.
The grades given are the higher of each player’s standard or rapidplay grades.