56th Torbay Chess Congress Report
8th - 10th November 2024 at the TLH Toorak Hotel, Torquay
We warmly thank Raji Kang for making her excellent photographs of the Congress available to view.
Entrants
Open 40; Major 24; Intermediate 57; Foundation 31.
This makes a total of 152: 3 more than last year, and the second largest total in more than a decade. There were 6 withdrawals prior to the start of the Congress.
Results
The full results can be viewed on the Swiss Manager Results website:
Prize Winners
Open
Scroll the table to the right to see full details.
| Prize | Winner(s) | Club(s) | Score | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Ilia Malinovskii | 4½ | £240 | |
| 2nd | Colin Davis | Bristol & Clifton | 4 | £140 |
| Joint 3rd | Jonathan Underwood | Seaton | 3½ | Each winning £30 |
| Caleb Caleshu | Plymouth | |||
| Yash Watarkar, | India | |||
| Keatan Patel | Coventry Chess Academy | |||
| Rating Prize 2001 - 2040 | Ian Thompson | Chandler's Ford | 3 | Each winning £15 |
| Stephen Dilleigh | Horfield & Redland | |||
| Rating Prize 1963 - 2000 | Alan Brusey | Newton Abbot | 3 | Each winning £15 |
| John Edge | Halesowen | |||
| Rating Prize 1941 - 1962 | Grigoris Sklavounos | Hammersmith | 3 | Each winning £15 |
| Andy Hill | Horfield & Redland | |||
| Rating Prize 1910 - 1940 | Graham Bolt | Exeter | 3 | £30 |
| Rating Prize 1776 - 1909 | David Collyer | 3 | Each winning £15 | |
| Matt Gillings | Cheltenham | |||
| Rating Prize u1776 | Joy Ching Li | Coventry Chess Academy | 3 | £30 |
| Slow Starter Prize (0/2) | Piotr Ruszelak | Newton Abbot | 2 | Each winning £15 |
| Leo Keely | Huddersfield |
Major
Scroll the table to the right to see full details.
| Prize | Winner(s) | Club(s) | Score | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Islambek Baisynov | Kyrgyzstan | 4½ | £240 |
| Joint 2nd | James Schofield | South Hams | 3½ | Each winning £113 |
| Spencer Lawrence | Bath | |||
| Rating Prize 1850-1899 | Andrew Waters | Rainham, Kent | 3 | Each winning £10 |
| Jake Martin | Plymouth | |||
| Alan Barton | Hastings & St. Leonards | |||
| Rating Prize 1791-1849 | Brian Gosling | DHSS | 3 | Each winning £10 |
| Giles Body | Exeter | |||
| Oliver Graham | Worksop | |||
| Rating Prize 1735-1790 | George Georgiou | Rainham, Kent | 2½ | £30 |
| Slow Starter Prize (0/2) | Not awarded | |||
Intermediate
Scroll the table to the right to see full details.
| Prize | Winner(s) | Club(s) | Score | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joint 1st | Ian Matthew | 4 | Each winning £93 | |
| Ronnie Burton | Weymouth | |||
| Mac Holland | ||||
| Paul O'Brien | Worthing | |||
| Ken Alexander | ||||
| Rating Prize 1701-1729 | Christopher Southall | Wellington | 2½ | Each winning £10 |
| Keith Flanagan | ||||
| Adrian Lawrence | ||||
| Rating Prize 1667-1700 | Martin Jones | Pembrokeshire | 3½ | Each winning £10 |
| Nicholas White | Wycombe and Hazlemere | |||
| Arthur Hibbitt | Banbury | |||
| Rating Prize 1655-1666 | Oleksii Novakov | Bristol Cabot | 3½ | Each winning £15 |
| Ellis Manning | Newton Abbot | |||
| Rating Prize 1640-1654 | John Morrish | Downend & Fishponds | 3 | £30 |
| Rating Prize 1600-1639 | Suhayl Abdalla | Newton Abbot | 3½ | £30 |
| Rating Prize 1540-1599 | Charles Doidge | Teignmouth | 2½ | Each winning £15 |
| Kevin Lambert | Abergavenny | |||
| Rating Prize 1500-1539 | Ian Blencowe | Wotton Hall | 3 | £30 |
| Rating Prize 1430-1499 | Malcolm Probert | Llanelli White Knights | 3 | £30 |
| Slow Starter Prize (0/2) | Robert Willoughby | West Nottingham | 2½ | £15** |
** Robert Willoughby shared the slow starter prize with Kevin Lambert, who, having already won a rating prize, does not receive two cash prizes.
Foundation
Scroll the table to the right to see full details.
| Prize | Winner(s) | Club(s) | Score | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cameron Main (Unrated) | 4½ | Winning £50* | ||
| Joint 1st | Animesh Saxena | 4 | Each winning £170 | |
| Ronit Randhawa | Newton Abbot | |||
| Joint 3rd | Alan Collins | Cowley | 3½ | Each winning £30 |
| Joe Forty | Torquay Grammar School | |||
| Ananya Nerella | Plymouth | |||
| Reyansh Saxena | ||||
| Steve Cawser | Brixham | |||
| Rating Prize 1420-1469 | Rene Butler | Market Harborough | 3 | £30 |
| Rating Prize 1380-1419 | Lloyd Russell | Bude | 3 | £30 |
| Rating Prize 1300-1379 | Tim Fox | Seaton | 3 | £30 |
| Rating Prize 1120-1299 | Shaun Walsh | Downend and Fisponds | 2½ | £30 |
| Slow Starter Prize (0/2) | Andrew Skirrow | Seaton | £30 |
*Adjusted. Under Rule 8, an unrated player (i.e. a player entered on the basis of a rating estimated by the organisers) may not win more than £50 in prize money and may not win any rating prize.
The Trophies
Torbay Individual Championships (incorporated in the Congress)
| Open: Basil Wallis Cup | Caleb Caleshu | Plymouth |
| Major: Challenge Cup | James Schofield | South Hams |
| Intermediate: Intermediate Cup | Mac Holland | Newton Abbot |
| Foundation: Candidates Cup | Ronit Randhawa | Newton Abbot |
Best Score by a Devon Player in the Graded Tournaments
| Ralph Newman Cup | Ken Alexander |
Best Score by a Devon Junior
| John Whitfield Cup | Suhayl Abdalla | Newton Abbot |
Team Event
Teams of four players entered the Team Competition. This year there were ten entries. The lead kept changing between the Llanelli White Knights and the Newton Abbot Abbots. In the end it was an honourable draw on 13 points, and the prize money of £40 was split between these two teams.
The 56th Congress
Many people were involved in the planning, setting up and running of the Congress. We are grateful to:
- Kitson Boyce for their continued sponsorship of the Congress.
- Tony Tatam for arbiting, managing the pairings and rating submissions.
- Phil McConnell for running the website and entrants, producing the wall charts and much else.
- John Constable and Graham Mill-Wilson for arbiting tournaments.
- Maria Brooks for staffing the "welcome desk" on the Friday evening.
- The Devon County Chess Association for the loan of their digital clocks.
- Raji Kang for taking photographs of the Congress
- Roger Heale, Amber Rivers, Duncan Birrell and the staff of the Toorak Hotel for their wonderful support.
- All the players for their generous contributions to the Congress.
Well done everybody - we are already looking forward keenly to next year's Congress.
