The 2001 championship was again held at Eastleigh College, which once again proved itself as an excellent venue. The number of entries were up 10, with the Hampshire Championship having 24 entries, compared to last year’s 17. Defending champion James Sherwin was not back to defend his title, but the field was not short of strong players. The likely winner would probably come from the four players graded over 185, but on paper it was going to be hard for one player to dominate. Worth noting that Thomas Rendle was just 15 at the tournament and would become a FM in 2004 and IM in 2006.
Picture above is from the 2003 HCA Chess Championship with Dominic Tunks (2001 Hampshire Individual Champion) as I do not have photos from the 2001 tournament. He is receiving his prize from ex Hampshire President Peter Marshall.
Note: This article is mainly based on the one I produced in 2001 for the original Hampshire Chess Association website, although I have expanded some parts and I am hoping that my memories of the tournament are correct.
For a list of the winners of the Hampshire Individual Championship and links to any articles I have written the table on the Hampshire Individual Championship is the best place to look. In addition, the table on the Hampshire Tournaments will detail these and any other tournament articles I have completed. Both of these are available from the menu at the top of the site as well.
Round 1
The first round threw up one main shock, with Fraser McLeod losing to Joe Coburn. This was a case of Fraser trying too hard to win in a position, where he had earlier been offered a draw. This meant that Fraser’s second place result from last year was going to be hard to repeat.
Sherif Gonem showed he was not there to make up the numbers, with a fine win against Gillian Moore (all games are available). My draw against David Cordner was not particularly long or spectacular, but I was probably more pleased with the result than my opponent.
Apart from these, all the other games went to form, with the higher graded players winning.
The following is from Thomas Rendle’s game against Richard Perrin, where Richard miscalculated. The opening went:
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 Nf6 4.Be2 Nbd7 5.d3 g6 6.Nbd2 6…Bg7 7.0-0 b6 8.d4 Bb7 9.e5 9…Ne4? 10.Nxe4 Bxe4 11.Ng5 after which Richard decided to sacrifice his White square Bishop with 11..Bxg2. This is because moves like 11.Bb7 allows 12.e6, or 11..Bf5 sees 12.ed or 12.g4 where White has a big advantage.
The piece sacrifice was not enough though and Thomas Rendle won in 31 moves.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N Burton | u | 0 | M Yeo | 193 | 1 |
| T Rendle | 189 | 1 | R Perrin | 152 | 0 |
| TR Anderson | 151 | 0 | D Tunks | 187 | 1 |
| D Pye | 187 | 1 | L Stables | 150 | 0 |
| I Matthew | 147 | 0 | W Purkiss | 177 | 1 |
| JF Wheeler | 169 | 1 | P Walters | 147 | 0 |
| G Stuart | 144 | ½ | D Cordner | 169 | ½ |
| K Esmat | 165 | 1 | I Stenhouse | 142 | 0 |
| J Coburn | 136 | 1 | F McLeod | 162 | 0 |
| PJ Patience | 162 | 1 | R Short | 132 | 0 |
| S Gonem | 127 | 1 | G Moore | u | 0 |
| G Pafura | 169 | ½ | Bye | ||
| N Campbell | u | ½ | Bye |
Round 2
The biggest upset in the round was Sherif Gonem’s win against Bill Purkiss. This game is worth going through, it seems that Bill’s Rook and Bishop sacrifice is not enough. But as the King was driven up the board, Black’s position was looking more and more difficult. The turning point was where Bill missed the mate. This was not easy to spot but did justify the sacrifice. If 40.Nc1 rather than 40. Qf1 was played, the result would certainly have been different. How many games are lost on the time control move?
After missing the mate, Black managed to escape the other threats and soon won.
Joe Coburn continued his excellent start, with a draw against David Pye. David Cordner had a pretty combination against G.Pafura, winning two pieces and a pawn for a Rook.
Therefore, after two rounds, there were three players on two out of two – Michael Yeo, Thomas Rendle and the surprise package Sherif Gonem.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M Yeo | 193 | 1 | JF Wheeler | 169 | 0 |
| K Esmat | 165 | 0 | T Rendle | 189 | 1 |
| D Tunks | 187 | ½ | PJ Patience | 162 | ½ |
| J Coburn | 136 | ½ | D Pye | 187 | ½ |
| W Purkiss | 177 | 0 | S Gonem | 127 | 1 |
| D Cordner | 169 | 1 | G Pafura | 169 | 0 |
| N Campbell | u | 1 | G Stuart | 144 | 0 |
| F McLeod | 162 | 0 | P Walters | 147 | 1 |
| R Perrin | 152 | ½ | N Burton | u | ½ |
| R Short | 132 | ½ | TR Anderson | 151 | ½ |
| L Stables | 150 | ½ | I Matthew | 147 | ½ |
| I Stenhouse | 142 | 1 | G Moore | u | 0 |
Round 3
Board one’s game did not take long, when Sherif Gonem playing White dropped a piece on move 11 against Michael Yeo.
Board two took a lot longer but was crucial to the outcome of the tournament. Thomas Rendle offered a draw on move 25 when he played a5, but in doing so blundered the exchange.
Dominic Tunks position was winning at this stage, but after a long struggle, with excellent defending Thomas Rendle managed to set up a fortress and a draw was agreed. In the final position Dominic was still the exchange up, but his pawns could not advance. I’m still not convinced that the final position was drawn – so if anyone has analysis on this position let me know. Now in 2022 I can use a computer which gives this position as Black as plus 3, but this may not mean the position is winnable.
Therefore, this left just Michael Yeo on maximum points, and he was going to have to play Thomas Rendle in round four, as he was the only player on two and a half. There were nine players in the chasing pack though, on two points.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S Gonem | 127 | 0 | M Yeo | 193 | 1 |
| T Rendle | 189 | ½ | D Tunks | 187 | ½ |
| D Pye | 187 | ½ | N Campbell | u | ½ |
| P Walters | 147 | 1 | D Cordner | 169 | 0 |
| PJ Patience | 162 | ½ | J Coburn | 136 | ½ |
| I Stenhouse | 142 | 0 | W Purkiss | 177 | 1 |
| JF Wheeler | 169 | 0 | K Esmat | 165 | 1 |
| G Pafura | 169 | 1 | R Perrin | 152 | 0 |
| TR Anderson | 151 | ½ | L Stables | 150 | ½ |
| N Burton | u | 0 | G Stuart | 144 | 1 |
| I Matthew | 147 | ½ | F McLeod | 162 | ½ |
| G Moore | u | 1 | Bye | ||
| R Short | 132 | ½ | Bye |
Round 3 Table
| Position | Player | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Yeo | 3 |
| 2 | Thomas Rendle | 2½ |
| 3 | Dominic Tunks | 2 |
| 4 | John Patience | 2 |
| 5 | David Pye | 2 |
| 6 | Sherif Gonem | 2 |
| 7 | Khaled Esmat | 2 |
| 8 | Joe Coburn | 2 |
| 9 | William Purkiss | 2 |
| 10 | Neil Campbell | 2 |
| 11 | P Walters | 2 |
Round 4
Being a Saturday evening, I had already planned on taking a bye, so did not see the games on the top boards. Thomas Rendle blew the championship open, winning with Black against Michael Yeo. I presume that time trouble played its part in this game, as Mike missed a win.
In this position White had 32.c7 where the pawn cannot be stopped. After 32. axb4 ..d3+ Black went on to win. Yeo,M – Rendle,T
On board two a game was played that Pat McEvoy the controller enjoyed so much that he awarded a brilliance prize to the loser! The game was Dominic Tunks v Khaled Esmat and the opening was one of Dominic’s I don’t want to play any theory openings (probably unfair, as there are quite a few openings like this, but anything with an early b4 looks strange to me). It started
1.Nf3 d5 2.b4 e6 3.Bb2 Nf6 4.a3 c5 and soon turned into a real battle, with hanging pieces all over the place. At move 13 the position looked as below:
Although the position was very hairy for Dominic, the sacrifices that Khaled threw at him were not enough and Dominic steered the game to a win.
In other games, Sherif Gonem bounced back defeating Neil Campbell, who was also having an excellent tournament (don’t remind me of how I missed the win of a piece in our game from round 2). Bill Purkiss won the exchange against Joe Coburn but let the position slip and a draw was agreed, another good result for Joe.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M Yeo | 193 | 0 | T Rendle | 189 | 1 |
| D Tunks | 187 | 1 | K Esmat | 165 | 0 |
| P Walters | 147 | ½ | PJ Patience | 162 | ½ |
| W Purkiss | 177 | ½ | J Coburn | 136 | ½ |
| R Short | 132 | 0 | G Pafura | 169 | 1 |
| N Campbell | u | 0 | S Gonem | 127 | 1 |
| L Stables | 150 | 1 | I Stenhouse | 142 | 0 |
| G Moore | u | 1 | I Matthew | 147 | 0 |
| N Burton | u | 1 | Bye | ||
| Everyone else | ½ | Bye |
Round 5
Two quick draws on the top two boards gave opportunities for other players to catch up. From memory, board one drew after board two, which may have had something to do with board one’s result. This was because it gave Thomas Rendle at least a half point lead over the other players. Looking at the final position, White had an advantage, but you can understand Sherif taking the drew, against a player graded 62 point higher than him. I’m not sure what happened in the board two game between Dominic Tunks and Michael Yeo, but it only lasted 11 moves. It may be that neither player wished to ruin their chances of becoming Hampshire Champion.
Joe Coburn won and put himself in a position to challenge for the championship. His win, was again after his opponent had turned down a draw offer. I’m not sure if the final position is correct in this game, so if anyone knows differently, let me know. This was turning into the tournament of Joe’s life, as out of the 21 graded players, he was seeded 20th. The fact that the 21st seed was also in the same position, is equally amazing!
Bill Purkiss also put himself in contention, with a tough win against G.Pafura. He won on time, but when the flag fell Bill’s position was winning.
This also left the matter of who would be the Hampshire Champion, as even if Thomas Rendle won the tournament, he was not eligible for this title since the rule change from 2000, as detailed on the entry form.
The highest-placed Hampshire player in the Open will receive the Silver Rook for one year, and the title of County Champion.
Hampshire Congress Entry Form
There is also a trophy for the highest-placed Hampshire player Under-160, and Under-125.
Hampshire players must be affiliated to the Hampshire Chess Association either through their club, or as an individual member.
On the sum of progressive score Michael Yeo was favourite for this, as he had won his first three games.
On a more personal note, I was pleased with my win against Khaled Esmat, especially as I had lost horribly to him in a league match last season. The opening was pretty hairy, as at one stage, after I had temporarily sacrificed a piece, Khaled had three pieces on prise!
After the carnage had cleared, I was left with a pleasant position, which I managed to win. This was despite failing to see that I could win a piece and had a forced mate at several stages.
Presentation to Pat McEvoy
Before the last round started, a presentation was made to the controller, Pat McEvoy. Pat is well known for his tournament, the Portsmouth Congress. This is held yearly, and in 2002 this was an “Elite” Event in the Terance Chapman Group Grand Prix, with a £500 first prize in the Premier Tournament alone.
Anyway, apart from this, Pat is less well know for controlling the Hampshire Individual Tournament, which he does free of charge, giving up his valuable time. This year he even donated a Best Game prize to Khaled Esmat, for his loss to Dominic Tunks (see round Three/Four).
The presentation to Pat was made by HCA Secretary John Wheeler and was a bottle of champagne. This was as an appreciation of thanks, from the Hampshire Chess Association to Pat, for the tireless work he does every year. He is the first person to arrive and the last person to leave and we are extremely grateful for his support. There was originally a photograph of this presentation, but I no longer have this. There is an archive of the old site, but the photographs are not on this either!
HCA Ind 2001 Round 5 (archive.org)
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S Gonem | 127 | ½ | T Rendle | 189 | ½ |
| D Tunks | 187 | ½ | M Yeo | 193 | ½ |
| J Coburn | 136 | 1 | P Walters | 147 | 0 |
| G Pafura | 169 | 0 | W Purkiss | 177 | 1 |
| PJ Patience | 162 | ½ | D Pye | 187 | ½ |
| D Cordner | 169 | 1 | L Stables | 150 | 0 |
| G Stuart | 144 | 1 | K Esmat | 165 | 0 |
| G Moore | u | ½ | N Campbell | u | ½ |
| R Perrin | 152 | 0 | JF Wheeler | 169 | 1 |
| TR Anderson | 151 | 1 | N Burton | u | 0 |
| I Matthew | 147 | 0 | I Stenhouse | 142 | 1 |
| F McLeod | 162 | ½ | R Short | 132 | ½ |
Round 6
As mentioned, all was still to be played for in the last round. The draw was quite important too, as I’m sure the three main candidates would prefer to get the lower graded opponents. This is not to take anything away from Joe Coburn and Sherif Gonem, who were both having an excellent tournament, but at this stage Bill Purkiss was a more dangerous opponent
The game between David Pye and David Cordner is worth playing through, as after an opening where White did not seem to get an advantage, a mating attack was suddenly sprung.
On the other boards, Bill’s game against Mike followed a game of John Van Der Wiel’s against Artur Jussupov from 1985 until move 11, when Mike played 11… Bd7 rather than 11… Bd6, although this was played a few moves later. The game turned into a double bishop ending, with a lot of manoeuvring. In the end though, no player could make progress without jeopardizing their position, so a draw was agreed.
In Dominic’s game, careful play by him won a pawn, which soon turned into a monster passed one. This sealed Sherif’s fate, as he soon had to resign. I’ve noticed that in a number of Dominic games, he tries to keep the advantage of the two Bishops. This was evident in his wins against Sherif and his first-round win against Tom Anderson.
This win meant that Dominic was the Hampshire Champion, for the third time in four years. It was not all doom in gloom for Sherif though as he shared the U160/U140 prize and also took away the Len Walters trophy.
Joe Coburn tried valiantly against Thomas Rendle, but soon found himself in a very uncomfortable position. He tried a few tactical tricks, but Thomas Rendle saw through them and won the game. In the diagram below Joe has sacrificed his Bishop on e6, so he could deflect the Rook and allow himself to play Ng4, attacking f2. But Thomas Rendle played the sensible Nd1 and soon won.
With this win, Thomas Rendle won the tournament with five points. Joe Coburn also shared in the U140/U160 prize with Sherif Gonem. After my quick draw against John Patience in the last round I also scored three and a half points and shared in the U160 prize.
With Dominic coming second with four and a half points, third place was shared between Michael Yeo, Bill Purkiss and David Pye on four points.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T Rendle | 189 | 1 | J Coburn | 136 | 0 |
| W Purkiss | 177 | ½ | M Yeo | 193 | ½ |
| S Gonem | 127 | 0 | D Tunks | 187 | 1 |
| D Pye | 187 | 1 | D Cordner | 169 | 0 |
| G Stuart | 144 | ½ | P J Patience | 162 | ½ |
| JF Wheeler | 169 | 1 | G Moore | u | 0 |
| P Walters | 147 | 0 | G Pafura | 169 | 1 |
| TR Anderson | 151 | ½ | N Campbell | u | ½ |
| K Esmat | 165 | 1 | L Stables | 150 | 0 |
| I Stenhouse | 142 | ½ | F McLeod | 164 | ½ |
| R Short | 132 | 0 | N Burton | u | 1 |
| R Perrin | 152 | ½ | I Matthew | 147 | ½ |
Final Position Summary
All in all, a successful tournament, with the numbers increasing this year the prize fund was also able to be increased. This meant that the third-place winners received a small prize. A close battle for first place with the top Hampshire players battling against an up and coming junior.
An update from Thomas Rendle after the article was posted is below, although he was certainly a deserved winner, which his subsequent progressed showed.
I remember this tournament being extremely hard-fought; looking back it seems I certainly had more than my fair share of luck!
Thomas Rendle – November 2022.
Final Cross-table
| Rank | Name | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rendle,Thomas | +1/22 | -1/12 | ½/2 | -1/3 | -½/6 | +1/7 | 5/6 |
| 2 | Tunks,Dominic | -1/15 | ½/8 | -½/1 | +1/12 | ½/3 | -1/6 | 4.5/6 |
| 3 | Yeo,Michael J | -1/20 | +1/10 | -1/6 | +0/1 | -½/2 | -½/4 | 4/6 |
| 4 | Purkiss,William | -1/23 | +0/6 | -1/17 | ½/7 | -1/11 | ½/3 | 4/6 |
| 5 | Pye,David | +1/19 | -½/7 | ½/13 | ½/bye | -½/8 | +1/14 | 4/6 |
| 6 | Gonem,S | +1/18 | -1/4 | +0/3 | -1/13 | ½/1 | +0/2 | 3.5/6 |
| 7 | Coburn,J | +1/21 | ½/5 | -½/8 | -½/4 | +1/16 | -0/1 | 3.5/6 |
| 8 | Patience,PJ | +1/24 | -½/2 | ½/7 | -½/16 | ½/5 | -½/9 | 3.5/6 |
| 9 | Stuart,G | ½/14 | -0/13 | -1/18 | ½/bye | +1/12 | ½/8 | 3.5/6 |
| 10 | Wheeler,JF | +1/16 | -0/3 | +0/12 | -½/bye | -1/22 | +1/18 | 3.5/6 |
| 11 | Pafura,G | ½/bye | -0/14 | +1/22 | -1/24 | +0/4 | -1/16 | 3.5/6 |
| 12 | Esmat,K | +1/17 | +0/1 | -1/10 | -0/2 | -0/9 | +1/19 | 3/6 |
| 13 | Campbell,N | ½/bye | +1/9 | -½/5 | +0/6 | -½/18 | -½/15 | 3/6 |
| 14 | Cordner,D | -½/9 | +1/11 | -0/16 | ½/bye | +1/19 | -0/5 | 3/6 |
| 15 | Anderson,TR | +0/2 | -½/24 | ½/20 | ½/bye | -1/20 | ½/13 | 3/6 |
| 16 | Walters,P | -0/10 | -1/21 | +1/14 | ½/8 | -0/7 | +0/11 | 2.5/6 |
| 17 | Stenhouse,Iain | -0/12 | +1/18 | +0/4 | -0/19 | -1/23 | ½/21 | 2.5/6 |
| 18 | Burton,N | +0/3 | -½/22 | +0/9 | +1/bye | +0/15 | -1/24 | 2.5/6 |
| 19 | Moore,G | -0/6 | -0/17 | +1/bye | +1/23 | ½/13 | -0/10 | 2.5/6 |
| 20 | Stables,L | -0/5 | ½/23 | -½/15 | +1/17 | -0/14 | -0/12 | 2/6 |
| 21 | McLeod,Fraser | -0/7 | +0/16 | -½/23 | ½/bye | ½/24 | -½/17 | 2/6 |
| 22 | Perrin,R | -0/1 | ½/20 | -0/11 | ½/bye | +0/10 | ½/23 | 1.5/6 |
| 23 | Matthew,I | +0/4 | -½/19 | ½/21 | -0/18 | +0/17 | -½/22 | 1.5/6 |
| 24 | Short,R | -0/8 | ½/15 | ½/bye | +0/11 | -½/21 | +0/20 | 1.5/6 |
U125 Tournament
As well as the Hampshire Individual Championship a U125 tournament was also held. This also had increased numbers, with three more entries than last year. It was good to see players of all grades entering, with the lowest grade being 54, whilst the highest was 122.
With the success of the Hampshire U125 team in the last few years, the tournament was keenly contested, with many stalwarts of this team entering. In fact, in round five the current captain met his predecessor, with Mick Garrod playing Ken Retallack. At this stage of the tournament, both players were doing excellently with Ken being joint first on three and a half points from four games and Mick just half a point behind on three. Mick gained the upper hand in this contest, beating Ken and went into the final round half a point behind the leader and top seed P.Lord, on four and a half. Mick had lost to P.Lord in the 4th round.
Ken did not give up though, winning his last game against veteran Tony Summers of Southampton Chess Club, to finish on four and a half points. With Mick only managing to draw against the ungraded J.Foster of University, both players shared 2nd place. Nothing was stopping P.Lord though, who won his last game against B.Culverhouse to finish unbeaten and a deserved winner on five and a half points.
As well as these three winners, D.Murchie graded 86 won the U100 grading prize, with three points from his six games.
As P.Lord is not a Hampshire player, the Hampshire U125 trophy went to Mick Garrod.
Games
All the games from the Open Congress are available for download or to be played through online.
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