The Hampshire Chess Championship was held at Eastleigh College between 4th and 6th November 2016. It was split into 3 sections with in total 44 players participating. The Open tournament saw Tony Corkett wining the Hampshire Individual Championship for a record 10th time.
The Hampshire Chess Secretary’s report on the championship stated:
Tony Corkett has beaten Marshall Thompson’s record of nine wins in the Hampshire county championship by winning this year’s title. This is his 10th win, and his 3rd in the last three years. But he did not have it all his own way. He was ½ a point behind Matt Chapman going into the last round, but a convincing win over Matt gave him the title.
John Wheeler
Second place was a tie between David Fowler and Keith Gregory, with Matt Chapman winning the Under-175 Grading Prize.
The picture above shows Tony Corkett being presented with the Silver Rook presumably by the Mayor of Eastleigh? Keven Lamb was there to take photographs which always adds to these articles. The Open and Major and Minor tournaments will be covered in separate posts.
If you played in the Congress and wish to add anything or supply an annotated game please do contact me through the comments or at Hampshirechesshistory@gmail.com
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
Twelve players entered the Open led by FM Tony Corkett with a grade of 213 which was 30 points higher rated than the next player. Although this was 5 times Hampshire Champion Keith Gregory and therefore this was not going to be an easy tournament for Tony.
This was seen straight away as Philip Simpson held Tony to a draw in the first round, which allowed Keith Gregory, Mike Waddington and Matt Chapman (controller bye) to get ahead on tie-break by winning their games. Joining them was Jamie Chilton who caused an upset defeating the higher graded Doug Butcher.
The exciting draw between Philip Simpson and Tony Corkett.
Jamie Chilton upset Doug Butcher in a line where Black sacrifices a pawn in the Scandinavian Defence for early development. This worked as Black soon had an advantage. Normally in these circumstances the higher graded player would build on this advantage and win, but this was a complicated game and I would guess that it went to time trouble White finding the best moves. A great start to the tournament for the lowest graded player in the event.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philip M Stimpson | 171 | ½ | Anthony R Corkett | 213 | ½ |
| Keith DF Gregory | 183 | 1 | Mark A Potter | 160 | 0 |
| Rich Wiltshir | 150 | 0 | Mike P Waddington | 182 | 1 |
| David W Fowler | 178 | ½ | Robin Williams | 147 | ½ |
| James I Chilton | 145 | 1 | Doug Butcher | 173 | 0 |
| Martin J Clancy | 170 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Matt Chapman | 170 | 1 | Controller Bye |
Round 2
Keith Gregory and Mike Waddington continued their winning ways by defeating Matt Chapman and Jamie Chilton respectively. In Mike Waddington’s game we pick up just before Jamie drops a piece, although his position was difficult at this stage.
In Keith’s game Matt Chapman had a nice advantage but on what looks to be time trouble White goes wrong and allows a winning tactic. I don’t like to point out that Keith missed the killer move at first, but he did find the winning Rxb2 when it was offered the second time!
Mark Potter was successful against Rich Wiltshir (see game below). whilst Peter Simpson prevailed against Robin Williams.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Chapman | 170 | 0 | Keith DF Gregory | 183 | 1 |
| Mike P Waddington | 182 | 1 | James I Chilton | 145 | 0 |
| Anthony R Corkett | 213 | 1 | David W Fowler | 178 | 0 |
| Doug Butcher | 173 | ½ | Martin J Clancy | 170 | ½ |
| Rich Wiltshir | 150 | 0 | Mark A Potter | 160 | 1 |
| Robin Williams | 147 | 0 | Philip M Stimpson | 171 | 1 |
Round 3
Going into the third round Keith Gregory and MIke Waddington led on maximum points whilst Tony Corkett and Philip Simpson were half a point behind.
Keith and Mike draw their game with the final position looking very blocked and difficult for either player to make progress.
As Tony Corkett and Philip Simpson had already played they were both down floated playing Martin Clancy and Matt Chapman respectively. Martin Clancy missed one move which would have given him a small edge with three pawns for a piece and two of the pawns on the sixth rank. He resigned a couple of moves later (not sure if this was a flag fall or not wanting to play on in a worse, but not yet losing position?). The game is picked up from the missed chance.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keith DF Gregory | 183 | ½ | Mike P Waddington | 182 | ½ |
| Martin J Clancy | 170 | 0 | Anthony R Corkett | 213 | 1 |
| Philip M Stimpson | 171 | 0 | Matt Chapman | 170 | 1 |
| James I Chilton | 145 | 0 | Mark A Potter | 160 | 1 |
| David W Fowler | 178 | 1 | Doug Butcher | 173 | 0 |
| Rich Wiltshir | 150 | 1 | Robin Williams | 147 | 0 |
Round 4
Only two byes were taken in the Saturday evening round. Tony Corkett and Mike Waddington played a very long game which Arthur Brameld managed to transcribe 84 moves, but the last 6 were not readable. I give the final recorded position below and as you can see there were still many pieces and all the pawns left with Tony having a slight advantage due to Black’s buried Bishop, although how White would make progress is difficult to determine. Despite the best efforts by the players the game was drawn. If you wish to play through the first 84 moves, the game is included in the Games file (there is a lot of manoeuvring of pieces).
Matt Chapman also won a long game (62 moves) against Mark Potter but Robin Williams beat Jamie Chilton in 21 moves when Jamie moved his white square bishop to b7 when it was required to defend his King.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony R Corkett | 213 | ½ | Mike P Waddington | 182 | ½ |
| Mark A Potter | 160 | 0 | Matt Chapman | 170 | 1 |
| Philip M Stimpson | 171 | ½ | David W Fowler | 178 | ½ |
| Robin Williams | 147 | 1 | James I Chilton | 145 | 0 |
| Rich Wiltshir | 150 | 0 | Martin J Clancy | 170 | 1 |
| Keith DF Gregory | 183 | ½ | Bye | ||
| Doug Butcher | 173 | ½ | Bye |
Round 5
Going into round 5 Tony Corkett, Keith Gregory, Mike Waddington and Matt Chapman were all tied on 3 points. This was a full point ahead of four other players.
Tony Corkett had a bye in the fifth round whilst the other three players tried to move ahead of him. Matt Chapman was paired against Mike Waddington whilst Keith Gregory played David Fowler.
Matt Chapman’s Semi Slav brought him an advantageous position and even when the Queens came off he still managed to break through against the King. In the final position his threat of Rxb3 cannot be stopped as the pawn on c3 currently restricts White’s King from any movement.
Keith played a combination which was slightly inaccurate and he went from a better position to a worse one. Not sure if the final position was resignable though, but White certainly had the better position.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David W Fowler | 178 | 1 | Keith DF Gregory | 183 | 0 | |||
| Mike P Waddington | 182 | 0 | Matt Chapman | 170 | 1 | |||
| Robin Williams | 147 | ½ | Mark A Potter | 160 | ½ | |||
| Martin J Clancy | 170 | ½ | Philip M Stimpson | 171 | ½ | |||
| James I Chilton | 145 | 1 | Rich Wiltshir | 150 | 0 | |||
| Anthony R Corkett | 213 | ½ | Bye | |||||
| Doug Butcher | 173 | 0 | Withdrawn |
Round 6
Matt Chapman was half a point ahead of Tony Corkett, but as they were paired together if Tony won this game he would win the tournament. David Fowler, Mike Waddington and Keith Gregory were a further half point behind Tony but there was no result from the top board which would allow them to win the tournament.
The top board game was another manoeuvring battle but Tony found a tactic to win one pawn and then won another which allowed him to give one back at the correct time, to convert the ending. The game is well worth playing through to help improve your endgame, as although it looks reasonably straightforward that is certainly not the case when playing.
David Fowler continued his excellent final day by beating Mike Waddington when he broke through against Mike’s King – White’s last move blunders a Rook, but the game is lost at this stage.
Keith Gregory also won which left Matt Chapman, David Fowler and Keith on four points, half a point behind Tony Corkett.
| Player | Grade | Result | Player | Grade | Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Chapman | 170 | 0 | Anthony R Corkett | 213 | 1 | |||
| Mike P Waddington | 182 | 0 | David W Fowler | 178 | 1 | |||
| Keith DF Gregory | 183 | 1 | Robin Williams | 147 | 0 | |||
| Mark A Potter | 160 | 1 | Martin J Clancy | 170 | 0 | |||
| Philip M Stimpson | 171 | ½ | James I Chilton | 145 | ½ | |||
| Rich Wiltshir | 150 | 1 | Controller Bye |
Open Final Position Summary
With his final round win Tony Corkett won his 10th Hampshire Individual Championship. His first championship win was in 1989 and his last (at present) was in 2016 (this one). He has not played in the Championship since this time. The previous record was held by Southampton Chess Club’s Marshall Thompson who won 9 titles between 1958 and 1977.
The prize winners of the Open Tournament were:
- 1st Tony Corkett (4½) Silver Rook and Hampshire Individual Championship
- 2nd Keith Gregory and David Fowler (4)
- U175 Matt Chapman (Len Walters Trophy) (4)
As the basis of this is from the ECF rating site crosstable, which does not take into account byes the rankings do not match the final real positions. But to amend this I would have to recreate the numbers for each player, which I have not done. But the table can be sorted to allow you to do this.
| Rank | Name | Grade | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David W Fowler | 178 | 9= | 2– | 12+ | 6= | 3+ | 5+ | 4 |
| 2 | Anthony R Corkett | 213 | 6= | 1+ | 10+ | 5= | bye = | 7+ | 4½ |
| 3 | Keith DF Gregory | 183 | 4+ | 7+ | 5= | bye = | 1– | 9+ | 4 |
| 4 | Mark A Potter | 160 | 3– | 11+ | 8+ | 7– | 9= | 10+ | 3½ |
| 5 | Mike P Waddington | 182 | 11+ | 8+ | 3= | 2= | 7– | 1– | 3 |
| 6 | Philip M Stimpson | 171 | 2= | 9+ | 7– | 1= | 10= | 8= | 3 |
| 7 | Matt Chapman | 170 | bye + | 3– | 6+ | 4+ | 5+ | 2– | 4 |
| 8 | James I Chilton | 145 | 12+ | 5– | 4– | 9– | 11+ | 6= | 2½ |
| 9 | Robin Williams | 147 | 1= | 6– | 11– | 8+ | 4= | 3– | 2 |
| 10 | Martin J Clancy | 170 | bye = | 12= | 2– | 11+ | 6= | 4– | 2½ |
| 11 | Rich Wiltshir | 150 | 5– | 4– | 9+ | 10– | 8– | bye + | 2 |
| 12 | Doug Butcher | 173 | 8– | 10= | 1– | bye = | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Games
The games from the Congress were entered by Arthur Brameld and can be played through and downloaded here.
Photographs
All photographs are in the Hampshire Gallery, but I have included a few from the Congress.
HCA Secretary Report
The Hampshire Chess Secretary produced a report on the congress, which is below.
Acknowledgements and sources:
- Arthur Brameld for the chess games
- John Wheeler for HCA Secretary Report
- Keven Lamb for photographs
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