1972 (2nd) North Devon Open, Woolacombe, nr. Barnstaple 20-22 October 1972
(n.b. not a complete crosstable as not all games available - there were 160 players in total)

1972 North Devon Open Woolacombe		Fed	Elo	1	2	3	4	5	Total
1	Robert Bellin	ENG	2325	b??+	w55+	b26+	w9+	b10+	5
2	Nicholas J C Argyris	ENG	2140	b57+	w56+	b??+	w45+	b22+	5
3	Michael E Binks	ENG	2135	b??+	w??+	b58+	w16+	w4=	4½
4	Leslie S F Blackstock	SCO	2200	b??+	w46+	b??+	w24+	b3=	4½
5	Sunil Weeramantry	SRI	2200	b??+	w??+	b22=	w??+	b59+	4½
6	J L Foster	ENG	2040	b43=	w??+	b60+	w??+	b??+	4½
7	Nigel J Holloway	ENG	2260	b61+	w??+	b23=	w43+	w27+	4½
8	Godfrey V Brangham	WLS	1940	b15+					4
9	John V Innes-Reid1	IRL	2000	b??+	w53+	b??+	b1-	w??+	4
10	Richard Heasman	ENG	1980	b??+	w??+	b62+	w??+	w1-	4
11	Gerald H Bennett	ENG	2230	w??+	b24-	w??+	b??+	w??+	4
12	James R Boyce	ENG	2055	b63+					4
13	W Paul Taylor	ENG	1850					w64+	4
14	Melvyn J Young	ENG	1740					b24+	4
15	Stephen H Berry	ENG	2160	w8-	b??+	w??+	b65+	w54+	4
16	Michael J Basman	ENG	2325	w20+	b17+	w47+	b3-	w53+	4
17	Peter C Griffiths	ENG	2230	b??+	w16-	b67+	w66+	b28+	4
18	Leonard W Barden	ENG	2400	w54+	b25-	w44+	b??+	b68+	4
19	n.b. scores of players below not known: they are not in ranking order.
20	Neill S Cooper	ENG	1830	b16-			w25+	b69+	2 / 3
21	Rowena M Bruce	ENG	2015	w29+	b44+				2 / 2
22	Moss McCarthy	WLS	2095	w49+		w5=		w2-	1½ / 3
23	Ronald E Spurgeon	ENG	2120			w7=		w70+	1½ / 2
24	Terry C Fox	ENG	2220		w11+		b4-	w14-	1 / 3
25	R Abadi	ENG	1695		w18+		b20-		1 / 2
26	Kenneth S Schofield	ENG	1965			w1-		b71+	1 / 2
27	M G Patterson	ENG	1800		w69+			b7-	1 / 2
28	David C Jarrett	ENG	2005	w72+				w17-	1 / 2
29	W L White	ENG	1695	b21-	w73+				1 / 2
30	Edwin I S Biddick	ENG	1900			w76+	b33-		1 / 2
31	Hugh G Ditmas	ENG	1800	b74+	w34-				1 / 2
32	G Krimer	ENG	1640			b75+		w35-	1 / 2
33	Trefor F Thynne	ENG	1950				w30+		1 / 1
34	A D Wedderspoon	ENG	1800		b31+				1 / 1
35	J W Fisher	ENG	1790					b32+	1 / 1
36	Stephen R Boniface	ENG	1885				w78+		1 / 1
37	T Russell	ENG	1860					b81+	1 / 1
38	D Emanuel	ENG	1800				b79+		1 / 1
39	M J R Dewdney	ENG	1605	w82+					1 / 1
40	F R Roberts	ENG	1605			w80+			1 / 1
41	P R Ballantyne	ENG	1605				b77+		1 / 1
42	P G Tomlinson	ENG	1605		w83+				1 / 1
43	Richard C Lemon	ENG	2230	w6=			b7-		½ / 2
44	Colin Gilbert	WLS	2080		w21-	b18-		b50=	½ / 3
45	David Parr	ENG	2205				b2-	w51=	½ / 2
46	M D Osmond	ENG	2055		b4-			w47=	½ / 2
47	Colin G Burton	ENG	2220			b16-		b46=	½ / 2
48	John H Hodgson	ENG	1900			w14=			½ / 1
49	Stephen J Mann	ENG	2080	b22-				b52=	½ / 2
50	M Brisk	ENG	1640					w44=	½ / 1
51	Alan K Crombleholme	ENG	2240					b45=	½ / 1
52	Gordon L Comben	ENG	2040					w49=	½ / 1
53	Charles A S Damant	ENG	1900		b9-			b16-	0 / 2
54	Ross C Murphy	ENG	1740	b18-				b15-	0 / 2
55	C B Hatch	ENG	1965		b1-				0 / 1
56	Kenneth J Bloodworth	ENG	1860		b2-				0 / 1
57	Jeremy A Anstead	ENG	1815	w2-					0 / 1
58	Timothy D Harding	ENG	2100			w3-			0 / 1
59	D M Hill	ENG	1790					w5-	0 / 1
60	A J Cooper	ENG	1605			w6-			0 / 1
61	L Burrows	ENG	1680	w7-					0 / 1
62	Robert A Lee	ENG	2100			w10-			0 / 1
63	G R Garrett	ENG	1765	w12-					0 / 1
64	R Evans	ENG	1640					b13-	0 / 1
65	Jack A Speigel	ENG	1885				w15-		0 / 1
66	David W Anderton	ENG	2205				b17-		0 / 1
67	A Bricken	USA				w17-			0 / 1
68	N R Ludgate	ENG	1880					w18-	0 / 1
69	Ralph H T Newman	ENG	1815		b27-			w20-	0 / 2
70	Mohamed R Mahdavi	ENG	2055					b23-	0 / 1
71	Stephen Welbourne	ENG	1645					w26-	0 / 1
72	A C Kay	ENG		b28-					0 / 1
73	N C Yu	ENG			b29-				0 / 1
74	Nigel W Dennis	ENG	1820	w31-					0 / 1
75	Rodney E James	ENG	1775			w32-			0 / 1
76	R Hitchcock	ENG	1645			b30-			0 / 1
77	Alan W Potts	ENG	2000				w41-		0 / 1
78	D A Sanders	ENG	1900				b36-		0 / 1
79	J Rigby	ENG	1845				w38-		0 / 1
80	Peter R Scott	ENG	1765			b40-			0 / 1
81	P J Smith	ENG	1750					w37-	0 / 1
82	R J Gregory	ENG	1695	b39-					0 / 1
83	R F Imlach	ENG	1605		b42-				0 / 1

¹ John V Innes-Reid's original name was John Reid (1925-1989). He was Irish champion in 1961 and 1962 and represented Ireland in the 1958 and 1962 Olympiads. He moved to England sometime between 1964 and 1971. See my comments on chessgames.com - JS

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BCM, January 1973, ppn 39-40

THE SECOND NORTH DEVON CONGRESS

by P.H.Clarke

For its second congress The Hexagon sought a new venue, moving out of the town of Barnstaple to the coastal resort of Woolacombe about twelve miles to the north-west. In view of the boom in chess interest in 1972 this proved to be a fortunate decision. Combes Hotel, entirely at the disposal of the congress for the weekend 20th to 22nd October, comfortably absorbed the huge increase in entries to the Barnstaple Open (up from 71 to 160 - i.e. by over 125%) and enabled the event to be carried through in excellent conditions.

The large entry perhaps overstretched the resources of a five-round Swiss, but in my view this is preferable to the playing of three rounds in a day, which is sheer torture. The more civilised rate of play also cut out the need for adjudications: all the games were taken to a proper conclusion by the players themselves, which is only as it should be. Equally important was the high prize fund. For the first time, I believe, the prizes offered in a single weekend event in Britain totalled more than £500, and there were also many books awarded for special performances. Let us hope that many tournament organisers will go still higher in 1973.

After a tense struggle, during which masters Barden and Basman — as well as other strong players — were defeated, the top two prizes (£100 and £65) were shared by N. J. Argyris and R. Bellin with 5 points out of 5. The other main prizes of £60, £55 and £50 were divided among M. E. Binks, L. S. Blackstock, J. L. Foster, N. J. Holloway and S. Weeramantry with 4½. There were ten grading prizes at £20 each.

The following game proved a fitting conclusion to the tournament, being played on the top board and stubbornly contested until not long before the prizegiving ceremony. [Binks ½-½ Blackstock]

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The Times, 23 October 1972

TWO SHARE CHESS PRIZE

From Harry Golombek, Chess Correspondent, Barnstaple, Oct 22

First prize in the Barnstaple open chess tournament was shared by Argyris and Bellin with five points out of five. In the last round today Bellin quickly outplayed Heasman, but Argyris was lucky to win against McCarthy, who repeatedly missed the winning line.

A draw in the last game to finish, between Binks and Blackstock, gave them a share of third to fifth prizes with Foster, Holloway and Weeramantry, all with four-and-a-half points. With four points were Barden, Basman, Bennett, Berry, Boyce, Brangham, Griffiths, Heasman, Innes-Reid, Taylor, and Young.

It is apparent that with an entry of 160 players a five-round Swiss system tournament is not enough to produce a clear-cut result. Some sort of weighted system, as employed in America, must be used in this type of match or the Swiss system must be abandoned and a series of graded all-play-all tournaments adopted.

This morning in round 4 Michael Basman, sinning badly against the principles of development, was well beaten by Binks; David Parr allowed Argyris to break into his king's position, with fatal effect.

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The Times, 28 October 1972

Extra-metropolitan Activities (Harry Golombek chess column)

Those of us who live in the southeast tend to think of chess and its playing as being concentrated in that area alone, believing that the farther you get from London the more thinly spread is chess activity.

But anyone who gets around will soon learn that such an attitude is parochial. North, east, west and south all have their fair share, and big chess congresses have been proliferating in all directions.

I witnessed one last week at Woolacombe in North Devon. It was a weekend congress, lasting Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with five rounds played on the Swiss System by which players of the same score are paired against each other. Short though it was, 80 games were going on at the same time since the event comprised 160 players.

It all began just over a year ago when a group of six enthusiasts formed themselves into an organization called the Hexagon and decided to hold a chess congress in North Devon. Last year's was a success and this year's even more so. Play took place in Combes Hotel, which had one of the most beautiful views I have ever encountered in a chess tournament—the pleasant sweep of the gentle Devon hills going down to the majestic Woolacombe Bay.

In addition, the facilities for play were excellept, and the prizes were good enough to attract such players as Barden, Basman, Bellin, Blackstock, Griffiths and David Parr.

There was, in my opinion, one defect in the organization in that, with 160 participants, the ordinary Swiss System will not produce a clear-cut result, even as regards the top placings and, worse still, it does not mean that all the really good players have made their way to the top and all the weaker players have necessarily sunk to their rightful place.

So, in this year's event the first prize was shared by Argyris and Bellin, both of whom won all their games and ended up with the full five points out of five rounds. All the remaining prizes were tied for by Binks, Blackstock, Foster, Holloway and Weeramantry.

While it is clear that Bellin deserved to figure at the top and that a few of those who tied for the remaining prizes (not more than two, in my opinion) would have remained there had there been more rounds, it is very regrettable that such fine players as Barden, Basman, Griffiths and Parr should have been deprived, by the shortness of the event, of the opportunity of making their way to some prize.

The Hexagon have plans to avoid all these anomalies and injustices in next year's congress, which is scheduled.to take place at Combes again. They will hold their weekend Swiss Congress as before—it has proved much too popular an event to be dealt with in any cavalier way. But, as their pièce de résistance, they hope to organize an international tournament of 10 players on the all play all system. In addition, they plan to have many 10-player sections graded in order of strength on, presumably, the Hastings model.

The one major stumbling block to all this is that it will demand quite a lot of money to finance such an enterprise. The Friends of Chess, provided they are satisfied that the international tournament is of a strength to warrant their help, will give £150 towards the cause. But much more help is needed, and I understand that the Hexagon is looking for a sponsor or sponsors to provide the bulk of the financial support.

One aspect of the event this year that I found particularly striking was the fighting spirit displayed by their competitors. There were no salon remis or so-called grandmaster draws, but everybody fought out the games in the most determined way. The following game, though far from flawless, still has that laudable fighting quality and some of our leading internationals could learn a lesson from it. [Binks 1-0 Basman]

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File Updated

Date	Notes
1997	First uploaded (zipped PGN file)
17 November 2025	Updated to latest BritBase standard and added a partial crosstable and reports.