1969 (24th) West of England (WECU) Championship, Torquay, 3-7 April

1969 West of England (WECU) Championship		Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Total	SoS
1	Peter Hugh Clarke	Holsworthy	&;	½	1		½	½	1					1									4½	22½
2	Leon P Burnett	Weston-super-Mare	½	&;	½	1			1				1					½					4½	20½
3	John Francis Wheeler	Plymouth	0	½	&;		½			1		1								1			4	21
4	Stuart J Hutchings	Bristol		0		&;	½	½				1		1		1							4	21
5	James Macrae Aitken	Cheltenham	½		½	½	&;		½										1			1	4	19½
6	George W Wheeler	Plymouth	½			½		&;			½	1			1			½					4	19
7	Nigel J Holloway	Plymouth	0	0			½		&;	1							1		1				3½	21
8	James R Boyce	Bristol			0				0	&;	½		1		1			1					3½	18
9	Michael Edward Brigden	Bristol						½		½	&;	½	1						0	1			3½	16½
10	Dr. Peter Merrett	Wareham			0	0		0			½	&;						1			1		2½
11	John Crowle Cock	Cheltenham		0						0	0		&;		½	1				1			2½
12	John A Flood	Torquay	0			0								&;		½	½		1			½	2½
13	Ronald Owen Powis	Stroud						0		0			½		&;	½	½				1		2½
14	(Henry) James Draisey	Bristol				0							0	½	½	&;	1				½		2½
15	David A LeMoir	Bristol							0					½	½	0	&;				½	1	2½
16	Leslie Paul Collard	Hereford		½				½		0		0						&;	½	½			2
17	David J Richards	Exeter					0		0		1			0				½	&;			½	2
18	Maurice J Belsten	Bristol			0						0		0					½		&;	½	1	2
19	Andrew Rowland B Thomas	Tiverton										0			0	½	½			½	&;	½	2
20	R Martin	Bristol					0							½			0		½	0	½	&;	1½

BCM, May 1969, ppn 146-148

The West of England Congress by Peter Hugh Clarke

It was a glorious Easter in Devon, where this year’s congress of the W.E.C.U. took place from April 3rd to 7th. Torre Abbey, Torquay, is hard to better as a venue for a small event, offering bright, airy playing conditions and being set in gardens and grounds that extend almost to the sea. Furthermore, the sun shone so warmly that David Richards and I refreshed ourselves by taking a trip to Dartmoor and climbing a ridge of over 1,400 feet—which not many weeks before must still have been under a wintry blanket of snow.

My participation in the West of England Championship (run on the Swiss System over six rounds) brought in a new element. In recent years the tournament has usually been an open affair, but now there was a clear favourite, someone to draw with, if not to beat. I started with two wins, but my next three opponents stood firm; consequently, when the last round began I found myself ½ point behind J. F. Wheeler and sharing second place with four others, Dr. J. M. Aitken (his co-Champion, A. R. B. Thomas, had been quite out of form), L. P. Burnett, N. J. Holloway, and S. J. Hutchings. Fortunately, my fate lay in my own hands; for I was paired against the leader and had a higher sum of opponents’ scores than anyone else. I adopted a hyperstrategic style for this vital game, and while the play was slowly unfolding Burnett forged ahead with a convincing win over Holloway and Dr. Aitken built up a strong position against Hutchings. Wheeler weakened in the fourth hour, and by the lunch-break I had established an unshakeable white-square grip. The possibility of a triple tie went when Dr. Aitken conceded a draw soon after resumption, while Wheeler’s hopes were gradually eliminated as follows (from the diagrammed position): [

Burnett, the 1967 title-holder, would have gained the British Championship qualifying place if I had drawn the final game. He came up strongly after an uncertain start and was particularly severe with the young challengers Holloway and Hutchings. Here is how he beat the latter—the opening is obscure.

Other Sections

Challengers—(1) Trefor F Thynne (Teignmouth) 5/6; (2) Richard H K Mann (Wareham) 4½; (3) Christopher J Hutchings (Bristol) 4; (4-7) R A Kendall (Bristol), Frank C Kingdon (Weymouth), Philip K Trussler (Keynsham), (William) George Whitaker (Stroud) 3; (8-9) J Anderson (Weymouth), I R Pickup (Bristol) 2½; (10-11) P H Jones (Bristol), J F Thorley (Plymouth) 2; (12) Anthony M M Hurman (Weston-super-Mare) 1½.

Reserves—(1) P J Smith (Bristol) 5/6; (2) G Nash (Weymouth) 4½; (3) L J Guard (Plymouth) 3½; (4-6) John Churchill Brodie Date (Cheltenham), B W Fletcher (Bristol), Nigel Melville Hamlin (Gloucester) 3; (7-8) Mrs. C Williams (Corsham), D A Harper (Midsomer Norton) 2½; (9) Miss Margaret Eleanor Lander (Gillingham, Dorset) 2; (10) A E Giles (Swindon) 1.

Open Championship—(1) Terence Douglas Crawford (Norwich) 4/5; (2) R Alan Barton (Bristol) 3½; (3-5) Hugh Edward Guy Courtney (Malvern), A Hardy (Manchester), Prabir K Nandi (Bristol) 3; (6) G L Pritchard (Southampton) 2; (7) E A Copeman (Kidderminster) 1½; (8) Sydney Gothard (Burton-on-Trent) 0.

Junior (Under 18) Championship—(1) Geoffrey P Lawrence (Plymouth) 5½/6; (2) Robin Jonathan Pearce (Redruth) 4; (3-5) James M Dentith (Brixham), Peter E Halmkin (Dawlish), J O Williams (Paignton) 3½; (6-7) C Reed (Camborne), R T White (Truro) 3; (8) Robin F G Kneebone (Truro) 2½; (9) R Cook (Camborne) 1½; (10) Margaret A Skuse (Bristol) 0.

Minor (Under 15) Championship—(1) Nicholas Webber (Street, aged 14) 3½/5; (2) D Bagshaw (Bristol) 3; (3-4) Richard Bloodworth (Plymouth), C Gilbey (Plymouth) 2½; (5) Christopher D Barling (Teignmouth) 2; (6) M Matthews (Teignmouth) 1½.

All-Play-All—(1) C A Gray (Lincoln) 4½/5; (2) F Grumbley (Southampton) 3½; (3) C Stevenson (Devizes) 3; (4) D J Forth (Huntingdon) 2½; (5) Cmdr. Harold Hurrell (Weymouth) 1½; (6) R E Rawlings (London) 0.

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File Updated

Date

Notes

9 July 2023

Original upload of 25 games. The three main sources for West of England Championship (WECU-ch) games have been: (1) games submitted by David LeMoir, 31 January 2018, for which many thanks; (2) Dr. Aitken games collection; (3) collection of Alan Ashby games, Bristol & District Chess League website. I am also grateful to David LeMoir for sending an image of the crosstable, from which the above has been constructed.