1976 (31st) West of England (WECU) Championship, Weston-super-Mare, 15-19 April 1976

1976 West of England (WECU) Championship		Residence	BCF Grade	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
1	Derek Maurice Wise	Gloucester	204	w13+	b5=	w4=	b8=	w7=	+	w3+	5
2	Shaun M Taulbut	Malmesbury	185j	w4=	+	w5=	b9+	b12+	b3-	w8+	5
3	Leon P Burnett	Weston-super-Mare	191				b7=	b5=	w2+	b1-	4½
4	Peter H Clarke	Holsworthy	217	b2=	+	b1=	w5-	w18+	b7=	w12+	4½
5	James Macrae Aitken	Cheltenham	187	w19+	w1=	b2=	b4+	w3=	b8-	w7=	4
6	Alan P Ashby	Bristol	208					w20+		w14+	4
7	David A LeMoir	Patchway	197	b11+	w9-	b10+	w3=	b1=	w4=	b5=	4
8	Maurice J Staples	Bridgwater	190				w1=	b9=	w5+	b2-	4
9	George W Wheeler	Plymouth	188		b7+		w2-	w8=			4
10	John Crowle Cock	Cheltenham	177			w7-		w15+			3½
11	Ivan P Legg	Gloucester	181	w7-			w17+				3½
12	Philip James Meade	Cheltenham	187			w17-		w2-		b4-	3½
13	James R Boyce	Bristol	189	b1-	b17-						3
14	Maximilian E Poolake	Bristol	171							b6-	3
15	Trefor F Thynne	Teignmouth	176					b10-	w17+		3
16	Philip E Walker	Weston-super-Mare								w19+	3
17	William Donald Lowe	Corsham	163		w13+	b12+	b11-		b15-		2½
18	Robert H Northage	Bath	193					b4-			2½
19	(Brian) Peter A Andrews	Southampton	174j	b5-						b16-	2
20	J Anderson	Weymouth	182					b6-			1½

n.b. I have not been able to trace detailed round results for this tournament in the chess press or national/regional newspapers in order to complete the above crosstable. If anyone can provide this information, please let me know.

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A C Brown's report in the Western Daily Press, 23 April 1976; later used in part for 'Westward Ho' (WECU Bulletin), June 1976

The West of England Chess Union's 31st annual Easter Congress was as warm and friendly as the weather last week-end at the Town Hall, Weston-Super-Mare. All ran smoothly thanks, in the main, to E.G. Walker who, for 14 years, has been prime organiser and to R. O. Powis for his admirable control of the events. Many thanks too, must go to Mrs Walker and her band of anonymous helpers who provided such an excellent refreshment service with a host of home-made goodies at a very modest cost. The prizes were presented by Mrs. F. C. Kingdon, wife of the President, who was presented with a token of appreciation from the players by Catherine Hutchings, the Girls Championship winner. One sad note was the announcement by Mr. Walker that it would most likely be his last Championship. As he is retiring from work this year, he has decided that enough is enough, and is looking for a successor.

Chanpionship: Going into the final round, L P Bumett led by ½ point, at 4½ over M.J. Staples. S Taulbut and D.M. Wlse, but a win by Wise over Burnett and Taulbut over Staples left these two tieing for the champlonship. This is the third time in four years that Derek Wise has got his name on the Cup, this time in company with Shaun Taulbut who has come top for the first time. Results: (1-2) S Taulbut (Marlborough) and D M Wise (Gloucester) 5/7; (3-4) L P Burnett (Somerset) and P H Clarke (Bude) 4½; (5-9) J M Aitken (Cheltenham), A P Ashby (Bristol), D A LeMoir (Gloucester), M J Staples (Somerset), G W Wheeler (Plymouth) 4.

Challengers. S Williams took the lead in the third round by ½ point and managed to hold on to it although challenged to the end by S Street and K S Shipton. Results: (1) Stephen Williams (Plymouth) 5/6; (2-3) S Street (Poole), K S Shipton (Bath) 4½; (4-9) Christopher J V Bellers (Taunton), Anthony J Berry (Southampton), P E Halmkin (Dawlish), Mrs Margaret E E Clarke (Bude), C Gilbey (Weymouth), H G Thomas (Nailsea) 3½; (10-11) Stephen J Shutler (Poole), B T King (Weston) 3; (12-17) Ronnie Burton (Weymouth), Henry James Draisey (Bristol). J M Hutchings (Plymouth), Roy C Last (Painswick), Stephen William Maggs (Bristol), K S Schofield (Budleigh Salterton) 2½; (18-19) Ivor S Annetts (Dawlish), R Hitchcock (Exeter) 1½; (20) John Churchill Brodie Date (Cheltenham) 1.

Reserves. J A Tuck led from start to finish, had a clean score and had won with a round to spare. Results: (1) Jonathan A Tuck (Bath) 6/6; (2-3) R Maishman (Burnham), D S Reed (Bristol) 4; (4-6) J W Collins (Portishead), M J Davies (Bristol), David G Woodruff (Keynsham) 3½; (7-9) J F Chambers (Totnes), Michael G Powis (Stroud), William A Shutler (Poole) 3; (10-11) P Mant (Weymouth), D J White (Bath) 2½; (12-15) G Amos (Bristol), R M Morgan (Weston), J H Olive (Bristol), W R Provis (Helston) 2; (16) D R Gough (Weston) 1½.

Open. Here the Union's president proved that he is more than just a figurehead by tying with J P Knee for first place. Results: (1-2) F C Kingdon (Weymouth), J P Knee (Malvern) 4½; (3) J A R Cousins (Bristol) 4; (4) Roger Hardy (King's Lynn) 3½; (5) R Alan Barton (Bristol) 2½; (6) R J Nash (Boston) 2; (7-8) C L Bray (London), A R Wills (Exeter) 1½.

Junior. T Headlong and D A Hick were tieing through rounds 5 and 6. An early win for Hick in in the final round left Headlong with the knowledge that only a win would do, but he faltered at the last and had to settle for a draw. Results: (1) D A Hick (Taunton) 6½; (2) T Headlong (Paulton) 6; (3) S Blackford (St Ives) 3½; (4-6) P Board (Weston), M V House (Bristol), S P Wrixon (Corfe) 3; (7) S K Dean (Sidmouth) 2; (8) N Ancell (Swindon) 1.

Minor. D Spurgeon won this one with a round to spare; (1) D Spurgeon 5½; (2-4) M A Hick (Taunton), C Brooks, (Bristol), A Yeoman (Bristol) 4½; (5-6) P Norris (Bristol), S Pike (Burnham) 4; (7-10) T Preece (Churchdown), R Southcombe (Weston), I Cragg (Weymouth), P House (Bristol) 3; (11-15) C Bradbeer (Bristol), K House (Bristol), N Miller (Weston), G Norris (Bristol) H Norris (Bristol) 2; (16) N Williams (Bristol) 0.

Girls. (1) Catherine Hutchings (Plymouth) 9; (2) Carol Perrett (Bristol) 7½; (3-4) Jane Blackford (St Ives), Kim Smith (Bristol) 5; (5) Sally Yeoman (Bristol) 3; (6) Julie Smith (Bristol) ½.

All-play-all A: (1) A D Wood (Burnham) 4; (2) G McKinley (Bridgwater) 3½; (3) D W Blackford (St Ives) 2½; (4) E J Clarke (Weymouth) 2; (5-6) C M Oliver (Cheltenham), R J Gouldsworthy (Cheltenham) 1½.

All-Play-All B: (1) Wilfred G Oliver (Cheltenham) 5/5; (2) P T Guyan (Portishead) 3; (3) M J Boag (Exeter) 2½; (4) M Knight (Stroud) 2; (5) I R Hickinbotham (Nailsworth) 1½; (6) Miss M J Goodwin (Poole) 1.

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File Updated

Date	Notes
30 January 2026	Original upload of 33 games. Two main sources for West of England Championship games have been: (1) games submitted by David LeMoir, 31 January 2018, for which many thanks; (2) Dr. Aitken games collection.
30 January 2026	Added a game from the Minor Championship: S Pike 1-0 I Cragg.