Glasgow Allegro

Queen Margaret (QM) Students' Union

February 16, 2008

report by Trevor Davies

The results were as follows:

Open:

1= Andy Muir, Philip Giulian, Michael Green (5/6)

Runners-up were Alan Tate & Steve Hilton (4)

Grading: Daniel Rocks (2.5)

Prize fund (£80, 40, 20, 15(grading)]

 

After round 3, only Andy Muir and Philip Giulian were on full points and in their 4 th round clash the latter emerged victorious. However, Michael Green (after his 2 nd round loss to Alan Tate) overcame Phil in their last-round game to share first place. Meanwhile, Andy finished strongly to join these two on 5 points.

Steve Hilton's participation in the tournament (finishing just outside the prize-winners) was made possible by the generous assistance of Richard Wiltshire. The organizers are also much indebted to Lara Barnes who entered the tournament at the last minute to ensure that no player would have a “bye”.

(18 players)

Major:

1. Norman Lindsay (6/6)

2= James Cunningham, Richard Heathwood, Tony Dunlop (4.5)

Prize fund (£80, 40, 20, 15(grading)]

Norman Lindsay, in top form, stormed through the field. At the end of round 5, only Joe Watson was within touching distance (on 4/5) but after coming second-best in their last round game, fell out of the prize list. Remarkably, no one in the top half of the rankings had amassed enough points to join the three runners-up (who also shared the grading prize for the best performance of players ranked in the lower half of the tournament).

(30 players)

Minor:

1. Simon Kerridge (5.5)

2. Ladislav Prucek (5)

3. Alice Lampard (4.5)

Grading: Taylor Panton (4)

Primary: Ross MacAllister (2) & Alex McCabe (2)

Prize fund (£80, 40, 20, 15(grading), 20(Primary)]

Simon Kerridge started with a (prophetic?) draw against Alice Lampard. By the end of Round 4, the un-graded Ladislav Prucek was leading the field, but the position was reversed when Simon won their encounter in Round 5. Meanwhile, Alice had moved steadily up the field with a further two draws and two wins. All three won their final-round games to move clear ahead of the chasing pack. As in the Major, the correlation between players' rankings and performances on the day was not very strong. The performance of the youngsters, Alice Lampard and Taylor Panton, was extremely impressive: Alice went one better than last year when she took the grading prize with a score of 3.5/6. The special prize for the best performance by a child of Primary School age (kindly donated to the event by an anonymous benefactor) was shared between Ross MacAllister & Alexander McCabe (2/6), both taking part in a senior event for the first time. (27 players)

Although fewer took part this year, the event continues to attract players from a wide area. While about 60% of competitors stay in the Greater Glasgow area, a few travelled from as far afield as the Borders, Perth and Dumfries . A sizeable contingent also travelled from the Edinburgh area and Ayrshire. The questionnaire revealed many useful comments which we can use to ensure that the event continues to meet the needs of the players.

Finally, many thanks to Sam Collins, Andy Howie & Alex McFarlane.

Trevor Davies