Ngoc-Trang Cao also wins the Northern

The Bank of East Asia (BEA) generously provided the central Manchester venue for the 2014 Northern. The tournament-winner was Ngoc-Trang Cao (1d), from France, enjoying a purple patch after her win in Belfast just a few days beforehand. The runner-up was also female, Ewa Mos (1d) from Poland who lives here and is a regular attendee at Manchester Go Club. 'Girl Power' thus ruled the roost, with three male players losing out on SOS.

Also winning prizes were Tony Pitchford (10k Chester) for 2.5 wins, and the organiser and club secretary Chris Kirkham (3k Manchester) for 3 wins.

The reduced entry fee probably was a major cause for the increase in numbers to 34, and substantial sponsorship of the prize fund by Sam Properties led to seven of these players being dans - a significantly better proportion than in recent Northerns. Thanks go to local player Peter Yim for arranging such a valuable boost to the event (one of the BGA's most longstanding tournaments, run continuously since 1975).

Results