UK Results: 1998

London Open TT 31/12/98-03/01/99

The 25th Open was again sponsored by HITACHI and attended by 150 players at the usual venue the Highbury Round House community centre. This year two lady professionals were present: Liu Yajie from China and Nam Chihyoung from Korea. The top group of players was quite strong this year. After six rounds the European GP points were awarded to Lee Hyuk (15), Guo Juan (12), F. von Arnim (10), V. Chow (8), J. Finke and M. Cocke (5.5), E. Nijhuis (4), S. Zhang (3), M. Macfadyen (2), and J. Rickard (1).

Lee, Guo, Zhang and von Arnim made the cut. Guo beat her earlier vanquisher Lee in an exciting final so top five places went to: 1 Guo, 2 Lee, 3 Felix von Arnim, 4 Emil Nijhuis, 5 Vincent Chow.

Players on 7/8 were Theo Elliott (24k UK) and P-E. Martin (3k S). On 6/8: Shawn Hearn (23k UK), Walter Wandel (4k NL), G. Kreutz (4k D), D. Mechtenberg (3k D), David Woodnutt (1d UK). All players on 5/8 got a certificate.

The Lightning Tournament was won by South Africa's Vincent Chow (5d), second was last winner Emil Nijhuis (5d NL). Continuous 9x9 winners were Kai Gogl, Jonathan Chetwynd, Tim Hunt and Shawn Hearn (Under 13).

West Surrey Handicap 06/12/98

58 players took part this year and it is always interesting to see if the pupils and teachers from the day before do well. Certainly some of the teachers were amongst the winners and Tony Atkins (2d Reading) was the tournament winner. Also winning 4/4 were France Ellul (3k High Wycombe), Graham Horsley (12k West Surrey) and Elizabeth Wayte (32k Brakenhale). Three clubs dominated those on 3/4: Epsom Downs' Rolland Halliwell (16k), Philip Tedder (7k), David Pemberton (3k) and Paul Margetts (1 dan); Worcester's Tom Blockley (4k) and Ed Blockley (2k); Bournemouth's Neil Cleverly (5k), Kevin Drake (1k) and Marcus Bennett (1d losing finalist). Also on 3/4 were Geoff Kaniuk (1k CLGC), Dave Cohen (5k Hursley), Roger Daniel (4k Hampstead), Shawn Hearn (23k Braken- hale), Nigel Peters (30k u/a) and Lucie Elliott (30k Brakenhale). In the event's continuous 13x13 the highest number of wins were scored by Steve Ashing, the best percentage by Theo Elliott and for persistence Aaron Dixson. Winners in the code breaking quiz were Alex Bruckner and 3.19.3.4 (Tony Atkins). The day before, 31 pupils and 6 teachers assembled at Burpham Village Hall for four hour-long sessions on various topics. Yajie Liu (2p) analysed some of the pupils' games. Des Cann studied some professional games, Tony Atkins studied some openings, Tom Blockley and Paul Margetts taught some life and death, Simon Goss analysed some middle game positions, plus many other aspects of the game.

Swindon 22/11/98

Paul Barnard arrived back from Thailand just in time to run it and he went back to Thailand a week later. 79 players attended the new venue near the town centre. The winner was Matthew Macfadyen and others on 3/3 were Dan Gilder (2 dan Manchester), Niculae Mandache (1 dan Bristol) Roger Murby (20 kyu Bristol) and Phil White (30 kyu Plymouth). On 2.5 were David Woodnutt (1 dan OU) and Dan Micsa (1 dan Reading).

National Small Board (Cambridge) 15/11/98

The 1998 British Small Board Championship had 20 entrants. The winner was Mike Charles (2d St Albans), who won a rapid play-off game against Alan Thornton (also 2d St Albans) after both players had finished on 5/6. There were five other prizewinners, all on 4/6: David Ward (3d Cambridge), Alex Selby (3d Cambridge), Hermann Tittel (16k Cambridge), Aaron Dixson (22k Brakenhale) and Shawn Hearn (24k Brakenhale). The competition was held as part of the Cambridge Junior Chess and Go Club 2nd Annual Congress, which also included junior and adult chess sections. The event as a whole attracted 114 competitors. There was a 9x9 Go competition as a side event between rounds. This was very popular - 40 children and 2 adults entered, many of them chess players who had not played Go before. The top placings were determined by number of wins. These were Hereward Mills (Bedford) 10 wins; Alexander Foster (Cambridge) 7 wins; Kristopher Gray (Ely), Aaron Dixson (Brakenhale) and William Brooks (Cambridge) 6 wins; Hannah Edwards (Finborough) and Daniel Rowson (Cambridge) 5 wins.

Three Peaks 07/11/98-08/11/98

Organisers Toby Manning and Sue Pitchford had a record entry of 44. The prizes were presented by Colin Elsdon of the Marton Arms. He said that the fund to buy cutting equipment for the fire service had achieved its objective, but the Marton Arms continues to raise funds, now for the Ingleton Ambulance Station. All proceeds from this tournament went to this. Many of the prizes were bottles of Riggwelter, which is a strong North Yorkshire beer. It's also a sheep that has fallen on its side. Apparently this is a serious matter for a sheep, as they can't get up again without help. The trophy is miniature go ban donated by Graham Telfer. The Winner with 5/5 was Francis Roads and the Runner-up (4/5) was Toby Manning. On 5/5 was Alison Ewens (10 kyu, OU) and on 4/5: Tom Joldersma (4 kyu, Lytham St Annes), Paul Kersay (6 kyu, York) amd Gary Beman (13 kyu, Leamington). The Souvenir Spoon (not wooden) for 0/5 went to Paul Cannock. Kirsty Healey was awarded a prize because she won 3 of the first four rounds. In the fifth round her result proved too difficult to determine, since her neighbour had been using her prisoners to play on the next board and nobody thought of counting it Chinese style.

Wessex 25/10/98

The 29th Wessex Tournament was held as usual in Marlborough Town Hall on the day the clocks went back. The day was bright which was a lucky change from the wind and rain of the day before. The food and atmosphere was the same as ever, but there was more new faces than old ones this year. Nearly a fifth of the 100 players were from Brakenhale School for instance. This year Matthew Macfadyen was the top player; the previous two winners (Rickard and Goddard) were absent, Alex Rix did not shine, three times winner T.Mark Hall had a good try at beating Macfadyen and it was Cambridge's Song-June Kim who had the honour of playing the final. However the 6 dan from Leamington won the game and got his sixth entry on the Wessex Trophy. The rest of the prizes of ceramic black and white go stone tiles were awarded by division, mostly on very tight tie breaks. Winners with 3/4 were: Ian McAnally (30 kyu Manchester), Shawn Hearn (25 kyu Brakenhale), Richard Court (8 kyu Bristol), Francis Weaver (6 kyu Brakenhale). With 4/4 Paul Clarke (1 kyu High Wycombe) and Nick Mandache (1 dan Bristol). Tied on 3/4 in Division 2 were John Fairbairn (2 dan London) and Alan Thornton (2 dan St. Albans). The Fred Guyatt 13x13 Trophy went Alistair Brooks of Swindon for 14 wins. Portsmouth got the team prize with 70 percent.

Shrewsbury Tournament 04/10/98

A record 64 attended Shrewsbury despite the dismal weather spoiling the attractive riverside setting for only the second time. Simon Shiu (4 dan Bristol) beat Matthew Macfadyen (6 dan Leamington) in the first round, but Simon lost to Des Cann in round 3. Therefore Des Cann (4 dan Leamington) was the winner for the second time also. Simon was rewarded with a runner up prize. Prizes for 3/3 went to Niculae Mandache (1 dan Bristol), Henry Segerman (1 kyu Manchester). Paula Maneggia (17 kyu Birmingham), Darren Fairbrother (27 kyu Brakenhale) and Shawn Hearn (27 kyu Brakenhale). The team prize was shared between Brumgo and the young players from Brakenhale. Ian Sharpe won the first entry prize.

Milton Keynes 19/09/98

64 players attended this Milton Keynes Tournament, held as usual at the Open University. Des Cann (4 dan Leamington) won this year; he beat John Rickard (4 dan Cambridge) in round 3. Prizes for 3/3 went to Frank Visser (4 kyu Cambridge), Alexander Bell (4 kyu Portsmouth), Shawn Hearn (29 kyu Brakenhale). The lowest graded 2/3s got prizes too: Nichola Hurden (16 kyu Brakenhale), Gary Beman (14 kyu Leamington) and Yvonne Margetts (10 kyu Epsom Downs). In a room not far away the title match was held which give the players a chance to have help in analysing from the tournament participants after the game.

Northern, Manchester 12/09/98-13/09/98

Only 47 players took part in this year's Northern in Manchester. Winner was the young Chinese player from London, Michael Zhang (3 dan). He beat second placed player John Rickard (4 dan Cambridge) in round 1 and then beat T.Mark Hall (4 dan London) in a crucial round 4 clash. T.Mark lost to John in the last round to take third place ahead of Francis Roads (4 dan Wanstead). Richard Moulds of Manchester (12 kyu) was the only player apart from Michael to win all his games. All the kyu players on 4/6 were awarded prizes , namely: Steve Jones (1 kyu Isle of Man), Henry Segerman (1 kyu Manchester), Fred Holroyd (2 kyu Open University), Brian Timmins (3 kyu Shrewsbury), Tony Pitchford (6 kyu Chester), Jim Edwards (6 kyu High Wycombe) and Gary Beman (17 kyu Leamington).

Devon 05/07/98

22 players mostly from the South-West of England attended the fourth Devon Tournament held again at Dartmoor's Woodlands Hotel under the shadow of Hay Tor. The winner was as last year Antonio Moreno (4 dan Bristol). Runner up was Tony Atkins (2 dan Reading). Winning three out of three were John Culmer (1 kyu West Cornwall) and Richard Helyer (8 kyu Oxford). Also winning a polished wood go stone was youngest player David Collins (30 kyu South Cotswold).

Welsh Open 27/06/98-28/06/98

Only 38 players attended this year's Welsh Open at Barmouth; it was a pity that more lower graded players were not there (with or without their families) as the weather was the best it has been in recent years. Winner as usual was Matthew Macfadyen (6 dan Leamington). Winners of tasteless male Hells Angels statuettes were Francis Roads (4 dan Wanstead), Ruud Stoelman (1 dan NL), Steve Jones (1 kyu Isle of Man), Kirsty Healey (1 kyu Leamington) and Bill Streeten (4 kyu Wanstead). The continuous lightning was won by Alison Jones (2 dan Wanstead) ahead of Bill Streeten. As usual nowadays, Leamington won the team prize.

Leicester 13/06/98

54 players attended Leicester this year. A change of main organisers saw the end of the popular quiz but a well run event just the same. Winner was Matthew Macfadyen (6 dan Leamington) who remembered to return the cup this time. Second was Simon Shiu (4 dan Bristol) and third was Andrew Grant (2 dan Open University) who won 3/3. Fourth was Cao Xinjin from China. Helen Harvey (1 kyu Manchester) and Michael Marz (1 dan Birmingham) won 3/3; Leamington won the team prize with a 70 percent record.

Scottish Open 23/05/98-24/05/98

23 players went to a sunny west end of Glasgow to play the Scottish Open. Those who did not come missed pizza in the park and the Chinese restaurant trip. Winner was British Champion Matthew Macfadyen (6 dan Leamington). Second was Shi Xiaming (4 dan Edinburgh) on 4/6. Tom Joldersma (4 kyu Lancaster) was the only other prize winner for 5/6.

British Pair Go 17/05/98

The Crossroads Hotel at Weedon Northamptonshire was again the venue and the last time the current organisers were to run it. Winning Pair was Matthew Macfadyen and Kirsty Healey who held on to the title by beating Des Cann and Sue Paterson in the last round. Des and Sue look like being the 1998 representatives at the World Pair Go in Tokyo being the best placed of the teams with top qualifying points. The handicap section winners were Pauline and Steve Bailey despite arriving late after car trouble.

Bracknell 09/05/98

62 players found their way to the Brownlow Memorial Hall. Winner was Michael Zhang (3 dan CLGC). On 3/3 were Eric Hall (3 kyu Swindon), Bill Streeten (4 kyu Wanstead), Graham Lamont (7 kyu Portsmouth), Nick Gonzalez (15 kyu Reading) and James Taylor (20 kyu Epsom Downs). Winner of the 13x13 based on a points system was David Grimster (16 kyu Bracknell).

Bar-Low (Cambridge) 03/05/98

32 kyu players fought over five rounds and ended with a four-way tie between Nick Wedd (Oxford), Jonathan Chin (Cambridge), Pengfei He (Cambridge) and Robert Salkeld, all 1 kyu. Robert Beigler (10k Newcastle) also won 4/5. An innovation was voting for the level at which the bar should be set. The organisers found that they could reasonably set it at either 3-kyu or at 5-kyu, so they asked the 4- and 5-kyus to vote. They voted nem. con. to put themselves above the bar; and justified this by playing well against the 1-kyus.

Challenger's League 02/05/98-04/05/98

This year the format of the Challenger's League was a 24 player tournament over six rounds on three days with 2 hour time limits. The worthy 24 were selected by their position last year, their five dan grade, their being our representative at the World Amateur or by their coming in the top half of the Candidates' Tournament. This meant no less than four 5 dans, down to three strong 1 kyus. The final ordering after tie breaking was: Shaw (6/6); Cocke, Goddard (5/6); Matthews, Shepperson, Cann, Roads (4/6); Clare (3.5/6). The best on 3/6 were Hall, Martin Smith (soon to be 2 dan), Wall and Ward.

British Go Congress, Chester 17/04/98-19/04/98

For the 31st British Go Congress a break was made with tradition, abandoning schools and colleges and venturing into industry. British Aerospace, Chester, provided the venue allowing use of their spacious work's dining hall. The congress was also the first ever held in Wales (about two miles across the border) and also the first not to provide on site accommodation. Battle commenced with the British Lightning run by Tony Atkins and his playing card draw system; exactly 32 players made this work especially well. All vied to get the Ace of Hearts and for the second year the player with this lucky card at the end of five rounds was Des Cann (4 dan Leamington). Others with the cards for four wins were losing finalist Michael Marz (1 dan Birmingham), Michael Zhang (2 dan London), Paul Barnard (1 dan Swindon), T. Mark Hall (4 dan London) and Baron Allday (1 dan West Wales). 74 players took part in the British Open. This year the grade range was remarkably small, from 6 dan to 12 kyu only. Nine of the players this year had an added interest as the top eight women would score points towards trips to the Women's World amateur. The separate qualifying tournament of previous years was replaced by the Ladies Go and Social Weekend held in March in Leamington Spa and featuring training by Guo Juan. Matthew Macfadyen won all six to take the British Open title to go with his British one. Francis Roads won five to hold second place. Three players of the top group ended on four out of six. As the top four places received trophies from KNTO a tie break had to be done. Third went to Chinese 3 dan from Scotland Xiaoning Shi, fourth was Des Cann and fifth was T.Mark Hall. Patrice Vicente (4 kyu) won 4 with one draw to win a prize. Two players won a creditable five namely Ron Bell (9 kyu Reading) and Dave Skidmore (12 kyu Nottingham). The Nippon Club Team Cup went to Leamington Spa who narrowly squeezed out Reading into second. Runaway winner in the continuous 13x13 was Anna Griffiths (8 kyu Maidenhead) with 10/12; Jo Hampton (2 dan West Wales) was rewarded too for scoring 9.5/18 in a vain attempt to catch Anna. Winner of the Terry Stacey Grand Prix for the most games won "above the bar" in the year was Francis Roads. Runner up was Matthew Macfadyen. Winner of the WKD title (most losses by a 2 dan) was Tony Atkins.

Bournemouth 04/04/98

No player stronger than 2 dan entered this year's Bournemouth at West Parley Village Hall. Alan Thornton (2 dan St. Albans) got his first ever tournament win. The others of the 38 going away with engraved drinking glasses were Alex Bell (4 kyu Portsmouth), Jim Edwards (6 kyu Wycombe) and D. Smeed (14 kyu Hursley) for 3/3, and Peter Fisher for entering first.

Candidates' Tournament 14/03/98-15/03/98

The new format for the British Championship saw a four-round Candidates' held at the Nippon Club in Piccadilly, London. 20 players from 3 dan to 1 kyu entered. In order to get reserves in case of an odd number, a small side event of 4 players was run, which included Francis Roads at 4 dan and stronger than any in the main section. The top 9 were: on 4/4 Martin Smith (1 dan), Jim Clare (3 dan); on 3/4 Phil Achard (1 dan and just recovered from pneumonia), Tony Atkins (2 dan) and Bill Brakes (3 dan), Jay Rastall (2 dan); on 2/4 Simon Goss (2 dan), Geoff Kaniuk (1 kyu), David Keeble (1 dan).

Cambridge Trigantius 01/03/98

69 players took part in this year's event held, as usual, in the University Centre, on a pleasant sunny day. The strongest players were attracted by the prize money supplied by Hitachi and going to the winner and best kyu player. The tournament was won jointly by Matthew Cocke (5 dan), the defending champion, and by Des Cann (4 dan, Leamington Spa). They both beat local Korean players Seong- June Kim (6 dan) and Yongcheol Shin (4 dan). Matthew's third win was against Francis Roads (4 dan, Wanstead) and Des's was against Charles Matthews (3 dan, Cambridge). There were two winners as the organisers elected to have more than eight players above the bar. The best kyu player was Ian Marsh (1 kyu, Bracknell). The other prize-winners (for 3/3) were Martin Harvey (2 kyu, Manchester), Jim Edwards (7 kyu, High Wycombe), Sarah Jackson (8 kyu, Hursley) and James Murray (18 kyu, Cambridge). The team competition was won yet again by a Cambridge team. The "Untouchables III" were Mark Dalgarno (5 kyu), Matthew Woodcraft (2 kyu), Mark Worthington (7 kyu) and Robert Salkeld (1 kyu). They finished on exactly 50% which was enough to beat the other 2 teams who bothered to enter. The continuous 13x13 competition was won by the national under-12 champion William Brooks (14 kyu, Cambridge). He won a massive 15 wins out of 18 and came close to winning a prize in the main tournament too. In the 12-player beginner tournament the winner was Simon Bray.

Oxford 07/02/98

Any memories of badly run Oxford Tournaments have been completely wiped away by the pleasant memories from the 1998 event. The town released control back to gown and the event returned to St. Edmund Hall after a long break. A very able group of students ran a very smooth tournament unlike the memorable disaster at the same college some years ago. Oxford Heritage Games Shop, conveniently sited across the road from the college, helped by running a book stall and providing some of the prizes. There was a slight worry that the playing areas were noisy, one being next to the television room showing rugby and the other being the college dining room, but this hardly bothered the 90 players taking part. Winner this year was the British Champion Matthew Macfadyen (6 dan, Leamington). Others winning prizes for 3/3 were Simon Shiu (3 dan, Bristol), Bob Bagot (2 dan, Manchester), Ian Marsh (1 kyu, Bracknell), Martin Harvey (2 kyu, Manchester), Mathias Kegelmann (2 kyu, Birmingham), Peter Shiu (2 kyu, Loughborough), Yvonne Margetts (12 kyu, Epsom Downs), David Pearce (20 kyu, Oxford), Claas Roever (20 kyu, Oxford) and Oliver Edwards (26 kyu, High Wycombe). Malcolm Hagan (11 kyu, Portsmouth) also won a prize for 2.5/3.

Furze Platt, Maidenhead 24/01/98

The Furze Platt Tournament was again held at Hitachi Europe's headquarters in Maidenhead. Again thanks to their sponsorship there was a buffet lunch and prizes to all with two or more wins. Local knowledge was important as a quiz on Berkshire and Furze Platt Go Club was set; winner was Reading's Tony Atkins and second Steve and Pauline Bailey from Guildford. 75 players took part in the tournament, down on the previous year as the Manx group were unable to get there. So few was a shame as Hitachi's generosity means a free buffet lunch and prizes to all with two or more. T. Mark Hall (4 dan) won the event again, but had to point out to the organisers that this was not is third win in a row as the trophy omitted to record Harold Lee's win in 1996. Others who won 3/3 were Stephen Ashing (6 kyu West Surrey), Francis Weaver (7 kyu Brakenhale), Tony Lyall (8 kyu Norwich), Malcolm Hagan (12 kyu Portsmouth), Neil Moffatt (12 kyu Portsmouth), Neil Ings (15 kyu Brakenhale), Eike Ritter (16 kyu D) and Aaron Dickson (30 kyu Brakenhale). No less than 33 players won 2/3 namely F. Roads, A. Wall, J. Clare, A. Jones, T. Atkins, S. Goss, A. Grant, A. Thornton, B. Allday, P. Barnard, C. Hendrie, P. Margetts, M. Marz, D. Micsa, P. Clarke, K. Drake, J. Hamilton, I. Marsh, S. Bailey, M. Kegelmann, J. Keller, M. Nash, M. Vetter, M. Solity, A. Bell, E. Best, E. Brooks, D. Cohen, K. Cole, M. Goss, N. Hurden and S. Hearn. Brakenhale's "A Team" of Nicola Hurden (17 kyu), Aaron Dickson (39 kyu) and Shawn Hearn (30 kyu) won 100 percent to win the team prize. Aaron also won the continuous 9x9 with 9/9 and other prizes went to Jiri Keller, Steve Ashing, Peter Fisher and Mike Charles.