Report – 29 February 2008
St David’s Day
Revenge for the Barbarians
Tonight was a disaster for the Welsh. Defending their win in the St David’s Day team event the Welsh failed to reach the Barbarian score even with an extra player. Adorned with daffodils the Cymru Nation stormed in but were massacred by claims for illegal moves and other underhand tactics.
The tournament
The highlight of the tournament was that for the second year running, Brian lost four games after claims by his opponents for illegal moves (refer to 2007 tournament). Apart from this Brendan managed to gain the most points and even with handicaps still managed to finish first. It was a bitter experience for the Welsh that the prize winner was totally unaware of the significance of the prize and when presented with the sacred leek asked (in true Barbarian fashion) with a tone of disgust: “What is it? A fish?” The facial expression of the winner told it all, and the club can only hope for a more worthy winner next year.
Chess-wise, one highlight was seeing the Olympic Champion leave her queen en pris and then go down several more pieces until a long delayed Olympic-style resignation was offered. The slayer of the Olympic Champion met his own match when John Roper won his only game – hubris had allowed his opponent to note down some quotes while the first minute of his clock ticked down. An unstoppable checkmate in the corner fiver minutes later was the result.
Josh was the player who most played above himself with five wins against adults, including Greg, Russell and Ray among his victims. He deservedly attained second place in the tournament. Nathan attained his 50% objective and some more to claim third place. The time controls were not a major factor in deciding games, however some players more attuned to Fischer time controls were caught out at the end of their games with the Bronstein 3 second increments. On a day like this, having an unusual – dare we say eccentric! – time control is part of the mix of the evening.
Overall it was a good social evening with no dramas requiring arbiter intervention, and a friendly round-robin where each player had a game against all of the other entrants.
Wait! Wait! There has been some last minute correspondence…
An observation from an elderly Welsh patriot:
I just want it put on record that the treatment of the Welsh by The Gap was deeply racially discriminatory and I will be instructing James to have the Supreme Court overturn the result. I will also be sending a report to the Welsh Assembly on the unacceptable treatment of a national symbol. Quite apart from the lack of enthusiasm by the winner at his prize there was a flood of leek jokes. There was also a disturbing lack of respect shown the aged and their plight.
St David’s Day tournament standings
All players to play 10 games
|
No. |
Draw No. |
NAME |
|
POINTS |
plus |
TOTAL |
|
1 |
8 |
Brendan Griffen |
B |
11½ |
0.36 |
11.86 |
|
2 |
11 |
Josh Ford |
B |
5 |
5.76 |
10.76 |
|
3 |
1 |
Nathan Shaw |
B |
7½ |
2.69 |
10.19 |
|
4 |
13 |
Andrew Robinson |
W |
10 |
0.00 |
10.00 |
|
5 |
7 |
Kieran Lyons |
B |
9 |
0.96 |
9.96 |
|
6 |
12 |
Ray Adams |
W |
8½ |
1.45 |
9.95 |
|
7 |
4 |
Mark Taylor |
W |
5½ |
4.34 |
9.84 |
|
8 |
6 |
Russell Lyons |
B |
7 |
2.38 |
9.38 |
|
9 |
9 |
Jonathan Bester |
W |
5 |
3.96 |
8.96 |
|
10 |
3 |
Greg Colwell |
W |
4 |
3.06 |
7.06 |
|
11 |
5 |
John Roper |
W |
1 |
5.53 |
6.53 |
|
12 |
10 |
Peter Ford |
B |
1 |
4.86 |
5.86 |
|
13 |
2 |
Brian Willcock |
W |
3 |
2.34 |
5.34 |
St David’s Day tournament 2008 results in detail
(W=Welsh; B=Barbarian)
St David’s Day – Teams standings
All players to play 10 games
|
No. |
THE WELSH |
|
POINTS |
Handicap |
TOTAL |
|
4 |
Andrew Robinson |
W |
10 |
0.00 |
10.00 |
|
6 |
Ray Adams |
W |
8½ |
1.45 |
9.95 |
|
7 |
Mark Taylor |
W |
5½ |
4.34 |
9.84 |
|
9 |
Jonathan Bester |
W |
5 |
3.96 |
8.96 |
|
10 |
Greg Colwell |
W |
4 |
3.06 |
7.06 |
|
11 |
John Roper |
W |
1 |
5.53 |
6.53 |
|
13 |
Brian Willcock |
W |
3 |
2.34 |
5.34 |
|
|
WELSH SUB-TOTAL: |
|
37.00 |
20.68 |
57.68 |
|
|
Divide by 7 and multiply by 6… |
|
|
|
|
|
|
WELSH TOTAL: |
|
31.71 |
17.73 |
49.44 |
|
No. |
THE BARBARIANS |
|
POINTS |
Handicap |
TOTAL |
|
1 |
Brendan Griffen |
B |
11½ |
0.36 |
11.86 |
|
2 |
Josh Ford |
B |
5 |
5.76 |
10.76 |
|
3 |
Nathan Shaw |
B |
7½ |
2.69 |
10.19 |
|
5 |
Kieran Lyons |
B |
9 |
0.96 |
9.96 |
|
8 |
Russell Lyons |
B |
7 |
2.38 |
9.38 |
|
12 |
Peter Ford |
B |
1 |
4.86 |
5.86 |
|
|
BARBARIAN TOTAL: |
|
41.00 |
17.01 |
58.01 |
Quote of the night
“I was a Barbarian next year” – Mark.
“Time traveller! Time traveller!” – an alarmed Brian warns other club members
“Did you go Welsh” – Nathan
“I did a bit of research. He converted Maidens to Pregnant Women” – A club member who is a Collingwood supporter finding out a bit more about St David.
“You’ve got to let me hit my clock…. It’s my move princess!” – Nathan vents his frustration when playing the eventual winner.
“You were down as a Welshman” – Brian
“I’d be down if I was a Welshman” – Nathan
“Hold your clocks!” – Mark signifying play should stop for the prize ceremony
“There is a Welsh Flag hanging from the window. The dragon’s paw is down, so it’s actually the gay version.” – Brian