A few upsets occurred tonight, however at first things went to regulation with the lightning champions from 2000, 2001, and 2002 (Gabby , Andrew and George) all notching up 4-nil scorelines. Then Gabby showed that he wasn’t kidding when he said he was rusty from the holiday break in his encounter with Brian. Brian protested in the first game that Gabby had infringed his copyright by throwing away a queen for no compensation (he eventually had to be satisfied with victory). In game 3 Gabby had several pawns swiftly heading for the 8th rank against a lone king and was ever so careful to avoid a stalemate when…. his flag fell (ie result: draw).
Andrew managed a comfortable 4-0 win over John, far more so than his victory over Peter which had relied more on Peter falling over the time pressure abyss. Peter showed that his good form was no fluke by scoring a win (on time but with an overwhelming over-the-board advantage) against the formidable lightning player Mr Flitcroft-Smith.
It then turned out to be a good night for Hillers (or a bad night for Borosses?). Gabby called us over to the board against James and showed us a position where he was about to be mated in the corner by James with a Bishop & Queen combination. Gabby spent a lot of time deciding whether any defence was possible, when James perhaps wisely decided to offer a draw, immediately accepted. Then in the next series of games Peter grabbed an early win off Gabby.
The tournament is now set for an interesting contest for all of the position from 1st to 9th with all having a chance to move up the ladder. Next week will be the absolute closing date for entries. The final date for the completion of lightning fixtures is 21 February 2003.
Results:
Gabby 4 John 0
Andrew 4 Peter 0
George 4 James 0
Brian 3½ Gabby ½
Andrew 4 John 0
George 3 Peter 1
Gabby 3½ James ½
Gabby 3 Peter 1
Lightning Tournament: Standings at 10 January 2003
All players to play 32 games
|
No. |
NAME |
POINTS |
PLAYED |
|
1 |
George Flitcroft-Smith |
18 |
20 |
|
2 |
Andrew Robinson |
11 |
12 |
|
3 |
Gabriel Boross |
11 |
16 |
|
4 |
Brian Willcock |
5½ |
12 |
|
5 |
Paul Evans |
4½ |
8 |
|
6 |
Harvey Quaresmini |
3½ |
8 |
|
7 |
Peter Hiller |
2 |
12 |
|
8 |
James Hiller |
½ |
8 |
|
9 |
John Curran |
0 |
16 |
Lightning tournament 2003 results in detail
Transfer
No transfer tonight. Play finished at 11.30pm with a few 3min+2sec games between George & Andrew.