Report - 26 February 2010
St David's Day
Barbarian massacre of handicapped Welsh
Playing with a massive handicap advantage of 5.4 points the Barbarians easily accounted for the Welsh tonight atoning for last year’s loss. Such was the margin of the victory that before the last round in which all three Welsh players won, the margin was 7.4 points. The Welsh did have a moral victory however by pipping the Barbarians on the Points total before the handicap was added.
The tournament
Mark triumphed with a couple of early wins to maintain the tournaments record of no players winning the individual prize twice. When receiving the leek from Brian he let out a suitable barbarian yell which impressed all who witnessed it.
The tournament was decided by the last game to finish. Gary made a false move against Andrew in a pawn endgame which gave away a certain win and tournament victory.
Nathan lost to Andrew in Round 2 which scuttled his chances. With players in the lower half of the draw playing well, only a perfect record would do for those in the upper half. Tony had a horrible start to the tournament losing his first three games, including against his nemesis Gary Sands. However his draw against Andrew was to prove vital in deciding the tournament. Even with his last round win against the tournament winner Mark he still ended up last (even without handicaps) – surely a first in Gap competitions.
St David's Day tournament standings
All players played 5 games
|
No. |
Draw No. |
NAME |
|
POINTS |
plus |
TOTAL |
|
1 |
3 |
Mark Taylor |
B |
2 |
3.75 |
5.75 |
|
2 |
5 |
Andrew Robinson |
W |
4½ |
0.93 |
5.43 |
|
3 |
1 |
Gary Sands |
B |
2 |
3.40 |
5.40 |
|
4 |
2 |
Nathan Shaw |
B |
3 |
1.75 |
4.75 |
|
5 |
4 |
Brian Willcock |
W |
2 |
2.57 |
4.57 |
|
6 |
6 |
Tony Howes |
W |
1½ |
0.00 |
1.50 |
St David’s Day tournament 2010 results in detail
(W=Welsh; B=Barbarian)
St David's Day - Teams standings
All players played 5 games
|
No. |
THE WELSH |
|
POINTS |
Handicap |
TOTAL |
|
1 |
Andrew Robinson |
W |
4½ |
0.93 |
5.43 |
|
5 |
Brian Willcock |
W |
2 |
2.57 |
4.57 |
|
6 |
Tony Howes |
W |
1½ |
0.00 |
1.50 |
|
|
WELSH TOTAL: |
|
8.00 |
3.50 |
11.50 |
|
No. |
THE BARBARIANS |
|
POINTS |
Handicap |
TOTAL |
|
1 |
Mark Taylor |
B |
2 |
3.75 |
5.75 |
|
3 |
Gary Sands |
B |
2 |
3.40 |
5.40 |
|
4 |
Nathan Shaw |
B |
3 |
1.75 |
4.75 |
|
|
BARBARIAN TOTAL: |
|
7.00 |
8.90 |
15.90 |
Some photos from tonight's action
Brian salutes the Welsh flag
Mark receives his prize from Brian (a leek and a Welsh battle poem)
Mark is visibly affected by his prize
Quote of the night
'Tony white, Brian black' - Andrew read out the draw
'Ah, I can relax this game' - Tony, who claimed he said this was because of the impending internecine Welsh skirmish (but we know what he really meant).
[Note: Brian won this game against Tony]