The Open Round by round...
by Woody Woodpusher 

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Cotswold congress, round 1

N.Beveridge 0 – 1 S.Berry

C.Timmins 0 – 1 G.Taylor

J.Thomas 0 – 1 MJR.White

C.Purry 1 – 0 AJ.Gilmour

G.Brown ½ - ½ S.White

J.Sugden 1 – 0 I.Ponter

RD.DeCoverly ½ - ½ P.Spiller

R.Neat 0 – 1 D.Curnow

EM.White ½ - ½ Bye

G.Bolt ½ - ½ Bye

S.Williams 0 – 1 N.Hosken

C.Beaumont 1 – 0 J.Sisask

With a more even spread of strength in the Open this year, there were a number of closely fought battles. Most of the games went according to seed with the exception of Purry – Gilmour, after Gilmour missed a tactic.

Top seeds Berry and Beaumont started well with Berry producing a fine assault on Beveridge's King and Beaumont producing a solid positional performance against Sisask.

The game between Timmins and Taylor proved to be something of a comedy of errors with Taylor proving that you can get away with making the penultimate mistake!

Cheltenham club players MJR White and Hosken started well with wins against Thomas and Williams.

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Cotswold congress, round 2

N.Hosken 0 – 1 G.Taylor

EM.White 0 – 1 G.Brown

D.Curnow 0 – 1 C.Beaumont

MJR.White 1 – 0 J.Sugden

J.Sisask 1 – 0 J.Thomas

S.White ½ - ½ RD.DeCoverly

S.Berry 1 – 0 C.Purry

P.Spiller 1 – 0 G.Bolt

AJ.Gilmour 1 – 0 S.Williams

R.Neat ½ - ½ N.Beveridge

I.Ponter 0 – 1 C.Timmins

Round 2 saw differing fortunes for the top seeds. Beaumont had established a strong attack against Curnow, who had managed to find himself in severe time trouble and with less than 5 minutes remaining to make 26 moves resigned a position that the media room thought was saveable, whilst Berry outplayed Purry for the point.

Round 2 was also the round of the mate. Hosken had struggled through the opening and found his king trapped in the middle of the board. Hosken battled through the endgame and was managing to improve his position only to walk in to Taylor's mate.

Brown – EM.White saw a good finish from Brown, after White had let the advantage slip.

Thomas missed a perpetual check against Sisask, which left his position lost.

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Cotswold congress, round 3

D.Curnow 1 – 0 AJ.Gilmour

N.Beveridge 1 – 0 EM.White

G.Brown ½ - ½ P.Spiller

J.Thomas 0 – 1 I.Ponter

C.Beaumont ½ - ½ MJR.White

RD.DeCoverly 0 – 1 N.Hosken

G.Bolt 1 – 0 J.Sisask

J.Sugden ½ - ½ S.White

G.Taylor 0 – 1 S.Berry

S.Williams ½ - ½ R.Neat

C.Purry ½ - ½ Bye

Round 3 saw top seed Beaumont fail to secure the full point against MJR. White, whose King's Indian proved to be solid throughout.

Berry surprised Taylor with the Alekhine and established a clear advantage which he was able to convert into the full point.

Curnow produced a nice finish against Gilmour after Gilmour had failed to appreciate the tactics in the position.

EM. White failed to find the equalising move in a tactical position against Beveridge in the first of three losses in the tournament where black played the Schliemann against the Ruy Lopez.

Hosken played actively to beat De Coverly on the black side of the Sicilian whilst Bolt beat Sisask from the white side. S.White played the third of his six solid games with a draw against Sugden.

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Cotswold congress, round 4

P.Spiller 1 – 0 G.Taylor

N.Hosken ½ - ½ G.Brown

MJR.White 1 – 0 D.Curnow

J.Sisask 1 – 0 R.Neat

S.White ½ - ½ N.Beveridge

AJ.Gilmour ½ - ½ G.Bolt

S.Berry ½ - ½ C.Beaumont

I.Ponter 0 – 1 RD.DeCoverly

C.Purry 0 – 1 J.Sugden

EM.White 1 – 0 S.Williams

J.Thomas 1 – 0 Bye

Round 4 saw a lazy Sunday afternoon with four draws, including a “Grandmaster draw” after 13 moves between Hosken and Brown.

It also saw the meeting of the top seeds Berry and Beaumont who were unable to outmanoeuvre each other and shared the point.

MJR. White took a share of the lead after Curnow blundered. EM.White got the better of Williams in a rare line of the Scandinavian.

Sugden beat Purry after winning a piece and Spiller continued his good start to the tournament with a win against Taylor in the Morra Gambit.

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Cotswold congress, round 5

MJR.White ½ - ½ S.Berry

R.Neat 0 – 1 J.Thomas

C.Beaumont 1 – 0 P.Spiller

AJ.Gilmour 1 – 0 EM.White

N.Beveridge 1 – 0 D.Curnow

G.Brown 0 – 1 J.Sisask

J.Sugden ½ - ½ N.Hosken

G.Bolt ½ - ½ S.White

I.Ponter ½ - ½ C.Purry

G.Taylor 0 – 1 RD.DeCoverly

The competition heated up in round 5. Berry was clearly better than MJR. White for most of the game but let the advantage slip in the rook and pawn endgame.

Beaumont took advantage of Spiller's inaccurate defence in a similar line of the King's Indian which MJR. White had used in round 3.

Thomas was rewarded for his enterprising play with a beautiful finish as featured on the front cover.

The Schliemann saw another defeat at the hands of Beveridge with Curnow being the unprepared victim.

Brown's 1.h3 saw an explosive tactical position with Sisask. Brown failed to grab a pawn, which resulted in Sisask's extra piece being enough for the full point, after Brown lost on time. There was also a time scramble between Ponter and Purry, where Ponter's poor endgame play saw him fail to take advantage of a won position.

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Cotswold congress, round 6

EM.White 1 – 0 R.Neat

S.Berry 1 – 0 J.Sugden

N.Hosken ½ - ½ C.Beaumont

J.Sisask 1 – 0 AJ.Gilmour

D.Curnow 1 – 0 J.Thomas

P.Spiller ½ - ½ N.Beveridge

S.White ½ - ½ C.Purry

G.Taylor 1 – 0 I.Ponter

G.Bolt 1 – 0 G.Brown

RD.DeCoverly 1 – 0 MJR.White

With three players tied on 4.5/5 round 6 proved to be an exciting end of a close tournament.

MJR. White had played good chess all weekend, but overestimated De Coverly's attacking chances in a critical position in the last of the Schliemann's and saw victory slip away. White continued to play for the win but his position crumbled.

Hosken held Beaumont after an imaginative pawn thrust in a position that never opened up.

At this time Berry – Sugden was level with better chances for Sugden. Berry offered a draw before the time control which Sugden declined. Berry subsequently outplayed Sugden in the endgame to secure the win required to win the tournament.

EM. White finished well against Neat, and Taylor took advantage of Ponter's blunder which lost a piece.

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