Tournament updates

Last Saturday, we mentioned Alan Merry and Alex Sheerin, respectively playing in the First 4NCL FIDE-rated Congress and the South of England Closed Championships.

Alan (2349) was on 2½/3 after the first day, but lost in Round 4 to FM James Jackson, who is rated 36 points lower.   But he bounced back in the final round, beating junior Matthew Wadsworth.   Unfortunately, Alan, who needs to increase his rating to 2400 to obtain the IM title, lost some 8 or 9 rating points from the event.   Nevertheless, Alan finished equal third out of 43 entrants.   The results can be viewed here.

Alex, playing in the Under 14 Closed section, where all entrants were invited, faced a very strong section, with only five players from the total entry of 36 graded lower than him.   He scored 1½ points with a grading performance of 102.   The full results can be seen here.

David Spence will be playing the final (tenth) round in the Gibraltar Masters tomorrow.   He’s currently on 4/9.