Results from Gt Yarmouth

The Great Yarmouth Congress took place last weekend, with 96 entrants across four sections.   13 players travelled from various Suffolk locations, including Saxmundham, Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds and Manningtree.

The top seed in the Open section was GM Keith Arkell, who shared first place with FM Paul Cooksey.   In equal third place, on 3½ points, were Steve Gregory, Alan Merry and David Spence.   Graham Moore was close behind on 3 points.   Other Suffolk scores were David Mabbs (Saxmundham) 2, and Martin Fogg 1½.

The Under 170 section was won jointly by Andrew Donnelly (Sudbury/Bury St Edmunds) and Phil Hutchings (Manningtree), both on 3½ points.   There were a lot of draws in this section – in the final round there was only one game that was not drawn!   Malcolm Lightfoot scored 3 points and Alex Sheerin 2.

The only Suffolk entrant in the Under 145s was 11-year old junior Jaden Jermy, who plays for Bury St Edmunds.   Graded only 94, it was brave of him to ‘play up’, but he scored 2/5 with a grading performance of 114.

The Under 120 section was won by Graeme Jones, who has played once this season for Manningtree, but hails from Hadleigh.   Graham was the only player in the tournament to win all five games.   Also in this section, Roger Smith scored 1½.