Metropolitan Congress Report 2007

METROPOLITAN CONGRESS – 6TH & 7TH October, 2007

by Ray Hamilton

The club staged its 17th annual congress at the new venue of the City of London School, Queen Victoria Street in the City, near St Paul’s Cathedral and Blackfriars bridge. The main entrance to the school was directly on the Thames, adjoining the Millennium footbridge, which leads directly to the Tate Modern art gallery on the opposite bank of the river. In other words a splendid scenic location!

There was some trepidation amongst the club’s organisers of the tournament because being a new venue, they were unsure how the different arrangements would work and the capacity of the venue. Unlike previous congresses at the Bishopsgate Institute, all the entrants could not be accommodated in the impressive main hall of the school.

All these fears evaporated come the event, as all the arrangements went fairly smoothly. A total of 182 entries were received. All of the entrants who were spoken to were most impressed with the venue.

Fortunately a postal strike immediately before the congress did not cause too many problems. Engineering works on the London Underground over the weekend did affect those using public transport.

In the Open section several titled players were favourites to claim first prize. Previous winner Russian GM Alexander Cherniaev, Irish IM Gavin Wall and Roumainian IM Augstin Madan were the “bookies” favourites. In the event FM Lorin D’Costa with a rating of 228, avoided all of these players, scoring 4.5/5 to take outright first prize, with Cherniaev and Madan and outstanding junior Callum Kilpatrick sharing 2nd and 3rd prizes.

In the Major section James Peet and Peter Wood shared the first place with Victor Jones , Shane McCabe , Finlo Rohrer finishing joint third.

The Minor section was dominated by Daniel Arnold, winning all five games, with Joe Farrell and Matthew Bunn a full point behind sharing second and third place.

Tournament Prizewinners

Open (49 entries)

1st – Lorin D’Costa (228 - UCL) 4.5/5 winning £300.

2nd & 3rd – Alexandar Chernieav (240 - Russia/Hackney),

Augustin Madan (2425 FIDE; Romania),

Callum Kilpatrick (185 - Dulwich) 4/5 sharing £250.

Grading Prizes

Under 201 3.5/5 sharing £50

Andrew Stone (196), Robert Eames (199-Hackney), Terry Chapman (196),

Peter Taylor (193 - Cavendish), Marco Fernandez (186 - King’s Head),Yang- Fan Zhou (183)

Under 181 – Brian Fitzpatrick 3.5/5 (178 – Wimbledon)

Best Metropolitan Scorer – Nick Noden 3/5

Major (57 entries)

1st James Peet (146 – Muswell Hill), Peter Wood (148 Lewisham) 4.5/5 £187.50 each.
3rd Victor Jones (148 Lewisham), Shane McCabe (Enfield), Finlo Rohrer (130) 4/5 sharing £80

Grading Prizes

Under 141 - Jimmy Jiang (133 Waltham Forest), Hristo Colov (128) 3.5/5 £20 each

Under 126 Dashiell Shaw (119 Hackney), M Periasamymanjula (120 Ashtead, Surrey) – 3/5 £20 each.

Best Metropolitan Scorers – Noel Stewart, Soumen Roy & Charlie Cooke – 2.5/5

Minor (76 entries)

1st Daniel Arnold (122 Metropolitan) 5/5 £200
2nd & 3rd – Joe Farrell (105 Metropolitan), Matthew Bunn (Snodland) 4/5 £80 each

Grading Prizes

Under 111 - 3.5/5 £15 each – David Fowler (110 Snodland) & Kevin Steele (102 Andover)

Under 96 - 3.5/5 £15 each– Panuchart Bunyakiati (92 UCL), P Barnaby

Under 81 - 3/5 sharing £50 – Victor Litvin (79) 3.5/5, Arthur Meaton (77 Coulsdon)

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