Ealing Lightning Tournament Results
: Created:27 Aug 2010 , byOn August 26th 2010 Veljko Stanisic claimed his fifth win in our annual lightning tournament. Jason Obihara was the champion in the under 160 graded category and Alastair Johnstone and George Zusin were joint champions in the under 130 gradings.
The winners received trophies and the runners-up and third place finishers were given certificates honouring their achievement. Full report and results attached...
There was a magnificent turn-out for the tournament with twenty-six members crowding into our room at the Harvester. It is an event where players play as many games at they want to during the evening. One member managed to cram twelve ten-minute per side games into the two and three-quarter hour playing time which is pretty good going by any standard.
The sportsmanship displayed was outstanding and although the format allows any player to challenge another free player whatever the differential between their gradings, top players were assiduous in seeking out the best opponent they could find. One member offered his opponent a draw after his foe had lost on time because he regarded the position as clearly drawn. Great stuff but we are not promising to extend the same latitude to our adversaries in the league season!
Tony Wells and Jan Gorgol started off the event like speeding trains building up an early lead but others began to catch them so that by the three-quarter mark it was anybody's title. A late burst of wins by Veljko Stanisic saw him heading the field but returning Ealing legend Jurgen Jakob, together with Jan Gorgol were still competing hard. With Veljko already in the clubhouse with nine points, Tony could draw level if he won his last game but with the Black pieces against Alan Perkins it was a tough task. Tony played grittily to achieve a draw but for the fifth time in the fifteen year history of the tournament, Veljko was the Ealing champion.
It was good to see Jason Obihara triumphant in the under 160's because his grade is only 137 but he out-distanced by a point, higher ranked players Simon Healeas and Dale Gibbons who meritoriously shared second and third spots. Well done Jason!
It's a tournament where everybody plays everybody irrespective of grade when players are free and Alastair Johnstone found himself with some tough opponents early on in his quest for the under 130's title. The luck of the draw evens up and George Zusin found himself competing against some top foes later on. Both players should be proud of their final tally of six points, sharing the under 130's championship and the fact that they outperformed the under 160's players clearly demonstrates that their 2010 grading is far too low and they are going to terrorise the opposition during this coming season.
Warm congratulations to new member, Nico Corraine who secured third place in the 130s. Accepting every challenge in his twelve games he slowly accumulated the necessary points.
A final plaudit for Milinko Stevic who because of an administrative error by the organiser (me!) was not notified of the event so turned up near the end of the competition. Bravely he joined in and won two games achieving the only 100% score of the evening.
Results
Open: 1st Veljko Stanisic 9, 2nd Tony Wells 8.5, 3rd equal Jan Gorgol and Jurgen Jakob 8
Under 160: 1st Jason Obihara 5.5, 2nd equal Dale Gibbons and Simon Healeas 4.5
Under 130: Equal 1st Alastair Johnstone and George Zusin 6, 3rd Nico Corraine 2