An overcast morning, with a threat of rain, clearly persuaded many that a day at the fifth Harambee/St. Paul's rapidplay was just the thing to do. And with about 80 players, it was one of the largest so far, with players coming from Cardiff, the Thames Valley, Devon, and even Surrey. Clearly, St. Paul's and Harambee have a widespread first class reputation. And not only due to the chess, the food served all day was excellent too!
The special junior section brought in youngsters from as far away as Gloucester and Burnham. However, this didn't mean that they played any slower. I have a theory that a chess tournament is really a ruse to play football at a new location!
The day actually kicked-off with a presentation to Devon Thomas in recognition of his tireless work and generosity in starting and helping to maintain the St. Paul's tournaments. Devon was greeted with enthusiastic applause from the gathered players, many of whom play at Harambee time after time - the best recommendation for those of you who have not done so yet.
Perhaps the only disappointing element of the day was the lack of 200+ players. This left Chris Baker a long way ahead of the field, and the tournament was always going to be about whether anyone could stop him. Rohan Churm, from Swindon, joined Chris in the lead after two rounds. But youth couldn't prevent the Baker steam roller from reaching 3/3.
Meanwhile, there was stiff competition in the minor, with 8 players making it to 2/2; half of whom were Bristol League players. However, the visitors went on to dominate the tournament, with only Tim Jefferies of Grendel keeping the Bristol flag flying by winning his last four games.
Back in the Open, the final round left the responsibility of stemming Baker from flowing seamlessly onto a perfect score to Clifton's Geoff Taylor. Geoff's a tough cookie, and took Chris right to the wire, but in the end Baker's brilliance (and 68 grading point advantage) shone through. But this still left Geoff in joint third, and the best U161 performance.
Geoff was not the only one to have an excellent day. Suitably fired-up and inspired, Devon Thomas charged on to 3/5. Curiously, his three wins had all come with the black pieces, and I was worried that with white in the last round against Davies from Cardiff might prove to be unlucky. But Devon pulled through to take third place - an excellent result considering that he was eligible to play in the minor! Definitely Devon's day!
Open 1. Chris Baker, Keynsham 6 2. P Varley, Addlestone, 4.5 3. Devon Thomas, Harambee, 4 4= Paul Helbig, Bath 4 Simon Buckley, Keynsham, 4 Geoff Taylor, Gloucester, 4 U161 Grading prize to Geoff Taylor Minor 1. C R Price 5.5 2. Ashley Meek, Norton Radstock 5 3. Keiran Darling, Burnham, 5 4. Tim Jefferies, Grendel, 5 U100 Grading prize to Ashley Meek Junior 1. D Stephens, Gloucester, 5/6 2. D Bareham, Thamesdown Juniors, 5 3. M Green 4.5