This Sunday saw members of Chester Chess Club take part in the first Crewe Rapidplay at the Ibis Styles Hotel. Mike McDonagh and Colm Buckley were the representatives from Chester in the Open, and as luck would have it, they met over the board in round 1 (a draw, if anyone was wondering)!
In the Major there was myself and our former secretary David Hulme, albeit dressed in Crewe Chess Club attire! David very kindly offered to pick me up from the station to save me rushing to make the first round.
The end of the congress saw Mike finish on 2½/6 but Colm (pictured below after receiving his cheque) went one better scoring 3½/6 – losing only to IM Laurence Cooper and drawing with winner Mike Surtees in the final round.
Elsewhere I finished on 3½/6 and narrowly missed out on a share of 3rd place after failing to convert a winning endgame. David Hulme, in his first congress in 15 years, ended on 3.
Results and standings can be seen in the links below.