Preston Chess Congress 2003 took place from Friday 28th November, to Sunday 30th November. It was a five round swiss system tournament with 4 sections depending on playing strength. It was the 16th Preston Chess congress at the Lancashire County Council Offices. With one room being unavailable this year and numbers being up slightly, we were a bit worried about how things would fit in, but nice large tables were found, so that the playing conditions were just as good as in previous years.
This year, thanks to Dave Clayton and Steve Hughes, the top 4 boards of the open were broadcast live on the internet. The audience was probably quite low, we do know a couple of people watched them, because there was a chat room available. The main benefit for the congress was that you were able to watch the top games from the refreshments area (in a seperate room), and discuss them.
Click here for a few of the games.
The open tournament was very close this year with the result only decided in
the last round. Mike Surtees beat Nigel Davies GM, but the went on to loose
in the next round to David Hulmes. Going into the last round Steve Mannion
and Steven Gordon were joint leaders with 3.5 out of 4, but only Mannion
managed to win, taking the tournament outright. Below are games from the open,
including Steve Mannions final round win over Nigel Davies.
OPEN
| £260 |
S R Mannion (Paisley) |
4.5/5 |
1st |
| £110 |
B.Lund (Preston) |
4/5 |
2nd= |
| £110 |
J.Merriman |
4/5 |
2nd= |
| £40 |
M.Surtees |
3.5/5 |
176-185GP |
| £13.33 |
JP.Wareing |
3/5 |
166-175GP |
| £13.33 |
M.Hamer |
3/5 |
166-175GP |
| £13.33 |
M.Peacock |
3/5 |
166-175GP |
| £8 |
A.Dasaow |
2.5/5 |
U166GP |
| £8 |
R.Wiltshire |
2.5/5 |
U166GP |
| £8 |
D.Knox |
2.5/5 |
U166GP |
| £8 |
I.Campbell |
2.5/5 |
U166GP |
| £8 |
J.Hanley |
2.5/5 |
U166GP |
MAJOR U160
| £66 |
R.Newton(Heywood,Morecambe) |
4/5 |
1st = |
| £66 |
J.Stephenson(Pudsey) |
4/5 |
1st= |
| £66 |
A.Jaques(Axa) |
4/5 |
1st= |
| £66 |
D.Begg(Penicuik) |
4/5 |
1st= |
| £66 |
C.Vassiliou(Chorlton) |
4/5 |
1st= |
| £40 |
PR.Chapman(Central, Widnes) |
3.5/5 |
136-150GP |
| £13.33 |
G.Ashcroft(Preston) |
3.5/5 |
U136GP |
| £13.33 |
R.Clegg(Huddersfield) |
3.5/5 |
U136GP |
| £13.33 |
J.Wright(3 C's) |
3.5/5 |
U136GP |
MINOR U125
| £180 |
Angel Gonzales(Calderdale) |
4.5/5 |
1st |
| £50 |
Jim Wiseman(Atticus) |
4/5 |
2nd= |
| £50 |
E.Keogh(Preston) |
4/5 |
2nd= |
| £50 |
A.Foster(Sunderland) |
4/5 |
2nd= |
| £10 |
G.Jackson(Axa) |
3/5 |
U110GP |
| £10 |
J.McKeown(Southport) |
3/5 |
U110GP |
| £10 |
B.Shaw(Cheadle) |
3/5 |
U110GP |
| £10 |
G.Chandler(Prescot) |
3/5 |
U110GP |
NOVICE U100
| £150 |
M.Stollery(Nelson) |
4.5/5 |
1st |
| £65 |
R.Amos(Liverpool) |
4/5 |
2nd= |
| £65 |
G.Clarke(Stanley) |
4/5 |
2nd= |
| £5 |
K.Aldersly(Nelson) |
3.5/5 |
U90GP |
| £5 |
B.Clews(Leyland) |
3.5/5 |
U90GP |
| £5 |
A.Karlin(Preston) |
3.5/5 |
U90GP |
| £5 |
D.MScorer(Nelson) |
3.5/5 |
U90GP |
| £5 |
D.Stansfield(Skelmersdale) |
3.5/5 |
U90GP |
| £5 |
N.Jowett(Blackpool) |
3.5/5 |
U90GP |
