Another victory for Reenen despite losing a game on time and missing two more starts due to internet problems.
A high scoring three horse race in which Robert prevailed by scoring 2.5/3 in his head-to-heads with Reenen.
This sharp opening seems to fit Robert's style very well so it was no surprise to see him top of the podium.
This was the second outing for this opening in the Wednesday arenas and it was popular once again.
The top three players rattled through 10 or 11 games each but despite that there was not a huge amount to separate them at the end.
This bloodthirsty opening produced plenty of interesting games. Richard edged it by use of the berserk feature to give him an extra point.
This event followed the publication of an article about the Stafford Gambit on the Dorset Chess website written by Martin Simons.
So you might expect Martin would know his stuff on it and do rather well... and he did! He played 6 games, won them all, and sat back and relaxed for the last part of the event, watching other people's games rather than playing himself.
Meanwhile, Robert, Ian and Reenen were scrapping it out for silver and bronze, with the latter two only split by tie-break.
This arena was well won by Robert, who along the way produced a very pretty queen sac for mate to beat his nearest rival Ian.
This was the first tournament in the new format for the new year - a 90 minute themed event. It attracted a good entry and there were some good quality games played.
The tournament was well fought, with Martin clinching first on tie-break by using the berserk feature in the last round.
A well fought and highly enjoyable event, with Robert on excellent form, nearly taking first place at the end (he beat Peter in a game that finished after the end of the arena).
The variant taster session started on Monday continued with Atomic and Crazyhouse followed by normal blitz.
Atomic proved challenging for everyone with mis-visualisations and mistakes galore. Peter, having slightly more experience at this weird game, prevailed.
Crazyhouse is almost normal by comparison. Peter narrowly won but the really Martin deserved first place having won their head-to-head battles 2-1.
The normal blitz proved more popular than either variant. Martin edged out Reenen, though the result could easily have been different; a fluctuating game between the two that in the end finished as a win for Martin after the bell could easily have finished as a win for Reenen before the bell.
This was a well publicised special taster evening so people could try out three chess variants. Only seven people participated, reducing to three by the time King of the Hill was reached. Sadly no new participants were attracted and so it seems most people prefer to stick to normal chess.
Overall it was a good set of results for Martin Simons who won two of the three events outright and was only beaten into second in the other on tie-break.
For once there were more players at the themed event than the normal blitz. Perhaps that is a tribute to the richness and complexity of the semi-slav, with the set position leading to the Botvinnik Variation after the immediate ...b5 and the Anti-Moscow after ...g5 and then ...b5. Adam found his way best through the labyrinths to take first.
Reenen streaked (pun intended) with the normal blitz.
I don't think any of us knew what we were doing in the Open Lopez and the games were often decided in just a few moves from the set position. More studious people might do some study!
Amidst multiple complaints about the quality of internet connections, Reenen took first place by playing fewer games but winning them all.
Two comfortable victories, one for Peter at 960 in a tournament with just 4 players, and one for Richard at normal blitz with 9 players.
The Mar del Plata was very much enjoyed, giving rise to the usual fun but very difficult positions that are hard to play accurately at normal speed let alone blitz speed. Some topsy-turvy games resulted, with a very lucky escape against Martin allowing Peter to take 1st.
In the normal blitz, Reenen used the berserk feature well to gain extra points and right at the end overtake an unlucky Adam, who had looked a certain winner for much of the tournament.
There were surprisingly few games with 3...Qh4+ in the themed blitz but plenty of hacking nonetheless. After losing his first game Ian won the rest to take first.
The Wednesday blitz was played at a slightly faster than normal rate of 3+2. It was a one two for the speed merchant Ursell family.
An excellent attendance this week including 10 for the themed opening which proved popular with several players during the tournament. Perhaps this is not surprising as it offers an attractive blend of strategy and sharpness.
The themed opening had just four players and was a tight affair with John edging it on tie-break.
Robert took the blitz with 6 wins and just one loss and an impressive 2210 performance.
The Albin Counter Gambit games were generally a bit of a mess - i.e. business as usual for the Albin! John won his first four games to build an unassailable lead.
It was tight in the normal blitz with 4 points separately the top four players but Reenen deservedly won, turning in the best rating performance of the evening at 2235.
The Austrian Attack is one of the most aggressive systems against the Pirc and always produces interesting games. Richard won the themed event with 4 straight wins including a couple of very nicely played games.
Peter took the normal blitz despite a complete thrashing by John Belinger who played the Austrian Attack against his Pirc!
Peter had watched a couple of videos on Crazyhouse during the week and it helped a lot, that and having white against second placed Martin every time.
Reenen lost his first and last but with a streak of 5 wins in the middle took first place in the normal blitz.
Richard Ursell, a Soklosky speclalist, was playing under the handle b4e5loses, but of course that leaves open which side wins! Many games did indeed start 1.b4 e5 though after 2.Bb2 most often people ducked out of the theoretically recommended 2...Bxb4 and the tactical mess that can ensue, preferring mainly 2...d6. Regardless honours were roughly even between black and white. Peter A's good start earned him first despite a last round loss to Peter M.
In the normal blitz nobody dominated, but Reenen took first place by playing more games and using the berserk feature.
The Leningrad, as usual, gave rise to a set of wonderfully rich games. Robert Halse navigated his way through the tactics best and emerged on top.
In the normal blitz Reenen was undefeated to claim first.
As is often the case we had only four players for the variant and in a sense only three and a half as Richard periodically paused to make dinner! There were some very hard fought and interesting games played with numerous and very "brave" early king charges.
Richard and Keith went through the blitz undefeated, with the former edging it by virtue of a winning streak.
The best turnout for a few weeks was good to see. Peter won the themed event courtesy of Allan going for his evening meal. Christian won the normal blitz by playing well and using the Ursell family technique: rattling through a lot of games quickly!
The evening saw a welcome of Andy and Jack and for once we had more at the themed event than the normal blitz (8 and 6 respectively). There was plenty of lively and entertaining chess from the Benoni.
Robert had a good evening, picking up third in the themed event and a clear first in the normal blitz.
Six people turned up for the themed event this week so we had a decent tournament featuring many of the stalwarts of the Ringwood tournaments. Peter won with a lot of luck, having swindled Reenen twice in been completely lost positions.
Keith and Ken joined the six players to make eight, and took silver and bronze in the blitz.
Only three turned up the for Slav event, perhaps because it has an unfair reputation for being dull, which is a pity since in reality it gives rise to rich and varied positions. In the six games played we had a Marshall Gambit, a Moscow, an anti-Moscow (supberbly played by John on the black side!), as well as normal Slavs.
In the normal blitz, Keith won all his games to take first.
Four players only again for the variant, with atomic proving as tricky as ever. Many of the atomic games were very short, hence the high scores.
In the normal blitz, Reenen went through undefeated.
The Schliemann Defence as expected produced a large amount of tactical brutality. Martin drew one long game and won his other 5 in an average of 16 moves only. It was a close run affair with Ken leading going into the final "round", but his head-to-head Martin at the end decided first place.
The normal blitz was also a two horse race with Jamie edging it in the end thanks to a closing streak of 5 wins.
It was an evening of the tortoises catching the hares.
The Veresov produced a few very long games but mainly short games as people succumbed to tactics whist still in the opening. Martin lost his first but won the rest to take first place.
In the normal blitz, Jamie went won better: he lost his first two games and then won the rest to claim the top position.
With the local Jobava specialists, John Weatherlake and Mike Duggan, missing in action everyone else was making it up as they went along in the themed event. Nonetheless the resulting positions were quite interesting albeit a bit uncomfortable for those of us who are used to having a pawn on c4 and the bishop on g5.
The normal blitz was a very close run affair with Martin taking first courtesy of five straight wins, and Peter taking second with a bit of last round berserking. Three people were on 12 points with Adam taking third place on tie-break.
In the Dragon themed tournament there was a surprising paucity of Yugoslav attacks and nothing much resembling a main variation of the Yugoslav. That said, there were plenty of sharp positions. Martin Clancy went through the tournament undefeated.
In the normal blitz, Steven Harding built up a big lead with 5 straight wins and could afford a mishap in his last game and still take 1st prize.