1966 (21st) West of England (WECU) Championship, Cheltenham, 7-11 April

1966 West of England (WECU) Championship		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Total
1	Peter Coast	&;		½		½			1	1			½					1				4½
2	David Ellis		&;			1	½		½					1		1					½	4½
3	Denis Victor Mardle	½		&;	½					1	½		½		1							4
4	Andrew R B Thomas			½	&;	0	½		1							1	1					4
5	John Crowle Cock	½	0		1	&;				0	1							1				3½
6	Jeffrey Ansell		½		½		&;	½			½				½		1					3½
7	James Macrae Aitken						½	&;				½	½	1		½			½			3½
8	Philip E Walker	0	½		0				&;	½				1						1		3
9	Denys Pepperell Bonner	0		0		1			½	&;					½				1			3
10	J Anderson			½		0	½				&;	½	½								1	3
11	Robert H Northage							½			½	&;		0	½			1		½		3
12	Joseph Andrew Flood	½		½				½			½		&;				0		½			2½
13	Richard H K Mann		0					0	0			1		&;		½			1			2½
14	David J Richards			0			½			½		½			&;		½		½			2½
15	Maximilian E Poolake		0		0			½						½		&;				½	1	2½
16	(Henry) James Draisey				0		0						1		½		&;	0		1		2½
17	Derek Maurice Wise	0				0						0					1	&;		½	1	2½
18	Rolf Garside							½		0			½	0	½				&;		1	2½
19	George W Wheeler								0			½				½	0	½		&;	½	2
20	Ivan Robert Napier		½								0					0		0	0	½	&;	1

BCM, May 1966, ppn 126-127

The West of England Easter Congress by P. H. Clarke

The Twenty-first West of England Easter Chess Congress was held at Cheltenham College from April 7th to 11th under the auspices of the Gloucester C.A. One hundred competitors took part in the various events, which is a tribute to the keenness of the Union’s players: Cheltenham is further from Cornwall than it is from London and even more removed in terms of travelling time.

There were twenty contenders for the West of England Championship (a six-round Swiss tournament) and these included the holder of the title, D. V. Mardle, and several other former Champions. The pattern of the contest was set in the first round, when no less than eight games were drawn. J. C. Cock, the runner-up last year, took the lead by beating A. R. B. Thomas in Round 2, but he at once fell back on being defeated by D. P. Bonner. With none of the favourites able to strike top form, draws continued to be two a penny, and at the start of the sixth round five players stood level with 3½ points, P. Coast, Cock, D. Ellis, Mardle, and Thomas, while P. E. Walker had 3. As chance would have it, the two most experienced, Mardle and Thomas, were paired against each other. They duly drew a game of steady manoeuvring and so left the way open to any of their rivals who could win. The Walker-Coast and Cock-Ellis encounters both favoured White in their initial stages, but the tide gradually turned and after stubborn six-hour struggles Black scored the full point in each. The result was, therefore, a tie between Coast and Ellis, who, incidentally, comes from the region’s most-far-flung outpost, the Isles of Scilly; they will hold the title jointly.

The play was on the whole rather disappointing. The two winners deserved their success by virtue of the extra determination and resourcefulness they showed. Although Mardle, Ansell, and Dr. Aitken were also unbeaten, they were quite unable to find a winning touch (the two last both began with five draws). The most decisive chess among the leaders came from Cock, who met the strongest run of opponents, and Thomas, and the following two moments from their games serve to illustrate this.

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Other Sections

Championship Reserves— (1) John Karl Gross 5/6; (2-3) Brian G E Gosling, David J Shire 4½.

Minor Championship—(1) Peter J Waters 6/6; (2) Philip John Gross 4½; (3) Stuart J Hutchings 4.

Junior Championship—(1-3) R Hedges, David A LeMoir, Trefor F Thynne 4½/6.

Ladies’ Championship—(1) Miss Margaret Eleanor Lander 5/6; (2-3) Mrs. S. H. Jeffries, Mrs. Margaret I Powis 2½.

Girls’ Championship—(1) Heather Tapper 4/6; (2-4) Rosalind Garside, Elizabeth Harman, Hilary Jones 3.

Open Championship—(1) C M Read 4½/6; (2) Robert P Ross 4; (3) Reginald Samuel Thynne 3½.

All-play-all A—(1-2) R. H. Rowe, Peter Tsakarisianos 4/5; (3) Ivor S Annetts 3.

All-play-all B—(1) H. Poliak 4/5; (2) C. M. Oliver 3½; (3-4) C Hatch, H. Hurrell 3.

All-play-all C—(1) H. E. Gemmell 3½; (2) S. M. Russell 3; (3) K. J. Copeland 2.

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File Updated

Date

Notes

9 July 2023

Original upload of 17 games. The three main sources for West of England Championship (WECU-ch) games have been: (1) games submitted by David LeMoir, 31 January 2018, for which many thanks; (2) Dr. Aitken games collection; (3) collection of Alan Ashby games, Bristol & District Chess League website. I am also grateful to David LeMoir for sending an image of the crosstable, from which the above has been constructed.