1968 (4th) Islington Open, 22-24 November, Islington Boys' Club, Parkhurst Road, London N7

The games were published in The Islingtonian (Islington Chess Club Bulletin), no.11. I have included the text of the bulletin for added interest...

THE ISLINGTONIAN No.11 • Price 3/- [3 shillings = 15p - published circa January 1969]

Including a full report on the :-

FOURTH ANNUAL ISLINGTON OPEN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 1968.

60! games by Kurajica, Pfleger, Kottnauer, Wade etc., etc.

Many with notes. Edited by Stewart Reuben

This third round game was received too late to include in the main body of the report. [Green-Pfleger - see viewer/download]

STOP PRESS

Fully up-to-date results of Islington Chess Club and its members can be found each week, on Tuesdays or Fridays in the Islington Gazette.

National Club Championship - It looks very much as if we have lost in the second round of this to Harrow, due to taking them too lightly. There is one appeal pending though.

London League - A Division. Here we have 5/5 and no problems, but Hampstead do have the same score.

London League - D Division. With 3/5,we must win ourremaining marches to gain promotion, an unlikely occurrence.

London League - E Division. Even if we come first, the second team will block our progress. The match captain has not bothered to keep members posted on the results.

Middlesex League - The policy of playing less strong teams is being pursued and we had best win a couple of matches shortly so as to avoid relegation.

Eastman Cup - We should scrape through by the skin of our teeth against Athenaeum, I arrived to play an adjourned game, not to play in the match. One of our players failed to arrive, so I played as substitute. A clock simultaneous is very nerve-racking but both games were drawn!

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THE ISLINGTONIAN
No. 11. Editor : Stewart Reuben

Editorial

Once again, although this issue is practically entirely concerned with the Islington Open, it does provide an opportunity for a round up of club activities during the past year. That I am again the chief editor, is yet another pointer to the distressing fact that the club is being run by too small a number of people. On the other hand, we are the most highly organised and successful club in the country.

Islington and North London Chess Club AGM - September 13th 1968

Officers Elected
Chairman Stewart Reuben
Secretary Peter Mavromatis
Treasurer Ron Hannan
Captain - National Club Championship Danny Wright
- London League, A Division Kenny Harman
- London League, D Division Austin Beckford
- London League, E Division Tadeusz Opyrchal
- Middlesex League Dr. Shenfield
- Winters’ Trophy Jimmy Mulreany
Club Championship organiser Ray Cannon
Club Evening organiser Ron Harman

non-elective

In charge of equipment Jimmy Spencer
Islington Open organiser Stewart Reuben

At least it is nice to see a few new names in this list. There are also somewhat fewer committee members with more than one function this year.

As so often at such meetings, it seems that all the important business is conducted elsewhere. Several prizes for successful members are now to be presented annually:- A cup for the best score in the London League A division (thanks to the generosity of Ted Isles); prize for the most improved player; prizes for the best score in the Second and Third teams.

It was decided to raise the adult subscription to £2 per year. Not without opposition, yet it is only since the books have been definitely in the black, that this club has been successful. I know that members of other clubs reading this will be highly envious of the low fee.

The members affirmed that they wanted to have a club evening organiser, although I did point out that this did not seem to be the case when it came to supporting events.

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Congresses

Hastings December 28th 1967 - January 6th 1968

The main interest in this event for Islington club members was Danny Wright' s great triumph in winning the Challengers Tournament. He scored 7½/9, winning his last 5 games. Due to the drabness of the play in the Premier, this attracted greater attention than usual. Several other club members participated, but I know that they would prefer their result not to be on permanent record here, as I am one of them.

If you wish to compete in the coming event, it takes place from December 30th 1968 until January 9th 1969. Details from Frank Rhoden, Hastings & St. Leonards Chess Club, Pelton House, 2, Cornwallis Terrace, Hastings.

Folkestone, Hammersmith and Southend April 12th - 15th.

Each of these congresses over the Easter weekend was excellent in its own way. There seem to be enough players to support them and several others up and down the country. Folkestone has good prize money in its top Swiss - and a weakish entry. The £10 first prize in the major all-play-all seems to be Mike Bulford' s personal property.

Hammersmith is, in a way, a new congress, that has taken over from the old Richmond event. The council's support is the envy of all others. They not only support it financially, but also do much of the organisational work. All the sections are 6 player all-play-all, the prize money in each exceeding the entry fee. The hall also is superb.

Southend is the largest of these events. This year it followed suit with an Open Swiss. In addition the Southern Counties Championship takes place there, senior and junior, and many other lesser tournaments. Again the playing conditions are excellent.

Bognor April 20th - 28th.

Disappointingly this congress was cut right down this year. It is now a one week event and the junior tournaments have been done away with. This was reflected in the low number of entrants, only 110. Also the British entry for the Churchill Memorial was very weak.

Nevertheless it remains one of the best British events and is the most international apart from Hastings - which after all is not open. However the organisation leaves a great deal to be desired in respect of the pairings, several elementary errors were made. I scored 5/8 and thoroughly enjoyed it and the surprisingly good weather.

Ilford May 31st - June 3rd.

This congress, in such pleasant surroundings, continues to attract a very strong entry despite the low prizes. Danny Wright scored 2/5 in the Premier, I scored 3/5 in the Premier Reserves and the only other prize winner from the club was Kenny Harman. As a late entry he won Major A with ease.

Manchester July 12th - 14th.

This was the first other tournament organised in England in a manner identical to the Islington Open. In fact it outdid the 1967 Islington Open in having 92 entries (2 more than Islington's 67). The prize money was £145 and the organisation beyond reproach. Michael Macdonald-Ross, Walid Poutrus and I tied on 4½/6 with 8 other players behind Basman who scored 5½.

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Summer Congresses - a report by Ron Harman

During the months of July, August and September the spate of tournaments makes it inevitable that club members achieve out-of-season prominence. Representatives were at Whitby, Bristol, Paignton and Southport. Michael Macdonald-Ross won the Paignton Premier and Kenny Harman annexed the two one-week Southport Premiers. No less creditable was John Ripley' s winning the Northern Open Championship at Whitby. He was the highest placed British competitor and came fourth overall.

Other results of club members Whitby Northern Open - K. B. Harman 6/11.

[BCF] Bristol Major Open - K. B. Harman 7/11, R. F. Harman 7, J. M. Ripley 6½.

[BCF] Bristol Under 21 Championship - M. J. Bulford 6½/11, J. S. Bennett 4½/11.

[BCF] Bristol Under 16 Championship - R. N. Rose 5½.

Southport Open Championship - R. F. Harman 6½/11, J. M. Ripley 6, T. C. Fox 5½, J. B. Adams, R. C. Cannon, A. N. Beckford all 4½. Southport Premier 6½, was M. J. Bulford's result.

At the Bristol [BCF] Congress it should be noted that an Islington 11, captained by John Bennett (and starring me as sweeper) lost to a Rest of The World 11 at football! Score 3-5.

At Southport, the annual 5-minute team tournament was won by a Yugoslav team by a very narrow margin from an "Islington" team. K. B. Harman 3½/7, R. F. Harman 5, T. C. Fox 7, J. B. Adams 6.

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Marlow - August 30th - September 2nd. - a report by T[imothy]. S. Allen

This event, which was first organised in 1964, is now an annual event attracting over 100 entries. The sections are 5 Round Swisses of 10 players of approximately equal strength. It is an indication of equality of grading within the sections that three were won with scores of 3½. The Invitation masters event was an all-play-all, won by Keene.

A feature of this year' s congress was the number of young players present, some of whom camped on a corner of the school playing field. The swimming pool was again available for the hardier individuals but the unseasonable weather proved a major deterrent this year.

The Marlow congress has established a reputation as a well organised event in very pleasant surroundings and is recommended to anyone who wishes to play in a tournament next summer bank holiday.

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Twickenham August 30th - September 2nd. [by Stewart Reuben]

This was a new congress this year, cast in that very familiar pattern of an all-play-all, 5 games in 4 days. Since the entry was quite substantial,it presumably fills a need. When I decided to start The Islington Open, I felt that the bank holiday weekends had already been pre-empted by better established events. Other organisers do not seem to have worried. Since it seems quite easy to get 100 entries for all of these events, no matter how many are taking place, perhaps they are correct.

The playing hall is quite beautiful at St. Mary' s College and it is a pleasure to be among the fine paintings. The organisation was like clockwork.

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Spalding Open October 18th. - 20th. - a report by Ron Harman

3 members of the club took part in this weekend tournament. After the hectic 6 rounds in 3 days; during which the BCF controller George Simmons came close to be sued for assault and a nameless chessplayer was caught studying M.C.O. during the game; the following results were achieved :-

1-2 R. Bellin, K. B. Harman 5½/6.

3-6 K.B. Richardson, L.A. Edwards, P.A. Hutchinson, K [Roelof?].D. Westra 5/6

86 players competed. Ron Harman and Robin Bellinger both scored 4/6. Bellin and Kenny Harman did not play each other.

A most unfortunate stipulation awarded the first prize of £45 to Bellin on Sum-of-opponent's scores, so that Kenny only collected £30.

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From Ron's report, it is clear that this event could have been more satisfactory. 2 players should not tie for first with 5½/6,without meeting, when there are only 86 competitors. Tie splitting went out with the Middle Ages when the Americans mistakenly thought that a high first prize for one player was the best publicity. (S R)

Since Ron is helping control the Open and thus cannot play, here is an example of what we have all missed.

Played in Round 1 at Spalding.

Glasgow September 28th - 30th.

There are many sections in this excellently organised event which this year attracted a record 246 entries. The top section is a 6 round Swiss, with 2 rounds per day and 16 participants. Basman came first with 5/6, after some even more dodgy positions than usual. Danny Wright tied for third place with 4/6 and Michael Macdonald-Ross scored 3½/6.

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Club Results 1967-1968

National Club Championship

We won this for the first time. That each and every player, played granite, is demonstrated by the fact that we lost only 2 games in the 7 six board matches. By a curious coincidence we had to play all 3 major universities, Cambridge, London and Oxford.

London League, A Division

We won this for the second year in succession. Perhaps it was just as well that we were not as overwhelmingly stronger than any other team as last year. We won 8 matches, drew 2 and lost 1. Thus finishing 1½ points ahead of our nearest rivals. Kenny Harman, on board 3-4, achieved the best score of 8½/11.

London League, C Division

This proved to be a great disappointment. The team was relegated, partly due to mismanagement such as playing ineligible players. This stemmed from the fact that the elected match captain resigned early in the season.

London League, E Division

As this was a new venture, nothing much was expected of this team. The number of defaults was disappointing, clearly 3 teams strain the resources of the club. Promotion to D division would, anyway, have been blocked by the second team.

Middlesex League

Again the captain resigned shortly after the start. For the remainder of the season there was no regular captain and thus it was not possible to carry out efficiently the intended policy of playing weaker members in this event. It is far easier to raise a team of first team players. Thus we won the league very easily, conceding only one draw to Metropolitan.

Winters' Trophy

This little summer knock-out tournament has, as its main attraction for us, a clock as first prize. Now we have so many, perhaps it isn' t so important. Each of the 3 years we have played Metropolitan in the final and won the last two times.

Eastman Cup

This is the knock-out championship of London. I cannot understand why it is not better supported. We lost to London University in this and they went on to win it. We were missing a couple of our best players but the University deserved to win.

Club Championship

Ron Harman won this not very representative event by a convincing margin. The Major tournament was won by Russell Rose and the minor tournament by Klistos Andrea.

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BCF Grades for Islington Players for 1967/1968

Last year' s grades, where available, are given in [the 3rd column].

Islington Player	1967/68	1966/67
J B Adams	183	175
P J Adams	169	171
T S Allen	147
K Andrea	113
C D Aykroyd	185
G F Baker	142
R E Banwell	192	185
A N Beckford	154	136
S Bell	138
R G Bellinger	176	171
D Benjamin	163	158
J S Bennett	183	177
I Bozic	155
M J Bulford	201	183
R C Cannon	172
M A Durrant	158	136
J G Enticknap	192	175
T C Fox	207	195
K B Harman	211	198
R F Harman	195	189
D J Hill	171
K M C Hogan	168	164
G A Hollis	196
J B Howson	204	193
E A Isles	210
R Keeley	194
M Leman	160	150
A T Macdonald	190
A J McDonnell	164
M Macdonald-Ross	217	207
P Mavromatis	124
F C May	193
D Mayers	157	156
A Mazitis	175	175
J Mulreany	170	153
M F Pearce	152	157
W E Poutrus	209	198
S Reuben	203	188
R N Rose	158	159
K Saar	113
Dr L Shenfield	154
R M Simpson	178	172
J Spencer	153	138
E Warren	165	126
I D Watkins	133
G W Wheeler	196	194
D Wright	215	191

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THE FOURTH ANNUAL ISLINGTON OPEN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP [22-24 November 1968]

In 1965 there were 24 entries, 1966 38, 1967 90; many were the predictions for this year but few believed me when I said 150 at least. In fact there were 173 entries, of whom 162 showed up and 148 finished. About a third of the entry was received the week before the closing date which makes the organisation terribly difficult. Players withdrawing without the courtesy of an apology are another grouse, when they then try to re-enter, having defaulted a game, it is even worse.

Apart from these minor irritations, everything went smoothly. The tournament took place at the Islington Boys' Club, Parkhurst Road, N7, from November 22nd to 24th. The venue was certainly large enough, there was another room that we never even used! The decorative order left a great deal to be desired, but it is very difficult to find a place that will make over the building to us for the week-end, and not charge for the letting.

The organisation of such an event is an extremely complicated problem in logistics. It still proved possible to run the congress a total of 15 minutes late for the 6 rounds but most of the Islington Club members are no help at all. The exception is, of course, Ron Harman who did the wall-chart, place-cards, helped with the pairings a couple of times and organised the canteen. It seems strange though that my two main assistants had nothing to do with the club. Brett van Toen turned up unheralded on Friday evening and proved to be a tower of strength as assistant tournament controller. 13 year old Christopher Parker of Kilburn Senior Boys' School where I teach was invaluable in many ways. Others who helped included my mother in answering the phone and at the canteen; Nigel Gilbey, my 7 year old nephew, in sending out the circulars; Bob Wade and Mr. Jordan in helping with the pairings; Tim Allen for being at the hall all Friday; Frank May who cleared up on Saturday night; the several club members who cleared up Sunday night; the several charming young ladies who helped at the canteen and the many, many people who did odd-jobs like emptying ash-trays, setting up the sets, etc. If you think that should complete the list, what about H. G. Felce looking up the ratings; Peter Morrish transferring the chess equipment; Kurajica, Pfleger, Wade, Kottnauer, Blaine, Wood doing the adjudications. I presume also that I have forgotten several invaluable helpers.

Donation List

Donor	£ (Pounds)	Shillings	Pence
Borough Council	50
CHESS	5
ESSO Ltd	5
C H O'D Alexander	2	10
M D Pringsheim	2	10
F C Manning	2
M Blaine	1	10
K I Norman	1	5
Ilford Club	1
S J Ridout	1
R G Bellinger		15
S Shaw		15
R Williams		15
R G Ambler		15
D M Jones		15
J S Emsley		15
J McCarthy		15
Dr T P Connellan		15
R W O'Brien		10
Dr L Shenfield		10
N Commis		10
M E Worsley		10
W E Hollingdale		10
J J Carleton		10
I Friedlander		10
S R Capsey		10
P G Killick		10
B G Sammes		10
B N Green		10
S C Downton		5
K F Bromwich		5
J M Ripley		5
D A Scott		5
M R B Clarke		5
D M Andrew		5
S R Pierce		5
A C P Milnes		5
J Comas		5
L S James		5
T P Whitehorn		5
J M Gorton		5
J Ryan		5
J L Harris		5
K M Weinhold		5
J Stearn		5
L B Stiffell		5
T Pruchnicki		5
A C Ashby		5
I Bozic		5
D F Austin		5
B L McCague		5
G O Jordan		5
R A Pike		2	6
A M Eames		1	10

Total £89 4s 4d [=£89.22]

RULES

For those poor, misguided people reading this, who have not played in the Islington Open or a similar event, here is the schedule .

Day	Round	Start	Finish
Friday	1	7.00pm	11.00pm
Saturday	2	9.00am	1.00pm
	3	2.00pm	6.00pm
	4	7.00pm	11.00pm
Sunday	5	9.30am	1.30pm
	6	3.00pm	finish

The rate of play was 48 moves in 2 hours. Thus that dreaded bogey, adjudication, was quite rare. In the whole tournament there were only approximately 20 of them. Some were quite important, such as Green v Pfleger of the third round, which was given a draw. There were none with which either player disagreed vehemently. This is one advantage of having international masters present. Anyway 4% adjudications cannot be too bad. No games in rounds 5 or 6 were adjudicated without both players' assent.

The pairing rules have become fantastically complicated. Since it seems unlikely that anybody else will wish to use exactly these, I do not append them here. Suffice it to say that, the players were divided into 8 groups going down in rating. In the first round 1 played 2 etc. In the second round,the winners of Group 1 v 2 played each other. The other winners played the best opponents available who had not won.

This enabled there to be only one player with 4/4. Since a knock-out tournament would take 8 rounds to achieve this for 162 players, it is quite good. On the other hand it failed in that Kurajica and Pfleger tied for first place without meeting. Clearly they are the best players, but equally clearly they should have met.
I do not think it possible to have a system laid down before the tournament started that would have ensured this. It could have been achieved, in all probability, by making the pairings simply as the controller thought fit. In my opinion this is highly undesirable. Substantially this was the method used at Manchester, and when the competitors realised it, they were highly indignant.

Clearly the thing to do next year is to have a completely open championship and one or more other sections limited to players under certain ratings. But this involves yet more work.

An attempt was made to run a tote on the tournament. Prediction of the first six places was required at 2/6 [12p] a go. There were only 9 entries so presumably the players were not interested. It is possible though that they just never even looked at the form giving details. I would have needed 10 lines to have obtained 5/6. The number I would have needed for all six is colossal, but nobody would have got them.

Bojan Kurajica and Helmut Pfleger had to start out more or less joint favourites. Odds perhaps Kurajica 6/4; Pfleger 7/4; Kottnauer 4/1; Franklin, Wade 8/1; Clarke, Fuller, van der Weide, Wright 12/1.

The whole event was, in fact, quite international. There were Kurajica, Yugoslavia; Pfleger, West Germany; van der Weide, van Dyken, Holland; Fuller, Viner, Australia; Hook, Virgin Islands.

The latter 3 were visiting London after the Olympiads at Lugano, although Max Fuller is going to stay here for some time. Van Dyken arrived at the shortest conceivable notice. He read of the tournament in Schach Echo, wrote on the 17th November. I received it on the 20th and wrote back on the 21st. He received my reply on Friday 22nd and virtually ran to catch the plane in time for the first round! So perhaps our postal system is not all that bad after all.

Thus the tournament had 4 international masters competing. It must have been about the fourth strongest event in England in 1968 after Hastings, Bognor and the British Championships. The strength though varies rather more here, the players at the bottom are quite likely weaker than any that take part in other adult events.

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[1968 ISLINGTON OPEN] PRIZE LIST

(1-2) 5½/6. Bojan Kurajica, Helmut Pfleger £62 10s each

(3-7) 5/6. Stefan Bruzzi, Alan Perkins, Bob Wade, Peter van der Weide, Danny Wright £15 each

Grades 189-175: 4½/6. G. H. Bennett, P. A. Hutchinson £2 10s each

Grades 174-160 4/6. T. B. Bennett, P. G. Killick, G. P. Burton, J. D. M. Nunn, T. O' Connell £1 each

Grades 159-150 3½/6 A. Melville, R. Gleave, T. Wodzianek £1 13s 4d each

Grades 149-130 4/6 D. M. Jones £5

Graded Under 130 4/6 N. M. Stewart £5

Thus £225 was distributed in prize money. This was £55 more than that advertised and was, once again, a British record for this type of event. It seems very probable that there will be a £100 first prize weekend tournament in Britain in 1969.

Only one Islington club member, Danny Wright, won a prize. Since 1 in 8 people won prizes and Islington provided 1 in 8 of the players, I suppose that this works out right.

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ROUND 1 [Friday 22 November 1968]

It is not likely that this should provide any surprises. A few draws are inevitable but, like last year no games were won against the rating in the top section. Clarke, Wade, Bruzzi and Hook were the ones who drew. In fact Bob Wade was very fortunate to draw as he was absolutely lost at one time. Pfleger was also very fortunate. Had Watson been content to draw instead of pressing so hard for a win, he could have obtained it easily. Still it makes a change for one of our young players to be a bit reckless these days. Kurajica crushed his opponent, as he was to in all 4 first rounds.

[Game scores Kurajica-Hollis, M.R.B.Clarke-van Dyken, Friedlander-Wade, D.Wright-D.M.Andrew, R.H.Watson-Pfleger, J.B.Adams-T.Janikowski, S.Saverymuttu-J.Carleton - see viewer/download]

ROUND 2 [Saturday 23 November 1968]

There were now 61 players left with 1/1, 16 from the top group and 45 from the rest. Thus it is not altogether surprising that there were considerably more upsets. The outstanding one was Kottnauer's loss to Botterill. Fuller also lost to van Dyken, but this did not cause as much surprise, as their relative strengths was virtually unknown. Franklin and Wright could make no impression on Perkins and Viner respectively.

After this round there were 16 players left with 2/2, of whom no less than 8 came from the bottom 3/4. From the top section, Century, Friedlander, Lancaster and Andrew were the offenders who lost against their ratings. Once again Peter Clarke could make no impression against a substantially lower rated player. This was N. A. Hutchinson, one of two brothers who seem to be the coming men in British chess.

[game scores H.Pfleger-T.Fox, etc - see viewer/download]

We have thought of offering a prize for the most ridiculous question asked at the Islington Open. One of the most common that I get asked is "Why aren't you playing?" Herewith a recent encounter to show that at least I do know the rules. [There follows the score of Reuben-Lavers - this evidently confused whoever input the game for ChessBase as it appeared in the bulletin amongst other round 2 games but it is clear that it was NOT played as part of the 1968 Islington Open.]

ROUND 3 by RON HARMAN.

This round on Saturday saw clashes between some of the stronger players; the larger part of the draw however represented the final stages of the sorting-out process. Hence many short games terminated by appalling blunders. Max Fuller,the young Australian expert, received an early Christmas present as follows: [Fuller-Pike - see viewer/download]

In weekend Swiss events, particularly those with three games on Saturday, it seems unlikely that many good strategical games would be played. As events proved most games were decided by tactical ideas and sustained attacks. The following examples of position play were produced predictably by Clarke, Franklin, Kottnaer and Kurajica and surprisingly by Van der Weide and Hall. [see viewer/download]

ROUND 4

Pfleger's failure to win in the previous round made it very likely that he and Kurajica would now never meet. Kurajica beat van der Weide by a sacrificial attack, thus taking the undisputed lead, Pfleger again made very heavy weather of it against P. G. Moore, Green was rather fortunate to beat N. A. Hutchinson who blundered, Wade beat P. A. Hutchinson convincingly enough, although it took a long time. Viner could make no impression on Weinhold. Hayes v Hook was a game typical of 48 moves in 2 hours - where both players try continually to win in a swashbuckling, free-wheeling style.

Mr. Juan Comas, of Spanish extraction, who speaks very little English, always has some surprise for us in this round. This year he sat down, and played, at the board where June Amos should have been playing.

One of the most amusing of the photographs is of a game where 2 players have the King and Queen reversed for one colour. Walking round, I noticed this after about an hour's play and pointed it out. Theoretically they should have started again!

ROUND 5

The leading scores were now Kurajica 4; Pfleger, Wade, Green, Hook 3½. With the pairing system as it was, it seemed very likely that the first 3 named would all win in this round, Kurajica and Wade would draw in round 6 and Pfleger would win to come first equal. Indeed this is what proved entirely to be the case. As somebody said, "why bother with the tournament, just distribute the prizes on what you expect to happen!"

Kurajica had the utmost difficulty in beating Barry Green. They reached a rook and pawn ending in which the master had an extra pawn. Had this gone immediately to adjudication, it might have been drawn. As it was, most fifth round games are played to a finish and Kurajica won. Once again Pfleger had an extremely scrappy win, Wade's encounter with Watson was more interesting.

No less than 10 people failed to show up for this round. The number of withdrawals and re-entries made the bottom of the tournament very scrappy. This is why, at the end, there were still 2 players with no score.

B. Green v B. Kurajica. We have devised a new I. Q. test around Bojan's score sheets. They are almost completely illegible. Last year I handed one over to Kenny Harman for interpretation. He came back with a perfectly reasonable game, bearing little or no resemblance to that actually played! He is not by any means the only offender, perhaps next year we will offer a prize for the best score sheets. I think the following is correct. Anyway it is one of the most interesting games that I have made up otherwise.

ROUND 6

The expected had happened and was to continue to do so. Kurajica just exchanged pieces off whenever Wade developed them. Thus the former reached 5½/6, making certain of at least £62 10s, and Wade reached 5/6, making certain of a fair prize. Pfleger was not to be expected to find Peter Clarke easy meat. Their game was the last to finish at about 9.00p.m. Danny Wright made it look very simple against Bennett, but his opponent was very cooperative. T. B. Bennett is Hertfordshire champion and patently quite a lot better than his rating of 174 suggests, but he cracked up here. Kottnauer sacrificed unsoundly in a not unreasonable position, which brought Bruzzi up amongst the prize-winners. Perkins obtained all the play from a rather dry Symmetrical English and Pox found it impossible to defend. Vin r sacrificed a piece for 3 pawns, but in his hurry to get the third overlooked a fork by van der Weide. Although van Dyken played on for 30 moves in an ending a piece up for 2 pawns, there was never any real hope of winning. One would have thought that Carleton would have made more of an effort to win, considering the prize money at stake. No doubt Botterill's compensation was sufficient however. Another player with nothing to lose, Moles, playing Green who had half a point less, also did not make the most of his opportunites as he had much the better game at one time. Thus 3 people more could have reached 5/6 than did do so.

FINAL SCORES

Last year I gave the complete tournament table. The amount of work that this would involve this year (about 14 hours) is not commensurate with its value. This way there is a fair chance that the whole bulletin will be finished by the end of 1968. After all I am typing these words at 2.00a.m.on Boxing Day morning!

Ranking	1968 Islington Open, 22-24 November	Total
1-2	Bojan Kurajica, Helmut Pfleger	5½/6
3-7	Stefano Bruzzi, Alan H Perkins, Piet van der Weide, Robert G Wade, Daniel Wright	5
8-15	Gerald H Bennett, George S Botterill, F M Boyd, John J Carleton, Michael J Franklin, William Hook, Paul A Hutchinson, Rex B van Dyken	4½
16-40	Cenek Kottnauer, Peter H Clarke, Max Fuller, Barry N Green, Terry C Fox, Michael J Bulford, Philip Viner, Geoffrey A Hollis, Ronald H Watson, Ivor A Friedlander, John M Ripley, Douglas G Shallcross, Seth Saverymuttu, Brian L. McCague, (Louis) Alan Edwards, T. J. Turner, Robin G Bellinger, Klaus M Weinhold, Terry B Bennett, Peter G Killick, Graham P Burton, John D M Nunn, D M Jones, Noel M Stewart, T O' Connell.	4
41-61	R Gardner, Roger G Ambler, Edward G Lea, Norman A Hutchinson, James Bernard Adams, Anthony C Ashby, Leslie S Blackstock, Gerald M Hayes, Gordon V Cadden, Jim E Vickery, W H Taylor, Richard W O'Brien, Stephen J Ridout, James S Emsley, Anthony J Stebbings, Richard W T Pomfret, A Melville, Anthony Wodzianek, Richard W Gleave, Anthony C P Milnes, G Wilcock	3½
62-95	Jonathan I Century, Paul Hershman, Arthur Hall, Michael P F Singleton, C Wright, Peter G Moore, Ray C Cannon, E Szucs, John S Evans, Tadeusz Pruchnicki, Charles Orton, D Parkinson, David W Anderton, Thomas Stonehouse, Alan J Potter, P J Booth, Eric Warren, David A Scott, Martin Eric Augstein, J Comas, Urmas O Aavelaid, M Durrant, Kenneth I Norman, S C Downton, Sydney Ross Capsey, Timothy S Allen, D Austin, J Horn, T Whitehorn, E Futtonweit(?), (??), C ??, K ??, U ?? [last six names off the end of the printed page - illegible]	3
96-117	Roger G Lancaster, Robert G W Elwell, Dinah Dobson (Norman), A Lukowicz, T Janikowski, A Torn, A McDonnell, Colin Leach, Fred C Manning, Peter C Wood, I Bozic, J Walters, D Newhouse, D N Harrison, Peter Brian Dearan, Alan M Eames, Geoffrey Bernard Spittle, Roger J Edwards, R A Pike, R Julian, John H Woolley, John R Dennis	2½
118-136	Anthony Robert Cullinane, R Williams, A N Beckford, Dr. Leonard Shenfield, John M Gorton, Colin R Tribe, D Smith, S R Pierce, J Stearn, Ray W Shepherd, J Hackett, Michael David Pringsheim, Brian Geoffrey Sammes, M Wolinski, T A Waters, John Henry Ebdell, J Hewitt, K Saar, D. Higginson	2
137-141	D. J. Hill, Derek Coope, Terence P D Chapman, G. O. Jordan, J. Stark	1½
142-146	Dr. T. Connellan, M. Hubbard, G. Bromley, E. Peacock, Miss June Amos	1
147-148	J. H. Ward, J. Pasterny	0
Unranked	L. Stiffell, J. Ryan 1½/4; C. Silverman 1/2; D. Forde, G. Nicholson, D. M. Andrew 1/4; J. McCarthy ½/4; M. R. B. Clarke, M. Leman, S. Shaw 0/1; L. S. James 0/4.

All in all, Bojan reinforced the opinion that this type of chess is his meat. Like last year, he never had an inferior position. Helmut Pfleger made much heavier weather of it. Nonetheless, he did manage to come through.

Bob Wade well deserved his score, despite good fortune in the first round. Bruzzi, Perkins and Wright all came to 5/6 by much the same route, a couple of early draws finishing up with 3 wins. This is a very chancy way of doing it as shown by Peter Clarke's final score. Van der Weide was the only main prize-winner to lose, but it was to Kurajica.

There were no surprisingly good results on 4½/6. All the players are quite well-known. In particular, P. A. Hutchinson reinforced his reputation made in these type of tournaments. G. H. Bennett should also be well pleased, although his opposition was not of the highest calibre.

Both Fuller and Kottnauer fared badly. No real excuse for the former who has won a number of these events in Australia. Perhaps the latter found it too tiring. John Nunn's was a fine achievement for a 13 year old. This type of event is not really suitable usually for the very young. D. M. Jones and N. M. Stewart both excelled themselves.

It is unclear exactly what will happen next year, at this time. There will be an Islington Open, which will take place from November 21st to 23rd. This will probably be divided into 2 or 3 Swisses. The first an Open Championship and the others restricted to players below certain ratings. This year' s tournament was somewhat disappointing in not having enough clashes between the leading competitors.

Incidentally I had a bet in the flurry of Friday evening with somebody who thought that more than one player would score 6/6. One day I will remember who it is, the piker!

It is clear that the event will be extended in 1969, with or without the commercial sponsorship called for by Mr. Barden in the Guardian.

Another certainty is that there will be no bulletin on this scale next year, unless somebody else does it. The work involved is far too great to undertake 3 years in a row.

Up to date news and results of Islington Chess Club and its members can be found each week, on Tuesday or Friday, in The Islington Gazette.

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File Updated

Date	Notes
24 July 2023	Original upload of 60 games. These games have been available for some years elsewhere but with errors and no dates. The games were published in The Islingtonian (Islington Chess Club Bulletin), no.11. I have included the text of the bulletin for added interest.