1970 (25th) West of England (WECU) Championship, Weymouth, 26-30 March

1970 West of England (WECU) Championship		Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	Total
1	Peter Hugh Clarke	Holsworthy	♦ 1/17	◊ ½/2	♦ 1/10	◊ ½/6	♦ ½/8	♦ 1/11	4½
2	David Ellis	Isles of Scilly	◊ 1/5	♦ ½/1	◊ 1/13	♦ ½/8	◊ ½/11	♦ ½/3	4
3	James Macrae Aitken	Cheltenham	♦ ½/16	◊ ½/14	♦ ½/9	◊ 1/10	♦ 1/6	◊ ½/2	4
4	George W Wheeler	Plymouth	♦ ½/9	◊ ½/15	♦ ½/17	◊ ½/14	♦ 1/16	◊ 1/8	4
5	Nigel J Holloway	Plymouth	♦ 0/2	◊ ½/20	♦ ½/16	◊ 1/19	♦ ½/9	◊ 1/15	3½
6	Robert H Northage	Bath	◊ 1/19	♦ ½/13	◊ ½/8	♦ ½/1	◊ 0/3	◊ 1/18	3½
7	R Martin	Bristol	◊ 0/8	♦ 1/19	♦ ½/20	◊ ½/9	♦ ½/15	◊ 1/14	3½
8	Stuart J Hutchings	Bristol	♦ 1/7	◊ ½/10	♦ ½/6	◊ ½/2	◊ ½/1	♦ 0/4	3
9	Ian Roebuck	Portland	◊ ½/4	♦ ½/12	◊ ½/3	♦ ½/7	◊ ½/5	♦ ½/13	3
10	Trefor F Thynne	Teignmouth	◊ 1/18	♦ ½/8	◊ 0/1	♦ 0/3	◊ 1/17	♦ ½/12	3
11	David A LeMoir	Bristol	♦ ½/14	◊ ½/16	♦ ½/15	◊ 1/17	♦ ½/2	◊ 0/1	3
12	Derek Maurice Wise	Bristol	♦ ½/15	◊ ½/9	♦ ½/14	◊ ½/16	♦ ½/18	◊ ½/10	3
13	James R Boyce	Bristol	♦ 1/20	◊ ½/6	♦ 0/2	◊ ½/15	♦ ½/14	◊ ½/9	3
14	John Francis Wheeler	Plymouth	◊ ½/11	♦ ½/3	◊ ½/12	♦ ½/4	◊ ½/13	♦ 0/7	2½
15	Philip James Meade	Cheltenham	◊ ½/12	♦ ½/4	◊ ½/11	♦ ½/13	◊ ½/7	♦ 0/5	2½
16	Maurice J Belsten	Bristol	◊ ½/3	♦ ½/11	◊ ½/5	♦ ½/12	◊ 0/4	♦ ½/20	2½
17	Michael Edward Brigden	Bristol	◊ 0/1	♦ 1/18	◊ ½/4	♦ 0/11	♦ 0/10	◊ 1/19	2½
18	John Crowle Cock	Cheltenham	♦ 0/10	◊ 0/17	♦ ½/19	◊ 1/20	◊ ½/12	♦ 0/6	2
19	Joseph Andrew Flood	Torquay	♦ 0/6	◊ 0/7	◊ ½/18	♦ 0/5	◊ 1/20	♦ 0/17	1½
20	Richard H K Mann	Wareham	◊ 0/13	♦ ½/5	◊ ½/7	♦ 0/18	♦ 0/19	◊ ½/16	1½

BCM, June 1970, ppn 170-171

The West of England Congress – by Peter H Clarke

Nearly a hundred players gathered at Weymouth over the Easter weekend (March 26th to 30th) for the annual congress of the W.E.C.U., held in spacious and pleasant accommodation at the South Dorset Technical College. This was the twenty-fifth event of the series that began in Bristol in 1946 and the fifth that I have attended in some capacity. It would be difficult, if not unfair, to say which I have found the best; for most towns in the western counties of England are conscious of the need to attract visitors and exploit their natural situations—Weymouth, for instance, can offer the explorer the Bill of Portland and the curious Chesil Beach.

Interest in the championship tournament was chiefly concerned with whether I could increase my hold on the title (shared in 1969 with L. P. Burnett). I discovered at Torquay last year that the role of favourite in a competition run on the Swiss System is not an easy one, and this time I was again unable to get clear of my rivals inside the full distance of six rounds. The final day started with Dr. J. M. Aitken, D. Ellis (both former titleholders) and myself sharing the lead with 3½ points and another trio just behind, who could overhaul us. On the face of it the fact that Aitken and Ellis were paired against each other made my task the simplest, but a different factor was also involved. According to the present rules of the event a tie of three or more players is resolved by application of the sums of opponents’ scores, and Ellis was well ahead of me on that count. This meant that a draw would automatically cost me my title. I was paired with the young Gloucestershire player LeMoir and had been given the black pieces once again. Thus the dilemma that trapped me was whether I should go all out for the win with, say, a Sicilian Defence or remain faithful to the orthodox defences that I have practised recently. The problem was still unsolved when I came to the board, but after pondering for some five or six minutes I reached the following conclusion: that victory in a single game, even winning a championship, is worth little compared with one’s chess philosophy and that therefore I would not avoid a drawing variation if my opponent used the prerogative of the White pieces to enforce one. In Russian such an outlook is called “printsipalnost”—and in the event the virtue of sticking to one’s principles was rewarded.

The game between Aitken and Ellis took a quite different course, developing into trench warfare behind the pawn chains. Ellis gradually obtained the upper hand and tried hard for the point that would have put him into the British Championship. However, he could not penetrate the opposing position and finally had to give up after almost eight hours’ play, accepting a share of second place.

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Other Sections

Challengers—(1) J Anderson (Weymouth) 5½/6; (2) (Henry) James Draisey (Bristol) 4½; (3) Hugh Edward Guy Courtney (Malvern) 4; (4-7) I R Pickup (Bristol), Ronald Owen Powis (Stroud), P J Smith (Bristol), Philip K Trussler (Keynsham) 3½

Reserves—(1-2) Anthony M M Hurman (Bridgwater), Timothy Alan Sinkinson (Stroud) 5/6; (3) R M Morgan (Weston-super-Mare), Philip J Tolhurst (Stroud) 4.

Open Championship—(1) Harry Booth (Oxford) 4; (2-5) Terence Douglas Crawford (Cardiff), Nigel W Dennis (Henley), J A Foster (Oxford), G L Pritchard (Romsey) 3.

Junior (Under-18) Championship—(1) Maurice J Staples (Bridgwater) 6/6; (2) Robin Jonathan Pearce (Redruth) 4; (3-4) J Nairn (Weymouth), D Sims (Yatton) 3½.

Minor (Under-15) Championship—(1) C Gilbey (Plymouth) 5/6; (2-4) Richard Bloodworth (Plymouth), John S Bunter (Sherborne), Nicholas J Webber (Street) 4.

Girls Championship—(1) Karen Junker (Wellington) 4; (2) Sarah Allcock (Pill) 3½; (3) Elspeth Fraser (Weymouth) 3.

All-Play-All—(1) J W Keough (Wareham) 4; (2) Cmdr. Harold Hurrell Weymouth) 3½; (3) Wilfred G Oliver (Cheltenham) 3.

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File Updated

Date

Notes

10 July 2023

Original upload of 16 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.