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Last update: Wednesday February 27, 2008 10:54
The 2nd Brentwood International took place at Brentwood School Sports Hall and once again the Masters Open section fielded had a good selection of strong titled players. Three times British Champion GM Jonathon Rowson headed the field with GM’s Matthew Turner and Neil McDonald leading a strong pack of titled players chasing after the £1000 first prize. Like last year, any small slip doesn’t go unpunished, and Rowson drew against FM Martin Walker in the first round. Rowson went on to admit that he was lucky to get a draw as he thought he had the worse position. IM Graeme Buckley could also only manage a draw against Bonafont and FM David Ledger lost against Ian Wallis.
In the 2nd round it was the turn of GM Matthew Turner and IM Dagne Ciuksyte to get surprise draws against Paul Talsma, a Dutch player currently resident in Norwich, and Dominic Gibbs respectively. In the next couple of rounds IM Sam Collins dropped off the pace after a draw against Alan Hanreck followed by a loss against Nigerian IM Odion Aikhoje.
In the final round four players were tied in first place on 3½: GM Jonathon Rowson, GM Neil MacDonald, IM Jovanka Houska, and IM Odion Aikhoje. Aikhoje faced MacDonald’s Dutch defence (the only opening he had played as Black all tournament) and Houska played against Rowson. As with many weekend congresses, not only are you battling against the opponent, but you are also trying to keep up with time. MacDonald lost to Aikhoje after being desperately short on time and the Houska also struggled for time in her game against Rowson.
So the 2nd Brentwood International Chess Congress Masters Open section ended with GM Jonathon Rowson and IM Odion Aikhoje in joint first. Other winners were Ali Kikoyo who was outright winner of the Brentwood Major section, and Radha Jain and Adrian Riley tied for first place in the Warley Minor section.
Full information and games are available at the website www.bichesscongress.co.uk.