The Southend Easter Chess Festival 2023 which concluded on Monday 10 April, is pronounced a success. 178 players entered: 56 in the 3rd Southend Rapid on Thursday 6 April and 122 in the 65th Annual Congress 7-10 April.
Congratulations to all the Prize Winners, who are listed via the link below and thank you to all players who supported this year’s Festival.
We thank Southend Adult Community College for the use of their splendid venue, Adam, Rob and Reza for Arbiting, yElena Went for keeping us fed and watered for the duration – with the assistance of daughter Natalia and husband Norman – and Giant Chess for overall organisation.
The SCCU Individual Championship is shared jointly by Steve Jones (Sandhurst) and Savas Marin Stoica (Hendon). The British Championship place has been awarded to Steve Jones on tie-break.
The Essex Champion is Bob Eames (Loughton) and the Essex Minor Champion is Peter Laundy (Basildon).
The 2nd Southend Masters, running alongside the Festival in the same venue, organised by Chess England, was a spectacular success with no fewer than three title Norms being secured, two GM Norms and one IM Norm: such a level of achievement in one tournament is unheard of. Arbiter Lance Leslie-Smith who undertook the brunt of the organisation is still grinning from ear-to-ear!
GM Norms (6½/9): IM Mahel Boyer (France), 7/9; IM Ameet K Ghasi (England), 6½/9;
IM Norm (4½/9): FM Yichen Han (Netherlands), 4½/9.
Many congratulations to these three Masters.
The Festival next year will run from Thursday 28 March 2024 to Monday 1 April 2024 inclusive. We look forward to seeing you all again then.
Links: Prize List 2023 | Pairings & Results
Southend Easter Chess Festival 