The first ever Wightlink Isle of Wight Chess Congress, held from 19th to 21st April, proved to be a resounding success and sold out of all entry spaces. Hosted at The Ryde Castle Hotel, the congress drew in a total of 72 participants, with 41 traveling from the mainland. This strong turnout signals the Island's promising ability to accommodate even larger chess events in the future. Plans are already in motion for a tournament in 2025, aiming to welcome up to 300 players and a nine round Open section.
This year’s Open section featured some exceptional play, with ten titled players, a grandmaster and two British champions. You can view all the games here on Chess.com
International master Harry Grieve clinched first place after securing a draw in the final round with grandmaster Keith Arkell. Harry gave an exceptional performance and finished on 4½ out of 5 to Keith’s 4 out of 5 after Keith took a round 3 bye.
Keith finished in 2nd place, and he also won the blitz tournament on Saturday evening. Overall, Keith played five standardplay games, seven blitz games and 12 simul games, with the final round draw being the only game he didn’t win.
Chichester player Vinuda Gunathilake came 3rd on tie-break with 3½ out of 5, also winning the best under 16 prize for the section, sponsored by Isle of Wight College. Overall the juniors gave an excellent performance in the Open, and it was incredible to see them hold their own in such a strong field.
One junior in particular, Jan Murawski, played some exceptional chess over the weekend, but it didn’t translate to the final scoreboard. The 13 year old Oxford junior narrowly missed out on a draw with British Champion Harry Grieve in round 2, succumbing to Harry’s superior game management in the endgame. He also had a strong winning chance against women’s international master Natasha Regan in the final round, but ultimately lost that game after a brilliant rook sacrifice from Natasha. Jan did however come 2nd in the Saturday night blitz tournament, with his only loss going to grandmaster and blitz winner Keith Arkell.
Natasha’s win secured the best women’s player prize, sponsored by Wightlink Ferries. Overall, nine women took part, which is a good number and hopefully one we can increase in coming years, and especially so with local players.
Two local players gave strong performances in the Open. FIDE master Neil Dickenson returned to tournament chess after over a decade, and scored an impressive 3½ out of 5, missing out on 3rd place on tie-break. A newcomer to tournaments, islander Joel Lloyd scored 2½ from 5, with an impressive win with the black pieces and a draw against the very strong junior player Shambavi Hariharan. Born an islander, but away at university and representing Southampton University chess, David Collyer also gave a good performance in his first FIDE Open, securing points against much higher rated players.
All the games in the Open were broadcast live on Chess.com and Lichess, with support from our equipment sponsor DGT. You find the games here: Isle of Wight Open 2024 - All the Information - Chess.com
The Championship section was won by local player Clive Bowley, who also won the Island Echo’s best Isle of Wight player prize. In 2nd place was visiting player Arnob Dutta, and on tie-break another local, Michael Gidley came 3rd . Michael also won the best over 65 Isle of Wight player award.
The U1400 rated Challenger section was won by visiting junior player Gregory Kornilovich. On the top board, Gregory saw off strong attacks in the final round from talented local player John Oglander, who was until then undefeated and on 3½ from 4, having taken a half-point bye in round 4. John slipped down to 4th position with the loss and missed out on a top three finish. Another local, Om Gohel, clinched 2nd place with 4 out of 5 and some impressive wins. Newcomer and islander Alexander Short came 3rd on tie-break, also on 4 points from 5.
Tournament director David Lightfoot said:
‘Overall the feedback from players has been great. With the support of Wightlink we were able to plan a top level congress at short notice, and we cannot thank them enough for their backing. Our equipment partners, DGT, generously supported the event with live boards and additional clocks and boards, which allowed the event to be broadcast live and gave players a professional experience. The Island Echo sponsored the best Isle of Wight player award, which added an extra element of competition for locals not playing in the top section. Isle of Wight College supported under 16 prizes in each section, which was a huge draw for junior players.
‘I could not be more proud of Isle of Wight chess; with the support of local players we were able to deliver a top tier event, and we can’t wait to expand this next year. We could not have wished for a better chief arbiter in Shohreh Bayat, who delivered an incredible event with her team. Thank you to all players and staff, and I look forward to announcing the 2025 Isle of Wight chess tournament soon’.