Excerpts from a report by Steve Burnell (the full report appears in the May 2025 gazette):

The March 2025 AGM weekend tournament saw the BCA returning to the Hilton Hotel in Leicester.  We were delighted to welcome Maria Dod to her first OTB tournament.

The chess got under way on Friday evening with all games going according to seeding with the exception of Murphy-Smith which saw Gill pulling off an outstanding result by winning against her opponent in the face of a 400-rating point difference.

Gill’s reward was to be drawn against second seed Brandan Read in round 2 with no rating upset this time.

However, the round’s upset came from a great result for Lea Ryan who beat George Phillips.  The rating difference of over 500 points just helps to highlight what an entertaining, exciting and unpredictable game we are all playing!

Round three saw the current BCA British Champion, Bill Armstrong, drawn against the top seed, Steve Burnell.  In a lengthy, hard-fought game which saw both players getting low on time, Bill scored a well-deserved victory which put him in joint lead with Brandan Read.  In this round newcomer Maria Dod scored her first point by beating John Osborne.

Going into round four Brandan and Bill were battling it out for top spot.  Their draw left them both on 3.5 with Stan Lovell joining them on the same score after a win against Gary Wickett.

In the Challengers’ section (for those rated U1450), Dan Rugman gained top spot with a win against Lea Ryan.

If round five saw a large number of draws, it wasn’t for the want of people trying to win!  In fact, 7 of the nine games ended in draws, including on the top three boards.  This left a three-way tie for first place in the Open, with Bill, Brandan and Stan on 4/5 points.  Dan Rugman won the Challengers’ section finishing with a great result with a draw against Brandan.  See below for the final scores.

This was a very enjoyable and well organised tournament in a good hotel.  Many thanks to John Osborne and Phil Rafferty for all their hard work once again in organising the event.  Thanks also to Gerry Walsh, James Connors and Tris Cole for running the chess side of the weekend so smoothly and efficiently.

Final scores:

4 points: Armstrong, Read and Lovell shared 1st prize.  Armstrong won the trophy on tie break.

3.5 points: Burnell, Rugman and Blencowe.  Rugman won 1st prize in the U1450 and the trophy.

3 points: Fletcher-Harris and Murphy.  Fletcher-Harris won 2nd prize in the U1450.

2.5 points: Wickett, Gailans, Hague and Fullwood.  They all shared 3rd prize in U1450.

2 points: Phillips, Ryan and Bailey.  Ryan won the U1000 rating prize.

1.5 points: Smith, Osborne and Dod.  Osborne and Dod shared U1100 rating prize.

1 point: Rafferty and Lawton.

The AGM was held on the Saturday evening.   For those staying on the Sunday evening we were once again treated to fine entertainment from Julie, Tanvi, Steve Bailey, Gary and Brandan.  A fitting finale to another great weekend.  Thanks to everyone for making it such a success.

Bill Armstrong writes:

“I was awarded the trophy on a lucky technicality.  Brandan is much more deserving.  When we reached a drawn level position, Brandan, ignoring his time advantage, agreed a draw.  He now has the trophy, a memento of his first tournament success in an over-the-board BCA event.”