Winners, results and pictures

2016 MCCU Congress

GM Mark Hebden clear first at Walsall This year's event was much better supported than the first edition. Just under a hundred players entered and two titled players competed in the Open. As last year, CEO Ray Dolan and Eunice Dolan took care of both the organisation and catering: Chess Essentials provided the bookstall. Matthew Carr was chief Arbiter with John Mildenhall in support.

Ray Dolan, congress organiser on the left, congratulates Mark Hebden (right) on his win.

Left: John Mildenhall, assistant controller. Centre: Open winner GM Mark Hebden with Mayor of Walsall, Kath Phillips, and MCCU Chair John Pakenham at the start of the congress. Right: Chief Arbiter Matthew Carr

Open

First - GM Mark Hebden (Leicester) 5 points.
Second to fourth - John Carleton (Chester), FM Michael Barnes (Nottingham Gambit) and Richard Bryant (Chester) 3½ points.
Other players - Sanghera Parminder (Wolverhampton), Jonah Willow (W Nottingham), Nathanael Paul (Newport, Shrops) on 3 points; Mike Surtees (Bolton, GMC), Agostan Mihalik (S Birmingham), Joseph Friar (Kidderminster), Chirag Guha 2½ points; Michael Townsend (Wolverhampton) Shabir Okhai and Patrick Reid 2 points; Nicholas Walker (West Bromwich), Phil Bull (Wolverhampton) 1½ points; Barry Hymer (Lancaster), Moin Uddin (West Bromwich) ½ point.

The final round of the Open. Left: Youth versus experience on board one. Right: A tight finish

Major (under-160)

First to second - Robert Clegg (Huddersfield) and Richard Desmedt (Wombwell) 4 points.Dean
Third to fourth - Dean Hartley (Amber Valley, Derbys) and Adam Bennett (W Nottingham).
Other players - Dragoljub Sudar (Gambit, Notts), Michael Connor (Great Lever, GMC) and Frank Wood (Wolverhampton) 3 points; Shabab Quraishi (Sutton Coldfield), Brian Foreman (Syston, Leics), Stephen Wilcox (Rushall, Staffs), and Richard Szwajkin (Shifnal & Telford, Shrops) 2½ points; Gary Jackson (Banbury), Ray Collett (Worcester), Glyn Ward (Loughborough, Leics) 2 points; David Patrick (Courier), John Staniforth (Bushbury, Staffs), Hambel Willow (W Nottingham) 1½ points; Marco Ho (Olton) 0 withdrew.

Right: Players in the Major. Left: Top boards in the Minor

Intermediate (under 140)

First - Athar Ansari (Newport, Shrops) 5 points
Second - Qais Karimi (Lincoln) 4 points
Third to fifth - Alex Pready (Birmingham), Michael Carroll (Great Lever), and Paul Doherty (no club) 3½ points.
Other players - Robert Marks (Sutton Coldfield), Richard Livermore (Wales), Edison Xu (Newport, Shrops), and Chris Pitt (Shirley) 3 points; Jon Asbury (Shirley), Chris Fraser (West Bridgford, Notts), Michael Hoar (Lichfield, Staffs), and Sam Bradley (Stourbridge, Worcs) 2½ points; Stephen Chadaway (Olton, Birmingham) Catherine Hiley (Rugeley, Staffs), Andrew Leadbetter (Stafford), Martyn Robinson (Burton) and Philip Sheldon (Spondon, Derbys) 2 points; Mark Riley (Kidderminster), Susie Wang (W Nottingham), John Grasham (Louth, Lincs), and Stephen Crockett (Redditch, Worcs) 1½ points; Geoffrey Rosser (Wolverhampton, Staffs) 1 point; Douglas Barnett (Alsager) and Arnold Kirkland (Droitwich, Worcs) ½; Tim Crooks (no club) and Paul Taylor (Halesowen) withdrew after one round.

Minor (under 120)

First - David Smith (Redditch, Worcs) 4½ points.
Second to fifth - Paul Davies (Stratford, Warks), Michele Clack (Redditch, Worcs), and Devan Patel (Staffs Juniors), and Gathsara Seekkuge (Stourbridge, Worcs) 4 points.
Other players: Gayara Seekkuge (Sussex Juniors) 3½ points; Peter Banks (Halesowen, Worcs), Roger Brown (Shifnall & Telford, Shrops), Chris Cox (Mercia. W Mids), John Pakenham (Warley Quinborne, W Mids), Steve Swaijkun (Shifnal & Telford, Shrops), Vidura Mendis (W Nottingham), Bahia Dhiren (Bloxwich Juniors, Staffs); and Gayathma Seekkuge (Sussex Juniors) 3 points; Colin Vernon (Worcester), Andrew Field (Halesowen), Victor Brown (Walsall Kipping, Staffs), Sarvesh Rajdev (Bloxwich Juniors, Staffs), Andrew P Davies (Brewood, Staffs), 2½ points; Rayyan Farooq (Solihull), Andy Carter (Red Admiral), Aaryan Singh (Bloxwich Juniors, Staffs), Tim Crooks (Bloxwich Juniors, Staffs), Marcus Perry (Wolverhampton, Staffs), and Colin Tsang (Bloxwich Juniors, Staffs) 2 points; Daniel Malkin (Bloxwich Juniors, Staffs), John Moughton-Leay (Bloxwich Juniors, Staffs), and Terry Knight (Burton, Leics) 1½ points; Andrew Fenn (Staffs Juniors) and Leslie Fancourt (Meir) 1 point; Miriam Gorton (Bloxwich Juniors, Staffs) and Amrisa Johal (Bloxwich Juniors, Staffs) ½ point.

Full cross-tables

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