More than 100 players took part in Shropshire’s biggest chess event – the Wrekin Chess Congress – over the weekend, when they battled it out for a prize fund of more than £1,000.
And organisers were delighted with the turnout which ensured the tournament made a tidy profit.
Colin Roberts, organiser, said: “I’m very pleased. We had 107 actually playing, which is up on last year, and to be honest we couldn’t really fit many more in.”
Players from Shropshire and further afield did battle over the boards on Saturday and Sunday in the five-round competition at the Court Centre, Madeley, Telford.
Although Shropshire was denied a “home win” in the strongest of the three sections, the Premier, which was won by Russell James of Birmingham, the county’s young talent shone through in the Major and the Minor sections.
Star performer was 12-year-old Athar Mehmood, from Wellington, who won all his five games – the only player in the entire competition to achieve that feat – and stormed to victory in the Minor section, winning himself a late Christmas present of a £200 cheque.
Ieuan Fenton, 17, from Nesscliffe, was outright winner in the Major section, for players of intermediate strength, with a score of 4.5 out of a possible 5 points.
Ieuan said: “It was amazing. I played the best chess I have ever played. I just did not make mistakes. It just clicked.”
Among other youngsters to shine were Peter Mellor, who plays for the Telford-based Coddon chess club, who won the prize for best junior in the tournament who had not already won another prize.
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