Mick Riding is to be congratulated on organising a splendid Durham County Congress over the weekend of 6-8 May in the Dolphin Centre, Darlington. The event, which attracted a total of 159 entries, was formally opened by the Mayor of Darlington, Cyndi Hughes, with Baroness Hale of Richmond one of the honoured guests.
The Open Tournament was won by Brandon Clarke with 4½ out of 5, ahead of several players on 4 points: Danny Gormally, Peter Large, David Walker, Frederic Clement, Zoe Varney and Tim Wall.
There were also outright winners in the Major – Luke Remus Elliot, and the Minor – Maksym Kryshtafor (from Ukraine), who both scored a maximum 5/5.
The full results can be found here:
https://chess-results.com/tnr634686.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=5&fed=ENG
Play gets under way in the splendid hall of the Dolphin Centre.
Thank you for this Ken. It means loads. Of course I am massively proud of this weekend – and equally grateful for the support, be that players, Alex McFarlane – a complete hero in my eyes, Carl and Eddie who helped set up/close down, the Dolphin staff – and yourself attending the opening ceremony.
Our challenge is now next year. The centre is booked and I have a list of things that might be improved upon. Plus the Mayor was keen that I look at something outside perhaps on the Friday.
Regardless. We’ve been blessed with a great start. Now it’s up to all of us to make sure this is our ‘for ever’ weekend. That is my dream 🙂