Eight Bedford players took part in this years event, which ended last Sunday. Steve Ledger finished runner up but there were a number of good performances. Full details may be found at here. Paul sets the scene, Toby adds a battling game and Steve demonstrates a couple of fun wins!
Paul Habershon – Although the county championship ended rather predictably with Gary Kenworthy first on 5 and Steve Ledger second on 4.5, it was an exciting final day, particularly notable for seeing Toby Cox on top board in the final round against Kenworthy.
The drama started days earlier when the sole leader, James Gardner, on 3.5/4 had to withdraw for work reasons. This left four players in joint lead on 3. The top Round 5 pairings were Habershon(3)-Kenworthy(3), Borrowdale(3)-Cox(3), Ledger(2.5)-Freeman(2.5). Kenworthy arrived nearly fifteen minutes late but still needed only about 25 minutes thinking time to dispose of me (see game). Cox drew with Borrowdale and Ledger beat Freeman. Thus Round 6 was: Kenworthy(4) v Cox(3.5), Borrowdale(3.5) v Ledger(3.5), Habershon(3) v Karimi(3). I beat Qais in a sacrificial game starting 1e4 g5!?, thus ending up sole 3rd on 4 points. Ledger mated Borrowdale. Toby put up a terrific fight(see below) , impressing Gary (‘my toughest opponent’), but eventually succumbed. Typically of a Swiss finish, Toby, despite a great performance, ended up out of the top three places.
Steve ledger – just to show that all my games aren’t turgid grinds or endgame swindles, here are the last two rounds games. The 2nd, especially, was a right mess, ending in an amusing king hunt …..….. Though would have been better if I’d sacrificed a few pieces to get his K right up the board (!)