Many congratulations to Paul who kept the County Individual title in Bedford hands for the fourth (I think?) year in a row. In typically modest style he supplies the report below and shares a nice game. Thanks to Adrian Matthews for the photo.
I managed not to mess things up this year. I beat Richard Freeman in the morning and Graham Borrowdale beat Adrian Matthews. In the afternoon the top final round results were
Borrowdale(4) 0-1 Valentine(3.5)
Whiteside(3) 0-1 Habershon(4)
Freeman(3) 1-0 Matthews(3)
Ledger(2.5) 1-0 Williamson(3)
My game was the first to finish (see below) so I was guaranteed first place (5/6) but had to wait to see if Graham could catch up. However, Brian Valentine completed a good tournament by winning that game and finishing second on his own with 4.5.
Marc Obi scored 2 and Jan Laming drew with Adrian Elwin in the morning and then won his last game v Ben Pike to finish on a creditable 3 points.
Gerry Nolan. Started the day on 1.5/4. He had tough pairings but drew with Ledger and Elwin to finish on 2.5.
My last three title wins are rather spaced out: 1988, 2007 and 2016.
At 70 I must be the oldest winner, certainly since 1969 when I first came to Bedford. I can’t vouch for what happened before then. Poignantly Branko Pribanich was the previous candidate with his win in 2003. He died (recently) with his record intact.
Paul Habershon, 9th May 2016
Well done to Paul.