20/20 Chess had a new winner for the 2024 season, and it was deservedly claimed convincingly by the hosts Birmingham University!
They won all five matches and only dropped 4 game points across the tournament:
20/20 Chess 20th January 2024 | ScorchChess (scorchapp.co.uk)
We then had time for an individual blitz tournament which Phil Purcell won in a play-off:
Birmingham 20/20 Blitz 20th January | ScorchChess (scorchapp.co.uk)
Thank you to Philip Press and his colleagues at the University of Birmingham for hosting the event, and for James Connors for helping with the pairings and scoring the results.
We look forward to returning next year!
Best wishes,
Peter Hornsby
Founder and Tournament Director of 20/20 Chess
The 20/20 Chess Championships resumed in a lovely new venue for 2023 at Warwick University, and the hosts won all of their six matches to reclaim their title that they previously held in 2020, just before the pandemic suspended over-the-board events.
The tournament was already success before a single match was played; £680 was raised for charity (Oxfam) through entry fees which will go towards supporting the victims of the recent tragic earthquake in Syria and Turkey, along with other crises in the world, of course including in Ukraine:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/2020chess
16 teams participated from across the UK, comprising of schools, clubs, universities from across all demographics.
The deciding match took place in Round 4, Sons of Anarchy (Tiger Sharks, the reigning 4NCL Rapidplay champions) were drawn against Warwick University with both teams having convincingly won their opening three matches.
International Master Ameet Ghasi narrowly managed to prevail against Fide Master Sam Chow on board 1 for Sons of Anarchy, however Warwick's Oscar Pollock held on for a draw against Fide Master James Moreby, and Warwick were able to win on the bottom two boards to give them a thrilling 2.5-1.5 victory.
The championship was in their hands, and they did not let up or slip up, convincingly winning both of their remaining matches with a 4-0 scoreline to become champions.
As a result, Reading University leapfrogged Staffordshire Juniors, who themselves should be proud of a fine display, into 3rd place and a podium finish.
Many, many, thanks to all our sponsors who kindly provided prizes:
Purling London: For donating the first place board/trophy
Chess.com: For donating Diamond memberships, awarded to players who scored 5/6 or more
SoulSanity: For providing online classes for all players part of the teams that finished in the top three places
Chess & Bridge: For providing the chess clocks, as well as providing vouchers which were used for various prizes, and for donating a CHESS magazine to each participant
We are also extremley grateful to Warwick University Chess Society, and their President James Parkinson and
Meghana Mohan, for hosting the event and allowing us to use their newly acquired chess sets.
Special thanks must go to Hok Yin Stephen Chiu for booking the venue and working alongside James Connors who very kindly helped with the pairings and publishing the results which you can view in full here:
Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - World Chess League 20/20 Chess Team Championships
Finally, we were delighted that the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Noel Butler, attended as our guest of honour to observe the final round and to award the prizes at the closing ceremony which you can watch below.
We look forward to our next competition!
Peter Hornsby
Founder and Tournament Director of 20/20 Chess