Despite a mid-tournament snowfall, Shropshire's premier chess event set a new record for entries.
Mid tournament snow failed to checkmate Shropshire's premier chess event which set a new record for entries. With players coming from not just Shropshire, Wolverhampton, and across the Midlands, but also travelling from as far as South Wales and Yorkshire, it was feared that the arctic blast would force many to pull out at a crucial stage.However, only eight, mainly living in rural areas, decided not to play in the final two rounds of the five-round competition.
'The snow was potentially a bit of a hiccup, but we were lucky it was not as bad as had been feared,' said Shropshire Chess Congress' joint organiser, Chris Lewis.A total of 171 players entered the competition, although in the event 166 took part. The bumper entry for the tournament held at the premises of Wrekin Housing Trust took it to capacity and meant it had to close the entry list several days in advance. 'It's definitely a record,' said Lewis, who said factors in the success were both the venue, and also the on-site food.A first for the congress in its 50-year history was a special £100 prize for the best performing female player. 'One of the big focusses of Shropshire chess this year is female chess. Our proportion of female players, even relative to the English Chess Federation, is quite low. I don't know why - it's a mystery. ' I think we are at five per cent and the overall average is 13 per cent in the ECF. It's something we want to address and this is just a first step.' Around half a dozen female players entered the tournament and one of them, Margaret Gretton, was in the prizes. However, the female prize for best performance will involve a calculation to find which player outperformed their rating by the highest amount. Lewis added:'As always we are very grateful to the Wrekin Housing Trust who we have to thank for the use of the buildin
CHESS RECORD SNOW SHROPSHIRE FEMALE CHESS
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