Background
The fifth and final round of Queens Park’s Club Championship, sponsored by Beltrami & Co Solicitors, took place in May 2023.
The Swiss format Classical tournament, played at a 60+0 time control under Chess Scotland rules, is open to all Club Members. The tournament began in November 2022 in our previous venue, Wellcroft Bowling Club, and concluded in our current home, The Bungo, this week.
The round 5 board results are available here and on the Chess Scotland website.
Who Won?
An exciting finish was guaranteed after defending champion Rhys McCrosson was paired against experienced tournament winner Craig Thompson. With both on 4/4 going into round 5, it was a winner-takes-all scenario on board one.
The game was a back-and-forth affair, with both players having a significant advantage in key positions, but a pawn-grabbing adventure in time trouble cost Craig dearly. Rhys was able to force a resignation on the back of a dangerous passed pawn. The game can be viewed below.
Congratulations to Rhys, who retains the trophy with a perfect 5/5, following his victory in the first ever Club Championship last season.
Three other players joined Craig on an impressive four points – Connor Thompson, who started the season unrated, Club Treasurer Harvey Dellanzo, and Alistair Ahmed, who only played four rounds.
Final Standings
5 points
- Rhys McCrosson
4 points
- Connor Thompson
- Alistair Ahmed
- Craig Thomson
- Harvey Dellanzo
3.5 points
- Moray Lennox
- Douglas Veitch
3 points
- David Logue
- Tommy Lally
- Alex Lane
- Chris Dinwoodie
- Philip Blaber
- Graeme McKinnon
- Rhys Brown
- Jordan McNaught
2.5 points
- Ash Angappan
- Giuseppe Bosco
- Paul Cumming
- Mike Mathieson
2 points
- Thomas McAleer
- Derek Rankine
- Iain Shields
- Jonny Linney
- Sagar Kukreja
- Aidan Doye
- Caitlin McCulloch
- Greg Forrest
- Tommy Fowley
- Gary Collins
- Stewart Gray
- Andy Chisholm
1.5 points
- Ryan McGill
- Andrew Speirs
1 point
- Riccardo Olivier
- Wull Swales
- Harry Thomson
- Gemma Dickson
- Ronnie Martin
- Sachin Vats
- Paul Stewart
0 points
- Jackie Logan
- Jass McNeill
- Ethan Small
- James Carson
- Paul Chapman
The standings are also available on the Chess Scotland website.
Visit our Club Championship webpage for further information on the tournament and results.
What’s Next
Regardless of how many points you finished on, the Club Committee hope all 45 Members who participated in the tournament enjoyed taking part.
For many of our new Members, this was their first ever experience of competitive over-the-board chess, and playing under Classical time controls. We hope the Beltrami Club Championship has provided an agreeable introduction on both fronts.
The Club Championship will return in season 2023/24, which begins on Tuesday 5 September.
The Club is also holding its first ever Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 1 August, which all Members will be invited to.
Please contact us if you have any queries about this year’s Club Championship.
Photos by friend of the Club Katy Bridgestock