Congratulations to Gary Kenworthy for becoming Bedfordshire Champion. Final placings were as follows:-
[table2] Position,Player, Points (/6)
1, Gary Kenworthy, 5
2, Steve Ledger, 4.5
3, Paul Habershon, 4
4, Peter Hunt, 4
5, Eric Meichel, 4
6, Brian Valentine, 4
7, Graham Borrowdale, 3.5
8, Adrian Elwin, 3.5
9, Abhishek Pradhan, 3.5
10, Kevin Williamson, 3.5
11, Michael Botteley, 3
12, Ben Cox, 3
13, James Gardner, 3
14, Adrian Matthews, 2.5
15, Rob Whiteside, 2.5
16, Richard Bodily, 2
17, Toby Cox, 2
18, Fred Dorn, 2
19, Marc Obi, 1.5
20, Richard McMorran, 1
21, Karthik Ramesh, 0
[/table2]
Richard Bodily, Richard McMorran and Marc Obi had to withdraw from the last two rounds.
Notes from the final two rounds by Paul Habershon:-
The top games on the morning of Sunday 13th May (Round 5) finished Kenworthy ½ – ½ Habershon and Ledger ½ – ½ Pradhan, though both Bedford players missed clear wins. The last round started with three players on 4/5: Kenworthy, Habershon, Hunt. I had already drawn with Peter Hunt so it had to be Hunt v Kenworthy and Habershon v Ledger (3½). Gary Kenworthy absorbed a lot of pressure and then won with a counter attack. This left me having to beat Steve to tie first. (See game) He could have done better early on with 14…h4 instead of 0-0, but I went on to achieve a winning position but lost my head in mutual time trouble. 31 Qxe5! looks so obvious in quiet contemplation, but I think we all recognise what can happen when the pressure is on. Not the first time that I have been swindled by Mr Ledger! He finished second on his own with 4.5 to Gary’s 5/6. They did not play each other.