Played at All Saints Church, Kingston, 26 February 2025
The 10th All Saints Blitz tournament saw victory go to IM John Hawksworth, who swept away the competition with wins in all five games. He finished a full point ahead of Epsom’s Marcus Gosling, while Alan Hayward and Peter Roche came equal third on 3/5.
I was the tournament controller for a second time, allowing our regular controller, John Foley, to participate for the first time. It was convenient to run the event using ChessManager on my mobile phone. When one player arrived late after two rounds, I joined in for the final three rounds to even out the numbers to twelve players. After suffering an opening disaster against Alan Hayward (thank you for introducing me to the Balogh Defence, Alan!), I rallied with wins over John Foley (smothered mate) and John Hawes. In a tournament dominated by five Johns (Messrs Hawksworth, Foley, Cogger, Cattermole and Hawes), we also saw appearances from regulars David Shalom and Tony Hughes, the latter claiming an impressive scalp by defeating Chris Briscoe in Round 4.
Top four
5/5 John Hawksworth
4/5 Marcus Gosling
3/5 Alan Hayward and Peter Roche
John Hawksworth walks away with the customary box of Lindor – can he repeat the feat at the next All Saints Blitz on 26 March, or will there be another winner? Peter Large, who was away winning gold for England at the World Senior Team Championships this month, may fancy his chances.
Past winners
Tony Hughes (Wimbledon) January 2024
Tony Hughes (Wimbledon) February 2024
David Rowson (Kingston) March 2024
Tony Hughes (Wimbledon) April 2024
Robin Haldane (Streatham) May 2024
Alan Hayward (Pimlico) September 2024
Peter Large (Kingston) October 2024
Peter Large (Kingston) November 2024
Peter Large (Kingston) January 2025
Alicia Mason
