In the last round in the adult group Daniel pressured James position such that a collapse was just a matter of time. And when it came Daniel had secured first place with an impressive 4.5 points out of 5. His trophy is awaiting him on 1 March at the Open Winter Blitz.
Joseph won a piece in the middle game against Hannah and despite Hannah being able to get some pawns back, Joseph’s minor pieces majority constantly eyed the weaknesses around Hannah’s pawn majority which could not get enough traction for serious counter play.
Final Ranking
In the youth group Ronald got his last point through a win by default as his opponent did not show up. Despite Rachel, after a long game against Arjun, also won her last game and ended with 6 points like Ronald, it is Ronald who by tie-break became champion and he can collect his trophy coming Saturday at the Open Winter Blitz finals. Also congratulations to Rachel for a good result.
Hugo called in sick and as Oliver had canceled earlier this seventh and last round had to be reshuffled so that both Mei Jing and Jonathan could play – against one another. And what a game it was. Mei Jing managed to win a piece early in the game with white but Jonathan gradually collected several pawns for this piece and in the endgame it was Mei Jing who had to try to hold a draw with her knight against 3 pawns. The game finally ended in a draw with two lonely kings on the board. Well done Jonathan and Mei Jing – that is fighting spirit we like to see.
Regis gave away several important squares to Miguel Angel which weakened the coordination of his pieces. Miguel Angel benefited well from this and gained material advantage enough for a calm win.
Final Ranking Youth Cross Table
The Winter 2014 competition has herewith ended and we look forward to see many of these players back on Saturday 1 March when we will formally conclude the winter with an Open Blitz Finale.
