Harry Vernon won the Isle of Wight’s first Rapid Chess Tournament which was held in Ryde on Saturday (20th January). The event was a great success attracting 24 players and more spectators to Yelf’s Hotel. 60+ chess games were played in total with countless side games in the analyses room and the bar. David Lightfoot, Tournament Director, says:
“It was great to see so many new players competing with Island regulars and even a few people who made a trip over for the day. IOW Chess is hoping to make this one of several regular events that will attract players from the mainland and help grow chess on the island with all age groups.” “We had a range of ages from 13 to late 80s. Special shout out to Grace and Alex, 2 junior players who held their own and both had great results. Thanks again to Terry Dawson for help as an arbiter. The Yelf’s hotel itself was exceptional and a perfect venue for chess, thank you again to all the staff that helped.”
The event will run again in the near future and also offer a variety of time formats including Classical and Blitz, and there will be an option to play in these rated as an English Chess Federation member. The organisers hope to build this into a large chess congress in February 2025 and attract hundreds of chess players to the Island. 
Recap of the final rounds and tense top table finish…
Heading into the 6th and final round, Clive Bowley was on 5 points from 5, having had a fantastic tournament defeating some very strong players. Harry Vernon and Joel Lloyd were chasing in 2nd place on 4 points each. Harry dropped a point in round 3 to Joel; Joel lost in round 4 to Clive. Building into a dramatic final round and top table game between Harry (as white) and Clive (as black), Clive needed a win or draw to win the day, Harry needed a win and then relied on other results to win on tie break score. Spectators gathered and the game was recorded so it could be viewed again later. Harry managed to clinch the final game as White with Clive losing on time as the pressure mounted heading into the endgame (game below): 1. d4 g6 2. Nf3 Bg7 3. e4 d6 4. Nc3 a6 5. h3 b5 6. a3 Nd7 7. Be3 Bb7 8. Bd3 Rc8 9. Qd2 c5 10. d5 h6 11. O-O Ngf6 12. Rae1 c4 13. Be2 Nc5 14. Bxc5 Rxc5 15. Nd4 O-O 16. Bd1 Qd7 17. f4 e6 18. dxe6 fxe6 19. Bf3 e5 20. Nde2 exf4 21. Nxf4 Kh7 22. Ncd5 Nxd5 23. exd5 Rcc8 24. Bg4 Qc7 25. Bxc8 Bxc8 26. Ne6 Rxf1+ 27. Rxf1 Bxe6 28. dxe6 Qe7 29. Qe2 
With Harry’s win over Clive, and Joel also winning his final game, the results were even with all three players clinched on 5 points from 6. There were 3 players tied and no time left for 3 way playoffs, the Buchholz tie break system was used to settle the rankings. On the 1st level tie break, Harry and Joel were tied in 1st and Clive 3rd. On the 2nd level of tie break, used if still a tie, Harry emerged as victor with Joel in 2nd place. A dramatic end to the tournament, but it just goes to show that every round matters and in the end it was Harry’s win over Clive that was the defining factor and worth more tie break points. 1st Place: Congratulations to Harry Vernon 2nd Place: A great achievement by Joel Lloyd in his tournament debut, we expect to be seeing his name a lot in future. 3rd Place: Clive Bowley. Incredible tournament and a very unlucky final round to slip to third. 
