UK Armed Forces Chess Championships 14-17 April 2023

[Kevin Thurlow]

The event took place at an airfield somewhere in England. 83 players participated, nearly double last year's entry, and certainly the largest entry for many years, maybe the largest ever. The venue was full, so some potential entries had to be turned away. The entertainment started on 13th April when Keith Arkell took on 34 players simultaneously, and bravely offered opponents the choice of colour. He did get about a dozen whites. After many hours, he finished with a score of +28=3-3, which was very impressive. (And he improved his score against me to 18-0.)

The actual tournament is open to current and former members of the RAF, Army and Navy, as well as current and former employees of the Ministry of Defence. Apart from prizes for the Combined Services champion, and the individual bodies, the top six eligible players are invited to form the team for the NATO championships, to be held in Portoroz, Slovenia, venue for the 1958 Interzonal https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/5860$iix.htm .

As always, there was a varied mix of established players and those new to tournament chess, although many of those had played a lot online. There were many unrated players, who will be overheating ECF's rating computer when it calculates results! Everyone seemed to enjoy the tournament, and there was a good atmosphere. It was excellent to see so many newcomers and also players like John Treasurer, many time winner in the 80s, who happily drove for 9 hours each way to participate, and also two players now aged in their 90s.

Results of UKAF Championship

Dave Onley 6/7 (Combined services for the 8th time, and Army Champion yet again)
Dan Wells 6 (MOD Champion)
Paul Officer 5.5 (RAF Champion on debut)
Frazer Graham 5.5 (but no trophy sadly...)
Kevin Thurlow 5.5 (Veterans Champion)
William Bradley 4.5 (Navy Champion)

Glen Parker won the Blitz event 7/7, ahead of Dan Wells and Kevin Thurlow on 6. There were rating prizes also, and Carl Portman donated book prizes for the "Game of the Round".

Thanks go to Chris Lamming (Arbiter) and his assistant Alex, who was stuck on the reserve list to play, so volunteered to help with the organization, Jimmy Blair (our host) and the Station Commander, who gave an inspiring and brief opening speech. Glen Parker is President of the Association and Ben Woolf the chairman, and he would be very pleased to hear from anyone eligible and interested in getting involved. [email protected]

https://chess-results.com/tnr752431.asp ... =4&fed=ENG