WELLINGTON Chess Club organised a Quickplay tournament. Fifteen players took part playing six games each, with ten minutess on the clock.

This put everyone to the test but really allowed some of the Wellington club’s faster thinkers to shine. A really high standard of play and sportsmanship was seen throughout the evening. With three rounds played only recently crowned club champion Alex Conway and John Morrison were on a perfect score of three wins.

Alex and John played a close game, with John offering a draw midway through the game yet Alex saw an advantage and successfully pressed for a win

Alex then went onto win his next game against club veteran Alan stonebridge and was on 5/5 with John Morrison close behind on 4/5. 

Round Six came and John secured a solid win to get 5/6 but Alex was really up against it against young Ben Hughes who played a great game and capitalised on mistakes made by Alex under time pressure.

Ben was heading for a win on the board but unfortunately his time was low. Alex used his experience to keep the game complicated even when on the back foot and held the draw as Ben ran out of ways to deliver the winning blow.

This left Alex on 5.5/6, John on 5/6 and several players on 4/6. It was an enjoyable and competitive evening, and credit must be given to several of Wellington's younger members for performing brilliantly in this event who is a new format for many.

A further similar event is likely to take place on the 21st of August 

Wellington Chess Club meet every Wednesday at 7.30pm at Chelston Chapel, Chelston. There is no better time to joint club than the summer as they play various casual games and stage informal competitions.

The league chess season does not begin until September so the club are currently very open to new members. If you are interested in joining us please search for us on Facebook and make contact.

Meanwhile, Robert Harris has unfortunately left the club after a very long stretch of playing and making sure articles reach the Wellington Weekly News on time. The club are of course very grateful to him for all he has done and feel the newspaper articles have really contributed to the growth of the club in recent years.

The Wellington club is in a very healthy state and has been growing considerably over the past couple - and getting back to normal following Covid when everything, of course, stopped. The club also has a number of talented youngsters and some of these have also played league chess.