7pm in the Café de Ville, Small Meeting Room, for 7:30pm start.
14 year old Theo Slade
14 year old Theo Slade from Marhamchurch, near Bude, has made an excellent start to the New Year. He has just returned from Hastings where he spent the last 10 days playing in the oldest chess tournament in the world, The Hastings International Chess Congress. Theo competed in the top section which featured 107 players from 25 countries, including 14 Grandmasters, 28 other titled players and 14 juniors.
Theo played 9 games (one per day, several lasting 5 – 6 hours) and, despite the fact that he was outgraded by every one of his opponents and ranked 93rd he finished on a 50% score (4.5/9). The tournament was won by Grandmaster Jun Zhao from China, with players from Brazil, Poland and Iceland in joint second place. Theo finished equal 41st. Theo’s performance won him a host of prizes, including a trophy and £200 for the best under 21 player (best performance relative to rating) and another £200 for the best performance (relative to rating) for players rated under 2200 (Theo is 1869). In addition he won a 3 month subscription to a digital chess magazine for winning the best game prize in Round 8. Theo ranks this as the best game he has ever played!