Twenty players took part in the first event of the season. Generous supplies of sandwiches, nuts, crisps and even pickled onions appeared on the bar for consumption between rounds and as the plates emptied it was obvious that everyone had followed Geoff's instructions about not overeating at teatime.
The winner was Robert, who defies all attempts at being handicapped, with the maximum score of 5. It was, however, comforting to see Francis and Phil Colville sharing second place with four points.
As there were a number of new players taking part Tony added an extra prize for the highest ungraded player. This was John, but as he had departed before the prize giving so the lucky recipient was Simon.
Tony arranged a fresh puzzle for each round and was gratified that Robert failed to solve the most difficult position, but offers his thanks to him for helping others with the solutions after they admitted being baffled.
The tournament went well, with any pairing problems although several players had an excess of Whites or Blacks. This is always difficult when there is a good attendance .
I take over for the Christmas quickplay so hopefully I can match this high standard.