Video and pictures: Taking on the grandmasters at Shropshire Chess Congress
Attracting grandmasters to Shropshire's annual congress has helped to make the event one of the biggest of it's kind in the country, organisers have claimed.
Local players were able to pit their wits against some of the nation's top professionals at Shropshire Chess Congress over the weekend.
The event, held at Wrekin Housing Trust's headquarters in Telford, attracted 135 entries. But an event record of five grandmasters – Jahongir Vakhidov of Uzbekistan and British quartet Keith Arkell, Danny Gormally, Stephen Gordon and Mark Hebden – entered the Open to compete for the £1,000 first prize.
It was also a weekend to remember for some of the regulars on the county circuit, including Newport's Simon Maydew who sprang one of the surprises of the tournament by holding FIDE master Peter Poobalasingam to a draw in the opening round on Friday night.
Several players also took part in the Major and Minor sections of the tournament, designed to give non-elite players the chance of winning prize money.
Organisers hope the presence of grandmasters will help inspire people playing the game at a local level.
Steve Rooney, one of the organisers, said: "For a county of our size we are competing very well. This congress is now one of the strongest weekend events in the country – really only Blackpool and Scarborough have a stronger Open line-up than we do, and we are delighted about that.
"But it is still important to focus on club chess, grassroots, and encouraging junior players and new players to take up the game.
"Club players love to be close to the stars of the game and it is always good to see the top players at close quarters – we had some fascinating finishes to some of the games involving the grandmasters and people really enjoyed that."
Mr Rooney also praised several of the grandmasters for travelling to Shropshire to take part so soon after a nine-round international tournament at Hastings, which was won by Vakhidov.
