York post excellent results at BUCA

The University of York Chess Club enjoyed a successful weekend at the 2012 BUCA Team Championship, held in High Wycombe, as both teams impressed against tough opposition from around the UK.

York 1sts finished in seventh place, winning three matches and claiming 12 points, but could not stop Imperial College London winning the tournament.

British Under 21 Chess Champion, James Adair, won the bronze award for the third best performance for board one players, despite only winning 3.5 points.

York 2nds fielded a largely inexperienced side, but Forbes Ranson impressed with two wins against difficult opposition, helping the team achieve 10th place on 9.5 points.

The British Universities Chess Association holds a tournament every year, attracting some of the best young players across the country.

There were to be three rounds on the first day and two on Sunday. Each team comprised four boards and an hour’s time each, plus an increment of 10 seconds.

The first round saw York 1sts win 3.5-1.5 against Southampton 2nds, while York 2nds lost 4-0 to Durham. In round two, York 1sts narrowly lost 1.5-2.5 against Warwick, the top seeds for the competition, and York 2nds won against the reserve team – made up of the reserves of all the teams who brought them.

It didn’t get any better for York 1sts in the next round, as they were defeated 3-1 by second seeds Edinburgh. York 2nds got the same result against University College London, leaving both teams tied on one win each, despite their gap in ability.

On the second day, York 1sts got off to a good start with a 2.5-1.5 win over London School of Ecnomics 2nds, whilst York 2nds secured an identical result against Swansea.

In the final round, York 1sts defeated UCL 3.5-0.5 and York 2nds drew 2-2 with Bristol 2nds.

York’s James Adair told Vision: “This year featured a very strong pool of teams and I faced stiff opposition on board 1. It didn’t seem like the team was going to pullout a noteworthy result during the event but in the end we managed to come joint 4th, so a pleasing overall result.”

Second team captain Ben Rothwell added: “It was good to see how well the teams got on, especially the second team considering how much better they did than they were ranked at the start of the competition.”

Teams: York 1sts – James Adair, Alex Billings, Alex Taylor and Chris Bak; York 2nds – Ben Rothwell, Forbes Ranson, Igor Shevchenko, Matt Bieniek