After a break of 5 years, the Sheffield Congress, now “under new management”, was held over Saturday and Sunday, 7th and 8th of October 2023, at the previously used venue, King Edward VII Upper School, Glossop Road, Sheffield S10 2PW (a mnemonic for which postcode a former deputy head offered “2nd Class Prisoner of War Camp”). Verdicts expressed by participants show the event to have been a success.

“King Ted’s”, which was Sheffield’s highest-performing boy’s grammar school (setting aside the private school Birkdale), numbered among its pupils, when it was a grammar school, S&DCA Past President J. Roger Hoole, present President Geoff Frost and this webmaster.

For the first time the Sheffield Congress was run over just 2 days rather than three, and pairings were for the first time done by Swiss Manager, for the running of which the services of Simon Scott of Nottingham were engaged. As Chess Direct is no more, the bookstall was provided by Howard Wood of Chess Essentials.

Participants (excluding withdrawals and “no shows”) in each section were as follows:

Open

Major

(U-1900)

Inter.

(U-1600)

Minor

(U-1300)

Total

168

Final cross-tables were as follows: (Prize details to be added when known.)

Open

No	Name	Rtg		1			2			3			4			5		SPS

1	Thomas Wills	2130	1	W	17	1	B	28	1	W	3	½	B	9	½	B	2
	SASCA			1			2			3			3½			4		13½
2	Tim P Wall	2281	1	W	30	1	B	15	½	W	9	1	B	13	½	W	1
	Forest Hall			1			2			2½			3½			4		13
3	Thomas Carroll	2223	1	B	29	1	W	5	0	B	1	1	W	14	1	B	9
	Hoylake			1			2			2			3			4		12
4	Jacob Connor Boswell	2298	1	B	27	0	W	21	1	B	29	1	W	12	1	B	10
	Cheddleton			1			1			2			3			4		11
5	Bruce L Baer	2095	1	W	24	0	B	3	1	W	28	½	B	7	1	W	13
	Kenilworth			1			1			2			2½			3½		10
6	Elis Denele Dicen	2155	1	W	32	0	B	13	½	W	22	1	B	11	1	B	18
	Coventry Chess Academy			1			1			1½			2½			3½		9½
7	Peter Shaw	2155	½	B	20	½	W	22	1	B	19	½	W	5	1	B	12
	Wakefield			½			1			2			2½			3½		9½
8	John M Potter	2190	½	B	22	½	W	14	½	B	27	1	W	23	1	B	17
	Belper			½			1			1½			2½			3½		9
9	Samuel A Milson	2166	1	B	19	1	W	26	½	B	2	½	W	1	0	W	3
	Sheffield Nomads			1			2			2½			3			3		11½
10	Mike J Surtees	2188	0	W	13	1	B	32	1	W	16	1	B	15	0	W	4
	Great Lever			0			1			2			3			3		9
11	Jonathan S Hill	2068	½	-	bye	1	W	20	½	B	14	0	W	6	1	B	24
	Urmston			½			1½			2			2			3		9
12	Nigel Birtwistle	2197	1	W	25	1	B	16	½	W	13	0	B	4	0	W	7
	The Sharks 4NCL			1			2			2½			2½			2½		10½
13	Sammy Benzaira	1954	1	B	10	1	W	6	½	B	12	0	W	2	0	B	5
	SASCA			1			2			2½			2½			2½		10½
14	Srivathsan Sasikumar	1787	1	W	34	½	B	8	½	W	11	0	B	3	½	B	16
	Leeds University			1			1½			2			2			2½		9
15	Robert McLean	2103	1	B	23	0	W	2	1	B	26	0	W	10	½	B	19
	3Cs			1			1			2			2			2½		8½
16	John C Tompson	2067	1	W	18	0	W	12	0	B	10	1	B	22	½	W	14
	Derby			1			1			1			2			2½		7½
17	Tetsuaki Sanada	1901	0	B	1	1	B	34	½	-	bye	1	W	27	0	W	8
	Chorlton-Cum-Hardy			0			1			1½			2½			2½		7½
18	Benedikt Pitel	1761	0	B	16	1	B	25	½	-	bye	1	W	20	0	W	6
	Hull			0			1			1½			2½			2½		7½
19	Martin Pettinger	1941	0	W	9	1	B	33	0	W	7	1	B	28	½	W	15
	Chesterfield			0			1			1			2			2½		6½
20	Daniel Gottschalk	1903	½	W	7	0	B	11	1	W	34	0	B	18	1	W	26
	Woodseats			½			½			1½			1½			2½		6½
21	Russell A James	2103	1	W	31	1	B	4
	Shirley and Wythall			1			2			2			2			2		9
22	Imogen Dicen	1974	½	W	8	½	B	7	½	B	6	0	W	16	½	B	23
	Coventry Chess Academy			½			1			1½			1½			2		6½
23	Lindsay Pyun	1882	0	W	15	1	B	30	½	-	bye	0	B	8	½	W	22
	Loughborough			0			1			1½			1½			2		6
24	Eldars Gulijevs	1857	0	B	5	0	W	29	1	W	32	1	B	25	0	W	11
	West Nottingham			0			0			1			2			2		5
25	Guiseppe Magazzù	1975	0	B	12	0	W	18	1	B	31	0	W	24	1	B	29
	Middlesbrough			0			0			1			1			2		4
26	David Flynn	1900	1	W	33	0	B	9	0	W	15	½	W	29	0	B	20
	Nomads (Notts)			1			1			1			1½			1½		6
27	Miles D Edwards-Wright	2056	0	W	4	1	B	31	½	W	8	0	B	17
	SASCA			0			1			1½			1½			1½		5½
28	George Swanson	1640	1	-	bye	0	W	1	0	B	5	0	W	19	½	B	32
	Hillsborough			1			1			1			1			1½		5½
29	Vasileios Pasialis	1976	0	W	3	1	B	24	0	W	4	½	B	26	0	W	25
	Sheffield Nomads			0			1			1			1½			1½		5
30	Robert A Newton	1994	0	B	2	0	W	23	½	-	bye	½	B	32	½	W	31
	Blue Club			0			0			½			1			1½		3
31	George Turner	1900	0	B	21	0	W	27	0	W	25	+	B	34	½	B	30
	The Chess Centre			0			0			0			1			1½		2½
32	Okwose Marc Obi	1940	0	B	6	0	W	10	0	B	24	½	W	30	½	W	28
	Sutton Coldfield			0			0			0			½			1		1½
33	Kajus Mikalajunas	2109	0	B	26	0	W	19
	Loughborough			0			0			0			0			0		0
34	Ayodeji Jeje	2067	0	B	14	0	W	17	0	B	20	-	W	31
	SASCA			0			0			0			0			0		0

Major

No	Name	Rtg		1			2			3			4			5		SPS

1	Tim Elgar	1897	1	W	63	1	B	51	1	W	18	½	B	2	1	W	8
	Ashton			1			2			3			3½			4½		14
2	Joseph B Bradey	1849	1	W	49	1	B	12	1	W	9	½	W	1	½	B	3
	Hillsborough			1			2			3			3½			4		13½
3	Oliver Graham	1848	1	B	65	½	W	27	1	B	37	1	W	10	½	W	2
	Worksop			1			1½			2½			3½			4		12½
4	Will Taylor	1864	1	W	45	½	B	10	1	W	52	½	B	20	1	W	19
	Sheffield University			1			1½			2½			3			4		12
5	Senith Gunarathne	1795	1	W	44	1	B	23	0	B	17	1	W	22	1	W	20
	West Nottingham			1			2			2			3			4		12
6	John R Huthwaite	1743	+	W	35	½	B	19	½	-	bye	1	W	21	1	B	17
	Gambit (Nottingham)			1			1½			2			3			4		11½
7	Ivan Dunnachie	1502	0	B	11	1	W	65	1	B	60	1	W	51	1	W	18
	Sheffield University			0			1			2			3			4		10
8	Randolph E Donahue	1851	1	W	43	1	B	30	½	-	bye	1	W	17	0	B	1
	Leeds			1			2			2½			3½			3½		12½
9	Gary Hinchcliffe	1823	1	W	55	1	B	39	0	B	2	1	W	40	½	B	11
	Barnsley			1			2			2			3			3½		11½
10	Paul Wheatley	1788	1	B	47	½	W	4	1	W	25	0	B	3	1	W	31
	Sheffield Nomads			1			1½			2½			2½			3½		11
11	Kam Wa Siu	1784	1	W	7	0	B	18	1	W	53	1	B	23	½	W	9
	Woodseats			1			1			2			3			3½		10½
12	Robert McDonald	1755	1	B	40	0	W	2	1	B	62	½	W	28	1	B	29
	Horsham			1			1			2			2½			3½		10
13	Dragoljub Sudar	1860	0	W	24	1	W	54	1	B	43	½	B	27	1	W	32
	Gambit			0			1			2			2½			3½		9
14	Sai Vaddhireddy	1761	½	B	54	½	W	62	½	-	bye	1	B	33	1	W	27
	Ashton			½			1			1½			2½			3½		9
15	Calum McGillivray	1848	½	W	42	0	B	52	1	W	39	1	B	44	1	B	30
	Edinburgh			½			½			1½			2½			3½		8½
16	Roger Greatorex	1738	0	B	22	1	W	46	½	-	bye	1	W	38	1	B	28
	Llangollen			0			1			1½			2½			3½		8½
17	John A Clark	1830	1	W	66	1	B	24	1	W	5	0	B	8	0	W	6
	Ecclesall			1			2			3			3			3		12
18	Paul May	1828	1	B	64	1	W	11	0	B	1	1	W	24	0	B	7
	Boston Spa			1			2			2			3			3		11
19	Dale H Cullum	1821	1	B	46	½	W	6	1	B	38	½	W	29	0	B	4
	Rose Forgrove			1			1½			2½			3			3		11
20	James P Collier	1835	½	B	61	1	W	57	1	B	50	½	W	4	0	B	5
	Rose Forgrove			½			1½			2½			3			3		10½
21	Chris Jardine	1803	1	B	36	½	W	22	½	-	bye	0	B	6	1	W	47
	Great Lever			1			1½			2			2			3		9½
22	Leon Skeldon	0	1	W	16	½	B	21	½	-	bye	0	B	5	1	W	41
	Marple			1			1½			2			2			3		9½
23	Ewan Kershaw	1850	1	B	56	0	W	5	1	B	61	0	W	11	1	B	37
	Lancaster			1			1			2			2			3		9
24	David Hatton	1720	1	B	13	0	W	17	1	W	26	0	B	18	1	W	39
	Rolls Royce Derby			1			1			2			2			3		9
25	Carl Gartside	1885	½	B	41	1	W	34	0	B	10	½	W	37	1	B	46
	Macclesfield			½			1½			1½			2			3		8½
26	Jonathan A Day	1857	½	B	37	½	W	61	0	B	24	1	W	64	1	B	40
	Cheltenham			½			1			1			2			3		7½
27	Richard E Desmedt	1789	1	W	48	½	B	3	½	-	bye	½	W	13	0	B	14
	Barnsley			1			1½			2			2½			2½		9½
28	Alan S McIntosh	1810	½	W	53	1	B	42	½	-	bye	½	B	12	0	W	16
	Ecclesall			½			1½			2			2½			2½		9
29	Andrew Allen	1826	½	B	57	½	-	bye	1	W	64	½	B	19	0	W	12
	Worksop			½			1			2			2½			2½		8½
30	Hambel M Willow	1784	1	B	33	0	W	8	½	-	bye	1	B	52	0	W	15
	Preston			1			1			1½			2½			2½		8½
31	Maksym Kryshtafor	1860	½	B	34	0	W	37	1	B	57	1	W	50	0	B	10
	York/Ukraine			½			½			1½			2½			2½		7½
32	Nicholas Webb	1757	0	W	39	½	B	44	1	W	48	1	B	35	0	B	13
	The Buffs			0			½			1½			2½			2½		7
33	Aashita Roychowdhury	1467	0	W	30	1	B	49	½	-	bye	0	W	14	1	B	50
	Leeds Juniors			0			1			1½			1½			2½		6½
34	Stephen W Berkley	1723	½	W	31	0	B	25	½	-	bye	½	W	36	1	B	42
	East Ham			½			½			1			1½			2½		6
35	Marawan Shaaban	0	-	B	6	½	-	bye	1	B	56	0	W	32	1	B	61
	Sheffield University			0			½			1½			1½			2½		6
36	Martin Baxter	1618	0	W	21	0	B	63	1	W	49	½	B	34	1	W	54
	Settle			0			0			1			1½			2½		5
37	Callum Brewerton	1709	½	W	26	1	B	31	0	W	3	½	B	25	0	W	23
	Sheffield University			½			1½			1½			2			2		7½
38	Anay Agarwal	1423	½	B	60	1	W	41	0	W	19	0	B	16	½	W	44
	Rickmansworth			½			1½			1½			1½			2		7
39	Climate Mupfiga	0	1	B	32	0	W	9	0	B	15	1	W	61	0	B	24
	Alwoodley			1			1			1			2			2		7
40	Ben Norman	0	0	W	12	1	B	66	1	W	45	0	B	9	0	W	26
	Cambridgeshire Junior			0			1			2			2			2		7
41	Justin Smith	1731	½	W	25	0	B	38	½	-	bye	1	W	55	0	B	22
	Derby			½			½			1			2			2		6
42	Alex I Benner	1662	½	B	15	0	W	28	½	B	55	1	W	62	0	W	34
	Northenden			½			½			1			2			2		6
43	Thomas Trimble	1708	0	B	8	1	W	47	0	W	13	½	B	54	½	W	48
	Beeston			0			1			1			1½			2		5½
44	David Moore	1614	0	B	5	½	W	32	1	B	65	0	W	15	½	B	38
	Woodseats			0			½			1½			1½			2		5½
45	Siefaldin A Holi	1730	0	B	4	1	W	59	0	B	40	0	W	46	1	B	64
	Wakefield			0			1			1			1			2		5
46	Kieran Redhead	1622	0	W	19	0	B	16	1	W	63	1	B	45	0	W	25
	Clay Cross			0			0			1			2			2		5
47	Amaya Agarwal	1547	0	W	10	0	B	43	1	-	bye	1	W	60	0	B	21
	Rickmansworth			0			0			1			2			2		5
48	Marian-Silviu Talmacel	1598	0	B	27	½	W	56	0	B	32	1	W	57	½	B	43
	Nottingham Gambit			0			½			½			1½			2		4½
49	Bien Cuaresma	1701	0	B	2	0	W	33	0	B	36	1	W	65	1	B	62
	Wakefield			0			0			0			1			2		3
50	Stephen K Lee	1642	1	B	58	½	-	bye	0	W	20	0	B	31	0	W	33
	Hillsborough			1			1½			1½			1½			1½		7
51	Zak Tomlinson	1790	1	B