Given that Darlington is in Co. Durham, you might think that to be inconsistent with “Northumbria”, but the original Northumbria was a combination of the two Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Deira on the north side of the Humber, and Bernicia based around Bamburgh. The two did not always see eye to eye, but eventually became the single Kingdom of Northumbria (= North of the Humber). At its fullest extent it ranged from the modern North Humberside (as was) up to the south bank of the Firth of Forth and importantly what is now Edinburgh. Northumbria is thought to have extended eastwards across to the Irish Sea, in which case Northumbrian territory broadly equated to that of the NCCU with southern parts of what is now Scotland.

This year’s Northumbrian Masters consisted of three 9-round FIDE-rated Swiss tournaments of which the top one afforded opportunities for FIDE title “norms", and two invitational round-robin norm-qualifier events:

Tournament	Entry Limitation	Pairings	Entrants
Open	none	Swiss	60
Challengers	under 2000 rating	Swiss	47
Major	under 1700 rating	Swiss	22
GM Title Qualifier	invitation	all‑play‑all	10
IM Title Qualifier	invitation	all‑play‑all	10

The top eight boards of the Open and all the games in the title-qualifier tournaments were broadcast live.

Without playing through all broadcast games, it’s difficult to pick out games of interest on anything but a largely random basis. Looking at wins by players rated significantly lower than their opponents, round 2 threw up the following win by a lower-rated player. The FIDE ratings necessarily being used can be less reliable that ECF ones, and in this case the winner’s ECF rating was 2111A, which despite being an ECF rating may well be more accurate. To play through it, click on the following link (opens in new window):

Koby Kalavannan (2248) 0-1 Stuart A White (1990).

Top board is round 3 of the Open section saw the following 121-move draw (click on the link):

Frode Olav Olsen Urkedal (Norwegian GM) ½-½ Jung Min Seo (Swedish IM).

The following from round 4 of the Open saw another game drawn only after a fight (click on the following link):

Jacob D Yoon ½-½ Artem Lutsko

In round 5 of the Open, Jung Min Seo was the only one of the seven joint leaders on 3 out of 4 to score a win (click on the following link to play through the game):

Mark L Hebden 0-1 Jung Min Seo.

In round 6, there were a number of disappointingly short draws. Maybe this is a symptom of two games per day. Maybe it’s a symptom of norm-qualifier events. The following game from the GM Round Robin round 6 was slugged out to the end and was won by a 21-year-old IM against a 48-year-old GM; it ran as follows (click on the link):

Jonah B Willow 1-0 Daniel W Gormally.

Meanwhile, in the Open Round 6, the following game, though ultimately drawn, was played out with one or both sides playing for a win as long as possible:

Mark L Hebden ½-½ Jacob Connor Boswell.

Round 7 saw more quick draws in the Open: Alexandre Dgebuadze ½-½ Jung Min Seo in 8 moves, and Jacob Connor Boswell ½-½ Matthew J Turner in 10 moves. Of the other Open games broadcast live, the following between two players both born in 2009, was the most out of the ordinary. (Maxim’s father Alexey was among those watching on Lichess.)

Avyukt Dasgupta 1-0 Maxim Larchikov.

Another hard-fought round 7 game in the Open, in which Mark Hebden once again put his faith in minor piece + pawn versus R (with more material on the board). Click on the link to play through the game.

Billy Fellowes ½-½ Mark L Hebden.

In round 8 of the Open there were two quick draws among the eight “live” games, in 10 moves on board on 1, and 11 moves 11 on board 7. The board 5 game lasted only 19 moves, but that was because White resigned after a whirlwind attack of Black’s king failed. Click on the following link to play through the game.

Ifan Rathbone-Jones 0-1 Artem Lutsko.

On board 8, Mark Hebden again provided entertainment. Towards the end, both kings where being harassed by the opponent’s two rooks working together, abetted by a bishop. Click on the link to play through the game:

Mark L Hebden 1-0 Malcolm J Armstrong.

The board 2 game put its winner into the sole lead, possibly to be joined by a winner in the board 3 game still in progress, though in the event that game was drawn. Click on the link to play through the games concerned:

Jung Min Seo 1-0 Avyukt Dasgupta.

Matthew J Wadsworth ½-½ Alexandre Dgebuadze

Thus, Jung Min Seo went into the 9th and final round of the Open in the sole lead on 6 out of 8, hotly pursued by five players on 5½, and “coolly” pursued by ten players on 5. In the event, 22-year-old Seo, who got his final IM norm at the Uppsala Junior Champions tournament in October 2020, managed only to draw in the final round leaving him on 6½ out of 9, making him first, though subsequent wins on boards 2 and 3 made it 1st-3rd=. (Seo got his final IM norm at the Uppsala Junior Champions tournament in October 2020, and presumably will get a GM norm from this event. Numerous people have the name Jung Min Seo, both male and female, and the name seems of Chinese or Korean origin.) Click on the links below to play through the games on the top three boards:

Jung Min Seo ½-½ Matthew J Wadsworth

Frode Olav Olsen Urkedal 1-0 Artem Lutsko

Alexandre Dgebuadze 0-1 Oleg Korneev.

In the Challengers, Lewis Turner entered round 9 in sole lead on 7 out of 8, followed by the only player who could equal or surpass him, David Armbruster on 6½ (those two having already played each other), followed by five players on 5½.

In the Major, four players were in contention for first place: Alfie McMonagle and John Aanuoluwapo Awesome each on 6½, and Alan Tunnacliffe and Gabriel Mirza on 5½.

In the GM all-play-all qualifier, the top two were Ukranian Eldar Glasanov on 6 and Jonah Willow on 5½, the two being due to play each other in the final round.

In the IM all-play-all qualifier, James Moreby was on 6½ followed by Gavin Wall and Pete Large on 6, none of the three paired with each other in the final round.

Final cross-tables were as follows:

Open

No	Name	Rtg		1			2			3			4			5			6			7			8			9		SPS

1	Jung Min Seo	IM	1	B	14	1	W	49	½	B	2	½	W	16	1	B	10	½	W	9	½	B	7	1	W	6	½	B	4
	Sweden			1			2			2½			3			4			4½			5			6			6½		34½
2	Frode Olav Olsen Urkedal	GM	1	W	13	½	B	8	½	W	1	1	B	49	½	W	7	1	B	38	½	W	4	½	B	3	1	W	9
	4NCL Celtic Tigers			1			1½			2			3			3½			4½			5			5½			6½		32½
3	Oleg Korneev	GM	½	W	40	1	B	34	½	W	8	½	B	14	½	W	5	1	B	39	1	W	22	½	W	2	1	B	7
	Spain			½			1½			2			2½			3			4			5			5½			6½		30½
4	Matthew J Wadsworth	IM	½	B	5	1	W	20	1	B	18	½	W	10	½	B	16	1	W	14	½	B	2	½	W	7	½	W	1
	Maidenhead			½			1½			2½			3			3½			4½			5			5½			6		32
5	Jacob D Yoon		½	W	4	1	B	26	½	W	7	½	W	9	½	B	3	½	B	33	1	W	36	½	B	17	1	W	22
	Barnet Knights			½			1½			2			2½			3			3½			4½			5			6		28½
6	Avyukt Dasgupta		½	-	bye	½	-	bye	½	-	bye	½	-	bye	1	W	19	1	B	40	1	W	40	0	B	1	+	W	16
	Watford			½			1			1½			2			3			4			5			5			6		28
7	Alexandre Dgebuadze	GM	1	B	57	½	W	12	½	B	5	1	W	27	½	B	2	1	W	10	½	W	1	½	B	4	0	W	3
	Belgium			1			1½			2			3			3½			4½			5			5½			5½		31½
8	Borna Derakhshani	FM	1	W	25	½	W	2	½	B	3	1	B	36	½	W	17	0	B	7	1	W	38	½	B	16	½	W	13
	Wood Green			1			1½			2			3			3½			3½			4½			5			5½		29½
9	Artem Lutsko	IM	0	W	18	1	B	32	1	W	40	½	B	5	1	W	14	½	B	1	½	W	13	1	B	20	0	B	2
	Ukraine			0			1			2			2½			3½			4			4½			5½			5½		28½
10	Mark L Hebden	GM	½	B	20	1	W	35	1	B	12	½	B	4	0	W	1	½	W	11	½	B	27	1	W	32	½	B	14
	Syston			½			1½			2½			3			3			3½			4			5			5½		28½
11	Jacob Connor Boswell		½	W	34	½	B	23	1	W	47	½	W	17	1	B	18	½	B	10	½	W	16	½	B	13	½	W	12
	Cheddleton & Leek			½			1			2			2½			3½			4			4½			5			5½		28½
12	Simon Wilks		1	W	22	½	B	7	0	W	10	1	B	45	1	W	23	0	B	4	½	W	17	1	B	31	½	B	11
	Muswell Hill			1			1½			1½			2½			3½			3½			4			5			5½		28
13	Rishi Vijayakumar		0	B	2	½	W	28	1	B	53	1	W	21	1	B	37	½	W	17	½	B	9	½	W	11	½	B	8
	Scotland			0			½			1½			2½			3½			4			4½			5			5½		27
14	Richard M Webb	FM	0	W	1	1	B	39	1	W	37	½	W	3	0	B	9	1	B	23	½	W	19	1	B	29	½	W	10
	4NCL Crowthorne			0			1			2			2½			2½			3½			4			5			5½		26
15	O'Donnell Matthew		½	-	bye	1	W	59	0	B	20	0	B	47	1	W	54	½	B	19	½	W	23	1	B	38	1	W	30
				½			1½			1½			1½			2½			3			3½			4½			5½		24
16	Matthew J Turner	GM	1	W	30	½	B	18	1	W	38	½	B	1	½	W	4	½	B	12	½	B	11	½	W	8	-	B	6
	4NCL Barbican			1			1½			2½			3			3½			4			4½			5			5		30
17	Iuri Shkuro	GM	½	W	23	½	B	40	1	W	30	½	B	11	½	B	8	½	W	31	½	B	12	½	W	5	½	W	20
	Ukraine			½			1			2			2½			3			3½			4			4½			5		26
18	Iwan Cave		1	B	9	½	W	16	0	W	4	1	B	39	0	W	11	1	B	53	½	W	29	½	B	19	½	W	25
	Chandlers Ford			1			1½			1½			2½			2½			3½			4			4½			5		26
19	Kit Blades		½	W	43	½	B	29	1	-	bye	½	W	41	0	B	6	1	W	45	½	B	14	½	W	18	½	B	26
	Sussex Juniors			½			1			2			2½			2½			3½			4			4½			5		25½
20	Ifan Rathbone-Jones		½	W	10	0	B	4	1	W	15	½	-	bye	½	B	28	1	W	44	1	B	21	0	W	9	½	B	17
	Buckley/Mold			½			½			1½			2			2½			3½			4½			4½			5		24½
21	Dashiell L Shaw		½	W	31	½	B	33	1	W	54	0	B	13	1	W	45	½	B	37	0	W	20	½	-	bye	1	B	40
	Hackney			½			1			2			2			3			3½			3½			4			5		24½
22	Koby Kalavannan	FM	0	B	12	0	W	36	1	B	51	1	W	34	1	B	32	1	W	32	0	B	3	1	W	27	0	B	5
	Battersea			0			0			1			2			3			4			4			5			5		24
23	Callum D Brewer	NM	½	B	17	½	W	11	½	B	36	½	W	28	0	B	12	1	W	52	½	B	15	1	W	42	½	B	24
	4NCL Sussex Martlets			½			1			1½			2			2			3			3½			4½			5		23
24	Robert McLean		½	W	33	½	B	43	0	W	29	½	B	50	½	W	31	1	B	46	1	W	49	½	B	30	½	W	23
	3Cs			½			1			1			1½			2			3			4			4½			5		22½
25	Ilia Malinovskii		0	B	8	1	W	48	0	B	49	1	W	53	½	B	29	0	W	13	1	B	44	1	W	41	½	B	18
	Bloomberg			0			1			1			2			2½			2½			3½			4½			5		22
26	Declan Shafi		½	B	35	0	W	5	0	B	27	1	W	52	1	B	51	½	W	15	½	B	28	1	W	36	½	W	19
	4NCL Alba			½			½			½			1½			2½			3			3½			4½			5		21½
27	Billy Fellowes		½	B	42	1	W	46	1	W	26	0	B	7	½	W	40	½	B	16	½	W	10	0	B	22	½	W	31
	Warwickshire Juniors			½			1½			2½			2½			3			3½			4			4			4½		26
28	Nicolas Skettos		1	W	52	½	B	13	½	W	34	½	B	23	½	W	20	0	B	18	½	W	26	½	B	40	½	W	35
	Glasgow *			1			1½			2			2½			3			3			3½			4			4½		25
29	Keatan Patel		½	-	bye	½	W	19	1	B	24	½	B	38	½	W	25	½	W	5	½	B	18	0	W	14	½	B	34
	Coventry Chess Academy			½			1			2			2½			3			3½			4			4			4½		25
30	Graeme Oswald		0	B	16	1	W	51	0	B	17	½	-	bye	1	W	33	½	-	bye	1	B	39	½	W	24	0	B	15
	Leam Lane			0			1			1			1½			2½			3			4			4½			4½		22
31	Michael Ridge		½	B	21	0	W	53	½	B	42	½	W	44	½	B	24	1	W	51	+	W	50	0	W	12	½	B	27
	Edinburgh			½			½			1			1½			2			3			4			4			4½		21
32	Malcolm J Armstrong		0	B	49	0	W	9	1	B	46	1	W	57	0	W	22	1	B	42	1	W	37	0	B	10	½	W	33
	Cumbria *			0			0			1			2			2			3			4			4			4½		20½
33	Srivathsan Sasikumar		½	B	24	½	W	21	½	-	bye	½	-	bye	0	B	30	0	W	41	1	B	51	1	W	53	½	B	32
	Leeds JCA			½			1			1½			2			2			2			3			4			4½		20½
34	Owen Crawford		½	B	11	0	W	3	½	B	28	0	B	22	1	W	43	1	W	47	½	B	42	½	W	39	½	W	29
	Liverpool			½			½			1			1			2			3			3½			4			4½		20
35	Nicholas Kowalski Rubiales		½	W	26	0	B	10	½	W	45	0	B	40	0	B	44	1	W	55	1	B	52	1	W	46	½	B	28
	Hammersmith			½			½			1			1			1			2			3			4			4½		17½
36	Stuart A White		1	-	bye	1	B	22	½	W	23	0	W	8	1	B	47	0	W	2	0	B	5	0	B	26	½	W	42
	Oxford City			1			2			2½			2½			3½			3½			3½			3½			4		26
37	Louis Cheng		1	B	54	1	W	57	0	B	14	1	B	60	0	W	13	0	W	6	0	B	32	½	-	bye	½	W	38
	Scotland			1			2			2			3			3			3			3			3½			4		24½
38	Virgil Szekely		½	B	53	1	W	42	0	B	16	½	W	29	1	B	41	½	W	26	0	B	8	0	W	15	½	B	37
	Great Ayton			½			1½			1½			2			3			3½			3½			3½			4		23
39	Zachary Cansdale		1	B	55	0	W	14	1	B	48	0	W	18	1	B	46	0	W	3	0	W	30	½	B	34	½	W	43
	Durham University			1			1			2			2			3			3			3			3½			4		22½
40	Maksym Larchikov		½	B	3	½	W	17	0	B	9	1	W	35	½	B	27	1	W	43	0	B	6	½	W	28	0	W	21
	Hull			½			1			1			2			2½			3½			3½			4			4		22
41	Sathya Vaidyanathan		0	B	51	1	-	bye	1	W	56	½	B	19	0	W	38	0	B	22	1	W	53	0	B	25	½	W	45
	South Birmingham			0			1			2			2½			2½			2½			3½			3½			4		21½
42	Anthony Fox		½	W	27	0	B	38	½	W	31	½	B	54	½	W	55	1	B	34	½	W	34	0	B	23	½	B	36
	Ireland			½			½			1			1½			2			3			3½			3½			4		19½
43	Kyle Pelling		½	B	19	½	W	24	0	B	57	1	W	48	0	B	34	0	W	30	½	B	47	1	W	51	½	B	39
	3Cs			½			1			1			2			2			2			2½			3½			4		18½
44	Jonathon Peoples		½	-	bye	0	B	45	½	W	55	½	B	31	1	W	35	0	B	36	0	W	25	½	B	48	1	W	54
	Lewisham			½			½			1			1½			2½			2½			2½			3			4		18
45	Joe Kilshaw		½	B	59	1	W	44	½	B	35	0	W	12	0	B	21	0	W	25	0	B	46	1	W	52	½	B	41
	Grimsby			½			1½			2			2			2			2			2			3			3½		18½
46	Charlie P Metcalfe		1	W	50	0	B	27	0	W	32	1	B	56	0	W	39	0	B	28	1	W	45	0	B	35	½	B	48
	Tunbridge Wells			1			1			1			2			2			2			3			3			3½		18½
47	David Wise		½	-	bye	½	-	bye	0	B	11	1	W	15	0	W	36	0	B	24	½	W	43	1	B	54
	Great Ayton			½			1			1			2			2			2			2½			3½			3½		18
48	Liam Bellwood		1	-	bye	0	B	25	0	W	39	0	B	43	0	B	52	1	W	54	½	B	55	½	W	44	½	W	46
	Darlington			1			1			1			1			1			2			2½			3			3½		16
49	Thomas A Eggleston	NM	1	W	32	0	B	1	1	W	25	0	W	2	½	-	bye	½	-	bye	0	B	24
	Durham City			1			1			2			2			2½			3			3			3			3		20½
50	Jim W R Nicholson		0	B	46	½	W	55	1	B	59	½	W	24	½	-	bye	½	-	bye	-	B	31
	York			0			½			1½			2			2½			3			3			3			3		18½
51	Adithya Vaidyanathan		1	W	41	0	B	30	0	W	22	1	B	55	0	W	26	0	B	35	0	W	33	0	B	43	1	-	bye
	South Birmingham			1			1			1			2			2			2			2			2			3		16
52	Peter Cafolla		0	B	28	0	W	54	1	-	bye	0	B	26	1	W	48	0	B	20	0	W	35	0	B	45	1	B	53
	Ireland			0			0			1			1			2			2			2			2			3		13
53	Nigel R E Alldritt		½	W	38	1	B	31	0	W	13	0	B	25	+	B	57	0	W	21	0	B	41	0	B	33	0	W	52
	Harrow			½			1½			1½			1½			2½			2½			2½			2½			2½		17½
54	Stellio Jerome		0	W	37	1	B	52	0	B	21	½	W	42	0	B	15	0	B	48	1	-	bye	0	W	47	0	B	44
	Rushden			0			1			1			1½			1½			1½			2½			2½			2½		14
55	Tushar Roul		0	W	39	½	B	50	½	B	44	0	W	51	½	B	42	0	B	29	½	W	48
	Scotland			0			½			1			1			1½			1½			2			2			2		11½
56	Nathan Ekanem		½	-	bye	½	-	bye	0	B	41	0	W	46
	Gateshead			½			1			1			1			1			1			1			1			1		8½
57	Rithvik Deepak Ambattu		0	W	7	0	B	37	1	W	43	0	B	32	-	W	53
	Scotland			0			0			1			1			1			1			1			1			1		7
58	Mark Radley																	1	W	63
	Grimsby			0			0			0			0			0			1			1			1			1		4
59	Matthew Holton		½	W	45	0	B	15	0	W	50
	Darlington			½			½			½			½			½			½			½			½			½		4½
60	Joel Tofield-Brown											0	W	40										½	-	bye
	Tynemouth			0			0			0			0			0			0			0			½			½		1
61	Kushal Jakhria
	Charlton			0			0			0			0			0			0			0			0			0		0
62	Jonathan A Day
	West Nottingham			0			0			0			0			0			0			0			0			0		0
63	Kanyinsola Emamoke Anderson-Ovie																	0	B	58
				0			0			0			0			0			0			0			0			0		0