This somewhat different weekend marked the 40th Anniversary of the formation of Darnall & Handsworth Chess Club in Sheffield. The writer was the first secretary of the club, which was formed primarily of Sheffield & District Works League players and hence did not “poach” existing S&DCA players from other clubs, excepting the writer who was S&DCA secretary (or some such) at the time, playing in the S&DCA hitherto for Rotherham as well playing in the Works League. Initial members resided mainly in or around the Sheffield suburbs of Darnall and Handsworth, hence the club’s now somewhat misleading name. Geoff Brown (Sheffield Transport), organiser of this event, was, with the writer (Neepsend plc) and the late but not forgotten Dave Hodgett (South Yorkshire Police), was one of the three primary co-founders of the club.

13 of the 23 participants in the Friday Blitz played also in the Saturday Rapidplay.

Of the Saturday Rapidplay’s four 6-round sections, the Open section had at one time only 7 advertised entrants, the number required for a 6-round all-play-all which would seem the best route to take. However, two participants had taken half-point byes in round 1, so an all-play-all was not in any event workable, so organiser Geoff Brown was used as a “filler” in round one of what remained a Swiss.

Round-by-round results and placings were as follows: (updated 31/068/2025 with prizes - 2 rating prizes yet to be announced.)

	Open

No	Name	Rtg		1			2			3			4			5			6		SPS	Prize

1	Andrew J Ledger	2366	1	W	8	1	B	7	1	W	6	1	B	2	1	W	3	½	B	4		1st
	Woodseats			1			2			3			4			5			5½		20½	£125
2	Shriaansh Ganti	1940	½	W	6	1	B	3	1	W	4	0	W	1	1	B	7	½	B	5		2nd
	Ilkely Chess Centre			½			1½			2½			2½			3½			4		14½	£75
3	Mike J Surtees	1962	½	-	bye	0	W	2	1	-	bye	1	B	7	0	B	1	1	W	6		3rd
	Great Lever			½			½			1½			2½			2½			3½		11	£50
4	Alexandr Klimchik	1966	0	W	7	1	-	bye	0	B	2	1	B	6	½	W	5	½	W	1
	Lincoln			0			1			1			2			2½			3		9½
5	Peter Jaszkiwskyj	1907	½	-	bye	0	B	6	½	W	7	1	-	bye	½	B	4	½	W	2
	Kettering			½			½			1			2			2½			3		9½
6	Nigel Birtwistle	2037	½	B	2	1	W	5	0	B	1	0	W	4	1	-	bye	0	B	3
	Grantham			½			1½			1½			1½			2½			2½		10
7	Thomas Wills	1851	1	B	4	0	W	1	½	B	5	0	W	3	0	W	2	1	-	bye
	SASCA			1			1			1½			1½			1½			2½		9
8	Brown Geoffrey D (filler)	1660	0	B	1
	Darnall & Handsworth			0			0			0			0			0			0		0

	Major (U1900)

No	Name	Rtg		1			2			3			4			5			6		SPS	Prize

1	Dragoljub Sudar		1	W	7	1	B	18	1	W	19	1	B	17	1	W	8	0	B	2		1‑2=
	Gambit			1			2			3			4			5			5		20	£100
2	Nathaniel Holroyd‑Doveton		0	B	10	1	B	15	1	W	23	1	W	9	1	B	12	1	W	1		1‑2=
	Rotherham			0			1			2			3			4			5		15	£100
3	Kevin F Shaw		0	B	5	1	-	bye	1	W	6	1	W	18	½	B	4	1	W	9		3rd
	Lancaster			0			1			2			3			3½			4½		14	£50
4	Jeremy A Hamm		0	W	11	1	B	7	½	W	13	1	B	22	½	W	3	1	B	12
	Sheffield Nomads			0			1			1½			2½			3			4		12
5	Richard E Desmedt		1	W	3	0	B	11	0	W	18	1	B	23	1	W	14	1	B	8
	Barnsley			1			1			1			2			3			4		12
6	Ionel Dragan		0	B	12	1	W	26	0	B	3	1	W	21	1	B	19	1	W	11		Rtg
	Worksop			0			1			1			2			3			4		11	£12.50
7	Tadeusz Gumulka		0	B	1	0	W	4	1	W	16	1	B	15	1	W	22	1	B	13		Rtg
	Sheffield Chess Centre			0			0			1			2			3			4		10	£12.50
8	Craig Chatterton		½	W	9	1	B	16	1	W	22	1	W	11	0	B	1	0	W	5
	Darnall & Handsworth			½			1½			2½			3½			3½			3½		15
9	Szilard Tamas		½	B	8	1	W	20	1	W	12	0	B	2	1	W	17	0	B	3
	Darnall & Handsworth			½			1½			2½			2½			3½			3½		14
10	Mark SR Radford		1	W	2	0	B	19	0	W	14	1	B	20	½	B	18	1	W	17
	Nottingham Central			1			1			1			2			2½			3½		11
11	Roger Greatorex		1	B	4	1	W	5	½	W	17	0	B	8	½	W	13	0	B	6
	Llangollen			1			2			2½			2½			3			3		14
12	Andy Yang		1	W	6	1	W	23	0	B	9	1	B	14	0	W	2	0	W	4
	Bolton			1			2			2			3			3			3		14
13	David Wells		1	W	16	0	B	17	½	B	4	1	W	19	½	B	11	0	W	7
	York			1			1			1½			2½			3			3		12
14	Ben Barton		0	W	17	1	B	24	1	B	10	0	W	12	0	B	5	1	W	22
	York University			0			1			2			2			2			3		10
15	Jim Davis		0	B	18	0	W	2	1	B	26	0	W	7	1	B	23	1	W	19
	Worksop			0			0			1			1			2			3		7
16	Harry Taylor		0	B	13	0	W	8	0	B	7	1	W	26	1	B	21	1	B	20
	Guildford			0			0			0			1			2			3		6
17	Julian Alderton		1	B	14	1	W	13	½	B	11	0	W	1	0	B	9	0	B	10
	Chorlton-cum-Hardy			1			2			2½			2½			2½			2½		13
18	Ved Sudeep Boganadham		1	W	15	0	W	1	1	B	5	0	B	3	½	W	10
	Ashton			1			1			2			2			2½			2½		11
19	Steve Crow		1	W	24	1	W	10	0	B	1	0	B	13	0	W	6	0	B	15
	Huddersfield *			1			2			2			2			2			2		11
20	Paul Salisbury		½	-	bye	0	B	9	½	B	21	0	W	10	1	B	26	0	W	16
	Wetherby			½			½			1			1			2			2		7
21	Paul Leonard		½	-	bye	0	B	22	½	W	20	0	B	6	0	W	16	1	B	25
	Atherton			½			½			1			1			1			2		6
22	Finlay W Moreland		½	-	bye	1	W	21	0	B	8	0	W	4	0	B	7	0	B	14
	West Leeds			½			1½			1½			1½			1½			1½		8
23	Paul D Doherty		1	W	26	0	B	12	0	B	2	0	W	5	0	W	15
	Bolton			1			1			1			1			1			1		6
24	Mark Kirkham		0	B	19	0	W	14
	Sheffield Deaf			0			0			0			0			0			0		0
25	Chris G Willey		0	B	23	0	B	6	0	W	15	0	B	16	0	W	20	0	W	21
	Rotherham			0			0			0			0			0			0		0

	Intermediate (U1700)

No	Name	Rtg		1			2			3			4			5			6		SPS	Prize

1	Amandeep Singh	1474	1	W	12	1	W	6	1	B	4	1	W	2	1	B	7	0	B	3		1‑2=
	Leeds Junior Chess Club			1			2			3			4			5			5		20	£100
2	Aashita Roychowdhury	1575	1	W	10	1	B	17	1	W	13	0	B	1	1	B	4	1	W	6		1‑2=
	Leeds Junior CC			1			2			3			3			4			5		18	£100
3	Michael I Connor	1668	½	-	bye	1	B	9	0	W	5	1	B	13	1	W	14	1	W	1		3rd
	Great Lever			½			1½			1½			2½			3½			4½		14	£50
4	Ben Assirati	1713	1	W	15	1	B	8	0	W	1	1	B	5	0	W	2	1	B	11
	Hendon			1			2			2			3			3			4		15
5	Gnana Revanth Potu	1533	1	W	14	½	B	13	1	B	3	0	W	4	½	B	6	1	W	7		Rtg
	Sheffield University			1			1½			2½			2½			3			4		14½	£25
6	Stuart Sharp	1616	1	W	7	0	B	1	1	W	8	1	B	14	½	W	5	0	B	2
	Hull			1			1			2			3			3½			3½		14
7	Ron Cooper	1519	0	B	6	1	W	18	1	W	12	1	B	9	0	W	1	0	B	5
	Kettering			0			1			2			3			3			3		12
8	Brendan Haswell	1542	1	W	11	0	W	4	0	B	6	1	B	12	½	W	13	½	B	9
	Darnall & Handsworth			1			1			1			2			2½			3		10½
9	Darren Stanway	1697	½	-	bye	0	W	3	1	B	17	0	W	7	1	B	18	½	W	8
	Eccles Community			½			½			1½			1½			2½			3		9½
10	Peter Cooper	1698	0	B	2	1	W	15	0	B	14	1	W	18	0	B	11	1	W	13
	Ecclesall			0			1			1			2			2			3		9
11	Talakalukoppa Amarnath	1682	0	B	8	0	W	14	1	B	15	+	W	17	1	W	10	0	W	4
	Chesterfield			0			0			1			2			3			3		9
12	Mohanaditya Poluru	1615	0	B	1	1	W	16	0	B	7	0	W	8	1	B	15	1	W	18
	Newport (Shropshire)			0			1			1			1			2			3		8
13	Andrew Thompson	1632	1	B	16	½	W	5	0	B	2	0	W	3	½	B	8	0	B	10
	Ashfield			1			1½			1½			1½			2			2		9½
14	Vassily M Sagyaman	1568	0	B	5	1	B	11	1	W	10	0	W	6	0	B	3	0	W	16
	Rugby			0			1			2			2			2			2		9
15	Andrew Nettleship	1596	0	B	4	0	B	10	0	W	11	1	B	16	0	W	12	1	-	bye
	Darnall & Handsworth			0			0			0			1			1			2		4
16	Stephen Holmes	1529	0	W	13	0	B	12	0	B	18	0	W	15	1	-	bye	1	B	14
	Shepshed			0			0			0			0			1			2		3
17	Hasana Garuda	1397	1	B	18	0	W	2	0	W	9	-	B	11
	Leeds Junior Chess Club			1			1			1			1			1			1		6
18	Tom Hails	1613	0	W	17	0	B	7	1	W	16	0	B	10	0	W	9	0	B	12
	Darnall & Handsworth			0			0			1			1			1			1		4

	Minor (U1500)

No	Name	Rtg		1			2			3			4			5			6		SPS	Prize

1	Brendan Stoneham	1324	1	B	14	1	B	19	1	W	6	1	W	9	½	B	5	0	B	2		1‑2=
	Worksop			1			2			3			4			4½			4½		19	£100
2	Tom R W Edwards	1490	½	B	16	1	W	22	½	B	5	1	W	13	½	B	4	1	W	1		1‑2=
	Barnsley			½			1½			2			3			3½			4½		15	£100
3	Paul Fischer	1460	1	B	20	½	W	5	1	B	16	½	W	4	½	B	10	½	B	6		3rd=
	Lincoln			1			1½			2½			3			3½			4		15½	£8.34
4	Eric McKenna	1358	1	B	22	½	W	9	1	B	14	½	B	3	½	W	2	½	W	5		3rd=
	Sheffield Nomads			1			1½			2½			3			3½			4		15½	£8.34
5	Ian Barker	1421	1	W	17	½	B	3	½	W	2	1	B	12	½	W	1	½	B	4		3rd=
	Darnall & Handsworth			1			1½			2			3			3½			4		15	£8.34
6	Alex Thorp	1329	1	W	18	1	B	12	0	B	1	½	W	10	1	B	16	½	W	3		3rd=
	Woodseats			1			2			2			2½			3½			4		15	£8.34
7	Yavuz Aydin Kocak	1114	½	B	10	0	W	16	1	B	18	1	W	20	½	B	9	1	W	13		3rd=
	Greater Manchester *			½			½			1½			2½			3			4		12	£8.34
8	Jiwei Yu	680	0	W	11	1	B	15	0	W	12	1	B	19	1	W	17	1	B	23		3rd=
	Cheshire Junior Knights			0			1			1			2			3			4		11	£8.34
9	Reidan Minhas	1454	1	W	15	½	B	4	1	W	11	0	B	1	½	W	7	½	B	10
	Leicestershire Juniors			1			1½			2½			2½			3			3½		14
10	Rene Butler	1452	½	W	7	½	B	11	1	W	17	½	B	6	½	W	3	½	W	9
	Market Harborough			½			1			2			2½			3			3½		12½
11	Liam Taylor	0	1	B	8	½	W	10	0	B	9	0	W	16	1	W	12	1	B	17
				1			1½			1½			1½			2½			3½		11½
12	Ben J Fletcher	1453	1	B	13	0	W	6	1	B	8	0	W	5	0	B	11	1	W	18
	Sheffield Deaf			1			1			2			2			2			3		11
13	Charlie Chester	1179	0	W	12	1	B	18	1	W	19	0	B	2	1	W	15	0	B	7
	Sheffield			0			1			2			2			3			3		11
14	David Fisher	1467	0	W	1	1	B	21	0	W	4	0	B	15	1	W	20	1	B	19
	Bury			0			1			1			1			2			3		8
15	Alex R Williams	1247	0	B	9	0	W	8	1	B	22	1	W	14	0	B	13	1	W	21
	Darnall & Handsworth			0			0			1			2			2			3		8
16	Paul Davies	1373	½	W	2	1	B	7	0	W	3	1	B	11	0	W	6
	Stratford			½			1½			1½			2½			2½			2½		11
17	Adhrit Paul	880	0	B	5	1	W	20	0	B	10	1	W	21	0	B	8	0	W	11
	Cheshire Junior Knights			0			1			1			2			2			2		8
18	Matthew Edwards	1474	0	B	6	0	W	13	0	W	7	1	B	22	1	W	19	0	B	12
	Kettering			0			0			0			1			2			2		5
19	Michael W Simmons	1441	1	B	21	0	W	1	0	B	13	0	W	8	0	B	18	0	W	14
	Sheffield Deaf			1			1			1			1			1			1		6
20	John HT Eddershaw	1311	0	W	3	0	B	17	1	W	21	0	B	7	0	B	14	0	W	22
	Ecclesall			0			0			1			1			1			1		4
21	Adam P Fairclough	1063	0	W	19	0	W	14	0	B	20	0	B	17	1	W	22	0	B	15
	Woodseats			0			0			0			0			1			1		2
22	Anant Handa	1484	0	W	4	0	B	2	0	W	15	0	W	18	0	B	21	1	B	20
	Greater Manchester *			0			0			0			0			0			1		1
23	Roychowdhury Soumyajit	1287																0	W	8
				0			0			0			0			0			0		0