The 41st Scarborough Chess Congress took place in the Ocean Room of the Spa Complex, South Bay, Scarborough, from Friday 20th October to Sunday 22nd October 2017. All sections were housed in the large Ocean Room.

Section first-place winners:			Prizes:
Open:	Matthew Webb (Bradford)	4½ out of 5	1st	£500
Major:	Mark Whitehead (Rochdale)	4½ out of 5	2nd	£250
(1-2 equal)	Stephen McQuillan (Scotland)		3rd	£150
Intermediate:	Rob Tokeley (Lancashire)	4½ out of 5	4th	£100
Minor: (1-5 equal)	Garry Hewitt (Darlington) Steven Watson (Hull) Neal Fisher (Peterborough) Con Cary (Heywood) Noel Boustred (Gosforth)	4 out of 5	Click here for a list of all prizes.
Foundation:	Sajjad Dehghan-Afifi (Sale)	5 out of 5

On other pages:

Detailed Results:	Photographs:	Games:
Open Section	The main hall 1	Jim Burnett v Alan Merry
Major Section	The main hall 2	(QG Chigorin wins)
Intermediate Section	The analysis room	Douglas Forbes v Jason Madden
Minor Section	Mark Whitehead & Dave Patrick	(ends in double check & mate)
Foundation Section	Richard Webster & Jim Burnett
	The bookstall

The number of participants was down very slightly compared with last year, distribution across the five(!) sections in the two years being as follows:

Open

Major

(<=170)

Intermediate

(<=150)

Minor

(<=135)

Foundation

(<=120)

Total

2016

349

2017

337

Besides there being more sections that the average weekend chess congress, there are 4 place prizes in each section, as compared with the commoner 3 place prizes.

Round-by-round results could be followed in the Chess Games website:

(http://chess-results.com/tnr300549.aspx?lan=1&art=0&wi=821).

First prize in each section was £500. (First in the Open last year was Mark Hebden). This compares with £400 in 2001. It’s interesting to note that the Bank of England’s inflation calculator says that £400 in 2001 equalled £607 in 2016. (The calculator doesn’t stretch to 2017 yet.) So, should Mark Hebden be putting in for a 20% pay rise!? (Doncaster Congress has increased its first prizes for 2018.)

A salient point, however, is the rise in the cost of the venue. To quote the organisers:

“There was a time when the venue (first the Corner Cafe & then the Spa) was free, courtesy of Scarborough Council. Later they charged about £1.50 per player. Now the Spa is run by SIV Enterprises Ltd of Sheffield, and costs well over £2000. Entry fees have increased, but not by much - 1998: £26, 2004: £28. 2017: £31. Congress entries have also increased since 2004 but the venue is costing approx. £7 per player as opposed to £1.50.”

Change in the cost of the venue is always a nagging potential problem in the minds of congress organisers.

If you are interested, click here for the 2001 Scarborough Congress prize list.