By Isle of Wight Observer
Some of the world’s top players took part in the Isle of Wight International Chess Tournament, at Ryde School, over the weekend.
Grandmaster (GM) Bobby Cheng claimed the title on tie-break, finishing with a score of 7/9, alongside GM Sebastian Bogner, GM Boris Chatalbashev, and International Master (IM) Matthew Wadsworth.
The competition for second place was fiercely contested, with five players tying on 6.5 points: IM Marcos Camacho Collados, GM Vojtěch Plát, GM Ameet K Ghasi, GM Thomas Beerdsen, and GM Matthew J Turner.
In the women’s category, Woman Grandmaster (WGM) Viktoria Radeva secured the Best Woman prize, with IM Jovanka Houska taking second place.
Local players also made their mark on the prize table. Clive Bowley claimed second place in the Under 2,000-rated Tournament, while Harry Vernon picked up a rating prize in the same section.
Veteran local chess players, Dave Williams and Charles Charalambous, also earned prizes in the weekend Congress.
The tournament has received widespread acclaim from the chess community. Grandmaster Daniel Gormally rated the event nine out of 10, and even suggested that the British Chess Championships should be hosted on the Island.
The tournament brought an influx of more than 400 visitors to Ryde and organisers are hopeful it will become an annual event.