Jan 213 min read

Harry Vernon Wins the Ryde Rapid in 3 Way Tie Break

Updated: Jan 22

On Saturday 20th January, Ryde hosted the Isle of Wight's first Rapid Chess Tournament. The event was a great success attracting 24 players and more spectators to the Yelf's Hotel in Ryde. A huge thank you to all players anyone who called in to say hi. It was great to see so many new players competing with island regular chess players and even a few people who made a trip over for the day.

We had a range of ages from 13 to late 80s. Special shout out to Grace and Alex, two junior players who held their own and both had great results. Thanks again to Terry Dawson for help as an arbiter and Rob Coles for running around setting up tables before jumping in to play his games. Check out the gallery below and keep an eye on our socials for recap videos.

24 players competed, playing 60+ chess games in total with countless side games in the analyses room and the bar. The hotel itself was exceptional and a perfect venue for chess, thank you again to all the staff that helped. It was a great environment for new players to discover tournament play and special thanks to the experienced players for making people feel welcome and helping them learn the ropes.

Full results below. We will be running this event again, and others, in the near future. Please subscribe to the newsletter if you would like to be the first to know about it.

Heading into the sixth and final round, Clive Bowley was on 5 points from 5, having had a fantastic tournament defeating some very strong players. Harry Vernon and Joel Lloyd were chasing in 2nd place on 4 points each. Harry dropping a point in round 3 to Joel; Joel losing in round 4 to Clive. Building into a dramatic final round and top table game between Harry (as white) and Clive (as black).

Harry managed to clinch the final game as White with Clive losing on time as the pressure mounted heading into the endgame. See the game pgn below on chess . com.

With Harry's win over Clive, and Joel also winning his final game, the results were even with all three players clinched on 5 points from 6.

With 3 players tied and no time left for 3 way playoffs, the Buchholz tie break system was used to settle the rankings. On the first level tie break Harry and Joel were tied in 1st and Clive 3rd. On the second level of tie break, used if still a tie, Harry emerged as victor with Joel in 2nd place. A dramatic end to the tournament, but it just goes to show that every round matters and in the end it was Harry's win over Clive was the defining factor and worth more tie break points.