Chess tournaments resemble families in that they come in all shapes and sizes. Each congress has its own unique selling point, it's character and atmosphere and every tournament player has their own favourite event to which they return season after season.
But nothing in life is forever - tournaments come and go. As old favourites disappear for whatever reason (financial pressures loss of traditional venue, retirement of
key personnel), new events are born with new organisers and life goes on.
Thus it was with great excitement that chess aficionados in the south-west heard that a brand new Rapidplay tournament was being planned for March 2024 in Bovey Tracey, a small but attractive town that is the gateway to Dartmoor, easily reached in the A38 between Exeter and Plymouth.
This new event was the brain-child of it's organiser Freddie Sugden, a young Devonian from Bovey Tracey, ex-student of Torquay Boys' Grammar School and member of the Newton Abbot chess club who now resides in London, and is also a member of the Hackney Chess Club (and, in the last year or so has been a regular on the English congress circuit).
Unsure of the number of players he could expect, he had to plan carefully to ensure financial stability. His chosen venue, the excellent Wickham Hall, had a maximum
capacity of around 60 but it soon became clear as the entries came in that players in the wider south-west (across Devon, Cornwall, Somerset & Dorset) were keen to support this new venture. Two tournaments (Maestros and Improvers, with a dividing point of 1600 rating) attracted over 50 entrants including a few from outside the south-west and the field for the Maestros was strong with 5 players over 2000 headed up by local GM Keith Arkell.
On the day, It was soon after arrival at the Wickham Hall that everyone understood that the event would be a spectacular success - an instantly friendly atmosphere reigned as players met up with acquaintances old and new whilst being served superb refreshments by Freddie's father Mark; all accompanied by an experienced and efficient control team of Plymouthians Tony Tatam and Graham Hill-Wilson. The engaging and charismatic personality of the ebullient organiser even managed the unique feat of causing the assembled gathering to burst into spontaneous applause on several occasions!
One novelty which proved very popular was a lunch-time chess quiz: 25 tricky questions ranging over chess history, rules, literature and film. The winner here, as in the Maestros tournament, was Keith Arkell who, to his own delight, carried away the unusual prize of a chess set and board hand-crafted specially for the ocassion by artist Leighanne Budgen using Jesmonite, a modern material based on gypsum used in arts and crafts.
