Home Office Chess Club Handicap Blitz Tournament
7 September 2006
This event took place in the Home Office on 7 September 2006. It was the first time we had run a handicap blitz tournament so there was a lot of discussion about the appropriate time differences. In the end we settled on a double-round event with 20 minutes per game. The distribution of time was as in the table below.
| Grading difference | Stronger player | Weaker player |
| 0+ | 10 | 10 |
| 15+ | 9 | 11 |
| 30+ | 8 | 12 |
| 45+ | 7 | 13 |
| 60+ | 6 | 14 |
| 75+ | 5 | 15 |
A total of six players took part, with grades ranging from 115 to 198. The handicaps made the games closer, but as the stronger players still ended up at the top it might be necessary to increase the handicaps in future.
Tony Ashby was the winner, not only because he was under-graded, but also because he played very well. He met Tim Pelling in the last round with their scores level. The first game was an exciting draw by perpetual check. Tony outplayed Tim in the second game, sacrificing a piece to open lines against the king and reaching an easily-won ending.
Richard Fries took a game off both Tony and Tim, suggesting that the handicaps were worth something, and finished high up. Keith Dunmore performed better than his grade suggested. Matthew Baker proved a tough nut for all, but somehow just missed out. Peter Biggs did not do himself justice on the night.
The final table is as below.
| Name | Grade |
Total |
||||||
| A Ashby | 169 |
1.5 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
8.5 |
|
| T Pelling | 198 |
0.5 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
7.5 |
|
| R Fries | 154 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
|
| K Dunmore | 113 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.5 |
2 |
3.5 |
|
| M Baker | 144 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.5 |
1 |
2.5 |
|
| P Biggs | 115 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |