Kitchen and Priestley share club championship title

Peter Kitchen and Stephen Priestley have been named joint winners of this year’s Club Championship.

Priestley will share the trophy for the second successive year, while for Kitchen this ends 13 years of hurt – this is the third time he has won the tournament but the first since 2011.

Both players finished a tense and closely-fought tournament on 4/5, with Priestley’s final round win over David Edwards enabling him to catch long-time leader and top seed Kitchen, who drew a fascinating struggle with second seed Olusegun Ilesanmi.

The two players had drawn a tight game in round two, and tournament organiser Tony Purser this week declared the pair as joint winners. Ilesanmi came a close third on 3.5/5.

In total, 12 players competed in this year’s tournament – and the absence of one of last year’s joint champions Nathanael Paul following his move to Telepost and serial winner Francis Best who was awaiting a move away from the area meant opportunities abounded for the rest of the field.

Players could choose whether to play their games online at the shorter time control of 45 minutes for all moves with 15 seconds increment per move, or the standard league time control over-the-board of one hour 25 minutes for all moves with 10 seconds increment.

While still played on a 64-square board, playing online and over-the-board have a different feel and there were a few surprise results from the online-only contingent.

Two of these came in the opening round as Norman O’Connor held Priestley to a draw, and Ivor Salter also shared the spoils with first teamer Mark Smith.

Round two saw while Ilesanmi defeat Tony Purser with the black pieces to move into the sole lead with 2/2. Priestley and Kitchen battle to a hard-fought draw in a French Exchange and they were joined on 1.5/2 by Salter, who beat Ian Davies with the black pieces.

But “Dr Ile’s” progress was checked by defeat with the white pieces to Priestley in round three – the first of three wins in a row for the latter that would ultimately propel him up the standings. Salter also suffered a setback by losing with the white pieces against Robert Green – and Kitchen took full advantage by beating Purser online to move to the top of the standings.

A swift 15-move win over Green with black in round four cemented Kitchen’s position as the pacesetter. Priestley and Ilesanmi also picked up wins to keep pace with him – Priestley’s victory over Salter ending the latter’s hopes of the title.

There was a notable upset un this round as David Edwards defeated the club’s A team captain Dan Lockett with the white pieces. His second win in a row moved him up to 2.5/4.

In the final round, Priestley immediately put the pressure on his rivals by beating Edwards with the white pieces to leapfrog Kitchen and take the sole lead. Kitchen knew he needed a win with white against Ilesanmi to take the title outright and a draw to move level with Priestley, with no decision yet taken about a tiebreak. A win for Ilesanmi would see him move level with Priestley.

With Ilesanmi on holiday in Chicago, the pair had to play their game online. A to and fro battle in a Fianchetto King’s Indian saw both players start to run low on time. Ultimately a draw by repetition was the result after 40 moves in an unbalanced position – the engine reckoned Kitchen had a slight edge but it would have been a brave call for either player to continue the fight.

Tournament controller Purser ultimately decided that Kitchen and Priestley should share the title rather than contest a playoff. He said: “Each player played to a high standard throughout against the best opponents.

“I was also impressed with Doctor Ile’s performance and results and feel he should be awarded the title of runner up.”

Many thanks to Tony for organising another keenly-fought and well organised tournament.