The main event at the Easter Festival in London, the Championship Pairs, was won by Janet de Botton and Artur Malinowski (both Middlesex) (picture). They finished on 62.16% and won by the very slim margin of 0.03%, ahead of Karl Baumann & Geir Brekka (both Norway) in second and Tom Townsend & Mark Teltscher (both London) in third. The pairs in second and third were separated by less then 0.01%. This was surely one of the smallest ever differences across the podium places.
The Championship Pairs was part of the Championship Series for the Player of the Year competition, and victory takes Janet and Artur in to the top twenty. The updated standings are available here.
The Swiss Teams event was won emphatically by Anita Sinclair, David Gold, Andrew Robson, Zia Mahmood (all London), & Peter Crouch (Kent) (picture). They won all seven matches, including three maximum scores of 20, and finished on 120 VPs. The team of David Bakhshi (London) & Ollie Burgess and Michael Byrne (both Manchester) & Heather Bakhshi (London) were second on 101 VPs, losing only to the Sinclair team. Janet de Botton & Artur Malinowski and Tom Townsend (all London) & Thor Erik Hoftaniska (Middlesex) were third on 95 VPs.
The Flighted Swiss Pairs event was won by Peter Taylor & John Amor (pictured left, both Kent), who won all their matches to finish on 116 VPs. Tony Verran (Essex) & Brian Gladman (Surrey) were second on 104 VPs, and Mark Davies & Richard Creamer (both London), who didn't lose a match, finished third on 102 VPs. The B Flight Swiss Pairs was won by Annabel Burrows & Lyn Poole (both Surrey) (picture).
The Really Easy Afternoon, for less experienced players, was played across three venues - London, Billericay and Ilkley at the Northern Easter Congress. It was won by Ian Northcott (Berks & Bucks) & Matt Harman (London) with 63.54%. Vivienne Goodman & David Goodman (both Yorkshire), who played in Ilkley, were second on 63.05%, and David Cannan & Jean Cannan (both Essex), who played in Billericay, were third on 61.11%.
April 7, 2015