Surrey Easter Congress — 1999

25th Surrey Chess Congress · Central Library, Sutton · 2–5 April 1999 · H. M. Cath Onyx Grand Prix return

About the 1999 Congress

The 1999 event was recorded by H. M. Cath as the 25th Surrey Chess Congress. The surviving results sheet is not the usual prize-winners circular, but a reporting return prepared for the Onyx Grand Prix and BCF Office.

The Open was a sextuple-pointed Elite event, while the Premier and Major were triple-pointed Amateur Prix events. The Minor and Novice tournaments were double-pointed Amateur Prix events.

Dates2–5 Apr
Easter 1999
Congress25th
Surrey Congress
Open6×
Onyx Elite
Premier / Major3×
Amateur Prix

The point multipliers and prize-money totals are preserved as Martin Cath recorded them. His covering note warned that some multiplier treatment may have needed checking against prize-money totals.

Frank Winter Memorial Open Tournament

Sextuple-pointed Onyx “Elite” event · advertised total prizes £938

Place / statusPlayerClubScore
1stAndrew WebsterSouth Norwood and Bigwood6½/7
2ndAndrew KinsmanGuildford6/7
Leading groupRichard BatesRichmond5½/7
Leading groupSimon WilliamsRichmond and Hackney5½/7
Leading groupMichael BasmanChessington5/7
Leading groupColin CrouchHarrow and Pinner5/7
Leading groupRoy PhillipsBristol5/7
Leading groupGavin WallRichmond5/7
Leading groupTimothy WallCoulsdon5/7

The return lists advertised Open prizes of £820 for 1st to 4th, £90 in rating prizes and £28 in junior prize money, for a total of £938.

Premier Tournament

Under-170 · triple-pointed Amateur Prix · advertised total prizes £565

PlacePlayerClubScore
1stMurugan ThiruchelvamRichmond Juniors6/7
2ndDan ErichsenSurrey University5½/7

Advertised Premier prizes: £510 for 1st to 4th, £30 grading prize, £25 junior prizes.

Eric Weimann Memorial Major Tournament

Under-145 · triple-pointed Amateur Prix · advertised total prizes £610

PlacePlayerClubScore
1st=Andrew FlemingEastbourne6/7
1st=Russell GoodfellowTunbridge Wells6/7
1st=George ZubreckiEast Grinstead6/7

Advertised Major prizes: £510 for 1st to 4th, £60 grading prizes, £40 junior prizes.

Minor and Novice Tournaments

Minor A

U-120 · double-pointed Amateur Prix · total £352

Joseph FarrellMetropolitan5/5
Kate FeldAshtead4½/5
John SprackettWimbledon4½/5

Minor B

U-120 · double-pointed Amateur Prix · total £351

James WilsonClapham Common5/5
Raymond GosdenWhitstable4½/5

Novice A

U-100 · double-pointed Amateur Prix · total £116

Anton ChernikovRichmond Juniors4½/5
Edward LeungRichmond Juniors4½/5

Novice B

U-100 · double-pointed Amateur Prix · total £100

Edward LeungRichmond Juniors4½/5
Malcolm JamiesonEastbourne4/5
Ben ShoreLiverpool4/5
Brian WilliamsonCoulsdon4/5

Special Congress Prizes

Prixette — scores over 54%

PlayerClubScore / section
Heather RichardsKent Junior C.A.4½/7 in the Open
Lucy BroomfieldSouth Norwood4½/7 in the Major
Jessie GilbertCoulsdon4/7 in the Major
Claire LusherGuildford5/7 in the Major
Kate FeldAshtead4½/5 in Minor A
Sarah HurstIlford3/5 in Minor A
Teresa KhooL.E.H. School3/5 in Minor A
Harriet BatesRichmond3/5 in Novice B
Susan ChadwickBrighton3½/5 in Novice A
Christine HarrisCoulsdon3½/5 in Novice B

Seniors Prix

Kenneth BracewellAshtead4/5 in Minor B
Joseph XuerebWimbledon4/5 in Minor B

The visually and physically handicapped and deaf prize had no qualifiers, although four players were eligible.

Prize Structure and Entry Form Notes

The entry form and additional-prizes notice help explain how the 1999 prize totals were built up. The Open advertised prizes of £400, £240, £120 and £60 for first to fourth. Premier and Major each advertised £240, £120, £90 and £60 for first to fourth.

Onyx multipliers

Open: 6× ElitePremier: 3× Amateur PrixMajor: 3× Amateur PrixMinor: 2× Amateur PrixNovice: 2× Amateur Prix

Additional prizes

The separate prize notice listed grading, junior, ladies, senior and family prizes. It also advertised three Jubilee team prizes for club entries, consisting of digital game timers.

Because the surviving return explicitly warns that point multiples may need checking against the prize-money totals, this page records the stated totals rather than attempting to reconstruct every individual cash payment.

Sources