Hersey holds her own at Easter Congress

Over Easter, many tournament organisers take advantage of the extra holidays to cram in more rounds of chess for their events, in particular for standard (long) play events.

One such event is the Grenke Open, the largest tournament in the world right now with over 3500 players taking part this year!

In the UK, the historical Southend Congress sadly couldn’t take place this year.  This led to more participants heading to Daventry for the 4NCL Easter Congress.

Claire Hersey, one of Suffolk’s top juniors, opted to take part in the U2000 section. Despite Claire’s Elo being eligible for the U1700 section, it doesn’t hurt to test the boundaries from time to time.

Claire started slowly with two close losses, but then kicked into gear with two straight wins, clearly showing that she could hold her own against much higher rated players. Claire finished on a solid 3/7, performing around 300 points higher than her Elo.

One of Claire’s best games was her fourth round victory, where she won a pawn out of the opening. She then showed great patience and strong positional play. In the final rook endgame, Claire utilised her King well too; such endgame knowledge can help you shift to the next level up.

Some of the games from the congress are available from the Chess Results website, along with the final standings.