Stroud Rapidplay

 As I am coming to end of 3 months away from Australia, I thought I would get a little bit more chess in.

Today's event was the Stroud Rapid, played in of all places, Stroud (UK). It was a single section event played with a time limit of 15m+5s. There were around 56 players taking part, and it was a 6 round tournament.

I was seeded 11th in the event, and played to about my seeding, at list in terms of finishing position. In terms of opponents, it was a slightly different story, as all my opponents were rated below me. I started off with a draw and a win, but 3 more draws followed, as I was unable to grind out wins from pretty equal positions. A final round win in a dynamic position lifted me to 4/6. which was enough for a tie for 7th.

The tournament was well run, and played in a pretty relaxed manner. The time control meant there was around and hour between rounds, and with a lunch break thrown in, went for around six and a half hours. Interestingly, the prize structure was pretty flat, with 90 pounds for first, but a lot of 30 pound rating prizes.

If you want to see the final standings you can do so at https://chess-results.com/tnr986767.aspx?lan=1