Monday 9 July 2018

You can only play once

Chess is full of stories where club mates have travelled halfway across the continent to play in a tournament, only to be paired together in round 1. Versions of this story have involved siblings, parents and children, and in one memorable instance, ex-husband and wife (although this wasn't in the first round).
So when the top seed of the 2018 Faroes Island Open, GM Gawain Jones, checked his paring, he saw the very familiar name of his wife, WIM Sue Maroroa. I have no idea how many times they have met in tournaments, although a search of my database did not find a single instance.
In the end the game went according to rating, with Jones taking advantage of an unsound attempt to give up the queen for assorted material. The good news for both is that won't be paired together again, leaving them free to deal with the rest of the field.


Jones,Gawain - Maroroa,Sue [C97]
Faroes Open, 07.07.2018


1 comment:

..+= said...

It is more notable when it happens in the last round, particularly with women's prize money on the line, as has happened in Gibraltar.