The Cowley Summer Blitz, held on Monday 26 June, was much the biggest and strongest for a very long time, with 75 players taking part.
In a hard-fought last round, David Zakarian, who had been presented earlier in the evening with the trophy for the revived Oxfordshire Individual Championship, managed to beat frequent Blitz winner Marcus Harvey twice, mating him in the second game with just one second left, and finishing level on 9.5 points with Csaba Koszta. Marcus, who had scored 100% up to that point, finished on 8 points in equal third position with the very talented youngster from Azerbaijan, Muhammad Ismayilov, and Will Burt, both members of Cowley Chess Club.
Cumnor’s Daniel Varney could not repeat his Christmas blitz victory in such a very tough field, but still took the prize for the best U18 junior.
The OCA Prizegiving for the season recently ended was held outside in the cool evening after Round 3, and it was good to see so many of the team captains and individual award-winners present to be presented with their trophies.
Please check out the Cowley website for a full list of prize winners.
