John and I spent last weekend running our bookstall at the Weymouth Chess Congress. The congress had moved to a new hotel, which is always interesting for us as we have to rethink the position and layout of the stall. This time we were able to use the small bar area annexed to the ballroom which was being used as the playing venue. The playing area itself was a large room with plenty of space between tables, even when everyone was seated. I was told by one of the players that the floor was maple and that he had been involved in the laying of it 20 years previously. We were also running a bookstall at the Caterham Congress at the same time. My parents, who know nothing about chess, had agreed to man the stall there. As a result, John decided that he would be better than I manning the mobile with any problems or queries from Caterham.
Friday evening started well when I beat an ungraded player in an equal material endgame. (My knight and king were more centrally placed than his, so I was pretty sure that I had an advantage). However, that was to be the last game that I won all weekend, one of my worst tournaments ever. I did have some tough games, and it was an under-125, but even so......
