2009 Gibraltar Chess Festival - Amateur Entrants
This page features entrants to the Amateur events. Short biographies (and most of the photos) are by - please let me know if I have made any mistakes! A list of the tournament's administrative staff may be found here. Entrants for other sections: Masters • Challengers
A simple list of entrants to ALL 2009 Gibtelecom Festival tournaments, showing full FIDE registration details may be found here.
Gibtelecom Amateur Sections (ratings from January 2009 List, latest ECF grades in brackets)
Last Edited: Wednesday February 4, 2009 11:16 AM
AMATEUR 1 • skip to the Amateur 2 players |
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Ellen Carlsen |
NOR | 1888 | Born in 1989, with a Norwegian national rating of 1748. It's possible you have heard of her younger brother, or maybe see a likeness... now, what was his name? No, I can't remember... |
Geir Ole Aagedal |
NOR | 1832 | "Born in the Eastern part of Norway in 1957. Now living on the West Coast, and member of Bergen Chess Club. Since his return in 2001 after more than 20 years doing anything else but chess, he has struggled to regain his former amateur level. In vain." (that's his life story told in Geir's own words) |
David A Gates |
ENG | 1738 | Born in 1962. |
Gasim Hashimov |
AZE | - | Father of Vugar Gashimov. He's never played a tournament before. |
Russell Goodfellow |
ENG | (136) | A member of Tunbridge Wells CC and a UK tournament regular. Russell played in the Amateur tournaments of 2007 and 2008, finishing 1st= in Amateur 1 in 2007. |
Klaus Kuenitz |
GER | 1663 | Klaus was born in 1944 and has played in Gibraltar for the past four years, taking part in the Masters, Challengers and Amateur. He won the 2nd week Amateur event in 2007. |
Mario Garcia |
GIB | 1663 | Has played in the last three Gibtelecom Festivals, in both Challengers and Amateur sections. |
Samuel Flanagan |
IRL | (1650) | Samuel was born in 1954, comes from Belfast and has an Ulster Chess Union rating of 1650. He was in a threeway tie for first place in the 2008 Gibtelecom Amateur 1 with 4½/5, thus taking home a prize of £666.67. |
Freddie Poggio |
GIB | (1616) | Freddie has played in the Amateur events of 2007 and 2008 previously. |
Weronica Socko |
POL | (1600) | Daughter of GMs Bartosz and Monika Socko. |
Lovinia Sylvia Chidi |
GER | (1588) | |
Geoffrey Bishop |
ENG | (127) | Born in 1948, Geoffrey plays his chess for Chislehurst CC. In 2008 he scored a modest 1½/5 in Amateur 1 but came storming back to take the £1,000 first prize in Amateur 2 with 5/5. |
Paul Smith |
USA | (125) | Paul has an ECF grade of 125 and a USCF rating of 1700. He is a member of the Brighton & Hove, and Hastings & St Leonards, clubs in England. |
Geoff W Naldrett |
ENG | (125) | Born in 1947. A member of Insurance Chess Club. |
Jonathan Rashleigh |
ENG | (123) | Born in 1950. A member of Stratford Chess Club, and with a simul draw versus GM Jonathan Speelman to his credit. Scored 3½/5 in the Gibtelecom Amateur 1 in 2007. |
David C Randall |
ENG | (122) | David plays for Wokingham CC in Berkshire. At the 2008 Gibtelecom Festival he scored 3/5 in both of the Amateur tournaments. |
Jonathan Wright |
ENG | (1500?) | Jonathan has played at two Gibtelecom Festivals. He scored 2½/5 in the 2007 Challengers 1, and in 2008 he scored 3/5 in both Amateur 1 and Amateur 2. |
David McGladdery |
ENG | (114) | Dave, from Hassocks in Sussex, played in the 2007 Gibtelecom Festival, scoring 2½/5 in Amateur 2. He is a keen tournament competitor in the UK. He recently joined Worthing Chess club and plays for Sussex under 125 county team. |
Santiago Escandell Atienza |
ESP | 1485 | Born in 1962, Santiago is from Menorca. |
Tom Michael Bath |
GIB | (1450) | Last year Tom told me he had lived in Gibraltar for the past two years and has an estimated rating of 1250 on the online server where he played. Sorry about the blurry photo! |
Jon Coats |
ENG | (107) | From Swindon in Wiltshire. Jon plays for the Brown Jack pub team. He scored 2½/5 and 2/5 in the 2008 Gibtelecom Amateur tournaments. |
Paul Haddock |
ENG | (102) | Paul plays for the Met Police CC. He played in Gibraltar in 2007 and 2008. Paul also has a USCF rating of 1460 (he played in the US National Open in Las Vegas in June 2008). |
Aztlan Badillo Garcia |
MEX | (1383) | Born in 1996, U12 state champion 2008, finalist in U14 for 2009. |
Paul McLeod |
GIB | (1200) | Paul says: "Lived in Gibraltar for seven years but this is the first year I have been able to attend the festival. Rustiness of seven years without chess (bar a few games v the computer last week) is showing thus far!" |
Marian Cox |
ENG | (74) | A member of Horsham CC. Marian made 2½/5 and 2/5 in the two 2008 Gibtelecom Amateur events. |
Reginald Cox |
ENG | (61) | A member of Beckenham and Bromley CC and a regular visitor to the Jersey, Guernsey and Royal Beacon congresses. Reg made 1½/5 in the two 2008 Gibtelecom Amateur events. |
Michael Stoop |
ENG | (60) | Michael Stoop is a modest chessplayer but a perfect gentleman who has lived life to the full. Born in 1922, his life story could not possibly be encapsulated in anything short of a few million words. He has been everywhere and known vast numbers of famous people. A snippet or two: he was the last person on the planet to have seen Lord Lucan, who was a personal friend and who addressed his final letter to Michael. The famous rugby ground, 'the Stoop' (Harlequins' headquarters) was named after Michael's father, who captained England in their first international at Twickenham in 1910. Rather than me trying to tell these stories second-hand, much better to sidle up to Michael in the bar at the Caleta and get him to tell them in person. He is a marvellous raconteur. |
Ian Apps |
ENG | (58) | Ian plays for the Metropolitan Police CC and has a grade of 61. Ian played in Gibraltar in 2007 and 2008. |
Luis Correa Vargas |
MEX | 1192 | Born 1998, U10 state champion 2008. |
Johan Salomon |
NOR | (1174) | Born in 1997. Played in the Gibtelecom Amateur event in 2008. |
Raul Vargas Salgado |
MEX | 1156 | Born 1998, 3rd in 2008 state U10s, finalist for the 2009 U12 championship. |
Ray Apps |
ENG | (?) | |
Jim Feeney |
GIB | 1080 | |
| Jose Manuel Barros Campoy |
ESP | - | Born in 1963. Played five rounds of the 2005 Gibtelecom Masters, scoring 1/5. |
Cristo Viera Falcon |
ESP | ? | |
Nicola Benson |
IRL | - | Nicola took part in the 2008 EU Championship in Liverpool and scored 2/10. She is Oisin Benson's mother. |
El Mokhtar Baye |
MAR | - | |
Jose Mari Ruiz |
GIB | - | |
Anna Cramling-Bellon |
ESP | - | |
Oussama Elhadad |
MAR | - | |
AMATEUR 2 • skip to the Amateur 1 players |
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| Geir Ole Aagedal |
NOR | 1832 | "Born in the Eastern part of Norway in 1957. Now living on the West Coast, and member of Bergen Chess Club. Since his return in 2001 after more than 20 years doing anything else but chess, he has struggled to regain his former amateur level. In vain." (that's his life story told in Geir's own words) |
| Gasim Hashimov |
AZE | - | Father of Vugar Gashimov. He's never played a tournament before. |
Daniel Yarur Elsaca |
CHI | 1805 | Born in 1955, Daniel is president of the Chilean Chess Foundation. He played in Gibraltar in 2006, 2007 and 2008. |
Philip J Kennedy |
ENG | (144) | A member of Exmouth CC and also Tiverton. This will be Philip's third visit to Gibraltar (he has also played in the Isle of Man). He scored 3½/5 in the 2007 Amateur 2 tournament and made the same score in the same event in 2008; he even lost to the same player (Klaus Kuenitz) after the same sort of tactical oversight. Philip will be hoping to go one better in 2009. |
| Cristo Viera Falcon |
ESP | ? | |
| Ellen Carlsen |
NOR | 1888 | Born in 1989, with a Norwegian national rating of 1748. It's possible you have heard of her younger brother, or maybe see a likeness... now, what was his name? No, I can't remember... |
Nigel Livesey |
ENG | (143) | Member of Bourne End CC. Nigel scored 2½ and 3 respectively in last year's Amateur events. He scored 4½/7 to finish 3rd= in the 2006 Monarch Assurance "Tony Bridson" Major. |
| Oussama Elhadad |
MAR | - | |
Denis O'Connell |
IRL | 1586 | Denis, from County Cork, is a regular tournament competitor in Ireland. |
| Jonathan Wright |
ENG | (1500?) | Jonathan has played at two Gibtelecom Festivals but has so far avoided contact with my camera lens and my word processor - quite an achievement. He scored 2½/5 in the 2007 Challengers 1, and in 2008 he scored 3/5 in both Amateur 1 and Amateur 2. |
Francisco Javier Garcia Lechugo |
ESP | 1688 | Born in 1970. Francisco is a Gibtelecom regular, having played in the tournaments from 2004 to 2008 includive. |
| Russell Goodfellow |
ENG | (136) | A member of Tunbridge Wells CC and a UK tournament regular. Russell played in the Amateur tournaments of 2007 and 2008, finishing 1st= in Amateur 1 in 2007. |
Peter Hannan |
ENG | (135) | Peter is a qualified ECF arbiter and a member of Charlton Chess Club. Hopefully, when someone finally writes the definitive account of the golden age of English chess, Peter and his wife Rosemary will be given credit for the highly significant part they played in it. For many years they threw open the doors of their house to impoverished or itinerant chessplayers who happened to be in the London area at the time. Just to name two: Murray Chandler and David Bronstein were house-guests of the Hannans for significant periods of time. |
| Mario Garcia |
GIB | 1663 | Has played in the last three Gibtelecom Festivals, in both Challengers and Amateur sections. |
| Klaus Kuenitz |
GER | 1663 | Klaus was born in 1944 and has played in Gibraltar for the past four years, taking part in the Masters, Challengers and Amateur. He won the 2nd week Amateur event in 2007. |
Michael R Wiltshire |
ENG | (132) | Michael is chairman of Kent County Chess Association and is secretary of Dartford Chess Club. He also plays for Insurance Chess Club. |
| Geoffrey Bishop |
ENG | (127) | Born in 1948, Geoffrey plays his chess for Chislehurst CC. In 2008 he scored a modest 1½/5 in Amateur 1 but came storming back to take the £1,000 first prize in Amateur 2 with 5/5. |
Geoffrey R Hermes |
ENG | (137) | Geoff is a member of Athenaeum Chess Club and has an ECF grade of 137. |
Brian J Izzard |
ENG | (126) | Member of Brighton Chess Club. Scored 2½/5 at the 2007 Gibtelecom Amateur 2 event and 2/5 in the same event in 2008. |
Robert E Rough |
SCO | (136) ( 1607) |
The FIDE List doesn't show a rating for Robert (but gives his birth year as 2000!). Robert has an ECF grade of 136 (which converts to about 1688). Back home in Inverness he weighs in at 1607 (Oct 2008). Robert shared 2nd= place in the 2007 Gibtelecom Amateur B tournament. In 2008 he scored 2/5 in the Amateur 2 event. |
Luis Manetto |
GIB | 1602 | A regular visitor to the congress, having played from 2005 to 2008 inclusive, always in the Challengers but playing in the Amateur event this year. |
Craig Hadrych |
USA | (1600) | - |
| Geoff W Naldrett |
ENG | (125) | Born in 1947. A member of Insurance Chess Club. |
| Weronica Socko |
POL | (1600) | Daughter of GMs Bartosz and Monika Socko. |
| Lovinia Sylvia Chidi |
GER | (1588) | |
| David C Randall |
ENG | (122) | David plays for Wokingham CC in Berkshire. At the 2008 Gibtelecom Festival he scored 3/5 in both of the Amateur tournaments. |
| El Mokhtar Baye |
MAR | - | |
| Freddie Poggio |
GIB | (1616) | Freddie has played in the Amateur events of 2007 and 2008 previously. |
| David McGladdery |
ENG | (114) | Dave, from Hassocks in Sussex, played in the 2007 Gibtelecom Festival, scoring 2½/5 in Amateur 2. He is a keen tournament competitor in the UK. He recently joined Worthing Chess club and plays for Sussex under 125 county team. |
| Santiago Escandell Atienza |
ESP | 1485 | Born in 1962, Santiago is from Menorca. |
| Jon Coats |
ENG | (107) | From Swindon in Wiltshire. Jon plays for the Brown Jack pub team. He scored 2½/5 and 2/5 in the 2008 Gibtelecom Amateur tournaments. |
| Paul Haddock |
ENG | (102) | Paul plays for the Met Police CC. He played in Gibraltar in 2007 and 2008. Paul also has a USCF rating of 1460 (he played in the US National Open in Las Vegas in June 2008). |
Neil S Homer |
ENG | (1416) | |
Mark Huba |
ENG | (90) | Born in 1945, Mark is a long-standing member of the King's Head club in West London. He is well-known as a chess photographer, working for 'Chess' magazine and many other publications. Ironically, it took me ages to track down a photo of him. |
Barry Foran |
IRL | (1310) | Irish Chess Union rating of 1310. |
Sidney A Jones |
ENG | (85) | Born in 1936, Sidney is a member of the Dorchester club in Dorset and has been a regular competitor in Guernsey, Jersey and Royal Beacon events. |
| Tom Michael Bath |
GIB | (1450) | Last year Tom told me he had lived in Gibraltar for the past two years and has an estimated rating of 1250 on the online server where he played. Sorry about the blurry photo! |
| Luis Correa Vargas |
MEX | 1192 | Born 1998, U10 state champion 2008. |
Marian Cox |
ENG | (74) | A member of Horsham CC. Marian made 2½/5 and 2/5 in the two 2008 Gibtelecom Amateur events. |
| Johan Salomon |
NOR | (1174) | Born in 1997. Played in the Gibtelecom Amateur event in 2008. |
| Raul Vargas Salgado |
MEX | 1156 | Born 1998, 3rd in 2008 state U10s, finalist for the 2009 U12 championship. |
| Reginald Cox |
ENG | (61) | A member of Beckenham and Bromley CC and a regular visitor to the Jersey, Guernsey and Royal Beacon congresses. Reg made 1½/5 in the two 2008 Gibtelecom Amateur events. |
| Jim Feeney |
GIB | 1080 | |
| Michael Stoop |
ENG | (60) | Michael Stoop is a modest chessplayer but a perfect gentleman who has lived life to the full. Born in 1922, his life story could not possibly be encapsulated in anything short of a few million words. He has been everywhere and known vast numbers of famous people. A snippet or two: he was the last person on the planet to have seen Lord Lucan, who was a personal friend and who addressed his final letter to Michael. The famous rugby ground, 'the Stoop' (Harlequins' headquarters) was named after Michael's father, who captained England in their first international at Twickenham in 1910. Rather than me trying to tell these stories second-hand, much better to sidle up to Michael in the bar at the Caleta and get him to tell them in person. He is a marvellous raconteur. |
| Nicola Benson |
IRL | - | Nicola took part in the 2008 EU Championship in Liverpool and scored 2/10. She is Oisin Benson's mother. |
| Jose Mari Ruiz |
GIB | - | |
| Anna Cramling-Bellon |
ESP | - | |
Luis Raffo Sanchez |
GIB | - | - |
Stephen Arthur James Whatley |
GIB | - | Stephen was born in 1999 and his parents Sharon and Steve very kindly sent me a photo and some more info. Stephen has two chess titles to his credit - Gibtelecom Junior Under-8 Champion in both 2007 and 2008. He played in the British Under-11, Under-8, Under-9 and Under-10 Championships in Liverpool last summer, scoring 1½/7 (32nd place), 3/6 (12th= place), 4½/7 (6th= place) and 2/7 (22nd place) respectively. Lots of good practice! |
