Halifax Rapidplay: 12th - 13th November 2005

7 Sussex players took part in the Halifax Rapidplay over the weekend.

On the Saturday, five took part in the U11 event, which is a qualifier for the England trials. Jude Lenier and Joe Quinn both gave excellent performances, and found themselves playing off for the title in the last round, with Jude on 5 points and Joe on 4.5. The two eventually agreed a draw, giving Jude the title and Joe second place. Both gained a full norm for the England trials. A half norm was also won by Polly Lambert who achieved the magic total of 3.5.

On Sunday, Jude also took part in the U12 event. However, after an exciting match in the 5th round, Jude lost a game when his opponent mated him with only seconds left on his clock, despite Jude having some 10 minutes left on his own clock. Jude finished on 4 out of 5 in the tournament.

Ben Blundell and Rhys Cumming also competed in the adult tournament, both seeking half norms at U12 level for the squad. Ben competed in the Minor tournament, and achieved his target of 6.5 out of 11 to achieve a half norm, with an excellent playing performance of 108. Rhys was unfortunately forced to play in the Intermediate tournament due to his rapidplay grade. Some good matches against highly rated players saw him achieve a playing performance of 111, but despite this, he was unable to reach the target of 6 points which was set for his England qualification, having finished on 4.5.