The 26^th Richmond Rapidplay, organised by Richmond Junior Chess Club, was held at the White House Community Association, Hampton on Sunday 5 December.

The Open section was weaker than usual, with only one titled player, US veteran IM James Sherwin (Fischer's victim in his first Memorable Game). But Sherwin went down to local favourite Gavin Wall in Round 4, leaving the Richmond Junior Club coach free to celebrate his birthday by pocketing the £100 first prize.

The Major was tightly contested, with two first-round losers, Paul Dupre and Steven Coles, eventually emerging on top with 4½/6. The same score also proved sufficient to win the Intermediate section. This time there was a three-way tie, with Martynas Andrisiunas, from Lithuania, Surrey Girl star Alex Kelly and Richmond Junior Edward Leung sharing the spoils. The grading prizes in both these sections fell to talented 11-year-olds: Robert Heaton of Richmond Juniors in the Major and another Surrey girl, Sarah Hegarty, in the Intermediate.

There was a smaller than usual entry in the Minor, where for once the older players were in control. Antonio Gonzalez, of the Metropolitan club, defied a Rapidplay Grade of only 48 to take first place with the day's best score: 5½/6.

Prizewinners:

Open:
1 Gavin Wall (SW London) 5/6
2= Marcus Osborne (Wallington) 4½/6
James Sherwin (USA) 4½/6
U190 Chetan Deva (Weybridge/RJCC) 3/6
Alan Punnett (Woking) 3/6
14 players

Major:
1= Steven Coles (Teddington) 4½/6
Paul Dupre (Walton-on-Thames) 4½/6
3= Donny Muter (W London) 4/6
Ross Rattray (Cheam/RJCC) 4/6
Neil Staples (Banbury) 4/6
U140 Robert Heaton (New Malden/RJCC) 3½/6
16 players

Intermediate:
1= Martynas Andrisiunas (Lithuania) 4½/6
1= Alex Kelly (Caterham) 4½/6
1= Edward Leung (W London/RJCC) 4½/6
U100 Sarah Hegarty (Woking) 4/6
22 players

Minor:
1. Antonio Gonzalez (SW London) 5½/6
2= Paul Dauncey (Grays) 4½/6
Tim Powell (Hoddesdon) 4½/6
4= Andrew Gillard (Chertsey) 3½/6
Chantal Sirisena (SW London/RJCC) 3½/6
14 players

A game from the Open:

Roy Phillips - Kenan Boztas [B79]
RRP26 Open, 05.12.1999

1.Nf3 . . Glek 1...c5 2.e4 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0-0-0 Ne5 11.Bb3 Qa5 12.h4 Rfc8 13.h5 Nxh5 14.Nd5 Qxd2+ 15.Rxd2 Kf8 16.g4 Bxg4 [RR 16...Nf6 17.Nxf6 Bxf6 18.Rxh7 Kg8 (RR 18...Nc4 19.Bxc4 Rxc4 20.Ne2 Kg8 21.Rh1 Rac8 22.Bd4 Kg7 23.Bxf6+ Kxf6 24.Nf4 Be6 25.Rh7 g5 26.Nd3 Rg8 27.Rdh2 Rcc8 28.b3 Rg7 29.R7h6+ Rg6 30.R6h5 Kg7 31.Kd2 Kf8 32.Ke3 f6 33.a4 Nakamoto,D-Stevens,L/Hawaii 1998/EXT 99/1-0 (79)) 19.Rh1 a5 20.a3 a4 21.Ba2 b5 22.Kb1 b4 23.g5 Bg7 24.axb4 a3 25.b3 Rab8 26.c4 Rxb4 27.Kc1 e6 28.Nc2 Rb7 29.f4 Ng4 30.Rxd6 Bc6 31.Re1 Glek,I-Hodgson,J/BL9495 1995/CBM 44/[Glek]/½-½ (51)] 17.fxg4 Nxg4 18.Bg5 e6N [RR 18...Ngf6 19.Bxf6 Nxf6 20.Nxf6 exf6 21.Rxh7 Rc5 1-0 Szalanczy,E-Schneider,A/Budapest 1990/EXT 97 (21); RR 18...Nhf6 19.Nxf6 Bxf6 20.Nf3 Kg7 21.Bxf6+ Nxf6 22.e5 dxe5 23.Nxe5 Ne4 24.Rdh2 h5 25.Nxf7 Rc7 26.Rg2 Rf8 27.Bd5 Nc5 28.Ne5 Rf5 29.Rxg6+ Kh7 30.Bg8+ 1-0 Bronstein,D-Parma,B/Moscow 1971/MCL (30)] 19.Nxe6+ fxe6 20.Rf1+ Kg8 21.Ne7+ Kh8 22.Nxc8 Rxc8 23.Bxe6 Rc5 24.Rxd6 Bf6 25.Rd8+ 1-0

The 27th Richmond Rapidplay will be held at the White House Community Association, The Avenue, Hampton on Sunday 16 January 2000.