Tournament Controller (and joint champion!) Malcolm Gesthuysen reports: The title is shared by three players: Gesthuysen, Hjort and Landau.

The tournament controller managed to beat Frank Sabin in a game of blunders, and thought he had come second, but Jonathan Landau had a surprise win against Helge Hjort in the very last game, making it a three-way tie for first place. Chris Rogal (club secretary and second-team captain) was fourth, Raj Bhalla (in his first season), Kishan Pattni (former member who has rejoined), Adam Raoof (hampered by holiday in Cyprus), Justin Robertson (first season for Hendon), and Frank Sabin (youngest member) came equal fifth.

The decisive game: Helge Hjort v Jonathan Landau 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 c4 Bg7 4 Nc3 O-O 5 e4 d6 6 Be2 Nbd7 7 O-O e5 8 dxe5 dxe5 9 h3 h6 10 Be3 b6 11 Qc2 Bb7 12 Rfd1 Qe7 13 Nd5 Nxd5 14 cxd5 Nf6 15 Rac1 Rac8 16 Nd2? c6! 17 dxc6 Bxc6 18 Qb1 Rfd8 19 f3? Nh5! 20 Ba6 Rc7 21 Nf1 Rf8? 22 Qd3 Rd7 23 Qc2 Rxd1 24 Rxd1 Ba8 25 Bc4 Kh8?! 26 Bd5?! Bxd5 27 Rxd5 f5 28 Qd3 Rf7?! 29 Rd8+ Kh7 30 exf5 gxf5 31 Qd6?! Qb7?! 32 Qd5?! Qc7?! 33 Qd6?! Qb7?! 34 Qd5?! Qe7?! 35 Qd6?! Qh4?! 36 Rd7 Rxd7 37 Qxd7 Qf6 38 Qa7 f4?! 39 Bf2 e4 40 fxe4 f3? 41 g3?! Qe6 42 Kh2?! Qxe4? 43 Qb6? Qe2! 44 Kg1 Nf6 45 Qe3? Ne4! 46 g4?? Nxf2! 47 Qxe2 Nh3+ 48 Kh2 fxe2 0-1 (annotations based on analysis by Fritz) Game of blunders: Malcolm Gesthuysen v Frank Sabin 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 e5 5 Nb5 a6 6 Nd6+ Bxd6 7 Qxd6 Qf6 8 Qd1 Qg6 9 Nc3 Nf6 10 Qd6! Nh5?! 11 Qxg6 hxg6 12 Nd5 O-O?! 13 Bg5 f5 14 Bd3 d6 15 O-O-O Nf6? 16 Bxf6 gxf6 17 Nb6 Rb8 18 Bc4+?! Kh8 19 Rxd6 fxe4 20 Rhd1 Bg4 21 Nd7? Bxd7 22 Rxd7 Rfd8 23 Bf7? g5? 24 Bg6 Nd4 25 Rxd8+ Rxd8 26 c3 Ne2+ 27 Kc2 Rxd1 28 Kxd1 Nf4 29 Bxe4 b6 30 g3 Ne6 31 b4 Kg7 32 Kd2 Kf8 33 Kd3 Ke7 34 a4 Kd6 35 Kc4 Nc7 36 h4! gxh4 37 gxh4 b5 38 Kb3 Ke7 39 c4 bxc4+ 40 Kxc4 Ne8 41 Bb7?? Nd6+ 42 Kc5 Nxb7+ 43 Kb6 Nd6 44 Kxa6 Kd7?? 45 b5 Kc7? 46 b6+ Kb8 47 h5 Nf7 48 Kb5? f5 49 a5 e4 50 a6 Nh6?? 51 Kc6 1-0 (How can such appalling play be rewarded by a share of the club championship??)

Please note that, due to church plans, the club will not meet on the last two Thursdays in July or at any time in August.