The 2021 Manx Chess Championships took place at Braddan Church over the first weekend of December.

The event was a six-round Swiss tournament consisting of 15 players and was organised by Isle of Man Chess Club.

Defending champion Li Wu (pictured) took first place once again in the open section with an impressive five points from six, while Keith Allen was runner-up with 4.5 points, beaten only by Wu himself.

Both Henrik Fabri and Alan Ormsby finished with a healthy four points, with Fabri coming third in the open and Ormsby finishing top in the candidates section.

Glenn Cross was second in the candidates, with Neil Davies coming in third.

The chairman of the chess club, Howard Dobson, finished the tournament with 3.5 points and won the challengers section of the tournament. Ben Bosworth came second with Colin Watkinson coming in third.

There were also some young players participating in the tournament: Ben Bosworth, Kyle Cross and Victor Magold.

They are all sure to improve and challenge the stronger players in the future, in particular Victor who is only 16 years old and is already the fourth highest-rated player in the Isle of Man.

Probably the most interesting/entertaining game of the tournament was Wu’s game with Allen which the eventual champion won with great positional play.

Allen also played another impressive game against Victor with an imbalanced position, where Allen had three pawns in exchange for a knight which he eventually won.

It must be noted that this tournament would not have taken place without the energy, enthusiasm and hard work from Ormsby supported by Brian Woodard and Cross. A final thank you to David Sedgewick, an international arbiter who came to the island to officiate.

At the end of the tournament, Sedgewick mentioned that he first came to the island in 1991 and has visited about 28 times - clearly he really likes it here!

The website http://www.iomchessclub.co.uk/home-page has details of the results and information about club events.