- Published
- October 19, 2026
- Article Type
- News
On Saturday 17 October, Pembroke Castle was home to the 1st Haverfordwest Rapidplay Tournament. It was the club's first open rapidplay, billed as the first adult chess tournament held inside a medieval castle anywhere in the UK.
Thirty-three players entered, including two FIDE Masters, for seven rounds of 15 minutes plus a 5 second increment. Every entry came with free castle admission for the player and their family, so families could explore the birthplace of Henry VII between rounds.
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A Perfect Score
FM Grzegorz Toczek (2285) won the tournament with a perfect 7/7, beating every other player in the top five along the way and finishing with a final-round win over Ewan Ferguson.
Jon Tuson (1799) took second place on 6/7. The only defeat came against the winner, and Jon also beat FM Jason Garcia in round six.
Four players finished on 5 points, with Ewan Ferguson (1839) taking third on tie-break ahead of Andrew Di Vetta, Michael Edwards and Scott Hammett.
Final Standings
| Pos | Player | Rating | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FM Grzegorz Toczek | 2285 | 7 |
| 2 | Jon Tuson | 1799 | 6 |
| 3 | Ewan Ferguson | 1839 | 5 |
| 4 | Andrew Di Vetta | 1771 | 5 |
| 5 | Michael Edwards | 1687 | 5 |
| 6 | Scott Hammett | 1766 | 5 |
| 7 | Howard Leah | 1729 | 4½ |
| 8 | FM Jason Garcia | 2068 | 4 |
| 9 | Ian Hayes | 1839 | 4 |
| 10 | Baveeshan Premakanthan | 1310 | 4 |
Ties are split on Buchholz.
Performances to Remember
- FM Jason Garcia made a flying start with 4/4, including a win over Di Vetta, before running into Toczek, Tuson and Edwards in the last three rounds.
- Michael Edwards (1687) scored 5/7 for fifth place, finishing the day with a last-round win over FM Garcia.
- Howard Leah had just half a point after three rounds, then won the last four games to finish seventh on 4½.
- Baveeshan Premakanthan (1310) scored 4/7 and finished tenth, beating four higher-rated opponents along the way.
How Our Members Got On
Nine Haverfordwest members played on the day, and we're proud of every one of them.
Matthew Rippengal was the club's top finisher, placing 15th with 4/7. Wins over John Price, Jozef Othen and Kieran Williams, plus draws with Steve Broomfield and Sam Rawlinson, made for a strong and steady day.
John Price, Rhys Sommerville, Kieran Williams and Ryan Jenkins also scored 3 points each, with Rhys collecting three wins.
Shailendra Musale won the first two games, against Ryan Jenkins and Matthew Rippengal, and finished on 2 points from four games played. Dave Sommerville and Wayne Edwards both scored 2 points.
With so many of us in the field, there were 13 club derbies over the seven rounds, including an all-Sommerville clash in round six, which Rhys won.
Part of the Castle Series
The rapidplay was the third event in this year's series at Pembroke Castle. It followed the Pembrokeshire Junior Rapidplay Championship in August and the Knight Moves night-time blitz in September. Chess in Pembrokeshire keeps growing, and putting on events in a venue like this is a big part of how we want to welcome new players to the game.
A huge thank you to everyone who organised and helped run the day, and to the team at Pembroke Castle for having us. Thank you also to every player who made the trip, whether from down the road or from much further away. We hope to see you all back across the board soon.