Dave Hewitt adds: A very impressive performance by GM Daan Brandenburg, who won most of his games not by any fireworks, but by quiet development and manoeuvring. The first game to end was against Robin Hayles, after just under 90 minutes of play - but it then took only another 28 minutes before the 15th and final win was secured, against Jono Blake.
Neil Irving and Steve Smith appeared to come closest to spoiling the GM's 100% record, while Robert Togneri also did well - even having Daan in slight time trouble for a while and feeling afterwards that he wasn't too far from managing a draw. Martyn Roe and Gordon Allcock put up stout resistance, as did Jono, but in the end it was a 15-0 drubbing.
Several of the stronger Stirling players were away - Paul, Jim, Bill and Tony - and their presence might not only have increased the individual difficulty for Daan but also the larger number of opponents might have made things harder for him overall, given that a good few more moves would have had to be played in the same amount of time. As it was, most games lasted between 28 and 46 moves, and around 560 moves were made in total. In other words, Daan won the 15 games at a rate of around seven moves per minute - tremendous stuff. Immediately afterwards, he described himself as feeling "very tired" - and no wonder.
Many thanks to him for a tour de force - fascinating to watch and, for those taking part, enjoyable (well, up to a point) to play in. It was very instructive - and rather humbling - to watch such a strong player in action.
Some more games...
Brandenburg - Hayles
Brandenburg - Leckie
Mick Bloor's game to follow once I find out what's wrong with it...
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