A deluge of defaults

Round three of the Gladstone 2023 looked enticing.

Who would top out in the slugfest of Mister Ioannou and Ms Widger and so take the overall lead? Would much-fancied Young Master Jacobs overcome Mister Widdicombe to keep up the pressure? What of this year’s hot prospect Mister Bailey, matched up against the most violent man in Clubland chess – Mister ‘Fried Liver’ Barnett. And would this be the round in which Mister Sharland posted his first point after taking on Mister Nacouzi?

So many questions. So much anticipation. The packed Clubhouse buzzed with chess talk for hours before the games were due to start.

But then came the re-arragements. Mister Ioannou and Ms Widger, and Mister Ng and Mister Purle all agreed they needed more time with their support teams to work on their opening preparation, so agreed to put affairs off until later in July.

And then came the defaults. Mister Dias couldn’t take on Mister Zama, being unavoidably stuck in somewhere called ‘Yorkshire’. Mister Kir was unable to take on Doctor Saldanha, being unavoidably detained in somewhere called ‘work’. Mister Bailey’s absence was a genuine mix up, but Mister Nacouzi’s whereabouts remain unknown (we fear he may have travelled Mortlake. RIP.).

Round 3 Results

All that left a grand total of three games being played on the night:

1. Mister Rosenbaum 0 – 1 Mister Giffin KC MA (Oxon)

2. Young Master Jacobs 1-0 Mister Widdicombe

3. Mister Rhatigan 0.5 – 0.5 Mark Taylor

Two were re-arranged:

4. Mister Ioannou 0 – 1 Miss Widger

5. Mister Ng 0 – 1 Mister Purle

And the defaults meant points for some without having to push a pawn or blunder a queen:

6. Mister Dias 0 – 1 Zama (by default)

7. Mister Bailey 0 – 1 Mister Barnett (by default)

8. Doctor Saldanha 1 – 0 Mister Kir (by default)

9. Mister Sharland 1 – 0 Mister Nacouzi (by default)

And one bye:

Miss Birrane (enforced Bye)

Standings after Round 3

So here’s the all important points table going into the often-decisive round 4:

Position	Player	Points
1	Widger	3
2	Giffin	2.5
3	Jacobs	2.5
4	Dias	2.5
5	Iaonnou	2
6	Purle	2
7	Barnett	2
8	Widdicombe	1.5
9	Rosenbaum	1.5
10	Taylor	1.5
11	Rhatigan	1.5
12	Zama	1
13	Bailey	1
14	Ng	1
15	Sharland	1
16	Saldanha	1
17	Birrane	1
18	Kir	0.5
19	Nacouzi	0.5

So the race for the trophy looks like it will stretch right into the last round, with Rd. 4 the all important one to position for the final push. Miss Widger is the one to beat, with a perfect score so far.

Who will be Gladstone’s favourite child?