On Wednesday 16 May we played the first 2 rounds of the Handicap. This tournament is 25 + 5 with a material deficit for handicapping unless the rating gap is more than 250. In this case the higher rated player has a time deficit along with a material deficit.

After the 2 rounds we have 2 players on 2 points – Yash Narayan and Dave Misileki. We have 2 more evenings i.e 6 rounds for this tournament but anyone is welcome to join round 3 and 4 on Wednesday 23 May.

We revamped the handicapping criteria this year to try to fix last years problem where often the handicapped player had virtually no chance of competing. The games I saw looked close and could have gone either way which is what a handicap tournament should acheive most of the time. Any feedback on this is welcome.