| Major | Minor | Novices | Games |
This was held the weekend of 8th February 2002 and the report has been supplied by the organiser Pat McEvoy. The games from the Premier are now available.
Last year's modest recovery in numbers was not maintained, with a drop back to 164. This occurred entirely in the Premier Tournament, with the others being up to expectations. The Premier had been elevated to 'Elite' status on the Grand Prix circuit, with a lower grade limit of 170. Perhaps this scared people off, but the lower limit forced only two people to move down to the Major.
Despite the low entry, the Premier was tremendously strong, with an average grade of 203. Grandmaster Peter Wells, originally from Portsmouth, now living in Hungary, won with a round to spare. Perhaps he should have been seeded no.1, but Harriet Hunt's published British grade was one point higher, so I could not deny her top seeding. Harriet lost to Peter in Round 3, then to Nigel Povah in round 4, and was almost out of it playing round 5 on a bottom board. However she won 2 games on Sunday to share 2nd place.
Nine of the 14 competitors in the Premier won a share of the £1200 prize fund, but some very strong players missed out, including past winner Philip Rossiter and Jim Sherwin.
The grade limit for the Major had been raised to 180, as I had become concerned at a lack of entries in the 170-180 grade range. This had the effect of producing the strongest Major we have ever had, and this format is likely to be retained next year. The low entry in the Premier enabled the top boards in the Major to share the library, thus giving them excellent playing conditions.
As usual, the Minor Tournament had the largest number of competitors, and the narrow grading band ensured a highly competitive tournament. Nobody was able to impose themselves, and top spot ended up being shared by 5 people.
In the Novices, the emphasis tends to be more on enjoying oneself than collecting prize money, but the money is not unimportant and competition is still keen. The joint top seeds were local players who might have been expected to do well, but both stumbled badly at critical points, leaving the field clear for the chasing bunch.
Local (or formerly local) players shared the top prize in all 4 tournaments. One of those, Bill Purkiss, took the News Trophy on tie-break for the best performance by a local player.
This has been a year of change for the congress, with changes in the management team, changes to the format of the tournaments, changes to the catering arrangements and changes to the premises used. Generally, it has all worked out well, and I have received many complimentary words from our customers, which encourages me to continue next year.
| Place | Name | Club | Score | Prize |
| 1 | Peter Wells (GM) | Budapest | 5½/6 | £500 |
| =2 | Harriet Hunt (IM) | Cambridge | 4 | £240 |
| =2 | Nigel.Povah (IM) | Guildford | 4 | £240 |
| =4 | Richard Webb (FM) | Yateley | 3½ | £80 |
| =4 | David Pye | Portsmouth | 3½ | £80 |
| u210 gp | Jack Rudd | Yeovil | 3 | £15 |
| u210 gp | M.Schlette | Germany | 3 | £15 |
| u190 gp | M.Singleton | Guildford | 2½ | £15 |
| u190 gp | Dominic Tunks | Emsworth | 2½ | £15 |
| Place | Name | Club | Score | Prize |
| =1 | Bill Purkiss | Gosport | 5/6 | £100 |
| =1 | J.Mansson | Horsham | 5 | £100 |
| =1 | K.Ellis | Hemel Hempstead | 5 | £100 |
| =4 | Khaled Esmat | Winchester | 4½ | £15 |
| =4 | John Wheeler | Cosham | 4½ | £15 |
| u150 gp | I.White | Gloucester | 4 | £20 |
| u135 gp | Sherif Gonem | Southampton Univ | 3½ | £20 |
| Place | Name | Club | Score | Prize |
| =1 | N.Ruff | Malta | 5/6 | £60 |
| =1 | S.Cranmer | Nottingham | 5 | £60 |
| =1 | Jack Speigal | Southend | 5 | £60 |
| =1 | T.Plenty | Hurstpierpoint | 5 | £60 |
| =1 | T.Woodward | Trowbridge | 5 | £60 |
| u120 gp | Ken.Retallack | Passed Pawn | 4 | £7 |
| u120 gp | M.Plumb | Bognor Regis | 4 | £7 |
| u120 gp | B.Jacobs | Didcot | 4 | £7 |
| u110 gp | A.Hayes | Portsmouth | 4 | £20 |
| Place | Name | Club | Score | Prize |
| =1 | Rick Smith | Gosport | 5/6 | £55 |
| =1 | D.Lee | Brighton | 5 | £55 |
| =3 | P.Carrick | Bath | 4½ | £15 |
| =3 | C.Fell | Bracknell | 4½ | £15 |
| =3 | G.Bennett | Brighton | 4½ | £15 |
| =3 | J.Carr | Havant | 4½ | £15 |