| Round 2 | |||
| 1. | Alfie Melia (1) | 1-0 | Benjamin Ellington (1) |
| 2. | Shay Hanlon (1) | ½-½ | Komronbek Bakhtiyorov (1) |
| 3. | Joel Bartlett (1) | 1-0 | Phil Ramsey (1) |
| 4. | Graham AG Williamson (1) | 0-1 | Paul R Evans (1) |
| 5. | Luke Boumphrey (1) | ½-½ | Joel Ofeni (1) |
| 6. | Mike J Coffey (1) | 1-0 | Brian R Ewart (1) |
| 7. | Reece Kercher (½) | 0-1 | Andrew Savage (1) |
| 8. | Keiron Williams (½) | 0-1 | Ben Wilson (1) |
| 9. | Mark S Wadsworth (½) | 1-0 | Rob Black (½) |
| 10. | Callum McShane (½) | 0-1 | Joe W Butterworth (½) |
| 11. | Steven Philp (0) | 0-1 | Kamal Gardi (0) |
| 12. | Peter Mellor (0) | 1-0 | Ian Nicholson (0) |
| 13. | Rob Old (0) | 0-1 | Sanjoy K Banerjee (0) |
| 14. | John Gillett (0) | 1-0 | Henry Atkinson (0) |
| 15. | Xenia Hanganu (0) | 0-1 | Daniel Westhead (0) |
| 16. | Nathan Haddy (0) | 0-1 | Brian Butterworth (0) |
| Byes in this round | |||
| Nodirabegim Bakhtiyorova (½) | ½ | ||
| Michael Sutton (0) | ½ | ||
| James Lee (½) | ½ | ||
| Tom EC Webb (0) | ½ |
Please note: Full details of the tournament and updates are now published at Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - Wiseman-Hurley Open 2025
If Round 1 is an opportunity for the less storied players to upset the apple-cart, the second round suggested a much closer set of games, which promised much and did not fail to deliver.
On top board, Alfie kept his perfect record intact with an aggressive line in the Caro which may have caused Ben to reflect on his opening choice. Yet already on board two, the first surprise of the night was registered as some decent prep by Shay Hanlon kept Komronbek penned-in and a truce was declared.
On the second table, Joel Bartlett and Paul Evans showed their prowess, joining Alfie on a perfect 2.0/2.0, yet the match of the round featured Joel Ofeni with the black pieces in a back and forth tussle with Luke Boumphrey, which kept spectators captivated throughout the evening, until finally devolving into rook and knight versus rook, where young tyro Joel - with only a handful of classical over the board games under his belt - showed perfect drawing technique. A mere 108 moves, and with still enough vim and vigour to conduct a thorough post-mortem with his opponent. A full analysis of the game is presented below, with annotations by Luke himself.
Three more players joined the leaders with a perfect score, Andrew Savage perhaps the most resourceful after a calamitous opening blunder parted him from one of his rooks with little or no compensation. Mike Coffey continues to stalk like a hunter in the long grass, and Ben Wilson doubled-down on his epic victory in round 1, and is rewarded with a place on board two (court number 1?) in the next round.
The remaining boards went with the form book, save for wins for Kamal Gardi and Daniel Westhead, with the Atticus Knights flexing their muscle everywhere you cared to look.
Rob Old on board 13 was unlucky in his game, where some excellent prep should have seen him over the line, but was unable to make good on his advantage and ultimately succumbed under severe time pressure.
Round 3 will take place this Monday (23rd June) and throws up some intriguing ties (details in the link), but the highlight for me was the overspill into the main bar downstairs where new members and club stalwarts exchanged pawns, pieces, smiles, anecdotes and a beer or three.