Grandmasters made to work extremely hard

Wednesday 22nd October 2008, 2:29PM BST.

Guernsey’s Fred Hamperl won an epic second-round match against Kevin Goater.

DAY two of the Fortis International Chess Festival at the Peninsula Hotel threw up a number of surprises yesterday. The biggest of those was Canadian grandmaster Kevin Spraggett’s draw with Alan Spice.

Spraggett is the highest rated player in the open tournament with a FIDE rating of 2,597. His Welsh opponent has one of 2,173.

‘I played a player who played very well,’ said the amiable Spraggett afterwards. ‘He refused to budge. I took a few risks and they didn’t come off.

‘[I’m not disappointed] as long as it doesn’t become a habit.’

The other two grandmasters in the open tournament, Bojan Kurajica, of Croatia, and Swede Tiger Hillarp-Persson, were both made to work for their victory.