It was a great privilege for some Seaton players to be invited down to Dartmouth for the annual "Dartmouth Summer Chess" event, held on Sat 11th July 2026. This is a regular invitation event hosted in marvelous residential gardens with fabulous views over the river Dart.
19 players competed in the 10 round Rapidplay with a 10 minute and 5 second increment time control. Paul Hampton, Trevor Hurt and Tim Fox traveled down as the Seaton Chess Club contingent. It was a remarkably hot day with temperatures exceeding 30c! This gave an added musical chairs dimension to the gameplay with players trying to be the first to find the tables in the shade! It was also quite windy and on a couple of occasions, entire sets were blown away (there are still a couple of missing pawns somewhere in the garden!) The host's hospitality was fabulous and it was a great opportunity to meet other players from across the county.
Players were competing for the marvelous "Players Trophy"; this is a glass goblet commissioned by local artist Miranda Housden and inspired by her own chess-related artwork that she exhibited in Plymouth in 2023. 
Paul Hampton won the event with 9.5/10 with Alan Brusey and Trefor Thynne in joint second with 8/10. The full cross table can be viewed here. There is also a fuller report of proceedings on the South Hams Chess Club website.
Many thanks to the host for his amazing venue and hospitality, thanks also to Tony Tatam for running the event and for Miranda for the trophy!