It is also handicapped so eventually everybody has an equal chance of winning the cash prizes. The analogy would be drawn with golf, in that it is possible, through handicapping, for players of most levels to compete with each other, hopefully without detracting from their enjoyment. There is no 'tailoring' of questions to make them either easy or difficult to accommodate players; after all, if you were going to play golf with Tiger Woods would you rather play at the Augusta National, Scarborough sea front pitch and putt, or would you settle for either? Anyone can join in, you get a load of questions and winners take all.

Simple format, simple philosphy and great quizzing. Don't be scared about being swamped by some of the great players who you will meet. Just don't! I have had my arse kicked dozens of times, and I still adore it.

There are three aims:-

1. Give the opportunity for individuals to be blitzed with questions,
2. establish a consistent, fair and transparent ranking system for players and
3. enjoy ourselves

The events usually start at 12 noon and finish at 6 PM, generally on the last Saturday of the month (Check the Calendar)

If you have a suitable venue, we are up for it!!

If you want more details as to the formats and rules, please click here

Contacts

Please come along and join us

History

The LightSpeed Open Buzzer Quiz was set up by me, Steve Kidd to answer some of these questions. As of 2016, after over 50 tournaments, it had not definitively answered all of them, but we are getting there.

After posting mails on the Quizzing.co.uk, ukgameshows and BQA message boards, the first event took place at the Mill House, Gildersome, West Yorkshire on the 11th May 2003, the first game was between Lee Warburton and Don Purdy, and the first outright winner was Steve Kidd. They can't take that away from me.

Throughout 2003 and 2004 events were held monthly. It is remarkable what happened to a lot of the players in these couple of years, but briefly, apart from the unbridled enjoyment of some of the great places we visited and incredible games we played, it is a fair approximation to say that any regular players in LSQ got on the TV show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, amongst others, and most won a stack! There were only five contestants for the 2003 Christmas hiatus game at Stanley Ferry. In the following year they won £40,000 on Come and Have A Go If You Think You're Smart Enough, Lee Warburton and Barry Simmons both won £64,000 on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Mark Kerr was emulated by Steve Kidd with quarter of a million (Steve also won a Weakest Link) and Pat topped his Mastermind title with a MILLION quid on the big one!!. When you are in the middle of it all, you can not comprehend how enormous it all was. Heady days indeed. The list of players and especially winners) has a correlation which firmly places "The Curse Of LightSpeed", the almost inevitable passage from playing LightSpeed to winning massive amounts of cash, into the bracket of supernatural phenomena.

What happened to LSQ? Having re-read the pages It is obvious that QU12 was the obvious inheritor. That is another story

Jim Prendegast and Mark Bytheway have both passed away.

I think that money and the lure of prizes corrupted me.

It was a damn good quiz though. So after two separate trips in 2013 to Manchester to ace (verb, not adjective) auditions for Mastermind and Pointless (Programme and adjective), I decided to revive this baby...

2013 Saw Sam Roberts spearhead LSQ's revival, aided and abetted by Mark Preston and Martin Pampel. Several hard-core quizzers played a fantastic series spread out over some fabulous places, including the only ever 100% success for Keith Marshall and culminating in an epic Fastermind competition at Pontefract won by Mike Foden.

2014 was rubbish, apart from going up Scafell Pike on Midsummer day where Pam had a walk-over

2015 Saw a whole new school of players join in, with Halifax and Stockton being our new favourites places and three new names on the wall of fame in Michael McPartland, Clive Dunning, and Tony Walmsley

2016 Was a complete year, 12, tournaments, it went to the wire, went to Scotland and Wales, Dave Clarke graced us with a win in Cardiff, likewise Dave McBryan in Edinburgh, and the final in the Lake District could not have been scripted better.

Previous Winners

2003

2004

2013

2015

2016

2017

Players

If your biography is missing, or you would like it editing please Email

+ Romaine, Olwyn and Moira who I managed to frighten off before I got a decent piccy. :(