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British Chess Championship

Chess tournament

British Chess Championship
Summary

Chess tournament

British Chess Championship, Torquay 2009

The British Chess Championships are organised by the English Chess Federation. The main tournament incorporates the British Championship, the English Chess Championships and the British Women's Chess Championship so it is possible, although it has never happened, for one player to win all three titles in the same competition. The English Women's Chess Championship was also incorporated into this event but did not take place in 2015 and was held as a separate competition in 2016. Since 1923 there have been sections for juniors, and since 1982 there has been an over-sixty championship. The championship venue usually changes every year and has been held in different locations in England, Scotland, Wales and once on the Isle of Man.

The championship was originally open to citizens of any Commonwealth country and has previously been won by Mir Sultan Khan (India) and Abe Yanofsky (Canada). After the Indian R. B. Ramesh finished first in 2002 and several other Indians took top prizes at the same event, many top Britons declined to compete in the 2003 championship. Following the victory of Indian Abhijit Kunte in 2003 and criticism that the British Championship was not serving the interests of British players, it was announced that starting in 2004 only British and Irish players would be eligible to take part. Players excluded by these rules are however welcome to participate in the Commonwealth Chess Championship.

BCA Congress (1857–1861)

These were the first large tournaments organised by the British Chess Association, international players were allowed to participate.

:{| class="sortable wikitable" ! Year !! City !! Winner |- | 1857 || Manchester || Johann Löwenthal / |- | 1858 || Birmingham || Johann Löwenthal / |- | 1860 || Cambridge || Ignaz von Kolisch / |- | 1861 || Bristol || Louis Paulsen / [[Image:Flagge Fürstentum Lippe.svg|23px|Flag of Lippe]] Lippe |}

London international tournaments (1862–1883)

In July 1862, Adolf Anderssen won the first international tournament organized by the British Chess Association (BCF Congress), held in London. Second place went to Louis Paulsen, followed by John Owen. This was the first round-robin tournament. In August 1872, Wilhelm Steinitz won the second British Chess Federation international tourney, held in London. Second place went to Joseph Henry Blackburne. The great London 1883 chess tournament was won convincingly by Johannes Zukertort (22 points ouf of 26) ahead of Steinitz (19/26). :{| class="sortable wikitable" ! # !!Year !!City !! Winner |- | 1* || 1862 || London || Adolf Anderssen / Prussia Prussia |- | 2* || 1872 || London || Wilhelm Steinitz / |- | 3* || 1883 || London || Johannes Zukertort / |}

BCA Congress (1885–1899)

In 1884, a new British Chess Association was inaugurated. In July 1885, Isidor Gunsberg won the first British Chess Association championship in London. In August 1886, Blackburne and Amos Burn tied for first in the second British Chess Association championship, held in London. Blackburne won the play-off. In December 1887, Burn and Gunsberg tied for first in the third British Chess Association Congress in London. :{| class="sortable wikitable" ! # !!Year !!City !! Winner |- | 1 || 1885 || London || Isidor Gunsberg / |- | 2 || 1886 || London || Joseph Henry Blackburne / |- | 3 || 1887 || London || Amos Burn /

Isidor Gunsberg / |- | 4 || 1888 || Bradford || Isidor Gunsberg / |- | 5 || 1889 || London || Henry Bird / |- | 6 || 1890 || Manchester || Siegbert Tarrasch / Prussia Prussia |- | 7 || 1892 || London || Emanuel Lasker / Prussia Prussia |- | 8 || 1895 || Hastings || Harry Nelson Pillsbury |- | 9 || 1899 || London || Emanuel Lasker / Prussia Prussia |}

BCA Challenge Cup (1866–1872)

The first British Championship was organized by the British Chess Association as an event at the 1866 London Congress. A rule awarded the B.C.A. Challenge Cup permanently to a player who won two consecutive titles. John Wisker accomplished this in 1872 by defeating Cecil De Vere in a play-off. The British Championship was then discontinued until 1904.

:{| class="sortable wikitable" ! Year !! City !! Winner |- | 1866 | London

Cecil De Vere
1869
London
Joseph Henry Blackburne
-
1870
London
John Wisker
-
1872
London
John Wisker
}

British Amateur Championship (1886–1902)

Ten amateur championships were held between 1886 and 1902, but they did not include the strongest players and were unrepresentative, especially in the earlier years.

:{| class="sortable wikitable" ! Year !! City !! Winner |- | 1886 | London | |- | 1887 | London | |- | 1888 | Bradford | |- | 1889 | London | |- | 1890 | Manchester | |- | 1892 | London | |- | 1895 | Hastings | |- | 1897 | Southampton | |- | 1900 | Bath | |- | 1902 | Norwich | |}

British Championship (1904–present)

The current championship series was begun by the British Chess Federation in 1904. The championship was not held in war years. It was also not held in 1919, 1922, 1927, and 1930 as major international events were then being held in England. José Raúl Capablanca won the BCF Victory Congress held in Hastings 1919 and the 1922 London International tournament, Alexander Alekhine won the 16th BCC Major Open at Portsmouth/Southsea 1923, Aron Nimzowitsch and Savielly Tartakower won at London 1927, and Edgard Colle won at Scarborough 1930. In 1939 the championship was also not held as the British team was in Buenos Aires for the 8th Chess Olympiad. In that time, Max Euwe won an international tournament at Bournemouth 1939, played during the BCC. The women's championship was held in most of those years. :{| class="sortable wikitable" ! Year !! City !! Men's Champion !! Women's Champion |- | 1904 | Hastings | | |- | 1905 | Southport | | |- | 1906 | Shrewsbury | | |- | 1907 | London | | |- | 1908 | Tunbridge Wells | | |- | 1909 | Scarborough | | |- | 1910 | Oxford | | |- | 1911 | Glasgow | | |- | 1912 | Richmond | | |- | 1913 | Cheltenham | | |- | 1914 | Chester | | |- | 1915–1918 | – | no contest

no contest
1919
Hastings
no contest

| |- | 1920 | Edinburgh | | |- | 1921 | Malvern | | |- | 1922 | London | no contest | |- | 1923 | Southsea | | |- | 1924 | Southport | | |- | 1925 | Stratford-upon-Avon | | |- | 1926 | Edinburgh | | |- | 1927 | – | no contest

no contest
1928
Tenby

| | |- | 1929 | Ramsgate | | |- | 1930 | Scarborough | no contest | |- | 1931 | Worcester | | Amy Eleanor Wheelwright |- | 1932 | London | | |- | 1933 | Hastings | | |- | 1934 | Chester | | |- | 1935 | Great Yarmouth | | |- | 1936 | Bournemouth (M) Nottingham (W) | | |- | 1937 | Blackpool | | |- | 1938 | Brighton | | |- | 1939 | Bournemouth | no contested Championship | |- | 1940–1945 | – | no contest

no contest
1946
Nottingham

| | |- | 1947 | Harrogate | | |- | 1948 | London | | |- | 1949 | Felixstowe | | |- | 1950 | Buxton | | |- | 1951 | Swansea | | |- | 1952 | Chester |

no contest
1953
Hastings

| | |- | 1954 | Nottingham | Alan Phillips | |- | 1955 | Aberystwyth | | Joan Doulton

|- | 1956 | Blackpool | | |- | 1957 | Plymouth | | |- | 1958 | Leamington | | |- | 1959 | York | | |- | 1960 | Leicester | | |- | 1961 | Aberystwyth | | |- | 1962 | Whitby | | |- | 1963 | Bath | | |- | 1964 | Whitby | | |- | 1965 | Hastings | | |- | 1966 | Sunderland | |

|- | 1967 | Oxford | | Dinah Margaret Dobson |- | 1968 | Bristol | | |- | 1969 | Rhyl | | Dinah Margaret Dobson |- | 1970 | Coventry | | |- | 1971 | Blackpool | | |- | 1972 | Brighton | | |- | 1973 | Eastbourne | | |- | 1974 | Clacton | | |- | 1975 | Morecambe | | |- | 1976 | Portsmouth | | |- | 1977 | Brighton | | |- | 1978 | Ayr | | |- | 1979 | Chester | | |- | 1980 | Brighton | | |- | 1981 | Morecambe | | |- | 1982 | Torquay | | |- | 1983 | Southport | | Helen Milligan (née Scott) |- | 1984 | Brighton | | (now Thipsay)

|- | 1985 | Edinburgh | | |- | 1986 | Southampton | | |- | 1987 | Swansea | | |- | 1988 | Blackpool | | |- | 1989 | Plymouth | | |- | 1990 | Eastbourne | | |- | 1991 | Eastbourne | | |- | 1992 | Plymouth | | |- | 1993 | Dundee | | |- | 1994 | Norwich | | |- | 1995 | Swansea | | |- | 1996 | Nottingham | | |- | 1997 | Hove | Matthew Sadler | |- | 1998 | Torquay | | |- | 1999 | Scarborough | | |- | 2000 | Street | | |- | 2001 | Scarborough | | |- | 2002 | Torquay | | |- | 2003 | Edinburgh | | |- | 2004 | Scarborough | | |- | 2005 | Isle of Man |

no contest
2006
Swansea

| | |- | 2007 | Great Yarmouth | | |- | 2008 | Liverpool | | |- | 2009 | Torquay | | |- | 2010 | Canterbury | | |- | 2011 | Sheffield | | |- | 2012 | North Shields | | |- | 2013 | Torquay | | |- | 2014 | Aberystwyth |

| |- | 2015 | Coventry | | |- | 2016 | Bournemouth | | |- | 2017 | Llandudno | | |- | 2018 | Hull | | |- | 2019 | Torquay | | |- | 2020 | – | no contest

no contest
2021
Hull

| | |- | 2022 | Torquay | | |- | 2023 | Leicester | | |- | 2024 | Hull | |

|- |2025 |Liverpool | |

|- |2026 |Coventry | | |}

References

  • {{Cite journal
  • {{Cite book

References

  1. [http://chess.about.com/library/ble41gbr.htm British Chess Championship Venues at chess.about.com] {{webarchive. link. (April 18, 2006)
  2. "19th Century Chess by Bill Wall".
  3. "London". Xoomer.alice.it.
  4. "Londra". Xoomer.alice.it.
  5. "Tournament: 15th BCF Congress - London".
  6. "Archived copy".
  7. "BRITBASE - British Chess Game Archive - Tournament: 16th British Chess Championship".
  8. "Alexander (Aleksandr) Alexanderovich Alekhine (Some sources say it is pronounced Al-YEH-khin, others say al-YEKH-een) was born on October 31, 1892 in Moscow, Russia".
  9. "Name Index to Jeremy Gaige's Chess Tournament Crosstables, An Electronic Edition, Anders Thulin, Malmö, 2004-09-01".
  10. "BritBase: 1930-39". Saund.co.uk.
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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