The Surrey Border League

[John Upham]

Fixtures for the 2023 - 2024 season are available from the Surrey Border League League Management System at

http://www.borderleague.org.uk/

As usual if you wish to import all of the fixtures in one go for

A team
A Club
A Division
A League

then you may do so.

We welcome Basingstoke Chess Club back to our league after an absence initiated by alleged inadequate toilet resources at one of their away venues.

The ECF LMS home for the Surrey Border League has likewise been configured for the new season and may be found at

https://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/82612/home

John Upham, Database Manager
[/quote]

[Paul Cooksey]

I assume Crowthorne's improved facilities - both modern and within shouting distance of the playing venue - will be a major incentive for Basingstoke to get promoted to a division we are in.

Out of interest, why are SBL maintaining two LMS sites?

[John Upham]

Out of interest, why are SBL maintaining two LMS sites?

They have differing functionalities.

[Paul Cooksey]

They have differing functionalities.

Aha! In what ways?

[John Upham]

They have differing functionalities.

Aha! In what ways?

I will leave that as an exercise for the reader.

[John Upham]

The Surrey Border League has, since 1995, awarded The Bell Trophy to the winning club in a rating (per board) limited knockout competition.

AFAIK, I've not established the basis for its naming. Possibly a Mr. or Mrs. Bell was the benefactor?

The trophy is an engraved wooden chess board.

Can you help?

I have all of the winners since 1995.

[John Townsend]

The website of Camberley Chess Club says "the competition started in 1975". Perhaps the donor of the Bell Trophy was mentioned in the minutes of the A.G.M. of a local chess association around that time.

"Camberley Chess Club broke another record in 2018 by winning the Bell Trophy for the ninth time since the competition started in 1975 and the team captain, John Upham, has won all 18 matches out of 18 contested !"

[NickFaulks]

and the team captain, John Upham, has won all 18 matches out of 18 contested !"

When interviewed he said "I couldn't have done it without the team".

[Ian Thompson]

The Surrey Border League has, since 1995, awarded The Bell Trophy to the winning club in a rating (per board) limited knockout competition.

That's not correct. The earliest records I have are from 1997 and at that time the rules said

"The Haslemere Trophy shall be held for the following season by the winner of a team competition played on the knock-out principle; clubs may enter any number of teams. The Bell Trophy shall be held for the following season by the winner of a team competition, played on the knock-out principle, open to teams losing a first match in the Haslemere Trophy."

There were no restrictions on who could play for a club's Haslemere Trophy or Bell Trophy teams other than that a player could only play for one team in the competitions.

[John Upham]

The Surrey Border League has, since 1995, awarded The Bell Trophy to the winning club in a rating (per board) limited knockout competition.

That's not correct. The earliest records I have are from 1997 and at that time the rules said

"The Haslemere Trophy shall be held for the following season by the winner of a team competition played on the knock-out principle; clubs may enter any number of teams. The Bell Trophy shall be held for the following season by the winner of a team competition, played on the knock-out principle, open to teams losing a first match in the Haslemere Trophy."

There were no restrictions on who could play for a club's Haslemere Trophy or Bell Trophy teams other than that a player could only play for one team in the competitions.

Over the years the premise for both the Bell and Haslemere Trophies has changed.

As a Captain I have won the Bell trophy around four times and the rating limit for each board was different. I'm not aware of the Bell Trophy rules for 1995 or thereabouts but am attempting to find out.

[Ian Thompson]

The Surrey Border League has, since 1995, awarded The Bell Trophy to the winning club in a rating (per board) limited knockout competition.

That's not correct. The earliest records I have are from 1997 and at that time the rules said

"The Haslemere Trophy shall be held for the following season by the winner of a team competition played on the knock-out principle; clubs may enter any number of teams. The Bell Trophy shall be held for the following season by the winner of a team competition, played on the knock-out principle, open to teams losing a first match in the Haslemere Trophy."

There were no restrictions on who could play for a club's Haslemere Trophy or Bell Trophy teams other than that a player could only play for one team in the competitions.

Over the years the premise for both the Bell and Haslemere Trophies has changed.

As a Captain I have won the Bell trophy around four times and the rating limit for each board was different. I'm not aware of the Bell Trophy rules for 1995 or thereabouts but am attempting to find out.

I didn't mean that the Bell Trophy isn't now run as you describe. I meant it hasn't been run under those rules since 1995.

Having checked other versions of the rules, the last year the Bell Trophy was a plate completion for the Haslemere Trophy was the 1998/99 season:

a) The Haslemere Trophy is awarded to the team winning the knockout competition. Clubs may enter any number of teams, which will be placed in a seeded draw. All teams will be paired in round 1 (if there is an odd number of teams, the previous years winners will receive the bye).

b) The Bell Trophy is awarded to the team winning the knockout competition organised for teams eliminated in the first round of the Haslemere Trophy competition.

For the 1999/2000 season it became a graded knockout competition independent of the Haslemere Trophy:

a) The Haslemere Trophy is awarded to the team winning the knockout competition. Clubs may enter any number of teams, which will be placed in a seeded draw. All teams will be paired in round 1 (if there is an odd number of teams, the previous years winners will receive the bye).

b) The Bell Trophy is awarded to the team winning the graded knockout tournament., which will be subject to grade limits as follows:

Board 1 not exceeding 180
Board 2 not exceeding 160
Board 3 not exceeding 140
Board 4 not exceeding 130
Board 5 not exceeding 120

[John Upham]

I am grateful to Mike Lord (Godalming and Treasurer) who has provided these super memories and archive knowledge:

The Bell Trophy has I believe been awarded for three different competitions.

It was originally awarded to the winners of the League Jamboree which as others have said was held on a Saturday afternoon at the RAE in Farnborough, around March/April time. I think it was held in the canteen, which was located near the main entrance to the site. I remember playing in it myself a couple of times. The Godalming records detail the club entering in 1973, and being joint winners with Guildford in 1974.

The RAE was privatised in the early 1990's. From about 1993/94 the trophy was awarded to the winners of a Plate competition for 1st Round (and maybe 2nd Round?) losers in the Haslemere Trophy which was the main open knockout competition for many years.

In 2000/01 the competition took on its current format with graded (rated) board limits.

The Haslemere Trophy continued as the main open knockout tournament until 2008/09, but attracted few entries as the years passed. In 2009/10 it changed to its current format of a Rapid Play Handicap Tournament.

As to who it is named after, there is nothing in the Godalming records about this.

However I suspect it may have been named after J Y BELL who appears to have been a prominent Guildford player. He first appears in the Godalming records as playing for Guildford in November 1950. In November 1953 Godalming staged a 31-board simultaneous display against Harry Golombek which involved players from other clubs, including J Y Bell who was one of only three people to beat Golombek. He is last mentioned playing for Guildford against Godalming in May 1956. However Godalming detailed match results are non-existent from the late 1950's to the mid 1990's so he may have played after this date. Perhaps he was influential in the early years of the SBL? The league started in the 1961/62 season.

J.

[Richard James]

From the Surrey Advertiser 23 September 1967. He was James Young Bell (born Edinburgh 1877, died Sheffield 1966).

[John Upham]

Many thanks Richard.

I am attempting to extend the history of the SBL back to its beginnings in 1962(?) when Guildford won the

enormous Waechter Shield for the first time.

I believe that the Waechter Shield was donated by Surrey County Chess Association (SCCA) and was originally presented by Lady Waechter.

Anyone know the history of the donation and why SCCA divested themselves of this trophy?

Any contributions however modest will be most welcome.

[Mike Gunn]

I asked Martin Cath if he knew anything about the Waechter Shield and the SCCA connection but he said he didn’t know anything and he had never seen it! As the inscription says it was donated to the SCCA for competition amongst clubs in the Guildford area in 1920 (1921?) by Lady Waechter. A couple of weeks back I visited Ramster Gardens at Chiddingfold and discovered that up until about 1920 Ramster Hall and Gardens had been owned by Sir Henry (?) and Lady Waechter. The reason why the SCCA gave it to the SBL is obvious: it is just too large and bulky. I stored it behind my sofa for one year when the victorious Guildford captain declined to have it in his own house!