English Chess Forum

Nick Ivell wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 21, 2021 5:48 pm

I have a dim memory of playing in a Hammersmith congress in 1974. My first London open.

That could have been the Thames Valley Congress. That was seven rounds over Easter, held at the Hammersmith Town Hall.

Yes, it was definitely 7 rounds. I had no idea it was called Thames Valley!

"I have a dim memory of playing in a Hammersmith congress in 1974."

That was probably the Hammersmith Easter Congress, which I think was at the Town Hall (also from memory!)

One of my club colleagues played Keene and lost. When he asked what he had done wrong, Ray calmly said (something like), "you played a3, which left weak squares". I think this was a reminder that there are different levels of chess...

(edit)
I see Roger beat me to it. However, I can add that people from the Thames Valley League were organizing it.
(edited again for typo)

My main memory of the event is going over my games with Leonard Barden. It gave me a whole new insight into how chess could be played.

I played in 78. 4 of us from my school on a 220 bus. No free travel in those days.

Thames Valley League were organizing it. Easter 74. Were Fred Manning and Bill Waterton involved. In 75 Fred, Bill and Martin Cath founded Surrey Chess Congress

"Thames Valley League were organizing it. Easter 74. Were Fred Manning and Bill Waterton involved. In 75 Fred, Bill and Martin Cath founded Surrey Chess Congress"

I don't think they were involved - at some stage a Surrey weekender started (in June or July?) then TVL gave up and Surrey moved to Easter. FM (Wimbledon) and BW(Kingston) were both members of clubs that played in TVL so were presumably aware of the Hammersmith event.

It might have been the Easter event in 1974 (maybe earlier), that a club colleague played 1.Nc3, went for a walk as there was not yet an opponent, and returned to find the pieces reset and his clock running, so he played 1.Nc3 again and went for a walk, returning to the pieces reset and his clock running, so he played 1.Nc3 again and loitered near the board. A controller appeared, looked exasperated and returned the N to b1, and my colleague politely (for some reason) asked what he thought he was doing, the controller went a bit red and said he thought 1.Nc3 was there as a joke. Having been told he wasn't allowed to advise players what openings to play, he ran away and kept away from that part of the room for the rest of the day.

And at the Surrey event, two strong players got into time trouble and were bashing out the moves as the flags (remember them?) were hanging. Controller Frank Winter barged through the spectators and loudly proclaimed, "No 5-minute chess in the Tournament Hall!" Why he didn't know he was missing a couple of results and where the games were is still a mystery. The players informed him of his error, again fairly politely.

Roger de Coverly wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 21, 2021 6:22 pm

Nick Ivell wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 21, 2021 5:48 pm

I have a dim memory of playing in a Hammersmith congress in 1974. My first London open.

That could have been the Thames Valley Congress. That was seven rounds over Easter, held at the Hammersmith Town Hall.

Was that the Town Hall itself, or the Town Hall Extension building? The latter was built in the 1970s and demolished last year (I only just noticed this the other day):

http://www.hammersmithsociety.org.uk/to ... olition-1/

From here:

https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/councillors-and ... -town-hall

"The town hall’s principal façade facing the river was compromised by the construction of the Great West Road. The north side facing King Street was designed with an open space and a wide flight of steps. These were lost when the large five-storey extension was built in 1971-75."

More here, including good pictures of both buildings and the poem I remember installed at the base of the modernist (brutalist) Town Hall Extension (a glass and concrete block):

https://manchesterhistory.net/architect ... nhall.html

So can those attending the 1974 tournament remember where it was held? Presumably in the older main building, which also hosts weddings.