British Championship Congress 2022

[Kevin Thurlow]

I have played Zapolskis - he (unfortunately) has some incredible ideas.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I am wondering what happens if the Black king goes to the back rank on move 26 (after 26.Rd7+)? It is an amazing attack.

[Mike Gunn]

I think the most surprising winner was Robert Forbes Combe in 1946.

Link to Britbase https://www.saund.co.uk/britbase/pgn/19 ... iewer.html

"There were 12 players. Originally, the organizers refused the entry of Combe, the Scottish representative,
to play in the championship section due to his lack of practice and the thought that he was not strong enough a player.

It was William Fairhurst who appealed to the organizing committee, vouching for Combe's character and playing strength."

That last part is from Bill Wall; 'Robert Combe - Forgotten British Champion'

http://www.oocities.org/siliconvalley/l ... /combe.htm

Having bought a copy of the 1946 tournament bulletin from a 2nd hand bookshop I noticed that the late David Pritchard had helped produce it so I asked him about R.F. Combe. He said something along the lines of "He just turned up and won it. None of us knew him from Adam."

[Tim Spanton]

I do not have the book to hand, but I am fairly sure Cecil Purdy, the first world correspondence champion, cited Combe as an example of a player who improved to the extent of becoming British champion by going over master games trying to predict the players' moves

[MartinCarpenter]

I am wondering what happens if the Black king goes to the back rank on move 26 (after 26.Rd7+)? It is an amazing attack.

Just win e6 I think? Maybe attack g6 and back through on f5 too.

Black's pieces really are utterly hopeless in general terms - which is why I can believe someone putting the effort to find the winning attack in the game. There's a very narrow area to focus on for the calculation, you just need the imagination/to work through everything bit by bit to find the right way to do it. Impressive

[Geoff Chandler]

I was looking again at Matthew's last round game v Harry.

A few posts before this I was advocating White giving up a mere Rook for the Black light squared Bishop.
Harry did it in this game (colours reversed.) He obviously passed by here when preparing and saw my post.

3qkbnr/p4ppp/2b1p3/1p6/2p5/6P1/PP1PPP1P/R1BQK1NR w KQk - 0 10

Of course I was doing the same thing 30 years ago.

Bnbq2k1/p4pbp/2pp1np1/1p2r3/2P5/6P1/PP1P1P1P/RNBQ1RK1 w - - 0 11

Eric Smith - G.Chandler, League match 1991
1. e4 d5 2. ed5 Nf6 3. Nf3 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. c4 b5 7. d6 ed6 8. Ne5 Re8 9. O-O Re5 10. Ba8 c6 11. cb5 Ng4 12. h4 Nf6 13. d4 Rh5 14. Bg5 h6 15. g4 hg5 16. gh5 Nh5 17. Kh2 d5 18. Qd3 Qd6 19. Kh1 Bf5 20. Qe3 Be4 21. f3 Qg3 22. Qf2 Qh3 23. Kg1 Nf4 24. Qh2 Bd4 25. Rf2 Ne2

That is the win, the losses, if shown, will close down this forum...yes they are that bad.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Leonard Barden has reported on the British in his Guardian column here:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/ ... old-shines

[David Sedgwick]

... This is exactly my experience. I have started drafting a reply to one version of a post, but not usually quoted it, and then discovered it has changed. It might explain one particularly confusing dispute with David Sedgwick where I commented on a post or version of it that was no longer there, but that incident is easy to recall not necessarily unique.

I don't recall this at all. Maybe that is just as well.

A year or two ago I spotted a typo in a post which I had made seven years earlier. I thought that I might as well correct it. When I did so, I was puzzled that no record of the edit appeared.

Then I noticed that my post, although seven years old, was the last in the thread.

[David Sedgwick]

Nice to see Matthew Carr's efforts marked by an award. I don't recall this award being made before - does it commemorate somebody?

Richard Boxall Salver. I'll leave others to give details on Dick's contribution to chess but the trophy, from memory, goes back to the mid to late 80s and is awarded to a member of the control team as an award for their service.

Alex
Thank you. An excellent tradition.

I can add a little more:

Regarding the Salver:

It was first awarded in 1986. I am not sure what prompted it, although Stewart Reuben would know.

It wasn't a Memorial Trophy; Richard Boxall was still alive at the time. Please see below.

I believe that it is the custom that no-one receives the Salver more than once.

Regarding Richard Boxall:

He was one of the leading English arbiters from the 1960s until the late 1980s. He was from Hampshire and for some time he organised the Basingstoke Congresses, which were held several times a year. I think that he died in 1989.

I have not been able to find a biography of him, or an obituary notice, (Can anyone help?)

His arbiting career almost entirely pre-dated mine (and I suspect that of Alex McFarlane). Consequently I never officiated with him at an event.

[Roger de Coverly]

He was from Hampshire and for some time he organised the Basingstoke Congresses, which were held several times a year.

There were one day events held at the Basingstoke Chess & Bridge Club, although there were also weekend or Bank Holiday normal play events held in school halls etc.

I seem to think his clocks had dire warnings that they shouldn't be over wound up. Some wags suggested this also applied to the organiser.

[LawrenceCooper]

Wadsworth-Grieve from today's Northumbria Masters saw black vary from their British game with 5....Bxa3. White won in 68 moves: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... 2-gm/4/1/3

[NickFaulks]

White won in 68 moves

Good. 5...Bxa3 is an offensive move and deserves to fail.

[Brian Valentine]

Harry might have been influenced by Jon Speelman. Speelman gives it as an alternative in his Observer column today.

[NickFaulks]

Harry might have been influenced by Jon Speelman.

Ah, thanks. I shall make my complaint directly to Jon at the next opportunity.

[Leonard Barden]

Stockfish showed a clear black advantage from the opening, so it seems that Bxa3 was strong and that Grieve only spoilt his position later.