100 Years of the County Championship

[Christopher Kreuzer]

An article on the history of this competition was linked from the report on the 2019 Finals day, which included a brief synopsis of the history, leading up to the 100th County Chess Championships, see the following two links:

https://www.englishchess.org.uk/100th-c ... 13th-july/
https://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-cont ... ship-1.pdf

The Championship [...] was once the preserve of Union Champions only (until 1958). It took until 1921 for the competition to have a trophy (depicted above). There has even been a combined county team (Northumberland and Durham) back in 1932. Now an end of season event, prior to the Second World War the Championship was held in the winter of the following season. [...] The Clarendon Suite in Birmingham hosted the first Finals Day in 1996.

Today’s grade limited competitions below the Open and Minor competitions were introduced in 1992 by the late Bryan Fewell, Director of Home Chess. [...]

The Counties Championship one constant has been matches contested over multiple boards that distinguish this competition from any other. In the past 100 board matches were not uncommon. In modern times 16 or 20 have been the norm with 12 in today’s U120 and U100 sections.

The longer piece (9 pages) is by Anthony Fulton, Middlesex Open Captain and Southern Counties Chess Union archivist, and is described in the ECF report as his "personal take on the first 100 years of competition".

Titled '100 Years of the County Championship', it is split up by decades and is well worth reading, with some interesting history.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

A quote from the start of the longer article:

The continued existence of the County Championship has been questioned by many in recent years, when considering the modern challenges to chess in general that have led to the demise of many chess clubs and some county teams. This article is written to give a brief overview of the County Championship, and to suggest why the competition has ongoing value, so that in another 100 years someone will be writing on the eve of the crowning of the 200th Open champions!