British Schools Chess Championship

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The British Schools Chess Championship is an annual competition for school chess teams that has been in existence continuously from 1958. The tournament is administered by the English Chess Federation and is open to all schools from the United Kingdom. The competition has been won by teams from all four countries of the UK.

At the height of the tournaments popularity in the 1970s, in excess of 1000 teams took part. Unfortunately since the teacher strikes of the mid-1980s a continuous decline in the number of teams has taken place. In 2006-07 only 93 entries were accepted.

Contents 1 Eligibility 2 Finals 3 Notable Players 4 Sponsorship 5 Current status of competition 6 NATIONAL FINALISTS 7 Sources 8 External links

[edit] Eligibility

Entry is open to any school in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. All players must be under-19 on 31 August of the year in which the competition begins. Teams are made up of six players, with an age handicap system in operation based on the average age of each team.

Age Handicap

Age Difference	Winning Score for older team
0 to 11 months	No handicap - board count
1 year to 1 year 11 months	3.5-2.5
2 years to 2 years 11 months	4-2
3 years to 3 years 11 months	4.5-1.5
4 years or more	5-1

Teams initially compete in regional zones with the winner of each zone progressing to the National stage of the competition.

[edit] Finals

The tradition used to be that the final four teams got together at a top London hotel for the finals. For a long time the finals were contested at the St Ermin's Hotel, but with the diminishing numbers the finals are now held at 'less prestigious' venues outside London. Since 1994 there has also been a Plate Competition for regional zone runners up.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Notable Players

The competition has been graced by many top players over the years. These include: -

GM Michael Adams (Truro School) GM Nigel Short (Bolton School) GM Tony Miles (King Edward's School, Birmingham) GM Julian Hodgson (St Paul's School, London) GM Raymond Keene (Dulwich College) GM James Plaskett (Bedford Modern School)

[edit] Sponsorship

In 1938 The Sunday Times (UK) made an offer to the then British Chess Federation to donate a trophy for a competition between teams from Public schools.^[1] Before further investigation of this offer could be completed the war intervened. Finally in 1957-58 competition got under way under the sponsorship of The Sunday Times (UK) newspaper. Their patronage continued until 1983, when their sister paper The Times took over. Since the withdrawal of sponsorship by The Times after the 2001 finals, the championship has continued without a sponsor.

[edit] Current status of competition

Entering the 2006-07 season (the competititions 50th year) unfortunately the tournament can no longer be called a UK championship as zones for Scotland and Northern Ireland have been omitted. The lack of numbers in the competition in general have caused the omission of teams from these regions.

[edit] NATIONAL FINALISTS

	Winners	Runners Up	3rd Place	4th Place	ENTRY
1958	Calday Grange GS, Wirral				241
1959	Calday Grange GS, Wirral		Nottingham High School		247
1960	Wolverhampton GS	Manchester GS	Bishop Vesey's GS		331
1961	Colfe's School				358
1962	Liverpool Institute				390
1963	Hove GS			Magdalen College School, Oxford	489
1964	Liverpool Institute	Dulwich College			580
1965	Dulwich College		Allan Glen’s School, Glasgow		673
1966	Dulwich College				703
1967	Battersea GS		Trinity School, Croydon		706
1968	Bolton School	Dulwich College	Battersea GS	Great Yarmouth GS	789
1969	Dundee HS	King Edward's School, Birmingham	Trinity School, Croydon	King Edward VII School (Sheffield)
1970	Dulwich College	Ayr Academy	Methodist College Belfast	Manchester GS	761
1971	Ayr Academy	Manchester GS	Ilford County HS	Plymouth College
1972	Ayr Academy	Dulwich College	Trinity School, Croydon	Manchester GS	760
1973	Bolton School	Latymer Upper School	Bristol Grammar School	Glyn GS, Ewell	846
1974	Southern GS, Portsmouth	Bedford Modern School	King Edward's School, Birmingham	Paisley GS	961
1975	St Paul's School, London	Ilford County HS	Southern GS, Portsmouth	Bristol Grammar School
1976	Bolton School	Great Salterne, Portsmouth	Glyn GS, Ewell	Royal Belfast Academical Institution
1977	Bluecoat School, Liverpool	Glyn GS, Ewell	Paisley GS	Bristol Grammar School
1978	St Paul's School, London	St Albans School	RGS, Newcastle	Bluecoat School, Liverpool
1979	St Paul's School, London	Bolton School	Methodist College Belfast	King Edward VI School, Southampton
1980	King Edward VI School, Southampton	Watford GS for Boys		Royal Belfast Academical Institution
1981	St Paul's School, London	Watford GS for Boys	Manchester GS	King Edward VI School, Southampton
1982	St Paul's School, London	Nottingham HS	St John's College (Portsmouth)	Bluecoat School, Liverpool
1983	Queen Mary's GS, Walsall	Paston GS, North Walsham	RGS, Newcastle	Grove School, St Leonards
1984	RGS, Newcastle	Plymouth College	St Paul's School, London	Queen Mary's GS, Walsall
1985	St Paul's School, London	Nottingham HS	RGS, Newcastle	King Edward VI School, Southampton
1986	Plymouth College	Colchester RGS	Bluecoat School, Liverpool	Methodist College Belfast
1987	Queen Mary's GS, Walsall	St Paul's School, London	Millfield School, Street	Greenwood Academy, Irvine
1988	St Paul's School, London	Abingdon School	Queen Mary's GS, Walsall	Antrim GS	358
1989	St Paul's School, London	Manchester GS	Truro School	Antrim GS
1990	St Paul's School, London	Truro School			[2]
1991	Manchester GS	Sutton Manor School, Surrey	Hymers College, Hull	St Columb's College, Derry	[3]
1992	Nottingham HS 'A'	Truro School	City of London School	RGS, Newcastle	[4]
1993	Truro School	Haberdashers' Aske's School, Elstree	Manchester GS	RGS, Newcastle	[5]
1994	Ipswich School	Manchester GS	St Columb's College, Derry	Westminster School	[6]
1995	Methodist College Belfast	Maidstone GS	Truro School	Ipswich School	[7]
1996	Manchester GS	Maidstone GS	Oakham School	St Columb's College, Derry
1997	Manchester GS	Oakham School	Hampton School	Methodist College Belfast
1998	Manchester GS	Torquay Boys GS	St Paul's School, London	Queen Elizabeth GS, Wakefield
1999	St Paul's School, London	Oakham School	Manchester GS	Torquay Boys GS
2000	St Paul's School, London	Manchester GS	Nottingham HS	Queen Elizabeth's GS, Barnet
2001	Oakham School	Manchester GS	St Paul's School, London	Yateley Manor Prep School	246
2002	Hampton School	RGS, Guildford	Oakham School	Manchester GS	192
2003	Oakham School	RGS, Guildford	Southend HS	Blue Coat School, Oldham	153
2004	Monmouth School	Haberdashers' Aske's School, Elstree	Blue Coat School, Oldham	Southend HS	143
2005	Nottingham HS 'A'	Blue Coat School, Oldham	Monmouth School	RGS, Guildford	126
2006	Nottingham HS 'A'	Dulwich College	Millfield School, Street	Lancaster RGS	93
2007					93

[edit] Sources

• The Times
• The Sunday Times (UK)
• Southern Counties Chess Union Website

[edit] External links

• [1] - Official updates from Competition Controller