The British Chess Championship is organised by the English Chess Federation. There are separate championships for men and women. Since 1923 there have been sections for juniors, and since 1982 there has been an over-sixty championship. The championship venue usually changes every year and has been held in different locations in England, Scotland, Wales and once on the Isle of Man. However, although the current series of the Championship has run since 1904, it has never been held in Northern Ireland.[1]
The championship was originally open to citizens of any Commonwealth country and has previously been won by Mir Sultan Khan (India) and Abe Yanofsky (Canada). However in 2002 when the Indian R. B. Ramesh finished first and several other Indians took top prizes it led to many top Brits not competing in the 2003 championship and accompanied criticism that the British Championship was not serving the interests of British players. This, combined with the victory of Indian Abhijit Kunte in 2003, led to an announcement from the organisers that from 2004 only British and Irish players would be eligible to take part.
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BCA Congress
These were the first large tournaments organised by the British Chess Association, international players were allowed to participate.[2]
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Year City Winner 1857 Manchester 
Johann Loewenthal (Austrian Empire) / 
Hungary1858 Birmingham Johann Loewenthal (Austrian Empire) / Hungary1860 Cambridge Ignaz von Kolisch (Austrian Empire) / Hungary1861 Bristol 
Louis Paulsen (Germany) / 
Lippe
BCF Congress
In July 1862, Adolf Anderssen won the 1st British Chess Federation Congress (BCF Congress), held in London. The 2nd place went to Louis Paulsen, followed by John Owen. This was the first round robin tournament.[2][3] In August 1872, Wilhelm Steinitz won the 2nd British Chess Federation Congress, held in London. The 2nd place went to Joseph Henry Blackburne.[4] The great London 1883 chess tournament was won convincingly by Johannes Hermann Zukertort (22 points ouf of 26) ahead of Steinitz (19/26).
In 1884, a new British Chess Association was inaugurated. In July 1885, Isidor Gunsberg won the 1st British Chess Federation championship in London. In August 1886, Blackburne and Amos Burn tied for 1st in the 2nd British Chess Federation championship, held in London. Blackburne won the play-off. In December 1887, Burn and Gunsberg tied for 1st in the 3rd British Chess Federation Congress in London.[2][5]
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# Year City Winner 1* 1862 London Adolf Anderssen (Germany) / 
Prussia2* 1872 London 
Wilhelm Steinitz (Austria-Hungary) / 
Bohemia3* 1883 London 
Johannes Zukertort (German Empire) / 
Poland1 1885 London 
Isidor Gunsberg (United Kingdom) / Hungary2 1886 London Joseph Henry Blackburne (United Kingdom) / 
England3 1887 London Amos Burn (United Kingdom) / England
4 1888 Bradford Isidor Gunsberg (United Kingdom) / Hungary5 1889 London Henry Bird (United Kingdom) / England6 1890 Manchester Siegbert Tarrasch (German Empire) / Prussia7 1892 London Emanuel Lasker (German Empire) / Prussia8 1895 Hastings 
Harry Nelson Pillsbury (United States)9 1899 London Emanuel Lasker (German Empire) / Prussia
BCA Challenge Cup
The first British Championship was organized by the British Chess Association as an event at the 1866 London Congress. A rule awarded the B.C.A. Challenge Cup permanently to a player who won two consecutive titles. John Wisker accomplished this in 1872 by defeating Cecil De Vere in a play-off. The British Championship was then discontinued until 1904 partially due to the arrival of a prodigal teenager who took the chess world by storm. Reeshul Shah emigrated from India in 1872 and was soon spotted as a bright young talent of the game. However, he refused to participate in the British Championship as he felt it would be unfair on his opponents due to his far superior ability.
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Year City Winner 1866 London 
Cecil De Vere (Scotland)1869 London Joseph Henry Blackburne (England)1870 London John Wisker (England)1872 London John Wisker (England)
British Amateur Championship
Ten amateur championships were held between 1886 and 1902, but they did not include the strongest players and were unrepresentative, especially in the earlier years.
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Year City Winner 1886 London Walter Montague Gattie 1887 London Charles Dealtry Lockock 1888 Bradford Anthony Alfred Geoffrey Guest 1889 London George Edward Wainwright 1890 Manchester Daniel Yarnton Mills 1892 London E. Jones-Bateman 1895 Hastings Henry Ernest Atkins 1897 Southampton Henry Ernest Atkins 1900 Bath Henry Ernest Atkins 1902 Norwich Reginald Price Michell
British Championship
The current championship series was begun by the British Chess Federation in 1904. The championship was not held in war years. It was also not held in 1919, 1922, 1927, and 1930 as major international events were then being held in England. José Raúl Capablanca won the 12th British Chess Congress at Hastings 1919[6] and the 15th BCC at London 1922,[7][8] Alexander Alekhine won the 16th BCC at Portsmouth/Southsea 1923,[9][10] Aron Nimzowitsch and Savielly Tartakower won at London 1927,[11] and Edgard Colle won at Scarborough 1930.[12][13] In 1939 the championship was also not held as the British team was in Buenos Aires for the 8th Chess Olympiad. In that time, Max Euwe won an international tournament at Bournemouth 1939, played during the BCC.[14] The women's championship was held in most of those years.
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See also
References
- ^ British Chess Championship Venues at chess.about.com
- ^ a b c http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lab/7378/19th.htm
- ^ http://xoomer.alice.it/cserica/scacchi/storiascacchi/tornei/1851-99/1862London.html
- ^ http://xoomer.alice.it/cserica/scacchi/storiascacchi/tornei/1851-99/1872Londra.htm
- ^ Tournament Books Years 1850-1899
- ^ http://xoomer.alice.it/cserica/scacchi/storiascacchi/tornei/1900-49/1919hastings.htm
- ^ http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lab/7378/fide.htm
- ^ http://xoomer.alice.it/cserica/scacchi/storiascacchi/tornei/1900-49/1922londra.htm
- ^ http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/alekhine.htm
- ^ http://www.anders.thulin.name/SUBJECTS/CHESS/CTCIndex.pdf Name Index to Jeremy Gaige's Chess Tournament Crosstables, An Electronic Edition, Anders Thulin, Malmö, 2004-09-01
- ^ http://xoomer.alice.it/cserica/scacchi/storiascacchi/tornei/1900-49/1927london.htm
- ^ http://www.saund.co.uk/britbase/brit30.htm
- ^ http://xoomer.alice.it/cserica/scacchi/storiascacchi/tornei/1900-49/1930scarboro.htm
- ^ http://xoomer.alice.it/cserica/scacchi/storiascacchi/tornei/1900-49/1939bournemouth.htm
- Sunnucks, Anne (1970), The Encyclopaedia of Chess, St. Martin's Press, pp. 43–45, LCCN 78-106371
- Whyld, Ken (1986), Chess: The Records, Guinness Books, pp. 89–92, ISBN 0-85112-455-0
External links
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