BUCA Team Championship Winners

Historical knowledge and information regarding our great game.
AustinElliott
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Re: BUCA Team Championship Winners

Post by AustinElliott » Sun May 15, 2011 9:28 pm

I can't recall if Adrian Hollis played league or county chess in Oxford in the 1970s, though he was presumably in Oxford working at the University in those days. He is, of course, also famous for being the son of Roger Hollis, who was the Director of MI5.

Amazed Oxford never won the BUCA in the 70s, given that John Nunn and Jon Speelman were both students there during that time. I guess maybe postgrads wouldn't have played in the team, or would have "ceded" precedence to undergrads? Nunn was a few years ahead of Speelman, so perhaps they would never have played in the same Oxford Univ team... Still, must have been some other seriously strong University sides around, seeing as neither Oxford nor Cambridge (where Mestel was a student) won between '75 and '82.

Even post-Speelman, the late 70s Oxford Univ (league) teams against which we used to struggle were a serious proposition, fielding people like John C Pigott and Peter Sowray. And I'm guessing the Oxford team that finally won in 1982 would have featured not just William Watson but also JJ Cox.

Mike Truran
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Re: BUCA Team Championship Winners

Post by Mike Truran » Sun May 15, 2011 9:59 pm

Yes, he was playing league chess in Oxfordshire in the 1970s - for Keble College as I recall. He graciously resigned an inter-college game against me in an adjournment which was difficult but not completely lost so that we could both go and watch the University playing cricket in the Parks.

AustinElliott
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Re: BUCA Team Championship Winners

Post by AustinElliott » Sun May 15, 2011 10:19 pm

Mike Truran wrote:Yes, [Adrian Hollis] was playing league chess in Oxfordshire in the 1970s - for Keble College as I recall. He graciously resigned an inter-college game against me in an adjournment which was difficult but not completely lost so that we could both go and watch the University playing cricket in the Parks.
Ah. Didn't know there was an inter-college league, though I guess one would have expected there to be one. Interesting that (it sounds like) dons played for it as well as students.

I really meant I couldn't recall him playing for Oxfordshire, or for the University's teams that competed in the then Oxford League (Univ Pieces and Univ Pawns). Pieces and Pawns were composed entirely of students, as far as I remember. Many of the Oxf Univ academics who played chess used to play for other clubs in the league. I think I would have remembered Hollis playing for a club side in the league - less sure about the (Oxfordshire) county team. But anyway, I guess chess-playing academics could get their fix playing inter-college chess.

The Parks is one of the great places to watch cricket. My younger brother still talks about watching the late David Hookes (then yet to play Test cricket) tonking the university bowlers for multiple sixes off an over there back in the mid 70s.

Alistair Campbell
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Re: BUCA Team Championship Winners

Post by Alistair Campbell » Sun May 15, 2011 11:17 pm

Ian Thompson wrote: The 1982 event was held in London from 5-8 April, but I don't remember which college it was at.

The 1982 Oxford team included William Watson on board 1 (I played him).
I think the 1982 event was held at Imperial College?

As I recall Glasgow Uni managed to turn up with just one player, but he ended up playing for an "Invitation Six" made up of various spare players, including Julian Hodgson on top board. IM Ken Regan was there, as were John Cox and Simon Brown.

I don't know who played for the winning Edinburgh team in 1980 - probably Alan Sutherland and David Duncan. Danny Kopec was around at that time, so possibly him as well.

Ian Thompson
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Re: BUCA Team Championship Winners

Post by Ian Thompson » Sun May 15, 2011 11:41 pm

Alistair Campbell wrote:I think the 1982 event was held at Imperial College?
I think you are probably right, but I'm not 100% certain.
Alistair Campbell wrote:As I recall Glasgow Uni managed to turn up with just one player, but he ended up playing for an "Invitation Six" made up of various spare players, including Julian Hodgson on top board.
I don't think so. We (Exeter) played them and I played against Andrew Bryce on board 1.
Alistair Campbell wrote:IM Ken Regan was there, as were John Cox and Simon Brown.
No, Simon was an Exeter University student and didn't play for us in 1982.

Alistair Campbell
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Re: BUCA Team Championship Winners

Post by Alistair Campbell » Mon May 16, 2011 10:50 am

Ian Thompson wrote:
Alistair Campbell wrote:I think the 1982 event was held at Imperial College?
I think you are probably right, but I'm not 100% certain.
Alistair Campbell wrote:As I recall Glasgow Uni managed to turn up with just one player, but he ended up playing for an "Invitation Six" made up of various spare players, including Julian Hodgson on top board.
I don't think so. We (Exeter) played them and I played against Andrew Bryce on board 1.
Alistair Campbell wrote:IM Ken Regan was there, as were John Cox and Simon Brown.
No, Simon was an Exeter University student and didn't play for us in 1982.
How curious... I've dug out my scorebook from that period, and according to that Edinburgh 2 played Exeter 1 on 5/4/82, the results being:

Exeter 5 - 1 Edinburgh 2

Brown (B) 1-0 McTighe (W)
Thompson 1-0 Muban(?) (can't read my writing)
Menadue 1/2-1/2 Campbell :)
Boyce 1/2-1/2 Robertson
1-0 default
Menendez 1-0 Cackette

I have one annotation to my game "22...Bxg2 wins - SD Brown".

I assume you were board 2?

We never recovered from this start and finished last by miles.

Ian Thompson
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Re: BUCA Team Championship Winners

Post by Ian Thompson » Mon May 16, 2011 11:36 am

Alistair Campbell wrote:
Ian Thompson wrote:
Alistair Campbell wrote:I think the 1982 event was held at Imperial College?
I think you are probably right, but I'm not 100% certain.
Alistair Campbell wrote:As I recall Glasgow Uni managed to turn up with just one player, but he ended up playing for an "Invitation Six" made up of various spare players, including Julian Hodgson on top board.
I don't think so. We (Exeter) played them and I played against Andrew Bryce on board 1.
Alistair Campbell wrote:IM Ken Regan was there, as were John Cox and Simon Brown.
No, Simon was an Exeter University student and didn't play for us in 1982.
How curious... I've dug out my scorebook from that period, and according to that Edinburgh 2 played Exeter 1 on 5/4/82, the results being:

Exeter 5 - 1 Edinburgh 2

Brown (B) 1-0 McTighe (W)
Thompson 1-0 Muban(?) (can't read my writing)
Menadue 1/2-1/2 Campbell :)
Boyce 1/2-1/2 Robertson
1-0 default
Menendez 1-0 Cackette

I have one annotation to my game "22...Bxg2 wins - SD Brown".

I assume you were board 2?

We never recovered from this start and finished last by miles.
I expect you're right. I could have sworn I played on board 1, but I only have my own games as a record. Your records look like pretty conclusive evidence that I'm wrong and I actually played on board 2.

My opponent against Edinburgh 2 was M. Mudan.

My previous post saying I played William Watson on board 1 must have been wrong as well. That must have been board 2.

Colin Patterson
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Re: BUCA Team Championship Winners

Post by Colin Patterson » Wed May 18, 2011 11:33 pm

More snippets from CHESS in the 1980s (will check out the rest when I get a chance);

1980 – 21 teams. Held at Lancaster University. Winners Edinburgh - T Upton, W Gray, A Beveridge, A Ferguson, D Duncan, JD Crorie. Second place London – M Pein, A Lewis, P Maguire, JJ Ady, J Freeman, BT Ang (with R Coles reserve) - Edinburgh 27, London 22, Southampton 22 (third on tie-break), East Anglia 21, Durham 20.5, Manchester 20, Aberdeen, Birmingham, Cardiff 19.5, Bristol, Nottingham 19, Lancaster II 17.5, Durham II , Liverpool 16 ... [There is also the gamescore that took best game prize].

1982 – Teams of 6. 22 entries. Held at Imperial College 5-8 April. Oxford 26, Southampton 22.5, London 22, Leeds 21.5, Cambridge II 21, Cambridge 20.5, Edinburgh, Durham and ‘Invitation Six’ 19.5, Sheffield 17.5 … the ‘Invitation Six’ team comprised players from Oxford, Leeds and London.

1983 – 24 teams. Oxford did not compete. Cambridge 30, London, Cambridge II 22, Sheffield 21.5, York, Warwick, Cambridge III 21, Birmingham, Leeds 20, Lancaster 19, Southampton 18.5 … Board prizes – 1. C McNab St Andrews, 2. S Bell Cambridge, J Hunt Sheffield, 3. M Kerridge Cambridge, 4. G Anthony Cambridge, J Kahn, Cardiff, 5. A Evans Durham, 6. D Razzell Birmingham.

1984 – 22 teams. Held in Birmingham. Oxford 29, Cambridge 26, Southampton 22.5, QU Belfast 21, Sheffield, Durham 20, Leeds, London 19, Birmingham, Cambridge II 18.5, Nottingham, Lancaster 18 … Board prizes – 1. MC Forster Cambridge II, ACL Dyson Cambridge, AP Lewis Oxford 5/6, 2. K Bowden Oxford 5.5/6, 3. K Allen QU Belfast 6/6, 4. K Shovel Oxford 6/6, 5. A Fuller Southampton 5.5/6, 6. K Dewhurst Sheffield 5.5/6. [4 games are given].

1985 – 22 teams. Cambridge did not compete. Oxford 31.5/36, Southampton 25.5, Swansea, Durham 20, QU Belfast, Warwick, Sussex 19.5, London, Lancaster 19, Swansea II 18.5, Birmingham, Hull, Southampton II 18, Manchester, York 17.5 …
Board prizes – 1. B Lund Lancaster 6/6, 2. K Bowden Oxford, K Allen QU Belfast both 6/6, 3. T Wiley Oxford 5.5/6, 4. R Thomas Southampton, I Kotsikoros Manchester both 5/6, 5. P Hallett Oxford 5.5/6, 6. H Fair Swansea 5/6.

Roger de Coverly
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Re: BUCA Team Championship Winners

Post by Roger de Coverly » Thu May 19, 2011 2:26 pm

Colin Patterson wrote:More snippets from CHESS in the 1980s (will check out the rest when I get a chance);
It looks as if the biggest ever was the one in Manchester in 1970 which featured 31 eight board teams. Admittedly that's only around 250 players which is small by comparison to the Islington Congress in 1972 of well over one thousand. It is however the same size as today's 4NCL div 1/2. It does however indicate that even prior to the 1972 Fischer-Spassky match, just how well 6th Form and University chess was doing in numeric terms.

Simon Brown
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Re: BUCA Team Championship Winners

Post by Simon Brown » Thu May 19, 2011 7:54 pm

Ian, I think I did play in 1982 which was at Imperial, and I think it was following by a BUCA v German Universities match, where I was on about board 6 out of 8. I do remember playing Julian - who I think was at Leicester? - and if I recall, there was an American on board 1 for Oxford, who I think was probably weaker then Will. I remember 1981 at Leeds as well, though I don't think I played in any others.

David Sedgwick
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Re: BUCA Team Championship Winners

Post by David Sedgwick » Thu May 19, 2011 10:15 pm

Simon Brown wrote:Ian, I think I did play in 1982 which was at Imperial, and I think it was following by a BUCA v German Universities match, where I was on about board 6 out of 8. I do remember playing Julian - who I think was at Leicester? - and if I recall, there was an American on board 1 for Oxford, who I think was probably weaker then Will. I remember 1981 at Leeds as well, though I don't think I played in any others.
I imagine that the American on Board 1 for Oxford was IM Kenneth Regan, http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=2000725. He was certainly at Oxford at about that time.

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Re: BUCA Team Championship Winners

Post by Simon Brown » Thu May 19, 2011 10:44 pm

David, I think you are right. I lost.

Alistair Campbell
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Re: BUCA Team Championship Winners

Post by Alistair Campbell » Thu May 19, 2011 11:32 pm

David Sedgwick wrote: I imagine that the American on Board 1 for Oxford was IM Kenneth Regan
Alistair Campbell wrote: IM Ken Regan was there, as were John Cox and Simon Brown.
*** coughs apologetically ***
Colin Patterson wrote:More snippets from CHESS in the 1980s (will check out the rest when I get a chance);

1980 – 21 teams. Held at Lancaster University. Winners Edinburgh - T Upton, W Gray, A Beveridge, A Ferguson, D Duncan, JD Crorie. Second place London – M Pein, A Lewis, P Maguire, JJ Ady, J Freeman, BT Ang (with R Coles reserve) - Edinburgh 27, London 22, Southampton 22 (third on tie-break), East Anglia 21, Durham 20.5, Manchester 20, Aberdeen, Birmingham, Cardiff 19.5, Bristol, Nottingham 19, Lancaster II 17.5, Durham II , Liverpool 16 ... [There is also the gamescore that took best game prize].

1982 – Teams of 6. 22 entries. Held at Imperial College 5-8 April. Oxford 26, Southampton 22.5, London 22, Leeds 21.5, Cambridge II 21, Cambridge 20.5, Edinburgh, Durham and ‘Invitation Six’ 19.5, Sheffield 17.5 … the ‘Invitation Six’ team comprised players from Oxford, Leeds and London.
Thanks for confirming the winning Edinburgh team. I remember reading a quote along the lines of "some play King's Indians, some play Queen's Indians, Ferguson and Crorie still play cowboys and indians"; although I'm not sure I ever understood it, it still amused me. Ian (I assume this should have been ID Crorie) is currently Bridge correspondent for Scotland on Sunday and hence shares the page with Douglas Bryson. Apart from Tim, I've no idea what happened to the rest of them.

I'm sure Mike Dyer of Glasgow was in the Invitation Six (a BH Wood inspired solution to give people a game) and I still think Julian Hodgson was their board one, but it appears that no-one is able to confirm this.

David Sedgwick
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Re: BUCA Team Championship Winners

Post by David Sedgwick » Thu May 19, 2011 11:42 pm

Alistair Campbell wrote:
David Sedgwick wrote: I imagine that the American on Board 1 for Oxford was IM Kenneth Regan
Alistair Campbell wrote: IM Ken Regan was there, as were John Cox and Simon Brown.
*** coughs apologetically ***
Whoops :oops:

Also coughs apologetically.

Colin Patterson
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Re: BUCA Team Championship Winners

Post by Colin Patterson » Fri May 20, 2011 12:41 am

I can confirm that Simon Brown played in the BUCA vs German Universities match of 1982 on board 8/8, scoring 1.5-0.5 against U Kristmann in a 9-7 win for BUCA. Team - K Regan, J Hodgson, W Watson, D Cummings, J Cox, A Lewis, J Townsend, S Brown.

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