English Chess Forum

Following a lengthy conversation with Ray Cannon on day two of the Guildford FIDE Congress I would like to tease out a history of the foundations and development of so-called Weekend Swiss tournaments in England.

There is also the matter of first Swiss tournaments held in England. When and where they and who was the driving forced in bringing them in?
Was there resistance from the old guard to these new fangled arrangements?

Ray indicated that the first weekend Swiss was held at the En Passant location in the Strand but reported by CHESS as being a lightning / buzzer event when it wasn't.

No doubt Leonard knows all the details. Stewart Reuben will give us his recollections of the Islington Open perhaps?

I will leave this to the two sages above mentioned, although Roger probably knows a thing or two...

A related question - when were the last Swisses to have adjournments? I think they lasted in a few until the 1980s.

Matt Mackenzie wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 02, 2023 8:09 pm

A related question - when were the last Swisses to have adjournments? I think they lasted in a few until the 1980s.

Although I'm sure my records aren't complete they show that I had 2 adjourned games at Hastings in 1994 and 3 adjourned games in the 1999 Paignton Premier, one of which was adjourned twice.

I suspect these events had a more spaced out schedule than the 5/6 round weekend congresses, which, ironically, is what made them more appealing - playing out adjournments was more satisfying for many players than quickplay finishes (pre-computers and increments of course).

I remember playing adjournments at Hastings in the 1990s. I can't remember whether or not any of my games in the British Championships in the early 2000s (the lower sections!) had adjournments, but these were APA graded tournaments, not Swiss tournamenets - I don't think adjournments were still in use at the British by that point, but for the British and Hastings it should be relatively easy to establish when that practice ceased (e.g. if copies of the entry forms or tournament programmes are in the ECF archives or library - er, presuming that such a thing still exists).

John Upham wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 02, 2023 10:01 am

Ray indicated that the first weekend Swiss was held at the En Passant location in the Strand but reported by CHESS as being a lighting event when it wasn't.

It depends a bit on your definition of a weekend Swiss. If the tournaments held over Bank Holiday weekends are counted, they were in Swiss format several years before Stewart Reuben. Stewart's format was one of almost continuous play, one round Friday evening, three Saturday, two Sunday. Four hour sessions usually with unfinished games being adjudicated rather than adjourned. Adjudication although common in league and county chess was almost unknown in Congresses where games would be played to a finish with multiple adjournments if necessary.

One of the earliest Swiss tournaments would heve been the British Championship of 1949, but probably not the first. I think there's been a thread on this before.

Supporting sections at Hastings and Paignton are likely to have been amongst the last perpetuating adjournments. When FIDE changed the rules to allow quickplay finishes in rated tournaments and to be eligible for Norms, that helped abolish the practice.

One thing I did not know (amongst a huge number of others) is that Richard O'Brien (not of the Crystal Maze) resigned from something or other when the Ilford event went from being an all-play invitational to a Swiss format.

Here is RW O'Brien and SR in bulletin preparation mode just prior to a large meal:

I have had games adjourned in the Hastings Xmas morning tournament (continuation after a break for lunch), British U125 (also to be continued after lunch) and a Berks & Bucks Congress rated section (1st phase of games played in morning or afternoon and adjourments in the evening) all in the 2nd half of the 1990s.

I used to hate 3 games on a Saturday. Even as a junior, with maximum stamina levels.

Would come close to killing me now!

"I used to hate 3 games on a Saturday."

Too right - in 1978 Evening Standard Open, when I was about 2025, I started Saturday on 1/1, and beat Mike Surtees (2150), then lost to IM Simon Webb (2450), and drew with a good junior, William Watson (2185), all three games going to the quickplay finish. William rather cheekily offered a draw when I was a pawn up, but as I feared I would collapse over the board and lose, I was quite pleased... I then had an hour's drive home. Next day, I blundered in the opening of Round 5. Since then, I have only played 3 games in a day once, when I was unable to get through the floods between my house and the venue on Friday night! (I managed to find a hotel en route sufficiently elevated that it became a temporary island.)

Nowadays two games in a day is almost too much.