English Chess Forum

This isn't strictly a question about chess history, more a bit of personal history as I'm trying to identify a junior tournament from 1993 that I took part in. It was the second-ever tournament I took part in, and while looking back at old scoresheets recently, I noticed that I'd failed to write down the tournament name on the scoresheets. From the names of the participants, from memory, and from a similar tournament I took part in the following year, I'm almost positive that it was one of the junior tournaments taking place in or near Guildford at that time. But a brief bit of Googling failed to turn up the name of the tournament (unsurprisingly). It took place from 6-7th February 1993. Can anyone help identify the tournament?

CHESS for 1993 gives the results for the Lancashire Junior Congress, 6th. February. The Welsh Junior Championships took place on 6-7th. February. The Kidlington Chess Congress took place on 6-7th. February.

Gordon Cadden wrote:CHESS for 1993 gives the results for the Lancashire Junior Congress, 6th. February. The Welsh Junior Championships took place on 6-7th. February. The Kidlington Chess Congress took place on 6-7th. February.

Thanks, but unlikely to be any of those. Maybe look in the "forthcoming" events listings for the previous months, rather than the "results" sections, as it may have been advertised but the results not reported.

Wouldn't it be an idea to give a bit more information?

What age group was it? Who were some of "the other participants" etc etc

Richard Bates wrote:Wouldn't it be an idea to give a bit more information?

What age group was it? Who were some of "the other participants" etc etc

Well, I was 15 at the time. I think it would have been an U18 group, but not sure about that. The people I played in the February 1993 tournament (during the 1992-3 season) were: Ben Weller, J. Farrant, R. Shorthouse, T. Joyce, M. Leach, and M. Hamdan. I played them in that order, over 6 rounds. Lost the first three, won the last three.

The reason I think it was Guildford and think it was U18, is that I played in what I think was a similar tournament two seasons later (the 1994-5 season). This was also six rounds, played from 12-13 November 1994 (I would have been 17 then), and my scoresheets say "U-18 RGS Guildford", which tallies with my memory of playing either this tournament or the previous one in a school classroom somewhere, possibly both. I also now have a vague memory of having visited Guildford University around that time or the previous year (as part of a school trip to get people thinking about university), and remember going back on a similar train journey and walking to this school instead of the university. Which would mean that the other "school" memory is the February 1993 tournament.

The reason I suspect they were similar tournaments is that in November 1994 I played one of the same people. Over the six rounds, I played: J. Bentall, N. Harmer, M. Inglis, R. Shorthouse, L. Gardner, and M. Short. This time I went win, loss, win, loss, loss, win, so the same score.

The strange thing is that both tournaments seem to have been four rounds on the Saturday and two on the Sunday. Was that a common format back then, or was I just getting the dates of the rounds wrong?

I also suspect that there may have been sections within the tournament that I hadn't quite realised I needed to note on the scoresheet, so it might have been a 'minor' section of a stronger tournament. Possibly you might have been at one of them, Richard, playing in the stronger sections!

Anyway, even if no-one knows the details of this tournament, maybe throw out a few of the names of those organising junior tournaments in the area at the time, and I can try and ask them? One of them I can see in my head but the name is on the tip of my tongue - tall, glasses, Alex someone? I'm also wondering if the tournament might be recorded in the BCF Yearbooks and/or calendars for the 1992-3 season?

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:Anyway, even if no-one knows the details of this tournament, maybe throw out a few of the names of those organising junior tournaments in the area at the time, and I can try and ask them? I'm also wondering if the tournament be recorded in the BCF Yearbooks and/or calendars for the 1992-3 season?

I have the relevant BCF Yearbooks here if you want to consult them.

Richard James wrote:

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:Anyway, even if no-one knows the details of this tournament, maybe throw out a few of the names of those organising junior tournaments in the area at the time, and I can try and ask them? I'm also wondering if the tournament be recorded in the BCF Yearbooks and/or calendars for the 1992-3 season?

I have the relevant BCF Yearbooks here if you want to consult them.

Thanks! Will add that to the other questions.

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: Anyway, even if no-one knows the details of this tournament, maybe throw out a few of the names of those organising junior tournaments in the area at the time, and I can try and ask them? One of them I can see in my head but the name is on the tip of my tongue - tall, glasses, Alex someone?

Alec Webster, possibly. He fits the description and he's from the area.

IM Jack Rudd wrote:

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: Anyway, even if no-one knows the details of this tournament, maybe throw out a few of the names of those organising junior tournaments in the area at the time, and I can try and ask them? One of them I can see in my head but the name is on the tip of my tongue - tall, glasses, Alex someone?

Alec Webster, possibly. He fits the description and he's from the area.

That's the one. Thanks. This is all the information I have, so unless my perusal of BCF Yearbooks and/or calendars turns up something, I'll have to try tracking down individuals to see if they can remember this tournament. The other thing is I can't remember *why* I entered the tournament, or where I would have got an entry form from, but that is less important really (not that finding out the details of this tournament is vital either).

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: The strange thing is that both tournaments seem to have been four rounds on the Saturday and two on the Sunday. Was that a common format back then, or was I just getting the dates of the rounds wrong?

I also suspect that there may have been sections within the tournament that I hadn't quite realised I needed to note on the scoresheet, so it might have been a 'minor' section of a stronger tournament. Possibly you might have been at one of them, Richard, playing in the stronger sections!

There was an U18 tournament i used to play in at RGS Guildford in which fairly constant success allowed me to 'own' a very nice chess set for several years (it was the first place 'trophy'). No idea what time of year it was though.

Richard Bates wrote:

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: The strange thing is that both tournaments seem to have been four rounds on the Saturday and two on the Sunday. Was that a common format back then, or was I just getting the dates of the rounds wrong?

I also suspect that there may have been sections within the tournament that I hadn't quite realised I needed to note on the scoresheet, so it might have been a 'minor' section of a stronger tournament. Possibly you might have been at one of them, Richard, playing in the stronger sections!

There was an U18 tournament i used to play in at RGS Guildford in which fairly constant success allowed me to 'own' a very nice chess set for several years (it was the first place 'trophy'). No idea what time of year it was though.

Pity, but maybe someone else will remember when the tournament was each year it ran, and which years it ran. You can't put a rough timeframe on the first and last RGS tournaments you played in, can you? And you don't remember anything about a format of 4 rounds on the Saturday and 2 on the Sunday? The fact that both the tournaments I played in (1993 and 1994) had that format makes me suspect even more that they were the same tournament. Maybe access to the school facilities was limited on the Sunday? But I can't really work out how it was possible to play 4 rounds in one day, so maybe my scoresheets are just wrong.

I suggest you check out the old SCCU bulletins available here.

Looks as if one of the two early weekends in February used to always be the Surrey Junior Championships at Whitgift (sometimes run with an U18 (Open) and U18 (U105 grade). RGS Guildford tournament was in November. Presumably if you contact Richard Haddrell he will be able to supply the bulletins from 1992-3 and 1993-4 which would include details of the relevant tournaments in which you might have played.

Richard Bates wrote:I suggest you check out the old SCCU bulletins available here.

Looks as if one of the two early weekends in February used to always be the Surrey Junior Championships at Whitgift (sometimes run with an U18 (Open) and U18 (U105 grade). RGS Guildford tournament was in November. Presumably if you contact Richard Haddrell he will be able to supply the bulletins from 1992-3 and 1993-4 which would include details of the relevant tournaments in which you might have played.

Whitgift does ring a bell. I think you may have found what I was looking for, and the SCCU bulletins may confirm it if/when I get round to looking things up in there, and/or asking for older copies. Thanks!