When Anteaters Attack II - Reform of the British

[Matt Mackenzie]

That being that most of them are dead?

Hmmm, I do wonder if Roger was referring to one ex-champion in particular

[Paul McKeown]

Matt, you have to be careful! A former champion's amanuensis might jump to the erroneous conclusion that you are criticising his master, when you really are trying to point out that another former champion is on the run.

[Andrew Zigmond]

I think the obvious problem is that there are relatively few veterans one could call upon for a former champions tournament. Most of those still living are either long retired and unlikely to be tempted back into active play or are still strong enough to enter the championship proper. How would you deal with the 2002 and 2003 champions who won when Commonwealth players were still allowed to enter?

One could always invite the 1972 champion if you knew where to find him. It would be his own silly fault if he turned up.

Going off topic but I found myself looking at the list of champions on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Chess_Championship.

Who is the oldest living champion and who is the earliest champion still living? I'm assuming both distinctions belong to Leonard Barden (born 1929, won 1954), however there are a few obscure champions from the 1940s who could conceivably still be alive.

I was also under the impression that England's great `lost` chess talent Gordon Crown had won the title but apparently I was mistaken.

[JustinHorton]

I notice, with regard to former champions, that the late Eileen Tranmer has a Polish Wikipedia page but not an English one. Anybody fancy doing the business?

[John Moore]

I was about to say something, but then saw Leonard watching!

[Matt Mackenzie]

All the male champions before Barden are now deceased (R F Combe died just a few years after winning the title)

With the passing of Elaine Saunders/Pritchard not long ago, that is almost certainly true of the pre-1954 women too (with the faintly possible exception of the truly mysterious "Miss Fatima", allegedly born in 1914) Anne Sunnucks - first win in 1957 - is most certainly still with us, and there is also Joan Doulton (the co-champ in 1955) who neither (seemingly) Wikipedia or myself know anything about whatsoever

[Andrew Zigmond]

All the male champions before Barden are now deceased (R F Combe died just a few years after winning the title)

With the passing of Elaine Saunders/Pritchard not long ago, that is almost certainly true of the pre-1954 women too (with the faintly possible exception of the truly mysterious "Miss Fatima", allegedly born in 1914) Anne Sunnucks - first win in 1957 - is most certainly still with us, and there is also Joan Doulton (the co-champ in 1955) who neither (seemingly) Wikipedia or myself know anything about whatsoever

I've just made a further post picking up on some further points (including the ladies champions - many of whom are completely forgotten now). However I've moved it to chess history.