British Schools Chess Championship

The British Schools Chess Championship is an annual competition for school chess teams that has been in existence continuously from 1958. The tournament is administered by the English Chess Federation and is open to all schools from the United Kingdom. The competition has been won by teams from all four countries of the UK.

At the height of the tournaments popularity in the 1970s, in excess of 1000 teams took part. Unfortunately since the teacher strikes of the mid-1980s a continuous decline in the number of teams has taken place. In 2007-08, the accepted entry increased from 93 teams to 135 teams. [citeweb|url=http://www.sccu.ndo.co.uk/times.htm|title=Competition entry list at Southern Counties Chess Union web site|accessdate=2007-11-22] This represents the highest number of entries for four years.

Eligibility

Entry is open to any school in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. All players must be under-19 on 31 August of the year in which the competition begins. Teams are made up of six players, with an age handicap system in operation based on the average age of each team.

Teams initially compete in regional zones with the winner of each zone progressing to the National stage of the competition.

Finals

The tradition used to be that the final four teams got together at a top London hotel for the finals. For a long time the finals were contested at the St Ermin's Hotel, but with the diminishing numbers the finals are now held at 'less prestigious' venues outside London. Since 1994 there has also been a Plate Competition for regional zone runners up.Fact|date=March 2007

Notable Players

The competition has been graced by many top players over the years. These include: -

* GM Michael Adams (Truro School)
* GM Nigel Short (Bolton School)
* GM Tony Miles (King Edward's School, Birmingham)
* GM Julian Hodgson (St Paul's School, London)
* GM Raymond Keene (Dulwich College)
* GM James Plaskett (Bedford Modern School)

ponsorship

In 1938 The Sunday Times (UK) made an offer to the then British Chess Federation to donate a trophy for a competition between teams from Public schools. [Belfast Newsletter Chess Column 24/03/1938 Page 12] Before further investigation of this offer could be completed the war intervened. Finally in 1957-58 competition got under way under the sponsorship of The Sunday Times (UK) newspaper. Their patronage continued until 1983, when their sister paper The Times took over. Since the withdrawal of sponsorship by The Times after the 2001 finals, the championship has continued without a sponsor.

Current status of competition

Entering the 2007-08 season (the competition's 51st year) fortunately the tournament can once again be called a UK championship, as a zone including teams from Scotland and Northern Ireland has been accepted. Sadly, only one school from Scotland has entered.

National finalists

ources

* The Times
* The Sunday Times (UK)
* Southern Counties Chess Union Website1966 runners up were Manchester Grammar School

External links

* [http://www.sccu.ndo.co.uk/times.htm Official updates from Competition Controller]
* [http://www.ecfchess.com English Chess Federation]