1954 British Chess Championship, Nottingham, 16-27 August • 1953« »1955

1954 British Chess Championship		Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total
1	Leonard William Barden	London	♦ ½/12	◊ ½/25	♦ 1/15	◊ 1/13	♦ 1/7	◊ 1/3	◊ 1/4	♦ 1/2	♦ 0/5	◊ ½/8	◊ ½/6	8
2	Alan Phillips	London	♦ 1/30	◊ ½/6	♦ 1/29	◊ 1/14	◊ ½/3	♦ 0/4	◊ 1/7	◊ 0/1	♦ 1/20	♦ 1/9	◊ 1/5	8
3	David Vincent Hooper	Reigate	◊ 1/19	♦ 1/16	◊ 1/4	◊ 1/21	♦ ½/2	♦ 0/1	◊ 1/20	◊ 0/5	♦ 1/11	♦ ½/6	◊ ½/8	7½
4	Dr Stefan Fazekas	Buckhurst Hill	♦ 1/27	◊ 1/7	♦ 0/3	◊ 1/11	♦ 1/21	◊ 1/2	♦ 0/1	◊ 1/6	♦ ½/8	◊ 0/5	◊ 1/12	7½
5	Gerald Abrahams	Liverpool	◊ 1/28	♦ 0/21	◊ 1/27	♦ ½/20	◊ 1/8	♦ 0/7	◊ 1/14	♦ 1/3	◊ 1/1	♦ 1/4	♦ 0/2	7½
6	Geoffrey F Harris	Stourbridge	◊ 1/24	♦ ½/2	◊ ½/23	♦ ½/8	◊ 1/9	♦ 0/20	◊ 1/15	♦ 0/4	◊ 1/18	◊ ½/3	♦ ½/1	6½
7	Robert Graham Wade	London/NZ	◊ 1/17	♦ 0/4	◊ 1/16	♦ 1/23	◊ 0/1	◊ 1/5	♦ 0/2	♦ ½/15	◊ ½/22	♦ 1/14	◊ ½/11	6½
8	Peter Hugh Clarke	London	♦ 1/29	◊ 1/15	♦ 0/21	◊ ½/6	♦ 0/5	◊ 1/13	◊ 1/11	♦ ½/20	◊ ½/4	♦ ½/1	♦ ½/3	6½
9	Dr James Macrae Aitken	Cheltenham	♦ ½/13	◊ ½/10	♦ ½/25	◊ ½/15	♦ 0/6	◊ 1/23	♦ 1/17	◊ ½/18	♦ 1/14	◊ 0/2	◊ 1/16	6½
10	Ronald MacKay Bruce	Plymouth	◊ ½/14	♦ ½/9	◊ 0/20	♦ 0/17	♦ 0/12	♦ 1/30	◊ ½/19	◊ 1/28	♦ 1/26	◊ 1/23	♦ 1/18	6½
11	Philip Norman Wallis	Quorn	♦ ½/25	◊ 1/22	♦ ½/14	♦ 0/4	◊ 1/17	◊ 1/21	♦ 0/8	◊ 1/12	◊ 0/3	♦ ½/16	♦ ½/7	6
12	Derek Geoffrey Horseman	Coventry	◊ ½/1	♦ 0/14	◊ ½/24	♦ 0/19	◊ 1/10	♦ 1/26	◊ 1/16	♦ 0/11	◊ 1/17	◊ 1/20	♦ 0/4	6
13	Edward Guthlac Sergeant	Kingston Hill	◊ ½/9	♦ 0/23	◊ 1/26	♦ 0/1	◊ 1/19	♦ 0/8	◊ 1/21	◊ 0/14	♦ 1/25	♦ ½/22	◊ 1/20	6
14	Peter B Anderson	Glasgow	♦ ½/10	◊ 1/12	◊ ½/11	♦ 0/2	◊ 1/23	◊ ½/22	♦ 0/5	♦ 1/13	◊ 0/9	◊ 0/7	♦ 1/26	5½
15	Arnold Yorwarth Green	London	◊ 1/20	♦ 0/8	◊ 0/1	♦ ½/9	◊ 1/24	♦ 1/29	♦ 0/6	◊ ½/7	♦ 0/16	◊ ½/17	♦ 1/22	5½
16	Baruch Harold Wood	Sutton Coldfield	◊ 1/26	◊ 0/3	♦ 0/7	♦ ½/22	◊ 1/25	◊ ½/18	♦ 0/12	♦ 1/21	◊ 1/15	◊ ½/11	♦ 0/9	5½
17	(Thomas) John Beach	Liverpool	♦ 0/7	♦ ½/24	◊ ½/22	◊ 1/10	♦ 0/11	♦ 1/19	◊ 0/9	◊ 1/26	♦ 0/12	♦ ½/15	◊ 1/30	5½
18	Richard Hilary Newman	London	◊ 0/21	♦ ½/26	◊ 1/28	♦ 1/25	◊ 0/20	♦ ½/16	◊ 1/22	♦ ½/9	♦ 0/6	◊ 1/24	◊ 0/10	5½
19	(Patricia) Anne Sunnucks	London	♦ 0/3	◊ 0/29	♦ 1/30	◊ 1/12	♦ 0/13	◊ 0/17	♦ ½/10	♦ 1/27	◊ 0/23	♦ 1/28	◊ 1/25	5½
20	Raymond Frederick Streater	Crawley	♦ 0/15	◊ 1/30	♦ 1/10	◊ ½/5	♦ 1/18	◊ 1/6	♦ 0/3	◊ ½/8	◊ 0/2	♦ 0/12	♦ 0/13	5
21	Derek Francis Kenneth Griffiths	Birmingham	♦ 1/18	◊ 1/5	◊ 1/8	♦ 0/3	◊ 0/4	♦ 0/11	♦ 0/13	◊ 0/16	◊ 0/27	♦ 1/30	◊ 1/29	5
22	Andrew Rowland Benedick Thomas	Tiverton	◊ ½/23	♦ 0/11	♦ ½/17	◊ ½/16	◊ 1/28	♦ ½/14	♦ 0/18	◊ 1/24	♦ ½/7	◊ ½/13	◊ 0/15	5
23	Peter Fairbairn Copping	Swindon	♦ ½/22	◊ 1/13	♦ ½/6	◊ 0/7	♦ 0/14	♦ 0/9	◊ 1/29	◊ ½/25	♦ 1/19	♦ 0/10	◊ ½/27	5
24	Stanley Clifford Davey	Ipswich	♦ 0/6	◊ ½/17	♦ ½/12	◊ ½/29	♦ 0/15	◊ 1/27	♦ ½/25	♦ 0/22	◊ 1/30	♦ 0/18	◊ 1/28	5
25	Geoffrey J Martin	Ilford	◊ ½/11	♦ ½/1	◊ ½/9	◊ 0/18	♦ 0/16	♦ 1/28	◊ ½/24	♦ ½/23	◊ 0/13	♦ 1/27	♦ 0/19	4½
26	George Harold Foster Tredinnick	Purley	♦ 0/16	◊ ½/18	♦ 0/13	♦ 0/28	◊ 1/30	◊ 0/12	♦ 1/27	♦ 0/17	◊ 0/10	♦ 1/29	◊ 0/14	3½
27	Kenneth Beaumont	Huddersfield	◊ 0/4	♦ ½/28	♦ 0/5	◊ 1/30	♦ 0/29	♦ 0/24	◊ 0/26	◊ 0/19	♦ 1/21	◊ 0/25	♦ ½/23	3
28	Harry William Scarlett	Cambridge	♦ 0/5	◊ ½/27	♦ 0/18	◊ 1/26	♦ 0/22	◊ 0/25	♦ ½/30	♦ 0/10	◊ 1/29	◊ 0/19	♦ 0/24	3
29	Eric Hamilton	Middlesbrough	◊ 0/8	♦ 1/19	◊ 0/2	♦ ½/24	◊ 1/27	◊ 0/15	♦ 0/23	◊ 0/30	♦ 0/28	◊ 0/26	♦ 0/21	2½
30	Harold Horace Watts	Southport	◊ 0/2	♦ 0/20	◊ 0/19	♦ 0/27	♦ 0/26	◊ 0/10	◊ ½/28	♦ 1/29	♦ 0/24	◊ 0/21	♦ 0/17	1½

1954 British Chess Championship Play-Off – National Chess Centre, London, ? October - 4 November

1954 British Chess Championship Play-Off	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
Alan Phillips	½	½	0	½	1	½	½	½	½	½	5
Leonard William Barden	½	½	1	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	5

The match was tied and the championship shared. The match was originally scheduled to last six games; two further games were then added, and then two more, after which the match was abandoned as a draw.

1954 British Ladies' Chess Championship, Nottingham • 1953« »1955

1954 British Ladies Chess Championship		Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
1	Rowena Mary Bruce	Plymouth	&;	0	0	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	8½
2	Joan Frances Doulton	London	1	&;	½	½	0	½	1	1	1	½	1	1	8
3	Cicely Mary Murphy	Manchester	1	½	&;	1	½	½	1	1	0	½	½	1	7½
4	Dodie Denise Alma Bourdillon	London	½	½	0	&;	1	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	7
5	Sarah Margaret Steedman	Glasgow	0	1	½	0	&;	1	0	0	1	½	1	1	6
6	(Jean) Lesley (Mary) Fletcher1	Richmond	0	½	½	1	0	&;	1	0	1	½	1	0	5½
7	Mrs Jane Sadler Rees	Derby	0	0	0	1	1	0	&;	0	½	1	0	1	4½
8	Mary A E A Henniker-Heaton2	London	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	&;	½	0	1	0	4½
9	Jean P M Craker	London	0	0	1	0	0	0	½	½	&;	1	½	1	4½
10	Deirdre Colmer	London	0	½	½	0	½	½	0	1	0	&;	0	1	4
11	Hilda Florence Chater	Belfast	0	0	½	0	0	0	1	0	½	1	&;	0	3
12	Hilda Naidoo	London/Ceylon	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	&;	3

¹ Miss L Fletcher (as given in sources; also "Miss Elliott-Fletcher") was the sister of Antoinette Mary Hope Elliott-Fletcher (b 1936), who took part in the girls' championship in 1954, as she was also from Richmond. Full name Jean Lesley Mary Fletcher, b 1932. She played for Surrey in 1960. She married Robert Hans Pinner (1925-2004) in 1962 - he also played chess for Surrey in 1960. Lesley Pinner died in 1982 in Richmond. Obituary of Robert Pinner in The Independent mentions her as being known as Lesley. Their father Leslie Elliott-Fletcher (1902-1983) played in the 1954 First Class tournament (see below).
² Monica Henniker-Heaton corrected to Mary Henniker-Heaton (16 Aug 2017). The player's full name was in fact Mary Araluen Elizabeth Anne Henniker-Heaton (1904-1972).

Rank	1954 BCF Major Open	Total
1	Dr Jakob Adolf Seitz (Italy)	8½
2	Michael J Haygarth (Leeds)	8
3	Charles Reuben Gurnhill (Sheffield)	7½
4-7	Dr Luiz Tavares Da Silva (Leeds), (Sidney) Roy Hossell (Taunton), Kenneth Whyld (Nottingham), Stephen Wilkinson (Loughton)	7
8-10	Percy Baldwin Cook (London), Donald Daniel Leslie, R Smith (London)	6½
11-14	John G Brogden (Wakefield), (Lewis) John Cannon (Newcastle), Richard Frank Holmes (Cambridge), Bernard Landon Wilkinson (Chorley)	6
15-16	Edmund George Ansell (Manchester), Philip Bernard Sarson (Harrow)	5½
17-22	Francis Eric Beadles (Nottingham), Philip Edward Collier (Leicester), Douglas Saunderson (Chesterfield), Peter M Shaw (Wallington), (Dr) D Smith (Cottingham), D A Thomas	5
23-25	Alfred Dudley Barlow (London), Ivan Robert Napier (Lelant), George Henry Simmons (Scunthorpe)	4½
26-30	Lawrence Albert Edward Chaplin (Mansfield), E A Hull (Kenton), George L Sutton (New Barnet), Donald John Stanley Waterhouse (Mansfield), Arthur T Watson (Southwick)	4
31	G W Davidson (Birmingham)	3½
32	Eric J Simpson (Sutton)	3

1954 British Junior (Under-21) Championship.—(1) Bernard Cafferty (Blackburn) 9; (2) Peter C Gibbs (Bradford) 8½; (3) Kenneth Leslie Gardner (Birmingham) 8; (4) David Edward Lloyd (Birmingham) 7; (5) John Hubert Watts 6½; (6-8) I. F. Baines, Ronald A Fuller (Ipswich), Marshall Thompson (Southampton) 6; (9) Terence T Godwin (London) 5; (10-12) R. Ashmore (Nottingham), M. A. Dent, J. Wright (Newcastle) 4½; (13-14) Robin Christopher Charles Black (Nottingham), G. R. Evans (Liverpool) 4; (15) J Gordon Lloyd 3½; (16) D. L. Hawkes (Thetford) 1.

1954 British Boys’ (Under-18) Championship.— (1) Keith D Sales (Wigan) 8½; (2-3) Malcolm Frank Collins (Crewe), Brian J Moore (Birmingham) 8; (4-6) Denis John Pereira Gray (Exeter), J. W. McLeod (Brighton), David A Tidmarsh (London) 7½; (7-9) Michael Lipton (London), P. Starling, Michael Edward Ventham (Southampton) 6½; (10-14) Philip Gough (Ludlow), Kenneth William Lloyd (Birmingham), J. B. Thomas (Epsom), David Anthony Toms, W Turner (Shoreham) 6; (15-23) A. E. Davies, A. J. Davies (Swansea), John M Dawson (Bristol), S A Harding (Ipswich), Anthony James Leggett¹ (Staines), Michael Macdonald-Ross, B. H. Turner (Birmingham), D. R. Walker (Wirral), Raymond Thomas Frederick Williams (Plymouth) 5½; (24-27) C. Durston (Bristol), P. McLaren, M. Nicholson (Wigan), J. D. B. Walker (Oxford) 4½; (28-29) M. Curran (Oxford), B. D. Dore 4; (30-32) B. Beavis (Brighton), John H C Blasdale (Nottingham), A. Oakes (Doncaster) 3½; (33) David J Casiot 2½; (34) M. P. Miller (Nottingham) 2.
¹ Now Sir Anthony James Leggett, winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize for Physics - biography.

1954 British Girls’ Championship (16-20 August 1954)— (1) Myrtle Barnes (Bromley) 5; (2-4) M. Evans (Birmingham), B. Kenyon (Cardiff), Margaret Eileen Elizabeth Wood¹ (Sutton Coldfield) 3½; (5) Antoinette Mary Hope Elliott-Fletcher (Richmond - later McLeod) 3; (6) E Shirley Mann (Birmingham) 1½; (7) Margaret Wood² (Bicester) 1.
¹ Margaret Eileen Elizabeth (a.k.a. Peggy) Wood, daughter of Baruch H Wood, married Peter Hugh Clarke
² Margaret Wood, daughter of Frank Wood, Oxford chess official, married Jonathan Penrose)

1954 BCF First Class.—(1) Alan Edgar Nield (St Leonards) 8½; (2-3) J. Johnson (Liverpool), Edward Mann (London) 8; (4) D. Brydon (Newcastle) 7½; (5) John James O'Hanlon (Dublin) 7; (6-10) A. Archer (Kidsgrove/Stoke), Rev. Henry Middleton Blackett (Hastings), Francis Harry Senneck (Sherborne), Arthur George T Stevens (Liverpool), James Vincent Edwards Thornton (Sheffield) 6½; (11-13) H. Hoey (Newry), Austen Lacey Homer (Stourbridge), Robin Humphries Rushton (Luton) 6; (14-17) William John Thornton Dunstan, Leslie Elliott Fletcher¹, Oliver Pritchard (Altrincham), Thomas William Sweby (Luton) 5½; (18-22) Thomas Eagle Lovell Chataway (Stourbridge), Henry Golding (Newport), Hector Royce F Hemmings (Nottingham), George A Peck (aged 86, Rugby), Leopold Winter 5; (23-25) Wolodymyr Fedorko (Nottingham), Harry Starbuck Littlechild (Wisbech), F. Matthews (Grantham) 4½;(26-27) J. Bate (Chester), Maurice Morgan (Hebden Bridge) 4; (28) Rev. Arthur Percival Lacy-Hulbert 3½; (29) E Douglas Fawcett 3; (30) H. H. Levene (Nottingham) ½/6 (Mr. Levene withdrew after 6 rounds).
¹ Leslie Elliott Fletcher (1902-1983), né Leslie Elliott Britton. Author of a chess book, Gambits Accepted. His eldest daughter was (Jean) Lesley (Mary) Elliott-Fletcher (1932-1982) who also played chess. She married another player, Robert Hans Pinner, in 1962. He had another chessplaying daughter, Antoinette Mary Hope (Elliott-)Fletcher, b 1936, known as Toni Elliott-Fletcher, who married Peter McLeod in 1958. Info received from Richard James, 2022.

1954 BCF Second Class.—(1) P. G. Robinson (London) 11/11; (2) Leonard W Oliver (South Shields) 8½; (3) R. D. Hollands (Sale) 7½; (4-5) Miss N. F. Harris, Gregory Owen J Melitus 6½; (6) A E Terrett 6; (7-8) H. W. Bennington, F. C. Shorter 5 each; (9) F. Passingham 4½; (10) S. R. Elvin 3½; (11) —. Kelly 1½; (12) F. Codling ½.

1954 Girls' Junior Tournament (16-20 August 1954)—(1) June Beckett (aged 15, Bromley) 7/7; (2) Janice Cooper (Birmingham) 6; (3) Lily Potter (Birmingham) 5; (4) Marianne Allwright (London) 3½; (5) J. Dawkins (London) 3; (6) Yvonne Selves (London, later Bird) 1½; (7-8) D. Baxter (Birmingham), A. MacDonald (Shortlands) 1 each.

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The Times, 14 August 1954

The British Chess Federation jubilee congress opens on Monday [16 August 1954] at Nottingham University. With a record entry of 187 players the congress is a fitting memorial to that great patron of the game the late J. N. Derbyshire, of Nottingham.

The entry for the British championship is as follows:—G. Abrahams (Liverpool), Dr. J. M. Aitken (Cheltenham), P. B. Anderson (Glasgow), L. W. Barden (London), T. J. Beach (Liverpool), K. Beaumont (Huddersfield), R. M. Bruce (Plymouth), P. H. Clarke (London), P. F. Copping (Swindon), S. C. Davey (Ipswich), Dr. S. Fazekas (Buckhurst Hill), A. Y. Green (London), D. F. Griffiths (Birmingham), E. Hamilton (Middlesbrough), G. F. Harris (Stourbridge), D. V. Hooper (Reigate), D. G. Horseman (Coventry), G. J. Martin (Ilford), R. H. Newman (London), A Phillips (London), H. W. Scarlett (Cambridge), E. G. Sergeant (Kingston Hill), R. F. Streater (Crawley), Miss A. Sunnucks (London), A. R. B. Thomas. (Tiverton), G. H. F. Tredinnick (Purley), R. G. Wade (London), P. N. Wallis (Quorn), H. H. Watts (Southport), and B. H. Wood (Sutton Coldfield). The tournament lasts for 11 rounds and will be run on the Swiss system, by which players of equal, or near equal, scores are paired off to meet each other. Last year’s champion, D. A. Yanofsky, has returned to Canada and so will not be defending his title, and other notable absentees are R. J. Broadbent and P. S. Milner-Barry. The top three of the British team for next month’s international team tournament in Amsterdam, H. O’D. Alexander, J. Penrose, and H. Golombek, have decided to reserve their energies for that event and are not competing at Nottingham.

The entry for the British ladies’ championship, in which all play all, is as follows: Mrs. D. Bourdillon (London). Mrs. R. M. Bruce (Plymouth), Miss H. F. Chater (Belfast), Miss D. Colmer (London), Miss J. P. M. Craker (London), Miss J. F. Doulton (London), Miss L. Fletcher (Richmond), Miss C. M. Murphy (Manchester), Mrs. H. Naidoo (London), Mrs. J. S. Rees (Derby), Mrs. S. M. Steedman (Glasgow), and Miss M. Henniker-Heaton (London). The reigning champion, Miss E. Tranmer, is not taking part.

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The Times, 28 August 1954: "Mr [Gerald] Abrahams collapsed over his board shortly after completing his final game. He was taken to Nottingham General hospital for observation. It is understood that his condition is not serious." (His final game was a loss to Phillips - a win would have given him the Championship - JS)

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Alan Phillips in BCM, July 1988, p299-300: "The highlight, though, was the last round of Nottingham 1954 where Gerald would have become champion outright if he had beaten me. It was a slow Ruy Lopez; I had played d3 and the inaccurate ...Bg4 lost time to a subsequent Ne3. At the adjournment I sealed the beginning of a combination, but even after that the win needed careful checking over the board later, and it is possible that I made the odd noncommittal move in the second session while working it out. Towards the end of the session Gerald offered a draw, which I refused. Two or three moves later Gerald shook hands, muttered something like 'Thank you', got up from the board and walked towards a small group of people standing a few yards away. (sub-headings 'Draw Confusion—Collapse of Stout Party!') I heard Gerald say to them 'It was a draw.' You could have knocked me over with a pawn! I called Gerald back to the board, pointed out that I had agreed nothing of the sort and won a few moves later, whereupon Gerald, who had looked pale throughout, perhaps through eating too much dinner, collapsed. They sent for his bitterest enemy, Dr Fazekas, who quite unmaliciously sent for an ambulance. I looked up at the clock in the university hall, saw it was 10pm and said 'My God, closing time.' So it was, and the nearest pub was two miles from Florence Boot Hall. They carried Gerald away on a stretcher, with Faz. looking on with perhaps only professional concern!"

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Letter to The Times, 6 November 1954

"APPROACH TO CHESS
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES
Sir,—May I suggest, Sir, that the poor showing of British chess teams against Continental opponents arises from a lack of pugnacity? The long series of drawn games in the championship match between Phillips and Barden lends point to this. Our cricketing friends have the remedy, that is to say they give a premium to the outright win. In the next championship a win should count three points and a draw one to each side. That would not only put a premium on aggressive play but would bring to the fore the young and enterprising players our teams so obviously need.
Yours faithfully,
P.N. WALLIS.
14, Loughborough Road, Quorn, Leicestershire."

... and in the 8 November 1954 edition...

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES
Sir,—It is odd that such a letter as that in your columns to-day from Mr. Wallis should come so soon after an English team had achieved at Amsterdam its best performance in international team tournaments since 1930. Probably your correspondent is referring to the crushing defeat suffered at the hands of the Russians earlier in the year. In that case, however, it was not "lack of pugnacity” that was responsible for our heavy defeat but lack of skill and in some cases of experience. The plain fact was that the Russian team consisted of players much better than ours in every department of the game.
The cause for the long series of draws between Barden and Phillips is simply that this is an even match between two players Of highly similar style. That it is a purely fortuitous occurrence in British chess is shown by the course and result of the previous play-off for the British Championship which took place m 1947 between Broadbent and Golombek. In that match Golombek won three games, Broadbent won one, and only two were drawn. This does not mean that Messrs. Barden and Phillips have less aggressive intentions than Broadbent and Golombek, but merely shows that the two latter players had dissimilar styles of play.
Apart from the fact that many cricketers are discontented with the artificial form of awarding points for matches, it must also be observed that no true parallel can be drawn between cricket and chess. So numerous and so grave are the objections that one can hardly take seriously the suggestion that three points should be allotted for a win and one for a draw. For instance, why should a sternly fought game that ended in a draw between two of the strongest players in a tournament between an acknowledged master and promising young player, be reckoned as of so much less weight than a win against one of the weakest players ?
And then, how strange and useless it would be to have one set of values in this country and quite another in the rest of the world. Chess is essentially international, and the erection of so great a barrier as is implied by this point system would do the game nothing but harm here.
I am, Sir, yours, &c.,
YOUR CHESS CORRESPONDENT November 6.

... 12 November 1954, The Times

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES
Sir,—May I, as one of the participants, add my comments to the letters from Mr. Wallis on November 6 and from your Chess Correspondent on November 8 about my match with Phillips for the British Championship ? I believe that the large number of draws was caused neither by lack of pugnacity nor by similarity of style. My strength lies in knowledge of the opening and Phillips’s in aggression in the middle game. Both of us had prepared carefully for the match, so much so that Phillips never emerged with a significant disadvantage from the opening, while I was able to divert the game into other channels whenever he began to prepare a king-side attack. In this way our respective strengths were cancelled out.
A second factor contributed to the large number of draws. After the fifth game each player knew that a single slip would cost him the match, and consequently tended to adopt a waiting strategy not characteristic of the normal tournament style of either of us. I believe the arrangements for such matches in future would be improved if it was decided that, in the event of an equal score after six games, the winner of the next game would be British champion.
As regards Mr. Wallis’s more general statements, I agree with your Correspondent that "lack of pugnacity" is not the root of our troubles. If it was so one would expect British players to draw their games more often than others: yet, of the 12 teams in the final of the World Team Championship at Amsterdam, only one team drew fewer games than Britain. Further, our final position of ninth in an entry of 26 is excellent when one realizes that five of the eight countries above us receive considerable State aid, with all the advantages that that implies.
Yours, &c., L. W. BARDEN
89, Tennison Road, South Norwood.

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Press reports of a food shortage during the congress (on the English Chess Forum - plus reminiscences by Leonard Barden)

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File Updated

Date	Notes
26 April 2016	74 of a possible 165 games, plus 3 game fragments, 13 games from other sections and the 10 games of the Barden-Phillips play-off match. Full results and some crosstables.
2 May 2021	Now 80 of a possible 165 games, etc, with the addition of Dr Aitken's missing games, input by Geoff Chandler. I've also added some crosstable information, full forenames, etc.
30 December 2021	11 games added, played by (Lewis) John Cannon in the Major Open, kindly supplied by Brian Denman. I've also added further detail to the results, such as forenames and places of residence where discoverable.
31 December 2021	I am grateful to Sean Coffey for drawing my attention to the fact that AJ Leggett (Staines) who scored 5½/11 in the British Boys' (U18) Championship is now Sir Anthony James Leggett, winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize for Physics - biography.
13 October 2022	Added a game from the Under-18 Championship: M.Nicholson 0-1 D.J.P.Gray. Contributed by Gerard Killoran via the English Chess Forum, 12 October 2022, for which many thanks.
17 June 2024	Added the game S.R.Hossell 1-0 J.G.Brogden (Major Open).
25 November 2024	Added a snippet from the game T Sweby ½-½ O Pritchard (First Class, rd 11). Many thanks to Gerard Killoran who contributed it via the English Chess Forum.