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British Chess Championship 1949-2016: Comparison of 11 round scores with 9 round scores
List compiled by John Saunders - please report any errors spotted to me.
The first four columns of the table below show all the British chess champions and their scores during the 68-year period from 1949 to 2016 when the championship was run as an 11-round Swiss tournament. (Prior to 1949 it had been a 12-player all-play-all.) As for columns five and six: I have compiled a list of the players who were in the lead after nine rounds of the championship. This is just for fun - please don't take it too seriously!
In 2017 the championship was reformatted as a nine-round Swiss tournament, so it is interesting to compare today's performances with what would have happened had the tournament always been played over nine rounds. Column 5 shows the leader(s) after nine rounds for the years in question. Where the champion would have been the same, the player's name is shown in ordinary black type in the fifth column below. In the case of a tie-break, I have shown the name(s) of the unsuccessful player(s) in brackets in column two. Where the "champion" would have been different (or more than two players would have tied on the same score) over nine rounds, I have shown their names in red. Of course, none of this proves anything, though I suppose that some of the gentlemen in red, like Marlon Brando in "On The Waterfront," can console themselves with the thought that they "could have been a contender". Better than a contender - a champion. But chess, like life, is rarely fair.
The upshot is that, in 14 of these 68 championships, there would have been a different name on the trophy had the 'music stopped' after round nine. And in a further 20 cases, there might have been a different champion depending on the result of a tie-break/play-off. Finally, in two cases a player who shared the title would have won outright.
One other stat that is of interest is the number of times that the championship has resulted in multiple winners over 11 rounds, and how that would have differed had it always been a nine-round event. The answer is that it finished in a tie on 14 occasions, and, had it been played over nine rounds, it would have finished in a tie on 24 occasions. 14 equates to a percentage of 20.5% and 24 to a percentage of 35.2%. So, on the face of it, it does look as though the shorter format could lead to a few more ties and play-offs.
I repeat, this is simply for fun. I have no axe to grind about the championship's format, and no strong opinion on the format either way. John Saunders.
I have compiled these stats from multiple sources including British Chess Magazine, British/English Chess Federation Yearbooks and crosstables generated from ChessBase files. I apologise in advance for any errors.
| Year | Venue | Most points over 11 rounds | Final score after 11 rounds | Most Points over the first 9 rounds | Score after 9 rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | Felixstowe | Harry Golombek | 8.5 | Harry Golombek | 7.5 |
| 1950 | Buxton | Reginald Broadbent | 8.5 | Stuart Milner-Barry | 7.5 |
| 1951 | Swansea | Ernest Klein | 8.5 | Reginald Broadbent | 7.5 |
| 1952 | Chester | Bob Wade | 8 | Bob Wade, Alan Phillips | 7 |
| 1953 | Hastings | Abe Yanofsky | 9.5 | Abe Yanofsky | 7.5 |
| 1954 | Nottingham | Leonard Barden, Alan Phillips | 8 | Leonard Barden (outright) | 7 |
| 1955 | Aberystwyth | Harry Golombek | 8.5 | Harry Golombek, Stuart Milner-Barry, Bob Wade, Frank Parr | 6.5 |
| 1956 | Blackpool | Hugh Alexander | 9.5 | Hugh Alexander, Frank Parr | 7.5 |
| 1957 | Plymouth | Stefan Fazekas | 8 | Peter Clarke, Bob Wade, Leonard Barden | 6.5 |
| 1958 | Leamington | Jonathan Penrose, (Leonard Barden) | 8.5 | Leonard Barden | 7.5 |
| 1959 | York | Jonathan Penrose, (Michael Haygarth, Harry Golombek) | 8 | Michael Haygarth, Harry Golombek | 7 |
| 1960 | Leicester | Jonathan Penrose | 8.5 | Jonathan Penrose | 7 |
| 1961 | Aberystwyth | Jonathan Penrose | 8.5 | Jonathan Penrose | 7 |
| 1962 | Whitby | Jonathan Penrose | 8.5 | Jonathan Penrose | 7 |
| 1963 | Bath | Jonathan Penrose | 8.5 | Jonathan Penrose | 7.5 |
| 1964 | Whitby | Michael Haygarth | 9 | Michael Haygarth | 7.5 |
| 1965 | Hastings | Peter Lee | 8.5 | Peter Lee, Jonathan Penrose, Michael Franklin, Norman Littlewood | 6.5 |
| 1966 | Sunderland | Jonathan Penrose | 8.5 | Jonathan Penrose | 7.5 |
| 1967 | Oxford | Jonathan Penrose | 8.5 | Jonathan Penrose | 7.5 |
| 1968 | Bristol | Jonathan Penrose | 8.5 | Jonathan Penrose | 7 |
| 1969 | Rhyl | Jonathan Penrose | 8 | Jonathan Penrose | 7 |
| 1970 | Coventry | Bob Wade | 8 | Bob Wade, Bill Hartston, Max Fuller | 6.5 |
| 1971 | Blackpool | Ray Keene | 8 | Ray Keene | 7 |
| 1972 | Brighton | Brian Eley | 8 | Brian Eley, Jonathan Penrose | 6.5 |
| 1973 | Eastbourne | Bill Hartston, (Mike Basman) | 8.5 | Bill Hartston, Andrew Whiteley | 7 |
| 1974 | Clacton | George Botterill, (Robert Bellin, Bill Hartston, Michael Haygarth, Jon Mestel, Michael Stean, Howard Williams) | 7 | Jon Mestel | 6.5 |
| 1975 | Morecambe | Bill Hartston | 8 | Bill Hartston | 7 |
| 1976 | Portsmouth | Jon Mestel | 9.5 | Jon Mestel | 9 |
| 1977 | Brighton | George Botterill | 8.5 | George Botterill, Shaun Taulbut | 6.5 |
| 1978 | Ayr | Jon Speelman | 8.5 | Jon Speelman, Jim Plaskett | 7 |
| 1979 | Chester | Robert Bellin, (John Nunn, Nigel Short) | 8 | Nigel Short | 7 |
| 1980 | Brighton | John Nunn, (Bill Hartston) | 8 | Bill Hartston, Mike Basman | 6.5 |
| 1981 | Morecambe | Paul Littlewood | 9 | Paul Littlewood | 8 |
| 1982 | Torquay | Tony Miles | 9 | Tony Miles | 7.5 |
| 1983 | Southport | Jon Mestel | 8.5 | Jon Mestel, Julian Hodgson | 7 |
| 1984 | Brighton | Nigel Short | 8.5 | Nigel Short, Jim Plaskett | 7 |
| 1985 | Edinburgh | Jon Speelman | 9 | Jon Speelman | 7.5 |
| 1986 | Southampton | Jon Speelman, (Jon Mestel, Murray Chandler) | 8 | Jon Speelman, Jon Mestel | 7 |
| 1987 | Swansea | Nigel Short | 9.5 | Nigel Short | 8.5 |
| 1988 | Blackpool | Jon Mestel | 8.5 | Jon Mestel, Glenn Flear, Julian Hodgson | 7 |
| 1989 | Plymouth | Mickey Adams | 8.5 | Jim Plaskett | 7 |
| 1990 | Eastbourne | Jim Plaskett | 9 | Jim Plaskett, Jon Mestel, Daniel King | 7 |
| 1991 | Eastbourne | Julian Hodgson | 9 | Julian Hodgson | 8 |
| 1992 | Plymouth | Julian Hodgson | 10 | Julian Hodgson | 8 |
| 1993 | Dundee | Michael Hennigan, (Dharshan Kumaran) | 8.5 | Michael Hennigan | 7.5 |
| 1994 | Norwich | Willie Watson | 9 | Willie Watson | 7.5 |
| 1995 | Swansea | Matthew Sadler | 8.5 | Jon Levitt | 7 |
| 1996 | Nottingham | Chris Ward | 9 | Chris Ward | 7.5 |
| 1997 | Hove | Mickey Adams, Matthew Sadler, (John Emms, Tony Miles) | 8 | Tony Kosten | 7 |
| 1998 | Torquay | Nigel Short, (Matthew Sadler) | 8.5 | Nigel Short, Matthew Sadler | 7.5 |
| 1999 | Scarborough | Julian Hodgson | 9 | Julian Hodgson | 8 |
| 2000 | Street | Julian Hodgson | 8.5 | Julian Hodgson, Chris Ward | 7 |
| 2001 | Scarborough | Joe Gallagher | 8 | Joe Gallagher | 7 |
| 2002 | Torquay | RB Ramesh | 8.5 | Luke McShane | 7 |
| 2003 | Edinburgh | Abhijit Kunte | 8.5 | Abhijit Kunte, Pentala Harikrishna | 7 |
| 2004 | Scarborough | Jonathan Rowson | 8.5 | Jonathan Rowson, Peter Wells | 7 |
| 2005 | Douglas | Jonathan Rowson | 8.5 | Jonathan Rowson, Stuart Conquest | 7 |
| 2006 | Swansea | Jonathan Rowson | 8.5 | Jonathan Parker | 7 |
| 2007 | Great Yarmouth | Jacob Aagaard | 8.5 | Jacob Aagaard | 7.5 |
| 2008 | Liverpool | Stuart Conquest, (Keith Arkell) | 8 | Stuart Conquest, Gawain Jones, Stephen Gordon, Simon Williams, Bogdan Lalic | 6.5 |
| 2009 | Torquay | David Howell | 9 | David Howell | 7.5 |
| 2010 | Canterbury | Mickey Adams | 9.5 | Mickey Adams | 8 |
| 2011 | Sheffield | Mickey Adams, (Nigel Short) | 8.5 | Mickey Adams | 7.5 |
| 2012 | North Shields | Gawain Jones, (Stephen Gordon) | 9 | Gawain Jones, Stephen Gordon | 7.5 |
| 2013 | Torquay | David Howell | 9.5 | David Howell | 8 |
| 2014 | Aberystwyth | Jonathan Hawkins, David Howell | 8.5 | Jonathan Hawkins (outright) | 7.5 |
| 2015 | Coventry | Jonathan Hawkins | 8.5 | Danny Gormally, Nick Pert | 7 |
| 2016 | Bournemouth | Mickey Adams | 10 | Mickey Adams | 8 |
| 14 ties after 11 rounds (20.5%) | 24 ties after 9 rounds (35.2%) |