1978 (2nd) Aaronson Open, Harrow, London, 15-17 September

Rank	1978 Aaronson Open	Total
1	GM Vlastimil Hort (CZE, 2600)	5½
2-10	Uri Avner (ISR, 2400), IM George S Botterill (WLS, 2390), Roger Emerson (ENG), IM Janos Flesch (HUN, 2430), GM Gyoso Forintos (HUN, 2425), IM Bachtiar Kouatly (LEB, 2335), GM Bojan Kurajica (YUG, 2515), GM Anthony J Miles (ENG, 2560), GM John DM Nunn (ENG, 2500)	5
11-17	Bruce Rind (USA, 2410), Michael A Pagden (ENG, 2265), IM Craig W Pritchett (SCO, 2405), David P Lynch (ENG), Derek G Horseman, GM Rosendo Balinas (PHI, 2365), Julian M Hodgson (ENG, 2285)	4½
18-?	GM Vlastimil Jansa (CZE, 2495), IM Stefano Tatai (ITA, 2475), IM Bela Toth (ITA, 2470), IM Aldo Haik (FRA, 2435), IM Robert Bellin (ENG, 2425), Peter J Sowray (ENG, 2210), John G Nicholson (ENG, 2310), Simon J B Knott (ENG, 2210), Peter M Jamieson (SCO, 2315), Chris M Cooley (ENG), David H Cummings (ENG, 2265), Glenn C Flear (ENG, 2320), Michael J Basman (ENG, 2405), Rene Borngaesser (FRG, 2370), Bernard Cafferty (ENG, 2305), John C Saunders (ENG), etc.	4

The Guardian, 18 September 1978

CHESS BOY SETS RECORD

By our Chess Correspondent

Julian Hodgson, aged 15, of St Paul’s School, this weekend became the youngest chess player ever to defeat two Grand Masters in successive tournament games.

Competing in the Aaronson congress at Harrow, Julian outplayed Filipino Rosendo Balinas in round one, then beat John Nunn, England’s new Grand Master, in round two. He scored 4½.

The previous youngest player to achieve such a double was Bobby Fischer at the age of 17.

Entries for the congress, in which nearly 900 players are taking part, include seven Grand Masters and eight international masters, the strongest-ever for a European weekend event.

[list of winners as above]

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The Guardian, 7 October 1978

All proceeds from last month's Aaronson congress at the Harrow Leisure Centre go to a chess trust designed to support new opportunities for Britain’s talented young players. The congress, with £1,000 first prize in the Open, again proved a great success in its second year with nearly 900 participants. At the top, with seven GMs and eight IMs taking part, it was the strongest weekend tournament ever held in Britain and probably in Europe.

The favourite and best player won. Vlastimil Hort showed the power of an elite grandmaster as he totalled 5½ out of 6, including 3½/4 against IMs. Following with 5/6 were GMs Forintos, Kurajica, Miles and Nunn, IMs Botterill, Flesch and Kouatly, and untitled players Avner (Israel) and Emerson (Surrey).

Emerson beat two IMs, Haik and Toth, but this feat paled besides Julian Hodgson’s achievement at age 15 in defeating two grandmasters in successive rounds and then drawing with Tony Miles. Little more than a year after Nigel Short’s victory over Penrose, Julian’s success is another landmark in the advance of our new generation which this column has frequently chronicled. The previous youngest British win over a grandmaster was the defeat of Bogolyubov by Penrose, then aged 16, at Southsea 1950, a result which I always recall with a pang of envy since I drew with Bogolyubov the round before. The previous youngest win over two grandmasters in successive games seems to be Bobby Fischer’s double at Leipzig 1960 against Szaho and Euwe when aged 17 — Fischer would no doubt have done it earlier given the right pairings.

There’s no problem in deciding which games to give this week. [scores of Balinas-Hodgson & Hodgson-Nunn]

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BCM, February 1979, p70

Aaronson Congress — (15th-17th Sept 1978). For the record, the Open was won by V.Hort (CZ) ahead of 2-10 U.Avner (IL), G.Botterill (W), R. Emerson, J.Flesch (H), G.Forintos (H), G. [sic] Kouatly (LEB), B.Kurajica (Y), A.Miles and J.Nunn; ... The
Major ended in a triple tie between J. Anderson, I. Robson, F. da Silva. There were many other sections with total number of entries going towards the thousand mark. The results reached us too late for proper publication in November.

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CHESS, January 1979, Vol.44/809-10, p126

879 entered the 2nd Aaronson congress, Harrow, 15-17 September. In the Open; (1) V. Hort Czechoslovakia 5½/6; (2-10) U. Avner Israel, G. Botterill Wales, R. Emerson Surrey, J. Flesch, G. Forintos, both Hungary, G. [sic] Kouatly Lebanon, B. Kurajica Yugoslavia, A. J. Miles Birmingham, J. Nunn Oxford U. 5.

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John Saunders: Personal Note of the Event

My scorebook has some details. Chris Cooley beat GM Vlastimil Jansa in round one - I've not seen a game score. The first prize was £1,000 and the nine players on 5/6 received £101.50 each.

The 1978 Open had more than £3,000 in prizes (there were full page adverts on the back of the July and August 1978 BCMs) and were organised by members of Harrow Chess Club on behalf of the Aaronson Chess Foundation (trustees Harry Golombek, Michael Stean, Bill Phillips - the latter was also tournament secretary). Peter Morrish was chief arbiter, with Mike Sinclair as assistant arbiter. It was held in a huge, well-lit room at the Harrow Leisure Centre. The time limit was 40/100mins followed by 10/15 mins, then 10 minutes for the remaining moves. The time limit changed in round five to 45/120 mins, then 10/15 mins and 10 minutes for all the moves.

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File Updated

Date	Notes
9 September 2025	First upload. 31 games plus details of high scorers and reports from magazines and newspapers.