The Rules, notwithstanding things we've said here in the course of October, are a slightly amended version of last year's. They are on this site (see page header). This is what has gone to the match captains, and it is not the same as the rules on the BCF site.
OPEN
10 entries (10 last year)
Seeded teams are underlined in the first-round draw, with their ranking in brackets. The seeding is based on performance over the last three years. Round 1 (by 12th January) Cavendish 4 2 Maidstone (4); Hastings & St Leonards 2½ 3½ Wood Green (1); The Hen & Chickens (5) 4½ 1½ Athenaeum; Bedford (2) 5 1 Hounslow; Ilford (3) 4½ 1½ Mushrooms Round 2 (by 2nd March) Kingston ½ 5½ Ilford; Cavendish 5 1 Hen & Chickens; byes Wood Green, Bedford. Kingston were not in the first-round draw. They got a bye as a late entry. Semi-finals (by 27th April) Ilford 3½ 2½ Bedford; Wood Green 2½ 3½ Cavendish Final 29.6.03 Cavendish 3½ 2½ Ilford PLATE Round 1 Hounslow w/o scr Hastings & St Leonards; byes Athenaeum, Maidstone, Mushrooms Semi-finals Maidstone 3 3 *Hounslow; Athenaeum 2½ 3½ Mushrooms Final 29.6.03 Hounslow 0 6 Mushrooms
Open
Major
MinorRapidplayhome MAJOR U160
27 entries (18 last year). Three teams have been added since the entry deadline. Round 1 (by 15th December) Milton Keynes ½ 4½ Metropolitan A; Metropolitan B 2 3 Wanstead & Woodford; Writtle 4½ ½ Aylesbury; Tunbridge Wells 3 2 Wood Green; The Holt 2 3 Cosham; Hastings & St Leonards 3½ 1½ Hammersmith; Maidstone w/o scr Kings Head; Brown Jack [Swindon] B* 2½ 2½ Bourne End; Basingstoke Juniors 3 2 Brown Jack A; Gloucester 2½ 2½ *Lichfield; Rose Forgrove B* 2½ 2½ Loughborough; Prescot and Knotty Ash 1 4 Morecambe; Liverpool 1½ 3½ Rose Forgrove A; Bye Shell (Essex)
Round 2 (by 16th February) Basingstoke Juniors 3 2 Writtle; Cosham 2½ 2½ *Brown Jack B; Lichfield 3 2 Rose Forgrove A; Morecambe 3 2 Rose Forgrove B; Shell 2 3 Maidstone; Wanstead & Woodford 4½ ½ Tunbridge Wells; Byes Hastings & St Leonards, Metropolitan A
Round 3 QF (by 13th April) Lichfield 3 2 Morecambe; Brown Jack B 2 3 Wanstead & Woodford; Maidstone 2½ 2½ *Basingstoke Juniors; Metropolitan A 2½ 2½ *Hastings & St Leonards Semi-finals (by 1st June) Basingstoke Juniors 3 2 Hastings & St Leonards; Wanstead & Woodford* 2½ 2½ Lichfield Final 29.6.03 Wanstead & Woodford 1 4 Basingstoke Juniors PLATE Round 1 Brown Jack A 3 2 Gloucester; Hammersmith 1 4 Aylesbury; Kings Head scr w/o The Holt; Loughborough 3 2 Prescot & Knotty Ash; Wood Green* 2½ 2½ Milton Keynes; Byes Bourne End, Liverpool, Metropolitan B Round 2 (by 13th April) Aylesbury 3 2 Brown Jack A; Bourne End 3½ 1½ Wood Green; Metropolitan B 2 3 The Holt; Loughborough w/o scr Liverpool Semi-finals Bourne End 4 1 Loughborough; Aylesbury 2 3 The Holt Final 29.6.03 Bourne End 1½ 3½ The Holt
OpenMajor
Minor
Rapidplayhome MINOR U125
24 entries (24 last year) Round 1 (deadline not known) Southend Juniors lost to Kings Head; Hayes Middx 2½ 2½ *Athenaeum; Chislehurst 1 4 Eastbourne; Rainham Kent beat Hesperides (to judge by their appearance in the next round); Hove 3½ 1½ Cosham (?); Tunbridge Wells 2½ 2½ *Hastings; Leighton Buzzard 2 3 Ashfield; Basingstoke 4½ ½ Camberley; Xerox (location not known) 1½ 3½ Newark (don't know which); Lancaster 1½ 3½ Southport; Copperworks 3 2 Alwoodley; Buckley Mold 3½ 1½ Aberystwyth Round 2 (by 16th February) Copperworks ½ 4½ Newark; Southport 2 3 Buckley Mold; Hastings 3½ 1½ Rainham; Basingstoke w/o scr Kings Head. Byes Athenaeum, Cosham, Ashfield, Eastbourne Round 3 QF (by 13th April) Newark 4½ ½ Buckley Mold; Basingstoke 2 3 Ashfield; Eastbourne 2 3 Cosham; Athenaeum 3 2 Hastings & St Leonards Semi-finals (by 8th June) Athenaeum v Newark; Ashfield 2½ 2½ *Cosham. We hear 22.6.03 that Cosham believe themselves to be playing Newark in the Final. Final 29.6.03 And so they were. Newark 3 2 Cosham PLATE Round 1 Alwoodley w/o scr Lancaster; Aberystwyth 2 3 Xerox; Woodpushers (Hove) 3 2 Hesperides**; Leighton Buzzard 1 4 Chislehurst. Byes Hayes, Camberley, Southend Juniors, Tunbridge Wells
** Result amended 24.2.03 (previously given by the Controller as 2-3) Round 2 QF Alwoodley 4½ ½ Xerox; Chislehurst 4 1 Southend Juniors; Hayes Middx 3 2 Camberley; Tunbridge Wells 1½ 3½ Woodpushers Semi-finals Chislehurst* 2½ 2½ Hayes Middx; Woodpushers v Alwoodley. We gather, at third hand from the Alwoodley website, that Alwoodley won. Final 8.7.03 Alwoodley* 2½ 2½ Chislehurst
Last year's Plate Final
1.4.03
We hear that last year's Plate Final (between Hastings and Hereford) is subject to litigation about whether to use last year's grades, or this year's, or next year's.
24.6.03
It's June, and this is not a leg-pull. Our latest information, and it doesn't come a lot closer to the day, is that this match won't happen. Its date was announced at the April Finance meeting as 28th June, then corrected next day to 29th. See BCF page. This morning the Hereford Secretary, whose club had heard nothing about it, received a letter from one CFW Johnson stating that the date arranged [which they didn't know about, and he still didn't tell them it] had proved impossible and the title would be shared. Each side will get 100% of the top prize. We haven't asked Hastings what they've heard. [Later: we have now, and we think both sides are content.]
OpenMajorMinorRapidplayhome HANDICAP RAPIDPLAY
For the Geoff Kendall Cup and £500 prize money. Toller United Reformed Church, Kettering, Sunday 27 April 2003.
A 6-round Swiss for teams of 4 with 20 minutes per player per game, and final placings determined after deducting handicap points based on the average grade of the team. Handicaps:
100-119
120-139
140-159
160-179
180-199
1
4
7
10
13
16 teams were understood to have entered, of which two had withdrawn in advance and four failed to show up on the day. A Cavendish II team which did not seem to be expected by the organisers also arrived but only comprised three players, and nearly led to an issue as to the implications of this for its average grade. After a slightly confused opening round, with Bedford and Wanstead & Woodford I being re-paired against each other with a truncated time limit, the event settled down, ran smoothly (albeit with a bye and a default in each round) and finished punctually, with a generally good time being had by all. Scores
1 Syston 8½ (12½ before handicap)
2 Guildford 7½ (17½)
3 Wanstead & Woodford II 7 (11)
4 Wanstead & Woodford I 6½ (13½)
Northampton 6½ (13½)
6 Kettering 6 (7)
7 Cavendish II 5½ (12½)
8 Cavendish I 4 (14)
9 Crowthorne 3½ (16½)
10 Bedford -½ (12½)
Mushrooms -½ (12½)
Scores corrected 30.4.03. Bye scored 1 before handicap, against Cavendish II. We'd like to think he didn't come bottom, but we don't know what his handicap was.
It is proposed that next year's Championship will also be a single event, to be held in October/November.
Results John Philpott, Cyril Johnson