Ilford Congress History
- Details
- Created on Wednesday, 14 September 2011 19:23
- Written by Chesster
Appeal - Readers who have something to contribute to this history, whether it be tournament records, reminiscences, games, photographs, etc., are invited to contact the Webmaster.
The first Congress was organised by Ilford Chess Club in May 1950 to celebrate the club’s 50th anniversary. Taken over by the Essex Chess Association in 1951, our annual event has continued without a break ever since.
Having had a stable location in Ilford for its first 28 years, the Congress moved around the County for the next 19 years, before returning to its roots. Here are the dates and locations:
1950-1977 Ilford County High School for Girls, Gants Hill (28 years) *
1978-1982 Wanstead Sports Centre (5)
1983-1992 Coopers School, Upminster (10)
1993-1995 Barking Abbey School, Barking (3)
1996-1999 Woodlands School, Basildon (4)
2000-2001 Valentines High School, Gants Hill (2) *
2002-2010 Redbridge Institute, Gants Hill (9)
2011 Abbs Cross School, Hornchurch - Event cancelled (0)
* same building even if the school has changed in some ways.
For many years, when held at the Ilford County High School for Girls, Gants Hill, the Congress was organised in all-play-all sections of six players. The top section, the Premier, was an invitation event and was always played in a roped-off area in the centre of the main playing hall. Below that, there would be the 'Premier Reserves' sections, perhaps A and B, and the Major sections, at least seven of those - the Webmaster has record of having played in Major 'G' in 1966 - and Junior sections. All were groups of six, all-play-all. The first round was played on the Friday evening, two rounds on Saturday, followed by Round 4 on Sunday and Round 5 on Bank Holiday Monday.
From 1968 the Swiss pairing system was adopted with fewer, larger, tournaments and six rounds instead of five, as we know it today. Sadly, the sequence of Congresses was broken after 61 years, when the 2011 Congress had to be cancelled due to an insufficient take up of entries. Whether the decision to move to a new location in Hornchurch, to reduce venue costs, was a factor is not known.