Chess fans, we have some great news for you – the Surrey Chess Congress is back.
Once an essential part of the chess calendar in one of the English game’s most active counties, the event died a death 11 long years ago.
But now, while so many other congresses are disappearing in similar fashion, the Surrey congress has – at last – been resurrected.
The Surrey County Chess Association revealed today that the 38th edition of the Surrey Chess Congress will take place between October 26 and 28 at Kingston University.
As usual, there will be sections that cater for all levels, but strong players should particularly take note.
That’s because the Open event incorporates the Southern Counties Chess Union (SCCU) championship, with the winner being crowned SCCU Champion.
It means the SCCU Champion, if not already qualified, will qualify for a place in the next British Chess Championships due to take place in Torquay next July.
The congress will be run in conjunction with Kingston Chess Club and the well-known organiser Adam Raoof.
To download the congress flyer with full details on how to enter, click here.
History of the Surrey Chess Congress
First organised in connection with the centenary of Kingston Chess Club in 1975, by the late 1990s the Surrey Congress had become the third largest congress in the country after the British Championships and Hastings.
Possibly the peak year was 1997 when there were 459 entries in its seven separate tournaments held at Sutton Library over the four days of the Easter bank holiday weekend and the 101 strong Open section was won by GM Michael Adams.
The refurbishment of Sutton Library in 2000 (and an increase in the rent) sent the Congress on the road with new venues at various schools (and one year at Surrey University) before it settled down at Nonsuch High School in Cheam in 2007 for a period of about six years.
Although Nonsuch was a good venue we saw a continuing decline in numbers in the adult events from 161 in 2007 to around 100 in 2012.
During the latter years at Nonsuch the adult events were cross-subsidised by an increasingly successful Junior Congress run by Marda Dixon.
The Junior Congress took over the main (sports) hall on Easter Monday and an adult rapidplay was held in the smaller hall while the adult standard play events were reduced to 6 rounds run over 3 days.
There was no adult congress in 2013 and an attempt to run a ”bare bones” congress in Guildford in 2014 was abandoned due to the very low number of entries received. There has been no adult congress since
