11 Nov 2007 - HCC Gradings through the years

An Historic Look at Horsham Chess Club Gradings.

By John Cannon

Steve Baines recently posed the question of what have been the highest grades reached by Horsham C.C. players. He wondered how long the grading system has been in existence, and how strong Horsham teams could have been, had the club’s leading players during the grading era all been available at the same time. I delved into the archives, and came up with the following.

The very first B.C.F. Grading list was published in September 1954. At first grades were given as four-digit numbers, but since 1965 they have been on the same three-digit basis as today, albeit with some tweaking of the calculations, notably to take account of rapidly rising juniors.  Up until 1971, published grades were grouped into bands, each of which encompassed a range of consecutive figures. The bands were designated from 1A and 1B to 6A and 6B, with 1A to 3B containing the country’s elite players.  I was in 5A in 1954, and fluctuated between 5A and 4A until the bands were abolished in 1972. I reached 195 in 1965, left the 190s for good in 1973, the 1980s in 1976, the 170s in 1984, the 160s in 1993, and was last in the 150s in 1999 - a descent that has been largely mirrored by those of my university contemporaries.  The proliferation of chess literature and knowledge, the influence of the internet, advancing age, faster time limits, the march of the younger generation, and the sheer amount of chess now being played are all factors in the decline. The general improvement and levelling of playing standards seen in the chess world since the 1972 Fisher–Spassky World Championship Match has a parallel in professional tennis, where tournaments have proliferated in response to extra finance on offer, and improved racquet technology has largely standardised styles of play.

I have examined the published grades of all Horsham C.C. members since 1969, and the following 26 players all exceeded 160 whilst being current and active club members. As in other fields, comparisons between different eras are of course essentially speculative, and it is significant that half the listings are prior to 1980, when the club was much smaller than it is now, and less chess was played in general.  None of the quoted Horsham grades is a current one.

Steven Hawes peaked @ 199 in 1975; Richard Power @ 198 in 1970; John Cannon @ 195 in 1965; Gavin Lock @194 in 2006; Matthew Gillings @190 in 1995; Brian Donnelly @ 186 in 2006 (Brian had obtained the IM title in the 1980s, and represented Zimbabwe in an Olympiad); Chris MacArthur @ 182 in 1971; Steve Baines @ 179 in 1990; James Mansson @ 178 in 1996 and 97; Julian Goodare @ 178 in 1980; Peter Leat @ 178 in 1977; Chris Cropp @ 177 in 1983; Paul Kington @ 175 in 1974 (during his first spell of membership); Dix Roberts @ 173 in 2004; Chris Jones @172 in 1996 (now with Worthing); Bernard Bruno @172 in 1974 (now with Worthing); Derek Leach @ 167 in 1970; Brian Locke @ 164 in 1970; Peter Harbott @164 in 2003; Ian Comley @ 164 in 1992; John Scholey @ 164 in 1971 (now with East Grinstead); John Brookes @ 162 in 1989 (After he left Horsham, John's OTB grade climbed to the high 170s, and he gained the correspondence GM title); Dave Hurrucks @ 162 in 1993; Peter Rice @ 162 in 1973 (currently a regular in the Hertfordshire County Open team); Ben French @ 161 in 1970; and Jack Smith @ 161 in 1975.

Incidentally, it is noteworthy that Julie Denning is the third Horsham player to make an impact on the wider chess community as a grader. Until the early 1970s, Ben French was the first Southern Counties Chess Union Grader, a post later occupied for a number of years by Brian Locke. (Brian was also the Horsham treasurer, and the club notice board is dedicated to his memory).