British Chess Championships, Great Yarmouth 2007

There are several important changes to the Championships this year and I would like to take this opportunity to inform you about the new policies.

Firstly this is the first event for a decade which has not been supported by a major sponsor. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Smith & Williamson for their magnificent sponsorship over the years. We are maintaining our links with the company and are grateful for all that they have done for us.

You will be aware that the funds received from the John Robinson bequest will contribute significantly to the event and we can also commit the reserves that have been built up over the past 3 years so that our budgeted expenditure for 2007 will be for the same total amount as the actual expenditure for 2006.

The main significant change to the way the money is spent is a reduction in the prize fund of the British Championship itself and a return to appearance fees for the top British players. I will be expanding upon this point over the next couple of weeks.

I am changing the rates of play in some events to introduce a proper lunch break. More and more venues consist of a single large playing hall and it is impossible to provide good playing conditions during the period 1.30pm to 2.15pm in the main playing hall. I am restricting the 4 Graded Championships to adults. A non-Championship Junior event has been introduced in which a player will play 2 games a day against the same opponent at a rate of 1 hour for all moves in each game.

In Championship Events other than the British Championship itself, the residential qualification has been reduced from 3 years to 1 year. This reflects the more dynamic nature of twenty-first century life.

Now I am happy to come on to two innovations which are increases to the budget.

Firstly, an anonymous donor has generously given a sum of money to be used towards English prizes in the British Championship itself. The sum of £1500 will go as an additional prize to the highest placed English player in the British Championship and the sum of £500 will go as an additional prize to the highest placed English female player. These two players will be recognised as English Champion and English Lady Champion.

Secondly, the Robinson Junior Trust has agreed to donate a considerable sum for the provision of coaches to assist the players in the Junior Championships. It is hoped that there will be both seminars and the opportunity for players to find out how they went wrong! Again, I will be working on the details of this innovation during the next few weeks.

I hope you will take advantage of the changes that have been introduced and look forward to an exciting collection of Championships. Even though the list of innovations is long, I am still hoping to have a few more surprises, so please keep an eye on the ECF website.

Neville Belinfante is Congress Secretary this year and will be taking the entries. He is most easily contacted by e-mail () if you have a query which cannot be answered by reading the Entry Form and the website.

I will try to answer any questions about policy, but I have spent far too much time abroad or away from my home in Liverpool recently. Please be patient as I try to catch up with a considerable back-log.

David Welch
Manager of Congress Chess