Historical winners list (1908 – 2017) | Archive of previous years – 2010-2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 100 Years of the County Championship
The 103rd Counties Championship Final played on Saturday 30 June
Congratulations to Surrey on their 8th Championship; the final, played at Newark against Northumberland, was too close to call on team exchange and for a long part of the afternoon before Surrey’s middle order took control. A clash between the reigning NCCU and SCCU 2024 Champions. Surrey were runners-up in 2023 on tie break and last won the Championship in 2013.
Scorecard: Championship
Congratulations also to the 2024 rating-limited section Champions whose finals were played on Saturday 6 July.
Minor Counties – Sussex on 1st tie-break (having won the semi-final also on tie break), last won in 1996
U2050 – Greater Manchester (also NCCU Champions) , last won in 1993 (U175)
U1850 – Greater Manchester on first tie break (also NCCU Champions) last won in 2012 (U160)
U1650 – Yorkshire (also NCCU Champions), retain their title.
U1450 – Middlesex (also SCCU Champions), a first in this section.
The tie-breaks were (1) lowest board count of games won (2) elimination of lowest board score until tie is broken (3) team with black on board 1
The Finals – Results
Open – Northumberland 6 – 10 Surrey (Newark Congregational Church Hall)
Minor Counties – Sussex 8* – 8 Lincolnshire (Whittlesford Memorial Hall)
U2050 – Greater Manchester 12½ – 3½ Cleveland (Bradford Latvian Centre)
U1850 – Hertfordshire 8 – 8* Greater Manchester (Warwick University, Coventry)
U1650 – Greater Manchester 6 – 10 Yorkshire (Bradford Latvian Centre)
U1450 – Middlesex 8 – 4 Essex (Whittlesford Memorial Hall)
Matches were played over 16 boards except for the U1450, which was played over 12 boards, at the above regional venues chosen by the ECF Home Director. Matchcard pairings and results for each final can be viewed at the following ECF LMS links —
Minor Counties | U2050 | U1850 | U1650 | U1450
Replay the Games
Open
Livechess: https://view.livechesscloud.com/#a146de3b-7629-4faf-adac-1096e93a6aa7
Lichess: https://lichess.org/broadcast/counties-open-2024/round-1/tOCcfkni
Minor Counties
Lichess: https://lichess.org/broadcast/ecf-county-championship-minor-counties/round-1/OuEJ7R0A#boards
PGN files
Open 2024 | Minor Counties 2024 | U2050 | U1850 | U1650 | U1450
More galleries
Open
Mark Murrell/Richard Buxton
Under 2050 / U1600 [new page]
https://www.englishchess.org.uk/counties-championships-2024-u2050-u1650-gallery/
Under 1850
Matt Ball/Chun Chui
Minor Counties/Under 1450
Mark Murrell/Rob Hammond
Commentary on the Open Final
Finals Control/Arbiting Team
Controller: Mark Murrell; Chief Arbiters: IA Lara Barnes (rated limited events); IA Adrian Elwin (Open); Match arbiters: Richard Buxton (Open); Rob Hammond (Minor); Peter Ackley (U2050); Chun Chui (U1850); Harrison Marriott (U1650) and Francis Bowers (U1450)
24 March – Close of nominations
27 April – U1850 Preliminary Round
11 May – Open, Minor Counties, U1850 & U1450 Quarter Finals
18 May – U2050 & U1650 Quarter Finals
08 June – Semi Finals of all championships
29 June – Counties Championship Final (Open)
06 July – Finals of all other championship sections
The 2024 finals will be held regionally, combining finals where practical to do so. With the sporting agreement of Northumberland, the final for the Open has been advanced to 29 June to accommodate England representation at the World Seniors.
Championships Results (in the ECF LMS) will appear here
Open | Minor Counties | U2050 | U1850 | U1650 | U1450 | Draws | Draws PDF (08/07/24)
Qualifying Competitions
These were contested by all five Unions in at least one section. The results can be viewed here —
East | Midlands | North | South | West
The Championships
Open
FIDE & ECF rated (no rating limit)
Gold ECF membership required for more than one game and FIDE registration that is not Russian or Belarusian.
Minor Counties
For County teams with a maximum team average ECF rating of 2050
Bronze ECF membership required
ECF Rating Limited Sections
For County teams with players rated U2050, U1850, U1650 and U1450
Bronze ECF membership required
The 1st September monthly standard Official Original list (Blue September 2023) categories A and K determines eligibility for the purposes of the rating limited sections and team average in the Minor Counties. Eligibility for players without such a rating will be assigned a competition rating according to their first published category K or A rating in subsequent Official Original standard lists (blue) and otherwise by the allocation of a competition estimate by the National Controller.
Rules
County Championship Rules 2023-24 | County Championship Rules 2022-23