1968 (16th) Churchill Memorial, Bognor Regis - 20-27 April 1968, Butlins, Bognor Regis • 1967«»1969

1968 Bognor Regis 16th Churchill Memorial		Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total
1	Zbigniew Doda	Poland (IM)	◊ 1/31	♦ 1/28	◊ ½/18	♦ 1/7	◊ 1/22	♦ ½/8	◊ 1/2	♦ ½/4	6½
2	Hakan Akvist	Sweden	♦ 1/52	◊ ½/51	♦ 1/24	◊ 1/21	♦ ½/16	◊ 1/6	♦ 0/1	◊ 1/10	6
3	Theodor Ghitescu	Roumania (IM)	◊ 1/25	♦ 1/34	◊ ½/7	♦ 0/8	◊ 1/50	♦ ½/22	◊ 1/13	♦ 1/20	6
4	Bojan Kurajica	Yugoslavia (IM)	♦ 1/26	◊ 1/16	♦ ½/21	◊ ½/10	♦ 1/5	◊ 1/9	♦ ½/8	◊ ½/1	6
5	Walter S Browne	USA	♦ 0/24	◊ 1/52	♦ 1/23	◊ 1/15	◊ 0/4	♦ 1/28	◊ 1/22	♦ ½/7	5½
6	Nikola Karaklajic	Yugoslavia (IM)	♦ 1/33	◊ 1/20	♦ 1/10	♦ ½/22	◊ ½/8	♦ 0/2	◊ ½/11	◊ 1/24	5½
7	Terry C Fox	Worcester Park	♦ 1/14	◊ 1/11	♦ ½/3	◊ 0/1	♦ 1/19	◊ ½/10	♦ 1/15	◊ ½/5	5½
8	Michael J Franklin	London	♦ 1/44	◊ ½/12	♦ 1/51	◊ 1/3	♦ ½/6	◊ ½/1	◊ ½/4	♦ ½/9	5½
9	Alan Phillips	Forest Hill	♦ 1/29	◊ 0/10	♦ 1/33	◊ 1/13	♦ 1/30	♦ 0/4	◊ 1/16	◊ ½/8	5½
10	Michael J Basman	Sutton Coldfield	◊ 1/40	♦ 1/9	◊ 0/6	♦ ½/4	◊ 1/12	♦ ½/7	◊ 1/18	♦ 0/2	5
11	Aleksandar Bozic	Yugoslavia	◊ 1/17	♦ 0/7	◊ 1/34	♦ 0/28	◊ 1/46	◊ 1/30	♦ ½/6	♦ ½/12	5
12	Peter Charles Griffiths	Shirley	◊ 1/49	♦ ½/8	◊ ½/30	♦ ½/26	♦ 0/10	◊ 1/37	♦ 1/21	◊ ½/11	5
13	Bozidar Kazic	Yugoslavia	◊ 1/32	♦ 0/22	◊ 1/42	♦ 0/9	◊ 1/36	◊ 1/21	♦ 0/3	♦ 1/29	5
14	Edward G Lea	Bognor	◊ 0/7	♦ ½/38	◊ 1/49	♦ 1/44	◊ 1/32	♦ ½/16	◊ 0/20	♦ 1/25	5
15	Stewart Reuben	Islington	◊ 0/42	♦ 1/27	◊ 1/35	♦ 0/5	◊ 1/26	♦ 1/50	◊ 0/7	♦ 1/28	5
16	Timothy George Congdon	Colchester	1/bye	♦ 0/4	◊ 1/39	♦ 1/18	◊ ½/2	◊ ½/14	♦ 0/9	♦ ½/22	4½
17	Alan K Crombleholme	Hodge Hill	♦ 0/11	◊ 0/46	♦ 1/53	◊ 0/34	◊ ½/42	♦ 1/39	◊ 1/50	♦ 1/32	4½
18	Bozidar Gasic	Yugoslavia	♦ 1/53	♦ ½/24	♦ ½/1	◊ 0/16	♦ 1/43	◊ 1/19	♦ 0/10	◊ ½/23	4½
19	Barry N Green	London	◊ ½/30	♦ ½/45	◊ ½/50	♦ 1/24	◊ 0/7	♦ 0/18	◊ 1/43	♦ 1/31	4½
20	Arthur Hall	Worthing	◊ 1/27	♦ 0/6	◊ ½/43	♦ ½/41	◊ 1/45	♦ ½/34	♦ 1/14	◊ 0/3	4½
21	Norman Littlewood	Sheffield	◊ 1/35	♦ 1/50	◊ ½/4	♦ 0/2	◊ 1/28	♦ 0/13	◊ 0/12	♦ 1/34	4½
22	David Parr	Ewell	♦ 1/37	◊ 1/13	♦ 1/36	◊ ½/6	♦ 0/1	◊ ½/3	♦ 0/5	◊ ½/16	4½
23	Seth Saverymuttu	Hampshire	◊ ½/45	♦ ½/39	◊ 0/5	♦ ½/35	◊ 1/44	♦ ½/32	◊ 1/26	♦ ½/18	4½
24	Louis de Veauce	Pirbright	◊ 1/5	◊ ½/18	◊ 0/2	◊ 0/19	♦ 1/25	♦ 1/27	◊ 1/34	♦ 0/6	4½
25	Frank Boyd	Liverpool	♦ 0/3	◊ ½/44	♦ ½/29	♦ 1/42	◊ 0/24	◊ 1/49	♦ 1/41	◊ 0/14	4
26	John C Cock	Cheltenham	◊ 0/4	♦ 1/49	◊ ½/32	◊ ½/12	♦ 0/15	♦ 1/45	♦ 0/23	◊ 1/37	4
27	J D Flynn	Middlesex	♦ 0/20	◊ 0/15	♦ ½/40	♦ 1/38	◊ 1/39	◊ 0/24	♦ ½/33	◊ 1/41	4
28	Terance W Hart	Streatham	♦ 1/43	◊ 0/1	♦ 1/46	◊ 1/11	♦ 0/21	◊ 0/5	♦ 1/30	◊ 0/15	4
29	James E O'Dell	Surrey	◊ 0/9	♦ ½/47	◊ ½/25	♦ ½/39	◊ ½/35	♦ 1/46	◊ 1/38	◊ 0/13	4
30	Andrew P Sombor	Croydon	♦ ½/19	◊ 1/41	♦ ½/12	◊ 1/36	◊ 0/9	♦ 0/11	◊ 0/28	♦ 1/40	4
31	Graham P Burton	Epsom	♦ 0/1	◊ 1/37	◊ ½/45	♦ 0/50	◊ ½/48	♦ 1/36	◊ ½/32	◊ 0/19	3½
32	Anthony F C Carter	Portsmouth	♦ 0/13	◊ 1/40	♦ ½/26	◊ 1/51	♦ 0/14	◊ ½/23	♦ ½/31	◊ 0/17	3½
33	David O Collier	Bristol	◊ 0/6	♦ 1/48	◊ 0/9	◊ 0/46	♦ ½/40	♦ 1/47	◊ ½/27	◊ ½/36	3½
34	Stanley Charles Love	Wimbledon	◊ 1/48	◊ 0/3	♦ 0/11	♦ 1/17	◊ 1/41	◊ ½/20	♦ 0/24	◊ 0/21	3½
35	W D Muir	Portsmouth	♦ 0/21	◊ 1/53	♦ 0/15	◊ ½/23	♦ ½/29	◊ ½/43	♦ ½/48	◊ ½/39	3½
36	Eugene O'Hare	Ireland	◊ 1/38	♦ 1/42	◊ 0/22	♦ 0/30	♦ 0/13	◊ 0/31	◊ 1/45	♦ ½/33	3½
37	Maurice J Staples		◊ 0/22	♦ 0/31	1/bye	♦ ½/48	◊ 1/47	♦ 0/12	◊ 1/42	♦ 0/26	3½
38	Urmas O Aavelaid	(Australia)	♦ 0/36	◊ ½/14	♦ 0/41	◊ 0/27	♦ 1/53	◊ 1/44	♦ 0/29	◊ ½/49	3
39	Anthony R Cullinane	Portsmouth	♦ ½/41	◊ ½/23	♦ 0/16	◊ ½/29	♦ 0/27	◊ 0/17	♦ 1/52	♦ ½/35	3
40	(Louis) Alan Edwards	Leicester	♦ 0/10	♦ 0/32	◊ ½/27	♦ 0/47	◊ ½/33	◊ 1/53	♦ 1/46	◊ 0/30	3
41	James Stuart Emsley	London	◊ ½/39	♦ 0/30	◊ 1/38	◊ ½/20	♦ 0/34	♦ 1/48	◊ 0/25	♦ 0/27	3
42	Julian T Farrand	Chelmsford	♦ 1/15	◊ 0/36	♦ 0/13	◊ 0/25	♦ ½/17	◊ 1/52	♦ 0/37	◊ ½/48	3
43	Brian A Foreman	Leicester	◊ 0/28	1/bye	♦ ½/20	♦ ½/45	◊ 0/18	♦ ½/35	♦ 0/19	♦ ½/47	3
44	Otto H Hardy	Loughborough	◊ 0/8	♦ ½/25	◊ 1/47	◊ 0/14	♦ 0/23	♦ 0/38	♦ ½/49	◊ 1/53	3
45	Kevin J O'Connell		♦ ½/23	◊ ½/19	♦ ½/31	◊ ½/43	♦ 0/20	◊ 0/26	♦ 0/36	◊ 1d/50	3
46	Robert P Ross	Hull	◊ 0/50	♦ 1/17	◊ 0/28	♦ 1/33	♦ 0/11	◊ 0/29	◊ 0/40	♦ 1/52	3
47	R E Smith		♦ 0/51	◊ ½/29	♦ 0/44	◊ 1/40	♦ 0/37	◊ 0/33	♦ 1/53	◊ ½/43	3
48	Walter James E Yeeles		♦ 0/34	◊ 0/33	♦ 1/52	◊ ½/37	♦ ½/31	◊ 0/41	◊ ½/35	♦ ½/42	3
49	Rodney E James	Surrey	♦ 0/12	◊ 0/26	♦ 0/14	1/bye	◊ ½/52	♦ 0/25	◊ ½/44	♦ ½/38	2½
50	Stephen Owen Reed	Worthing	♦ 1/46	◊ 0/21	♦ ½/19	◊ 1/31	♦ 0/3	◊ 0/15	♦ 0/17	♦ 0d/45	2½
51	Donald G Mackay		◊ 1/47	♦ ½/2	◊ 0/8	♦ 0/32					1½ / 4
52	A Ballard		◊ 0/2	♦ 0/5	◊ 0/48	◊ 1/53	♦ ½/49	♦ 0/42	◊ 0/39	◊ 0/46	1½
53	Reza Gholi K Bourbour	Oxford	◊ 0/18	♦ 0/35	◊ 0/17	♦ 0/52	◊ 0/38	♦ 0/40	◊ 0/47	♦ 0/44	0

Other Events

Veterans’ Championship: (1) Baruch H Wood (Sutton Coldfield) 8; (2-3) Charles Ambrose Scott Damant, N Anthony Perkins (London) 6; (4-5) Percival Ernest Monkhouse, Leslie Edward Vine 5½; (6-7) A Archer, Alan Edgar Nield 5; (8-11) Ernest George Exell, Wilfred Evans (Chorleywood), L Spain, T B West 4½; (12-15) S F Adams (Southsea), Leslie Alexander Jonas Fainlight, John W Graham, G L Pritchard 4; (16-18) D A Sanders, William Wyndham Tatum, T W White 3½; (19) Ralph Frederick G Wright 3; (20-24) A E Baker, G Burnett, Douglas Wilmer Cay, Mrs Jane Sadler Rees, George Albert Toynton 2½; (25) Alfred Milner 2; (26) Bertram Henry Mardell 0. Alan Edgar Nield won the special prize for "Over 75s".

Open Swiss: (1) David K Browning 7; (2-4) J B Carr, Kevin O’Connell, Dr Leonard Shenfield (né Sheinfeld) 5½; (5-6) C E Cropp, Philip M Stimpson 5; (7-12) J A Flood, D E Johnson, D C Leach, Seth Saverymuttu, W T Springall, D Wincer 4½; (13-16) Neil Graham, D N Harrison, J McCreath, Tony Wodzianek 4; (17-18) C S Green, R S Robinson 3½; (19-20) R Burrows, J H Reed 3; (21) M D Speigel 2½; (22) Bertram Henry Mardell 2; (23-24) F Kronfeld, F M Mylechreest 1. C E Cropp won a special prize and “Anness Trophy.”

Major: (1) Miss Dinah M Dobson 8; (2) Joseph John Lauder 7; (3) E S Colley 6½; (4) W H Norris 6; (5) J H Reed 5; (6-7) B A French, M D Speigel 3½; (8) T J Hart (Godalming) 3; (9) H F Long (Birmingham) 2; (10) Arthur T Watson ½. J H Reed won a special prize for the best score by an entrant for the “First Class.”

First Class: (1) A Race 8½; (2) J Grumbly 7½; (3) P D Leat 6½; (4) Lady (Gwendolyn Harriet) Herbert (née Quilter) 5; (5) Miss A Livesey 4½; (6-7) Mrs P Jackson, Miss E Whyte 4; (8-9) Miss E Coulson, Miss M Elliott 2½; (10) Mrs V Clements 0. Miss Livesey won the “Mrs. Start Trophy” and special prize for the best score by an entrant for the "Second Class."

---

[CHESS, End-May 1968, No.s 555-6, pps 270-280] Bognor Regis 1968 by W Ritson Morry - For several reasons, mainly financial and organisational, this year’s Bognor Regis Congress had to be remodelled and became an 8-day tournament. The lateness of Easter meant that many schools and colleges had reassembled before the congress was due to end, and many players were thus precluded from participating. As a result, the provision of a Churchill Reserves Tournament proved unnecessary and the original entry for the Churchill Memorial just reached the 56-player limit laid down in the prospectus. Withdrawals reduced this number to 53 when play began on April 20th, and the total entry for all events was 123, a lower figure than any since 1955. All short and junior tournaments were excluded in the reshuffle.

Interest in the big event remained high in spite of the non-appearance of Benko and Byrne, who had promised to come over from the Monaco Tournament before returning home. A strong Yugoslav contingent headed by Karaklaic and Kurajica the Polish champion, Doda the Rumanian master, Ghitescu and a very strong Swedish player Akvist provided stiff opposition for aspiring home contenders.

Round 1

Play began at 2.30 on the opening Saturday...

None of the “top brass” had met and there were no surprises, but spirited resistance came from several of their opponents. Kurajica, for instance, found winning a long job requiring considerable end-game technique. Doda, on the other hand, won an efficiently played little game.

Round 2

The sorting process of the Swiss system was well advanced at the end of this round, only nine players remaining with a clean score: Basman, Doda, Fox, Ghitescu, Karaklaic, Kurajica, Littlewood, O’Hare and Parr. Fox was the only British player to draw blood at the expense of the foreigners, gaining a creditable victory over Bozic but once again superior end-game play came to the aid of several of the masters.

Doda also won an impressive game against Hart.

The young American player Browne scored a bright win with an unusual final position in which his opponent’s queen is lost in the middle of the board.

A draw by perpetual check is commonplace enough, but is the following brevity a record for the shortest number of moves in which it has occured? [Boyd-Hardy]

Round 3

The battle for the lead became grim. Basman played a King’s Gambit and came out of the opening with a good looking position. In the diagrammed position it is tempting to think that White has the better ending, but Karaklaic showed that Black can cause difficulties.

Littlewood had the advantage for most of the game and adjourned a pawn up. On the resumption the Yugoslav made an error which should have lost, but it was not punished. Doda made a determined effort to win and sacrificed a pawn at move 16. He later recovered it and established a dangerous passed QNP, but he had to allow Gasic a passed KP which was sacrificed for perpetual check. The other British leaders played well, Fox holding Ghitescu to a 36-move draw whilst Parr won to lead with Karaklaic.

Round 4

Parr and Karaklaic agreed a draw after 37 moves, enabling their pursuers to catch them. Two British hopes Fox and Littlewood fell by the wayside at the hands of Doda and Akvist respectively, but Franklin brought joy to his supporters.

It was left to two of the younger members of the cast to supply the real thrills of the round with a king hunt which the ghost of Capt. Bolland must have cheered until it was hoarse. [De Veauce - Green]

Round 5

At last a leader appeared, for Doda was the only joint leader to win and therefore nosed, albeit temporarily, to the fore. He dealt sharply with Parr who allowed his king’s side to be fatally weakened whilst trying for a counter attack on the other wing.

Franklin played well against Karaklajic and soon had a fine looking position which caused the spectators to cherish hopes that he would win. After he had gained a pawn the diagrammed position arose and to everyone’s sorrow the game ended abruptly in repetition...

Kurajica gained a valuable point in a sharply played tactical game [vs Browne].

The showpiece of the round was Basman's miniature against Griffiths.

Round 6

There was an error in the pairings in this round, for Green (3) could have played Gasic (3), whereas they were each paired with a 2½. Fortunately, this did not affect the struggle for the leading places, but it is important to avoid such irregularities because they affect the efficiency of the Swiss System.

[Franklin-Doda, position after White's 46th move - see games] At the adjournment Franklin, as the diagram shows, was a clear outside passed pawn to the good and against a master you really cannot ask for much more than that. It is the stuff from which they extract wins from each other. We returned expecting a long and interesting struggle, but all we got was : [moves 46-53] Draw agreed. Franklin stoutly maintained, when I reproached him for not trying to win it, that it was not possible, but I fear I should have played on and cost the organisers a lot of sleep before I should have admitted it.

Karaklaic appeared to be right out of form at this stage, for he lost a pawn against Akvist and at move 33, with plenty of fight still left in the ending, he made a heavy blunder which cost a whole rook.

Kurajica joined the leaders by beating Phillips, but just how far he was favoured by fortune readers may judge from the game ... It was a tragedy, for Phillips had played well and was far from lost at the end.

British hopes were not improved very much when Parr and Basman were held to draws, and the defeat of Littlewood in a very interesting game added to the gloom.

Round 7

With surprising ease Doda regained the lead when he beat Akvist in 21 moves. It was hardly the kind of ding-dong struggle one expects in such a situation.

The other leader, Kurajica, was in no mood to take risks against Franklin and there was a whiff of the recent Hastings tournament in the air when the draw was agreed after 14 moves. It was a situation in which a Capablanca, a Rubinstein or an Alekhine would have been warming to the task of exploiting Black’s isolated pawn in the ending; but, alas, we do not seem to have any budding Capablancas, Rubinsteins or Alekhines in Britain in these days of “Keep Death off the Chessboard.”

Whilst Parr suffered a quick reverse at the hands of Browne, Basman kept in the hunt with a win against Gasic and Phillips won in the middle-game [vs Congdon].

Round 8

We assembled for the last round in the hope that there would be a big battle for top honours. Kurajica, by beating Doda, could take first prize alone and stood to gain at least £50 for the effort. He preferred to repeat his tactics of the previous round, and after only 14 moves gave Doda the draw that Doda needed to take the first prize.

Ghitescu quickly took the opportunity to join Kurajica in second place when Hall embarked on an unsound sacrificial attack, but the struggles for the remaining prizes were much harder and were still not finished when the official time for the prize-giving arrived. There was the additional incentive of the £50 special prize for the best British score with which several players in these games were concerned.

Fox set about his task with great vigour and it was unlucky for him that all his ingenuity only yielded a draw [vs Browne].

Basman, also compelled to play for a win, tried to attack on the queen’s side, but Akvist got there first with his king’s side assault and thereby joined the runners-up.

Phillips came very close to winning the special prize outright in his game with Franklin... This game went on even whilst the remaining prizes were being distributed and Mr. Fishlock Lomax was just about to postpone the ceremony pending a result when the players agreed on the draw.

---

[BCM, June 1968, pps 174-176] The Bognor Regis International Congress by A[ndrew]. P. Sombor

The sixteenth annual Bognor Regis Congress was held from April 20th to 27th, 1968, at Butlin’s Holiday Camp. [results]

In contrast to the vivacity and opulence of former seasons, this year’s Bognor Congress sported a sad, lean, and hungry look. Some of the savage cuts, e.g. the reduction of the tournament to a week, and the limiting of the main event to fifty-six entries, are arguable, and even defensible; others, like the drastic pruning of the junior events, are universally deplored. Still, ante post, the Churchill Memorial had promised to be one of the best of recent years. Two grandmasters, four international masters, with the field cut down to manageable proportions and, incidentally, selected, were the prospects. In the event, Benko and Byrne did not turn up, and the supporting cast, far from being selected, did not even reach the prescribed number. Fifty-three competitors started the event, making a bye necessary, and after a withdrawal at the half-way stage, the remainder had settled down to fight it out.

In the absence of the grandmasters, it was generally assumed that one of the two Yugoslav international masters, Kurajica or Karaklaic, would win, but, as it happens, neither of them produced anything like the qualities necessary. Karaklaic played very patchily, losing his last chance after succumbing, almost without resistance, to Akvist, a player of considerable and admirable competence, but, on the evidence, of little brilliance.

Kurajica, if possible, was even unhappier; after several lucky escapes he simply gave up, and finished with two non-games (14 and 15 moves respectively) to at least turn in a respectable score. So, the tournament was wide open. Ghitescu, well beaten by Franklin in Round 4, was never really in it, and the only other international master, a somewhat lucky Doda, was eventually seen pastthe post with nobody seriously challenging. He escaped from dubious positions against Fox and Franklin, was given what amounted to a walk-over in Round 7 by Akvist, who chose that day to play his single thoroughly bad game, and was never even challenged to a fight by Kurajica in the last round.

Three of the English players, Franklin, Fox, and Phillips, who finally shared the prize for the best British score, had their moments. Franklin fought very hard, but his early agreement not to have a battle (with White, against an out-of-form Kurajica) in the penultimate round must surely be questionable. Phillips, another addict of uncompromising warfare, also made his mistake against Kurajica, leaving himself horribly short of time, to transform a healthy initiative into first an equal, then, by the time he exceeded the time-limit, a losing position. Fox’s score could, and should, have been much higher. He lost to Doda in Round 4 from a promising position, let Basman wriggle out with a draw from a position where had he resigned nobody would have blamed him, and also missed chances against Browne in the final round.

Few of the others had distinguished themselves, and certainly none with a uniformly good performance. Parr was joint leader at the half-way stage (3½ out of 4), but only managed 1 point from his last four games; a similar fate befell Hart and myself (both 3 out of 4). Both Basman and Littlewood played so much bad stuff that they must, on their showing, be satisfied with their score. Littlewood can be said to have been unlucky in at least one respect: both Kazic and Griffiths produced very good combinations to beat him.

The prize for the best junior (under eighteen) was shared by Congdon and Saverymuttu. The latter is perhaps the more talented of the two, but his handling of the openings at present can be most charitably described as somewhat too original.

---

File Updated

Date	Notes
20 July 2004	Original upload with 30 games plus 4 part-games as a zipped file.
15 February 2022	Now 37 games and 3 part-games, with crosstable, reports, etc.
29 December 2022	Added a game: W.Browne 1-0 D.Parr (rd 7).