Nottingham Tournament 1983

The 1st Nottingham Tournament was held on Saturday 12th November 1983 in the Dining Room in the Portland Building.

It was started by Mike Harvey and the University Society club secretary Tony Atkins. It followed the style of the Wessex Tournament with 4 rounds, but, as not having the benefit of the extra hour, the time limit was 45 minutes with 15 seconds byoyomi. The entry fee was £2.50, including coffee and tea. It attracted 34 players.

The overall winner with 4/4 was Brian Chandler (2 dan) and second was John Smith (2 dan), both from Manchester, and Chris Kirkham also won a prize. Their club hence won the team prize with 78.5 percent. Another good result was local player Mark Skinner (17 kyu) with 4/4. Also winning prizes were Hillary Norburn (11 kyu Leicester) and Alan Thornton (2 kyu Hemel Hempstead). Qualifiers for the Candidates Tournament were Graham Clemow (1 dan Cambridge) and Chirs Kirkham (1 kyu Manchester).

Mike Harvey was a bit late arriving to help set up the event, as he had been to BBC Radio Nottingham to give an interview on the tournament with Mike Brandt, formerly of Nottingham. The other news story that weekend was the visit of the South African Ambassador, which sparked debates, riots, bomb scares and scandals, however this did not get in the way of the Go.

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