Cheshire Tournaments

The Cheshire Go Tournament was first started by Brian Timmins in January 1984. It was held in Crewe, as was the second and the third, the latter held later in the year because of the British Go Congress being held in Crewe in 1986. (The Congress had also been at Alsager College in 1975 and was later based in the Chester Area in 1998.) Brian then moved his tournament to Shrewsbury and the Cheshire lapsed for 15 years.

In 2001 the BGA had a policy of starting events especially suitable for kyu players in parts of the country where there were not many events. By this time the Shrewsbury had stopped (it restarted in 2009 after a ten year gap), so Cheshire was a key area.

Tony Atkins, then BGA Secretary, asked a Chess organising friend, Roger Edwards, if he knew of any suitable venues in the area. The reply was why didn't we join them in February at their Crewe Chess Congress and share their space. One advantage of doing this would be to be able to buy refreshments from the congress snack bar run by Roger's family.

So the Cheshire Go Tournament restarted in February 2001, with Open and Handicap sections. The Crewe factory canteen of Rolls-Royce (later called Bentley) proved a good venue, though the Go players had to be a lot quieter than they were used to and you had to bring your own heaters if cold.

In 2005 Bentley, as they were by then, were not able to make the canteen available, so an emergency venue for the Go was found at Ashdene Primary School in Wilmslow, thanks to a Go player who lived next door, who was friends with the headmaster and whose Go-playing son attended.

In 2006 the Chess found a new venue at the Community Centre in Frodsham, thanks to local player Pat Ridley. The Go joined them in a side room, which was better as we didn't have to be quite so quiet, and has been there ever since.

In 2009 the British Go Congress was being held in Chester, so the tournament was replaced by a teaching day. The results of the Congress were used to select winners for the two Cheshire sections, open only to people from Cheshire and those who attended the Cheshire in the previous 8 years.

From 2015, all the players play in one single McMahon section and Tony Pitchford is the co-organiser, with later Pat Ridley taking over the organising role.

2020 was cancelled through insufficient entries and there was no event in 2021, both because of the pandemic. 2023 was delayed until the summer by train strikes.

Results, Winners and Reports of Tournaments

* = 2009 awarded on results at the British Go Congress in Chester.

Next Go Tournament - Saturday TBA 2025

Here are the 2024 Entry Details.

Cheshire Go Trophies

The original Goban, sponsored by NMW Computers, became the Shrewsbury Tournament Trophy. When the tournament was restarted the new trophies were the Cheshire Open Plaque, a wooden plaque with an oriental Go print, and the Cheshire Handicap Cup. Unfortunately these were retained by players who did not return to compete for them, so the replacement trophies were a cup for the Open and a shield for the handicap section, as illustrated.

The trophies were abolished in 2015 - Brian Timmins keeping the handicap one.

Frodsham Weekend Chess Congress

History and details of Chess Congress (including results) up to 2020.

There are currently no plans for a Chess event and so the next Go tournament will not be alongside a Chess event.

Home Last updated: 2024-04-22.