Sources and external links
- London 1980 Phillips and Drew Kings Chess Tournament (Hartston and Reuben, 1981)
- Phillips & Drew Kings Chess Tournament 1982
- Phillips & Drew Kings Chess Tournament 1984
- GLC Chess Challenge of 1986
The Phillips & Drew Kings was a series of chess tournaments held in London, UK, in 1980, 1982 and 1984. Sponsored by the stockbroker firm Phillips & Drew and the Greater London Council (GLC), these were among the strongest chess tournaments ever held in London. They were 14-player all-play-all tournaments held over 13 rounds. The venue was County Hall, the meeting place of the GLC. A fourth tournament, the GLC Chess Challenge, was held in 1986, at a different venue and with changes in sponsorship, but with the same format.
The 'Kings' tournaments were all category 13 or 14, and among the strongest in the world at the time. Alongside each was held a lower category (3-5) all-play-all 'Knights' tournament.
The inaugural tournament, in 1980, was held from the 10–25 April. The participants were: Walter Browne, Jan Timman, Florin Gheorghiu, Ulf Andersson, Viktor Korchnoi, Ljubomir Ljubojević, Bent Larsen, Gennadi Sosonko, Tony Miles, Nigel Short, Jonathan Speelman, Gyula Sax, Michael Stean, John Nunn.
Result: Miles, Korchnoi, Andersson 8.5/13, Sosonko, Speelman 7.5, Gheorghiu, Ljubojevic, Timman 7, Sax 6.5, Browne, Larsen, Stean 5.5, Nunn 4.5, Short 2 (14 players).
In 1982, the tournament was held from 15 to 30 April. The participants were (in rating order): Anatoly Karpov, Jan Timman, Lajos Portisch, Boris Spassky, Ulf Andersson, Ljubomir Ljubojević, John Nunn, Larry Christiansen, Tony Miles, Yasser Seirawan, Jonathan Speelman, Efim Geller, Jonathan Mestel, Nigel Short.
Result: Karpov, Andersson 8.5/13, Seirawan 8, Speelman, Timman, Portisch, Ljubojevic 7, Spassky, Miles 6.5, Geller 6, Nunn 5.5, Christiansen, Mestel 5, Short 3.5 (14 players).
In 1984, the tournament was a category 14 event. This was the first-ever all-GM tournament to be held in the United Kingdom, and took place from 26 April to 11 May. The participants were: Anatoly Karpov, Murray Chandler, Lev Polugaevsky, Jan Timman, Zoltán Ribli, Yasser Seirawan, Viktor Korchnoi, Rafael Vaganian, Ulf Andersson, Tony Miles, Jon Speelman, Jonathan Mestel, John Nunn, and Eugenio Torre.
Result: Karpov 9/13, Chandler, Polugaevsky 8, Timman 7.5, Ribli, Seirawan 7, Korchnoi, Vaganian 6.5, Andersson, Miles, Speelman 5.5, Mestel, Nunn, Torre 5 (14 players).
The 1986 tournament, not involving Phillips and Drew, was the GLC Chess Challenge. It was the final event in the series, as the GLC itself had been abolished that same year. It was held at the Great Eastern Hotel, from 11 to 17 March. The participants were: Glenn Flear, Murray Chandler, Nigel Short, John Nunn, Zoltán Ribli, Lev Polugaevsky, Lajos Portisch, Boris Spassky, Jon Speelman, Rafael Vaganian, Bent Larsen, James Plaskett, Maxim Dlugy and Jonathan Mestel.
Result: Flear 8.5/13, Chandler, Short 8, Nunn, Ribli 7.5, Polugaevsky, Portisch, Spassky 7, Vaganian, Speelman 6, Larsen 5.5, Plaskett 5, Mestel, Dlugy 4 (14 players).
This was one of the greatest upsets in chess history. Flear, an International Master from Leicester, was a last-minute replacement for Karpov and was not expected to score well in such a high class field.
Jørgen Bent Larsen was a Danish chess grandmaster and author. Known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play, he was the second-strongest non-Soviet player, behind only Bobby Fischer, for much of the 1960s and 1970s. He is considered to be the strongest player born in Denmark and the strongest from Scandinavia until the emergence of Magnus Carlsen.
The Linares International Chess Tournament was an annual chess tournament, usually played around the end of February, which takes its name from the city of Linares in the Jaén province of Andalusia, Spain, in which it was held. It is sometimes described as the Wimbledon of chess, being one of the strongest annual tournaments held on the de facto chess tour, along with the "Tata Steel", Tal Memorial and Dortmund events.
Henrique Costa Mecking, also known as Mequinho, is a Brazilian chess grandmaster who reached his zenith in the 1970s and is still one of the strongest players in Brazil. He was a chess prodigy, drawing comparisons to Bobby Fischer, although he did not achieve the International Grandmaster title until 1972. He won the Interzonals of Petropolis 1973 and Manila 1976. His highest FIDE rating is 2635, achieved in 1977, when he was ranked number four in the world. He became the 3rd best in the world in 1977, behind only World Champion Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi. He is the first Brazilian to become a grandmaster. Despite winning his first national championship at the age of 13, he played in very few tournaments. He won at Vršac in 1971 and finished third with Robert Byrne at Hastings in 1971–72. In 1975, he twice shared second place behind Ljubomir Ljubojević, firstly at Las Palmas with Ulf Andersson and Mikhail Tal and then at Manila with Lev Polugaevsky, Bent Larsen and Helmut Pfleger.
Lajos Portisch is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik". One of the strongest non-Soviet players from the early 1960s into the late 1980s, he participated in twelve consecutive Interzonals from 1962 through 1993, qualifying for the World Chess Championship Candidates Cycle a total of eight times. Portisch set several all-time records in Chess Olympiads. In Hungarian Chess Championships, he either shared the title or won it outright a total of eight times. He won many strong international tournaments during his career. In 2004, Portisch was awarded the title of 'Nemzet Sportolója', Hungary's highest national sports achievement award.
Glenn Curtis Flear is a British chess grandmaster now living in Montpellier, France. He is the author of several books, some on chess openings and some on the endgame.
Zoltán Ribli is a Hungarian chess grandmaster and International Arbiter (1995). He was twice a World Championship Candidate and three times Hungarian Champion.
The World Chess Championship 1990 was played between Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov. It was the fifth and final Kasparov–Karpov championship match, and saw Kasparov win by a single point.
Events in chess in 1990;
Events in chess in 1969;
The 1975 World Chess Championship was not played due to a dispute over the match format. Champion Bobby Fischer was to play Anatoly Karpov in Manila, commencing June 1, 1975. Fischer refused to play the then-standard "Best of 24 games" match and, after FIDE was unable to work out a compromise, forfeited his title instead. Karpov was named World Champion by default on April 3, 1975.
The 1987 World Chess Championship was played between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov in Seville from October 12 to December 19, 1987. Before the 24th game, Kasparov was down 12–11, but in the 24th game, Kasparov made a comeback by using the English Opening to win the final game to retain his title.
Events in chess in 1971;
Events in chess in 1972;
Events in chess in 1973:
Events in chess in 1974;
Events in chess in 1975;
Events in chess in 1976;
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi was a Soviet and Swiss chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. He is considered one of the strongest players never to have become World Chess Champion.
The major chess events of 1981 were the final match of the Candidates Tournament and the second Karpov–Korchnoi World Chess Championship match.
