Linking the present and the past
My first British was in 1967, when it was held in the Examination Schools of Oxford University. On that occasion I participated in the Under-14 section, at that time the youngest age category available. The event was new territory for me, since it was my first national tournament, although I had previously won the London Under-12 Championship. I wasn’t a member of a chess club, and my grasp of chess theory was, to put it mildly, very limited. My family couldn’t afford any kind of normal accommodation so, with the farmer’s permission, we pitched a tent in a field outside Oxford and travelled in to the chess every day. The fact that the field was shared with a considerable number of cows was only a minor inconvenience.

The Examination Schools was (and still is) a magnificent building, with large halls and impressive staircases. The junior events took place in the morning, with the Championship proper being played in the afternoon. I really had no idea how well I was likely to do, so I was pleased to start with a win and a draw. The half-point was shared with Matthew Reisz, whom I bumped into just a few weeks before writing this article, since he was competing in the British Problem Solving Championship. I almost lost catastrophically in round three due to my lack of opening theory knowledge, but fortunately I averted disaster at the last moment and even won the game.
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Nc3 Nxe4 8.0-0 Bxc3 8...Nxc3 9.bxc3 Bxc3 10.Ba3! 9.d5!? Na5?! 9...Bf6 10.Re1 Ne7 10.bxc3 Nxc4 11.Qd4 Ncd6 11...f5 12.Qxc4 d6 12.Qxg7 Qf6 13.Qxf6 13.Qg4 13...Nxf6 14.Re1+ Nfe4 14...Kf8? 15.Bh6+ Kg8 16.Re5 Nfe4 16...Nde4? 17.Nd2 d6 18.Nxe4 dxe5 19.Nxf6# 17.Re1 f6 18.Re7 14...Kd8? 15.Bg5 Nde8 16.Rxe8+ Kxe8 17.Re1+ Kf8 18.Bh6+ Kg8 19.Re5 15.Nd2 15.Ng5 f5 16.f3 h6 15...f5 16.f3 0-0 17.fxe4 fxe4? 18.Nxe4 18.Ba3! 18...Nxe4 19.Rxe4 d6 20.Bh6 Rf6 20...Bf5 21.Re7 Rf7 22.Rae1 21.Re8+ 21.Bg5 Bf5 21...Kf7 22.Rf8+ 22.Rae1 Rxh6 23.R1e7+ Kf6 24.Rxc7 Rh5 25.c4 b5! 22...Kg6 23.Rxf6+ Kxf6 24.Rf1+ Kg6 25.Be3 Bf5 26.Rf4 Re8 27.Bd4 Re1+ 27...h5 28.Kf2 28.Rf1? Rxf1+ 29.Kxf1 b6 28...Ra1 29.h4? 29.g4! Bd3 30.Kg3 Rf1 29...Rxa2+ 30.Kf3? 30.Ke1 Rxg2?! 31.h5+ Kg5 32.Be3 30...h5 31.Ke3 a5 32.Rf2 Rxf2 33.Kxf2 a4 34.Ke3 b5 35.Kd2 Be4 36.c4 b4 37.Bb2 a3 38.Bc1 Kf5 39.Ke2 Bxg2 40.Kf2 Be4 41.Ke3 Bb1 0–1
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Chapman | - | Nunn,J | - | 0–1 | 1967 | C54 | British under-14 championship | |
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The Under-14 Championship was 11 rounds, just like the main Championship, played at the reasonable rate of one game per day; there was even a free day in the middle of the event. As an example of how different junior chess was then, I noted in my scorebook that my win with Black against Gerard O’Reilly, which took 71 moves, was played from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and then, after the adjournment, from 2.30 p.m. until 4.42 p.m., a total of 6 hours 12 minutes. No quickplay finishes in those days, even kids were expected to play the games out properly! Gerard is still active today, as he is a major organiser in Oxfordshire chess. It may be that there are others I played who are still involved with chess and I apologise for any omissions.
I continued with a mixture of wins and draws, but as it turned out everything hinged on the last round as I was just half a point ahead of my nearest rival, Laurence Marks. I found myself facing an opponent I had never played before, Tony Miles.
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nd4 4.Nxd4 exd4 5.c3?! 5.0-0 5...c6 6.Be2 d5 7.exd5 Qxd5 8.0-0 Nf6 9.Bf3 Qd8 10.Re1+ Be6 11.Qb3?! 11.d3 11...Qc7! 12.cxd4 0-0-0 13.Qe3? 13.d5 13...Bd6 14.g3 Bh3? 14...Rde8! 15.Qd3 h5 15.d3 Rhe8 16.Qd2 Re7?! 16...Qd7 17.Qd1 17.Nc3 Rde8 18.Rxe7 Qxe7 19.Qe3?! 19.Ne4! 19...Qc7?! 19...Qd8 20.Ne4 Bc7 20.Ne4 Kb8 21.Qg5! Nxe4 22.dxe4 f5 23.e5 23.Qh5! 23...Qf7 24.Qh4 Bg4 25.Bxg4 fxg4 26.Qxg4 Qd5 27.Qd7 1–0
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Nunn,J | - | Miles,A | - | 1–0 | 1967 | C61 | British under-14 championship | |
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It could be said that I was a bit lucky in this game, but in the end everything turned out well for me, and the final scores in the event were J. Nunn 9 (out of 11), L. Marks 8.5, D.T. Marr and J.K. Orell 7. The Championship proper was won by Jonathan Penrose, and was the eighth of his British Championship titles (Penrose’s final tally was ten wins).
Three years after this event I was back in Oxford, this time as an undergraduate at Oriel College, reading Maths.

Oriel College in 1970
In the first year at Oriel I shared a room with Michael Potter, a geology student, with whom I have unfortunately lost touch. Undergraduate life was rather more spartan than students enjoy these days.

My first-year accommodation in Oxford in 1970
Going to Oxford proved a great help for my chess, as I could meet the many strong players who were at the University then. During the whole of my time there, ten years in all, I participated in practically every event of the local chess scene. There were two main inter-college competitions, the knockout Cuppers and a College League. On top of this, two University teams (called Pieces and Pawns) took part in the Oxfordshire Evening League, competing against other local clubs. I was a Piece, by the way. The Oxford League is still going strong, indeed with many of the same teams that took part in the 1970s, but inter-college chess appears to have more or less disappeared.
In 1973 I was back in the Examination Schools for my final examinations; indeed the Maths exams took place in the hall just opposite the one in which I had played chess six years earlier. I played hundreds of games in Oxford, some of them quite interesting and almost all unpublished. But in keeping with the title of this article, I will just give one, which was played just a few months before I left Oxford for good to become a professional player.
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1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.Nbd2 0-0 7.0-0 Qe7 7...a6 8.b4 Bb6 9.Bb3 Nd8 10.Nc4 c6 11.Nxb6 axb6 12.h3 Kh8 13.Re1 Ne8 14.d4 f6 15.Nh4?! g6 16.Bh6 Ng7 17.Qd2 Be6 18.d5 Bg8? 18...cxd5 19.exd5 Bd7 19.Be3 c5 19...b5 20.a4 20.g3 Nf7 21.Bc2 Qd7 22.Kg2 f5? 22...Ra3 23.exf5 gxf5 24.f4 e4 25.a4 Nh6 26.c4 Nh5 27.Kh2 Qg7 28.Rg1 Bf7 29.Rab1 Be8 30.a5 Rg8 31.Qe1 Nf6 32.bxc5 bxc5 33.Bd2 Bh5 34.Bc3 Rab8 35.Rb6 Qe7 36.Qa1 Rgf8 36...Rgf8 37.a6 1–0
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Nunn,J | - | Peters,S | - | 1–0 | 1981 | C54 | Oxford Univ Pieces v Hazells | |
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I have chosen this game because some 35 years later I met Stephen Peters across the board once again, this time in the Witney weekend congress. He proved a most resilient opponent.
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 Nbd7 7.0-0 e5 8.Be3 h6 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.Ne1?! 10.Nd2 10.Qc1 10...c6 11.Qd2 Kh7 12.Nc2 Qe7 13.Rfd1 Nc5 14.f3 Ne6 15.Qd6 Qxd6 16.Rxd6 c5 17.Rd2 Nd4 18.Ne1 Be6 19.Nd5 Nxd5?! 20.cxd5 Bd7 21.Rc1 b6 22.Nc2 f5 23.Na3 h5 24.b3?! 24.Bf1 Bh6?! 25.Bxh6 Kxh6 26.Nc4 Rae8 27.b4! cxb4 28.Nxe5 24...Bh6 25.Bxh6 Kxh6 26.Nc2 26.Nc4 Bb5! 26...Rae8 27.Re1 Kg5 28.Nxd4? 28.Rc1 28...exd4 29.Bd3 Kf6 30.Rf2 a5?! 31.a4 f4 32.h4! Ke5 33.Rc2 Rb8 34.Rec1 Rfc8 35.Ba6 Rc7 36.Bd3 Kd6 37.Ra1?! 37.Kf2 37...b5 38.axb5 Bxb5 39.Bc4 Ra7 40.Rca2 Ke5 41.Rxa5? 41.Kf1 d3 42.Ra3! 41...Rxa5 42.Rxa5 Bxc4 43.bxc4 d3 44.Ra1 Kd4 45.Rc1 d2 46.Rd1 Ke3 47.Kf1 Rb4 48.d6 Rxc4 49.d7 Rc1 50.Kg1 Rxd1+ 51.Kh2 Rh1+ 0–1
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Peters,S | 2128 | Nunn,J | 253 | 0–1 | 2016 | E94 | 2016 Witney Congress | 2.1 |
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One of the pleasures of chess is that is that players often have a lifelong affection for the game, and it’s not unusual to meet opponents I faced 40 or more years ago.
Fifty years after the Oxford event, I travelled to Llandudno in North Wales for the 2017 edition of the British Championship. I hadn’t played at the British since 1980, when I won the Championship proper, and I was curious to see what the event was like these days. The town was pleasant, and there was some really attractive scenery within walking distance (provided you are prepared to do a NunnWalk).

Near the top of the Great Orme, with Llandudno visible in the distance [click or tap to enlarge]
One major difference from 50 years before was the inclusion of several events for younger kids. In 1967 the junior events ranged from Under-21 down to Under-14, but now they covered a range from Under-16 down as far as Under-8. Older juniors were given a chance to play in the Championship proper, and many did so. Back in 1967 there was an elaborate qualification system for the Championship, which made it hard for younger players, even if they were talented, to get a place. Certainly, much progress has been made regarding the inclusion of younger players. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said of the venue, which would have been suitable for a weekend tournament, but not a prestigious national championship. A cramped, noisy room (especially if you were playing near the door) with poor analysis facilities was certainly nothing to compare with the Oxford venue from 50 years before. But of course part of the fun of the event is the social side, and this was as good as ever, with plenty of chances to meet old friends.
The first round proved an unwelcome surprise as my opponent, who had a modest rating of 2043, played solidly and well; indeed, at one point I had to defend accurately to draw. A number of players of my generation recently remarked to me how much more difficult it is to beat lower-rated players these days, and I think this is definitely true. At one time you just had to wait for some serious mistake and then you could win with little effort. However, these days chess knowledge is easier to come by so players have a much better general understanding and are generally well prepared in the opening. Consequently, it can be a real effort to win, especially with Black. Indeed, a number of my games in Llandudno went on well into the ending. After this initial setback, I won my next five games and a relatively quick draw against Paul Littlewood in the last round secured the title. Here’s one of the wins.
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be2 a6 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Be3 b5 9.Nxc6 dxc6 9...Qxc6? 10.e5 10.f4 Bb7 10...b4 11.e5 11.Na4 Nxe4?! 12.Bf3 f5 13.Bd4 11...bxc3 12.exf6 cxb2 13.Rb1 gxf6 14.Rxb2 10...e5 11.fxe5 Qxe5 12.Kh1 11.e5 Rd8 12.Qe1 Nd5 12...Nd7 13.Ne4 c5 14.Bf3 13.Nxd5 Rxd5? 13...cxd5 14.c3 Bc5 15.Bd4 14.c4! Rd7 15.Qg3?! 15.Qf2! Be7 16.Bb6 Qb8 17.f5 Qxe5 18.fxe6 Qxe6 19.Bg4! 15...g6 16.a3 Be7 17.Rac1 b4?! 17...bxc4 18.Bxc4 18.axb4 Bxb4 19.c5 a5 19...0-0 20.Rfd1 Rxd1+ 20...Rfd8 21.Rd6 21.Rxd1 Rd8 22.Rd6 20.h4 Rd5 21.Bc4 Qc8 21...Bd2 22.Rcd1 Bxe3+ 23.Qxe3 Rxd1 24.Rxd1 0-0 25.f5! exf5 26.e6 22.Bxd5 cxd5 23.Bd4 Qc6 24.f5! gxf5 25.Qg7 Rf8 26.Qxh7 Ba6 27.Rf2 Bc4 28.b3 28.h5 Bxc5 29.Bxc5 Qxc5 30.Qg7 Qe3 31.Ra1 28...Bxb3 29.h5 Bc4 30.h6 a4 31.Qg7 Bxc5 32.Bxc5 Qxc5 33.h7 Qa3 34.Rb1 1–0
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Nunn,J | 2581 | Lewis,A | 2252 | 1–0 | 2017 | B49 | BCF-ch Seniors 50 | 4 |
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I don’t know if it is a record to win two British titles half a century apart, but in any case I was happy with the result. Frank Marshall once wrote a book called “My Fifty Years of Chess” (well, actually Reinfeld is said to have written much of it, but that’s rather beside the point), which is well worth reading. The great American Champion obviously loved chess, and in that respect I feel a certain kinship with him.
After the tournament, another old chess opponent and Oxford University contemporary, Jim Burnett, kindly gave me a lift to Manchester Airport and I was off to Dresden for the World Problem Solving Championship. Oh, and Gawain Jones became British champion after beating Luke McShane in the final of the play-off.