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Individual Worcestershire Chess ChampionsLast updated 31 July 2025
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The title of Worcestershire Champion is currently awarded to the highest scoring player in the Worcester Closed congress. In the 1980s, the championship was won by the leading scorer in the Worcestershire Closed Championship held at Easter time. When the closed championship ceased and between 1995 and 2001, the county decided to award the title to the highest scoring player in the open section of a Worcestershire tournament organised by Castle Chess. The format of the competition was a knock out tournament in 1920, but the organisation of other years’ competitions is not known.
The earliest Worcestershire champion so far discovered was GEH Bellingham towards the end of the nineteenth century. The records from 1919 to 1945 come from a typewritten list unearthed by Andrew Farthing from the association's records. Peter Kitson, a three-times winner, copied a list of former champions engraved on the plinth to provide the names of champions from 1946 to 1985. The web editor’s records of county meetings and congress results provided the names for recent seasons. In several years the trophy was shared. The trophy for the Worcestershire Chess Champion was missing between the years 2003 and 2020, but has since been located, the list of winners brought up-to-date and was presented to the 2021-2 champion.
| Season | Champion | Season | Champion |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1895-6 | GEH Bellingham (a) | 1968-9 | RJ Clunie |
| 1919-20 | EE Westbury | " | SE Reese |
| 1920-1 | EE Westbury | 1969-70 | Dr BG Dudley |
| 1921-2 | EE Westbury | 1970-1 | CA Gray |
| 1922-3 | EE Westbury | 1971-2 | Dr BG Dudley |
| 1923-4 | TH Tylor | " | PC Robertson |
| 1924-5 | TH Tylor | 1972-3 | J Heath |
| 1925-6 | EE Westbury | 1973-4 | J Heath |
| 1926-7 | GC Brown | 1974-5 | J Anderson |
| 1927-8 | Dr A Learner | 1975-6 | J Anderson |
| 1928-9 | Dr A Learner | 1976-7 | SW Small |
| 1929-30 | CG Butcher | 1977-8 | J Anderson |
| 1930-1 | CG Butcher | 1978-9 | KC Arkell |
| 1931-2 | PA Ursell | 1979-80 | AJ Taylor |
| 1932-3 | RW Bonham | 1980-1 | KC Arkell |
| 1933-4 | RW Bonham | 1981-2 | R Trow |
| 1934-5 | Dr A Learner | 1982-3 | D Pye |
| 1935-6 | CG Butcher | 1983-4 | SW Small |
| 1936-7 | CG Butcher | 1984-5 | Dr RA Collett |
| 1937-8 | CG Butcher | 1985-6 | SW Small (d) |
| 1938-9 | CG Butcher | 1986-7 | KR Milner (e) |
| 1939-40 | RW Bonham | 1987-8 | E Myers (d) |
| 1940-1 | RW Bonham | 1988-9 | KR Milner (d) |
| 1941-2 | RW Bonham | 1989-90 | D Goodwin |
| 1942-3 | RW Bonham | 1990-1 | DPM Goodwin |
| 1943-4 | RW Bonham | 1991-2 | SW Small |
| 1944-5 | RW Bonham | 1992-3 | SW Small |
| 1945-6 | RW Bonham | Competition suspended | |
| 1946-7 | RW Bonham | 1995-6 | MP Burrows |
| S James | |||
| 1947-8 | JE Dutton | 1996-7 | PR Kitson |
| 1948-9 | RW Bonham | 1997-8 | MP Burrows |
| 1949-50 | RW Bonham | PR Kitson | |
| 1950-1 | RW Bonham | 1998-9 | MP Burrows |
| 1951-2 | RW Bonham | PR Kitson | |
| 1952-3 | RW Bonham | 1999-2000 | MP Burrows |
| 1953-4 | RW Bonham | CP Hibbard | |
| 1954-5 | RW Bonham | 2000-1 | MP Burrows (b) |
| 1955-6 | HEG Courtney | Competition suspended | |
| 1956-7 | HEG Courtney | 2013-4 | Brian Turner |
| 1957-8 | RW Bonham | 2014-5 | Brian Turner |
| 1958-9 | RW Bonham | 2015-6 | no competition |
| 1959-60 | RW Bonham | 2016-7 | Kevin Hurney |
| 1960-1 | Dr BG Dudley | 2017-8 | Lee Davis |
| 1961-2 | GF Harris | 2018-9 | Jeremy Fallowfield |
| 1962-3 | GF Harris | Competition suspended (c) | |
| 1963-4 | E Staudt | 2021-2 | Stewart Fishburne |
| 1964-5 | Dr BG Dudley | 2022-3 | Peter Kitson |
| 1965-6 | TRD Grove | 2023-4 | Joe Friar |
| " | PS Keate | 2024-5 | Joe Friar |
| 1966-7 | LS Blackstock | ||
| 1967-8 | RJ Clunie | ||
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(a) Reported by Berrow's Worcestershire Journal.
(b) Kidderminster Shuttle 23-10-01 downloaded 17-6-09 from HTTP://ARCHIVE.KIDDERMINSTERSHUTTLE.CO.UK/2001/10/23/301600.HTML, but no longer available. (c) Covid-19 epidemic. (d) Ray Collett’s records. (e) Worcester Evening News Wed 22 Apr 1987. |
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