The Phillips & Drew tournament was the strongest in London for many years. England began to get its share of the growing number of international tournaments. The following is a summary/interpretation of the tournament book. When Len Harris was elected a member of the Greater London Council (GLC), he set about persuading them to put money towards a chess tournament. £8000 in lottery money was set aside, and armed with this, the British Chess Federation (BCF) persuaded Phillips & Drew to put up the bulk of the finance needed. GLC decided to accept the security risk of having an event attended by spectators in County Hall, and in September 1979 they were ready to go for the event to take place in April 1980. The hard-working Stewart Reuben was worried that they would not be able to lay on a first class GM tournament, so he flew to visit the Tilburg (1979) tournament to see how they did things and to discuss matters with Anatoly Karpov. To his delight Karpov agreed to play. Other players were lining up as well, but in December the Soviet Chess Federation said they were unable to accept the invitation on behalf of any of their players. Robert Huebner (Elo rated #11 in the world) also could not come and Vlastimil Hort (#15) withdrew. The final roster were Viktor Korchnoi (#3), Florin Gheorghiu (#10), Jan Timman (#12), Ulf Andersson (#18), Ljubomir Ljubojevic (#22), Bent Larsen (#23), Gyula Sax (#25), Anthony Miles (#36), Gennady Sosonko (#39), Walter Browne (#43), Michael Stean (#52), John Nunn (#71), Jonathan Speelman (#110), and 14-year-old prodigy Nigel Short (#802).
The Conference Hall at County Hall, a room of great dignity, was surrounded by marble pillars and with a stage taking up one segment. The players were in front of this stage with demonstration boards on it above them. The organising committee members were David W Anderton (Chairman), Stewart Reuben (Tournament Director), Frank Leonard (Phillips & Drew), Les Tonkin (GLC), Paul Buswell (BCF), and the chief arbiter. The hall could accommodate 400 guests, with a further 150 wandering around or enjoying William Hartston 's daily commentary. It was filled to capacity at weekends. The draw took place in the evening of April 9. Appeals Committee: Miguel A Quinteros (who was in London, and covered the event for Clarín), John Nunn and William Hartston, with Korchnoi and Timman as the reserves. Play was from 1:15 to 6:15 pm, with rest days on April 14, 19, and 24. Since County Hall had to close in the evening, adjourned games were played from 8:30 to 10:30 pm at the Grosvenor House Hotel where the players were staying. On April 10 there was a reception at 12:30 pm with some short talks. The senior partner of Phillips & Drew Paul Bazalgette opened the event by making Korchnoi's first move. "Play what move you like", Korchnoi said to him.
Korchnoi was only invited after the Soviets had refused to participate. He was playing better than ever, but arrived almost direct from the Korchnoi - Petrosian Candidates Quarterfinal (1980), and must have been tired. The charm troll Short disappointed a little, apparently because he was swindled by Miles in Round 1 and lost confidence. On the first rest day, the chess players took on a South American football team and lost 3-9. Korchnoi was in goal, and Short scored a penalty. Osvaldo "Ossie" Ardiles agreed to be the referee. Korchnoi's goalkeeping efforts were covered by The Guardian. Three players shared the first place in the end, and of these, Miles had the best Sonneborn-Berger score. "One of his greatest results to date", according to Hartston in British Chess Magazine. Another player with reasons to be proud was Speelman, who attained his first GM norm, in perhaps the first major event in London since London (1922). The goal of Phillips & Drew had been to create an event of the highest rank, and to provide new opportunities for the British players. Miles and Speelman demonstrated that British chess had improved. Regarding the Swede Andersson, he could have been the sole winner - if not for Miles vs Ulf Andersson, 1980 in Round 12.
County Hall and Grosvenor Hotel, London, England, 10-25 April 1980
Age Elo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 Prize
=1 GM Miles 25 2545 * 1 ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 8½ £1985
=1 GM Andersson 28 2590 0 * ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 8½ £1985
=1 GM Korchnoi 49 2695 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 0 ½ 1 1 8½ £1986
=4 GM Sosonko 36 2545 1 ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 1 7½ £675
=4 IM Speelman 23 2490 0 0 ½ 1 * 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ 1 7½ £675
=6 GM Gheorghiu 36 2605 0 1 ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 0 1 7 £400
=6 GM Ljubojevic 29 2590 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 7 £400
=6 GM Timman 28 2600 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 1 1 0 1 ½ 7 £400
9 GM Sax 28 2570 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 * 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 6½ £300
=10 GM Browne 31 2540 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 1 * 0 ½ ½ 1 5½ £260
=10 GM Larsen 45 2585 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 ½ 1 * ½ ½ 1 5½ £260
=10 GM Stean 26 2530 0 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 5½ £260
13 GM Nunn 25 2515 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 4½ £220
14 Short 14 2360 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ * 2 £200
Category: XIII (2554). Chief arbiter: Harry Golombek, who also wrote reports for The Times.The Category V event Phillips & Drew Knights was won jointly by George Steven Botterill and Paul van der Sterren with 10.5/14.
Sources
Wikipedia article: Phillips %26 Drew
Wikipedia article: County Hall, London
Wikipedia article: Grosvenor House Hotel
CHESS magazine, April 1980, p. 133
William Hartston in British Chess Magazine, June 1980, pp. 319-336
Jaque 102, June 1980, pp. 2-6 (http://www.bartelski.pl/olimpbase/l...)
FIDE rating list January 1980 (http://www.olimpbase.org/Elo/Elo198...)
Tidskrift för Schack, April/May 1980, p. 106 (https://www.schack.se/tfsarkiv/hist...)
Revista Romana de Sah, June 1980, pp. 88-90 (https://www.stere.ro/wp-content/upl...)
Hans Bohm in NRC Handelsblad, 26 April 1980, p. 8 (https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/v...)
Harry Golombek in The Times, 26 April 1980, p. 11 (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/archive/...)
Gino Di Felice (ed.), Chess Results 1978-1980. McFarland, Jefferson (2014), p. 278 (https://books.google.no/books?id=Fh...)
William Hartston and Stewart Reuben (eds), London 1980. Pergamon Press, Oxford (1981). 222 pp. (https://archive.org/details/Philips...)
100 Year History of the British Chess Federation, by John Poole and Stewart Reuben (October 2003). In ECF website (https://www.englishchess.org.uk/100...)
Next edition: Phillips & Drew Kings (1982)
Original collections: Game Collection: London Phillips & Drew 1980 by User: suenteus po 147 and Game Collection: Phillips & Drew Kings 1980 by User: Tabanus. Thanks to User: Paint My Dragon for information from BCM and CHESS magazine.
Kibitzing
