1946 London Chess Championship, Lud-Eagle CC, 28 Bryanston Square, London, 21-29 September

1946 London Championship		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total
1	Sir George Alan Thomas	&;	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	6
2	Ernst Ludwig Klein	0	&;	1	1	1	1	½	1	5½
3	William Winter	0	0	&;	1	½	½	1	1	4
4	Imre König	1	0	0	&;	0	½	1	1	3½
5	(Francis) Percival Wenman	0	0	½	1	&;	½	1	½	3½
6	Frederick Walter Allen	0	0	½	½	½	&;	0	½	2
7	Edward Guthlac Sergeant	0	½	0	0	0	1	&;	½	2
8	(Nicholas) Anthony Perkins	0	0	0	0	½	½	½	&;	1½

BCM, November 1946, ppn 337-338

THE LONDON CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

By W. Winter

The final of the London Chess Championship was decided at the Lud-Eagle Chess Club, 28 Bryanston Square, from September 21st to 29th, and resulted in a victory for Sir G. A. Thomas, with the fine score of 6 points out of a possible 7. E. Klein (5½) and W. Winter (4) were the other prizewinners. The other competitors were I. König, P. Wenman, E. G. Sergeant, F. W. Allen, and N. A. Perkins.

Full results were as follows—

Round 1

Allen ½-½ Wenman — Queen's Gambit Declined
Perkins 0-1 König — Queen’s Pawn (Nimzovitch)
Thomas 1-0 Sergeant — French Defence
Winter 0-1 Klein — Queen’s Pawn (Grünfeld)

Round 2

Klein 1-0 Perkins — Sicilian Defence
König 0-1 Winter — Sicilian Defence
Sergeant 1-0 Allen — Four Knights
Wenman 0-1 Thomas — Ruy Lopez

Round 3

Perkins 0-1 Winter — English Opening
Sergeant ½-½ Klein — Ruy Lopez
Thomas 1-0 Allen — Ruy Lopez
Wenman 1-0 König — Irregular Opening

Round 4

Winter 1-0 Sergeant — Queen’s Gambit Declined
König ½-½ Allen — Ruy Lopez
Perkins ½-½ Wenman — English Opening
Klein 0-1 Thomas — Queen’s Gambit Declined

Round 5

Thomas 0-1 König — French Defence
Allen 0-1 Klein — Colle Opening
Sergeant ½-½ Perkins — Sicilian Defence
Wenman ½-½ Winter — Sicilian Defence

Round 6

Klein 1-0 König — French Defence
Thomas 1-0 Winter — Sicilian Defence
Wenman 1-0 Sergeant — Colle Opening
Allen ½-½ Perkins — Queen’s Gambit Declined

Round 7

Winter ½-½ Allen — Queen’s Gambit Declined
Perkins 0-1 Thomas — Queen’s Pawn (Queen’s Indian)
König 1-0 Sergeant — Réti’s Opening
Klein 1-0 Wenman — Ruy Lopez

Thomas’s victory was a remarkable achievement for a man of sixty-five, and was the more welcome as he has announced his intention of retiring from competitive chess. It is hoped that this success may have the effect of making him change his mind. He was fortunate to beat Sergeant who made a bad mistake in a very favourable position, and also against Klein, who lost a piece in the concluding stages of a desperate struggle in which Klein had held the initiative throughout, but his other games were very fine indeed, and his combination against Wenman, given below, was a real masterpiece.

Klein also played very good chess and but for his unfortunate error with Thomas would have changed places with him. His game with König in particular is a fine example of deep positional play. Winter played well in patches but was greatly troubled by his clock, and König, apart from one very fine game against Thomas, was somewhat disappointing.

Wenman was very lucky. He is a determined player who never knows when he is beaten, and has an uncanny knack of making tricky combinations when his opponent is expecting him to resign. He brought off no less than three of these with the result that he scored 2½) points out of three lost games (against Winter, König, and Sergeant). Sergeant did not reproduce his Nottingham form, but Allen and Perkins, who are new to tournaments of this strength, were in no way outclassed. All their games were strongly contested and they obviously only require more strong practice to be a danger to the best.

The eight finalists were the survivors of an original entry of 128 who played four rounds on the knock-out system. Most of the leading London players were among the numbers, and among those eliminated were Dr. P. M. List (beaten by Perkins), Dr. O. Friedmann, and C. H. O’D. Alexander. The latter resigned to Wenman after drawing in the fourth round, owing to business engagements.

The whole tournament was a complete success and reflects great credit on the Lud-Eagle Chess Club who organized it, and on the tournament director, Mr. L. C. T. Dewing, whose conduct of the final was a model of tact and dignity.

The object of the tournament, to provide the rising players with opportunities of competing with the best, was fully achieved, and it is to be hoped that there will be an even bigger entry next year.

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File Updated

Date	Notes
21 June 2022	First uploaded. 11 out of a possible 28 games.
22 June 2022	A 12th game added: Wenman-König (rd 3). My thanks to Andy Ansel. CORRECTION: the result of the Wenman-König game was 1-0. Thanks to Sean Coffey for proof-reading.