British Postal Chess Federation

6th Open Championship Final

It was a long process to get here. The tournament structure started with a preliminary section as soon as 7 entries were available; top 2 qualified for a semi‑final. A semi‑final section started when 9 qualifiers were available; again top 2 qualified for a final. A final section began once 15 qualifiers were ready.

I missed qualifting for the 5th final by a few weeks and had a considerable wait to join this, the 6th.

I was playing in Lytham. Games started 12th May 1994.

I finished 27th September 1995, the last game finished July 1996 with 6/14.

I have lost all the details of the final positions.

Time Control: 20 days for 10 moves plus 24 days cessation. Sundays and Bank Holidays not to count.

Game	White	Black	Result
1	Roy Bagnal, Gosforth	Peter Wilson	1/2	View
2	Peter Wilson	Michael Franklin, SW16	1/2	View
3	Richard Farley, Sutton Coldfield	Peter Wilson	1-0	View
4	Peter Wilson	John Felton, Hastings	1/2	View
5	Andy Rounding, Gosforth	Peter Wilson	1-0	View
6	Peter Wilson	Bill Lumley, Gomersal	1/2	View
7	Desmond Taylor, Belfast	Peter Wilson	1-0	View
8	Peter Wilson	Michael Micklethwaite, Herne Bay	1-0	View
9	Chris O'Bee, Harrow	Peter Wilson	1-0	View
10	Peter Wilson	Richard Savory, Dereham	0-1	View
11	Tony Walters, SE27	Peter Wilson	0-1	View
12	Peter Wilson	John Vivante-Souwer, Stockport	0-1	View
13	Alan May, Guildford	Peter Wilson	1-0	View
14	Peter Wilson	John Cox, SE5	1-0	View

Before computers, correspondence chess players relied heavily on massive personal libraries and network collaboration. A single move could take days to transmit by mail, giving players ample time to pore over opening encyclopedias, theoretical books, and endgame tables. They also consulted other strong players, creating informal syndicates to analyze positions.

The advent of chess engines transformed the game completely. Books and human networks became obsolete as engines offered near-flawless tactical analysis in seconds. Today, correspondence chess has evolved into "Centaur chess", a battle between human-computer partnerships where victory depends on a player's ability to guide and deeply understand engine recommendations.

Although I had written a Sinclar Spectrum program to record the positions of the games to help set up the board for each move, it was not an engine.

1977–1982 First consumer chess computers
Fidelity Chess Challenger, Novag, SciSys units appear in shops. Strength: club level at best.

1983–1990 PC engines arrive
Sargon, Chessmaster, GNU Chess run on home PCs. Strength: strong club to expert.

1991–1997 Serious strength on desktops
Fritz, Rebel, Hiarcs emerge. By mid‑90s, top engines reach IM/GM level on consumer hardware.

1997–2006 Home engines surpass humans
Fritz 8, Shredder, Junior on ordinary PCs exceed 2700 Elo. By 2006, engines are clearly stronger than any human.

2007–> Unbeatable era
Rybka dominates, then Stockfish and Leela surpass everything. Modern home PCs run engines above 3500 Elo, far beyond human capability. Correspondence chess has evolved into "Centaur chess" a battle between human & computer partnerships where victory depends on a player's ability to guide and deeply understand engine recommendations.