HM
Andrew Perkins becomes the 1981-1982 Bedfordshire County Championship with a sealed move
The current two strongest players at Luton Chess Club are new to the league and are hopefully considering entering the 2023-2024 Bedfordshire County Chess Championship.
The last time a Luton player was County Champion was Andrew Perkins over forty years in 1981-1982. His three opponents in the finals Paul Habershon, Phil Roe, JN Wingfield were County champions of the previous years. Andrew won against Paul in the first round, drew against JN in the second then won against Joe in the final game, to claim 2.5 / 3 and the become County Champion.
Back then, digital clocks with increments hadn't been invented. Rather than spoil a game in a time scramble with a fixed time for all moves, the rate of play was 36 moves in one and half hours - then an adjournment, when the player to move, secretly writes the next move to be sealed for a resumption at a later date. It was this mechanism that Andrew managed to utilise in the his best game from the finals, against the remarkable 8 times County Champion Paul Habershon.