Simultaneous Display

with GM Nigel Davies

Grandmaster Nigel Davies, a competitor in this year's British Championship, gave a simultaneous display on the central plateau of St. George's Hall. This special event is the traditional curtain raiser to the championship diary. It was very well attended with all the action starting at 2.00pm and running continuously until about 6.00pm.

A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display (often abbreviated to 'simul') is an event where one player (commonly a grandmaster) plays multiple chess games at a time with selected players, usually below master strength. However at this display Nigel happily took on players of all abilities as they arrived.

Sheila Dines waits very happily for the GM to arrive at the board so she can .....
... play the winning move and after seeing it, Nigel sportingly resigned. Well played and well done Sheila!

In a normal simul, no chess clocks are used. The exhibitor walks from board to board in a fixed order. Usually the boards are arranged in a large circle or square. The opponents are expected to make a move when the exhibitor arrives at the board. Simuls are often played with several games, often twenty or more. As games are finished off, they are usually not replaced, meaning that towards the end only a few games remain.

Nigel played over 40 games during the afternoon losing only four, one to Sheila Dines, one to Luke Boumphrey and two others. Full details and gamescores from those provided to the website manager will be included as soon as possible.

Read more about Nigel and his chess career on his website www.tigerchess.com.