Surrey Hundreds - Making grandmasters from the bottom-up. Run by International Master Mike Basman. This is based on the division of society around 1086. Players are allocated titles and ranks in accordance with their performance in the field of battle - in this case of the chess board. There are seven titles: Champion, Lord, Thegn, Villager, Bordar, Cottar and Slave. The Lords were tenants in chief, and could also be members of the church - bishops. The Thegns were the fighting men. It was estimated that it required one hide (approximately 120 acres) to maintain a fighting man. The Villagers (or Villeins) were tied to the land. They could not leave without the permission of their lord. Nonetheless, they held a position of importance, for they were in charge of a large area of land - on average a virgate (about 30 acres). Next down were the Bordars, equivalent to small holders. Below them came Cottars who would live in a small property with, perhaps, a garden. Finally came the slaves who were in increasingly short supply and gradually faded out in a couple of centuries after 1086. The divisions were not entirely rigid and in parts of England there were also Sokemen or freemen. These were smallholders who actually owned their land and 'could go where they pleased'. But as they were prevalent in places like Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Essex - parts of the earlier Danelaw - but not elsewhere in England, I have not included them in the basic structure.

••• Feudal Grading System	The Tournaments In each tournament, players gain certificates and titles and ranks depending on the score they make. The table below shows the current scoring system (Autumn 2003). Points needed to gain each title:

Champion	Winner
Lord	4.5 or 5
Thegn	4 or 3.5
Villager	3
Bordar	2 or 2.5
Cottar	1 or 1.5
Slave	0 or 0.5

The cumulative rank

If a player takes part in more than one event, the cumulative rank is worked out by averaging
the latest tournament results and the previous cumulative rank. So if in one tournament
a player achieves a rank of 6, and in the next a rank of 4, the cumulative rank will be 5. If the
cumulative rank produces a figure of .5, then it will be rounded up to the higher rank. For example,
a ranking of 3, followed by a rank of 4 would produce a rank of 3.5. This would be rounded up to
3 and the player would keep the higher rank. The title that any player holds will be based on their performance in their most recent tournament. Thus a player who wins the title of Champion, Lord and then Thegn, would hold the title of Thegn as the most recent title won.

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