The News of the WorldSnooker Tournament was one of the leading professional tournaments of the 1950s and widely considered as being more important than the world championship due to the involvement of Joe Davis. The event was sponsored by the Sunday newspaperNews of the World. The highest break of the tournament was four times 140 or more, which was unusual at that time. The tournament had three distinct periods. The first six editions from 1949/50 to 1954/55 were held at the Leicester Square Hall in London. The event was played on a round-robin basis and used a handicap system. Matches were the best of 37 frames and were played over three days. Prize money was £1,500 with £500 for the winner. There were initially 8, and later 9, competitors which meant 28 or 36 matches to be played. With two matches played week after week this meant that the tournament extended over 14 or 18 weeks, although it was somewhat longer because there was also a Christmas break. Leicester Square Hall closed in January 1955 and, from 1955/56 to 1957/58, the tournament was held at a variety of venues around England and Jersey. The number of competitors was reduced to 6 which meant 15 matches had to be played. Generally each venue was used for a week, with two matches played. Otherwise the format of the tournament remained unchanged. In late 1958 the tournament changed format. All matches were held at Burroughes Hall in London but the number of competitors was reduced to 4. Instead of a 37-frame match, each played the others in three separate 13-frame matches. There were no handicaps. With only 6 matches to be played the tournament was completed in 3 weeks. The first prize was £400. The final edition, in late 1959, was also played at Burroughes Hall. It used the Snooker Plus rules, with 3 competitors playing 25-frame matches and was also completed in 3 weeks.
History
The first event was played from September 1949 to January 1950 using a similar format to the 1948 Sunday Empire News Tournament but without the "sealed handicap" aspect. Four players were involved in a qualifying competition, the winner joining 7 others in the main event. The 8 competitors in the main event were Joe Davis, Walter Donaldson, George Chenier, Horace Lindrum, Sidney Smith, Peter Mans and Albert Brown who won the qualifying event. 1949 World Snooker ChampionFred Davis did not enter as he objected to the matches being over only three days rather than the normal six. Each match was over 37 frames. Each player was given a handicap at the start of the tournament. The handicaps were: Davis: −7, Donaldson: 0, Chenier, Lindrum and Smith: 13, Pulman: 14, Mans: 16 and Brown: 19. The player with the higher handicap received a start in each frame, being the difference between the two handicaps. Despite giving a handicap to all the other players, the tournament was won by Joe Davis, who won six of his seven matches. Going into his last match Albert Brown had seemed the likely winner but he lost the match and eventually finished in third place behind Sidney Smith. The 1959 tournament was played under the snooker plus format, a new variant with two additional , allowing a maximum break of 210. The format was developed by Joe Davis and made its professional debut at this tournament, on 26 October at the Burroughes Hall in London. Only three players competed, with Davis becoming champion after winning five of his six matches. The experiment was not a success; the 'snooker plus' format was abandoned and the tournament series discontinued.
