Hampshire 1969/70 SCCU County Champions

The main Trophy in the SCCU County Competitions is the Shannon Trophy, otherwise known as the Championship. According to the SCCU Team Champions list on the SCCU Website Hampshire won the Shannon Trophy just once in 1947/48, but Anthony Fulton in his excellent book “The Southern Counties Chess Union – a retrospective” disputes this as in 1969/70 they beat Cambridgeshire in the Final. Cambridgeshire beat Lancashire in the Inter County Championship Final (National Finals) where Hampshire lost to an extremely strong Lancashire team in the quarter Final, which may have caused the confusion?

Hampshire’s win was also confirmed in the Hampshire Chess Bulletin, so it does look like Cambridgeshire will have to take this off their list of championships. The final was played in early September 1970 rather than the normal April to allow Cambridgeshire, whose team rely heavily on students to field a team representative of their regular season one.

This post is to detail the matches played in the first half of the season (1969), to understand how Hampshire managed to finish ahead of the normal powerhouses Kent, Middlesex and Essex. I wanted to get an indication of strength of both Hampshire and their opponents and have managed to obtain grades from various sources, but Hampshire’s will be fuller and more accurate than their opponents, as I had more sources and am aware of more the the names. Post two will detail the remaining matches and post Three will cover player performance and additional details on the match captain and reasons why this was the beginning of the end for Hampshire in the SCCU.

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For the record of Hampshire County matches and links to any articles I have written the table on the Hampshire County Chess Matches page will detail these. The Hampshire County Chess History page summaries the leagues Hampshire have played in and the successes Hampshire have achieved. Both of these are available from the menu at the top of the site as well.

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Shannon Championship

At this time there was a North and South Championship with seven counties in each, who all played each other over 20 boards. The winner of each division met in the final. In 1969/70 the divisions were as below.

Amboyna Shield

As well as the Shannon, teams could also enter the Amboyna Shield which was played over 50 boards. Ten teams entered this in the 1969/70 season and Hampshire played against all the teams from the South division with the exception of Kent and in addition Hertfordshire and Essex from the North. This meant some matches were just for the Amboyna Shield and others were for both tournaments. As well as winning the Shannon Championship, Hampshire also won the Amboyna Shield this season as well.

In addition, Essex, Middlesex, Kent and Surrey played in the Ebony tournament, which had 75 player teams – This would have been an extra 25 boards added to their Amboyna matches.

Hampshire v Hertfordshire – Amboyna Shield 27th September 1969

The first match of the season was against Hertfordshire in the Amboyna Shield (as Hertfordshire played in the Northern League). As mentioned the Amboyna Shield was played over 50 boards, although following 1972 this turned into the third team competition (U150). Hampshire’s team for the Amboyna shield in this season averaged BCF 157, which if pretty impressive for a 50 player team.

A very close match against Hertfordshire, who are not a team Hampshire play that often and this was the only time they played them over 50 boards. Hampshire had lost the previous four matches, although that went back to the early 1950’s, but managed to stop the rot with this 26-24 win. In fact, apart from an U125 match in 1990 this was the last time Hampshire played Hertfordshire.

You may think that you require a large building for a 100 person match, but this was played at the same time as the Kent vs Bucks match, which meant there were 200 chess players at the same venue. The venue was the John Lewis building in London, where numerous SCCU County matches and the Jamborees were held.

Amboyna Shield

Board	Hants	Hants Grade	Hants Result	Herts	Herts Grade	Herts Result
1	John H Jones	203	1	TB Bennett	184	0
2	S Saverymuttu	198	1	TK Hemingway	u	0
3	Michael Ventham	194	1	J Mitchell	u	0
4	Marshall WJ Thompson	184	1	T Wickens	u	0
5	PH Collins	180	0.5	WEB Pryer	188	0.5
6	AC Barton	177	0	PAJ Brown	185	1
7	DW Lewis	174	1	AG Burrows	184	0
8	AR Cullinane	173	0	B McCague	178	1
9	RM Ellison	171	1	DG MacDonald	194	0
10	Len C Walters	173	1	Default		0
11	J Manderson	173	0	A Philip Primett	183	1
12	BF O’Sullivan	178	0	Miss D Dobson	177	1
13	TI Cowling	169	0	J Cook	u	1
14	Peter L Marshall	167	0	H Rubin	u	1
15	JA Sanz	166	0	PA May	168	1
16	Cdr AJ Peters	165	0.5	A Gratrex	u	0.5
17	JF Watson	165	1	JAC Borland	u	0
18	Martin L Newbury	164	1	CH Watson	166	0
19	Sq-Ldr L Vine	164	1	C Lean	u	0
20	MW Stone	165	1	Default		0
21	Capt GP Britton	u	0	W Houpt	158	1
22	Adam J Sobey	162	1	N Lampin	u	0
23	Maj HT Walker	u	1	A Collman	u	0
24	David E Bower	158	0.5	S Capsey	156	0.5
25	JN Harvey	152	0	C Cale	155	1
26	SL Russell	151	0.5	A Haberberg	158	0.5
27	MW Johnson	151	1	J Maynard	150	0
28	DA Bloxom	148	0	D Picton	u	1
29	RC Hayman	147	0	A Cooper	172	1
30	JRA Smith	145	0	HL Palmer	u	1
31	PJ Hulbert	137	1	A Simm	u	0
32	AM Ingram	131	1	H Campbell	143	0
33	A Lenton	142	1	J Smailes	142	0
34	AJ Miller	141	0	J Moor	u	1
35	DV Pedder	140	0	RJ Robinson	u	1
36	JA Bassett	139	1	R Hubbard	u	0
37	Brian E Gale	u	1	W Battell	u	0
38	AF Garner	u	0	S Gaught	u	1
39	H Docherty	u	0	R Oxborough	u	1
40	SP Herman	138	1	H Hurd	134	0
41	WJ Eaton	138	0.5	EJ Leyns	128	0.5
42	RC Clark	159	0.5	G Daniel	u	0.5
43	JFT Charvill	136	0	S Cooley	u	1
44	Mrs S Roper	u	0	R Talbot	128	1
45	JEC Grant	133	1	BC Hodson	u	0
46	EW Engert	132	1	P Board	u	0
47	WL Bigwood	u	0	R Forster	u	1
48	RW Atkinson	u	0.5	D Barasi	u	0.5
49	JA Hunt	121	0.5	S Percival	u	0.5
50	GW Kilmister	137	0	H Brown	u	1
		158.1	26		163.4	24

Hampshire v Surrey – Shannon & Amboyna Shield 18th October 1969

The second match of the season was against Surrey in the Shannon and Amboyna Shield, again played in London. This format was a 50 board match, with the first 20 counting towards the Shannon (Championship) and the full 50 counting towards the Amboyna Shield. Surrey were a regular opponent for Hampshire and they had played every year since 1958 as well as many times before, back to their first friendly in 1891.

As recorded in the “The Southern Counties Chess Union – a retrospective” Surrey normally came out on top of these matches with Hampshire only winning six times and drawing twice in their 51 matches (including friendlies and the National Minor in 2005 they have played 56 times). But this was one of the occasions when Hampshire did win both the Shannon (11 to 9) and Amboyna Shield (27 to 23).

Shannon

Board	Hants	Hants Grade	Hants Result	Surrey	Surrey Grade	Surrey Result
1	S Saverymuttu	198	0.5	RC Lynn	187	0.5
2	John H Jones	203	1	EL Stuart	204	0
3	ME Ventham	194	0.5	RK Stockwell	186	0.5
4	PM Collins	196	0.5	J Hobbs	160	0.5
5	Marshall WJ Thompson	184	0	DJ Masters	189	1
6	DK Browning	185	1	TC Noyce	179	0
7	PH Collins	180	0.5	JHE Drake	189	0.5
8	DH Smith	180	0	WEC Richards	191	1
9	P John Patience	190	1	AC Ashby	183	0
10	HD Varadarajan	172	1	HJ Lester	175	0
11	AC Barton	177	0	KG Felce	187	1
12	A Samuels	170	0	R Williams	161	1
13	PJ Dodwell	180	0.5	M Colquhoun	u	0.5
14	AR Cullinane	173	1	H Keuneke	144	0
15	EW Chandler	168	1	RE James	158	0
16	Martin L Newbury	164	1	HN Cath	169	0
17	TI Cowling	169	0.5	D Luckin	154	0.5
18	Cdr AJ Peters	165	0	DP Willnets	180	1
19	BAM Piggott	171	0.5	HC Page	170	0.5
20	Peter L Marshall	167	0.5	R Hulme	155	0.5
		179.3	11		174.8	9

Amboyna Shield

Board	Hants	Hants Grade	Hants Result	Surrey	Surrey Grade	Surrey Result
21	Sq-Ldr L Vine	164	0	N High	171	1
22	AJ Sobey	162	0.5	N Puvam	u	0.5
23	Maj HT Walker	u	0	N Wood	u	1
24	Dr V Tulavski	164	0	JJ Lauder	155	1
25	MW Stone	165	0.5	FC Manning	151	0.5
26	JA Sanz	166	1	J Bennett	183	0
27	JG Shepherd	162	1	LAL Montaut	138	0
28	JR Crewe	u	0.5	JP Raison	143	0.5
29	Capt GP Britton	u	0	TO Brugger	152	1
30	N Graham	150	0.5	DW Cay	158	0.5
31	J Morris	159	1	JD Williams	134	0
32	DE Bower	158	0	RD Barnett	181	1
33	AM Ingram	131	1	WT Springnall	156	0
34	P Johnson	157	1	WR Rayner	159	0
35	MW Johnson	151	0	TB West	160	1
36	SL Russell	151	0	RJ Uphill	143	1
37	DA Bloxom	148	1	TW White	163	0
38	JRA Smith	145	0.5	RA Black	137	0.5
39	JA Bassett	139	1	A Lyndon	144	0
40	Brian E Gale	u	0.5	N Morrant	117	0.5
41	AJ Evans	142	1	D Hassle	u	0
42	WJ Eaton	138	0.5	BC Gould	144	0.5
43	RC Clark	159	1	A Balantony	146	0
44	DV Pedder	140	0.5	JF Lane	133	0.5
45	JEC Grant	133	0	JW Fisher	144	1
46	AF Garner	u	1	KA Povah	175	0
47	E Poloszczuk	136	0	MR Harman	130	1
48	EW Engert	132	0	S Clarke	157	1
49	Mrs S Roper	u	1	WH Matthews	u	0
50	JRT Charvill	136	1	R Tincklet	u	0
		149.5	16		151.0	14

Hampshire v Buckinghamshire – Shannon & Amboyna Shield 15th November 1969

The third match of the season was against Surrey in the Shannon and Amboyna Shield, again played in London. This format was a 50-board match, with the first 20 counting towards the Shannon (Championship) and the full 50 counting towards the Amboyna Shield. Hampshire proved too strong for Bucks winning the Championship match 13½ – 6½ and the Amboyna 30½ – 19½ (17-13)

Shannon

Board	Hants	Hants Grade	Hants Result	Bucks	Bucks Grade	Bucks Result
1	John H Jones	203	0	B Atkinson	183	1
2	DE Lloyd	198	1	KG Hyde	u	0
3	Gerald H Bennett	194	0.5	P Acton	184	0.5
4	ME Ventham	194	1	Default		0
5	HM Ewans	193	1	Dr EN Bramley	178	0
6	Marshall WJ Thompson	184	1	A Niedzwiedski	169	0
7	DH Smith	180	0.5	EB Sandercock	168	0.5
8	DJ McCue	177	1	K Keen	162	0
9	RM Ellison	171	0	G Moore	173	1
10	AR Cullinane	173	1	N Thackery	173	0
11	Len C Walters	173	0	IC Parkinson	u	1
12	J Manderson	173	1	JD Cheetham	165	0
13	HCR Burdock	185	1	W Evans	168	0
14	AC Barton	177	1	UO Aavelaid	160	0
15	EW Chandler	168	0	JK Jackson	u	1
16	BF O’Sullivan	178	0.5	DE Stevenson	155	0.5
17	A Samuels	170	0.5	A Ballard	144	0.5
18	Martin L Newbury	164	0.5	G Cabaj	155	0.5
19	Peter L Marshall	167	1	G Edmonds	152	0
20	BAM Piggott	171	1	A Wodzianek	u	0
		179.7	13.5		165.9	6.5

Amboyna Shield

Board	Hants	Hants Grade	Hants Result	Bucks	Bucks Grade	Bucks Result
21	Cdr AJ Peters	165	0	CNE Harris	154	1
22	MW Stone	165	0.5	D Luch	145	0.5
23	JG Shepherd	162	0.5	M Purser	159	0.5
24	Sq-Ldr L Vine	164	0	H Cookson	147	1
25	TH Campbell	166	1	N Clark	128	0
26	J Morris	159	1	M Scott	151	0
27	N Graham	150	0.5	R Marsh	146	0.5
28	JE Crewe	u	0	Dr AW Hill	u	1
29	Capt GP Britton	u	0.5	CJ Stapley	138	0.5
30	MW Johnson	151	0	D Webb	u	1
31	AM Ingram	131	1	L Norris	133	0
32	DE Bower	158	1	J Bryant	133	0
33	LF Cotter	u	1	W White	u	0
34	SL Russell	151	0	JC Saunders	u	1
35	JA Bassett	139	0.5	C Hichson	u	0.5
36	A Lenton	142	0.5	R Cattle	u	0.5
37	RA Pidgeon	140	0.5	CS Randall	0	0.5
38	RC Hayman	147	1	R Robinson	u	0
39	JRA Smith	145	0	DJ Turner	u	1
40	RC Clark	159	0.5	C Floyd	u	0.5
41	AF Garner	u	0.5	T Dyer	115	0.5
42	CDN Denton	138	0	B Selden	125	1
43	WJ Eaton	138	0.5	P Boughton	u	0.5
44	JM Guilfoyle	u	0	PA Dunning	u	1
45	S Sriharan	u	1	F Brown	117	0
46	DV Pedder	140	1	R Neale	u	0
47	H Docherty	u	1	D King	122	0
48	EW Engert	132	1	G Griffiths	117	0
49	GH Jones	u	1	G Trent	116	0
50	JA Hunt	121	1	RD Stoker	u	0
		148.3	17		126.2	13

Hampshire v Sussex – Shannon & Amboyna Shield 6th December 1969

Next up were Sussex, whose Hampshire final SCCU match record was 30%, so certainly another tough opponent. In the Shannon team Sussex had a number of 200+ graded players, compared to Hampshire where John Jones was the sole plus 200 strength player.

The impact in this was seen with Sussex outscoring Hampshire 5 – 2 on the top 7 boards, but on the remaining 13 boards Sussex managed only 3½ points and Hampshire had a fantastic 11½ – 8½ win in the Shannon. In regards to the Amboyna Shield the 30 board match ended 15 points apiece, meaning Hampshire won this 26½ – 23½.

Shannon

Board	Hants	Hants Grade	Hants Result	Sussex	Sussex Grade	Sussex Result
1	S Saverymuttu	198	0.5	GJ Nicholas	174	0.5
2	John H Jones	203	0	JIP Simpole	213	1
3	DE Lloyd	198	0	GH James	202	1
4	Gerald H Bennett	194	0.5	RJ Barker	202	0.5
5	ME Ventham	194	0.5	KL Gardner	u	0.5
6	HM Ewans	193	0	JD Thorton	u	1
7	DK Browning	185	0.5	B Thomas	193	0.5
8	Marshall WJ Thompson	184	1	AG Stubbs	187	0
9	HD Varadarajan	172	1	ARP Lewis	183	0
10	HCR Burdock	185	0.5	CAS Damant	182	0.5
11	AC Burton	177	0.5	KF Homeyard	181	0.5
12	DW Lewis	174	1	DGA Shallcross	179	0
13	AR Cullinane	173	0	E Key	u	1
14	RH Ellison	171	1	WE Devitt	u	0
15	J Manderson	173	1	CJ McArthur	178	0
16	BF O’Sullivan	178	0.5	KP Allen	0	0.5
17	Len C Walters	173	1	M Rubin	153	0
18	TI Cowling	169	0.5	RJ Ilersic	u	0.5
19	A Samuels	170	0.5	RH Williams	u	0.5
20	Peter L Marshall	167	1	E Donovan	u	0
		181.6	11.5		171.3	8.5

Amboyna Shield

Board	Hants	Hants Grade	Hants Result	Sussex	Sussex Grade	Sussex Result
21	JE Crewe	u	1	PR Selby	177	0
22	Martin L Newbury	164	0.5	Dr AJ Leggett	u	0.5
23	BAM Piggott	171	0	B Beavis	170	1
24	MW Stone	165	1	AJ Dommett	170	0
25	AJ Sobey	162	0.5	SD East	170	0.5
26	J Morris	159	0.5	PE Monkhouse	170	0.5
27	AM Ingram	131	0	PI Wyndham	169	1
28	N Graham	150	0	CE Cropp	166	1
29	Cdr AJ Peters	165	0.5	PN Kington	173	0.5
30	JA Hunt	121	0	C Searle	u	1
31	Iain A Stenhouse	159	1	LF Grasty	165	0
32	Sq-Ldr L Vine	164	0	P Watson	165	1
33	DE Bower	158	1	FC Cullington	u	0
34	HW Johnson	151	1	A Philpott	165	0
35	DA Bloxom	148	0	EJ Bowley	160	1
36	TJ deBuriatte	147	0.5	GM Brace	131	0.5
37	F Johnson	157	0.5	CE SouthcoteWant	158	0.5
38	SL Russell	151	1	FG Hill	157	0
39	JA Bassett	139	1	GH Green	156	0
40	RC Hayman	147	0	GA Rain	155	1
41	AJ Evans	142	0.5	BJ Sherrell	154	0.5
42	S Sriharan	u	1	CM Damzer	148	0
43	Brian E Gale	u	0	LT Smale	156	1
44	RC Clark	159	0.5	Miss P Garland	149	0.5
45	WJ Eaton	138	0.5	JA Knott	u	0.5
46	JFT Charvill	136	0.5	JG Isted	u	0.5
47	Mrs S Roper	u	1	Miss A Gammans	137	0
48	EW Engert	132	0	S Mansfield	u	1
49	JRA Smith	145	1	J Valler	154	0
50	MJ Eaton	138	0	Miss D Garland	129	1
		150.0	15		158.5	15

Hampshire v Kent – Shannon 10th January 1970

The match against Kent was just for the Shannon Championship (although Kent were also playing in the Amboyna) and therefore just played over 20 boards. This was played in Charlton and therefore not sure if this counts as a neutral venue, or an away one? Nevertheless, Kent were a real powerhouse in the SCCU and Hampshire only managed four wins and two draws from their 43 matches and suffered a number of heavy losses.

This was not one of those days though and this time the top boards did Hampshire proud, with 6 points from the top 8 boards. This included John Jones beating Max Fuller graded 216 who played board one for Australia and became an FM in 1980. See the BCN article for more details on his life.

Shannon

Board	Hants	Hants Grade	Hants Result	Kent	Kent Grade	Kent Result
1	S Saverymuttu	198	0.5	M MacDonald-Ross	u	0.5
2	John H Jones	203	1	M Fuller	216	0
3	DE Lloyd	198	0.5	MV Lambershire	213	0.5
4	Gerald H Bennett	194	1	N Oliver	195	0
5	ME Ventham	194	0.5	RR Smith	196	0.5
6	Marshall WJ Thompson	184	1	DJ Rogers	196	0
7	P John Patience	190	1	R Johannes	194	0
8	MW Johnson	151	0.5	S MacDonald-Ross	180	0.5
9	DW Lewis	174	0	MJ Reddie	194	1
10	J Manderson	173	0	PB Cook	0	1
11	HCR Burdockl	185	1	AK Swift	181	0
12	AC Barton	177	1	G Pope	186	0
13	A Samuels	170	1	GP Robinson	u	0
14	Peter L Marshall	167	0.5	R Bellinger	177	0.5
15	BF O’Sullivan	178	1	M Pitt	183	0
16	RM Ellison	171	0	MJ Keesham	u	1
17	AR Cullinane	173	1	IL Snape	176	0
18	MW Stone	165	0	D Radford	u	1
19	BAM Piggott	171	0	JG Nicholson	170	1
20	Iain A Stenhouse	159	0	JP Somerville	170	1
		178.8	11.5		176.7	8.5

Hampshire v Oxfordshire – Shannon & Amboyna Shield 31st January 1970

One the last day of January Hampshire took on Oxfordshire over 50 boards in Reading. Oxfordshire had proved a difficult opponent in the past, but with Hampshire’s strong and well captained 1970 team would Hampshire come out on top? In the 20 board Shannon Competition Oxfordshire had three players graded over 215, two who would become IM’s and Adrian Hollis who would become the 9th World Correspondence World Champion in 1987 (1982 to 1987). Hampshire scored 50% on these boards, with Saverymuttu defeating Botterill on board one.

Oxfordshire’s average grade for the Shannon match was just over 191, whilst Hampshire’s was 183, but Hampshire proved that on the day this was irrelevant with a crushing 13 to 7 win, with only three losses in the match.

In the remaining 30 boards for the Amboyna Shield it looks as if obtaining 50 boards was a struggle for Oxfordshire as they defaulted nine boards, Hampshire won 21½ – 8½ bringing the Amboyna Shield result to 34½ – 15½ which was Hampshire’s largest victory against Oxfordshire.

Shannon

Board	Hants	Hants Grade	Hants Result	Oxfordshire	Oxfordshire Grade	Oxfordshire Result
1	S Saverymuttu	198	1	G Botterill	218	0
2	John H Jones	203	0	AJ Whiteley	216	1
3	DE Lloyd	198	0.5	A Hollis	218	0.5
4	DK Bevis	178	0	J Moles	201	1
5	PM Collins	196	1	L Blackstock	190	0
6	P John Patience	190	0.5	W Linton	199	0.5
7	HM Ewans	193	0.5	R Watson	u	0.5
8	RWL Moberly	192	0.5	A Jones	u	0.5
9	CR Orchard	188	1	H Norphy	u	0
10	DK Browning	185	1	C Burton	195	0
11	MW Johnson	151	0	PGN Kendall	184	1
12	TI Cowling	169	0.5	J Stone	190	0.5
13	HC Burdock	185	1	H Daube	168	0
14	AC Barton	177	0.5	M Turner	u	0.5
15	DH Smith	180	0.5	Dr G White	u	0.5
16	AJ Stebbings	180	1	MN Crombie	161	0
17	DJ McCue	177	1	R Ermerson	178	0
18	DW Lewis	174	0.5	D Godfrey	u	0.5
19	A Samuels	170	1	DT Jones	193	0
20	J Manderson	173	1	A Cummis	165	0
		182.9	13		191.1	7

Amboyna Shield

Board	Hants	Hants Grade	Hants Result	Oxfordshire	Oxfordshire Grade	Oxfordshire Result
21	JE Crewe	u	1	Default		0
22	Len C Walters	173	1	A Baker	164	0
23	RM Ellison	171	0	GT Jones	u	1
24	AR Cullinane	173	1	T Ashplant	157	0
25	Peter L Marshall	167	1	G Elkes	168	0
26	EW Chandler	168	0.5	J Waldron	158	0.5
27	ME Ventham	194	1	Default		0
28	RNK Olding	u	0	R Gravett	158	1
29	Martin L Newbury	164	1	R Watts	174	0
30	MW Stone	165	0	T Williams	154	1
31	AJ Sobey	162	0	G Rockett	147	1
32	J Morris	159	1	Default		0
33	DE Bower	158	0	S Dolah	u	1
34	BAM Piggott	171	1	Dr H Lawrence	145	0
35	Cdr AJ Peters	165	1	H Booth	150	0
36	TR Campbell	166	1	Default		0
37	Sq-Ldr L Vine	164	1	R Cherry	133	0
38	Capt GP Britton	u	0.5	A Collins	141	0.5
39	N Graham	150	0.5	F Wood	140	0.5
40	JA Bassett	139	1	Rev H Taylor	u	0
41	SL Russell	151	0	H Sloan	156	1
42	J Calleja	136	1	P Craske	u	0
43	RC Clark	159	0.5	A Gillmore	u	0.5
44	S Sriharan	u	1	Default		0
45	LF Cotter	u	0.5	G Dawson	137	0.5
46	JA Hunt	121	1	DA del Nevo	u	0
47	Mrs S Roper	u	1	Default		0
48	WJ Eaton	138	1	Default		0
49	KE Engert	132	1	Default		0
50	MJ Eaton	138	1	Default		0
		157.7	21.5		152.1	8.5

Hampshire v Essex – Amboyna Shield 28th February 1970

Essex played in the North Championship, whilst Hampshire played in the South. Therefore this 50 board match was just for the Amboyna Shield. This was the only league match Hampshire lost and this was by the narrowest of margins 24½ – 25½. In fact the match was level at 24½ – 24½ with Southampton’s Alec Samuels adjourned against KG Scott. Unfortunately for Hampshire this looks to have gone Essex’s way. On researching this post I found out that Alec Samuels was elected as the leader of Southampton City Council in 2007 at the age of 77 and stood down when he was 80 three years later. He was still playing chess in the Southampton League in 2016 at the age of 86.

Amboyna Shield

Board	Hants	Hants Grade	Hants Result	Essex	Essex Grade	Essex Result
1	S Saverymuttu	198	0.5	D Sherman	201	0.5
2	John H Jones	203	1	Default		0
3	Gerald H Bennett	194	0.5	IA Friedlande	189	0.5
4	PM Collins	196	0	PW Hempson	205	1
5	DE Lloyd	198	0.5	Dr KD Sales	u	0.5
6	ME Ventham	194	1	Default		0
7	P John Patience	190	0	MW Wills	u	1
8	HM Ewans	193	0	RM Harman	212	1
9	Marshall WJ Thompson	184	1	HI Woolverton	191	0
10	DK Browning	185	0	TJ Pascoe	179	1
11	MW Johnson	151	0	SM Kalinsky	183	1
12	DW Lewis	174	0	RW O’Brien	174	1
13	AC Barton	177	0	AJ Brooks	183	1
14	A Samuels	170	0	KG Scott	u	1
15	J Manderson	173	1	JV Ripp	184	0
16	Len C Walters	173	0.5	D Eustace	u	0.5
17	WJE Yeeles	175	0	R Watts	174	1
18	Peter L Marshall	167	0.5	JR Priestley	183	0.5
19	DK Bevis	178	0.5	P Kitson	134	0.5
20	BF O’Sullivan	178	0	MC Bramwell	u	1
21			1	Default		0
22	H Vardarjan	172	1	PR Elliott	156	0
23	JE Crewe	u	0.5	S Wilkinson	173	0.5
24	TI Cowling	169	0.5	R Heppenstall	169	0.5
25	RM Ellison	171	0.5	M Hubbard	145	0.5
26	Martin L Newbury	164	0.5	R Griffiths	148	0.5
27	EW Chandler	168	0	KW Spurgeon	157	1
28	M Bramer	167	1	RH Langham	158	0
29	J Morris	159	0	R Hatch	159	1
30	BAM Piggott	171	0.5	D Dennis	151	0.5
31	Cdr AJ Peters	165	1	D Rogerson	144	0
32	GL Pritchard	157	0	DG Cannan	161	1
33	Iain A Stenhouse	159	0.5	JA Spiegal	162	0.5
34	Maj HT Walker	u	0.5	HW Calvert	145	0.5
35	M Roberts	160	1	C Ramage	152	0
36	DE Bower	158	0.5	R Franklin	160	0.5
37	Capt GP Britton	u	0	R Julian	u	1
38			1	Default		0
39	N Graham	150	0	AF Scriber	u	1
40	JA Bassett	139	1	DH Imrie	130	0
41	R Johnson	157	0.5	ERA Goss	151	0.5
42	RC Hayman	147	1	B Sammes	134	0
43	S Sriharan	u	0	D Browning	153	1
44	J Calleja	136	1	S Bush	u	0
45	SL Russell	151	1	H Hubbard	112	0
46	WJ Eaton	138	0	JJ Orcley	u	1
47	HE Davies	156	1	J Eley	u	0
48	P Ozanne	u	0	IA Patterson	u	1
49	Brian E Gale	u	1	S Bushill	u	0
50	EW Engert	132	1	P Giller	u	0
		169.0	24.5		164.0	25.5

Hampshire v Berkshire – Shannon & Amboyna Shield 7th March 1970

In March Berkshire were the opponents, another team who Hampshire play often now in the Chiltern League. In the SCCU Hampshire had a 75% record with 29 wins, 4 draws and 8 losses.

Hampshire also had the advantage this season with the match being played in Southampton, which normally makes team selection easier. But in fact Hampshire’s team was not noticeably different to their other matches. This points to great organisation by the Hampshire Match Captain HL Parsons to persuade strong players to play in non home matches, which I will look at in more detail later.

A very similar result to the Oxfordshire match, saw Hampshire win the Shannon 13 to 7 and the Amboyna Shield 33½ – 16½ for a comfortable win.

Shannon

Board	Hants	Hants Grade	Hants Result	Berks	Berks Grade	Berks Result
1	S Saverymuttu	198	0.5	JM Craddock	198	0.5
2	John H Jones	203	1	CM Blackburne	193	0
3	ME Ventham	194	0	J Walsh	u	1
4	Marshall WJ Thompson	184	0.5	B Turner	175	0.5
5	P John Patience	190	0.5	L Tadiello	177	0.5
6	DK Browning	185	1	PS Woolford	188	0
7	Len C Walters	173	0	KO Ballard	184	1
8	HCR Burdock	185	1	SA Townsend	169	0
9	PH Collins	180	0.5	J Townsend	u	0.5
10	DH Smith	180	0.5	TJ Bean	174	0.5
11	AJ Stebbings	180	1	JP Parker	u	0
12	J Manderson	173	0.5	E Du Puget	181	0.5
13	AR Cullinane	173	1	JP Spencer	u	0
14	MW Johnson	151	1	DI Stevenson	169	a
15	AC Barton	177	0.5	NA Randall	152	0.5
16	Peter L Marshall	167	1	FL Parker	157	0
17	A Samuels	170	1	CR Berry	161	0
18	DK Bevis	178	1	AH Brampton	157	0
19	JE Crewe	u	0.5	NM Stewart	154	0.5
20	WJE Yeeles	175	0	TG Pollard	158	1
		179.8	13		171.7	7

Amboyna Shield

Board	Hants	Hants Grade	Hants Result	Berks	Berks Grade	Berks Result
21	HL Parsons	157	0.5	H Duck	131	0.5
22	TI Cowling	169	1	JW Rankin	157	0
23	R Zoller	170	1	JA Weeks	153	0
24	RM Ellison	171	1	K Wyld	158	0
25	Martin L Newbury	164	1	H Brykiert	157	0
26	Cdr AJ Peters	165	1	WH Norris	153	0
27	EW Chandler	168	1	SR Benedictus	159	0
28	BAM Piggott	171	0	PB Sarson	u	1
29	AJ Sobey	162	1	MJ Breslin	140	0
30	MW Stone	165	0.5	C Long	148	0.5
31	J Morris	159	0.5	PR Taylor	160	0.5
32	DE Bower	158	1	D Tucker	u	0
33	JA Bassett	139	0.5	MG Tarrant	144	0.5
34	Capt GP Britton	u	1	M Baldwin	u	0
35	J Calleja	136	0	M Vandera	136	1
36	GL Pritchard	157	1	VJ Ballard	127	0
37	Sq-Ldr L Vine	164	0.5	AS Willis	u	0.5
38	F Johnson	157	1	MJ Cobb	u	0
39	SL Russell	151	1	M Moult	u	0
40	N Graham	150	0.5	HG Taylor	138	0.5
41	RC Hayman	147	0.5	R Glinn	u	0.5
42	A Miller	141	0.5	M Pike	139	0.5
43	S Sriharan	u	0.5	M Barker	u	0.5
44	HE Davies	156	1	CKS Wilmot	140	0
45	Brian E Gale	u	1	A Watkin	u	0
46	WJ Eaton	138	1	HP Rymer	u	0
47	SP Herman	138	1	JJ Looker	123	0
48	EW Engert	132	0	CJ Reynolds	128	1
49	E Poloszczuk	136	0	DJ Finch	u	1
50	S Barber	u	0	J Hasselt	114	1
		154.7	20.5		142.4	9.5

Final Tables

This was the end of the regular season and as per the SCCU Bulletins (May 1970) Hampshire won the South Championship, the Amboyna Shield and the Montague-Jones. I have not mentioned the Montague-Jones and additional details on the various leagues / trophies can be found in the SCCU Archives.

Hampshire won the South Championship with a 100% record, Cambridgeshire won the North Championship, dropping a draw to Bedfordshire and these teams would meet in the final to determine the SCCU Champion for 1969/70.

In the Amboyna Shield Hampshire finished with six wins and the one loss to Essex. Essex also had six wins (one by default) and one loss, losing to Kent. Kent had five wins, one loss and a draw. How the final positions are determined must have taken into account other criteria though, as the final table has Hampshire 1st, Kent 2nd and Essex 3rd.

Hampshire v Lancashire- National Quarter Final 25th April 1970

Although this was the end of the season, Hampshire had qualified for the quarter final of the National Championship and still had to play the SCCU Championship final against Cambridgeshire.

Hampshire travelled to Birmingham to play Lancashire in the National Quarter Finals, but Lancashire with an average grade pushing 200 over 24 boards proved too strong for a slightly weakened Hampshire team and to be fair crushed them. In a strange turn of fate Hampshire’s opponents in the SCCU Championship Cambridgeshire beat Lancashire in the National Final.

Board	Hants	Hants Grade	Hants Result	Lancs	Lancs Grade	Lancs Result
1	S Saverymuttu	198	0.5	J Horner		0.5
2	John H Jones	203	0.5	CG Hilton	210	0.5
3	Gerald H Bennett	194	1	PR Markland	208	0
4	DE Lloyd	198	0	CF Woodcock	205	1
5	ME Ventham	194	1	M Firth	205	0
6	P John Patience	190	0	PC Hoad	221	1
7	WH Pratten	187	0	GN Henderson	201	1
8	AR Cullinane	173	0.5	D Lees	198	0.5
9	J Manderson	173	0	J Wolstenholme	197	1
10	BF O’Sullivan	178	0	MJ Conroy	198	1
11	A Samuels	170	1	E Little	192	0
12	MW Johnson	151	0	AJ Dilworth	202	1
13	Peter L Marshall	167	0	P Almond	196	1
14	AC Barton	177	0	P Joyce	191	1
15	Len C Walters	173	0	DC Ellison	193	1
16	TI Cowling	169	0	H Lamb	189	1
17	DW Lewis	174	0	J Ripley	195	1
18	JE Crewe	u	0	J Tennant-Smith	196	1
19	RM Ellison	171	0.5	D Malcolm	191	0.5
20	Cdr AJ Peters	165	1	TJ Beach	192	0
21	DE Bower	158	0.5	BA Jones		0.5
22	MS Stone	165	0	RW Howley	189	1
23	BAM Piggott	171	0	JH Pollitt	185	1
24	Sq-Ldr L Vine	164	0	DP Lynch		1
		176.7	6.5		197.8	17.5

Hampshire v Cambridgeshire – Shannon Final 5th September 1970

The final between the South and North divisions for the Championship would normally take place earlier in the year, but this was delayed as Cambridgeshire rely heavily on their University players. Therefore it took place in September, after Cambridgeshire had already won the BCF National Championship.

Looking at the teams, both were understrength with Cambridgeshire missing Raymond Keene (237), Bill Harston (225), HW Williams (210) and NJ Patterson (209) who all played in some of their national matches. Hampshire averaged under 170 BCF though, which was much lower than any of their previous matches. Looking at the board order and grades I probably have the incorrect grades, as these would have been published in September, when this match took place.

The match was extremely close and with Cambridgeshire defaulting one board this may have been crucial, as despite being heavily outgraded Hampshire won by 10½ – 9½ to take the SCCU Shannon Championship.

A huge achievement for Hampshire and after going undefeated in the South Division and often having to play in London a well deserved victory. Hampshire winners were Gerald Bennett, Michael Ventham, Martin Newbury, Len Walters, DE Bower, SW Sayer (won by default) and AE McGowan. These last two were names unknown to me and I think this match were the only times I have found when they played for Hampshire.

Board	Hants	Hants Grade	Hants Result	Cambs	Cambs Grade	Cambs Result
1	S Saverymuttu	198	0	RG Eales	204	1
2	Gerald H Bennett	194	1	JN Sugden	197	0
3	DE Lloyd	198	0	NJ Holloway	138	1
4	ME Ventham	194	1	J Kirk o’Grady	u	0
5	HCR Burdock	185	1	BM Rothbert	206	0
6	AR Cullinane	173	0	RMR O’kelly	194	1
7	MW Johnson	151	0.5	R Webb	188	0.5
8	Martin L Newbury	164	1	JF Rudge	176	0
9	AC Barton	177	0.5	RW Morgan	194	0.5
10	DW Lewis	174	0	AJ Oddie	u	1
11	TI Cowling	169	0	JN Sheldrake	177	1
12	Cdr AJ Peters	165	0.5	Dr PD Ralph	174	0.5
13	Len C Walters	173	1	HT Jones	u	0
14	DE Bower	158	1	J Scanlan	182	0
15	AM Ingram	131	0	CF Moore	161	1
16	SL Russell	151	0	C Bliss	u	1
17	JN Harvey	152	0.5	B Goldsmith	u	0.5
18	JA Bassett	139	0.5	C White	u	0.5
19	SW Sayer	155	1	Default		0
20	AE McGowan	152	1	A Woo	u	0
		167.7	10.5		182.6	9.5

Information Sources

information for these blogs have been obtained from various sources, the Hampshire Chess Archives, Britbase, SCCU Bulletins and Anthony Fulton book “The Southern Counties Chess Union – a retrospective”. This book provides a potted history of Hampshire Chess as well as other Southern Counties. I highly recommend this book, specifically if you like me the Archivist for one of the Counties who have played in the SCCU.

1969/1970 SCCU County Champions

Hampshire were 1969/1970 SCCU County Champions, as well as winning the Amboyna Shield and Montague-Jones Trophies. A massive achievement for the County. As recorded in the Hampshire Bulletin this congratulated the Match Captain H.L.Parsons.

HL Parsons – Hampshire Match Captain

The Hampshire Match Captain was Harold Leslie Parsons who played for Hampshire between 1923 and 1972 and held various posts for Hampshire including auditor and delegate to the SCCU (from at least 1947). He took over as Match Captain in 1962 (Note 1) from Leslie Vine, although he had served as vice-captain since 1959 and fulfilled this role until 1974 when he stepped down.

He only played the one game this season and I presume this was a substitution (Hampshire had no defaults) as it looks as at this stage he concentrated solely on running the team. As well as his duties for Hampshire he was also the Southampton Chess League President from before the Second World War until his death. He played for the Southampton Chess Club (where they still have their Lightning Cup named after him). He was awarded a Life Honorary President of the Hampshire Chess Association at the AGM on 22nd May 1974.

Harold passed away in November 1984 as reported in the Southern Evening Echo.

Player Performance

It is interesting to see the mixture of players who played for Hampshire in the season. There were players who played before the Second World War such as HL Parsons (from 1923), SL Russell (1930), Capt GP Britton (1930), Wilf Pratten (1934) and Sq-Ld-Vine (1936). On the other side there were the young players S Saverymuttu and Gerald Bennett. Saverymuttu was only in Hampshire for a few years, but was a great addition from 1967 to 1970. Gerald Bennett was playing on boards 8 to 19 the previous season was now playing on the top 3 boards and would have only been 20 at this time.

Hampshire used 99 players in the season with 3 players playing in every game and 7 playing in 9. Performance results for all players is given below, weighted towards Games Played. Additional details on specific players is included below the table.

Player Snapshot Analysis

The format used it to pick a few of the players who had the best results, show who they played against with grades and provide a small amount of background information on the players. This will be limited information, but I am happy to add additional supplied information.

Michael Ventham

The one player whose performance is a bit misleading, as included three wins by default. But even excluding these he scored 4½ points from 7 games (64.5%). Playing on the top 5 boards his results including beating a number of strong players. Unfortunately for Hampshire when we moved to the WECU Michael, who lived in London stopped playing for Hampshire, which would have been a real blow.

This also may be the reason for his wins by default, as being a London player and the majority of the games being played in London he may not have wanted a player who had travelled to not play,

Cdr AJ Peters

A stalwart of Hampshire Chess Commander AJ Peters (3 June 1914 – 17 September 1995) played for Hampshire up to 1975, although he was active in Scottish Chess in the 1950’s. He also played for for Oxford in the Varsity Matches in 1936 and and 1937. See Britbase for additional details on him.

in the 1936 Varsity Match he played on board 7 and won, whilst Graham Powell Britton who also played this season for Hampshire played on board 2 (although the lost).

Graded 165 the Commander had an excellent season, with the highlight seeming to be the win against TJ Beach graded 192 in the BCF Quarter Finals. Although mainly playing in the 2nd team he also played in the Championship Final against Cambridgeshire on board 12 drawing against his higher graded opponent.

John H Jones

John was a Gosport player and was the only Hampshire player graded over 200 this season. John shared board one with S. Saverymuttu who was another Gosport player (John played twice on board 1 and seven times on board 2). Ignoring the win by default John won 4 games, lost 3 and drew 1. As you can see below John had some extremely tough opponents, with 4 graded 210+. His stand out win was against Max Fuller (216) but I think he had a fantastic season to score more than 50% against the calibre of his opponents. Personally I have a winning record against John with a win and a draw, but these were when he had mainly stopped playing in 1996/97 and he was graded 40+ points lower, but still results I am pleased with.

Peter Marshall

Anyone who has played in the Southampton League from the 1950’s to the mid 2000’s would know Peter Marshall. He held numerous official roles within Southampton and Hampshire including being the Hampshire President and WECU Match Captain. He was instrumental in bringing the British Chess Championship to Southampton in 1986

Peter was ever present in the Hampshire County team, playing more than 200 games and in the 1950’s he played on board 1 as well as numerous times on the top 5 boards. He was still winning games in his last season in 2007. In the WECU he often travelled with his close Southampton Chess Club friend Len Walters (another Varsity player), often stopping for a liquid lunch. I think as they both got older the driving from Len got a bit dangerous! Len also played this season, scoring 50% (ignoring this win by default). Both Len and Peter have trophies named after them in the Southampton Individual Championship.

Peter only missed the one game in the season, which was the final against Cambridgeshire but he won 4 games, drew 3 and lost 2 in the season. There is a picture of Peter on the Hampshire Chess Chronology page.

Martin Newbury

Going undefeated in his 8 games Martin Newbury’s 4 wins and 3 draws were hugely beneficial to Hampshire’s season. He also won his game in the final against Cambridgeshire.

Marshall Thompson

Often playing on the top board for Hampshire during the 30+ years he played for Hampshire 9 times Hampshire Individual Champion played from board 4 to 9 this season. This was a great benefit for Hampshire and he scored heavily, winning five games and had a draw and a loss in the other two.

JA Bassett

5 wins and 3 losses playing on the lower boards for Hampshire was JA Bassett. Only playing 16 times for Hampshire between 1966 and 1974 with 50% of them in this season he is not a player I am familiar with.

HCR Burdock

With the highest scoring percentage of any player who played more than 3 games, HCR Burdock only dropped the 1 draw from 6 games. Having a player graded 185 playing as low as board 13 this season was one of the reasons for Hampshire’s success. In fact he played 1 more game for Hampshire the following season, which he lost and then did not play again. He is not a player I know of, so it may be that he moved away, or that WECU chess was not for him?

Update Jan 2023: John Saunders of Britbase has supplied additional details on HCR Burdock. John played him 1971 and discovered the sad fact that he died in 1973 aged only 26. Full details: Harry Charles Robert Burdock, born 27 February 1947, North Bucks; died 28 April 1973, Portsmouth.

His win against BM Rothbert who out-graded him by 29 points in the Championship Final in probably his highlight of his excellent season.

Gerald H Bennett

As mentioned at the start of the article Gerald Bennett was playing on much lower boards in the previous season, but in 69/70 he played boards 2,3 and 4 and went undefeated in his 6 games. With his opponents graded from 184 to 208 a fantastic result. Gerald eventually became a FIDE Master and was also Hampshire Chess President in 1994 and won the Southampton Individual Championship twice in 1973 and 1983. Back to his County Chess history he played over 70 games for Hampshire scoring 65.5%

Other Noticeable Results

as the above the following players also scored well this season.

• S Saverymuttu W2 D6 L1 loss mainly on board one.
• AR Cullinane W5 D1 L3
• DE Bower W4 3D 2L
• Alec Samuels W5, D1, L3 (another Varsity player)
• HD Varadarajan W3

The Beginning of the end for Hampshire in the SCCU

I alluded in post two about Hampshire’s win acting as a catalyst for changes in the SCCU, especially the concerns for some Counties had in relation to travelling. Safe to say Hampshire had to travel to London for numerous matches, but they also had some home matches played normally in Southampton, or Eastleigh.

The Hampshire Bulletin which was edited by Hampshire player GW Kilmister (who also produced (but not edited) the SCCU Bulletins) was quite forthcoming in showing the displeasure of other Counties having to travel out of the Metropolitan area and changes were made. I will leave it up to the reader as if these were fair changes, but I think the amendment made after the official document stating:

“that is hoped that most Counties will agree to play in London so that the development struggle for supremacy in the final rounds can be more easily followed in the coincident matches, with greatly heightened interest”

Hampshire Chess Bulletin 1970 GW Kilmister

says it all!

Hampshire played two more seasons in the SCCU but the changes obviously had an impact as in 1970/71 they finished bottom in the Shannon Championship (six teams entered) and fourth of ten teams in the Amboyna Shield.

In 1971/72 Hampshire did not qualify for the Championship (as there was a preliminary) and finished last in the Amboyna Shield as they did not play the minimum of 5 matches.

In 1972/73 Hampshire joined the WECU and won 4 matches and lost 7½ – 8½ to Gloucestershire. These matches were played over 16 boards, but this was expanded to two teams later which allowed more players to play County chess. In the WECU there was probably more travelling than in the SCCU, but at least it was a more even playing field (although Cornwall always have to travel the most due to be the most westwardly county).

Downloads

The excel document I created to complete the tables / analysis can be downloaded below. The spreadsheet includes more information on the matches, as well as a pivot chart you can use to determine additional stats on the players.

Summary

Winning the Shannon Championship, Amboyna Shield and Montague-Jones was a fantastic achievement for Hampshire, but it did seem in the end that it led to major changes in the SCCU, certainly for Hampshire and probably for other “Minor” counties as well. It was certainly instrumental in Hampshire leaving the SCCU.

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Notes

1. July 7th 1962 Hampshire Chess AGM

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Acknowledgements and sources:

• Britbase for grading lists and Varsity information
• The Southern Counties Chess Union – a retrospective – Anthony Fulton
• SCCU News Bulletins for results and tables
• Southern Evening Echo

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