Hampshire Chess Individual Championship 1931

In 1931 there were ten clubs who held preliminary tournaments and these joined 1930 champion FJH Elwell in the 2nd Hampshire Chess Championship. This meant in total there were eleven players the tournament which was held over four rounds, rather than the three in 1930. Four players had a bye in the first round to get the desired number to play down to the final in a knock out format. The eleven players were:

Player

GF Trowbridge
HD Lloyd
AH Yerlong
FJH Elwell
AS Dance
H Grover
FH Burn
S Longwood
CT Bennett
GP Britton
SL Russell

Club

Old Tauntonians
Portsmouth
Basingstoke
Southampton
Andover
Southampton
Portsmouth College
Winchester
Bournemouth
Tauntons School
Broughton

For a list of the winners of the Hampshire Individual Championship and links to any articles I have written the table on the Hampshire Individual Championship is the best place to look. In addition, the table on the Hampshire Tournaments will detail these and any other tournament articles I have completed. Both of these are available from the menu at the top of the site as well.

Round 1

Old Tauntonians GF Trowbridge held Frank Elwell to a long draw (80 moves) in the first round but lost the return. Portsmouth HD Lloyd managed to defeat Andover’s AS Dance and AH Yerbury lost against the other Southampton player H Grover.

Player	Club	Result	Player	Club	Result
GF Trowbridge	Old Tauntonians	0.5	FJH Elwell	Southampton	1.5
HD Lloyd	Portsmouth	1	AS Dance	Andover	0
AH Yerbury	Basingstoke	0	H Grover	Southampton	1

Round 2

The winners of round 1 were joined by the four players who had the bye. The results were as per the table below.

Player	Club	Result	Player	Club	Result
FH Burn	Portsmouth College	0	H Grover	Southampton	1
S Longwood	Winchester	0	CT Bennett	Bournemouth	1
SL Russell	Broughton	0	GP Britton	Tauntons School	1
HD Lloyd	Portsmouth	1	FJH Elwell	Southampton	0

A couple of results stand out. Portsmouth’s HD Lloyd win against reigning champion Frank Elwell and Tauntons Schools GP Britain beating Broughton’s SL Russell.

As reported in the Hampshire Telegraph the Lloyd – Elwell game was played at Portsmouth Chess Club and Lloyd had the White pieces. The game opened as a Two Knight’s defence and was converted into a Giuoco Piano. Additional details were also included in the Hampshire Advertiser and both snipping’s are below.

Elwell loss Hampshire Advretiser May 1931 — **Elwell loss Hampshire Advertiser May 1931**

Elwell loss Hampshire Telegraph May 1931 — **Elwell loss Hampshire Advertiser May 1931**

It is not that easy to locate the games from the competition, but this game was made available in the Hampshire Advertiser and is included below with their comments and additional ones by me with some computer assistance. Click on any move to open a chess board to play through the game.

The other result which stood out was the 18 year old Graham Powell Britton beating SL Russell who would also have been young. Both played for the Hampshire County team from 1930; Britton until 1971 and Russell until 1972.

Semi-Final

The experienced CT Bennett who scored heavily for the Hampshire County team from 1924 until 1938 and previously played top board for Islington in the London Chess League beat HD Lloyd in the first semi-final.

GP Britton continued his fine run, beating the sole remaining Southampton player H Grover in the second semi-final.

Player	Club	Result	Player	Club	Result
CT Bennett	Bournemouth	1	HD Lloyd	Portsmouth	0
H Grover	Southampton	0	GP Britton	Tauntons School	1

The Hampshire Advertiser had the following to say about the CT Bennett – HD Lloyd match which was a Sicilian defence.

Final

The Hampshire Advertiser supplied a preview of the players in the final and from this preview the experienced Lloyd was the favourite against the 18 year old student.

The final took place at Southampton and ended in a draw as reported in the Hampshire Advertiser (the copy is not that clear, but it does have photos of both players). It mentions the replay was to take place the following week in Bournemouth. I cannot locate any report on the 2nd game, but as per the Hampshire Chess Archives this was won by Britton.

HCA Championship 1931 Final Hampshire Advertiser 1st Game — **HCA Championship 1931 Final Hampshire Advertiser**

Player	Club	Result	Player	Club	Result
GP Britton	Tauntons School	0.5	CT Bennett	Bournemouth	0.5
CT Bennett	Bournemouth	0	GP Britton	Tauntons School	1

Although Graham Powell Britton played for Hampshire on and off for another 40 years and also played for Oxford four times in the Varsity Matches with 1 win, 2 draws and 1 loss this was his only Hampshire Championship title.