Hampshire County Matches 1887 - Hampshire Chess History

Hampshire played their first official county match against Sussex on the 21st May 1887. I am attempting to add as many of the Hampshire County Chess Results I have, broken down by year. This friendly match took place in Portsmouth.

I covered the first two matches in a larger post which includes additional information on the Hampshire Chess creation and games from the second match in 1889.

Hampshire v Sussex 21 May 1887
Individual Match Result
Gallery
Acknowledgements and Sources

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.

Hampshire – Sussex 21 May 1887 – Portsmouth

The match took place on the 21st May 1887 at Portsmouth. You will notice that some players played one game whilst others played two. As per the information from Brian Denman which I have detailed below, this was a common feature of the time:

The first mechanical chess clocks had come in at the London International Tournament of 1883 and four years later there were probably few about. The arrival of clocks might have slowed down play, because in 1887 several players were able to complete two games before the end of play! The early Sussex v Hampshire County matches seem to have been played at Portsmouth and Chichester, but it would have been difficult for Hastings players to get back the same day with the train service as it was. Sussex scored 26 points and Hampshire 30 points. In the early days of county matches there was no strict board order and the two captains arranged suitable opponents for their players. Here I have adopted the board order given in the Horsham Petworth Midhurst and Steyning Express of 24.5.1887, which seems accurate.
Brian Denman supplied the information for the above.

Hampshire Team – 1887

The Hampshire team were led by Joseph Blake who formed the Hampshire Chess Association 3 years after this first match in 1890. At this time, he would have been 27 and was already established as the leading English Correspondence player and a strong OTB player. He would play County Chess for Hampshire from 1887 to 1932 twice on board two and the other games on board one.

In approximate 90 games he scored almost 80%. His peak strength according to EDO ratings would have been in the low 2400’s, indicating that he was at approximately International Master level. Please do look at the article on the British Chess News website or Wikipedia for more information on him.

Blake who was the Southampton Chess Club Secretary was joined by 11 other Southampton club members, whilst Portsmouth fielded 6, Bournemouth also 6, Havant 3 and Bishop’s Waltham, Alton and Petersfield 1 each.

Sussex Team – 1887

The Sussex team were led by William Vernon Wilson (approx. 2300 strength) of Brighton (also see Yorkshire Chess History), who was unsuccessful in his game against Blake. But his Brighton colleagues of which there were 6 were far more successful, scoring 7 points from 12 games.

Chichester also fielded 7 players, which is not surprising due to the proximity to Portsmouth, Petworth 6, Storrington 2 and a number of other clubs 1 player each.

A meeting in May (1887), between teams of 30 a side, representing these counties, resulted in favour of Hants by 30 to 26; but it was admitted that the Sussex team on that occasion was not a fully representative one, being drawn almost entirely from the western division of the county.
Therefore, it was to be expected that for the next match Sussex would have a stronger team, as they would hopefully be involving players from the eastern side of the county as well.

Hampshire Independent

Hampshire v Sussex – Match Result

Individual results are detailed below which includes the clubs the players represented.

Board	Hampshire	Club	Hants Result	Sussex	Club	Sussex Result
1	JH Blake	Southampton	1	WV Wilson	Brighton	0
2a	F Budden	Bournemouth	½	GR Downer	Chichester	½
2b	F Budden	Bournemouth	1	GR Downer	Chichester	0
3a	Dr C Hemming	Bishop’s Waltham	0	HW Butler	Brighton	1
3b	Dr C Hemming	Bishop’s Waltham	0	HW Butler	Brighton	1
4a	S Solomons	Havant	0	Revd EA Adams	Eastbourne	1
4b	S Solomons	Havant	1	Revd EA Adams	Eastbourne	0
5a	G Deal	Portsmouth	0	WG Taunton	Brighton	1
5b	G Deal	Portsmouth	1	WG Taunton	Brighton	0
6a	WC Kenny	Southampton	1	WR Andrews	Brighton	0
6b	WC Kenny	Southampton	1	WR Andrews	Brighton	0
7a	GR Sloper	Southampton	½	Stg Mjr W McArthur	Chichester	½
7b	GR Sloper	Southampton	1	Stg Mjr W McArthur	Chichester	0
8	A Thomson	Bournemouth	0	FW Comber	Brighton	1
8	A Thomson	Bournemouth	0	FW Comber	Brighton	1
9	T Crassweller	Portsmouth	0	S Moore	Midhurst	1
10	R Chipperfield	Southampton	0	JV Elsden	Storrington	1
10	R Chipperfield	Southampton	1	JV Elsden	Storrington	0
11	E Clayton	Portsmouth	1	J Scott	Chichester	0
12	WH Curtis	Bournemouth	0	H Nash	Horsham	1
12	WH Curtis	Bournemouth	0	H Nash	Horsham	1
13	J Fewings	Southampton	0	AC Holland	Petworth	1
13	J Fewings	Southampton	½	AC Holland	Petworth	½
14	EP Westlake	Southampton	1	TR Leppard	Petworth	0
14	EP Westlake	Southampton	1	TR Leppard	Petworth	0
15	W Williams	Southampton	0	CJA Wade	Henfield	1
15	W Williams	Southampton	1	CJA Wade	Henfield	0
16	Dr Wright	Portsmouth	0	Major HC Malden	Brighton	1
16	Dr Wright	Portsmouth	0	Major HC Malden	Brighton	1
17	A Watson	Southampton	0	CHR Ballard	Chichester	1
17	A Watson	Southampton	0	CHR Ballard	Chichester	1
18	G Goldring	Portsmouth	0	J Thompson	Lewes	1
19	CJ Harvey	Bournemouth	0	P Johnson	Northchapel	1
19	CJ Harvey	Bournemouth	½	P Johnson	Northchapel	½
20	JC Woods	Bournemouth	0	Rev E I Crosse	Shipley	1
20	JC Woods	Bournemouth	1	Rev E I Crosse	Shipley	0
21	WJ Taylor	Southampton	1	Dr GH Graham	Storrington	0
21	WJ Taylor	Southampton	1	Dr GH Graham	Storrington	0
22	H Smith	Alton	1	BA Nevatt	Petworth	0
22	H Smith	Alton	1	BA Nevatt	Petworth	0
23	T Francis	Havant	0	F Brenton	Chichester	1
23	T Francis	Havant	1	F Brenton	Chichester	0
24	TW Rebbeck	Bournemouth	1	Revd AM Deane	Chichester	0
24	TW Rebbeck	Bournemouth	1	Revd AM Deane	Chichester	0
25	W Brock	Bishop’s Waltham	0	Revd J Ayling	Midhurst	1
25	W Brock	Bishop’s Waltham	1	Revd J Ayling	Midhurst	0
26	W Tipper	Portsmouth	1	J Kirke	Brighton	0
26	W Tipper	Portsmouth	1	J Kirke	Brighton	0
27	W Bowyer	Southampton	1	GR Downer	Chichester	0
27	W Bowyer	Southampton	1	GR Downer	Chichester	0
28	HB Woods	Portsmouth	0	E Cripps	Storrington	1
28	HB Woods	Portsmouth	0	E Cripps	Storrington	1
29	W Talbot	Southampton	1	C Greenfield	Storrington	0
29	W Talbot	Southampton	1	C Greenfield	Storrington	0
30	T Young	Petersfield	0	P Arnold	Petworth	1
30	T Young	Petersfield	1	P Arnold	Petworth	0
Total			30	Total		26