The Hampshire County team played three matches in 1892/93 all against the same counties as the previous year. They managed a 50% record with a win (Surrey), loss (Sussex) and a draw (Wiltshire) in three very close matches. Gone were the double round boards from the Wiltshire fixture and on the whole it seems less boards were played in the matches.
In addition to these friendly county matches the North vs South match was held on 28th January 1893. There are a few articles on this already but the one from the Yorkshire Chess History website is a particularly good one. A number of Hampshire players participated and JF Blake was on board three (just below the adjudicator of a number of these matches L Hoffer). This had 106 boards in total in the match and the South won by one point (53½-52½).
- Hampshire v Sussex 11 Mar 1893
- Hampshire v Surrey 24 Apr 1893
- Hampshire v Wiltshire 17 May 1893
- Player Performance
- 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 v Sussex – 11 Mar 1893 – Chichester
The first match of the season was against Sussex, which as played in Chichester would have counted as a home match for Sussex. The result came down to an adjudicated game between Hampshire’s WC Kenny and Sussex’s Dr Colborne and this went in the favour of the Sussex player.
From the report in the Hampshire Independent I have been able to obtain additional information on the match which I have summarised:
The match was set to be over twelve boards, but with both teams having a reserve it was played over thirteen. (This is a lower number compared to the normal matches, but this did allow both teams to have a strong team – Archivist.) The Sussex team were without the services of their usual Captain WV Wilson, the county champion but as the match was played in Chichester were fortunate in securing the services of four Hastings players who were not normally available. Their team was therefore a strong one in spite of the loss of their board one.
Hampshire also had a strong team, but were without the services of Mr Bullock, lately of the Cambridge University team and now of Bournemouth (although as far as I can see Mr Bullock never played for Hampshire? Archivist). Mr Crassweller of Portsmouth was also not playing, who usually played on the top boards.
The match commenced soon after three o’clock. About five o’clock a brief adjournment was made where Hants were entertained to a substantial tea, after which play continued till six thirty where unfinished games were adjudicated by the captains. The position last examined was board 5 and here the captains were unable to agree, a win being claimed by Sussex, while for Hants it was contended that whilst the other side had a slight advantage, it was not sufficient to ensure a win.
It was agreed to refer the game to Mr L Hoffer, chess editor of the Field for decision. The adjudicated was given to Sussex although it would be interesting to see the final position. Some would say that if they did not stop for their substantial tea Mr Kenny and Dr Colborne would have had more time to complete their game? But this was chess in the 19th century, where different standards were held to.
The match result in the Tunbridge Wells Journal showed the clubs and openings from the games. As usual Hampshire were mainly represented by the Southampton and Portsmouth chess clubs and Sussex by the Brighton chess club. As the match was played in Chichester this would have been closer for the Portsmouth and Southsea players than Southampton or Bournemouth. Like the loss to Surrey in Nov 1891 JH Blake lost on top board and Hampshire also lost by one point.
It would seem that e4 was more prevalent than other opening moves in the match.
The Hampshire Telegraph reported the match as below.
I did find out that the board one opening was e4, e5, Bb5 which they named as the Ruy Lopez declined, but I think it now referred to as the Portuguese Opening. On this basis I presume Hampshire were Black on the odd boards? Looking at the Hampshire team I think they managed to field a strong team despite having to travel to Chichester.
Board | Hampshire | Colour | Hants Result | Sussex | Colour | Sussex Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | JH Blake | Black | 0 | HW Butler | White | 1 |
2 | Lieut CH Chepmell | White | ½ | AA Bowley | Black | ½ |
3 | FJH Elwell | Black | 1 | W Mead | White | 0 |
4 | EL Raymond | White | 1 | FW Womersley | Black | 0 |
5 | WC Kenny | Black | 0 | Dr Colborne | White | 1 |
6 | F Budden | White | ½ | A Emery | Black | ½ |
7 | E Clayton | Black | ½ | JW Bridger | White | ½ |
8 | A Asher | White | ½ | JV Elsden | Black | ½ |
9 | A Thomson | Black | 0 | W Bridger | White | 1 |
10 | PT Balshaw | White | 1 | HE Dobell | Black | 0 |
11 | GR Sloper | Black | 1 | Revd RJ Wright | White | 0 |
12 | PJ Dancer | White | 0 | Revd EA Adams | Black | 1 |
13 | P Larminie | Black | 0 | JP Morris | White | 1 |
Total | 6 | Total | 7 |
Hampshire v Surrey – 24 Apr 1893 – Basingstoke
The following month the opposition was Surrey who last season Hampshire had beaten 12 – 9 in their second match. This time Hampshire again came out on top, but this time with a 9½ – 7½ win. Hampshire winners were Blake, Seymour, Elwell, Kenny, Asher, Bowyer, Wheatstone and Gager.
We pick up the pre match position from the Croydon Observer which states that Surrey were fielding a strong team.
We now move forward to the following weeks’ newspaper which has the match result. I think Surrey were very sporting as the match was meant to be played over 20 boards, but Hampshire only had 17 players turn up and Surrey agreed to play the match over these 17 rather than the 19 they had. Their 20th player missed the train due to a railway accident.
A good result for Hampshire as Surrey would go on to beat Sussex 11 – 6 the following month, although this was played in Croydon and they had a far stronger team e.g. Henderson played board 5 against Hampshire and board 9 against Sussex.
Board | Hampshire | Hants Result | Surrey | Surrey Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | JH Blake | 1 | LP Rees | 0 |
2 | E Seymour | 1 | AJ Curnock | 0 |
3 | FJH Elwell | 1 | Eklund | 0 |
4 | WC Kenny | 1 | Riols | 0 |
5 | F Budden | ½ | E Henderson | ½ |
6 | A Asher | 1 | Cape | 0 |
7 | A Thomson | ½ | B McLeod | ½ |
8 | GR Sloper | 0 | Evan Cresswell | 1 |
9 | Firmin | 0 | GH Gibbs | 1 |
10 | GH Barclay | 0 | HA Jacobs | 1 |
11 | R Chipperfield | ½ | Clarke | ½ |
12 | W Bowyer | 1 | Thomas | 0 |
13 | AW Wheatstone | 1 | TH Moore | 0 |
14 | Clarke | 0 | Mathews | 1 |
15 | H Seymour | 0 | SB Baxter | 1 |
16 | Gager | 1 | Du Fresne | 0 |
17 | Edmunds | 0 | Barton | 1 |
Total | 9½ | Total | 7½ |
Hampshire v Wiltshire – 17 Mar 1893 – Salisbury
The final match of the season was against Wiltshire, which as per the previous year was held in Salisbury, this time it was played over 14 boards and only one game per person, unlike the match in 1892. The final result of the match was a draw, but as per the report in the London Evening Standard, starting the matches at one o’clock rather than three o’clock would have allowed sufficient time for more games to be completed before the 6pm deadline.
In total 7 games had to be adjudicated, 5 were agreed by the captains and 2 had to be submitted to Mr Hoffer. The Hampshire winners were Budden, Thompson, Chipperfield and Talbot.
Top board for Wiltshire was Revd AG Gordon-Ross (later Canon) who was a future President of the British Chess Federation. The previous year Wiltshire’s top board was also a Revd, but that time was Revd CJF Welsh.
Board | Hampshire | Hants Result | Wiltshire | Wiltshire Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | JH Blake | 1 | Revd AG Gordon Ross | 0 |
2 | FJH Elwell | 0 | HJ King | 1 |
3 | WC Kenny | 0 | CJ Woodrow | 1 |
4 | F Budden | 1 | Cook | 0 |
5 | A Asher | ½ | Revd RE Coles | ½ |
6 | Dr Love | ½ | A Schomberg | ½ |
7 | GR Sloper | 0 | Hill | 1 |
8 | A Thompson | 1 | Watson | 0 |
9 | R Chipperfield | 1 | Sheehy | 0 |
10 | GH Barclay | 0 | F Sutton | 1 |
11 | W Williams | ½ | Revd A Law | ½ |
12 | PEJ Talbot | 1 | Beavan | 0 |
13 | Parsons | 0 | CA Plaister | 1 |
14 | Kitchen | ½ | Gibbs | ½ |
Total | 7 | 7 |
Hampshire Player Performance
Three matches were played in 1892/93 compared to the four the previous season. Only six players played in all three matches and from these A Asher, JH Blake, F Budden and FJH Elwell all scored two points. Meanwhile R Chipperfield had a win and a draw from his two games.
The table below shows the player performance.
Hants Player | Win Percentage | Points Scored | Games Played |
---|---|---|---|
A Asher | 66.7% | 2 | 3 |
JH Blake | 66.7% | 2 | 3 |
F Budden | 66.7% | 2 | 3 |
FJH Elwell | 66.7% | 2 | 3 |
R Chipperfield | 75.0% | 1.5 | 2 |
PT Balshaw | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
A Thompson | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
PEJ Talbot | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
W Bowyer | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
AW Wheatstone | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
Gager | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
E Seymour | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
EL Raymond | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
GR Sloper | 33.3% | 1 | 3 |
WC Kenny | 33.3% | 1 | 3 |
Lieut CH Chepmell | 50.0% | 0.5 | 1 |
Dr Love | 50.0% | 0.5 | 1 |
W Williams | 50.0% | 0.5 | 1 |
E Clayton | 50.0% | 0.5 | 1 |
Kitchen | 50.0% | 0.5 | 1 |
A Thomson | 25.0% | 0.5 | 2 |
GH Barclay | 0.0% | 0 | 2 |
P Larminie | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
Edmunds | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
Firmin | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
Parsons | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
Clarke | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
PJ Dancer | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
H Seymour | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
Acknowledgements and Sources
- British Newspaper Archives
- Hampshire Independent
- Hampshire Telegraph
- Tunbridge Wells Journal
- London Evening Standard
- Croydon Observer