Hampshire were back to the three county chess matches again this season, playing Surrey, Sussex in the SCCU SE division, and the normal annual friendly against Wiltshire.
- Hampshire v Surrey 20 Nov 1897
- Hampshire v Sussex 11 Dec 1897
- Hampshire v Wiltshire 27 July 1898
- Hampshire v Kent – scratch
- Player Performance
- Summary
- 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 v Surrey – 20 Nov 1897 – Southampton
After holding the match in London last year Surrey kept their side of the bargain, and this year’s match was held in Southampton. The report from the Hampshire Advertiser was excellent in pinpointing that currently Surrey were too strong for Hampshire unless we could field our absolute strongest team.
For this match the report indicated that Hampshire were missing a couple of these strong players (although Surrey were more affected by missing players e.g. Cresswell, Curnock as reported in the Surrey Morning Post). As to the Hampshire team I think the missing players they were referring to were some of the middle rank players that have played before e.g. S Clarke, JE Erskine, R Chipperfield and A Asher. But on the whole this was a stronger than normal Hampshire team, with the litmus player AW Wheatstone on board 16 which was as low as he played since 1892 (although there may be other reasons for his board placing?).
Hampshire winners were JH Blake, FA Joyce, E Draycott and AW Wheatstone.
| Board | Hampshire | Hants Result | Surrey | Surrey Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JH Blake | 1 | HH Cole | 0 |
| 2 | FJH Elwell | 0 | GE Wainwright | 1 |
| 3 | CH Sherrard | ½ | A Howell | ½ |
| 4 | E Seymour | 0 | P Howell | 1 |
| 5 | T Crassweller | 0 | LP Rees | 1 |
| 6 | WC Kenny | ½ | HR Barlow | ½ |
| 7 | HD Osborn | ½ | B McLeod | ½ |
| 8 | E Clayton | ½ | FL Anspach | ½ |
| 9 | A Thomson | ½ | WC Bowyer | ½ |
| 10 | HS Hewett | ½ | FR Dinnin | ½ |
| 11 | FA Joyce | 1 | TH Moore | 0 |
| 12 | E Draycott | 1 | SB Baxter | 0 |
| 13 | WR Neve | 0 | E Henderson | 1 |
| 14 | E Clarke | 0 | C Redway | 1 |
| 15 | GR Sloper | 0 | AW Lemon | 1 |
| 16 | AW Wheatstone | 1 | Dr Dunstan | 0 |
| 17 | GH Barclay | 0 | JA Green | 1 |
| Total | 7 | Total | 10 |
Hampshire v Sussex – 11 December 1897 – Portsmouth
Hampshire’s second match was against Sussex, and again Hampshire had the benefit of this being held locally, with this match being in Portsmouth. This was a common location for the matches against Sussex, being to the West of Hampshire and the East of Sussex.
The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News reported on the match and also the Surrey – Kent match, played the same weekend. The Hampshire match was very close and ended in a 10 all draw, whilst Surrey continued their winning ways beating Kent 13 – 7.
In the Surrey match fog seemed to cause problems for Kent, and a number of substitutes had to step in. This match could be seen as a warm up to an 81 board match between Surrey and Kent in January 1898 (this was originally planned to be a 100 board match). Surrey came out on top in the larger match as well, 42½ – 38½.
The reporting also indicated again that the SE Division was probably the strongest of the groups, and again it looks as if Surrey were the strongest county this year. Although looking ahead it seems that after winning the Shannon Championship for the last two years it was Cambridgeshire who would triumph this year.
In regards to the drawn Hampshire – Sussex match Hampshire winners were Blake, Elwell, Kenny, Asher, Draycott, Flower, Wheatstone, Caws and Taylor. Whereas the Surrey match was played over 17 boards, this match was over 20 boards, this looks like a bad decision by Hampshire as we lost the bottom three boards!
Mind you it was noted in the Hastings and St Leonards Observer that as the match was played in Portsmouth a number of the Hasting players were missing for Sussex due to the long and tedious journey!
The County match in the Southern Counties Chess competition, Sussex v. Hampshire was played last Saturday at Portsmouth. The teams were 20 a side, and although Hampshire was well represented several of the Sussex players were absent. especially Hastings players, the journey is so long and tedious
Hastings and St Leonards Observer – Saturday 18 December 1897
| Board | Hampshire | Colour | Hants Result | Sussex | Sussex Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JH Blake | White | 1 | EG Reed | 0 |
| 2 | FJH Elwell | Black | 1 | HW Shoosmith | 0 |
| 3 | T Crassweller | White | 0 | A Emery | 1 |
| 4 | WC Kenny | Black | 1 | HW Butler | 0 |
| 5 | HD Osborn | White | ½ | FW Womersley | ½ |
| 6 | E Clayton | Black | 0 | JW Bridger | 1 |
| 7 | A Asher | White | 1 | JW Bridger | 0 |
| 8 | FA Joyce | Black | 0 | AL Gardner | 1 |
| 9 | E Draycott | White | 1 | GA Dalet | 0 |
| 10 | JS Flower | Black | 1 | J Chaunders | 0 |
| 11 | GR Sloper | White | 0 | Castle Leaver | 1 |
| 12 | JE Erskine | Black | 0 | Col Kensington | 1 |
| 13 | G Deal | White | ½ | J Durrant | ½ |
| 14 | PT Balshaw | Black | 0 | TE Purchase | 1 |
| 15 | AW Wheatstone | White | 1 | JE Watson | 0 |
| 16 | SD Caws | Black | 1 | Penfold | 0 |
| 17 | WJ Taylor | White | 1 | J Dewdney | 0 |
| 18 | Ross Burns | Black | 0 | Dr Plank | 1 |
| 19 | R Chipperfield | White | 0 | Griffith | 1 |
| 20 | W Tipper | Black | 0 | F Brook | 1 |
| Total | 10 | Total | 10 |
The Elwell, Shoosmith game was included in the Isle of Wight Observer with the following article. I have now annotated this game which involves an unsound sacrifice, but one which is not easy to handle over the board. Elwell’s opponent Hector William Shoosmith was strong enough to be a regular participant in the British Chess Championship and finished joint 3rd in 1906, defeating the winner Henry Atkins.
Hampshire v Wiltshire – 27 July 1898 – Salisbury
The annual match against Wiltshire was back to the normal timeslot of July and it seems that Hampshire were proving too strong for Wiltshire and won comfortably, as reported in the Isle of Wight Observer (JS Flower was their Chess Correspondent). The Southampton Chess Club were particularly successful, with all of their eight players winning.
Only three Hampshire players lost, with two of these on boards 17 and 18 and the other being a reserve (F Martin) who was therefore playing higher up the order than his strength would normally place him. In general Mr Martin seems to have normally played on the bottom boards against Wiltshire. When he played in the SCCU it looks as this was as a replacement player, playing on boards 3, 6 and 11 against Sussex, but lost each time. He did have his successes against Wiltshire, though scoring 4 points from his 9 games which were played between 1892 and 1912.
Hampshire may have won the match, but they lost 4 – 0 with regards to the number of members of the clergy, with Wiltshire fielding four. In addition Revd AG Ross would be a Canon the next time he played Hampshire, which looks to have been 36 years later in 1934. I think of all the counties I have seen Wiltshire have the most Revd’s playing for them – I have counted 14 against Hampshire alone.
| Board | Hampshire | Club | Hants Result | Wiltshire | Club | Wiltshire Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JH Blake | Southampton | 1 | Revd AG Ross | Swindon | 0 |
| 2 | FJH Elwell | Southampton | 1 | A Rumboll | Calne | 0 |
| 3 | CH Sherrard | Andover | ½ | Colonel Law | Chippenham | ½ |
| 4 | S Clarke | Andover | ½ | Revd CJF Welsh | Warminster | ½ |
| 5 | WC Kenny | Southampton | 1 | CJ Woodrow | Salisbury | 0 |
| 6 | E Draycott | Gosport | 1 | Revd RE Coles | Warminster | 0 |
| 7 | E Clayton | Portsmouth | ½ | A Schomberg | Melkensham | ½ |
| 8 | WR Neve | Bournemouth | 1 | F Sutton | Salisbury | 0 |
| 9 | A Asher | Southampton | 1 | E Fear Hill | Trowbridge | 0 |
| 10 | F Martin (Res) | Portsmouth | 0 | O Gummer | Salisbury | 1 |
| 11 | JS Flower | Ryde | ½ | A Walsod | Salisbury | ½ |
| 12 | GR Sloper | Southampton | 1 | HW Beaven | Trowbridge | 0 |
| 13 | H Jenkins | Portsmouth | 1 | JD Smith | 0 | |
| 14 | W Williams | Southampton | 1 | Revd ES Buchanan | Warminster | 0 |
| 15 | EH Lanham | Southampton | 1 | EE Smith | Bradford | 0 |
| 16 | GL Dupre | Southampton | 1 | FE Adams | Devizes | 0 |
| 17 | W Turner | Andover | 0 | W Day | Chippenham | 1 |
| 18 | G Wood | Portsmouth | 0 | FE Young | Salisbury | 1 |
| 18 | W Tilley | Portsmouth | 1 | JW Clark | Salisbury | 0 |
| Total | 14 | 5 |
Hampshire v Kent – Scratch
The match against Kent only seems to have been played when the result would affect who would progress out of the South Easter division. As Hampshire could not qualify for the final stages this season the match was not played which tended to be on the bottom boards in the
Hampshire Player Performance
Six players played in all three matches and of these Joseph Blake (all on board one) and Gosport’s E Draycott won all three games. WC Kenny scored two wins and a draw from his three games with AW Wheatstone and A Asher winning both their games. Frank Elwell won two and lost one of his games, but these were all on board two and therefore would have been playing top opposition.
Individual player performance is detailed below.
| Hants Player | Win Percentage | Points Scored | Games Played |
|---|---|---|---|
| E Draycott | 100.0% | 3 | 3 |
| JH Blake | 100.0% | 3 | 3 |
| WC Kenny | 83.3% | 2.5 | 3 |
| AW Wheatstone | 100.0% | 2 | 2 |
| A Asher | 100.0% | 2 | 2 |
| FJH Elwell | 66.7% | 2 | 3 |
| H Jenkins | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
| FA Joyce | 50.0% | 1 | 2 |
| W Tilley | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
| CH Sherrard | 50.0% | 1 | 2 |
| SD Caws | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
| JS Flower | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
| W Williams | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
| E Clayton | 33.3% | 1 | 3 |
| WJ Taylor | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
| GL Dupre | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
| WR Neve | 50.0% | 1 | 2 |
| GR Sloper | 33.3% | 1 | 3 |
| EH Lanham | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
| HD Osborn | 50.0% | 1 | 2 |
| S Clarke | 50.0% | 0.5 | 1 |
| JS Flowers | 50.0% | 0.5 | 1 |
| G Deal | 50.0% | 0.5 | 1 |
| A Thomson | 50.0% | 0.5 | 1 |
| HS Hewett | 50.0% | 0.5 | 1 |
| R Chipperfield | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
| G Wood | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
| F Martin | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
| T Crassweller | 0.0% | 0 | 2 |
| PT Balshaw | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
| W Tipper | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
| Ross Burns | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
| GH Barclay | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
| W Turner | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
| E Clarke | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
| E Seymour | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
| JE Erskine | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
Summary
Hampshire scored 50% this season, with one win, one loss and a draw. AW Wheatstone one of the founders (or he was at the 1st meeting at least) of the Hampshire Chess Association died this season, as detailed in the Hampshire 1898 AGM. Mr Wheatstone was a Portsmouth Chess player (and also their Hon. Secretary) who played 14 times for Hampshire from the 1889/90 to 1897/98 season, scoring in excess of 65%. He had a positive score against all the opposing counties and would be a loss from the lower boards where he normally played (avg bd 14). This was a particularly successful season for him, as he won both his games.
The Hampshire team continued to be strong at the top, led by Blake and Elwell, but struggled on the lower boards where points were dropped. This can be seen on the 8 games which were played on board 17 through 20 with Hampshire only scoring 2 points. Compared to the 12 games played on boards 1 thru 4 where 7½ points were achieved.
I think it is a fact that Surrey and Sussex had more strength in depth than Hampshire and this was proving a difficult obstacle to overcome, even when Hampshire had the benefit of playing at home.
Away from the results it was also noticeable was that the number of adjudicated games had dropped dramatically, it seems the change to the time control was working, as this was no longer being raised in the newspaper reports.
Next season Hampshire would meet a new opponent, with Hampshire playing four matches.
Gallery
A selection of newspaper cuttings on the various matches.
Acknowledgements and Sources
- British Newspaper Archives
- Hampshire Advertiser
- London Evening Standard
- Hampshire Telegraph
- Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News
- Hastings and St Leonards Observer
- Surrey Morning Post
- Britbase