Hampshire County Matches 1899 / 00

Hampshire played five matches this season, with two against Surrey and one each against Kent, Sussex and Wiltshire. The reason for the two matches is explained below, but I think this was the closest Hampshire came to winning the SCCU Shannon championship, since its inception, in the 1893 / 1894 season.

The new structure of playing all the matches in the season may not have done Hampshire any favours this season, as without their match against Kent there was a possibility that they would have have qualified from the SCCU SE division, as for once Hampshire managed great results against Surrey and Sussex.

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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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Structure of the Southern Counties Union Championship – 1899 / 1900

First I have found additional information on the competition, which I probably should have covered in previous articles. However, the structure may have changed from its inception, but for this year the details in the Streatham News explains which counties were in which division, and how the final was contested.

One team would qualify from each division and the three winning teams would play each other in the final. However, if one team won both games the third “dead” rubber would not be played. As can be seen from the winners the SE Division was by far the strongest, up to this season Surrey had won the championship four times and Cambridge and Sussex (also from the SE) once. This would change as we entered the 20th century, with new counties such as Devon and Middlesex joining, and both having success.

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Hampshire v Surrey – 18 Nov 1899 – London

Hampshire’s first opponent was Surrey and this took place in London, where in theory Surrey would be very strong and Hampshire would have a weakened team. Surrey had already beaten Kent earlier in the month 11½ – 4½. But looking at the teams it seems Surrey were missing a number of strong players from the previous season, including their first three boards (GE Wainwright, L Serraillier and A Howell).

Their board one AW Fisher also played board one against Kent and in the March 1900 match (above GE Wainwright). In later matches against Hampshire he played on a lower board, and I am not sure why he was playing on board one this season? Sometimes this can be held for the person who is the County champion, and maybe this was the case? This worked in Hampshire’s favour this season, as he lost both times against JH Blake.

In the match Hampshire managed to narrowly beat Surrey 8½ – 7½ with JH Blake, T Crassweller, WC Kenny and G Wood all winning. There were two adjourned games (HD Osborne and GR Sloper), which I have been unable to locate the result of, only knowing that each team scored one more point in the match.

The Hampshire Advertiser match report is given below, which mentions that this win stopped Hampshire’s losing streak, which had run for five matches (since the 1894 drawn match). Also of note was that JS Flower was playing on a higher board this season, following his good performance in 1988/99.

This annual contest, in the South-Eastern Section of the Southern Counties Chess Union Championship, took place on Saturday, in London, at the rooms of the City of London Chess Club. The whole of the last five matches between the counties have been won by Surrey, with varying majorities, and it was not anticipated that the present match, played so far from the borders of Hants, would be unlikely to break the run of Surrey victories. Even a home team cannot always, however, reckon upon mustering full strength, and from some cause or other the Surrey team of Saturday was not so strong as those which have usually done battle against Hants during the last few years.

The Hampshire team might, of course, have been strengthened at several points, but considering its distance from home, was as representative as could be expected. -Surrey scored the first game finished, but four Hampshire wins then followed successively, making the visitors three to the good. Game after game was drawn at other boards, and the home side were only able to score two more wins, so that at the call of time Hampshire still led by one.

The two unfinished games were found to be of too complicated a character for the captains to decide upon off hand, and they have, therefore, been sent to the Official Adjudicator of the Union. It is not probable that both will be awarded to Surrey, and if one is declared drawn the match will be also drawn. Should both be declared drawn, or should one win be awarded to each side, then Hampshire will emerge from the contest with a victory.

Hampshire Advertiser – Wednesday 22 November 1899

Board	Hampshire	Club	Hants Result	Surrey	Surrey Result
1	JH Blake	Southampton	1	AW Fisher	0
2	FJH Elwell	Southampton	½	AJ Curnock	½
3	T Crassweller	Portsmouth	1	A Howell	0
4	A Asher	Southampton	0	HN Johnson	1
5	WC Kenny	Southampton	1	HS Barlow	0
6	E Clayton	Portsmouth	½	AE Tietjen	½
7	E Draycott	Portsmouth	½	FL Anspach	½
8	HD Osborn	Portsmouth	a	Evan Cresswell	a
9	JS Flower	IOW	½	C Redway	½
10	WR Neve	Bournemouth	0	EB Schwann	1
11	GA Cosser		½	AJ Maas	½
12	FC Bird	Basingstoke	½	CH Lorch	½
13	GR Sloper	Southampton	a	Dr Dunstan	a
14	G Wood	Portsmouth	1	E Henderson	0
15	WJ Bird	Basingstoke	½	WC Bowyer	½
16	GH Barclay	Andover	0	TB Girdlestone	1
	Total		8½	Total	7½

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Hampshire v Kent – 13 Jan 1900 – London

The Kent match was played in London and whereas the game against Surrey went very well, this was not the case against Kent. Two of the Hampshire players (HD Osborne and WJ Bird) failed to arrive and there was no recovery from this. I think the Basingstoke Bird players were probably related, but I have not been able to confirm this.

As an aside when checking it seems the Basingstoke Chess club was thriving around this time, with 27 members in 1898, and they hosted a simul against the touring World Chess Champion Emanuel Lasker (who won all the games). As well as playing in the Hampshire League they were arranging to play matches against Southampton, Salisbury, Reading and Andover and the club met twice a week.

Returning to the match, Hampshire lost heavily (4½ – 11½) and only TE Haydon and JS Flower won their games. JH Blake lost to P Hart-Dyke, a remarkable player as he was blind. He played in three varsity matches, was a barrister and politician which I found out from the excellent Britbase.

The report from the Kentish Express summarised that Kent were never in trouble in the match.

We are pleased to be to able to announce a decisive victory for Kent in the above match, which was played last Saturday at the City of London Chess Club. The Hants men were at a disadvantage in having to play at such a distance from their county and the absence of two of their number caused them the loss of two games by default: on the other hand Kent had to play reserves in place of Messer, Gover. Williams and Raymond. who were, unavoidably absent, and all things considered, the result is one of which the may well be proud.

At the call of time the score was Hants three, and the four unfinished games, were kindly adjudicated by the City champion, Mr TF Lawrence.

Kentish Express – Saturday 20 January 1900

Board	Hampshire	Hants Result	Kent	Kent Result
1	JH Blake	0	P Hart-Dyke	1
2	FJH Elwell	½	W Ward	½
3	T Crassweller	½	OC Muller	½
4	TE Haydon	1	HG Elwell	0
5	A Asher	0	CH Sherrard	1
6	WC Kenny	½	JA Detmold	½
7	HD Osborn (absent)	0	LA Ryan	1
8	FA Joyce	0	JP Mollard	1
9	JS Flower	1	HG Sturton	0
10	GA Cosser	½	WH Johns	½
11	FC Bird	½	AL Stevenson	½
12	G Wood	0	E Provis	1
13	WJ Bird (absent)	0	AR Ropes	1
14	RH Wadeson	0	RFB Jones	1
15	J Fewings	0	JH Eastwood	1
16	GH Barclay	0	AE Seamen	1
	Total	4½	Total	11½

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Hampshire v Sussex – 10 February 1900 – Chichester

Hampshire’s third match was against Sussex, who Hampshire had drawn against the previous two seasons, and playing in Chichester meant Sussex would have some of the players from the east of the county, rather than rely on Brighton and other western parts of Sussex.

The Morning Leader had the following to report in January as to the likely outcomes of the SE County matches. It seems that who qualified was dependant on this match.

The match report in the Hampshire Advertiser stated that both teams were short of many good players and a couple of reserves stood in (F Martin seems to have done this for a lot of his Hampshire County games). But Sussex did not have enough reserves and defaulted two boards. This was key, as Hampshire won the match 9 to 7.

It seems that despite the win Surrey had the better game score from their matches and would therefore win the division. But this does not seem to be the case, as there was a subsequent second match against Surrey.

Hampshire winners were JH Blake, FJH Elwell, E Clayton, RH Wadeson, SD Caws, AL Kent and WF Sandell (the last two by default).

Board	Hampshire	Hants Result	Sussex	Sussex Result
1	JH Blake	1	HE Dobell	0
2	FJH Elwell	1	HW Butler	0
3	F Martin	0	JW Bridger	1
4	WC Kenny	0	T Durant	1
5	E Clayton	1	J Chandler	0
6	E Draycott	½	WR Andrews	½
7	HD Osborn	0	HR Mackeson	1
8	Sir GA Thomas	½	Dr Plank	½
9	G Wood	0	FE Purchas	1
10	RH Wadeson	1	P Shaul Hallett	0
11	SD Caws	1	HT Grover	0
12	Major Alexander	0	Sur-Gen Thorton	1
13	W Tipper	½	F Brook	½
14	DHH Wassell	½	T French	½
15	AL Kent	1	Default	0
16	WF Sandell	1	Default	0
	Total	9	Total	7

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Hampshire v Surrey – 10 March 1900 – Basingstoke

As mentioned, as Hants and Surrey had tied in the SE division there was a play off held in Basingstoke to see who would qualify from the SE division. The report in the Hants and Berks Gazette and Middlesex and Surrey Journal (a long name for one newspaper) stated that both teams were well represented. I would agree with this, with both teams being stronger than the first match played in November 1899. George Wainwright who did not play in the first match was available, and this allowed a number of the Surrey players to drop down a board.

Surrey were fairly comfortable winners 9½ – 6½ with JH Blake, WC Kenny, WJ Bird and GR Sloper being the Hampshire winners.

The Hampshire Advertiser also reported on the match and mentions that the middle order was the difference between the teams. Surrey would meet the winners of the Gloucester – Somerset match. Surrey did beat Gloucester in May 1990 11 – 5 (surrey also defaulted a board) to win the championship.

I think this supports my assumption that if Hampshire had not lost to Kent they would have been favourites to win the championship, as Surrey had defeated Gloucester far more easily than they had Hampshire.

HAMPSHIRE V. SURREY. These counties having each scored two points in the South-Eastern section, met on Saturday at the Co-operative Assembly Hall Basingstoke, to play off the tie Both sides were well represented, and the match was well contested, the scoring at the first seven and the last six boards being evenly balanced.

At boards 8, 9, and 10, however, Surrey scored wins, and thus qualified for the next round in the competition, in which they will have to meet the winner of Gloucester v. Somerset

Hampshire Advertiser – Wednesday 14 March 1900

SOUTHERN COUNTIES CHESS UNION. The county of Surrey is doing remarkably well in this contest, and has a very fair chance of aqaln winning the championship. The counties were divided into three sections—viz., west, north-east, and south-east.

In the west Gloucester, Somerset, and Wilts entered, and the first named county won. In the north-east Cambridge, Essex, Norfolk, and Northampton entered, and Essex secured the right to play in the final round. In the south-east Kent, Surrey, Suseex, and Hants entered. Surrey and Hants tied in this section, and, as already published in this column, on playing off Surrey won.

Surrey, Essex, and Gloucester have therefore to play a final round for the championship. The match between Surrey and Essex is fixed for Saturday, the 7th April next, at the City of London Chess Club.

Streatham News – Saturday 31 March 1900

Board	Hampshire	Hants Result	Surrey	Surrey Result
1	JH Blake	1	AW Fisher	0
2	FJH Elwell	0	GE Wainwright	1
3	T Crassweller	½	AJ Curnock	½
4	A Asher	0	P Howell	1
5	WC Kenny	1	HN Johnson	0
6	E Clayton	½	HS Barlow	½
7	E Draycott	½	AE Tietjen	½
8	HD Osborn	0	FL Anspach	1
9	Sir GA Thomas	0	GA Mass	1
10	GA Cosser	0	Dr Dunstan	1
11	WJ Bird	1	TB Girdlestone	0
12	G Wood	½	WC Bowyer	½
13	GR Sloper	1	M Shaw Stewart	0
14	FC Bird	0	TR Harley	1
15	RH Wadeson	½	BH Turner	½
16	SD Caws	0	PC Layzell	1
	Total	6½	Total	9½

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Hampshire v Wiltshire – 4 August 1900 – Salisbury

As usual, the last match of the season was the friendly against Wiltshire, which was again held in Salisbury at the beginning of August. This was held over thirteen boards and Wiltshire did not manage to win any of the games, but did hold the Hampshire team to eight draws. The Hampshire team was nowhere near as strong as the ones which played in the SCCU championship, but this would have given opportunities for players who were not strong enough to play in that tournament, to represent Hampshire.

The report in the Hampshire Advertiser does state that even though this was a home match for Wiltshire, a number of their players would have had to travel just as far as the Hampshire ones, especially as the Hampshire team would have prominently been Southampton and Andover players.

Hampshire winners were JH Blake, NB George, EC Clarke, S Leonard and M Hart.

Board	Hampshire	Hants Result	Wiltshire	Wiltshire Result
1	JH Blake	1	A Rumboll	0
2	A Asher	½	A Schomberg	½
3	WC Kenny	½	CJ Woodrow	½
4	E Clayton	½	F Sutton	½
5	HD Osborne	½	A Watson	½
6	GH Barclay	½	E Fear Hill	½
7	NB George	1	WH Jackson	0
8	EC Clarke	1	W Wilkins	0
9	S Leonard	1	JC Painster	0
10	SD Caws	½	JD Smith	½
11	R Chipperfield	½	JW Clark	½
12	M Hart	1	T Brinsmead	0
13	W Tipper	½	AN Wilson	½
	Total	11	Total	5

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Hampshire Player Performance

I have removed the games which were adjourned from the table (one each for HD Osborn and GR Sloper) as otherwise it would affect the performance figures. Only JH Blake and WC Kenny played in all five matches although a number of other players managed to play in four matches. JH Blake managed four wins and a loss for his normal strong performance on top board.

No one else had a standout performance although a number of players scored a win and a draw from their two games.

Individual player performance is detailed below in a sortable table.

Hants Player	Win Percentage	Points Scored	Games Played
JH Blake	80.0%	4	5
WC Kenny	60.0%	3	5
E Clayton	62.5%	2.5	4
T Crassweller	66.7%	2	3
FJH Elwell	50.0%	2	4
E Draycott	50.0%	1.5	3
SD Caws	50.0%	1.5	3
RH Wadeson	50.0%	1.5	3
WJ Bird	75.0%	1.5	2
G Wood	37.5%	1.5	4
JS Flower	75.0%	1.5	2
W Tipper	50.0%	1	2
AL Kent	100.0%	1	1
WF Sandell	100.0%	1	1
GA Cosser	33.3%	1	3
TE Haydon	100.0%	1	1
GR Sloper	100.0%	1	1
FC Bird	33.3%	1	3
M Hart	100.0%	1	1
NB George	100.0%	1	1
EC Clarke	100.0%	1	1
S Leonard	100.0%	1	1
DHH Wassell	50.0%	0.5	1
R Chipperfield	50.0%	0.5	1
HD Osborne	50.0%	0.5	1
Sir GA Thomas	25.0%	0.5	2
A Asher	12.5%	0.5	4
GH Barclay	16.7%	0.5	3
FA Joyce	0.0%	0	1
F Martin	0.0%	0	1
HD Osborn	0.0%	0	3
Major Alexander	0.0%	0	1
J Fewings	0.0%	0	1
WR Neve	0.0%	0	1

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Summary

Hampshire came as close to winning the SCCU Shannon Championship this year since its inception as in any other year. Although Hampshire had beaten Surrey before, these wins were pre the Shannon competition, in friendly matches. This was the first time they managed to defeat Surrey in the SCCU competition, and the match was also one held in London. This was a great achievement and going forward it will be clear that these wins were few and far between

But the loss to Kent meant that a rematch with Surrey had to be held, and Hampshire fell short in this match. Surrey would go on to win the Championship for the fifth time from seven competitions. But with three won matches and two losses this was a very good season for Hampshire.

As some background on the Hampshire Chess the Hampshire Trophy was won by Southampton B (7 teams took place). The Hampshire Chess Officers were:

• R Chipperfield – President
• E Draycott – Hon. Secretary and Treasurer
• GH Barclay, JH Blake, E Draycott – SCCU Delegates

With Hampshire playing County chess matches since 1897 I thought it would be a good idea to produce a summary of their results, both as a county and for the individuals who played. This should be my next post, before I move onto the 1900 – 1901 season.

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Gallery

A selection of newspaper cuttings on the various matches.

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Acknowledgements and Sources

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