Hampshire only played the two matches this season, as the normal match against Wiltshire was not seem to have been played, but It returned the following year. Hampshire played Kent, Surrey and were planned to play Sussex, but it looks as this match was scratched. The Hampshire records have the match down as played, with Hampshire losing 6½ – 9½ but this looks to be confused with the match played on 27th September 1902 as advised by Anthony Fulton.
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 9½ v Kent 6½ – 23 Nov 1901 – London
The Kent match was played in London but this did not stop Hampshire obtaining their revenge from the previous year beating Kent 9½ – 6½. This was Hampshire’s first win against Kent (from three matches) but it would take another 60 years until they managed to repeat this feat. This was in 1962 in the Amboyna Shield (they also managed to draw their 1957 match).
The Kent team were not as strong as the previous year, but Hampshire were also slightly weaker (JS Fowler played on board 11 in 1900), and also defaulted one board. This was an excellent result, and probably more would have been made of it if they knew it would not be repeated for another 23 matches.
The match was reported in the Isle of Wight Observer.
County Chess Match: Kent vs Hants:- A match between Hampshire and Kent in the Southern Counties Championship Competition, was played at the City of London Chess Club on Saturday, Nov. 23rd. Hants had a strong team on the higher boards, but the tail end was weaker than usual. Kent was well represented. It was generally thought that Kent, who are very strong this year, would prove the winners, but Hampshire doing exceedingly well, won handsomely by 9½ to 6½. Mr JS Flower, of Hyde, represented the Island in the Hampshire team and won his game
Isle of Wight Observer – Saturday 30 November 1901
Hampshire winners were E Seymour, T Crassweller, J Haydon, A Thomson, JS Flower, A Corser and S Leonard.
| Board | Hampshire | Hants Result | Kent | Kent Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JH Blake | ½ | OC Muller | ½ |
| 2 | FJH Elwell | 0 | EL Raymond | 1 |
| 3 | E Seymour | 1 | Evan Cresswell | 0 |
| 4 | T Crassweller | 1 | HG Sturton | 0 |
| 5 | JE Haydon | 1 | GA Felce | 0 |
| 6 | WC Kenny | 0 | H Storr-Best | 1 |
| 7 | HD Osborn | ½ | WH Jones | ½ |
| 8 | A Thomson | 1 | E Provis | 0 |
| 9 | JS Flower | 1 | RFB Jones | 0 |
| 10 | Default | 0 | C Chapman | 1 |
| 11 | A Corser | 1 | JE Eastwood | 0 |
| 12 | G Wood | ½ | AR Ropes | ½ |
| 13 | DHH Wassell | ½ | AT Swinhoe | ½ |
| 14 | S Leonard | 1 | WB Dixon | 0 |
| 15 | W Tipper | ½ | E Seaman | ½ |
| 16 | W Bowyer | 0 | CH Corke | 1 |
| Total | 9½ | Total | 6½ |
Hampshire 4½ v Surrey 11½ – 14 Dec 1901 – London
Hampshire’s second match was against Surrey who had proved to be the dominant force in the SCCU. On this occasion they hammered Hampshire 11½ to 4½. Hampshire winners were JE Haydon, WR Neve, HD Osborn and GR Sloper. Frank Elwell also managed the sole draw in the match.
Hampshire’s chances were not helped with three defaulted boards, and in addition board six was a replacement, although a capable one, as he did win his game. The Southern Evening Echo reported on the match:
County Chess Match: Surrey vs Hants – This match was played on Saturday at the Nero (the premises of “Lord Eagle” Chess Club), off leadenhall-street, and unfortunately for the visitors only twelve out of the sixteen selected for their team put in an appearance. However, a capable substitute was found for board six the remaining three games had go by default, thus rendering the result of the match almost a foregone conclusion before play began. Surrey eventually winning 11½ to 4½
Southern Echo – Tuesday 17 December 1901
| Board | Hampshire | Hants Result | Surrey | Surrey Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JH Blake | 0 | GE Wainwright | 1 |
| 2 | FJH Elwell | ½ | W Ward | ½ |
| 3 | Default | 0 | AJ Curnock | 1 |
| 4 | T Crassweller | 0 | T Berrafiller | 1 |
| 5 | JE Haydon | 1 | AW Fisher | 0 |
| 6 | WR Neve | 1 | P Laysell | 0 |
| 7 | HD Osborn | 1 | GA Hooke | 0 |
| 8 | Default | 0 | HW Johnson | 1 |
| 9 | GA Cosser | 0 | FL Anspach | 1 |
| 10 | CE Lloyd | 0 | TB Girdlestone | 1 |
| 11 | G Wood | 0 | LP Rees | 1 |
| 12 | GR Sloper | 1 | C Redway | 0 |
| 13 | R Clarke | 0 | PJ Allington | 1 |
| 14 | W Tipper | 0 | Dr Dunstan | 1 |
| 15 | W Bowyer | 0 | EB Sebwaan | 1 |
| 16 | Default | 0 | WP Plummer | 1 |
| Total | 4½ | Total | 11½ |
Hampshire vs Sussex – 25 Jan 1902
Hampshire’s third match was against Sussex was planned for this date, but was scratched. Presumably as Hampshire had lost to Surrey this match would not change the outcome of the championship.
Hampshire – Wiltshire
The annual out-door match against Wiltshire was not played, as reported in the Wiltshire Chess AGM, from which you can see that Wiltshire played a number of matches against local towns / clubs.
Hampshire Player Performance
With only the two matches there is limited information from the data this season. But JE Haydon managed to win both his games, whilst HD Osborn had a win and a draw which were the highlights. A number of players won the one game they played.
Individual player performance is detailed below in a sortable table.
| Hants Player | Win Percentage | Points Scored | Games Played |
|---|---|---|---|
| JE Haydon | 100.0% | 2 | 2 |
| HD Osborn | 75.0% | 1.5 | 2 |
| T Crassweller | 50.0% | 1 | 2 |
| A Thomson | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
| WR Neve | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
| A Corser | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
| S Leonard | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
| E Seymour | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
| JS Flower | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
| GR Sloper | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
| W Tipper | 25.0% | 0.5 | 2 |
| JH Blake | 25.0% | 0.5 | 2 |
| FJH Elwell | 25.0% | 0.5 | 2 |
| G Wood | 25.0% | 0.5 | 2 |
| DHH Wassell | 50.0% | 0.5 | 1 |
| W Bowyer | 0.0% | 0 | 2 |
| GA Cosser | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
| CE Lloyd | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
| WC Kenny | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
| R Clarke | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
Summary
Hampshire’s best result was their win against Kent, which as mentioned they would not repeat for another 60 years. Surrey continued their dominance against Hampshire, although this year it seem their was no winner of the SCCU Championship as it is recorded as undecided.
As some background on Hampshire Chess this season the Hampshire Trophy was won by Southampton who beat Andover 4 – 3 in the final. The Hampshire Chess Officers were:
- R Chipperfield – President
- E Draycott – Hon. Secretary and Treasurer
- JH Blake – Match Captain
- FJH Elwell, G Wood – Adjudicator’s
- GR Sloper, JH Blake, E Draycott – SCCU Delegates
Gallery
A selection of newspaper cuttings on the various matches.
Acknowledgements and Sources
- British Newspaper Archives
- Anthony Fulton
- Hampshire Post and Southsea Observer
- Southern Echo
- Isle of Wight Observer
- Hampshire Advertiser
- Portsmouth Evening News
- Devizes and Wilts Advertiser