Hampshire County Matches 1902 / 03

Hampshire played four matches this season, with the three SCCU ones and resumption of the annual match against Wiltshire. But the results were not great, with three losses in the SCCU, and a draw against Wiltshire meaning this was probably the worst season since their inception.

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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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Hampshire 6½ Sussex 9½ – 27 Sept 1902 – Portsmouth

Hampshire’s first match was against Sussex and was played in Portsmouth. Hampshire as reported in the Southern Echo (some bias) were slightly unlucky as one player (WG Kenny) defaulted, and another misunderstood the time limit, and lost on time when the position was in his favour.

I would say that the Hampshire team were understrength as looking at the team which beat Surrey the previous season they were missing T Crassweller, JE Haydon and WR Neve who played on boards 4 to 6. Hampshire winners were JH Blake, FJH Elwell, FA Joyce, KC Clayton and DHH Wassell.

County Chess Match: Hampshire vs Sussex – This match was played on Saturday at the Speedwell Hotel. Portsmouth. and resulted in a victory for Sussex. by three games The home side were unfortunate in losing one game by default, while another was lost through a Hampshire player misunderstanding the time-limit rule, by which he forfeited the game, which appeared to somewhat in his favour.

Southern Echo – Tuesday 30 September 1902

Board	Hampshire	Club	Result	Sussex	Club	Result
1	JH Blake	Southampton	1	MR RG Reed	Brighton	0
2	FJH Elwell	Southampton	1	HH Cole	Hastings	0
3	Default		0	HW Shoosmith	Brighton	1
4	E Draycott	Gosport	0	HE Dobell	Hastings	1
5	HD Osborn	Gosport	½	HW Butler	Brighton	½
6	FA Joyce	IOW	1	T Durant	Worthing	0
7	KC Clayton	Portsmouth	1	J Chandler	Lewes	0
8	G Wood	Portsmouth	0	Castle Leaver	Brighton	1
9	SD Caws	IOW	0	WR Andrews	Brighton	1
10	H Taggett	Southampton	0	GC Skyme	Hastings	1
11	F Martin	Portsmouth	0	FE Purchas	Brighton	1
12	L Hewett	IOW	½	J Creevy	Uckfield	½
13	DHH Wassell	Petersfield	1	F Brooke		0
14	GH Barclay	Andover	½	FT Young	Brighton	½
15	W Tipper	Portsmouth	0	GM Norman	Brighton	1
16	HJ Penwill	Southampton	0	TG Mannington	Hastings	1
	Total		6½	Total		9½

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Hampshire 7 v Kent 9 – 22 Nov 1902 – London

The Kent match was played in London, and Hampshire missed a chances to repeat their win of the previous season losing 7 to 9. Their chances were not helped with two strong players missing, and more importantly two defaults. Board one JH Blake overstretched in pressing for the win, and lost against the strong OC Muller.

One thing which stood out was from the IOW Observer, which had the Hampshire clubs listed in their article, was that a number of the players were London based (5 of the 14). This probably made it easier for Hampshire to field a strong team in London, especially as the Kent match always seemed to be played there (unlike the Sussex and Surrey matches). But on the same hand it does seem that a number of the London players did not play in Southampton or Portsmouth, as if this was due to travelling or strength it is not clear. As these players seem to be playing in the middle boards, probably the former.

Hampshire winners were TE Haydon, JS Flower, CE Lloyd, GR Sloper, G Wood and GK Dupree.

The match was reported in the Portsmouth Evening News and Isle of Wight Observer with the Portsmouth Evening News mentioning Blake overpressing and the IOW Observer that Elwell and Draycott (board 2 and 4 in the Sussex match) were unavailable.

County Chess Match: Kent vs Hants:- A match in the Southern Counties’ Championship Competition was played at the City of London Chess Club recently, between teams representing the Counties of Hampshire and Kent. Hants were unfortunate in being without the services of several strong local players, and also in having two games scored against them by default. The series of losses at the top boards was a surprise.

Mr. Blake might have drawn his game, but learning that Kent were having slightly the best of matters tried to force a win, and paid the usual penalty of doing so against a drawn position. Mr. Seymour also missed a draw, being able to compel his opponent to give him perpetual check, however being short of time, and moving hastily lost. Hants are now out of the competition for the year. They meet Surrey (the champion county) at Southampton on the 6th proximo, when a good match may be expected.

Portsmouth Evening News – Wednesday 26 November 1902

County Chess Match: Kent vs Hants:- A chess match in the Southern Union Championship competition was played at the City of London Chess Club on Saturday last, between Hampshire and Kent.

Hampshire were somewhat unfortunate in being without the services of Messrs Elwell and Draycott, and in addition lost two games by default, but notwithstanding made a good light, winning seven (six ed) of the fourteen games actually contested

Isle of Wight Observer – Saturday 29 November 1902

Board	Hampshire	Club	Result	Kent	Result
1	JH Blake	Southampton	0	OC Muller	1
2	E Seymour	London	0	EL Raymond	1
3	T Crassweller	London	0	HG Sturton	1
4	TE Haydon	London	1	G Chapman	0
5	WC Kenny	Southampton	0	E Creswell	1
6	FA Joyce	Newport	0	W Provis	1
7	WR Neve	London	½	GA Felce	½
8	E Clayton	Portsmouth	0	RI Jones	1
9	JS Flower	Ryde	1	Dixon	0
10	Default		0	JH Eastwood	1
11	CE Lloyd	Leicester	1	OL Stevenson	0
12	GR Sloper	London	1	WM Brooke	0
13	G Wood	Portsmouth	1	Butler	0
14	DHH Wassell	Petersfield	½	AR Ropes	½
15	GK Dupree	Southampton	1	Revd WE Evill	0
16	Default		0	Whitman	1
	Total		7	Total	9

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Hampshire 4½ v Surrey 11½ – 6 Dec 1902 – Southampton

Hampshire’s final SCCU opponent was Surrey, and as per the previous year Hampshire lost heavily (by the same score). Surrey would go on to with the SCCU Shannon Championship again this season, and it was not only Hampshire who last heavily to them. Surrey beat Kent, also by 11½ – 4½ in their match.

From the article in the Streatham News it can be seen that Surrey had brought a most impressive team to Southampton. On board one they had Herbert Jacobs whose EDO rating can be found here. It was also strange to see Joseph Blake on board two, if he was hoping to miss George Wainwright this did not happen, as he was playing behind Herbert Jacobs. After losing the last three county games Blake did manage to draw this game though.

TE Haydon took the top board for Hampshire, he normally played on board three of four and this may have been a tactical move? The final result is known, but there were four games to be adjudicated and therefore the individual results cannot be determined. Hampshire known winners were Dr RC MacDonald and FW Clarke.

County Chess Match: Surrey and Hampshire played at Scallard’s Hotel, Southampton, on Saturday last, their match in the preliminary round of the Southern Counties Championship contest. From the full score, which is appended, it will be seen that the visitors scored an easy victory. Four games were unfinished, and will be sent to the adjudicator, but his decision will not affect the result of the match.

The Surrey team was an exceptionally strong one for a match played so far away from town. With such a long list of really strong amateurs as this county possesses, it is not surprising that defeat is so rare an experience. Looking at the names of the players in this match, we do not see one that has not successfully occupied a high position in teams representing London and first-rate suburban clubs. It is gratifying to note the reappearance of that strong international player, Mr. Herbert Jacobs, as the leader of the winning team.

Streatham News – Saturday 13 December 1902

Board	Hampshire	Result	Surrey	Result
1	TE Haydon	0	Herbert Jacobs	1
2	JH Blake	½	GE Wainwright	½
3	FJH Elwell	½	AJ Curnock	½
4	Dr RC Macdonald	1	AE Tietjen	0
5	WC Kenny	a	FL Anspach	a
6	E Draycott	0	TB Girdlestone	1
7	A Thomson	0	HS Barlow	1
8	E Clayton	a	Dr Dunstan	a
9	FW Clarke	1	LP Rees	0
10	G Wood	0	H Greenwell	1
11	WB George	0	AW Fisher	1
12	DHH Wassell	a	PJ Allingham	a
13	R Targett	a	WHP Pollock	a
14	GR Barton	0	HR Allingham	1
15	S Leonard	½	A Ashby	½
16	GJ Beer	0	M Shaw Stewart	1
	Total	4½	Total	11½

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Hampshire 9 v Wiltshire 9 – 16 July 1903 – Salisbury

Hampshire’s final match of the season was their friendly against Wiltshire. This was one of the rare occurrences where Hampshire failed to win this fixture, which ended in a draw. Hampshire were not bringing their full strength team to this match, as can be seen from the missing players, and the board number that players were on. For example A Thomson played on board 2 in this match, and board 7 in the Surrey one.

You may notice that F Martin played on board 17 in this match and board 11 in the Sussex match, but he was often used as a reserve, which is probably the case in the Sussex match. Good to see him on the correct board for his strength, and he did win his game.

Joining F Martin as Hampshire winners were JH Blake, EC Clarke, SD Caws, AG Ripley, E Atkins and RE Reade.

The match was reporting in the Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser.

CHESS. WILTS v. HANTS. This annual match was once more played, on July 15, in the leafy avenue at Laverstock House, Salisbury, by kind invitation of Dr. Manning, who. as usual, right hospitably entertained the players, and whom Mr. Chipperfield and Mr. Sutton returned the cordial thanks of the Hants and Wilts players. The match ended in tie.

Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser – Saturday 25 July 1903

I am not sure if the Wiltshire club is really Sarum, more likely Salisbury, but the newspaper cutting did say S for Sarum and I have left like this for now. In addition it

Board	Hants	Club	Result	Wilts	Club	Result
1	JH Blake	Southampton	1	W McCrum	Sarum	0
2	A Thomson	Bournemouth	0	A Rumboll		1
3	E Clayton	Portsmouth	0	Revd JTC Chatto	Swindon	1
4	EC Clarke	Portsmouth	1	Revd CJF Welsh	Warminster	0
5	RH Wadeson	Portsmouth	0	A Schomberg	Devizes	1
6	SD Caws	IOW – Cowes	1	F Sutton	Sarum	0
7	WJ Turner	Andover	0	W Bruges	Warminster	1
8	R Chipperfield	Southampton	½	HS May	Marl	½
9	A Watson	Southampton	0	E Fear Hill	Bradford	1
10	W Tipper	Portsmouth	0	JW Clark	Sarum	1
11	JB Elcum	Portsmouth	½	HW Beaven	Bradford	½
12	WF Sandell	Southampton	½	AR White	Mere	½
13	AG Ripley	Bournemouth	1	Dr Cole	Devizes	0
14	E Atkins	Fareham	1	J Crompton	Bradford	0
15	T Hutchins	Portsmouth	½	FE Young	Sarum	½
16	RE Reade	Portsmouth	1	LM Crow	Marlborough	0
17	F Martin	Portsmouth	1	CE May	Marlborough	0
18	HO Bates	Southampton	0	CH Stratton	Warminster	1
	Total		9	Total		9

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Hampshire Player Performance

Although Hampshire played four matches, there were some adjudicated games which I don’t have the results for, which makes the below table slightly inaccurate. JH Blake was the only player to play in all four matches and by his high standards two and half points was not a great result. Frank Elwell scored a win and a draw from his two games, and a number of players won the single game they played in. There were a couple of names which were difficult to determine and may refer to a player under another name.

Individual player performance is detailed below in a sortable table.

Hants Player	Win Percentage	Points Scored	Games Played
JH Blake	62.5%	2.5	4
FJH Elwell	75.0%	1.5	2
DHH Wassell	75.0%	1.5	3
KC Clayton	100.0%	1	1
RE Reade	100.0%	1	1
FW Clarke	100.0%	1	1
AG Ripley	100.0%	1	1
JS Flower	100.0%	1	1
CE Lloyd	100.0%	1	1
EC Clarke	100.0%	1	1
Dr RC Macdonald	100.0%	1	1
E Atkins	100.0%	1	1
GK Dupree	100.0%	1	1
GR Sloper	100.0%	1	1
F Martin	50.0%	1	2
SD Caws	50.0%	1	2
FA Joyce	50.0%	1	2
TE Haydon	50.0%	1	2
G Wood	33.3%	1	3
R Chipperfield	50.0%	0.5	1
GH Barclay	50.0%	0.5	1
S Leonard	50.0%	0.5	1
JB Elcum	50.0%	0.5	1
T Hutchins	50.0%	0.5	1
L Hewett	50.0%	0.5	1
WF Sandell	50.0%	0.5	1
WR Neve	50.0%	0.5	1
HD Osborn	50.0%	0.5	1
T Crassweller	0.0%	0	1
A Watson	0.0%	0	1
GJ Beer	0.0%	0	1
E Seymour	0.0%	0	1
R Targett	0.0%	0	1
WJ Turner	0.0%	0	1
RH Wadeson	0.0%	0	1
HJ Penwill	0.0%	0	1
HO Bates	0.0%	0	1
WB George	0.0%	0	1
GR Barton	0.0%	0	1
H Taggett	0.0%	0	1
WC Kenny	0.0%	0	2
W Tipper	0.0%	0	2
E Draycott	0.0%	0	2
A Thomson	0.0%	0	2
E Clayton	0.0%	0	3

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Summary

This was Hampshire’s worse season since their inception, and they seemed to be having some trouble with players defaulting in matches.

As some background on Hampshire Chess this season the Hampshire Trophy was won by Southampton B who beat Portsmouth A in the final. The Hampshire Trophy only had six entries, with Southampton entering three teams, Portsmouth two and Andover one. A sub committee was created at the AGM to look at amending the rules to attract other clubs to enter.

The Hampshire Chess Officers were unchanged from 1902:

• 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

Following the 1903 AGM a match was played between Southampton and the visitors (5 players from Portsmouth and 1 from Andover) which Southampton won 4 – 2.

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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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