The days of Hampshire challenging in the SCCU seemed to be over, as another season where Hampshire lost to the Sussex and Kent and the Surrey match was not played. They did manage to draw against Wiltshire in their annual friendly, but after dominating this fixture for many years this was not a particularly good result either.
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 7 Sussex 9 – Sept 22nd 1906 – Portsmouth
Hampshire’s first match was against Sussex and this time it was played in Portsmouth. A match of two halves it seems, with Hampshire scoring five wins on the first five boards, but only one win and two draws on the remaining boards. Strength in depth looks to be an issue for Hampshire. Or maybe it was Sussex’s ability to bring a more balanced team to the match.
Although a better result than the previous season, this was a disappointing loss, especially with winning the top five boards. The Sussex team were probably weaker than the previous year, Stephenson was on bd 14 last season and 10 for this match.
Hampshire winners were JH Blake, FJH Elwell, GA Thomas, TE Haydon, RF Barlow and JS Flower.
Board | Hampshire | Club | Result | Sussex | Club | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | JH Blake | Southampton | 1 | EG Reed | Brighton | 0 |
2 | FJH Elwell | Southampton | 1 | JP Mollard | Arundel | 0 |
3 | Sir GA Thomas | Portsmouth | 1 | CJA Wade | Henfield | 0 |
4 | TE Haydon | London | 1 | Castle Leaver | Brighton | 0 |
5 | RF Barlow | London | 1 | J Storr Best | Brighton | 0 |
6 | WC Kenny | Southampton | 0 | AJ Field | Worthing | 1 |
7 | JS Flower | Ryde | 1 | JW Bridger | Petworth | 0 |
8 | Dr TH Letchworth | Bournemouth | 0 | J Creevy | Uckfield | 1 |
9 | FA Joyce | IOW | 0 | IE Mannington | Hastings | 1 |
10 | Revd HS Wansborough | 0 | HJ Stephenson | Hastings | 1 | |
11 | E Clayton | Portsmouth | 0 | FE Purchas | Brighton | 1 |
12 | GI Gribble | IOW | 0 | AE Infield | Worthing | 1 |
13 | HD Osborn | Portsmouth | ½ | F Brook | Brighton | ½ |
14 | H Targett | Southampton | ½ | S Hunt | Horsham | ½ |
15 | GH Barclay | Andover | 0 | H Barr | Brighton | 1 |
16 | J Slatter | Portsmouth | 0 | J Chandler | Lewes | 1 |
Total | 7 | Total | 9 |
Hampshire 6 v Kent 10 – Nov 24th 1906 – London
Hampshire next met Kent, with the match being played in London. Kent were comfortable winners and like the Sussex match Hampshire did far better on the top boards with Hampshire scoring 4½ from the first 5 boards. Lower down was more problematic with only 1 point scored on boards 9 to 16. Hampshire were not helped by the fact that boards 7 and 13 were defaulted.
Kent were very strong this year and they also defeated Surrey for the first time in the SCCU championship winning 11 – 5. This was from a larger 50 board match between the counties, which Kent also won 37½ – 12½. Kent went on to win their first Shannon Championship beating Devon in the final.
Hampshire winners were JH Blake, F Elwell, T Haydon, W Neve.
Board | Hampshire | Club | Result | Kent | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | JH Blake | Southampton | 1 | OC Muller | 0 |
2 | FJH Elwell | Southampton | 1 | EL Raymond | 0 |
3 | TE Haydon | London | 1 | CH Lorch | 0 |
4 | WR Neve | London | 1 | PHJ O’Connor | 0 |
5 | RF Barlow | Unattached | ½ | C Chapman | ½ |
6 | Dr TH Letchworth | Bournemouth | 0 | Evan Cresswell | 1 |
7 | HD Osborn (d) | Portsmouth | 0 | WB Dixon | 1 |
8 | GR Sloper | London | ½ | WM Brooke | ½ |
9 | GH Barclay | Andover | 0 | TS Connan | 1 |
10 | RG Stark | Basingstoke | 0 | HC Sturton | 1 |
11 | WS Fenwick | London | ½ | JA Detmold | ½ |
12 | HJ Penwill | Southampton | 0 | AJ Prichard | 1 |
13 | GH Caws (d) | Cowes | 0 | JH Eastwood | 1 |
14 | FG Binning | Southampton | 0 | H Storr-Best | 1 |
15 | HA Way | Southampton | ½ | DW Earle | ½ |
16 | G Spreadbury | Portsmouth | 0 | WF Dray | 1 |
Total | 6 | Total | 10 |
Hampshire v Surrey – Scratch
With Hampshire losing their two matches against Sussex and Kent it seems the match against Surrey was not played. This was probably as neither Hampshire or Surrey could progress in the SCCU Championship (Sussex also lost to Kent).
Hampshire 7½ v Wiltshire 7½- July 13th 1907 – Salisbury
Hampshire’s final match was their annual friendly against Wiltshire. No more could this be counted as an easy win for Hampshire, and this proved the case this year, with a tough match ending in a tie. The Hampshire team was primarily sourced by Southampton and Bournemouth players, with just the one Andover and no Portsmouth or Isle of Wight teams represented.
Hampshire winners were Spencer Clarke, WC Kenny, D McIntrye, GH Barclay and W Veitch.
The Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser reported on the match as detailed below.
Board | Hampshire | Club | Result | Wiltshire | Club | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | JH Blake | Southampton | ½ | A Rumboll | Calne | ½ |
2 | FJH Elwell | Southampton | 0 | Revd BM Adams | Sarum | 1 |
3 | J Parkinson | Bournemouth | ½ | A Schomberg | Devizes | ½ |
4 | Spencer Clarke | Bournemouth | 1 | W Hey | Melksham | 0 |
5 | WC Kenny | Southampton | 1 | Sir F Cunningham | Devizes | 0 |
6 | AJ Bennett | Bournemouth | 0 | Dr Cole | Devizes | 1 |
7 | H Targett | Southampton | ½ | HW Reavan | Trowbridge | ½ |
8 | A Thomoson | Southampton | 0 | GD Prater | Sarum | 1 |
9 | D McIntrye | Bournemouth | 1 | Dr Ward | Codford | 0 |
10 | WB George | Bournemouth | ½ | A Watson | Sarum | ½ |
11 | GH Barclay | Andover | 1 | AG Bailey | Melksham | 0 |
12 | W Veitch | Southampton | 1 | Rev G Watson | Devizes | 0 |
13 | GM Frean | Bournemouth | 0 | C Adams | Devizes | 1 |
14 | JA Waldron | Bournemouth | ½ | Rev ES Barker | Swindon | ½ |
15 | EE Weedon | Southampton | 0 | H Matthews | Sarum | 1 |
Total | 7½ | Total | 7½ |
Hampshire Player Performance
Hampshire played three matches and top board JH Blake won both his SCCU matches against strong opposition, and drew his Wiltshire one. TE Haydon was the only player who played two or more games and won all his games, whilst F Elwell and R Barlow also scored +1 from their three and two games respectively.
Individual player performance is detailed below in a sortable table.
Hants Player | Win Percentage | Points Scored | Games Played |
---|---|---|---|
JH Blake | 83.3% | 2.5 | 3 |
TE Haydon | 100.0% | 2 | 2 |
FJH Elwell | 66.7% | 2 | 3 |
RF Barlow | 75.0% | 1.5 | 2 |
D McIntrye | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
JS Flower | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
Sir GA Thomas | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
Spencer Clarke | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
W Veitch | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
WR Neve | 100.0% | 1 | 1 |
WC Kenny | 50.0% | 1 | 2 |
GH Barclay | 33.3% | 1 | 3 |
GR Sloper | 50.0% | 0.5 | 1 |
H Targett | 50.0% | 0.5 | 1 |
HA Way | 50.0% | 0.5 | 1 |
J Parkinson | 50.0% | 0.5 | 1 |
JA Waldron | 50.0% | 0.5 | 1 |
R Targett | 50.0% | 0.5 | 1 |
WB George | 50.0% | 0.5 | 1 |
WS Fenwick | 50.0% | 0.5 | 1 |
HD Osborn | 25.0% | 0.5 | 2 |
A Thomoson | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
AJ Bennett | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
E Clayton | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
EE Weedon | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
FA Joyce | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
FG Binning | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
G Spreadbury | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
GH Caws | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
GI Gribble | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
GM Frean | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
HJ Penwill | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
J Slatter | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
Revd HS Wansborough | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
RG Stark | 0.0% | 0 | 1 |
Dr TH Letchworth | 0.0% | 0 | 2 |
Summary
Although I have stated that the season was poor, on reflection it was a bit better than original thought. The winners of the SCCU Championship were Kent, and Hampshire performed the best against them of all their opponents (including Devon).
Hampshire also played a Correspondence Match against Devon which they drew 30 all.
The Hampshire Trophy was won by Basingstoke. There were two sections with the NE having six and the SE five teams. After finishing bottom of the NW division the previous season Basingstoke turned things around, first winning the NW division (winning all matches) and then beating the SE division winner Portsmouth C in the final.
This season the matches were over five boards rather than the normal six or seven and this was probably one of the main reasons for the increased number of teams entering, up 11 from 8. Four of these were from Southampton and three from Portsmouth, but Winchester entered (probably for the first time).
The main change this season as detailed in the 1907 AGM was the stepping down of R Chipperfield as the HCA President. R Chipperfield had held this post since the creation of the HCA in 1890 but wished to resign because of his age. According to the article in the Sotonpedia he was born in 1817 and would have been coming up to 90 at the AGM.
There was some discussion that Mr Lee an MP should take on the role, but in the end this GH Barclay of Andover chess club was voted in, although this was on the understanding that they would look to fill the role with a younger man. All the other roles remained the same as the previous year.
- GH Barclay – President
- HJ Penwill – Hon. Secretary and Treasurer
- JH Blake – Match Captain
- FJH Elwell, G Wood – Adjudicators
- GR Sloper, JH Blake, RF Barlow – SCCU Delegates
The AGM was held at the Southampton Chess Club’s headquarters as reported in the Hampshire Independent.
Gallery
A selection of newspaper cuttings on the various matches.
Acknowledgements and Sources
- British Newspaper Archives
- Anthony Fulton for historic material on results
- Sevenoaks Chronicle and Kentish Advertiser
- West Sussex County Times
- Western Gazette
- Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser
Hello Archivist
Thank you for posting these clippings of early county matches. I am researching the early life of Sir George Thomas and was interested to read about his playing for the county. Do you know where I can find more information? I know that he joined Portsmouth Chess Club in 1896 and wonder whether the club has any records or minute books from that period.
Many thanks
Jon