Hampshire County Matches 1922 / 23

The SCCU continued to amend the competition structure, and one change which affected Hampshire was that Berkshire replaced Sussex in their section this year. This was certainly better for Hampshire, as Berkshire were weaker than Sussex. It was a fact that Surrey and Middlesex were too strong for Hampshire, and the other counties in the SCCU. From the end of the 1st World War to the start of the 2nd, in the twenty seasons held Middlesex won 10 times, Surrey 9 and Sussex 1. Hampshire currently in the same section as two of these counties made it extremely difficult for them to progress.

Hampshire did manage to beat Berkshire, but lost heavily to the other two counties, despite the matches being played in Southampton. This was not always an advantage, as Hampshire relied heavily on Portsmouth and London based players for their matches.

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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 4 – Surrey 12 – Oct 14 1922 – Southampton

Hampshire met Surrey in Southampton, and as per last season lost heavily 4 – 12. In this match, not even the top players could not help with only Joseph Blake scoring half a point on the top four boards. There was only one Hampshire winner with WJ Fry winning on board 8.

WJ Fry was another Hampshire player with a long career. He represented Hampshire from 1920 to 1951, and from 1927 was often found playing on the top four boards. He was a four time Hampshire Individual Champion and won the Southampton Chess Club Championship many times. The Hampshire Individual Championship was not held until 1930, but the Southampton Championship was held for a long time before this (probably before 1921 as recorded on the Southampton Chess Club website). WH Fry was also said to be the player on the dust cover of Reinfeld’s How to Play Chess.

Allan Hayes on board three was not a player I was aware of. He first played for Hampshire the previous year on the lower boards, but from this season until the last time he played for Hampshire (1928) he was often on board three or four. He played in the 1923 British Championship in some of the side tournaments, doing quite well. In the 23 games he played for Hampshire he scored more than 50%, but unfortunately it was a short County career. I will include more on the 1923 British Chess Championship in the future 1923/24 post, as this was held in Southsea, and won by Sir George Alan Thomas, and many local players participated.

AS Dance had also started playing for Hampshire the previous season, but he would have a much longer Hampshire Chess Career, playing until 1951. He was also Hampshire President from 1951 until 1955 until J Spedan Lewis and his deep pockets replaced him.

Board	Hampshire	Result	Surrey	Result
1	JH Blake	½	RP Mitchell	½
2	FJH Elwell	0	HB Uber	1
3	A Hayes	0	HC Griffiths	1
4	HD Osborn	0	GA Felce	1
5	AB Coe	½	LP Rees	½
6	HA Way	½	E Macdonald	½
7	JS West	0	FFL Alexander	1
8	WJ Fry	1	G Wernick	0
9	PJ Penney	0	P Howell	1
10	E Clayton	½	AJ Spencer	½
11	AB Douglas	0	GE Smith	1
12	WG Binning	0	WL Brierley	1
13	JW Pearson	0	PW Rampton	1
14	G Bennett	½	Dr TW Letchworth	½
15	AS Dance	½	Dr F St John Steadman	½
16	RT Lawrence	0	EW Davies	1
	Total	4	Total	12

The match details were included in the British Chess Magazine, which stated that Surrey had a very strong team on the day. BCM had one adjourned game, and from the SCCU book by Anthony Fulton the match result is still unknown. But as the HCA Archives state this as 12 – 4, I am leaving this as is for now.

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Hampshire 9½ – Berkshire 6½ – Dec 2nd 1922 – Reading

Hampshire met Berkshire for the first time, and this was probably a bit of a relief that they were playing a team weaker than their normal opponents. Hampshire would continue to play Berkshire many times originally in the SCCU, and later (and currently) in the Chiltern League.

The Hampshire Advertiser had a match report on the Berkshire match.

Match Between Hants and Berkshire
On Saturday last a strong Hampshire team visited Reading to fulfil their engagement with Berkshire in connection with the Championship of the Southern Counties Chess Association. This is Berkshire’s first season as a competitor for the Championship for this Association, and they proved themselves a team not to be despised, their five top players putting up a particularly stiff fight.

The match was held at the Reading Central Liberal Club, and play continued without interruption (except for a very short adjournment for refreshments) from 1.30 to 6.30. At the close of play three games remained unfinished. and had to be sent for adjudication. As Hampshire are, however, at present leading by eight points to five and have a more than equal position is at least one of the three adjourned games, they appear to be assured of victory.

Six of the Hampshire players are members of the Portsmouth Chess Club, and obtained three wins and two draws. making a total of four points out of a possible six.

Hampshire Telegraph – Friday 08 December 1922

The match was a tough one, but Hampshire came out on top 9½ – 6½ with JH Blake, HA Way, Revd W Proctor, JS West, WJ Fry, PJ Penney and G Bennett winning. The three adjourned games were one win each and one draw.

Board	Hampshire	Result	Berkshire	Result
1	JH Blake	1	FW Neale	0
2	FJH Elwell	½	PJ Lawrence	½
3	A Hayes	½	WOC Stuchbery	½
4	HD Osborn	½	LA Rumble	½
5	AB Coe	0	JH Van Meurs	1
6	HA Way	1	FJ Backhouse	0
7	Revd W Proctor	1	FA Westlake	0
8	JS West	1	W Innes	0
9	WJ Fry	1	GM Arrowsmith	0
10	AH Yerbury	½	F Bance	½
11	PJ Penney	1	GW Davies	0
12	E Clayton	0	H Runham	1
13	WG Binning	½	ER Farmer	½
14	G Bennett	1	B Hamilton	0
15	J Bradfield	0	GH Kingham	1
16	AS Dance	0	H Lyford	1
	Total	9½	Total	6½

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Hampshire 4 – Middlesex 12 – Jan 13th 1923 – Southampton

Hampshire’s last match was against Middlesex, and they met in Southampton, as per the Surrey match this did not seem to help Hampshire as they lost heavily just scoring 4 points. The Swanage Times had details of the match.

The two Hampshire winners were JH Blake, A Hayes and A Dance.

Board	Hampshire	Result	Middlesex	Result
1	JH Blake	1	PW Sergeant	0
2	FJH Elwell	½	RC Griffith	½
3	A Hayes	1	HV Buttfield	0
4	HD Osborn	0	WH Regan	1
5	JH Carroll	0	WE Bonwick	1
6	HA Way	0	WH Watts	1
7	AB Coe	0	Dr FS Duncan	1
8	JS West	0	ME Goldstein	1
9	WF Sandell	0	JW Morling	1
10	WJ Fry	0	CE Ford	1
11	E Clayton	0	FW Boff	1
12	AB Douglas	0	AT Stow	1
13	FG Binning	0	W Jones	1
14	PJ Penney	0	R Eastman	1
15	AS Dance	1	RA Walker	0
16	RT Lawrence	½	V Lewis	½
	Total	4	Total	12

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Summary

Just the one win from the three matches, but again Hampshire were in the same group as the eventual winners of the Shannon Championship (Middlesex), and it was good to see Berkshire join the competition.

Hampshire played just the one Correspondence match, losing 12½ – 17½ to a composite team in the County Championship. The BCM report also mentions the newly formed Dorset County Association were entering the following year.

The Hampshire Trophy in the 1922/23 was won by Andover beating Portsmouth in the final, and they also won the Hampshire League ahead of Taunton’s School (seven teams entered).

There were two major reported activities in the Hampshire AGM, one was the report on the newly formed Southampton Chess League and the other was the resignation of Mr HJ Penwill who had served as an officer for the Hampshire Chess Association for 20 years as Secretary and Treasurer. His replacement was another Southampton Chess Club player AB Coe.

The Southampton Chess League was reported as a success, with more than 100 players participating. Southampton won ahead of Taunton’s School. The Hampshire Advertiser reported on the player’s averages.

The Hampshire AGM was reported in great detail in the Hampshire Advertiser which also touched on Sir GA Thomas’s win in the 1923 British Chess Championship.

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The HCA officers elected at the AGM were:

• PEJ Talbot – President
• AB Coe – Hon. Secretary and Treasurer
• JH Blake – Match Captain
• FJH Elwell, E Sims – Hon. Auditors
• JH Blake, HD Osborn & Sir GA Thomas – SCCU Delegates

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Acknowledgements and Sources

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