Hampshire County Matches 1931 / 32

Hampshire played five over the board county matches this season, winning three and losing two. However, this was a better performance than it initially looked, as they won Montague-Jones Cup and only lost to Dorset, where Hampshire fielded an understrength team, and Middlesex in the final of the Shannon Cup. As can be seen from the match results Middlesex’s team was extremely strong in this match.

This season was also the last time which Joseph Blake played for Hampshire, who had been pretty much ever present since Hampshire’s first match in 1887. He continued to play chess though, and won the Kingston club championship several times, including in 1949 when he was 90 years old!


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 continued to be in a group with just Dorset and they met twice to determine who would progress to the knock out stages of the Montague-Jones Cup.


Hampshire 13½ – Dorset 6½ – 24th Oct 1931 – Bournemouth

The first match against Dorset was held in late October, and as usual was played in Bournemouth. Hampshire were comfortable winners and the Hampshire Advertiser reported on the match the following week.

Hampshire vs Dorset 24th October 1931

At Gervis Hall last Saturday, the Dorset players put up a spirited resistance, and it was not to the concluding stages that the superior strategy of the Hampshire brought its toll. The teams were entertained to tea by the President, Brigadier-General F. Muspratt and members of the Bournemouth Chess Club.

The. match arrangements were ably carried through under the capable supervision of Mr HL Gardiner, the Bournemouth match secretary. Messrs CF Chapman. TY Carter and EW Houghton made first appearances for Hampshire of considerable promise, whilst GP Britton the Taunton School student and present Champion of Hampshire, had a favourable match at board 5.

Hampshire Advertiser – Saturday 31 October 1931

In the match the first 16 boards counted towards the Montague Jones and the full 20 for the SCCU. Hampshire were comfortable winners 13½ – 6½, and 11 – 5 in the 1st stage of the Montague Jones Cup. Hampshire scored heavily on the top boards, with 4½ points on the top 5 boards.

The Western Morning News mentioned that Dorset were missing a number of key players and highlighted that it was the total from the two matches would determine who would progress to the knock out stages. With the large lead this would be a big ask for Dorset in the 2nd match.

Western Morning News - 04 Nov 1931 a
Western Morning News – 04 Nov 1931 a
Western Morning News - Wednesday 04 November 1931 b
Western Morning News – Wednesday 04 November 1931 b

Hampshire winners were JH Blake, FJH Elwell, HD Lloyd. WJ Fry, HL Streeter, H Grover, TY Carter, FL Taylor, EW Haughton, JW Webster, Brig-Gen GF Muspratt and Miss ML Harrison.

Miss Mary Louise Harrison only represented Hampshire when playing Dorset, but scored two wins, two draws and two losses in her six matches. She also played in the British Ladies Championship in 1931, 1936 and 1939, finishing in 9th, 9th and 12th place respectively.

An indication of her strength was that she drew against Sir George Thomas when he played the Bournemouth Chess Club in a simul in 1934

Bournemouth Times and Directory - 23 Nov 1934
Bournemouth Times and Directory – 23 Nov 1934
BoardHampshireResultDorsetResult
1JH Blake1DH Napper0
2FJH Elwell1BW Wood0
3HD Lloyd1WH Curtis0
4WJ Fry1AF Thomas0
5Capt GP Britton½GH Smith½
6HA Way0A Gray-Wallis1
7CT Bennett0Dr BE Sendermore1
8CF Chapman½WL Long½
9HL Streeter1FB Gibson0
10H Grover1P Ward0
11TY Carter1R Coxson0
12FL Taylor1Revd WS Clarke0
13EW Haughton1WT Wilkinson0
14AG Binning0C Real1
15HL Gardiner0L Fortnum1
16JW Webster1HW Gregory0
17FJ Tinkler½HJ Fowler½
18Brig-Gen GF Muspratt1E Thomas0
19FWP Crisp0GE Durnford1
20Miss ML Harrison1FR Wadman0
Total MJ (16 bds)11Total MJ (16 bds)5
Total (SCCU)13½Total (SCCU)

Hampshire 9 – Dorset 11 – 12th Dec 1931 – Bournemouth

Hampshire met Dorset, again in December in the 2nd round of the competition and Dorset achieved their first win in their matches against Hampshire. They had scored an 8-8 drawn in Oct 1929 (although there were some extra friendly games which gave Hampshire the win).

The Western Morning News mentioned that Dorset were strengthened the brothers Dr DB Kitchen and EH Kitchen, who had returned to active chess after a 30 year break. The brothers both won.

Hampshire Advertiser - Saturday 12 Dec 1931
Hampshire Advertiser – Saturday 12 Dec 1931

Hampshire were missing some key players, including JHJ Blake, but this does not take anything away from Dorset, who were deserving winners. Hampshire winners were FJH Elwell, WJ Fry, HL Streeter, TY Carter, JM Harris and JP Kirby.

BoardHampshireResultDorsetResult
1FJH Elwell1DH Napper0
2HA Way½EL Raymond½
3WJ Fry1WH Curtis0
4HD Lloyd½AF Thomas½
5Revd HF Hawkes½GH Smith½
6CT Bennett½A Gray-Wallis½
7CF Chapman0Dr BE Sendermore1
8HL Streeter1FWC Mitchener0
9H Grover0DB Kitchin1
10TY Carter1R Coxson0
11Revd AR Witt0Dr EH Kitchin1
12FL Taylor0P Ward1
13JW Webster0Capt PH di Marco1
14R Drake½Revd WS Clarke½
15HL Gardiner0C Real1
16WL Brett0WT Wilkinson1
17Brig-Gen GF Muspratt0HW Gregory1
18JM Harris1C Bridle0
19G Cardell½J Rugby½
20JP Kirby1FR Wadman0
Total (SCCU)9Total (SCCU)11
Total (top 16) MJTotal (top 16) MJ

Hampshire 10 – Devon 6 – 20th February 1932 – Salisbury

Hampshire met Devon in the semi-final of the Montague Jones Cup and Devon were the ones who travelled this time, as the venue was Salisbury. I would expect this to be one of the overriding factors in the match and Hampshire won by four points. There was some discussion as to if the match was to be played in Salisbury or Southampton, but the sensible decision to play in Salisbury was made. The venue was the Red Lion Hotel, which still exists today and has been a hotel for more than 800 years.

The Western Morning News probably had the best match report, and this did mention the disadvantage of the travelling, with key players missing. It also said Hampshire were not fully represented either.

Westcountry Chess Devon’s defeat by Hampshire

Devon came a cropper against Hampshire at Salisbury on Saturday, and now have no further direct interest in the destination of the Montague-Jones Cup, which trophy they secured last season.

Neither county was fully represented, but the long railway journey penalized Devonians particularly, and they were without the services of JB Goodman and JT Mather (Plymouth), HJH Cope (Ilfracombe), and HJ Stretton (Exeter). a serious responsibility was thus thrown the lower boards.

It is interesting to note that the first half of the team held their own, while the two bottom boards had advantage. From 9 to 14, however, Devon obtained only half a point —and there the explanation of their failure. At the same time, the games were well fought out, and although the fortunes of war favoured Hampshire throughout the final decision was only reached on adjudication of several games unfinished at the call of time

Western Morning News – Wednesday 24 February 1932

The Devon’s board 1 and 2 were swapped round compared to last year but F Pitt-Fox lost to JH Blake and RM Bruce beat FJH Elwell. Last year JH Blake lost and FJH Elwell won.

Hampshire winners were JH Blake, HD Lloyd, AB Coe, Revd HF Hawkes, CF Chapman, H Grover, HM Southon, F Taylor and HL Gardiner.

BoardHampshireResultDevonResult
1JH Blake1F Pitt-Fox0
2FJH Elwell0RM Bruce1
3WJ Fry0HV Mallison1
4HD Lloyd1AT Taylor0
5AB Coe1RW Hornbrook0
6Revd HF Hawkes1AB Treloar0
7HL Streeter0Dr C Li Lander1
8Capt GP Britton0SB Slade1
9CF Chapman1GD Crowther0
10H Grover1LWC Richards0
11HM Southon1GT Anderson0
12AS Dance½GF Thompson½
13FL Taylor1M Langdon0
14HL Gardiner1JW Catling0
15GT Lloyd0FH Light1
16FJ Tinkler½D Ennington½
Total10Total6

Hampshire 10½ – Hertfordshire 5½ – 19th March 1932 – London

It was not long until Hampshire meat Hertfordshire in the final of the Montague Jones Cup, and they had a comfortable 5 points win.

JH Blake beat GSA Wheatcroft on board one. This was their fourth pairing in County matches and Blake won all four, it could be that Wheatcroft was pleased to see Blake retiring from county chess as he won both his other games against Hampshire when not facing Blake.

Portsmouth Evening News - Mon 21 March 1932
Portsmouth Evening News – Mon 21 March 1932

Hampshire winners were JH Blake (in his last ever game for Hampshire), HD Lloyd, WJ Fry, HA Way, Revd HF Hawkes, CF Chapman, FL Taylor and GT Lloyd. A fragment of one game from the match was published in the Hampshire Advertiser, although this was AB Coe’s loss to EJ Fairchild. I think the continuation was probably not what was played in the game, as Black missed a win. It was likely another move was played and the game was adjudicated as a win for Hertfordshire.

BoardHampshireColourResultHertsColourResult
1JH BlakeWhite1GSA WheatcroftBlack0
2FJH ElwellBlack½FW FlearWhite½
3HD LloydWhite1FN BraundBlack0
4WJ FryBlack1AG FellowsWhite0
5HA WayWhite1GPA RichardsBlack0
6AB CoeBlack0EJ FairchildWhite1
7Revd HF HawkesWhite1EG AttenboroughBlack0
8CT BennettBlack½J HakannonWhite½
9CF ChapmanWhite1AH KnightBlack0
10HL StreeterBlack0HG WarrenWhite1
11Revd W ProctorWhite0Mrs TH WheelwrightBlack1
12HM SouthonBlack½R Lee-JohnsonWhite½
13Capt GP BrittonWhite0GK TrotterBlack1
14AS DanceBlack0FH BurnWhite1
15FL TaylorWhite1EN FoxBlack0
16GT LloydBlack1R PockettWhite0
Total10½Total

Hampshire 3 – Middlesex 13 – 7th May 1932 – London

Hampshire met Middlesex in the final of the Shannon competition and Hampshire obviously tried to field a very strong team, although they were missing JH Blake. Sir GA Thomas did play, as did JW Rivkine in his only game he played for Hampshire. He is not a player I am aware of, but playing board three looks like he was a strong player.

It is worth looking at some of Middlesex’s team.

  • JH Morrison – Played in three British Championships with his best performance in 1929 with an equal 4th place
  • Sultan Khan – Not sure why he was playing on board two (maybe to face Sir GA Thomas?)
  • EG Sergeant – Regular British Chess Championship entrant
  • H Saunders – Played in several British Championships
  • PW Sergeant – Who played board 15 was strong enough to play in the 1921 British Championship

There was a reason that Middlesex were dominant in the SCCU at this time and looking at the team which faced Hampshire, that reason was the amount of top players they had available.

Sultan Khan and Sir George Thomas actually played against each other several times in 1932. The 1932 “Sunday Referee” Masters the 1932 Cambridge Premier, the 1932 British Chess Championship and the1932/33 Hastings Premier. Sultan Khan usually came out on top, but he was held to a draw in this match.

The sole Hampshire winner was WJ Fry.

There was a game position in the Hampshire Advertiser and again it was a game where Hampshire Secretary AB Coe was playing, but had a winning position. Only the position where Coe had a winning combination was included and the game ended in a draw.

BoardHampshireColourResultMiddlesexColourResult
1FJH ElwellWhite0JH MorrisonBlack1
2Sir GA ThomasBlack½Sultan KhanWhite½
3JW RivkinWhite0EG SergeantBlack1
4HD LloydBlack0H SaundersWhite1
5WJ FryWhite1CA DamantBlack0
6HA WayBlack0EG TwitchettWhite1
7AB CoeWhite½J StrachsteinBlack½
8Revd HF HawkesBlack0HF MyersWhite1
9CF ChapmanWhite0A MercerBlack1
10HL StreeterBlack½A WestWhite½
11Capt GP BrittonWhite0SH CrockettBlack1
12Revd W ProctorBlack0A StowWhite1
13H GroverWhite0E BrownBlack1
14AS DanceBlack0H IsraelWhite1
15FL TaylorWhite½PW SergeantBlack½
16GT LloydBlack0RG ArmstrongWhite1
Total3Total13

JH Blake

As mentioned this was the last season that Joseph Blake played for Hampshire. I will leave it to others to go into details on his life, but will summarise some of his Hampshire Chess achievements. Hampshire were obviously lucky to have strong player, but what makes him different to other top Hampshire players such as GH Thomas, CHOD Alexander, William Winter of the past, and more recent players Tony Kosten, Peter Wells, Steven Jones and Andrew Martin, was the amount of games he played for Hampshire, and longevity of his career.

Hampshire’s first match was the friendly against Sussex in 1887 where Blake played on his normal board one (and won). According to my records he played 113 times for Hampshire from 1887 to 1932 with all but two of the games on board 1 (he played on board 2 behind TE Haydon and Sir GA Thomas in these matches). Understandably that Sir George Thomas would play on board 1, but not sure the reason for the other time. He won 70 of his games, drew 26 and lost just 18 games (one result was unknown as was adjudicated and I could not find the decision).

As well as his great playing performance, he also held the President’s role from 1927 to 1933, was Match Captain (1890/91 season to 1932/33, plus the matches before Hampshire were an official organisation. He was also one of Hampshire’s delegates to the SCCU from 1895 to 1935.

I would say he would go down as the most prominent Hampshire County chess player1.


Summary

A summary of the county matches and the general chess activities in Hampshire. The Hampshire Advertiser normally had details on the AGM, but I cannot locate details this year. This is a shame, as it probably would have had more details on JH Blake as well as the normal activities.

As mentioned Hampshire won the Montague Jones Cup, but Middlesex were much too strong in the Shannon competition. On the Correspondence front Hampshire only played the one match where they finished 8th in the Counties Championship. The individual results for all but the Counties championship are in the archives and can be seen in the FA Taylor document.

Hampshire Correspondence 1931 32
Hampshire Correspondence 1931 32

In the Hampshire league Portsmouth won Division One and Andover ii Division Two.

The winner of the HCA Individual Championship was Frank Elwell. Elwell won all four games in his section and then his five games in the final for a comprehensive performance. This was the first time the competition was not a knock out competition, as reported in the Hampshire Advertiser. The three initial sections were also seeded.

Hampshire Advertiser - Saturday 21 May 1932
Hampshire Advertiser – Saturday 21 May 1932


The HCA officers remained unchanged:

  • JH Blake – President
  • AB Coe – Hon. Secretary and Treasurer
  • JH Blake – Match Captain
  • FJH Elwell, HW Benest – Hon. Auditors
  • JH Blake, HA Way & AB Coe – SCCU Delegates

Acknowledgements and Sources

  • British Newspaper Archives
  • Britbase
  • Anthony Fulton for historic material on results
  • Hampshire Advertiser
  • Portsmouth Evening News
  • Western Morning News
  • Bournemouth Times and Directory
  • Hampshire Chess Archives

  1. Other candidates for this position would be Frank Elwell who played 128 times between 1891 and 1939 and Gillian Moore with at least 300 games (1960 – 2025, and still playing). ↩︎

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