In the past there used to be an annual Southampton vs Portsmouth Chess League match. This was one of the many regular matches which have been held at various times in Hampshire. Southampton vs Bournemouth, Hampshire vs Wiltshire are a couple of other examples.
I have located a number of the HCA Bulletins from the 1960’s and 70’s which will be added to the Hampshire Chess Bulletins once scanned. These include several of the Hampshire Chess Championships which are of particular interest to me, but there are also various other articles which will find there way to the website.
Southampton vs Portsmouth 1966 / 1967
Following the 1966 / 1967 Chess season there were two inter-league matches played between Southampton and Portsmouth. One for seniors and one for juniors. The senior match was very close, with Portsmouth narrowly winning 15½ – 14½. The junior match was not close, with Portsmouth winning 24½ – 15½. Looking at the list below, I thought AC Barton had played two games, but the one on the lower board looks to be AG Barton?
At the time of writing, this event was 57 years ago and although I was quite late to playing in the leagues, I thought I would check to see which players from these matches I have played against?
- Arthur Brameld
- John Jones
- Peter Marshall
- Ron Compton
- Gillian Moore
- Les Allen
- Patrick Pavey
- Martin Newbury
- Gerald Bennett
Older players may know a lot more about a number of the participants as these include several well known local players? I will look out for some of the other matches and eventually add these to a separate summary page with as many as I can find. The only players currently playing in the local leagues are Gillian Moore, Martin Newbury and Patrick Pavey (who has no memory of this event, but at this time he was 15 and played for Cosham Chess Club). Unlike some of the others he did not play seriously until the 1980’s when he joined the Cricketer Arms. After spending a number of years in France he is now back in the UK and playing for Chandler’s Ford (the latest improved location for the same club).
In addition, the page detailed the Southampton Division One Final table, which saw Bramtoco win ahead of University and Southampton Chess Club. I think Bramtoco refers to the British American Tobacco (BAT) company which had a factory near Shirley in Southampton. Peter Marshall used to work there and I presume he was involved in this club, although I only knew him from his time at Southampton Chess Club.
If anyone has any additional information on the match please do let me know in the comments and you never know it may be that players would be interested in re-starting these annual matches?
Acknowledgements and Sources
- Hampshire Chess Archives
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