History of Chess in Brighton (Chapter 5) - Brighton and Hove Chess Club

BRIGHTON CHESS

A HISTORY OF CHESS IN BRIGHTON
1841-1993

Chapter 5
1903-1922

THE CHRIST CHURCH INTERLUDE

The Christ Church Club and Other Local Clubs, 1903 to 1922
When the third Brighton Chess Club collapsed in 1904, the Christ Church Club became established as the main chess centre in the town. While the Brighton Chess Club had devoted itself exclusively to the playing of chess, the Christ Church Club catered for other interests as well (among them billiards) and had a social purpose. Fred Brook, who had been one of the founder members of the chess section in 1889, had returned to the helm when the chess club was revived in 1903.

The Sussex Chess Association Annual Report of 1905 lists the Christ Church Club as having forty members and meeting every evening. For many years the club enjoyed secure occupancy of its premises, but membership seems to have been kept within certain limits. Fixtures were arranged on a regular basis with Hastings but it appears that matches with London clubs were rare occurrences.

The emergence of the Christ Church Club may have led to a gradual decline in the fortunes of the Brighton YMCA Club, though it was to continue in existence for several years yet. In the 1905 Sussex Chess Association Annual Report the St Ann’s and Hove Clubs are both reported as having twenty members. A Sussex Masonic Chess Club was formed in Queen’s Road in 1904 and lasted at least into a third season. It had H.W. Butler on its top board. We should also mention that the Portslade Club was once again in existence, having been re-established in December 1902.

A need was soon felt once again for regular local competitive chess, and in 1906 the Brighton and District Chess League was formed. The league was to be open to clubs within a twenty mile radius of Brighton. Matches were played on a handicap basis, the weaker teams being allocated a start of one or more points before the match was played. In the first season of the league Christ Church, Brighton YMCA, Hove, Portslade, Worthing, Lewes, Uckfield and Haywards Heath all entered teams. The Lewes, Uckfield and Haywards Heath Clubs soon left the league (though Haywards Heath returned in 1914). The Brighton YMCA Club withdrew not long afterwards. According to the official records of the Sussex Chess Association the club had been dissolved by 1910, but this view is not confirmed by local directories which suggest that it continued until about 1918. The Portslade Chess Club appears to have ceased about 1912 but there was activity at Southwick in April 1913. The village was chosen as one of the venues for a large match arranged between Brighton and West Sussex. At the start of the following season a Southwick Club was formed which joined the St Ann’s Club in entering the league for the first time. Both clubs were soon to die out as the 1914-18 war brought nearly all chess activity to an end. The league itself lasted into the early part of 1915, but following its termination there appear to have been no inter-club matches for nearly two years.

It is interesting that the Christ Church Club was allowed to enter the McArthur Cup. It was not permitted to field any first class players, but it escaped the total ban imposed for most of the time on the Brighton Chess Club when it was the main club in the town. It is thus rather surprising that in the years leading up to the war Christ Church did not win the competition. The Hove Club on the other hand gained an excellent 5½ to ½ victory over Bexhill in 1911 to secure the trophy.

In March 1913 the Christ Church Club received distinguished visitors. The Hampstead Chess Club, winners of the London League, came to Brighton as part of a tour and took on the local club. The Brighton team put up a great fight and only lost by 6½ points to 5½. On board one J. Raoux held the 1912 British Champion R.C. Griffith to a draw, and a notable victory was scored by A.J. Field against the strong player Edward Lasker.

When the First World War brought nearly all regular competitive chess to a halt, many players turned their hand to correspondence chess. The Christ Church and Hove Clubs however managed to remain in existence during the whole of the war, and the Christ Church Club even continued to hold annual club championships. Early in 1917 we find the two clubs starting to play matches against each other again, and it was not long before a revived Lewes Club began to compete with both clubs. Important links between the Lewes and Christ Church Clubs were forged at this time. Not only were several friendlies arranged between the teams, but Christ Church and Lewes players became involved in the Sussex Chess Problem Fraternity, which was founded by H.W. Butler in March 1917. Meanwhile towards the end of the war Christ Church arranged correspondence matches against the Hampstead and Hastings Chess Clubs. Then in September 1918 Christ Church and Hastings faced each other over the board for the first time since 1914.

After the cessation of hostilities the return to chess was rather slow. There were now only two local clubs that chess players could join, namely Christ Church and Hove. In March 1920 a new club was formed at Shoreham. There was further local chess activity at the end of 1920 when a team from Florence Road, Brighton defeated Brighton YMCA 6-2. Shortly after this H.W. Butler held a simultaneous at the YMCA, but it is likely that both clubs soon became inactive.

The McArthur Cup attracted very few entries in the first years after the war and Christ Church were successful in winning the competition in 1919 and 1920. At the end of 1919 H.W. Butler started a column in the Sussex Daily News in which he gave good coverage to the Christ Church tournaments and news. After a while he donned the title of ‘Chess Crusader’ in his reports.

We have seen already that there were several simultaneous displays at the Sussex Congress in 1904. By way of contrast, the period from 1905 to 1922 produced relatively few exhibitions. Early in 1905 Joseph Blackburne gave a six-board blindfold display at the Christ Church Club, winning three and drawing three. As far as my records show it was not until 1919 that the next significant simultaneous took place. In February of that year Blackburne returned to the Christ Church Club and out of twenty games won eleven, drew six and lost two with one game left unfinished. The Sussex Daily News of 24 February 1919 gives the following description of the play: ‘On Saturday evening at the Christ Church Club it was a revelation to see the veteran now 78 years of age, his form erect, his keen and rapid perception of the complications of the positions on the twenty games he undertook; the high standard of his play, and the quiet, terse and witty remarks he made’. Blackburne returned again in February 1921 nearly forty years after his first simultaneous display in the town. He still played a good game and out of thirteen games he won eight, drew four and lost one.

In the period from 1903 to 1922 a start was made in developing chess in the local schools. In 1903 H.W. Butler announced that he was presenting a cup for Sussex schools. The competition ran initially between 1904 and 1911 but during that time was won by only two schools, the Municipal Secondary School, York Place, Brighton and the Belvedere School, Haywards Heath. After 1911 the competition lapsed for a number of years.

In 1917 at Easter time a junior tournament was held which was organised by a special committee set up by the Christ Church Club. Amongst the promising players was Gilbert Butler, son of Henry and later to become a county champion. In 1921 the Butler Cup was restored, but in 1922 it became the trophy for younger secondary school teams. An anonymous donor had presented a cup for senior secondary teams. This was called the Wilson Cup and was the original Brighton Chess Club Championship trophy which had been won outright by W.V. Wilson in 1892.

Junior chess had also begun to develop in Hastings. In 1921 the Hastings Club ran its first junior competition, which developed in 1923 into an open competition for juniors from all areas. In 1922 a match was arranged between the schoolboys of Hastings and Brighton which resulted in a six-all draw. In the same year Mrs E.H. Sidney of Hove announced her intention of presenting a trophy for annual competition among the schoolboys of Brighton and Hove.

Summing up the overall situation of chess in Brighton from 1903 to 1922 we can only point to a general decline. By way of contrast, Hastings ended the period on a high note. In 1918 the club moved to new premises in Havelock Road where its members could enjoy chess throughout the day. In 1919 it organised the prestigious Victory Tournament which was won by future World Champion José Raúl Capablanca and at the end of 1920 and the beginning of 1921 it initiated the long series of Christmas tournaments. Then in June 1922 excellent new premises were found in Carlisle Parade. Could Brighton do anything to rival this? An important step was the formation of the fourth Brighton Chess Club towards the end of 1922.

The Players, 1903 to 1922

H.W. Shoosmith
The last record that I have of H.W. Shoosmith playing competitive chess in Sussex occurs in 1905. After that he seems to have left the county and we find him playing the bulk of his chess in London. Because of his previous Brighton connections it is none-the-less appropriate to trace the remainder of his chess career in this section.

In 1905 he was invited to play in the British Championship at Southport where he struggled, scoring 2½ points out of 11. Next year, however, when the same competition was held at Shrewsbury, it was a very different story. He scored a notable victory against the reigning champion H.E. Atkins and came third equal with 7 points out of 11. It was decided that he should play off against Atkins for the gold medal and title of amateur champion of the country. Atkins, however, could not stay on to play the match and for a while Shoosmith was the title-holder, though he soon turned professional.

In 1907 he competed in the Ostend Amateur Tournament and came second, scoring 14 points out of 18. The Ostend Masters Tournament, however, provided him with a different class of opposition. In this he scored 9½ points out of 28 and came fourth from bottom, losing against famous names like Rubinstein, Bernstein, Teichmann, Tartakover, Nimzowitsch and Spielmann but recording wins against Duras and Mieses. In the same year in the British Championship at Crystal Palace he scored 6 out of 11 and was placed fifth. In this tournament he defeated J.H. Blackburne and drew with H.E. Atkins.

The 1908 British Championship was held at Tunbridge Wells and in this he did not do quite so well, scoring 5 out of 11. It appears that 1909 was his last year in competitive chess. Sadly, ill health overtook him and in November 1910 he entered St Catherine’s Hospital, Ramsgate. He died in 1912 while still young, a victim of tuberculosis which had also claimed the life of the chess genius Charousek in his youth. I append a game that he played during this period:

(54) H.W. Shoosmith - W. Ward
British Championship, Tunbridge Wells, 1908
Queen’s Gambit Declined
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.e3 Be7 6.Nf3 0-0 7.Qc2 c6 8.Rd1 h6 9.Bh4 dxc4 10.Bxc4 Nd5 11.Bg3 N7b6 12.Be2 Bd6 13.Ne5 Nxc3 14.bxc3 Qe7 15.0-0 Nd7 16.f4 Rd8 17.Bh5 Bxe5 18.fxe5 Rf8 19.Rf2 Qg5 20.Qe2 g6 21.Bf3 Kg7 22.Rdf1 Nb6 23.c4 Bd7 24.Be4 Qe7 25.Rf6 Qa3 26.Qf3 Be8 27.c5 Nd7 28.Bf4 Rh8 29.Bg5 Nxf6 30.Qxf6+ Kh7 31.Bxg6+ fxg6. Here White announced mate in 2. He plays 32.Qe7+ and if 32 … Bf7 33.Qxf7 mate or if Kg8 33.Rf8 mate. 1-0. (Play through game - link opens in new window.)

E.G. Reed
Ernest Reed completed his second hat trick of county championships, winning the title from 1905 to 1907. This gave him no fewer than seven championship wins. He also won the Christ Church Championship in 1907. In the early years of the century he dominated domestic competitions, though he hardly ever entered external tournaments. The following game was played on board one for Sussex against Kent in 1906 and features a good fight-back:

(55) O.C. Muller - E.G. Reed
Kent v Sussex (Board 1), 1906
Queen’s Gambit Declined
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Rc1 b6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Bd3 c5 10.0-0 Bb7 11.Bb1 Rc8 12.Bf5 Ra8 13.Qd3 Ne4 14.Bf4 Ndf6 15.Rfd1 c4 16.Qc2 a6 17.Nxe4 Nxe4 18.Bxe4 dxe4 19.Nd2 f5 20.Qxc4+ Bd5 21.Qc2 Bd6 22.Bxd6 Qxd6 23.Nc4 Qf6 24.b3 Rac8 25.Qd2 Qh6 26.Ne5 Qg5 27.Qb4 f4 28.Qd6 Rcd8 29.Qxb6 fxe3 30.fxe3 Qxe3+ 31.Kh1 Qg5 32.Rg1 e3 33.Nd3 Rf2 34.Ne1 Rdf8 35.Qxa6 e2 36.Rc2 Rxg2 0-1. (Play through game - link opens in new window.)

A.A. Bowley
Former Brighton player A.A. Bowley may have found it difficult to obtain much practice in the Sussex village of Henfield, but in 1908 he finally won his first county championship. He repeated the achievement in 1910 and 1917. He died in 1921 at the age of 64. In 1922 the deaths were also reported of W.V. Wilson and W.T. Pierce, leaving H.W. Butler as the only remaining active local enthusiast out of the early frequenters of the Public Chess Room. As I do not possess any publishable wins by Bowley during this period, I append the following game which surfaced some years later and is undated:

(56) A.A. Bowley - J.P. Mollard
Vienna Game
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 Bc5 4.Bg2 d6 5.Nge2 Bg4 6.d3 Nc6 7.h3 Bh5 8.g4 Bxg4 9.hxg4 Nxg4 10.d4 exd4 11.Nd5 d3 12.Nef4 Nxf2 13.Qh5 Nxh1 14.Ne6 g6 15.Nexc7+ Kf8 16.Qh6+ Kg8 17.Bg5 f6 18.Nxf6+ Kf7 19.Nfe8 Bf2+ 20.Kf1 Bd4 21.e5 and wins 1-0. (Play through game - link opens in new window.)

R.E. Lean
R.E. Lean’s name first occurs in Sussex chess records in 1889. His aggressive and often original style made him an interesting player. His first move 1.Nc3 was for a while known as Lean’s Opening.
On his day he could upset even the strongest players, though his play tended to be erratic. He won the county championship twice in 1912 and 1922 and the Christ Church Championship at least three times in 1912, 1923 and 1924. He also succeeded in qualifying for the British Championship on three occasions, though not surprisingly he found the opposition very tough. In 1908 at Tunbridge Wells he scored 3 points out of 11, in 1911 at Glasgow 2 points out of 11 and in 1914 at Chester 4½ points out of 11. His death occurred in 1937 when he was 70 years of age. The following games give an idea of his lively style of play:

(57) H.F. Cheshire - R.E. Lean
Hastings v Brighton, 1902
Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Be7 6.Qe2 f5 7.d5 Nd4 8.Nxd4 exd4 9.Re1 0-0 10.f3 Bc5 11.Qd3 Qh4 12.g3 Nxg3 13.hxg3 Qxg3+ 14.Kf1 f4 15.Nd2 d6 16.Ne4 Qh2 17.Nf2 Bf5 18.Qd2 h5 19.b4 Bb6 20.Bb2 d3 21.cxd3 c6 22.Re7 Rf7 23.Rxf7 Kxf7 24.Bc4 Re8 25.Ne4 Qxd2 26.Nxd2 Bh3 mate. 0-1. (Play through game - link opens in new window.)

(58) R.E. Lean - [E.G.?] Sergeant
Sicilian Defence, Wing Gambit
In my source the name of Lean’s opponent is given without initials. It is known that R.E. Lean defeated E.G. Sergeant in the British Championship at Tunbridge Wells in 1908. This may be the game, which is exciting and has attractive complications.
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.d4 d5 4.e5 Nc6 5.a3 Qb6 6.Ne2 Bf5 7.Be3 e6 8.c4 bxa3 9.c5 Qb2 10.Nxa3 Nb4 11.Nf4 a6 12.g4 Nc2+ 13.Nxc2 Bxc2 14.Bb5+ Kd8 15.Nd3 Qc3+ 16.Bd2 Qxd4 17.Qxc2 Qxa1+ 18.Ke2 Qxh1 19.c6 Qe4+ 20.Be3 Ne7 21.cxb7 d4 22.Bc6! Qxg4+ 23.f3 Qg2+ 24.Nf2 Rb8 25.Bxd4 Nd5 26.Bxd5 exd5 27.Bb6+ Kd7 28.Qc7+ Ke6 29.Qc8+ 1-0. (Play through game - link opens in new window.)

(59) I. Gunsberg - R.E. Lean
British Championship, Chester, 1914
Queen’s Gambit Declined
1.d4 e6 2.c4 d5 3.Nc3 c5 4.Bf4? cxd4 5.Qxd4 Nc6 6.Qd3 d4 7.Nb1 Nf6 8.Nf3 e5 9.Bg5 Qa5+ 10.Bd2 Bb4 11.e4 0-0 12.a3? Nd7 13.Qc2 f5 14.Bd3 Bxd2+ 15.Qxd2 Nc5 16.Bc2 d3 17.Bd1 Qd8 18.exf5 e4 19.Ng1 Nd4 20.Qc3 Bxf5 21.b4 Nc2+ 22.Kf1 Ne6 23.Bxc2 dxc2 24.Nd2 a5 25.b5 Nd4 26.Re1 Rc8 27.Nxe4 Bxe4 28.Rxe4 Qd5 29.Re1 Rxc4 30.Qb2 c1(Q) 0-1. (Play through game - link opens in new window.)

Finally, from a later period:

(60) R.E. Lean - F. Apscheneek
Bromley, 1925
Lean’s Opening
1.Nc3 d5 2.Nf3 d4 3.Ne4 f5 4.Ng3 c5 5.e4 fxe4 6.Nxe4 Qd5 7.Bb5+ Nc6 8.Qe2 Nf6 9.d3 Bg4 10.Bc4 Qh5 11.Nd6+ Kd7 12.Nf7 Bxf3 13.Be6+ Kc7 14.Bf4+ Kb6 15.gxf3 Rg8 16.Rg1 h6 17.b4 cxb4 18.Ne5 Rh8 19.a3 g5 20.Nc4+ Kb5 21.Bc7 g4 22.fxg4 Qc5 23.Nd6+ exd6 24.Bc4+ Qxc4 25.dxc4+ Kc5 26.Kf1 Re8 27.Qf3 Ne4 28.axb4+ Nxb4 29.Kg2 Kc6 30.Ba5 Nxc2 31.Qf5 Nc5 32.Qxc2 Bg7 33.Rae1 Be5 34.f4 Bxf4 35.Qb1 a6 36.Qb6+ 1-0. (Play through game - link opens in new window.)

A.J. Field
A.J. Field is first listed in Sussex chess records in 1891 as a member of the Brighton Chess Club. He made his county debut in 1893 and played in the Brighton Chess Club team which won the McArthur Cup in 1894. He was also at that time a member of the Brighton YMCA Chess Club. In 1903 he joined the Worthing YMCA Club and in 1905 was a member of the team which won the McArthur Cup. He did not, however, have to play a single game in the competition as the YMCA team were given a bye into the final and then were awarded a win by default against the St Leonard’s Institute Chess Club.

Field is listed in the 1910 Sussex Chess Association Annual Report as living in Hove. In that year he won both the Hove and Christ Church Club Championships. In 1916 he won the county championship and in 1917 was once again Christ Church Champion. He represented Sussex in the 1920s but eventually moved to London where he became a member of the Hampstead Club. His death occurred in 1944 at the age of 71. Of the few games of his that survive in Sussex chess records, the following miniature appears to be the only win:

(61) A.J. Field - J. Raoux
Published 1915. Probably from the 1914 Sussex Championship.
Bishop’s Opening
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 d5 4.exd5 Nxd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.0-0 Bg4 7.Re1 Bc5 8.d4 Nb6 9.Nxe5 Bxd1 10.Nxc6+ Kf8 11.Nxd8 Rxd8 12.Bd3 1-0. (Play through game - link opens in new window.)

J. Raoux
A French Swiss player, Jean Raoux came to Brighton in about 1911 and joined the Christ Church Club. He became champion of the club in 1913 and 1914 and won the Sussex Championship in 1914. He also joined the Hastings Club. At the end of the war he moved to Kent, where he won the county championship in 1920. He died in 1931 at the comparatively early age of 43. The following game was played in 1913 in the Waterhouse Cup (a cup provided by the President of the Sussex Chess Association and also known as the President’s Cup):

(62) F.E. Purchas - J. Raoux
Waterhouse Cup, 1913
Lemberg Gambit
1.Nf3 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Ng5 Bf5 4.Qe2 Nf6 5.Qb5+ Bd7 6.Qxb7 Nc6 7.Bb5 Rb8 8.Qa6 Rb6 9.Qa4 h6 10.Nh3 e5 11.Bxc6 Rxc6 12.Qxa7 Bc5 13.Qa5 Bxh3 14.gxh3 Qd4 15.0-0 Nh5 16.Qa8+ Kd7 17.Qxh8 Rg6+ 18.Kh1 Qxf2! 0-1. (Play through game - link opens in new window.)

W.R. Andrews
W.R. Andrews won the Christ Church Championship in 1905. During this period he was generally not as active in over-the-board play and he began to show a particular interest in correspondence chess, in which he was very successful. In the following correspondence game he was playing on board one for Sussex against an opponent from Surrey:

(63) W.R. Andrews - A.J. Maas
Sussex v Surrey (Board 1), 1921
Three Knights Game
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 Bb4 4.Nd5 Ba5 5.Bc4 d6 6.c3 Nf6 7.d3 Nxd5 8.exd5 Ne7 9.d4 exd4 10.Nxd4 0-0 11.0-0 Nf5 12.a4 Nxd4 13.Qxd4 Bb6 14.Qf4 a6 15.Re1 f5? 16.Qg3 Rf7 17.Bg5 Qf8 18.Qh4 Kh8 19.Be7 Qg8 20.Be2 h6 21.a5 Ba7 22.Bh5 g6 23.Bd1 Qh7 24.Bf6+ Kg8 25.Re8+ Rf8 26.Rxf8+ Kxf8 27.Ba4 h5 28.Qg5. Black cannot satisfactorily develop his Queen’s side. 1-0. (Play through game - link opens in new window.)

W. Wicks
W. Wicks won the Christ Church Championship in 1900 and 1904. He only appears in Sussex chess records from 1900 to 1905 and unfortunately very little is known about him. The following miniature was played in 1900 in a match between Christ Church and Haywards Heath:

(64) W. Wicks - H. Uridge
Christ Church v Haywards Heath, 1900
Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nc3 Nxb5 7.Nxe5 Be7 8.Nd5 Nxe5 9.Rxe5 0-0 10.Nxe7+ Kh8 11.Qh5 c6 12.Qxh7+ Kxh7 13.Rh5 mate. 1-0. (Play through game - link opens in new window.)

T. Durant
Thomas Durant represented the Horsham Chess Club in the 1890s and was acknowledged to be a strong player. It appears that around the turn of the century he moved to Worthing. As there was probably no chess club in Worthing at that time it is not surprising that he sought chess competition in Brighton. In 1901 he reached the county championship final, losing by default to Ernest Reed. When the Worthing YMCA Club was formed in 1903 he became a member and was in the team which won the 1905 McArthur Cup without playing a game (for further information see the section on A.J. Field earlier in this chapter). He later joined a revived Worthing Chess Club and was a member of the team that won the McArthur Cup in 1912. He also won the Christ Church Championship in 1907.

Durant does not seem to have returned to competitive chess after World War I. The first reference that I can find to his playing again occurs in 1942 when he turned out in a friendly for Worthing against Brighton. He died in 1949.

The following game is undated but was definitely played before 1904:

(65) E.G. Reed - T. Durant
French Defence, Exchange Variation
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Be3 Bd6 6.Bd3 Bg4 7.Nbd2 Nbd7 8.c4 dxc4 9.Bxc4 0-0 10.Rc1 Nb6 11.Bd3 Qd7 12.0-0 Rae8 13.Bb1 Nfd5 14.Re1 f5 15.Nb3 Bb4 16.Nc5 Qf7 17.Bd2 Rxe1+ 18.Qxe1 Bxf3 19.Bxb4 Re8 20.Qd2 Qg6 21.g3 Re2 22.Qd3 Qh5 23.Bc3 Nf4 24.Qxf5 Nh3+ 25.Kf1 Rxf2+ 26.Ke1 Re2+ 27.Kd1 Nf2 mate. 0-1. (Play through game - link opens in new window.)

F.E. Purchas
F.E. Purchas was one of the founder members of the Christ Church Club in 1889. In 1916 he won the club championship, but it was in correspondence chess that he was most successful. In the 1908-9 and 1909-10 seasons he played on board one in the Sussex correspondence team. The following game in the county championship preliminary competition won him a brilliancy prize:

(66) F.E. Purchas - J. Storr-Best
County Championship preliminary, 1907
Alapin’s Opening
1.e4 e5 2.Ne2 Bc5 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Be3 Qf6 6.Nb5 Bxe3 7.fxe3 Qd8 8.Qg4 g6 9.Bc4 Ne5 10.Qf4 d6 11.0-0 Qe7 12.N1c3 Be6 13.Bxe6 fxe6 14.Nxc7+ Qxc7 15.Qf8+ Kd7 16.Qxa8 Qc8 17.Qxa7 Ne7 18.Rad1 Qc6 19.Qd4 Kc7 20.Nb5+ Qxb5 21.Qxd6+ Kc8 22.Qxe7 Qb6 23.Qf6 Qxe3+ 24.Kh1 1-0. (play through game - link opens in new window.)

The Rev E. Swainson
The Rev E. Swainson represented Sussex from 1919 to 1925. In the early part of the period he played a number of games on one of the top five boards. He won the Christ Church Championship in 1919. Unfortunately I have no details of his chess career after 1925. The following game was played in 1920 in the President’s Cup:

(67) J. Storr-Best - Rev E. Swainson
President’s Cup, 1920
Reti’s Opening (by anticipation)
1.Nf3 c5 2.b3 Nc6 3.Bb2 d5 4.e3 a6 5.d4 e6 6.c4 cxd4 7.exd4 Nf6 8.Nc3 Bb4 9.a3 Bxc3+ 10.Bxc3 Ne4 11.Bb2 Qa5+ 12.Nd2 dxc4 13.Bxc4 Nxd2 14.Qxd2 Qxd2+ 15.Kxd2 0-0 16.Rhd1 b5 17.Be2 Na5 18.Kc2 Bb7 19.f3 Rac8+ 20.Bc3 Bd5 21.Rab1 Rc7 22.Rd3 Rfc8 23.Bd1 Nc6 24.Kd2 a5 25.Bb2 b4 26.Ke3 Ne7 27.Rd2 Bb7 28.Be2 Nd5+ 29.Kf2 Rc2 30.Ke1 Ne3 31.Rxc2 Nxc2+ 32.Kd2 bxa3 33.Ba1 Nb4 34.Bc4 Bd5 35.Bc3 f6 36.Bxd5 exd5 37.Ra1 a2 38.Bxb4 axb4 39.Rxa2 Rc3 40.Ra5 Rxb3 41.Ke2 Rb2+ 42.Kf1 Rc2 and wins. 0-1. (Play through game - link opens in new window.)

W. Castle Leaver
William Castle Leaver played in the Brighton Chess Club team that won the McArthur Cup in 1894. In 1895 he made his debut for Sussex and regularly represented the county for many years. In 1915 he won the Christ Church Championship. Unfortunately I do not possess any of his games from this period, but I have substituted one played on board 17 for Sussex v Essex in 1927:

(68) W. Castle Leaver - E.R. Nichol
Sussex v Essex (Board 17), 1927
Ruy Lopez, Steinitz Defence Deferred
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.Nc3 Bd7 6.d3 Nf6 7.Bg5 Be7 8.h3 h6 9.Be3 b5 10.Bb3 0-0 11.a3 Na5 12.Ba2 c5 13.0-0 Qc8 14.Nh2 Nc6 15.f4 Nd4 16.f5 Bc6 17.Ng4 Nxg4 18.Qxg4 Kh7 19.Rac1 a5 20.Qh5 b4 21.Nd5 Bxd5 22.Bxd5 Ra7 23.f6 Bxf6 24.c3 Ne6 25.Bxh6 g6 26.Qg4 Kxh6 27.Rxf6 Re7 28.Rcf1 Nf4 29.Qh4+ Kg7 30.R6xf4 exf4 31.Qxe7 bxc3 32.bxc3 Qa6 33.Bc4 Qb6 34.Rxf4 Qb1+ 35.Rf1 Qb2 36.Qf6+ Kh6 37.Bxf7 Rxf7 38.Qxf7 winning. 1-0. (Play through game - link opens in new window.)

The Rev E. Griffiths
The Rev E. Griffiths was a very successful correspondence player, winning the British Correspondence Chess Association Championship in 1911 and 1913. In 1912 he also won a large correspondence tournament arranged by the British Chess Magazine. This tournament had started in 1908 and had 98 entries. In a correspondence game against W.H. Gunston, published in the British Chess Magazine in 1911, he played a 16th move that improved on a Tarrasch/Lasker game of 1908. The full opening went 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 Na5 9.Bc2 c5 10.d4 Qc7 11.Nbd2 Nc6 12.h3 0-0 13.Nf1 cxd4 14.cxd4 Nxd4 15.Nxd4 exd4 16.Bg5 Qc5! The new move 16 … Qc5! was listed in the 1974 edition of Matanovic’s Encyclopedia of Chess Openings Vol. C, page 346, note 20.

The Rev E. Griffiths was one of the members who helped to re-establish the Lewes Chess Club in 1917. He also had links with Brighton and won the Christ Church Championship in 1920. He became known as one of the strongest players in the county and on more than one occasion qualified for the final section of the Sussex Championship. He also regularly played on a high board for the county. The last reference that I can find to his playing in Sussex appears in 1932, but he lived to the age of 80 and died as Canon E. Griffiths in 1956. The following game took place outside the present period (1903-1922). There is a slight doubt about the score of White’s 22nd move, and I have adopted what I believe is the most likely move to have been played:

(69) Rev E. Griffiths - G.M. Norman
Brighton v Hastings (Board 1), 1926
Budapest Gambit
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.Nf3 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 d5 8.e3 Bb4+ 9.Nc3 0-0 10.a3 Be7 11.Qc2 Be6 12.Rd1 Qc8 13.cxd5 cxd5 14.Bxf6 Bxf6 15.Nxd5 Bxd5 16.Rxd5 Rb8 17.b4 Rd8 18.Rc5 Qd7 19.Be2 Qd6 20.0-0 Be7 21.Rxc7 Qe5 22.Rc4 Bf6 23.g3 Qb2 24.Qxb2 Bxb2 25.a4 Rd2 26.Bf3 Ba3 27.b5 Rb6 28.Bc6 a6 29.Rd4 Rc2 30.Rd8+ Bf8 31.a5 Rbxc6 32.bxc6 Rxc6 33.Rb1 1-0. (Play through game - link opens in new window.)

J.H. Jones
J.H. Jones was a well-known player in London chess circles before he moved to Brighton and joined the Christ Church Club in 1918. He soon made his mark within the club, winning the championship in 1921 and 1922. When the fourth Brighton Chess Club was formed in 1922 he took on the role of Hon Secretary. Though he never won the Brighton Chess Club or Sussex Championship he was recognised as one of the strongest players in the county. In 1928 he lost to G.M. Norman of Hastings in the county final. He also reached the final in 1937, when he lost to Ernest Reed. After World War II he continued to play chess actively. He died in 1955 at the age of 82. The following game dates from a period later than the one under review here, being played on board 4 for Brighton against Hastings in the 1938 Sexton Cup. On move 20 it is not certain whether Black captured the queen with the ‘h’ pawn or the ‘f’ pawn, but it makes little difference as both moves lose a piece.

(70) J.H. Jones - J.A. Watt
Brighton v Hastings (Sexton Cup), 1938
Sicilian Defence, Dragon Variation
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be2 Bg7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Be3 Nc6 9.Qd2 Ng4 10.Bxg4 Bxg4 11.f4 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 Qa5 13.Bxg7 Kxg7 14.Qd4+ Kg8 15.f5 gxf5 16.h3 Bh5 17.Rxf5 e5 18.Qxd6 Bg6 19.Rxe5 Rfd8 20.Qxg6+ hxg6 21.Rxa5 1-0. (Play through game - link opens in new window.)

Mrs F.D. Herring of Hove performed excellently to win the British Ladies’ Championship in 1906 and 1907. The only other Sussex player to win this title was Miss M. Musgrave of Hastings, who was successful in 1938.

Henry Grover had a long chess career. He was a founder member of the Christ Church Club in 1889 and won the championship of that club in 1909. He was still playing chess actively in the 1930s. He died in 1937.

J. Grosvenor Ellis won the Hove Chess Club Championship in 1904 and the Christ Church Championship in 1908. After 1911 he is mentioned only rarely in Sussex chess records, but as late as 1949 he represented the Brighton and Hove team in a Sexton Cup match against the Rest of Sussex.

S. Pilch was Sussex secretary from 1908 to 1912. He is listed in Sussex records as playing from 1901 to 1914. His best performance was perhaps his victory in the 1911 Christ Church Championship.

I have been unable to discover anything substantial on H. Hewett, the 1918 Christ Church Champion.

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