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Chapter 1 -
1850 - 1929 |
| In
The Beginning Ironbridge Chess Club founded in 1888. Meets at
the Wharfage Reading Room. Oswestry Chess Club founded 1889. Meets at the Coach
and Dogs Restaurant on Wednesdays at 7.30 pm. The subscription is
two shillings and sixpence. Shrewsbury Chess Club (founded 1890) and meeting at Jones Bros. Restaurant on Mondays and Thursdays at 7.30pm. The subscription is 3s 6d and there are 36 members. The President is Dr. De Woolfson and the Secretary is F.G. Rowland of Wyle Cop. Wellington Chess Club founded in 1891. Meets at
the Central Hotel on Tuesdays at 7pm. There are 12 members and the
subscription is five shillings. Hereford Chess Club founded 1888 - City Temperance Hotel: daily, 7 pm. Members 15. Subn. 5s. Pres.Chas.Anthony, B.L.,M.A., Wharton Lodge, near Ross. Sec.W.Collins, High Town. Kington Chess Club (1888) - The Burton House Hotel: Fri. members 12. Ent. fee 7s 6d. Subn. 5s. Sec.Robt.W.Satchell. |
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| Dr.B.H.Kennedy
- Founded Shrewsbury Chess Club in 1852 Benjamin Hall Kennedy (November 6, 1804 - April 6, 1880) was an English scholar. He was born at Summer Hill, near Birmingham, the eldest son of Rann Kennedy (1772-1851), of a branch of the Ayrshire family which had settled in Staffordshire. Benjamin was educated at Birmingham and Shrewsbury schools, and St John's College, Cambridge. After a brilliant university career he was elected fellow and classical lecturer of St John's College in 1828. Two years later he became an assistant master at Harrow, whence he went to Shrewsbury as headmaster in 1836. He retained this post until 1866, the thirty years being marked by a long series of successes for his pupils, chiefly in classics. His broadening of the academic syllabus and addition of recreational activities to the curriculum led to the school’s academic reputation being sealed in 1868 with its inclusion as one of the seven ‘great’ schools in the Public Schools Act. Extract from Samuel Butler’s autobiographical novel, The Way of All Flesh. Here is the scene in which the narrator, Mr. Overton, meets Ernest’s headmaster at Roxborough School, Dr. Skinner, who is an an ordained clergyman. Mr. Overton plays a game of chess with him (Roxborough is Shrewsbury School, to which Butler was sent, and Dr. Skinner is Dr. Kennedy, who was later Bishop of Worcester), and when it is nearly over, his wife asks “in a silvery voice”: “What will you take for supper, Dr. Skinner?” He made no answer for some time, but at last in a tone of almost superhuman solemnity, he said, first, “Nothing,” and then, “Nothing whatever.” By and by, however, I had a sense come over me as though I were nearer the consummation of all things than I had ever yet been. The room seemed to grow dark as an expression came over Dr. Skinner’s face which showed that he was about to speak. The expression gathered force, the room grew darker and darker. “Stay,” he at length added—and I felt that here at any rate was an end to a suspense which was rapidly becoming unbearable— “Stay—I may presently take a glass of cold water—and a small piece of bread and butter.” As he said the word “butter” his voice sank to a hardly audible whisper; then there was a sigh as though of relief when the sentence was concluded, and the universe this time was safe. Another ten minutes of solemn silence finished the game. The Doctor rose briskly from his seat and placed himself at the supper table. “Mrs. Skinner,” he exclaimed jauntily, “what are those mysterious-looking objects surrounded by potatoes?” “Those are oysters, Dr. Skinner.” “Give me some, and give Overton some.” And so on until he had eaten a good plate of oysters, a scallop shell of minced veal nicely browned, some apple tart, and a hunk of bread and cheese. This was the small piece of bread and butter. **************************************** |
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His books, published in England by George Routledge and Sons Ltd, include :- Rick Kennedy writes :- The books went through many editions and printings, and at least three of them outlasted the author, himself. Rev. Cunnington died in 1942, while Chess Lessons for Beginners went at least to the 22 nd edition in 1947; and Chess Openings for Beginners (1900) saw a 20 th edition in 1951. (The uncertainty in dates is due to the fact that not all of the editions bore a publication or copyright date.) How to Play Chess , revised and rewritten by J. DuMont, was published in 1958. Timothy Sawyer has brought Chess Lessons for Beginners and Chess Openings for Beginners back to life in 2004 by translating them to the ChessBase format for the computer. Pickard & Son has published them as e-books ("electronic books") and added them to ChessCentral's expanding list of e-book titles, including classics such as Capablanca's Chess Fundamentals and My Chess Career , Reti's Modern Ideas in Chess , and Lasker's Common Sense in Chess ; and game collections like Nizzola's Discart-Bonetti Match, 1863 , Bird's Chess Masterpieces , Graham's Mr. Blackburne's Games at Chess , and Sergeant's Morphy's Games of Chess .
Here is a sample from Chess Lessons for Beginners (but converted to algebraic notation) :- |
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| A
game from the British Chess Magazine, May 1899, played
in the cable match between British and American universities. The teams
were evidently pretty exclusive – the British being represented
by players from Oxford and Cambridge and the Americans by Yale, Harvard,
Princeton and Columbia.
The match score: British Universities 3.1/2 - 1.1/2. American Universities Mr CEC Tattersall 1/2-1/2 Mr KG Falk Mr AHW George 0 - 1 Mr AS Meyer Mr L McLean 1 - 0 Mr CSC Arensberg Mr A P Lacy Hulbert 0 - 1 Mr L A Cook Mr GEH Ellis 1 - 0 Mr WW Young Mr HG Softlaw 1 - 0 Mr W Cutchings Board 4 for the British was Shropshire’s future long-serving county secretary and three-times individual champion, Arthur Percival Lacy Hulbert. Here is his game, in which the BCM used notes from The Field. (I have converted to algebraic – DE) White: Mr Lacy Hulbert (Oxford)
Black: Mr L A Cook (Yale) Petroff’s Defence |
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| The photograph, kindly
supplied by Lacy-Hulbert’s daughter, Margaret Jones, shows the
Oxford University Chess Team of 1898. The players are: back row, left
to right: F D Badcock (Wadham), STC Dodd (Merton), AH Currie (RNC), F Soddy (Merton), Front three, left to right: A P Lacy-Hulbert (Keble), E Spencer-Churchill (Magdelene), George Morris (Merton). The E Spencer Churchill name is intriguing. I can’t find him on the web in the Churchill family tree. Does anyone else have any ideas?? D.Everington I dug out some stuff about him some time ago. Here it is - "Captain Edward George Spencer-Churchill b. 21 May 1876, d. 24 June 1964 - the son of Lord Edward Spencer-Churchill (1853-1911, son of George Spencer-Churchill (1793-1857), 6th Duke of Marlborough and Jane Francis Clinton Stewart) and Augusta Warbuton." This made him a first cousin to Sir Winston Churchill. He was a soldier and landowner. John Saunders Editor, British Chess Magazine |
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| J.H.Blackburne
- 1841 - 1924  British Chess Champion Joseph Henry Blackburne born in Manchester was one of the most successful tournament players of the 19th century. So formidable was he that on the continent he acquired the nickname the black death. As a professional chess player he made hundreds of visits to chess clubs up and down the country to promote chess with his simultaneous, often blindfold, displays. In 1898 visitors to Oswestry Chess Club, which had been formed nine years previously in 1889, were charged one shilling to witness or take part in one of his exhibitions. He won twelve and lost one in his thirteen board simultaneous display. Oswestry is a market town straddling the England / Wales border. Oswestry Chess Club competed with neighbouring clubs in Ruabon, Wrexham, and Ellesmere at the time. However in 1969 an Oswestry team entered the Shropshire league becoming champions in 1978. |
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| Shropshire
County Chess Team.
The Midland Counties Chess Association, (MCCU) was formed in 1897, following the Southern Counties (SCCU) 1892, but before the Northern Counties (NCCU) in 1899. Thus by the end of the 19th century there was structured county chess competition throughout England. Shropshire were one of the founder members of the MCCU (or Association as it was originally called). The other founders were Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire. Shropshire were certainly playing in the MCCA in its early years and were initially grouped with Leicestershire & Staffordshire, but in 1913/14 the groups were changed. Leicestershire found themselves grouped with Worcestershire & Oxfordshire, but the Leicestershire history does not make it clear who was in the other group. I have an extract from the BCF Year Book of 1951/2 in which the county champions up to that year are listed. Shropshire are shown as winners in 1915! Julie Johnson Director MCCU The following newspaper report is one of many interesting historical items on Bill Evans' Oswestry Chess Website
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| Although
Shropshire lost this match, the text implies that this was unusual at
the time! However the Shropshire wins in 1915 season were to be the
last before a quite extraordinary barren spell for the county team.
We would have to wait a staggering 53 years before the next victory
celebration - the historic 1969 win over Worcestershire. Two of the players in this 1901 county team later donated trophies to be presented to future generations of players in the area. In addition to the Ernest Groom Trophy (see below), F.W.Forest presented the Forest Cup for the Midlands Individual Championship - a competition which lasted certainly until the 1960's. Sadly, like so many others, this trophy has since disappeared. Extract from Ludlow Advertiser Friday July 13th 1934 Midland Counties Individual Championship We are pleased to learn that Mr F.W.Forrest (hon.treasurer of the M.C.C.U.) has provided a handsome trophy for annual competition. Mr Forrest was formerly hon.secretary of the S.C.A. and a vice-president of Shrewsbury Chess Club, He still keeps up his membership of the S.C.A. and plays when he can for Shropshire. It is interesting that the Oswestry player, J.W.Thomas, played for Shropshire rather than Denbighshire. |
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J.E.Parry - Shrewsbury Chess Club |
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| 1906
British Championships According to a contemporary edition of the Shrewsbury Chronicle, the 1906 British Championships were held in the Shrewsbury Music Hall. The event was won by Henry Atkins, (pictured right) thus claiming the second of his nine British Championship titles. |
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 Dr Emanuel Lasker Exhibition Extract from Shrewsbury Chronicle - Friday March 27, 1908 Dr Emanuel Lasker, the celebrated chess master, visited Shrewsbury on Saturday last, under the auspices of the Shrewsbury Chess Club, and gave an exhibition of his skill at the County Cafe. The first part of the proceedings was devoted to a lecture of a highly interesting character, in which the doctor dealt with the royal game and the lessons to be derived from it.. |
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| The
Shrewsbury Chess Club Challenge Trophy - 1895 - 1949 This elegant silver trophy, a king on a plinth bearing shields with the names of the winners, dates from the 1895-96 season when the victor was R L Bartlett. There is no indication of who donated the trophy or if it was acquired by some other means. Although one more shield could have been added after that for the last recorded winner, in 1948-49, it was not and so a space remains on the third layer down of the plinth. Mr F Smart won the most with seven titles. I have no idea why there was no winner recorded in some years. The D E McNab who won twice also won the Shropshire Championship in the two years immediately before the War. He came back in 1945 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and then won the County Championship in the two years immediately after the war. Sadly, he seems to have lost interest by the end of the forties but he became well known in local golfing circles – his photograph hangs in the gallery of former captains at Shrewsbury Golf Club at Condover – a golfing distinction shared by Dr Gemmell – the only surviving “name” on our ancient trophy. D Everington The full list of winners is: - |
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| 1896 R L Bartlett 1897 C W Attfield 1898 John Bell 1899 J Parry, S Ralphs, J Turner 1900 George F Luff 1901 J Parry 1902 G H Lock 1903 George F Luff 1904 J E Parry 1905 no shield 1906 D Scanlan 1907 G H Lock 1908 no shield 1909 F Smart 1910 G H Lock 1911 F Smart 1912 no shield 1913 G H Lock |
1914 R L W Cooper 1915 F Smart 1916 F Smart 1917 Rev. Benson 1918 no shield 1919 no shield 1920 F Smart 1921 no shield 1922 Dr S F Smith 1923 F Smart 1924 W E Jones 1925 W D Tibbits 1926 D E McNab 1927 F Smart 1928 J Mallinson 1929 Rev.A Clover 1930 J W Henn 1931 D E McNab |
1932 no shield 1933 no shield 1934 no shield 1935 no shield 1936 D Harris 1937 J Ferrie 1938 no shield 1939 C A Bevan 1940 no shield 1941 N A Perkins 1942 Col. C Stuart-Prince 1943 J Ferrie I H Lewis 1944 Col. C Stuart-Prince 1945 Col. C Stuart-Prince 1946 C A Bevan 1947 H T Lobbenberg 1948 Dr H D Gemmell 1949 A Brace |
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Rev.E.E.Cunnington - 1853 - 1942