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Yorkshire Chess History |
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1884: Leeds v Bradford Exchange |
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Bradford Exchange Chess Club was formed around the latter part of 1883, and appears to have resulted from the organisational enthusiasm of Hartwig Cassel, its president, who had moved to Bradford from Glasgow in 1881. Bradford Chess club, formed 30 years earlier, in 1853, was arguably in some degree of stagnation, and Herr Cassel may well have felt the old Bradford Chess Club would not afford him adequate outlet for his enthusiasm. Nevertheless, the two clubs were soon to merge under the name of the older club, in May of 1884, in time to present a united Bradfordian front in the Woodhouse Cup competition which was soon to come in to existence.
In the first few months of its existence, up to and including this match, Bradford Exchange had played 7 matches, winning 6 and drawing 1 [according to James White, Leeds Mercury Weekly Supplement, 22/03/1884]. A report on the following match was given in the Leeds Mercury Weekly Supplement on 15/03/1884, and in Land and Water on 22/03/1884 (taken perhaps from the Leeds Mercury, as in shares apparent errors). Both publications billed the away team as merely “Bradford”. The following week, the Mercury corrected this to “Bradford Exchange”, alluding to the vigour of the new club, and its indebtedness to Herr Cassel.
Leeds v Bradford Exchange played at Leeds on the evening of Thursday 13/03/1884 over twenty boards (two games were played per board, where possible)
Names and results are as given by the Leeds Mercury. The Bradford player on board was given as “H. A. Wilson” by Land and Water. Two games were played on 12 boards. The Leeds Mercury appears to have indicated the order of, say, a win and a draw on a given board, giving both 1½-½ and ½1-½ and so on. (Land and Water used 1½-½ but not ½1-½.) One assumes 1-1 meant a win each, rather than two draws. (Contrasting 10-01, 01-10 and ½½-½½ would have added clarity.) A number of names given above are questionable. The following gives the present writer’s opinion of the probable identities of the players:
“E. Dyson” normally crops up only as the Huddersfield player Edwin Dyson. Was this he?
“J. H. Fawcett” seems not to crop up in such records as are to hand. However, “H. Fawcett” is recorded as attending the West Yorkshire Chess Association meeting of 1883, in Bradford, and this might have been the above “J. H. Fawcett”. “H. Fawcett” might well have been the aptly named Handel Fawcett, professor of music, though this musician may have not been also a chess-player. There was also a William Henry Fawcett, bank cashier, who seems absent from chess records, but might have been “J. H. Fawcett”.
“J. T. Fieldsend” similarly seems to feature a spurious introductory initial. “J. T. Fieldsend” seems not to crop up in such records as are to hand, but Thomas Fieldsend was a well-established Bradford chess-player of the day.
“T. Pearce” was presumably the Leeds player “J. Pearce” who attended the West Yorkshire Chess Association meetings of 1886 to 1889.
“J. Thornton” was presumably the “T. Pearce” who played in the 1883 Under-35 v Over-35 match. Was it “T” of “J”?
“White Rook” was a rare use of a pseudonym in a match report. Pseudonyms were, of course, common enough in the world of chess problems, and for letters to the editors of chess publications. In this instance, the Bradford Exchange Club’s president, Hartwig Cassel, was conspicuous by his absence, though he was usually in evidence at such events. “Cassel” is German for “castle”, and so “Rook” was presumably a pun on his surname. Maybe, by now, his hair had turned white.
“J. H. Tilley”, or any player called “Tilley”, is elusive in the records. This most probably referred to John Henry Tetley.
“A. J. Wilson” is perhaps Arthur Percy Wilson, who crops up as “A. P. Wilson” of Huddersfield. Though resident at this time in Huddersfield, a decade or more later he moved to Bradford.
The above Bradford Exchange team seems to have been somewhat in the nature of a “Bradford & District” team composed to present Bradford as a whole to teams outside Bradford. Thus, five days earlier, R M Macmaster and E B Stead were playing for Manningham against an Ilkley team which included B M Hood, and, four days earlier, J A Woollard was playing for Keighley against Braithwaite.
Bradford Exchange’s win on board 2 went as follows (many moves are weak, and Black seems to miss 17. .. e5, e.g. 18. Qf3 exd4 19. Qxd5 Rf7): Cumberland CA v Bradford Exchange, Carlisle, 10/04/1884 White: Hussey, EB (Bradford Exchange), Black: Chicken, H (Cumberland) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bb5+ Bd7 6. Bxd7+ Nxd7 7. O-O cxd4 8. Qxd4 Bc5 9. Qg4 g6 10. c3 Qc7 11. Qf4 Ne7 12. Be3 Qb6 13. b4 Bxe3 14. fxe3 Nf5 15. Nd4 O-O 16. h4 f6 17. exf6 Rxf6 18. Nxf5 Rxf5 19. Qd4 Rxf1+ 20. Kxf1 Rf8+ 21. Kg1 Qb5 22. Nd2 Qe2 23. Nf3 Nb6 24. a4 Qb2 25. Re1 Nxa4 26. Qe5 Re8 27. e4 Qxc3 28. exd5 Qxb4 29. Ng5 Qb6+ 30. Kh1 Nc5 31. Rf1 Nd3 32. Qf6 Qc7 33. Nf7 Kf8 34. Nh6+ Qf7 35. Qxf7+ mate, 1-0
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Created 14/03/2014 |
Stephen John Mann |
Last Updated 20/04/2014 |