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SHEFFIELD Chess History |
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Contents: |
T. W. Crabb Shield |
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The T. W. Crabb Shield started out as the trophy for an “Annual Openings Tournament” among members of Woodseats Friends Chess Club (a manifestation of the original Woodseats Chess Club, which is not to be confused with the modern-day Woodseats Chess Club, which arose from the relatively modern renaming of what started out as Batemoor & Jordanthorpe Chess Club, which was generally referred to as “B. & J.”).
Presumably the idea was that each season some specific opening was determined as mandatory in the tournament for that season.
The trophy consists of a large wooden shield on which is mounted a central silver shield, leaving a border of wood, about 2 inches wide, around the edge.
The central shield has the name of the shield engraved at the top:
THE T. W. CRABB SHIELD
In the middle of the central silver shield is embossed the picture of a chess rook.
Engraved on the lower part of the central silver shield are the words:
ANNUAL OPENINGS TOURNAMENT
On the wooden margin around the central silver shield were affixed small silver shield on which winners’ names and dates were to be engraved. These twelve shields, and the central large silver shield, bear the Birmingham stirling silver hallmarks for 1926, and the “T.F.” maker’s mark of Thomas Freeman of Birmingham.
The shield seems to have been put into service for the first time in the season 1927-28. The first six winners engraved on the small shields were as follows:
The shield seems thereafter not to have been competed for. It may be that the idea of an “openings tournament” lost sufficient support to continue the competition. It is possible, however, that C. A. Dixon won the trophy for a third time in 1934, and thereby earned the right to retain the shield.
Whatever the circumstances, the advent of World War II resulted in the demise of Woodseats Friends Chess Club. One way or another, at some time or other, the T. W. Crabb Shield passed into the possession of Henry Clark, a member of the pre-war Woodseats Friends Chess Club who in time became a Vice-President of the Sheffield & District Chess Association.
In time the shield’s custodian decided to donate the shield to the S&DCA. Accordingly, Vice-President Henry Clark came along to the 1980 S&DCA Annual General Meeting, and formally handed over the shield. Shortly after that, the idea of a one-day rapid-play tournament was dreamt up to provide a competition for which the T. W. Crabb Shield would serve as the trophy.
A curious circumstance which came to light at this stage was that two-time winner “C. A. Dixon” was the maternal grandfather of Sandra Borrill, wife of John Borrill, who was a co-founder of Banner Cross Chess Club (which evolved into the modern Phoenix Chess Club) and who was a sometime S&DCA divisional league secretary.
For winners of the modern-day T. W. Crabb Shield Tournament, first held in1981, see T. W. Crabb Shield Tournament. |
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Created 17/07/2014 |
Copyright © 2014 Stephen John Mann |
Last Updated 17/07/2014 |