CHESS IN NEW ZEALAND

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 187, 27 April 1918, Page 12

CHESS IN NEW ZEALAND

REVIEW OF JHE YEAR 1917 (Contributed.)

A few notes on New Zealand chess covering tho year 1917 will not be out of place at this junoture, in view of tho rapid approach of the 1918 Beason. As tho war is still raging, tho New Zealand Chess Association, for tho third year in succession, abandoned its annual Championship Congress. The amount thus saved, viz., ,£2O, has once morebeen equally divided between tho patriotic funds of the four larger centres, and tho words engraved on the championship trophy, "Title vacant-War," will hold good for tho years 1916, 1917, and 1918 at least. For the benefit of now readers I it may be added that tho association decided in the year 1915 not to hold any mora champion congresses during tho currcnuv of tho present great war. Now Zealand" has accordingly been without a chess champion since January 1. 1916 (for tho first time since September, 1879). The title will, of course, be vacant until tho result of tho first post-war congress is available. The number of clubs affiliated to the New Zealand Association has increased from IB to 17, the Marlborough Club having joined during the year. _ Tho. annual meeting of the association was held en September 29, the excellent report and balance-sheet presented by the hon. 'secretary, Mr. J. G. W. Dalrymple, auguring well for the causo ot chess in New Zealand. He was deservedly complimented on the good services ho is rendering, as the. association's executive officer. Mr. J. C. Grierson, of Auckland, was unanimously elected president of the association, another choice that has given much pleasure throughout the Dominion, Mr. Grierson having rendered many valuable services to rhess during the past.two decades, besides holding the New Zealand championship twice (in 1903 and again in 1913) and\tho Auckland championship no fewer than ten tiuies, besides being runner-up eight times. , ! Inter-Club Matches. A number of inter-club matches wero contested last year, the results being as follow: Tho Canterbury Club won both its matches, defeating the Otago Club by 7J to 61 and the Wellington Club by 7 to 5. The Canterbury Club's fifty.] second annual report should be a very gratifying one. The annual Canterbury v. Wellington match was once more "washed up" with a very readable poem from the pen of a Christchurch represen. tative, this causing the facetious remark that "there is still a bard on tho Avon"! It seems a pity that a Canterbury v. Auckland match was not played. The untried but undoubtedly very strong Auckland team should have made things interesting. Wellington beat Otago by II games to S, a result that greatly flatters the former team. In reality these two sides are as well matched as is indicated by their above-mentioned showings against the invincible Canterbury team. Mr. R. J. Barnes, the AVellington captain, has the distinction of winning his gamo in each of the five matches played to date between the Otago and Wellington ('lute. Mr. W. F. Bar- j raud, who won his game in the recent j match against Otago, assisted in the for. j mation of the Wellington Club (1876). j The Otago Club's team motored up to ! Oamaru I7S miles distant), and defeated; tho local club by 71 to 31. Tho Nelson ! and Marlborough . Clubs were pitted j against each other for the first time, j Nelson winning the first match by 71: to U and tho 'eturn match by 7 to 4. ! The' Canterbury Club's B team defeated tho Cheviot Club by 71 to 2i. Wanganui defeated Masterton by 71. to i\. Two matches wero played between the Wairoa and Gisborno Clubs, Wairoa winning the first and Gisborno the return contest— "honours easy." Tho Wellington South Club's team journeyed to Masterton on Labour Day and defeated the local club by 16 to 71. ?datches played in Wei- i lington resulted £S follow: The Welling- ! ton Club, beat the Working Men's Club ; by 17 to 11, this contest reviving a fixture that lapsed 13 years ago. The Ngaio team also defeated the Working Men's Club (10-4). The Ngaio Club drow the

first of its "homo and homo" matches with the Wellington South Club (6-B), and lost tho roturn fixture (Oj—7A). The Working lien's Club defeated Wellington South (!)—(!). The Wellington Club's annual fixture, Howlers v. Non-Bowlers, ended in favour of tho latter side- (13 to 13). Club Tournaments and Championships. Tho Auckland Club, as usual, held two tourneys. The championship contest was won by Mr. P. N. Stewart. Mr. Grierson—a brief reference to whose fins record is given above—was the runner-up. Mr. Stowart, who was formerly a member of the Bradford Chess Club, left England about seven years ago. Ho competed lor tho New Zealand championship in j tho 1913-11 congress, and made the best i score of tho eight uon-prize-wimiors. It I is expected that ho will do fuller justico ; to his great powers at a futuite cougrcsi. j In the Auckland Club's Handicap Tourj ne'y, Messrs. P. N. Stewart aid T. CanI non tied for'first place. Ml. Stewart, i having competed in a ciiuanpußiship coni gross, cannot hold the (juiAbit Cup, ! which trophy now becomes thil property j of Mr. Cannon, it having bleu won i twice by him. Mr. Cannon, who'is a re. I turned soldier, is a very popular and i unassuming player. He also won tho club's Red Cross Fund Tourney, besides I taking first prize in the Auckland Work- • ing MeVs Club's Handicap Tourney. His j 1917 record is thus a very fine one, and ! gives promise of ;nany triumphs to come. The Auckland Club's Minor Level Tourney was won by Mr. H. H. Smith. In Gisborno Mr. A. Schlichting won the championship tourney and also the handicap tourney. Mr. G. D. Malcolm, the club's hon. secretary, was second in both of these contests. In the Masterton Club's two-round handicap tourney, Mr. S. W. Moore, of Carterton, won the first prize : (Mr. J. T. Dagg's trophy), and Mr. 11. L. 1 Thirtle the second prize iMr. "P. Kum- | nier's trophy). The Wanganui Club's j Championship Tourney has been won by i Mr 0. C. Pleasants (the well-known con- ■ gress player) for tho fifth year in sucI cession. The club's handicap tourney is ■ producing a close finish between Mr. Pleasants and Mr. H. (who holds rung 2 on the local "ladder"). The Wellington Chess Club's annual Pethericlc tourney was won by Mr. E. S. Taylor, who was a member of the Ludgato Circus Chess Club (London) in the early 'nineties, but afterwards lost touch with the gamo for sixteen years through living in West Africa. Ladder contests were very popular in this club; of tho 21 matches played between Easter and Christmas twelvo were won by tho defender and nine by tho challenger. In the Wellington Working Men's Club Mr. R. J. Barnes, New Zealand's best-known player, won first prize. Altljough giving heavy odds, ho scored all his games and thus added one more success to his already formidable list of triumphs. In the Wellington South Club Mr. G. P. Anderson—formerly a prominent Bristol player—won both tho championship and the handicap tourneys, tho same "double" that Mr. Purchas (ex-champion) secured in 1916. Tho Ngaio Club's annual handicap tourney was won by Mr. F. J. "Brooker (a former member of the Canterbury and Oamaru Clubs). Mr. Brookor also annexed tho club championship and Mr. H. Princo the brilliancy prize. Tho Canterbury Club's Championship and [ Patriotic Tourneys vere both won by j Mr. H. Kennedy, tnd the Junior Charoi pionship was annexed by Mr. C. H. j Black. Tho Tiinaru Club's Sealed HanI dicap Tourney was won by Mr. It. H. | Mali an, a first-year player, who was | warmly congratulated on tho decided ! promiso shown in his maiden tourney. ! A large number of chess players left ! New Zealand in tho Twenty-first Reinj forccments, and two tourneys wero held ! on the voyage of Transport 75. The ! first one was won by Private E. H. ! Severne, the well-known Canterbury I champion, who scored 111 points out of a I possible 12. Corporal Cumberworth, j Lieutenant de la Mare, and Private Tily I also scored well. Tho sealed handicap ! tourney was won by Corporal Gibson (91 points), followed by Private Dallow I (9), Lieutenant de la. Maro, and Private ! Brown (8 \ points each). Club or centre I champions not mentioned above are as ; follow: Dargaville, Br. Burtou: Napier, ! E. A. Hicks; Wairoa, C. R. Sainsbury : (who has represented tho Argentine and j Gisborno Clubs at various New Zealand congresses); Masterton, J. A. Connell (who has just returned from' a six ' months' residence in Greymouth); Tau-

marunui, Dr. Howard (formerly an English county champion); Dannovirko, ,). 0. M'Ra.o; Wellington Club, R. J. Barnes (who successfully defended a challenge from his old rival, Mr. W. .!!. Mason); Nelson, G. F. Dodds; Marlborough, Rev. N. Friberg; Wostport, Rev. A. Miller (formerly of Auckland); Timaru, T. Mara; Oamarn, J. Boyd Duulop; and Otago, It. A..Clelaud. Problem Solving. Problem-solving contests were held simultaneously in Auckland, Chrislchurch, and Duncdin on February 22, under the auspices of the Good Comj panion Chess Problem Club of Phila- ! deiphia, U.S.A. Each competitor receivI ed a sheet on which was printed tho | twelve two-move problems that ho was j asked to 6olvo in the 21 hours at his I disposal. The Christchurch competition ! was won by Mr. W. S. King, chess editor [ of tho Christchurch "Star. ' He solved eleven ol the twelve problems correctly I in one hou* and fifty-six minutes,, tins I being tho bast New Zealand periorm- ! anco. The next be»t performance was , that of Mr. It. A. Cleiaud, the Dunedin j champion. Ho also had eleven coireci. but in getting them he_ocui- ' piud ten minutes more than his Christ- ' church rivai. Mr. T. L. Woods, of i Moerewa, with six solutions, won the ! Auckland (contest. His success was j naturally popular, as he travelled 'Mi j miles to talio. part. I Obituary, ] Mr. A. G. Fell, president of the New ! Zealand Chess Association and also or 'the Wellington Club, died on Fobruary ! U in his sixty-ninth year. A few months earlier indiherent heaJtli compelled him to resign the position of hon. secretary and treasurer to the association, which offices he had i:iled ior eight years with conspicuous success. His services were invaluable, and no player in Now Zealand was inoro deservedly popular. Tho saw news ot his passing away was received with the deepest regret throughout the chess circles of New Zealand, ifo leit his valuable library to the Wellington Chess Club, a gift that is naturany greatly treasured by the members. j The Utago Club's last rejxwt records [ the death of Mr. Boenicke, one of the oldest members, who has left tho club his library and also his chessmen ana clocks. Auckland playois mourn tho death of Mr. J. M. Lennox, a former club president and vice-president of the Now Zealand Association, and also the death of Mr. Sam White, wno was champion of tho Auckland Club in lb9l. Dr. H. A. de Lauiour, of lulbirnie, who died in June last, was one of Wellington's strongest players. Mr. N. B. K. Manley, wno died about the same time, was a strong local player in the 'eighties. In ISB7 he conducted tho "New Zealand Chess Chronicle" with marked ability. This was tho only attempt ever made to provide New Zealand with a chess monthly. The paper was an excellent one, and promised to be of great assistance to the game in this Dominion, but, unfortunately, the venture had to bo given up after a seven-months' trial, the players of New Zealand failing to accord the paper tho support it so richly deserved. Mr. Thomas Orr, who died in this city recoutly, aged 83, was one of Wellington's oldest chessists. His wedding, it is interesting to note, was the first celebrated in St. 'Paul's ProCathedral (1866). The Rev. E. C. Hullett, who died in May last in England, aged 72, was a leading Wellington chessist forty years ago. In 1878 ho won tho annual handicap tourney of the Wellington Club (of which ho was noi). secretary), and in the following year ho played at board i ,in tho first telegraphio match between the Canterbury and Wellington Clubs. Mr. Tame Kirini (Tom Greene), a hnlf-easto chief wiio died at Kaiapoi in September last,_ was keenly interested in tho problem side of chess. Being both a composer and a solver of problems, he could admire their beautica and intricacies as few New Zoalanders can. Ho was a reliable authority on all matters relating to tho Maori raco, and his extensive'knowlcdge of Maori history proved very valuable at Native Land Court sittings. Personal and General. Tho New Zealand Chess Association has sent felicitations to His Honour Sir ,T. E. Domiiston (Christchurch), a former president, en tho conferment of the honour of Knight Bachelor, and also to

Mr. W. Meldrum, C.M.G., D.5.0., Now Zealand's champion in 1896, who is in command of the Now Zealand Mounted Brigade in France, and whose promotion to 'tho rank of Brigadier-General was ■"announced in May last. Mr. John .Mason (New Zealand champion in 1910) is. doing ambulance work in tho Palestine area. While stationed at Moascar ho won Erst prizo in a chess tourney. There were 16 competitors, Mr. Mason being the only New Zealander amongst them. Mr. A. W. Gyles (three times runner-up for tho New Zealand championship) is still serving in tho R.A.M.C. north of Salonika. Amongst those who wont to the war during 1917 are two young players who are generally regarded as coming champions, viz., J. A. Moir (Auckland) and H. A. Mackenzie (Wellington). Tho latter, whose scholastic career has been exceptionally brilliant, was selected in November as New Zealand's next Rhodes Scholar. It is proposed to insert a Roll of Honour in the book of the first postwar congress. Mr. J. W. Witty, of Gisborno, who has been playing chess for 71 years, is still a formidable opponent. In 1859, while in England, lie played a curresoondenee match against, the lato Mr. C. W. Benbow (then of Birmingham and afterwards of Wellington, N.Z.). His reputation was enhanced in those faroff days through his scoring a game from Lowenthal, the well-known German mister. Mr. W. Brown, wiio left Wellington in May last to settle in Sydney, is 79 years of age. He i 3 tho only survivor of those who took part in New Zealand's second championship tourney 11888-9), and (is all the. competitors of the first tourney (187S) have passed away he is New Zealand's senior congress player. The Rev. C. E. Fox has lad another very busy year in the Solomon Islands, having done a great deal of translating and also being engaged on the compilation of a nativo dictionary. His brother, the Rev. B. G. Fox, is in spiritual charge at the Chathums. His first year's work,there necessitated travelling some 2800 miles, frequently .under difficulties, as the bogs are very troublesome at certain seasons. There are about ten chess players on the island, including one lady (fairly strong), two Maoris, and a member of the Good Companion. Club (Mr. E. M. Guest). The Canterbury Chess Club will greatly miss Mr. H. I. Bennett, an able player, who has acted as operator in. all the club's telegraphic matches during tho past twenty years. Ho has been transferred to Nelson, on promotion. On the other hand, the Canterbury Club rejoices to regain, tho services of two strong players, viz., Messrs. H. Andersen (a former club champion) and Arthur Cant (chess editor of the "Press"). A patriotic tourney brought them back to tho game after s'H absence of 6ome sixteen years, and by scoring their games for Canterbury v. Wellington they brought about the latter team's defeat. From this hurriedly-written article it will be apparent that thongh the New Zealand chess season of 1917 has, owing to war conditions, been a somewhat quiet' one, it nevertheless passes into history as an interesting link between the happy years that are past and the future years on which so many fond hopes are centred.