CHESS TOURNEY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVI, Issue 11152, 29 December 1896, Page 5

CHESS TOURNEY.

The annual tourney of the New Zealand Chess Association was continued at the, hall of the Chamber of Commerce yesterday. .All the games were finished by 9 p.m. with tho exception of that between Messrs Hookham and Andersen, which had been adjourned from Saturday. Play was commenced at 7.30 p.m., and the game proved a most exciting one, more especially as it was between one of the oldest and one of the youngest players in tho colony. Andersen had won a pawn early in the game, and pushed the advantage thus gained so well that on the eighty-third move he forced the veteran to resign. The following are details of the day’s play: SECOND BOUND. Board I—Hookham (Canterbury), v. Grierson (Auckland). Grierson adopted the Sicilian Defence, and soon developed an awkward attack. He, however, lost the exchange on the eleventh move, but ultimately regained it, threatening mate on the sixteenth move, and securing it on the eighteenth. On the fifty-fourth move, however, he resigned, as he was unable to support an isolated Pawn. Board 2—Cocks (Wellington) v. Barnes (Wellington Working Men’s Club). Barnes employed the French Defence, and gave Tip the exchange. Through an oversight later on, he played somewhat weakly, and resigned on his forty-seventh move. Board 3 Andersen (Canterbury) v. Meldrum (Kangitikei). Tho latter used tho French Defence. Andersen had the attack all through, and through a slight mistake of Meldrum’s was enabled to mate on the twenty-fourth move. Board 4—Edwards (Otago) v. Gifford (Bangitikei). Gifford defended with the French Defence, and neither player could be said to have scored! any advantage up to the twenty-fourth move, when Edwards sacrificed a Pawn, which proved later on to be unsound play, causing him to lose another at a later period. From this out he had an uphill fight. He regained a pawn, but could not save the game, and resigned on the fifty-eighth move. Board s—Mellor5 —Mellor (Otago) v. Mason (Wellington). At this board also the French Defence was adopted, and the game was even all through, a draw being agreed to on the forty-first move. Pleasants (Rangitikei) a bye. The following is the draw for the third round, which will take place to-day: — Edwards v. Hookham, Cocks v. Andersen, Pleasants v. Mellor, Barnes v. Mason, Gifford v. Meldrum, Grierson a bye.