DRAUGHTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14925, 24 February 1912, Page 4 (Supplement)

DRAUGHTS.

PROBLEM No. 1667. (By Mil. \V. F. Xvcksox. London.) BUCC.

Whim. White to move and win,

SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP. uit, ijiii tournament tor the uriiuffuie championship <jr bcotiana •-cwjmieiK"ed ai, uittcjrow on .tfonda), januwy.i, turner mo auepicw oi the beottisu l/rau£ins Association.. l;:e coiitett wad open to ' piaytra iioui any part, or tue, Luilwi .auigdom «;our uugiis&nlen competed: a lie full use i.t entries was as .oliow* :— trout l>i<*is>;ow, a. Fertie, I*. Sweeney, G. O'Connor, J. Murray, v\. -N'esct, '1. MoKwan, .v. U: Buchanan, J., Hums, b; nom Jtntherg-wti, V. Ai.'Bonar, 1; worn Uovan, A. u. Scott, -i ;< mm tienirew, A.' MoVean; J. Momsou, J; :iom Blantyre, X. Graham, J. «>Xen, c , trow Ayr, JJ. ...McOaaerty, .1; irom >Motnerweii, A. lngus, i; irom Hamilton, it. Scobbte, i; trom Dumbarton, W. Smith,'l; irom Kirkintihoch, K. Marshall, .i ; irom ■ Bridgetown, A. Clarkaon, I:. Katrway, is; irom London, A. Jordan, 1; lroni Birmingham, K. T. .Ward, 1; from Sheffield, i). Jewiit, i-;. aim, <:; . Total entries, &>. ' Councillor Duncan Graham, ' who presided at the opening ceremony, suited that steps had been taken to ascertain the views of. the plavcre with regard to the conditions under which the tournament should be conducted next veat. The queslion was between the , Ferrie-\Vv]lio openings and the restricted openings, and the players had ..decided..by 12 to 5 in -favour oi the former. ■ The draw tor.the tint round was as iollows :— Jordan-v. McVean, Morrison v. •• Jew itt, Scobbie v. McKwan, Clark«>n v. Murray, Scott v. O'Connor,, Graham v. . Inglis, Ward v. Buchanan, Sweeney v. Smitn, Rarasav v. ilirst. Byes: Marshall, Ferric, iVesbit, McCaffertv, Bonar, 6'Xeil, and Burns.

Iho winners were Jordan, ' Jewitt, Scobbie, Clirtoson,. Ward, * Sweeney/ Hirst, Graham, and Scott. The* last-named eventually; won by ballot, after playing 10 draws with O'Connor, the play between these two proceeding simultaneously with the second round, while Jordan had to play the part of a spectator. A notable feature of the first round was that each of the English players defeated his Scotch opponent. The second day's play waa well attended. The draw for the second round was as follows:— O'Xeii v. Ward, Burns v. Clarkeon, Marshall v. Bonar, Sweeney v. Hirst, McCafferty v. Graham, Ferric v. Nesbit, O'Connor or Scott v. Jordan, Jewitt v. Scobbie.

The winners of this round were Feme, Bonar, Ward, Jewitt, McCafferty, Burns, Hirst, Marshall and O'Neil retired. : Jordan and Scott had played two drawn games when the third round was declared.

On Wednesday the draw for the third round came outMcCafferty v. Burns, Jewitt v. Ward, Hirst v. Ferrie, Bonar v. Jordan or Scott. 8 The winners of the round were Ferrie, Ward, and Burn*, Jordan And Scott having yet to play. These two played on till each had scored one win cad 12 draws. The committee, having allowed two extra games before applying the ballot, had then no option. The two names were put in the hat, and Scott had the bad luck to be the one to retire, leaving Jordan to fight Bonar. . • , Continuing: on Friday, the draw for the semifinal was:—Ferrie v. Burns, Ward v. Scott, Jordan, or Bonar. In the semi-fin ol Ferrie beat Burns. This still left Jordan to play Bonar in the third round. ■'■■■". On Saturday Jordan easily defeated Bonar. The latter was suffering from an inflamed eye. In the evening Jordan met Ward, and nt the adjournment the score stood Jordan one, Ward nil, and three, draws. On the seventh day (Monday) play was resumed between Jordan and Ward, and the former won rather easily. This left Ferrie and Jordan to fight for the championship, while Ward and Burns played for the third and fourth prises. The final round was commenced the same day, and at. the adjournment two draws had been played. . ' . ■ Ward and Burns drew four games in their playoff for Use third and fourth prizes. , . . Tuesday the eighth day, found the champions of England and .Scotland facing each other for their third game. Their struggle was quite an. international event, and if there were a world's) championship both these experts would be among the favourites. ' • , The opening contested was a Cross, and though Ferrie forced the play Jordan came safely through with a draw. A like result followed on the pieces being reversed. ... . , Burns and Ward played their ..fifth, and sixth games, and draws resulting they agreed to divide the third and fourth prises. - - . In the evening Jordan and Feme contested two " Single corner" opening. and two "Switches," the whole lour ending in draws. FINAL DATS PLAT—THE ENGLISHMAN TRIUMPHANT. On Wednesday, after nine days' play, the tour-, ney ended. For their ninth and tenth games Jordan and Ferrie had to contest ;a, "Kelso Cross." The play was practically all " book," and draws naturally resulted. Then came a > "Regular Bristol," and Ferrie adopted tile 10-15 line, following up with 6-10, 1-6. To play thus against the English expert was a grave error ol judgment, as this line is decidedly vieak, and it. onlv required one slip and the championship was as good as lost. Jordan saw hi* opportunity (as lie generally doe*), s pressed the Scottish player to the full, and gamely as. Feme struggled it was in vain, and he was compelled to.resign. In the final game Ferrie rallied splendidly, and with a good game out tried hard to equalise, but the Englishman went straight for the draw, which he < achieved,, and amidst applause won the championship. Jordan is thus the first player to hold both the English and Scottish championships at the same time. Final round: Jordan, won one; Ferrie, won nil, drawn

The Yorkshire "Weekly Tost (from which the above reoort it condensed) nays:— Scottish tourney lias been a fruitful subject for discussion in local circles during the past fortnight, and if the draw were favourable Ferrie and Jordan were the favourites chosen to contest the final round, both players having enthusiastic, supporters. The Scottish method of resorting to the ballot to closs a protracted, contest met with general censure as being an unsatisfactory way of deciding: the title of what is admitted a contest of scientific skill. The 'knock-out' method of play is difficult to deal with. Two evenly-matched players like Scott and O'Connor are drawn in an early round, the result being a long struggle. A day is sufficient for the other players in the same heat, but ono of those has to await the victor of these two. Finally Scott, by the luck of the ballot, met Jordan, another protracted contest causing further delays for others. Dame Fortune was again appealed to and deserted Scott in favour of the English champion, truly an unsatisfactory manner of deciding championships. Our northern friends smile at, or profess to smile at, and profess to dislike, the English method of all-round play, where each player meets every other contestant, the viotor being decided by the highest points gained. The system may have faults and be open to abuse, though these have not yet been, demonstrated in practice. It certainly j has one rccomendiition worthy of consideration, i.e., that there is the full number of entrants contesting day by day for the spectators to see, instead of a daily-diminishing number of boards. Money is the great necessity, for these contests, and is largely 'provided by good gate receipts."