Chess Items.

Otago Witness, Issue 2758, 23 January 1907, Page 67

Chess Items.

Mr William Samuel Vir er, chesa champian of Australia and New Zealand 1 , is a clerk in the enip.oy of the Perth Gas Company, Perth, Western Australia. The games entered for the brilliancy prize in the recent New Zealand Chess Championship Tourney are to ba siibmitted to Mr F. Holiins, of Huirangi (formerly of Birmingham, England), for adjudication. The prize-money won in the contest just concluded for the chess supremacy of New Zealan-d has been distributed as follows. — "W. S. Viner, JE3O; S. Crakanthorp, £20; A. W. O. Davies, £10; F. Summer, io; It. J. Barnes and. J- Mason, £1 10s each. The contention of Mr S. Crakanthorp, champion of New South Wales, that Mr W. S. Viner cannot justly claim the title of "champion of Australia" until the latter proves his siiperiority over the former makes a match bet-ween these two players for the championonip of Australia almost p. certainly. The fact that Mr Orakanthcorp beat Mr Viner in the game played between them in the N«w Zealand championship tourney should ab?olutelv clinch the matter. Supplementary details of the chess career of llr W. S. Vicer, champion of Australia and New Zealand, show that in 189 D he won the second prize in the Sydney School of Arts championship tournament ; in 1901, the first prize in the Boulder City handicap tourney; in 1904, the first prize in the Perth handicap cup tourney ; in 1905, the second prize in the same competition ; in 1906, the first prize in the same event, and the championship of Australia, defeating Mr C. G. M. Watson (champion of Victoria) by seven games to cuie and three draws. Mr Viner has also held the chess championship of Western Australia in the years 1900, 1901, 1903, and 1003, and he has represented his State with corsid-erable success in telegraphic matches.

To The Times, Mr Alain C. White is continuing his series of notes on chess problem composers of New Zealand, the two persons with whom, he deals on this occasion being Messrs Jaruea and Thomas Sexton. Mr White writes " These two composers are brothers They went to New Zealai.d about 1680. Thomas Sexton was a p.ayer m England, but not finding sufficient opportunity for play in the colony, he- turned hia attention to problems, and a 1 so taught his. brother Bath have found chess problems an admirable recrea-tion and an mstructi\e study. James Sexton has been a farmer — an 3 a fairly prolific composer — though his brother surpasses him with a total of over 300 compositions. The problems of the Se«to,n brothers have b3»n very popular in New Zealand, where brightness of idea counts without special reBiird to the question of model mates, ard I Kiink their work is known io reader? of th« British Chess Magazine and of some of the standard columns. Thomas Sexton won first and third prizes in the Leeds Mercury lertter corn-petition in 1895. in wliich E Pradigliat look the secotid and fourth places. He has a'so composed a number of initia-1 pioblems for special occasions in New Zea-laud. In Mr Sexton's opinion difficulty v the prime reQiusite of a good cbeßs problem, for without thtit {he v«rv word ' prpblejn ' ib a misnomer. Beauty covers almost all the other essential points, for economy, naturalness of position, ftnd tjhe like all help to make a problem b3e-utiful. and with theeo »dd*d, the more difficult it is the better it is Of lat« years ■the unfortunate criticisms of one of has productions hue dawoiußged Mr Sexton from

publishing any more of his problems. But we hope this reticence will soon be overcome, for his compositions are generally above the average in clearness of idea."