https://www.saund.org.uk/britbase/pgn/1 ... iewer.html
Most of the games have been in the public domain for some time but I managed to track down a few that haven't been digitised previously.
It was the first major UK chess event after the First World War and, instead of holding a British Championship, the BCF invited some players from abroad to make up the complement of 12, the most notable being Capablanca. As Atkins was unwell and had to drop out, his only real opposition was the Serbian player Boris Kostich but Capablanca managed to get ahead of him to win comfortably.
In another thread a while back we discussed David Miller: I managed to track down a game he won against the Dutch player Abraham Speijer. Miller blundered horribly early in the game but managed to pull off an outrageous swindle:
One curiosity was an interview with Capablanca, published in The Observer, which was apparently conducted whilst he was still in play in the last round, in the press room. Modern arbiters would probably take a very dim view of players wandering into the press room during play, though in those days it wouldn't have been replete with computer screens showing suggested lines of play.
I was particularly puzzled by this snippet from this interview:
I'm familiar with the term 'pussyfooter' but not the word 'Mormon' other than in the literal sense of a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Seems like a non sequitur to me. Can anyone construe?The Observer, 24 August 1919 wrote:Q. "What are your views on the relative merits of the British players?"
But Capablanca refused to be drawn on this point, explaining that his experience of their play was not sufficiently extensive to enable him to decide—or words to that effect.
Q."Are you a Pussyfooter, Señor?"
A. "I am not—nor am I a Mormon."