Britbase Updates

[Mick Norris]

John Horner of Chorlton chess club

[John Saunders]

John Horner of Chorlton chess club

Thanks, Mick.

[John Saunders]

Two miniatures. The first is given in case we ever get a collection of Leon Rosselson's games. Would that be The Chess World Turned Upside Down?

[Event "Thames North vs Thames South"] [Site "Westminster Central Hall"] [Date "1951.06.16"] [Round "?"] [White "Rosselson, Leon"] [Black "Everett (W. G.?)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C19"] [Opening "French: Winawer, advance (6...Ne7)"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. f4 Qc7 8. Nf3 Bd7 9. a4 O-O 10. Bd3 c4 11. Bxh7+ Kh8 12. Ng5 g6 13. Qg4 Kg7 14. h4 Rh8 15. h5 Nf5 16. hxg6 fxg6 17. Nxe6+ {Illustrated London News - Saturday 30 June 1951 p.32} 1-0

Here are scans of Leon Rosselson's scoresheet for this win vs Everett. The score differs slightly from the Illustrated London News version, ending at 16 hxg6; and Black's name is A Everett (Leon often invited his opponent's to write their own names on his scoresheet, which has sometimes posed a problem as some of them were illegible, but "A Everett" is quite clear in this case.) I'm in the process of inputting Leon Rosselson's games. 277 games input so far and around another 40 or so to come, I think, and then they will be going up on BritBase.

The specially-minted scoresheet for this SCCU match is rather attractive. Perhaps we could start a different thread on scoresheet artwork.

1951-06-16-rosselson-everett-1.jpg

1951-06-16-rosselson-everett-2.jpg

[Richard James]

Looking at Leon's last three moves with Harry the h-pawn makes me think of these words from a song I'm rather obsessed with at the moment:

Harry could've done it
Cause he'd have made it turn out right
He could turn the lonely into fighters
And the mighty into blight

Harry's Gone Fishing

[Gerard Killoran]

From London 1922

[Event "BCF 15th First Class C"] [Site "London"] [Date "1922.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Barnett, Major Richard Whieldon (MP)"] [Black "Moses, George Wyville"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C49"] [Opening "Four knights: symmetrical, Metger unpin"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bb4 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 d6 7. Bg5 Bxc3 8. bxc3 Qe7 9. Qd2 Nd8 10. Bc4 Ne6 11. Bh4 Nf4 12. Rfe1 Ng6 13. Bg5 Be6 14. Bb3 h6 15. Bxf6 Qxf6 16. d4 Rad8 17. d5 Bg4 18. Re3 Nf4 19. g3 Nh3+ 20. Kg2 g6 21. Ng1 Nxg1 22. Rxg1 Kh7 23. c4 Qg7 24. h3 Bc8 25. c3 f5 26. exf5 Bxf5 27. g4 Bc8 28. Bc2 Rf4 29. Be4 Rdf8 30. f3 Qf6 31. Qd3 Kg7 32. Rh1 h5 33. gxh5 Qg5+ 34. Kf2 Qh4+ 35. Ke2 Qxh5 36. Rg1 Bf5 37. Bxf5 R8xf5 38. Rg4 Qxh3 39. Rg1 Qh2+ 40. Kf1 Qxa2 {Sunday Illustrated - Sunday 17 September 1922 p.18} 0-1

[Matt Mackenzie]

Barnett was a strong chessplaying MP (Irish champion in the late 19th C) who seems to be overlooked more than some others.

[John Saunders]

From London 1922

Thanks for the game, Gerard. I've added it to the BritBase collection.

Recently I have been trying to collect games and information from 1950s Bognor (Stevenson Memorial) tournaments which followed on from the Southsea event which started in 1949. Here are some links:

Southsea 1949
Southsea 1950
Southsea 1951
Southsea 1952
Bognor 1953
Bognor 1954
Bognor 1955
Bognor 1956
Bognor 1957
Bognor 1958
(I've yet to give Bognor 1959 the full treatment but will do so, probably in the next couple of days)

If anyone has anything to contribute, do please get in touch, either via the forum or by email. Note that BritBase is no longer just about game scores - these days I try to collect and publish crosstables, results, reports, photos, etc - so if you have information which could, for example, help complete a crosstable, or you know forenames of players, it will be gratefully received.

Here's a taster of what has turned up recently, with a legendary chess magazine editor blundering against a member of this forum...

[Event "Stevenson Memorial 6th"] [Site "Bognor Regis"] [Date "1958.04.11"] [Round "3"] [White "Reuben, Stewart"] [Black "Wood, Baruch Harold"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Wood, Baruch H"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/1b2kn1p/6p1/p2P4/3p4/5BP1/PN5P/4K3 b - - 0 1"] [PlyCount "4"] [EventDate "1958.04.09"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "10"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [SourceTitle "BritBase"] [Source "John Saunders"] [SourceDate "2022.08.30"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.08.30"] [SourceQuality "1"] {Big Blunder at Bognor by B. H Wood. A Midland contingent stronger than usual is doing well in the international tournament at Bognor Regis. Here are three of their games; but first the picture of my monumental blunder in the third round, which will cheer up a lot of people who imagine they are the only people who do blunder won games away. Black (to play) can win White's d-pawn in a variety of ways, e.g. 1...Ba6 followed by 2...Kd6, 3...Ne5 and 4...Bb7; there is really nothing White can do about it. Instead} 1... Ne5 $4 2. d6+ Kxd6 3. Bxb7 {Source: Birmingham Daily Post - Thursday 17 April 1958} 1-0

[Gerard Killoran]

Here's a new Atkins game, which I have corrected as the printed version goes wrong around move 32.

Did I get it right?

[Event "Simultaneous Exhibition"] [Site "Birmingham YMCA"] [Date "1904.12.08"] [Round "?"] [White "Atkins, Henry Ernest"] [Black "Hudson, A. H."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D60"] [Opening "QGD: Orthodox defence, Botvinnik variation"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. Bd3 b6 8. O-O Bb7 9. Qe2 Ne4 10. Bf4 f5 11. Ne5 Ndf6 12. f3 Nd6 13. b3 Nh5 14. Bg3 f4 15. exf4 Nxf4 16. Bxf4 Rxf4 17. cxd5 Nf5 18. Bxf5 Rxf5 19. Rad1 Bxd5 20. Rfe1 Bb4 21. Qb2 Qg5 22. a3 Bd6 23. Nxd5 exd5 24. Qd2 Qxd2 25. Rxd2 Bxa3 26. Ra2 Bd6 27. Nc6 a5 28. b4 a4 29. Ne7+ Bxe7 30. Rxe7 Rf4 31. Rxc7 Rxd4 32. b5 a3 33. Rc6 Rb4 34. Rc3 Rb1+ 35. Kf2 Rb2+ 36. Rxb2 axb2 37. Rb3 Ra2 38. Ke3 Ra3 {Evening Despatch (Birmingham) - Thursday 15 December 1904 p.5} 0-1

Evening Despatch - Thursday 15 December 1904.png

[John Saunders]

Here's a new Atkins game, which I have corrected as the printed version goes wrong around move 32.

Did I get it right?

Yes, I think so. There are two missing half-moves and it pretty much has to be 32 b5 a3.

Thanks for the game, which I've added to the Atkins collection.

[Kevin Thurlow]

I find myself wondering if FG Butcher were any relation to CG Butcher, a distinguished player who worked for GPO, and moved to London at the end of WWII, having been resident in Birmingham, and a former Midlands Champion.

[John Saunders]

I find myself wondering if FG Butcher were any relation to CG Butcher, a distinguished player who worked for GPO, and moved to London at the end of WWII, having been resident in Birmingham, and a former Midlands Champion.

I think Francis George Butcher (1874-1961) was the father of twins Cecil George Butcher (1900-1990) and Alfred Joseph Butcher (1900-1982). Some of the usual genealogical jigsaw pieces are missing (birth records, 1901 census for the two boys, etc) but I found FG domiciled with CG and AJ in Sparkbrook, Birmingham, in 1924 which strongly suggests he was their father. He was apparently born in the USA and a widower by 1911, which might explain why they are not together at an earlier date (children farmed out to relatives to be brought up). CG and AJ were regular congress competitors either side of the war while FG had chess problems published in regional newspapers.

[John Saunders]

Only now do I notice that Richard James, as ever the Amundsen to my Scott, had planted his flag a long time ago as regards the Butchers...

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=7685&p=161972&hili ... er#p161972

... with more info than I managed.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"Only now do I notice that Richard James, as ever the Amundsen to my Scott, had planted his flag a long time ago as regards the Butchers..."

As I am probably related to Douglas Mawson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Mawson , I can appreciate the comment.

I knew as soon as I posted the question that I should have searched Britbase or the forum first...

[Gerard Killoran]

Another game of Arthur Percival Lacy-Hulbert, that's what we want! (Said nobody)
But here's one anyway...


[Event "GBR-ch 43rd First Class"] [Site "Blackpool"] [Date "1956.08.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Rushton, Robin Humphries"] [Black "Lacy-Hulbert, Arthur Percival"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B20"] [Opening "Sicilian: Keres variation (2.Ne2)"] 1. e4 c5 2. Ne2 Nc6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxe4 5. Bxe4 Qc7 6. Nbc3 Bh3 7. Nf4 Bd7 8. Nfd5 Qa5 9. d3 e6 10. Ne3 Nf6 11. Nc4 Qa6 12. Bf4 Nxe4 13. Nxe4 f5 14. Ned6+ Bxd6 15. Nxd6+ Ke7 16. Qh5 Nd8 17. Qg5+ Kf8 18. Be5 Rg8 19. Qh5 Qc6 20. O-O-O h6 21. g4 Be8 22. Nxe8 Qxe8 23. Bd6+ {Beds and Herts Pictorial - Tuesday 09 October 1956 p.2} 1-0

STOP PRESS!

Another from the same event:

[Event "GBR-ch 43rd First Class"] [Site "Blackpool"] [Date "1956.08.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Rushton, Robin Humphries"] [Black "Rushbrook, Ronald Ernest"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B20"] [Opening "Sicilian: Keres variation (2.Ne2)"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e3 O-O 5. Nf3 d6 6. Be2 Nbd7 7. Qc2 e5 8. d5 a5 9. e4 Nc5 10. Bg5 Bd7 11. Nd2 a4 12. O-O Qc8 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. b4 axb3 15. axb3 Rxa1 16. Rxa1 Bg7 17. b4 Na6 18. Qb3 Nb8 19. c5 f5 20. Nb5 Bxb5 21. Bxb5 Rf7 22. Ra8 Bh6 23. Nc4 fxe4 24. Qh3 Qf8 25. Rxb8 Qxb8 26. Qxh6 Qa7 27. Qc1 dxc5 28. Nxe5 Rf5 29. Ng4 Kf8 30. Qb2 Ke7 31. Qg7+ Rf7 32. Qe5+ Kd8 33. Qe8# {Beds and Herts Pictorial - Tuesday 04 September 1956 p.2} 1-0

[John Saunders]

Thanks, Gerard. I shall post the latest instalment of Rev. L-H's chess career on BritBase when I get back from my hols.