1924 British Chess Championship, Southport, 11-23 August • 1923« »1925

1924 British Championship		Resid.	Draw No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
1	Atkins,Henry Ernest	Huddersfield	7	&;	1	½	1	½	1	0	1	1	1	½	1	8½
2	Yates,Fred Dewhirst	Leeds	11	0	&;	1	½	½	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	8
3	Thomas,George Alan	London	5	½	0	&;	½	1	1	½	1	0	1	1	1	7½
4	Scott,Roland Henry Vaughan	London	3	0	½	½	&;	½	½	1	0	1	1	1	½	6½
5	Saunders,Harold	London	6	½	½	0	½	&;	1	0	1	1	0	½	1	6
6	Price,Hubert Ernest	Birmingham	8	0	1	0	½	0	&;	1	1	1	0	0	1	5½
7	Michell,Reginald Pryce	Kingston-upon-Thames	1	1	0	½	0	1	0	&;	0	½	½	½	1	5
8	Khadilkar,Vinayak Kashinath	Bombay, India	9	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	&;	½	1	1	0	4½
9	Spencer,Edmund	Liverpool	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	½	½	&;	1	½	1	4½
10	Blake,Joseph Henry	London	12	0	0	0	0	1	1	½	0	0	&;	1	1	4½
11	Fairhurst,William Albert	Manchester	4	½	0	0	0	½	1	½	0	½	0	&;	1	4
12	Gibson,William P	Glasgow	10	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	&;	1½

1924 BCF Major Open

1924 BCF Major Open		Resid.	Draw No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
1	Akiba Rubinstein	Poland	7	&;	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	11
2	John Arthur James Drewitt	Hastings	5	0	&;	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	8
3	George Wyville Moses	Pontefract	2	0	1	&;	1	0	½	1	½	1	1	1	½	7½
4	Herbert Gibson Rhodes	Southport	11	0	1	0	&;	½	1	1	1	1	0	½	1	7
5	Oscar Conrad Müller	London	1	0	0	1	½	&;	1	½	½	0	1	½	1	6
6	Christopher Barclay Heath	Dundee	8	0	0	½	0	0	&;	1	1	0	1	1	1	5½
7	Cyril Duffield	Bristol	3	0	0	0	0	½	0	&;	1	1	1	½	1	5
8	Philip Walsingham Sergeant	London	6	0	0	½	0	½	0	0	&;	1	0	1	1	4
9	Andrew Rowland Benedick Thomas	Liverpool	9	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	&;	1	0	1	4
10	William Henry Watts	London	10	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	&;	1	1	4
11	Frank Schofield	Leeds	4	0	0	0	½	½	0	½	0	1	0	&;	½	3
12	George Wright	York	12	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	&;	1

1924 British Ladies' Chess Championship

1924 British Ladies' Championship		Resid.	Draw No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
1	Edith Charlotte Price	London	10	&;	½	½	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	9
2	Agnes Bradley Stevenson	London	3	½	&;	½	½	1	1	1	½	1	0	1	1	8
3	Edith Martha Holloway	London	5	½	½	&;	½	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	1	6½
4	Edith Mary Ann Michell (née Tapsell)	Kingston-upon-Thames	9	0	½	½	&;	½	1	1	0	½	1	1	½	6½
5	Mary Dinorah Gilchrist	Glasgow	6	0	0	0	½	&;	1	½	1	1	½	1	½	6
6	Amabel Nevill Gwyn Sollas	Oxford	12	1	0	1	0	0	&;	½	0	1	1	½	1	6
7	M(ary?) C(onstance?) Forbes	Edinburgh	1	0	0	0	0	½	½	&;	1	1	1	½	1	5½
8	Mary Mills Houlding (née Palmer)	Wallingford	7	0	½	1	1	0	1	0	&;	0	½	0	1	5
9	Florence Hutchison Stirling	Edinburgh	8	0	0	1	½	0	0	0	1	&;	0	1	½	4
10	Rosa Annie Banting	London	2	0	1	0	0	½	0	0	½	1	&;	½	0	3½
11	Charlotte Helena Minchin-Cotton	London	11	0	0	0	0	1	½	½	1	0	½	&;	1	3½
12	Emily Eliza Abraham	Herne Bay	4	0	0	0	½	½	0	0	0	½	1	0	&;	2½

1924 BCF First-Class A

1924 BCF First-Class A		Resid.	Draw No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
1	Charles Reuben Gurnhill	Sheffield	8	&;	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	10
2	Richard Whieldon Barnett, MP	London	6	0	&;	1	½	1	1	0	0	1	1	1	1	7½
3	E W Davies	London	12	0	0	&;	½	½	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	7½
4	Harold John Snowden	London	7	1	½	½	&;	½	½	½	1	½	½	1	1	7½
5	Henry James MacThomas Thoms	Dundee	9	0	0	½	½	&;	½	1	1	1	1	1	1d	7½
6	William Rowland Thomas	Liverpool	1	0	0	0	½	½	&;	1	1	1	1	1	1	7
7	Geoffrey Kendall Nuttall	London	11	0	1	½	½	0	0	&;	0	1	0	1	1	5
8	F Wilkinson	Kingston	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	&;	0	1	0	1	4
9	Gerald Abrahams	Liverpool	4	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	1	&;	0	1	1	3½
10	Edward Victor Strugnell	London	2	0	0	0	½	0	0	1	0	1	&;	0	1	3½
11	Rev. E Wells	Bournemouth	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	&;	1d	3
12	Leslie Burland §	Rotherham	3	0	0	0	0	0d	0	0	0	0	0	0d	&;	0

§ "Mr. Leslie Burland, discharged from the Army in 1915 with the loss of his right arm and leg has died at Osbournby, aged 53. In 1916 he demonstrated his artificial limbs before Their Majesties King George V, and Queen Mary. His hobby was chess, and he once played a game lasting 4 hrs 25 mins, against Capablanca, the world champion." (Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guardian, 2 April 1949) This game was played in Capablanca's Rotherham simul on 26 October 1922 when he scored +36, =0, -0.

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1924 BCF First-Class B

1924 BCF First-Class B		Resid.	Draw No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
1	John Harold Morrison	Liverpool	4	&;	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	0	1	1	1	9
2	Walter (or Wm?) Atkinson	Hull	3	0	&;	1	1	0	1	½	1	0	1	1	1	7½
3	John Ellis Parry	Market Drayton	12	0	0	&;	0	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	0	6½
4	Frederick Charles Short	Walsall	11	0	0	1	&;	1	0	½	1	1	1	0	1	6½
5	J(oshua?) Jackson	Dewsbury	5	0	1	0	0	&;	1	½	1	1	0	1	½	6
6	Rev. Arthur Percival Lacy Hulbert	Birmingham	2	1	0	½	1	0	&;	1	0	½	0	1	1	6
7	John MacAlister	London	9	0	½	0	½	½	0	&;	½	½	1	½	1	5
8	Col. Charles Edward Stuart-Prince	Nairobi	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	½	&;	1	1	½	1	5
9	Sydney Gerard Howell-Smith	Hythe	8	1	1	0	0	0	½	½	0	&;	0	½	½	4
10	Alfred Dudley Barlow	London	10	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	&;	½	0	3½
11	George Edmund Hewson	Sheffield	7	0	0	0	1	0	0	½	½	½	½	&;	½	3½
12	John Elliot(t) West	Ashton-under-Lyne	6	0	0	1	0	½	0	0	0	½	1	½	&;	3½

1924 BCF Second-Class A

1924 BCF Second-Class A		Resid.	Draw No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Henfrey Austin Turriff	Arbroath	7	&;	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	9
2	Alfred Clifford Falkner	Wallington	2	0	&;	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	7
3	S J Osborn	London	1	0	0	&;	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	6
4	C H Taylor	Lewisham	8	0	0	1	&;	0	0	1	1	1	1	5
5	Alfred Thomas Cannell	Norwich	5	0	0	0	1	&;	1	0	1	½	1	4½
6	Stephen Poulson Lees	London	6	0	0	0	1	0	&;	0	1	1	1	4
7	Frederick Oswald Nelson	York	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	&;	0	1	1	4
8	Laurence Small	Liverpool	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	&;	½	1	2½
9	Mrs Jeanie Brockett	Glasgow	10	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	½	&;	1d	2
10	Willington Lucette Wakefield	Coventry	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0d	&;	1

n.b. the table given in BCM showed the letter 'p' for Wakefield's game vs Mrs Brockett, and '1' for Mrs Brockett. I'm assuming some sort of default but might simply be a typo. I'm not quite sure how the BCF all-play-all pairings operated for a ten-player tournament.

1924 BCF Second-Class B

1924 BCF Second-Class B		Resid.	Draw No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total
1	Newman Clissold	New Brighton	2	&;	½	1	1	1	1	½	1	1	1	1	9
2	Rev. Edwin John Evans Howlett	Stoke-on-Trent	11	½	&;	½	1	1	1	½	1	1	1	1	8½
3	Dr Vickerman Henzell Rutherford	London	4	0	½	&;	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	½	7
4	George Breese	Wimbledon	6	0	0	1	&;	0	1	1	0	1	1	½	5½
5	Herbert Norman Saffery Heath	London	10	0	0	0	1	&;	½	1	½	0	1	1	5
6	George Arthur Youngman	Maidstone	7	0	0	0	0	½	&;	½	1	1	1	1	5
7	W Barker	Wolverhampton	5	½	½	0	0	0	½	&;	½	1	1	½	4½
8	Henry David Osborn	Gosport	3	0	0	0	1	½	0	½	&;	1	0	½	3½
9	Miss M Andrews ¶	London	8	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	&;	1	1	3
10	Miss Hilda Florence Chater	Penzance	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	&;	1	2
11	Henry Edward Doran	Coventry	9	0	0	½	½	0	0	½	½	0	0	&;	2

¶ BCM, August 1923, p281-282, reported that Miss M Andrews was "sister to the well-known Sussex amateur" without giving his name. I think his name was W R Andrews, who played for Christ Church, Brighton, and won the Sussex championship, but I have yet to find his forenames or that of his sister. JS.

1924 BCF Third-Class Division 1

1924 BCF Third-Class Div 1		Resid.	Draw No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	Total
1	E H Smith	London	2	&;	01	11	11	11	11	9
2	Rev. William Thomas Mackenzie Hooppell	Stoke-on-Trent	6	10	&;	11	1½	11	11	8½
3	G W Bedford	Leyton	5	00	00	&;	1½	½1	11	5
4	W Lyon	Ashton-in-Makerfield	1	00	0½	0½	&;	01	11	4
5	John E Coleman	Grays	4	00	00	½0	10	&;	10	2½
6	Mrs M Healey	Manchester	3	00	00	00	00	01	&;	1

1924 BCF Third-Class Division 2

1924 BCF Third-Class Div 2		Resid.	Draw No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	Total
1	W A Aston	Wolverhampton	4	&;	1½	10	½0	11	11	7
2	Mrs A Chase	London	6	0½	&;	1½	11	01	11	7
3	Miss Stella Violet Aline Malcolm	Edinburgh	3	01	0½	&;	10	11	11	6½
4	A J Smith	Malton	1	½1	00	01	&;	11	11	6½
5	Miss Louisa Gertrude Ogden	Manchester	5	00	10	00	00	&;	11	3
6	Mrs Clara Margaret MacVean	Bournemouth	2	00	00	00	00	00	&;	0

The 1924 British Championship was held in the same art gallery, at the top of the library building in Southport, as the 1905 championship. Here is a picture of the same galleries as they are in 2015 (photos copyright © 2015 John Saunders):

Exterior photo of Southport Library, 2015...

From the Manchester Guardian, 23 July 1924:

"British Championship: H. E. Atkins, Huddersfield; J. H. Blake, London; W. A. Fairhurst, Manchester; W. Gibson, Glasgow; V. K. Khadilkar, Bombay; R. P. Michell, Kingston; H. E. Price, Birmingham; H. Saunders, London; R. H. V. Scott, London; E. Spencer, Liverpool; Sir G. A. Thomas, London (holder); F. D. Yates, Leeds.
Major Open Tournament: J. A. J. Drewitt, Hastings; Cyril Duffield, Bristol; C. B. Heath. Dundee; G. W. Moses, Pontefract; O. C. Muller, London; H. G. Rhodes, Southport; A. Rubinstein, Poland; F. Schofield, Leeds; P. W. Sergeant, London; A. R. B. Thomas, Liverpool; W. H. Watts, London; G. Wright, York.
British Ladies’ Championship: Miss E. E. Abraham, Herne Bay; Mrs. R. A. Banting, London; Miss H. Cotton, London; Miss M. C. Forbes, Edinburgh; Miss M. D. Gilchrist, Glasgow; Mrs. E. M. Holloway, London; Mrs. M. Houlding, Wallingford; Miss F. Hutchison-Stirling, Edinburgh; Mrs. R. P. Michell, Kingston; Miss E. C. Price, London (holder); Mrs. A. Sollas, Oxford; Mrs. R. H. S. Stevenson, London.

"In the British championship Messrs. H. E. Atkins, a former champion. W. A. Fairhurst, Cheshire and Manchester champion, V. K. Khadilkar, Bombay, R. P. Michell and H. Saunders, London, and E. Spencer, Lancashire champion and winner four times in all, take the places of Messrs. Wainwright, Jacobs, Uber, Hamond, Steele, and Gooding, who played last year. It will be recalled that E. Spencer defeated Sir G. A. Thomas in the recent Weston-super-Mare tournament. A particularly interesting point will be to note the progress of Spencer and Fairhurst who make their debut in the championship.

"In the ladies’ championship. Mrs. R. A. Banting, and Miss M. C. Forbes, take the places of Miss Andrews and Mrs. Brockett. The Major Open has no less than nine new names. Alekhine, the victor last year, is absent, but A. Rubinstein is playing, and he, of course, is much the strongest player at the Congress. There is a good proportion of Northerners playing in the other events, and the outlook for the Congress generally is very favourable."

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Results from the Manchester Guardian, 23 Aug 1924:

"Championship: H. E. Atkins 8½, F. D. Yates 8, Sir G. A. Thomas 7½, R. H. V. Scott 6½, H. Saunders 6, H. E. Price 5½, R. P. Michell 5, V. K. Khadilkar 4½, E. Spencer 4½, W. A. Fairhurst 4, W. Gibson 1½.
Major Open: A. Rubinstein 11/11, J. A. J. Drewitt 8, G. W. Moses 7½, H. J. Rhodes 7, O. C. Muller 6, C. B. Heath 5½, C. Duffield 5, A. R. B. Thomas 4, P. W. Sergeant 4, W. H. Watts 4, F. Schofield 3, G. Wright 1.
Ladies’ championship: Miss E. C. Price 9, Mrs. R. H. S. Stevenson 8, Mrs. E. M. Holloway 6½, Mrs. Michell 6½, Miss M. D. Gilchrist 6, Mrs. Sollas 6, Miss M. C. Forbes 5½, Mrs M. Houlding 5, Miss F. Hutchison-Stirling 4, Mrs. R. A. Banting 3½, Miss H. Cotton 3½, Miss E. E. Abrahams 2½.
First Class A: C. R. Gurnhill 10/11, E. W. Davies 7½, Major R. W. Barnett, M.P., 7½, H. J. Snowden 7½, H. J. M. Thoms 7½, W. R. Thomas 7, G. K. Nuttall 5, F. Wilkinson 4, G. Abrahams 3½, E. V. Strugnell 3½, Rev. E. Wells 3, L. Burland 0.
First Class B: J. H. Morrison 9/11, W. Atkinson 7½, F. C. Short 6½, J. E. Parry 6½, J. Cookson 6, Rev. A. P. Lacy Hulbert 6, J. Macallister 5, Col. C. Stuart Prince 5, S. G. Howell Smith 4, A. D. Barlow 3½, G. E. Hewson 3½, J. E. West 3½.
Second Class A: H. A. (Henfrey Austin) Turriff 9/9, A. C. Falkner 7, S. Osborne 6, C. H. Taylor 5, A. T. Cannell 4½, S. P. Lees 4, F. O. Nelson 4, L. Small 2½, Mrs. J. Brockett 2, W. L. Wakefield 1.
Second Class B: Newman Clissold 9/10, the Rev. E. J. E. Howlett 8½, Dr. V. H. Rutherford 7, G. Breese 5½, G. A. Youngman 5, H. N. S. Heath 5, W. Barker 4½, H. D. Osborn 3½, Miss M. Andrews 3, Miss H. F. Chater 2, H. E. Doran 2.
Third Class (1): E. H. Smith 9/11, the Rev. M. Hooppell 8½, G. W. Bedford 5, W. Lyon 4, J. E. Coleman 2½, Mrs. M. Healey 1.
Third Class (2): W. A. Aston 7/11, Mrs. A. Chase 7, Miss S. V. A. Malcolm 6½, A. J. Smith 6½, Miss L. G. Ogden 3, Mrs. MacVean 0."

Rubinstein Simultaneous Display, 22 August 1924: Akiba Rubinstein +19, =9, -4 (F.P. Wenman, A.C. Falkner, C.B. Heath, H.J.M. Thoms) (source of info: Manchester Guardian, 25 Aug 1924)

Lightning (10-seconds-a-move) Tournaments: (1) Date? - won by Rubinstein - possibly the one dated 13 August, reported in BCM, September 1924, p351 – Rubinstein beat Yates in the final [round?]; 2nd was Thomas, 3rd N Clissold, 4th Dr. Regan; (2) Played 16 August. 1 WA Fairhurst, 2 JH Morrison, 3 F Wilkinson, 4 Miss Andrews*. Rubinstein played but was knocked out at an earlier stage by Cyril Duffield; (3) ?? but must have been won by Rubinstein as the Guardian says he won three of these side events - JS; (4) 1 A Rubinstein, 2 JH Morrison, 3 JE West (Cambridge Univ captain), 4 Miss Andrews* (who won two prizes in the Lightning events); (5) 1 Edmund Spencer, 2 F Wilkinson, 3 Rev. AP Lacy-Hulbert, 4 ARB Thomas. (* presumably the same Miss M. Andrews who scored 3/11 in Second-Class B - JS)

Problem Solving Tourney (3-moves): 1 Brian Harley, 141 (max. points); 2 JW Dixon, 109; 3 John Keeble, 104; 4 FD Yates, 100.

Rubinstein received £16 for winning the Major Open.

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Letter to the Editor, 7 September 1924: "BRITISH CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP - Sir, I wish to point out an unfortunate peculiarity of the British Chess Federation Meeting, which has caused a considerable discontent. The Championship entries are limited to twelve, chosen by a committee. The same players, more or less, are selected year after year, with the result that the numerous strong amateurs throughout the country are hopelessly kept out. In no other country is there this limitation.

"The old British Chess Association placed no restriction. Is the condition referred to right? Is the responsible British Chess Federation doing its duty by the public? Of course, the explanation is convenience. But difficulties are things to overcome. If larger and unrestricted tournaments can be held in other countries, why not in England? I suggest the formation of an organisation prepared to hold a tournament without this absurd and unfair restriction: a championship tournament rational and national. I am, etc, S.F. Smith, Emperor's Gate Hotel, S.W." [presumably Dr. Stephen Francis Smith, born c1860, Ontario, Canada, died 12 May 1928, London, aged 67, played in the 1910 British Championship, champion of British Columbia in 1915, had been champion of the City of London club in 1895 and 3rd in the West of England Open in Tenby in 1928.]

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File Updates

Date	Notes
2015	First uploaded in its current format.
3 Oct 2015	Two more Major Open games contributed by Brian Denman, many thanks.
4 Oct 2015	Three games (Khadilkar-Atkins, Khadilkar-Gibson and Yates-Khadilkar) supplied by Andy Ansel, many thanks.
7 Oct 2015	Another six Championship games, and 13 more subsidiary event games, thanks to some assiduous work from Gerard Killoran.
19 Feb 2016	One game added: Watts-Moses (Rd 10). Thanks to Gerard Killoran.
7 March 2016	We now have all 66 games from the 1924 British Championship, and all of them are complete (though some have move order issues), thanks to my receipt of the Tinsley notebooks. Fairhurst-Yates (Rd 2) was missed out in the photocopying process but an appeal to Scottish archivist Alan McGowan secured the first half of the game, and there was a photocopy of the second half.
12 Apr 2016	I have added two ARB Thomas games from the Major Open: his tenth round loss to C Duffield, and the final part of his fifth round loss to Sergeant. Both were in BCM.
5 March 2019	One game supplied by Brian Denman - Wakefield-Falkner, Second Class A - for which many thanks.
26 May 2019	Added three games from the Major Open and one game from the First Class A section. Three games by GW Moses (Rd 3 v Duffield, Rd 4 v F.Schofield and Rd 11 v HG Rhodes) and one by CR Gurnhill (v H.J.M.Thoms, round number unknown). I found these games on Steve Mann's excellent Yorkshire Chess History site, specifically on the pages devoted to George Wyville Moses and Charles Reuben Gurnhill. Steve quotes the original source for the games as the YT&S (Yorkshire Telegraph & Star).
23 July 2019	Added one game from the women's championship (Banting 0-1 Holloway, Rd 5), kindly sent by Alan Smith. I've taken the opportunity to add round numbers and dates to some of the other women's championship games, add crosstables and images.
29 March 2021	Some typos amended – my thanks to Philip Jurgens for drawing my attention to these – and some cosmetic changes made to crosstables and games (Schofield,F now rendered as Schofield, Frank, having consulted the Yorkshire Chess History website).