1903 (5th) Kent County Chess Association Congress, Canterbury, 1-6 June

1903 Kent CCA First Class Open

1903 Kent CCA Congress First Class Open		Draw No.	Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total
1	Georg Schories	9	Brighton	&;	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	7
2	George Alan Thomas	8	Southsea	0	&;	1	1	0	½	1	1	½	5
3	Evan James Creswell	1	Walthamstow	0	0	&;	½	1	1	1	0	1	4½
4	Rudolph Johannes Loman	5	London	1	0	½	&;	0	1	1	0	1	4½
5	James Mortimer	6	Primrose Hill	0	1	0	1	&;	0	1	½	½	4
6	Russell France Bavington Jones	4	Dover	0	½	0	0	1	&;	0	1	1	3½
7	Thomas Taylor	7	Plymouth	0	0	0	0	0	1	&;	1	1	3
8	Miss Kate Belinda Finn	3	London	0	0	1	1	½	0	0	&;	½	3
9	(Edward) Douglas Fawcett	2	Totnes	0	½	0	0	½	0	0	½	&;	1½

First Prize £10, second prize £5.

1903 Kent CCA Championship

1903 Kent CCA Congress Championship		Draw No.	Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total
1	Charles Chapman	3	Sevenoaks	&;	½	1	½	1	1	1	1	6
2	William Barber Dixon	4	Leighton Buzzard	½	&;	0	1	1	1	1	1	5½
3	Gertrude Alison Beatrice Anderson (née Field)	1	Upper Tooting	0	1	&;	½	½	1	1	1	5
4	Rev. William Ernest Evill	5	Canterbury	½	0	½	&;	1	1	1	½	4½
5	Alfred Leonard Stevenson	7	Smeeth, Ashford	0	0	½	0	&;	½	1	1	3
6	William Montagu Brooke	2	Pembury	0	0	0	0	½	&;	1	1	2½
7	Ernest Emerson Stockens	8	Canterbury	0	0	0	0	0	0	&;	1	1
8	Patrick Henry J O'Connor	6	Plumstead	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	&;	½

First Prize, cup and £4, second prize £2.

1903 Kent CCA Second Class Open

1903 Kent CCA Congress Second Class Open		Draw No.	Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total
1	Dr. Paul Vinogradoff	7	Tunbridge Wells	&;	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	6½
2	Alfred Lindsay Densham	2	Croydon	½	&;	½	0	1	½	1	1	4½
3	Harold John Francis Stephenson	6	Hastings	0	½	&;	1	1	1	1	½	4½
4	Frederick Ashford Eve	4	London	0	1	0	&;	0	1	1	1	4
5	Henry Ward	8	Croydon	0	0	0	1	&;	0	1	1	3½
6	Grace Moore Ellis (> Curling)	3	London	0	½	0	0	1	&;	½	1	3
7	Rev. Henry Bremridge	1	North Devon	0	0	0	0	0	½	&;	1	1½
8	Mrs Seymour	5	London	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	&;	½

First Prize £3, second prize £1 10s. [£1.50p]

1903 Kent CCA Extra Section A

1903 Kent CCA Congress Extra A		Draw No.	Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total
1	Rev. Arthur Willink	1	Canterbury	&;	1	1	1	0	½	½	1	5
2	Charles Henry May	5	Bromley	0	&;	1	½	½	1	1	1	5
3	Barbara Jane Falloon (née Lund)	2	Dover	0	0	&;	1	½	1	1	1	4½
4	Miss Alice Elizabeth Hooke	3	London	0	½	0	&;	1	1	1	1	4½
5	George Frank Whiteman	7	Canterbury	1	½	½	0	&;	1	½	1	4½
6	Augustus Yeates	8	Bromley	½	0	0	0	0	&;	1	1	2½
7	Reginald Jones	4	Eltham	½	0	0	0	½	0	&;	0	1
8	Mrs Elizabeth Oakley (née Herbage)	6	Herne Hill	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	&;	1

In the play-off, Rev. A Willink beat C H May after draws, and entered the final round with the winner of Section B.

1903 Kent CCA Extra Section B

1903 Kent CCA Congress Extra B		Draw No.	Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total
1	Mrs Ada Mary May (née Peirce)	7	Bromley	&;	½	1	0	1	1	1	1	5½
2	William Llewellyn Brett	1	Canterbury	½	&;	1	1	1	0	1	1	5½
3	Feakins Alfred Johnson	4	Whitstable	0	0	&;	1	1	1	½	1	4½
4	Rev. (William) Hugh Falloon	3	Dover	1	0	0	&;	0	1	1	1	4
5	Frank Round Pickering	8	Forest Hill	0	0	0	1	&;	½	1	½	3
6	Christina Maria Chapman (née Edwards)	2	Marlborough	0	1	0	0	½	&;	0	1	2½
7	Percy William Knowles	6	Folkestone	0	0	½	0	0	1	&;	½	2
8	Cecil Shelley Kent	5	Brenchley	0	0	0	0	½	0	½	&;	1

Mrs. Ada Mary May (Bromley) beat W L Brett in playing off the tie. In the final contest Mrs May beat Rev A. Willink, and took first prize, £3; the second being 10s [50p].

1903 Kent CCA Ladies' Open Handicap

1903 Kent CCA Congress Ladies Open Handicap		Draw No.	Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total	Handicap	Full Total
1	Mrs Frances Susanne Durlacher	1	Maida Vale	&;	½	0	1	1	½	0	1	1	5	3.6	8.6
2	Louisa Anne Edie Lewis (née Elwyn)	4	Bromley	½	&;	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	6½	1.8	8.3
3	Rosamund Ellen Gibbon Morbey (née Graham)	5	Canterbury	1	1	&;	1	0	1	1	1	1	7	scr	7.0
4	Mrs W Boxall	8	London	0	0	0	&;	0	0	1	1	1	3	3.3	6.3
5	Emma White (née Hunter)	9	Lee	0	0	1	1	&;	½	1	1	1	5½	scr	5.5
6	Mrs Maria Catherine Robbins	6	New Bond St	½	0	0	1	½	&;	½	1	1	4½	scr	4.5
7	Mrs P Stevenson	7	Paddington	1	0	0	0	0	½	&;	0	1	2½	1.8	4.3
8	Miss Kate Eyre	2	London	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	&;	1	2	scr	2.0
9	Miss/Mrs Glenfield	3	London	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	&;	0	1.8	1.8

First Prize Silver Queen, second prize £1, special prize £1 (to Mrs Morbey). "The Ladies' Handicap this year was a sealed one, a system whose intricacies were not entirely grasped by all the competitors, and perplexity was caused to the lady who won the most games to find she was not top in the result." (Kent & Sussex Courier, 12 June 1903); "It should be mentioned that the number of points to be added was kept secret till the end of the play. but owing to the want of knowledge of the ladies' form, the arrangement was very unsatisfactory, as all handicaps are. Level tournaments only are suitable for a congress of this kind." (Dover Express 12 June 1903)

Knock-Out Tournaments (1 June): Section 1: (1-2) Carl Hardebeck (Brenchley), J J Watts (Deal). Section 2: C F Corke (Sevenoaks)

Lightning Tournament (5 June): (1) William Montagu Brooke.

East Kent v Hastings Match (1 June) - won by East Kent 20-10.

Blackburne in his blindfold simuls lost one game to F M Argrave and drew with P Vinogradoff, W M Brooke, Johnson and P W Knowles.

---

BCM, 1903, ppn 303-306

The Kent Chess Congress

The fifth annual Congress of the Kent Chess Association was held this year from June 1st to June 6th, at Canterbury, play taking place in St. Margaret's Hall, where the Congress was opened on Whit-Monday by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Randall Davidson, himself a chess-player, who spoke eloquently of chess.

The arrangements for the Congress were made by a local committee, whilst Mr. H. J. Stone, hon. sec. of the Canterbury Chess Club, acted as Congress secretary, and his arrangements were perfect. Mr. W. W. White, who had managed each of the four previous Congresses was present, and rendered valuable assistance, but on Mr. Stone, one of the most capable chess club secretaries possible, the full burden of responsibility rested, and he came triumphantly out of the ordeal of pleasing more than sixty competitors as well as efficiently managing the Congress as a public event.

The committee consisted of Messrs. W. H. Horsley (president), G. F. Whiteman, E. E. Stockens, H. Fielding, and the Rev. Dr. Elwyn Lewis; and to their efforts both prior to and during the Congress must also be attributed a large share of the success of the Congress. A feature of the Congress was the fact that it was the first Chess Congress ever opened by an Archbishop. It was also the first in which a lady competed in a First-class Open Tournament; whilst the number of ladies competing in the other tournaments also constituted a record. As regards the Congresses of the Kent Association another record was the amount of the funds collected, which amounted this year to over a hundred pounds. The Canterbury Chess Club has for some years been the premier club in East Kent both in point of numbers and strength of play, and on this occasion the large numbers of visitors who attended the Congress from day to day made it evident that an interest is being aroused in chess in the neighbourhood which should be encouraging to other clubs to adopt the same vigorous policy.

Among the visitors of note to the Congress were the Bishop of Dover (Dr. Walsh), Dean Wace, Mrs. Rhoda Bowles, Mrs. Pillsbury, Mr. H. F. Lowe, Mr. D. L. Anderson, &c. Mr. H. N. Pillsbury arrived from Vienna on Wednesday, paying a flying visit to London before he came on to Canterbury. On arrival he was welcomed with applause, which was as spontaneous as it was enthusiastic. The same afternoon he commenced exhibition play in a game with Mr. J. H. Blackbume, both masters having amateurs in consultation. The opening was a Centre Counter Defence, in which Pillsbury was Black and won after a protracted struggle.

On Thursday, the American champion played a team of 16 simultaneously and blindfold, winning all the games, whilst on Friday he played 10 blindfold without loss, but in simultaneous play over the board he lost to Mr. W. B. Dixon. Mr. J. H. Blackburne was present at the Congress throughout the week, and by general urbanity and excellent chess—suaviter in modo fortiter in re—added greatly to his popularity among Kentish chess players. On Tuesday, he conducted six games blindfold, winning 4 and drawing 2, and he also took part in several consultation games and simultaneous play.

The play in the various tournaments is best described in the various tables appended. The contest in the First-class Open Tournament was probably the most exciting of all, as although the winner Mr. G. Shories made so clean a score, the number of unfinished games pending between other players who might with better fortune have equalled his score, and the fact that the winner had some of the strongest opponents at the end, kept the issue doubtful until the last round had been played.

For the second prize Mr. G. A. Thomas had an even closer fight, and the destination of this was not known till the very moment when the distribution of prizes was in progress, it depending on the result of a long ending between Messrs. Mortimer and Creswell, which the latter winning deprived Mr. Mortimer of his chance. As a matter of fact Mr. Mortimer at one time looked like winning first prize, but accumulating too many adjourned games the strain deteriorated his play at the finish.

Miss Finn made a very creditable score, more particularly in winning from Messrs. Loman and Creswell; whilst her play in other games was within an ace of being successful.

The Kent Championship was won for the third time in succession by Mr. C. Chapman. The other tournaments may pass without mention, although attention may be drawn to the experiment in the Ladies' Handicap of giving sealed points in lieu of odds. The result was rather curious, as it would have been impossible for Mrs. Morbey to have been first.

---

The Archbishop of Canterbury's Little Joke (Hampstead & Highgate Express, 6 June 1903 & many other newspapers)

The fifth annual congress of the Kent Chess Association was opened on Monday [1 June 1903] by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who said that, though not a distinguished chess player, he could claim to be a representative of chess in an unusual degree, as of late years he had had a great deal to do with Kings and Queens, had lived in two Castles, and was about the only man living who was both a Knight and a Bishop, so that he represented everything on the board except the Pawn. (Laughter.) (A longer report of his speech, and one probably closer to his actual words, may be found in The (London) Standard of 2 June 1903.)

---

Biographical Information

Evan James Creswell (23 April 1862, Clun, Shropshire – 4 September 1943, Bayswater, London (resid. Ashtead, Surrey). Surrey champion, 1893.

Henry Ward (1849 – 6 March 1936, London Hospital, resid. 97 Whitehall Court, SW1). Played chess for Croydon CC and Thornton Heath CC, and Surrey. Took part in Kent Congresses of the 1900s. Civil Engineer, J.P., M.Inst.C.E., vice-president of the National Club, member of the Metropolitan Water Board, for 33 years represented Shoreditch on the London County Council. In 1923 he gave £100,000 to the London Hospital but later lost most of his fortune in a bad investment (source: Daily Express, 2 June 1936). In 1906 contested Hoxton as a Liberal parliamentary candidate but lost. N.b. not to be confused with Henry Ward of the Oxford City CC in the 1900s - here is a note of his namesake's biographical details - Henry Ward (July 1832 - 15 October 1927) - noted problemist, using the pseudonym 'Hereward'. He was one of the founders of the Oxford City Chess Club in 1879, and its first president. He was reelected president in 1926 as a mark of honour. (source of info: Oxfordshire Weekly News, 13 October 1926). Also not to be confused with a third H Ward who took part in the 1930s Hastings Congresses and the 1938 British Championship, who appeared to be based in Brighton (Saltdean, Eastdean). Also, Henry Swinburn Ward (19 August 1865, India - 1954?, Battersea) who was a player and official of Brixton CC.

---

Tournament Schedule

None of the sources seen to date make clear the complete round schedule or draw order for the First Class tournament (the lack of hard facts about the tournament can perhaps be partly ascribed to the press obsession with the archiepiscopal attempt at humour quoted above). However, Ulrich Tamm's suggestion (see below the table) may enable us to deduce the following schedule. To reiterate: game colours known for certain only where the pairing is shown in bold. Those not in bold are those pairings deduced from the probable pairing system. The first-named player is White.

Round	Date	Pairing 1	Pairing 2	Pairing 3	Pairing 4	Bye
1	1 June 1903	Schories/Fawcett	Thomas/Finn	Taylor/Jones	Mortimer/Loman	Creswell
2	2 June 1903	Fawcett/Creswell	Finn/Schories	Jones/Thomas	Loman/Taylor	Mortimer
3	2 June 1903	Creswell/Finn	Thomas/Loman	Taylor/Mortimer	Schories/Jones	Fawcett
4	3 June 1903	Jones/Creswell	Finn/Fawcett	Mortimer/Thomas	Loman/Schories	Taylor
5	3/4 June 1903	Creswell/Loman	Fawcett/Jones	Thomas/Taylor	Schories/Mortimer	Finn
6	4 June 1903	Mortimer/Creswell	Loman/Fawcett	Jones/Finn	Taylor/Schories	Thomas
7	5 June 1903	Creswell/Taylor	Fawcett/Mortimer	Finn/Loman	Schories/Thomas	Jones
8	5 June 1903	Thomas/Creswell	Taylor/Fawcett	Mortimer/Finn	Loman/Jones	Schories
9	6 June 1903	Creswell/Schories	Fawcett/Thomas	Finn/Taylor	Jones/Mortimer	Loman

EDIT (3 October 2025): Ulrich Tamm has suggested that the draw numbers given by BCM (1903, p304) are in fact correct and that the pairings were Standard Berger but with colours reversed, thus:

1903 Kent Open 9-player pairings	1	2	3	4	5
Rd 1	9 v 2	8 v 3	7 v 4	6 v 5	1 - bye
Rd 2	2 v 1	3 v 9	4 v 8	5 v 7	6 - bye
Rd 3	1 v 3	8 v 5	7 v 6	9 v 4	2 - bye
Rd 4	4 v 1	3 v 2	6 v 8	5 v 9	7 - bye
Rd 5	1 v 5	2 v 4	8 v 7	9 v 6	3 - bye
Rd 6	6 v 1	5 v 2	4 v 3	7 v 9	8 - bye
Rd 7	1 v 7	2 v 6	3 v 5	9 v 8	4 - bye
Rd 8	8 v 1	7 v 2	6 v 3	5 v 4	9 - bye
Rd 9	1 v 9	2 v 8	3 v 7	4 v 6	5 - bye

This tallies with the handful of five results where we know the colours for certain.

---

File Updated

Date	Notes
2 October 2025	First upload. Six games from the First Class section, plus 12 from other sections and exhibition events, crosstables, reports, results and biographical information.
3 October 2025	Added further detail about the probable pairing regime.
10 October 2025	Added the game G Thomas 1-0 T Taylor, rd 5. Many thanks to Alan Smith for sending the score.