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Tournament: 17th Hastings Premier 1936/37 • 45 Premier games + 45 from other sections • Go to: Previous YearNext Year
Venue: White Rock Pavilion • Dates: 28 December 1936 - 6 January 1937 • Download PGN • last updated: Wednesday September 2, 2020 12:23 PM

1936/37 Hastings Congress, 28 December 1936 - 6 January 1937, White Rock Pavilion, Hastings

1936/37 Hastings
Premier
Residence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  Total 
1 Alexander Alekhine France
&;
1 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 8
2 Reuben Fine USA 0
&;
1 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1
3 Erich G Eliskases Austria ½ 0
&;
½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1
4 Movsa Feigin Latvia 0 0 ½
&;
1 0 1 1 ½ ½
5 Milan Vidmar sr Yugoslavia 0 ½ ½ 0
&;
½ ½ 1 ½ 1
6 Theodore Henry Tylor Oxford 0 0 0 1 ½
&;
½ 0 ½ 1
7 William Winter London 0 0 0 0 ½ ½
&;
1 1 ½
8 George Koltanowski Belgium ½ 0 ½ 0 0 1 0
&;
½ ½ 3
9 Vera Menchik London 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½
&;
0
10 Sir George Alan Thomas London 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1
&;

Prizes : £15, £12, £8 and £5. Non-prizewinners to receive 10/- [10 shillings = 50p] for each game won.

[BCM, February 1937, pps 49ff in part]

CHRISTMAS CONGRESS AT HASTINGS.
Dr. Alekhine’s Excellent Victory.

The 17th annual series of tournaments organised by the Hastings and St. Leonards C.C. was carried through with usual success from Monday, December 28 [1936] to Wednesday, January 6 [1937]. By far the largest part of the work of organisation fell on the hon. secretary, A. F. Kidney, and the hon. treasurer, E. A. Lewcock, and the latter as usual ably conducted the Congress in person. Previous records of 120 competitors in 1934 and 130 last year were beaten by a total of 132 this time, and it looks rather as if some such figure as 120 or 130 would be more or less stabilised in succeeding tournaments until the projected Conference Hall at Hastings is built, when much more floor space and extra convenience will be available.

Although the contingent of foreign players was quite up to its usual numbers, about thirty more, chiefly from the Netherlands, but also from Germany, Hungary and Czecho-Slovakia had to be put off. An invitation to a Russian player had to be cordially declined by the authorities since a Russian tournament was itself shortly due; and Flohr could not come as he is in the middle of his military training. He cabled a wish for the success of the congress. Euwe too was not able to appear. Bogoljuboff was invited, but an unfortunate delay in replying caused the local committee to look elsewhere. However, with two of the latter-day super-masters, Dr. Alekhine and Reuben Fine accepting, two visitors of a few years ago in Dr. Vidmar and E. Eliskases, and a newcomer to England, M. Feigin, nominated by the Latvian C.A., the master element was strong and was reinforced by G. Koltanowski, who, as last year, had the first consideration among the Premier Reserves, and filled a vacancy caused by the last-moment retirement of A. Reynolds, a promising Midland player, owing to sudden business calls. With three of the most prominent British players W. Winter, Sir G. A. Thomas, and T. H. Tylor, and Miss Menchik, who was offered a place on the strength of her excellent performance at Podebrady last July, the personnel of the Premier Tourney, was one of the best all round that Hastings has collected at these congresses.

The usual policy of five foreign and five British players was followed also in the two Premier Reserves sections, and the number of young people engaged was encouraging to those anxious to see the game carried on and increasing in strength as well as popularity. The total of 132 entries was spread over 12 sections of ten players and one of 12 players. When possible, to ease the congestion at White Rock Pavilion, a section or two of the lower classes were accommodated at the Club, where visitors had the unusual pleasure of playing within good sight of the sea, and on one or two days it was worth seeing, though the weather on the whole was quite good for the time of the year.

The Congress was opened by the Deputy-Mayor, Councillor E. M. Ford, who was accompanied on the platform by Mrs. Ford, the president (Mr. H. E. Dobell), Messrs. Kidney, Lewcock, Norman, Rider, and others. Play began at 4 p.m.

The Premier section soon resolved itself into a match for first place between Alekhine and Fine. In the first round Fine got a half-point more than the game was worth against Eliskases, who in trying to win a drawn game got into trouble, and getting short of time, and generally 'rattled,' as he admitted, drifting into a mating position with Fine’s Rooks on the seventh and eighth. Alekhine drew a sensational game with Eliskases in Round 3, and both masters won all the other games up to Round 8, when the two met. Then a magnificent effort by the ex-champion in a Lopez game brought him a win and he passed Fine with 7½ to 7. Both had a tight squeeze in the last round, but each scored a draw and they maintained the same order. It is interesting to note the fairly bunched positions of the other eight among themselves, viz., Eliskases 5, Feigin 4½, Vidmar 4, Tylor and Winter 3½ each, Miss Menchik, Koltanowski and Sir G. A. Thomas 2½ each.


1936/37 Hastings Premier Reserves (Section A)

1936/37 Hastings
Premier Reserves (Section A)
Residence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  Total 
1 Lodewijk Prins Amsterdam
&;
1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 7
2 Adrianus Dingeman de Groot Netherlands 0
&;
½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1
3 W Arthur Winser Hastings 0 ½
&;
½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1
4 Edward Guthlac Sergeant Kingston 0 0 ½
&;
1 1 1 ½ 0 1 5
5 Count Antonio Sacconi Rome 1 ½ ½ 0
&;
0 1 ½ ½ ½
6 (William) Ritson Morry Sutton Coldfield 0 0 ½ 0 1
&;
0 ½ 1 1 4
7 Sonja Graf Munich 0 ½ 0 0 0 1
&;
½ 1 ½
8 Francis George Tims Collins Oxford 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½
&;
0 1
9 Emmanuel J Sapira Antwerp 1 0 0 1 ½ 0 0 1
&;
0
10 Henry Holwell Cole London 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 1
&;
2

"Koltanowski’s promotion brought Fraulein Graf into section I (the two sections were of approximately equal strength), and E. J. Diemer took her place in the Major A section. Both A and B were well contested. Prins’s recent good practice showed itself in his winning section A. "


1936/37 Hastings Premier Reserves (Section B)

1936/37 Hastings
Premier Reserves (Section B)
Residence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  Total 
1 Dr Salo Landau Amsterdam
&;
1 ½ 1 1 0 1 1 ½ 1 7
2 Frits van Seters Brussels 0
&;
1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1
3 Paul Devos Brussels ½ 0
&;
1 ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1
4 Reginald Pryce Michell Kingston 0 ½ 0
&;
1 1 ½ ½ 1 1
5 Francis Ernest Appleyard Kitto Cambridge 0 0 ½ 0
&;
1 0 1 1 1
6 Alfred William Bowen Wolverhampton 1 ½ 0 0 0
&;
1 1 ½ 0 4
7 Edward Mackenzie Jackson Bexhill 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 0
&;
0 ½ 0
8 Dr Jurrien Cornelis Scheffer Amsterdam 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1
&;
1 1
9 Arthur Eva1 Manchester ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0
&;
1 3
10 Amédée Gibaud France 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
&;
2

1 the crosstable in BCM and the text (see below) confirms that it was Arthur Eva (b 26.11.1876, d 30.05.1942) and not his brother Alfred Eva (b 24.08.1882, d 21.02.1974)

In section B young Mr. Bowen’s win against Dr. Landau, who was the victor, was a noteworthy game. It was a pity that Arthur Eva was compelled to retire from the last three rounds, a telegram recalling him owing to a serious accident to a member of his firm. In the two sections were Collins, Bowen and Kitto, all competitors in recent years in the Boys’ championship at Hastings Easter tournaments, and Peters just below was another. All are in present residence at the older Universities. Another pleasant feature of these sections is the cordial way some of the former players in the Premier contest, like Michell, Sergeant and Milner-Barry, place themselves in the hands of the organisers for classification purposes.

The two Premier Reserves sections were of approximately equal strength. Prizes : £10, £8 and £6. Consolation prizes as in the Premier contest.


1936/37 Hastings Major A

1936/37 Hastings
Major A
Residence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  Total 
1 Emil Josef Diemer Germany
&;
1 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1
2 Cecil Perfect Hammond Bexhill 0
&;
1 1 0 1 0 ½ 1 1
3 Alfred Dudley Barlow London 0 0
&;
1 0 1 1 ½ ½ 1 5
4 Frederick William Boff Hastings 0 0 0
&;
½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 5
5 Baruch Harold Wood Sutton Coldfield 0 1 1 ½
&;
0 0 1 ½ 1 5
6 John James O'Hanlon Dublin 0 0 0 0 1
&;
½ 1 1 1
7 E M Morrison Amsterdam 0 1 0 0 1 ½
&;
0 1 1
8 Theodore Magnus Wechsler London ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 1
&;
0 1
9 Leonard Charles Birch Croydon 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 1
&;
1 3
10 Dr F G Naerebout Hilversum 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0
&;
½

BCM, March 1937, page 138, gives another part-game from this section...

Hastings 1936/37 - O'Hanolon - Naerebout
... but unfortunately the diagram makes no sense and doesn't seem to tally with the moves. Can anyone make sense of this?


1936/37 Hastings Major B

1936/37 Hastings
Major B
Residence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  Total 
1 (Arthur) John Peters Oxford Univ
&;
1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 7
2 Frederick William Flear Welwyn Garden City 0
&;
1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 6
3 Alfred Herman Reeve Great Missenden ½ 0
&;
0 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1
4 Edith Martha Holloway (née Crittenden) London ½ 1 1
&;
1 0 0 0 0 1
5 Anne Muriel Shannon Shannon (née Kerr) London ½ 0 0 0
&;
1 1 1 ½ ½
6 Ernest Montgomery Jellie London ½ 1 0 1 0
&;
½ ½ 1 0
7 Edith Mary Ann Michell (née Tapsell) Kingston-upon-Thames 0 0 ½ 1 0 ½
&;
½ 1 0
8 Capt. Hugh Windsor Fiesch Heneage Brighton 0 0 ½ 1 0 ½ ½
&;
½ ½
9 Dr Frederic Agar St John Manchester 0 0 0 1 ½ 0 0 ½
&;
1 3
10 Richard Edward Lean Brighton 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 0
&;
3

The stronger British women players, including Mrs. Holloway, the present champion, found their way into the two Major sections.

Besides the sectional prizes as given there were three prizes of a guinea each presented by Mrs. A. M. S. Shannon, in renewal of her effort to encourage women’s chess. Mrs. Shannon has already got more countries interested and the number of competitors in the women’s world championship at Stockholm next August is likely to be twenty, against the twelve at Warsaw.

The two Major sections were graded1, but the prizes were the same in each—£5, £4, £3. (1 not in the modern sense of the word – it simply meant arranged in order of perceived strength - JS)


Competing in the lower sections were a number of boys and teachers from schools in Coventry and Winchester. These got into the news lately when a team of St. Thomas’s School, Winchester, played a match at Coventry. Madame Alekhine’s winning a prize gave another interest to the lower sections.

The scores in the First Class sections are given in full, and the others in order of merit. The prizes in all the First Class sections were £4, £3 and £2.

1936/37 Hastings First Class A

1936/37 Hastings
First Class A
Residence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  Total 
1 Charles William Roberts Brighouse
&;
½ ½ 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 6
2 Leslie Edward Vine Eastleigh ½
&;
1 0 ½ 1 1 0 1 1 6
3 Leonard Gerardus Eggink The Hague ½ 0
&;
1 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1
4 Ralph Carter Woodthorpe Brighton 1 1 0
&;
0 ½ 0 1 1 1
5 Minnie Musgrave Hastings 0 ½ ½ 1
&;
0 1 0 1 1 5
6 Dennis Bernard Mercer Mortlake 1 0 1 ½ 1
&;
0 1 0 ½ 5
7 George Arthur Peck Nottingham 0 0 ½ 1 0 1
&;
0 1 1
8 Julien Tondriau1 Belgium 0 1 0 0 1 0 1
&;
0 0 3
9 Geoffrey George Homan Rochester 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
&;
½
10 Rev. Charles Fenton Bolland Hastings 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 1 ½
&;
2

1 Tondriau lost three games by default

1936/37 Hastings First Class B

1936/37 Hastings
First Class B
Residence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  Total 
1 Charles Henry Taylor Wells
&;
1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 0 ½ 1
2 D M Barnes Horsham 0
&;
1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 0 6
3 Ronald Stephen Lockwood Winchester 0 0
&;
½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 6
4 G Booth Westcliff ½ ½ ½
&;
0 1 0 1 1 1
5 H Ward Saltdean ½ 0 ½ 1
&;
0 0 1 1 1 5
6 Edith St John (née Fraser) Manchester 0 0 0 0 1
&;
½ 1 1 1
7 James Arthur Aspden Bath 0 ½ 0 1 1 ½
&;
0 0 1 4
8 Julian Mayne Ilott Bexhill 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
&;
½ 1
9 Dr William Ernest McKechnie Hastings ½ 0 0 0 0 0 1 ½
&;
½
10 Capt. J Mackenzie Exmouth 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½
&;

1936/37 Hastings First Class (Afternoon)

1936/37 Hastings
First Class (Afternoon)
Residence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  Total 
1 James Edmund Sandford Fawcett1 St Leonards
&;
0 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1
2 Philip Charles Hoad London 1
&;
0 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1
3 Hon. Arthur James Beresford Lowther Woodbridge 0 1
&;
½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 7
4 Maurice Ellinger London 0 ½ ½
&;
½ 0 1 1 1 1
5 Arthur Douglas Field Croydon 0 0 ½ ½
&;
½ 1 ½ ½ 1
6 W H Jones Hastings 0 0 0 1 ½
&;
1 1 0 0
7 Samuel Frederick Dalladay Hastings ½ 0 0 0 0 0
&;
½ 1 1 3
8 J E Stevens Hastings 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½
&;
½ 1
9 Herbert William Tidball Birmingham 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 ½
&;
½
10 Miss Mary Louisa Harrison Eastbourne 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 ½
&;

1 Sir James Fawcett (1913-1991), maternal grandfather of UK prime minister Boris Johnson. He was educated at Rugby School and New College, Oxford, but did not play in a Varsity chess match. However, he played in representative matches for Oxford University Chess Club, e.g. board 6 against Worcester College for the Blind, 28.11.1931; board 7 against Civil Service, 27.02.1932; board 10 against Birmingham City CC, 05.03.1932; board 9 for Oxfordshire vs Wiltshire, 28.05.1932; played (and lost) in a simul vs Sir George Thomas, Oxford, 23.02.1933; board 11 for OUCC vs Insurance, 4.11.1933. He took part in the Dupree Under-21 Tournament, Brighton, January 1934, but withdrew after round 1. In 1936 he turned out for Middlesex in county matches, around boards 25-30. In 1937 he played for Hastings CC in matches as did his father Rev. Joseph Fawcett.


Other Sections

Second Class (morning): (1) Tony Daukes (London) 7/11; (2-4) Miss Emily Eliza Abraham (Deal), Charles William Bullows (Birmingham), E. F. Norris (Bexhill) 6½; (5) Patrick Foster (Hastings) 6; (6-8) G. Newnham (Hastings), H. G. W. Vernon (Bexhill), G. W. Woolf (St. Leonards) 5½; (9-11) Mrs. Helen Muriel Cobbold (London), W. J. T. Gubb (Winchester), A. V. Zetten (Leicester) 4½; (12) John E Coleman (Grays) 3½. A very hotly-contested section.

Second Class (afternoon): (1) Mrs. C M Lillie (Rye) 7½/9; (2) G. H. Wheeler (Hastings) 6; (3-4) Mrs. M Healey (Hastings), Paul M Foster (Hastings) 5½; (5) W. Sharman (Hove) 5; (6-7) W. M. Batten (Welwyn Garden City), Arthur Albert Rider (Hastings) 4; (8) J. Francis (St. Leonards) 3½; (9) Frank Miles Argrave (Whitstable) 3; (10) Mrs. Clara Margaret MacVean (Bournemouth) 1.

Prizes : £3, £2 and £1 10s.

Third Class (morning) A: (1) A. Trimnell (London) 9/9; (2) Geoffrey Daukes (London) 7; (3) Madame Alekhine (France) 6½; (4) V. Rigby (Coventry) 5; (5) A. Chandler (Winchester) 4½; (6) A. Ireland (Winchester) 4; (7) A. Held (Winchester) 3½; (8) L. Cannings (Coventry) 3; (9) R. Nichol (Coventry) 2½; (10) E. J. Powell (Hastings) 0 (four games defaulted).

Third Class (morning) B: (1) A. Dixon (Brighton) 9/9; (2) B. P. Pain (Hastings) 6; (3-4) W. E. Rider (Cambridge), E. Watton (Winchester) 5½; (5) J. C. Hickey 5; (6-7) Mrs. Vine (Eastleigh), G. Benton (Burton-on-Trent) 4½; (8) W. F. Freeman (St. Leonards) 4; (9) C. Tanner 1; (10) Miss Goodacre (Cheltenham) 0.

Third Class (afternoon): (1) D. Ormonde (Cambridge) 8½/9; (2) E. Swanson (Hastings) 8; (3) Miss I. M. Shaw (Hastings) 6; (4) K. W. B. MacLeod 5½, (5) T. C. Turk (Hastings) 4½; (6-8) Mrs. Simpson (Brighton), Miss Lankey (Hastings), Dr. G. F. N. Taylor (Hastings) 3; (9) Capt. Plant 2½; (10) Mrs. Plant 0 (Mr. and Mrs. Plant withdrew after three rounds).

Prizes : £2 10s., £1 10s. and £1.

Two special tournaments were conducted on the usual lines of preliminary sections followed by "Knock-out," by H. E. Dobell. The lightning tournament resulted : (1) F. von Seters; (2) A. D. de Groot; (3) Dr. J. C. Scheffer; (4) A. J. Peters. The prize-winners in the "Rapid" tournament (ten minutes each allowed) were : (1) Dr. Scheffer; (2) M. Feigin; (3) de Groot; (4) W. Winter.

At the final meeting for which all games were got over in good time, the Mayoress of Hastings, Mrs. Lancelot Blackman, was present to distribute the prizes. Dr. Alekhine had a very fine reception, and that of R. Fine was only a little behind. But it was evident that the large assembly, and indeed the whole chess world, was delighted to see the great master Alekhine once again winning a big tournament outright. Miss Menchik moved and Dr. Alekhine seconded, in capital speeches, a vote of thanks to the Mayor and Corporation for their interest in and financial support of the congress. Alderman Burden in reply said that the borough authorities looked on the grant as one of the best investments they made on behalf of Hastings’ publicity. Reference was made also to the fact that the B.B.C. gave a few minutes daily in the 10-0 p.m. news bulletin to a description of the play, and the results and scores. Previously, only the final results have thus been taken up. Votes of thanks to the Club, the organisers and the. Lady Mayoress, were passed with acclamation. In the absence of S. Tinsley, who was not yet fully recovered from a recent operation, and was much missed, the vote of thanks to the Press, proposed by Alderman Shoesmith, was replied to by his substitute, G. E. Smith, the popular chess contributor to The Field, who was officiating for Mr. Tinsley. Mr. Smith was desirous to pass on a message from Mr. Tinsley, and this turned out to consist of "Sh-sh."!


Biographical Notes

Mrs Anne Muriel Shannon Shannon (1883-1965). The repetition of 'Shannon' is not a typo: her maiden name was Anne Muriel Shannon Kerr and she married a man called Frederick Shannon, thus her full married name was Mrs Anne Muriel Shannon Shannon. As well as being a chess player (she represented Ireland in the 1935 Women's World Championship in Warsaw), and a chess patron (she sponsored various prizes for women players), and a croquet player, she was a geographer (Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society) and mountaineer. An ascent on a Norwegian mountain, Lodelskapa, was named the Shannon Way after she became the first woman to ascend it. (Daily Mirror, 24 August 1935) Mrs Shannon donated the original Shannon Trophy which was awarded to the Southern Counties' Chess Union (SCCU) county champions. (The story of how it was lost, found and then lost again may be found at the SCCU website.) Another of her trophies is still awarded to the winner of the Kent Women's Championship.


File Updated

Date Notes
(previously) Previously part of the bulk Hastings file
2 September 2020 Added dates, crosstables and results, plus 24 games and part-games from subsidiary sections.
4 September 2020 Brian Denman has kindly contributed some more games from subsidiary sections: (1) HH Cole-Sacconi, Premier Reserves A; (2) Winser-Graf, Premier Reserves A; (3) Booth-Ward, First Class B. Thanks to Brian.
11 September 2020 Following some proof-reading by Paul Georghiou, I have amended "J Sapira" in the games file to "Emmanuel Sapira".
30 November 2020 Added the game Diemer-Hammond from the Major A section. White's 19th move is a zinger! Many thanks to Ulrich Tamm.
10 March 2022 Replaced crosstable images with proper tables, showing full names where available and links to other pages with biographical information. One discovery whilst doing this was that the joint winner of the First Class (Afternoon) tournament was the maternal grandfather of UK prime minister Boris Johnson.
4 August 2022 Added seven games: from Premier Reserves A - (1) A.de Groot 1-0 H.Cole; (2) L.Prins 1-0 H.Cole. From Premier Reserves B- (3) S.Landau 1-0 J.Scheffer; (4) J.Scheffer 1-0 A.Bigaud; (5) S.Landau 1-0 A.Gibaud; (6) S.Landau 1-0 F.van Seters; (7) S.Landau 1-0 E.Jackson. Many thanks to Ron de Haas for supplying the scores.
10 August 2022 Added eight games: two from Premier Reserves A - (1) S.Graf 1-0 E.Sapira; (2) L.Prins 0-1 A.Sacconi. And six from Premier Reserves B - (3) F.Kitto 0-1 F.van Seters; (4) F.van Seters 0-1 P.Devos; (5) Arthur Eva ½-½ A.Bowen; (6) F.van Seters 1-0 Arthur Eva; (7) J.Scheffer 0-1 F.van Seters; (8) R.Michell 0-1 P Devos. Many thanks to Ulrich Tamm.
30 January 2023 Added one part-game: B.Wood 1-0 A.Barlow (Major A).
27 November 2023 Two part-games are now complete scores: (1) A.De Groot 1-0 W.Ritson Morry, Premier Reserves A, rd 4; (2) J.Scheffer 1-0 E.M.Jackson, Premier Reserves B, rd 7.
13 March 2024 Added the game Grace Alekhine 1-0 A Ireland (Third Class Morning A section). Many thanks to Michael Kühl for submitting the game.