Chess Games of Victor Russ (born 2 January 1905, died 6 May 1985)
I am grateful to Steve Russ who sent me all of his father's chess scorebooks that he could find in October 2024. I finally finished transcribing all 687 games from the scorebooks in March 2026. With Steve's permission my intention is to lodge the scorebooks with the ECF Library at DeMontfort University, Leicester, in due course. Note that the scorebooks date from 1947, consequently we have no games dating before that time. JS.
Victor John Anthony Russ was born in Brentford, London, and grew up in the London area. In the 1921 he was recorded as a junior bank clerk employed by the London City and Midland Bank and he was still working in banking in London at the outbreak of war in 1939. His younger brother was the novelist Patrick O'Brian, 1914-2000, whose birth name was Richard Patrick A (Anthony?) Russ.
In 1928 Victor Russ won the Mocatta Cup, which was the second division of the City of London Club Championship. In 1929 at the British Championship Congress in Ramsgate he scored a perfect 10/10 to win the Second Class A section, with Harry Golombek amongst his defeated opponents. In the 1930s he was a member of Battersea Chess Club but seems not to have played in any BCF Congresses. He drew a game vs F D Yates in a simul at the City of London club in 1926.
Shortly after the war he was living in the village of Birstall, a short distance north of Leicester (not Birstall in Yorkshire as I had previously thought - JS), which was his residence given when he scored 10/11 to win the 1948 BCF Major Open B section which would have qualified him for the 1949 Championship proper. By 1946 Russ was already playing chess in Leicester where he was based for the next 13 years. He won the Leicestershire County Championship in 1948/49 and 1949/50. During this time Russ took part in four British Championships: 1949 (scoring 3/11), 1951 (5½/11), 1952 (6/11) and 1953 (3/11). Other tournament appearances documented on BritBase during this time include the 1957 BCF Major Open A (6/11).
The highlight of Russ's long career as a team player came on 13 July 1957 when he was a member of the Leicester team which beat Manchester in the final of the British Chess Federation's National Club Championship...
| 1957 BCF National Club Championship Final |
| |
Leicester |
Grade |
vs |
Manchester |
Grade |
| 1w |
Philip Norman Wallis |
2b / 217-224 |
½-½ |
Dr. Bernhard Hermann Neumann |
4a / 193-200 |
| 2b |
Wladyslaw Tabakiernik |
2b / 217-224 |
1-0 |
Clifford George Hilton |
3b / 201-208 |
| 3w |
Peter Darrell Sanderson |
3b / 201-208 |
½-½ |
John Henry Pollitt |
4a / 193-200 |
| 4b |
Victor John Anthony Russ |
4a / 193-200 |
1-0 |
Donald Bryan Grayson |
4b / 185-192 |
| 5w |
Dr. Keith Derek Warren |
|
1-0 |
Bernard Landon Wilkinson |
5a / 177-184 |
| 6b |
Roman Starosolsky |
4b / 185-192 |
½-½ |
Alan Forrest Stobo |
5a / 177-184 |
| Venue: Crown Hotel, Matlock |
4½-1½ |
Date: 13 July 1957 |
Unusually, it is possible to give an exact tally of Russ's performances for Leicester (club and county) as these were compiled by Peter Sanderson and published in the Leicester Daily Mercury, 18 March 1978: between 1947 and 1960, Russ played 97 games, scoring +48=20-29 for a percentage of 59.8% on an average board of 3.
In about 1959 Russ moved to Southport in Lancashire. He achieved the rare distinction of winning the county individual championship of a second county when he became Lancashire county champion in 1960. He represented the county in matches, sometimes on top board.
In 1963 Russ moved to Harrogate in Yorkshire where he remained for the rest of his life. He switched allegiance from Lancashire to Yorkshire in county chess and played for Harrogate in the Woodhouse Cup, Yorkshire's premier chess league. He eventually became Harrogate club president and continued to play for the first team into the 1980s.
Once domiciled in Harrogate Russ also started playing in the occasional tournament in addition to a steady diet of club and county chess, plus British Championship qualifying competitions and county individual championships which he had taken part in for the previous decade and a half. In 1963 he played in the Northern Open (Whitby, July/August) in which he scored 5½/11 against tough opposition. The 1964 British Championships were also held in Whitby, where Russ took part in the Five-Day First-Week tournament and won it with 4½/5. He returned to Whitby in 1965, this time scoring 6/11 in the Northern Open.
In 1968/69 Russ visited the south of England, scoring 4½/9 in the Hastings Challengers Reserves. In 1969 he took part in the BCF Major Open in Rhyl, scoring 4½/11. In September 1971 he travelled south again, winning the Paignton Premier Reserves A section with 5½/7. He returned to Paignton in 1973, this time scoring 4½/7 in Challengers A. In 1975 he attended the first week of the British Championships in Morecambe, scoring 3½/5 to finish in a tie for 4th in the Five-Day Afternoon section. He started the 1975/76 Hastings Main A tournament, which was a nine-round Swiss, but dropped out after starting with 2/4 (presumably laid low by a seasonal affliction).
Russ also took part in weekend congresses in Harrogate and Scarborough during this time, meeting the toughest Yorkshire opposition, including players such as Norman Littlewood. His last tournament of this sort appears to have been the 1980 Scarborough Open in which he scored 2/5. Thereafter he continued to turn out for Harrogate in the Woodhouse Cup into his final few months.
Victor Russ playing for Leicester against Lud Eagle in the National Club Final on 29 September 1951. He lost to Dr. James M Aitken (and the game is already on BritBase in the Aitken file); Lud Eagle won the match 4-2. Note, the scorebook at his side, in which he is recording the moves, is one of those from which I am compiling this file of games - JS.
Photo & article: Leicester Mercury, 1 October 1951.
1947/48 Leicestershire Championship (Waterhouse-Reynolds Cup)
1947/48 Leicestershire Championship
(britbase.info) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
Total |
| 1 |
Alfred Lenton |
|
1 |
0 |
½ |
1 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
13 |
| 2 |
Philip Edward Collier |
0 |
|
1 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
12½ |
| 3 |
Victor John Anthony Russ |
1 |
0 |
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
12 |
| 4 |
Donald Gould |
½ |
½ |
0 |
|
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
½ |
1 |
10 |
| 5 |
Dr. Kurt August Hirsch |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
1 |
1 |
½ |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
10 |
| 6 |
John Hunter |
½ |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
1 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
½ |
½ |
1 |
8½ |
| 7 |
Oswald Weiss |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
1 |
0 |
½ |
1 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
½ |
7½ |
| 8 |
Edwin Breckon Chapman |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
½ |
½ |
1 |
|
½ |
1 |
|
1 |
½ |
0 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
| 9 |
George Edwin James |
0 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
1 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
|
0 |
½ |
½ |
1 |
1 |
½ |
1 |
6½ |
| 10 |
George Allen Rowley |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
0 |
0 |
1 |
½ |
1 |
½ |
5 |
| 11 |
Donald Smith |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
½ |
|
½ |
1 |
|
½ |
½ |
1 |
|
½ |
5 |
| 12 |
Walter Edwin Osborne |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
1 |
½ |
|
0 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
4½ |
| 13 |
Allan Albert Castle |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
0 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
0 |
½ |
1 |
|
0 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
| 14 |
C S Geary |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
0 |
1 |
0 |
½ |
0 |
½ |
1 |
|
|
½ |
4 |
| 15 |
Orson Neville Hector Stevens |
0 |
1 |
0 |
½ |
0 |
½ |
0 |
1 |
½ |
0 |
|
0 |
0 |
|
|
½ |
4 |
| 16 |
C H Thornton |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
0 |
0 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
1 |
½ |
½ |
|
3½ |
Three games left blank in the original crosstable (published in the 1947/48 British Chess Federation Yearbook, page 180
BCM, September 1948, p310: "The Secretary of Leicestershire sends us the result of the tournament for the County Championship, for which there were sixteen competitors. A. Lenton, for the second year in succession, was the winner with 13—2 draws and a loss to V. J. A. Russ, who was third with 12; P. E. Collier, being second with 12½). Russ led at the start but contracted mumps and was unable to maintain his earlier form."
1948/49 Leicestershire Championship (Waterhouse-Reynolds Cup)
1948/49 Leicestershire Championship
(britbase.info) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
Total |
| 1 |
Victor John Anthony Russ |
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
10½ |
| 2 |
Alfred Lenton |
0 |
|
1 |
1 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
| 3 |
John Hunter |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
| 4 |
Oswald Weiss |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
½ |
½ |
0 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
6½ |
| 5 |
Donald Gould |
½ |
½ |
0 |
½ |
|
½ |
0 |
1 |
1 |
½ |
1 |
½ |
6 |
| 6 |
Philip Edward Collier |
0 |
0 |
1 |
½ |
½ |
|
½ |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
5½ |
| 7 |
George Edwin James |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
½ |
|
½ |
0 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
5½ |
| 8 |
Allan Albert Castle |
0 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
0 |
0 |
½ |
|
½ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
4½ |
| 9 |
Edwin Breckon Chapman |
0 |
½ |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
½ |
|
1 |
0 |
½ |
4½ |
| 10 |
Walter Edwin Osborne |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
1 |
½ |
0 |
0 |
|
½ |
½ |
3 |
| 11 |
George Allen Rowley |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
½ |
|
1 |
2½ |
| 12 |
Charles Cordel |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
0 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
|
1½ |
Above crosstable from the 1948/49 British Chess Federation Yearbook, page 191
The decisive last-round game from the 1948/49 Leicestershire County Championship on 7 May 1949 from Victor Russ's scorebook. Well, probably from the Leicester Ch'ship (the scorebook doesn't actually say so). Alfred Lenton is White against Victor Russ... or maybe he was Black?! (We know that Russ won the game to take the title, he's written 'resigns' in the left-hand white moves column, but the end position is a clear win for White. And from move 17 onwards you'll find that the white moves have switched column to the right) The game opens 1 N-KB3 P-B4, but is that ...c5 or ...f5? Then 2 P-Q5... no, that's illegal, so previous half-moves are missing (one hastily scribbled in by Russ). Move 8 is KKtK2, but that doesn't make sense, does it? (Hmm, I'm beginning to wonder if the very first move was wrong - 1 d4 replacing 1 Nf3 makes more sense in some ways as 8 Nge2 becomes a possibility.) Fancy a game of Scorebook Challenge? Can you make sense of this score? I warn you, it's a tough one. My attempt to do so may be found in the download - I managed to get to the end of the score but it took some free interpretation of moves made in the middle of the game to get there. Can you do better?
Leicester Evening Mail, 27 June 1949: "New Chess Champion - Mr VICTOR RUSS, of Roman Road, Birstall, is the new Leicestershire chess champion and holder of the Waterhouse-Reynolds Cup, his remarkable score of 10½ points from 11 games Including a final round win against Mr. Alfred Lenton, the British international, who finished second, with Mr. John Hunter third.
A tutor at the Midland Bank's training branch in Nottingham, Mr. Russ is a native of Ealing, and the son of a London doctor. He took up chess at the age of six and has represented Middlesex and Surrey.
Philology, music and literature are among Mr. Russ's other interests, while he admits to a liking for gardening. Asked whether his six-year-old son had shown any signs of taking up chess, Mr Russ ruefully observed that up to the moment his boy preferred "Comic Cuts."
Leicester Daily Mercury, 27 June 1949: "NEW CHESS CHAMPION -
Leicestershire has a new chess champion this year in V. J. A. Russ, a comparative newcomer to Leicester, who on Saturday [25 June 1949] secured the title by winning his adjourned game with the holder, A. Lenton. Mr Russ’s score in an 11-round American [all-play-all] tournament, was the remarkably fine one of ten wins and one draw. A. Lenton finished second, and J.
Hunter third."
1949/50 Leicestershire Championship (Waterhouse-Reynolds Cup)
1949/50 Leicestershire Championship
(britbase.info) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
Total |
| 1 |
Victor John Anthony Russ |
|
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
10 |
| 2 |
John Hunter |
0 |
|
1d |
1 |
0d |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
7½ |
| 3 |
Philip Norman Wallis |
1 |
0d |
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
0d |
0d |
1 |
0d |
1 |
1 |
7 |
| 4 |
Philip Edward Collier |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
½ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
½ |
7 |
| 5 |
Donald Gould |
0 |
1d |
0 |
½ |
|
1 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
1 |
½ |
1 |
6½ |
| 6 |
Charles Cordel |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
| 7 |
Allan Albert Castle |
0 |
0 |
1d |
0 |
½ |
0 |
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
½ |
½ |
5½ |
| 8 |
Edwin Breckon Chapman |
0 |
0 |
1d |
0 |
½ |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
4½ |
| 9 |
George Edwin James |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
½ |
1 |
½ |
4½ |
| 10 |
Oswald Weiss |
0 |
½ |
1d |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
|
½ |
½ |
3 |
| 11 |
Bertram Thomas Harrison Smith |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
0 |
½ |
0 |
0 |
½ |
|
1 |
2½ |
| 12 |
Orson Neville Hector Stevens |
0 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
0 |
0 |
½ |
0 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
|
2 |
From the 1949/50 British Chess Federation Yearbook, page 189
BCM, May 1969, p135: "Yorkshire C.A. Easter Congress.—This annual event, held at the Ukrainian Club, Bradford, attracted a total of ninety-two competitors—an 80 per cent increase on the last few years. The results of the main event and the prize-winners in the other sections were—
Premier (five-round Swiss).—(1-3) Raymond B Edwards, Peter N Lee, Timothy S Wickens 3½/5; (4-5) Paul R Bielby, C Wright 3; (6-10) John Toothill, Brian H Coop, Peter Jeal, Stanley Wilkinson, Philip V Wade 2½; (11-12) Philip J Booth, D Holmes 2; (13) Victor John Anthony Russ 1½; (14) Duncan W Reed ½. [n.b. forenames added where known]
Premier Reserves "A."—(1) P Green 4½; (2) David Firth 3. "B."—(1) B Sedgwick 3½; (2) D Watmuff 3. "C."—(1) E Goodwin 5; (2) Norton 3.
Major "A."—(1) K Appleby 4½; (2-4) G Brayley, C B Taylor, W Goerke 2½. "B."—(1) J West 4½; (2) R Wadsworth 4. "C."—(1-2) D Jordan, B Peel 4.
Under-eighteen (Swiss).—(1) Leslie C Turner 5; (2-4) James Burnett, S. Kynaston, O N Solden 3½.
LInder-sixteen (Swiss).—(1-3) N Bateson, D Hellewell, M Wood 3½.
Under-fourteen (Swiss).—(1) A Shapira 5; (2) Miss G Wood 4½.
BCM, August 1985, p345: "Another former Lancashire Champion V. J. A. Russ died recently at the age of 80. He was associated with the Leicester club in the postwar period when they were so formidable a side in the National Club Championship and had retired to Harrogate."
File Updated
| Date |
Notes |
| 10 October 2024 |
Page initially set up - work in progress. |
| 3 March 2026 |
Completed input of 687 games. |
