Final crosstable
RANK CLUB Be Ho Vi Total 1 BELFAST xx 11 11 4.0 2 VICTORIA 00 xx 1? 1.0+ 3 HOLYWOOD 00 0? xx O.0++ Result of the final match of the season between Victoria and Holywood has not been found. It is possible that the match was not played because Belfast had already secured the trophy.
ULSTER CHAMPIONSHIP
There was no competition for the Championship in the 1895-1896 season but the Belfast News-Letter reported on the 14th January 1897 that, at a meeting of secretaries to make arrangements for the annual Ulster Inter-Club Trophy, it was also decided to hold a competition for the Ulster Chess Championship "at an early date." The following week the newspaper carried the additional information that the tournament would probably commence about the middle of February at Belfast Chess Club on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It also carried this rather unencouraging statement that the organising committee "reserves the right of refusing any entry, and may not hold the tourney if sufficient entries are not received.
About a month later it was announced that the Championship would commence on Saturday 27th February, with the entrance fee unchanged at 5 shillings. If there were less than 7 competitors, it would be a double-round contest. As it happened exactly seven players entered the lists, only one of whom - A. W. Hutton - had previously contested the Championship. In fact play did not get underway until Wednesday 3rd March and the final crosstable appeared in the News-Letter on the 15th April 1897. The convincing winner was William Steen, who incidentally had been the chess editor of the newspaper for a short time in the 1880s.
RANK PLAYER S G C H M G M Total
1 W. STEEN x 1 1 1 1 1 = 5.5
2 J. GARRATT 0 x 1 0 1 1 1 4.0
3=5 W.Y. CHAMBERLAIN 0 0 x 1 1 d 1 3.0
3=5 A.W. HUTTON 0 1 0 x 0 1 1 3.0
3=5 D. McLEOD CRAIK 0 0 0 1 x 1 1 3.0
6 R.S. GAMBLE 0 0 d 0 0 x 1 1.0
7 S.J. MAGOWAN = 0 0 0 0 0 x 0.5
d = double default/game not played
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