1926

1925-1926 ULSTER TROPHY
Final crosstable

RANK CLUB       1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Total
1.   BELFAST    xx 10 11 01 10 11  7.0
2.   ST PAUL'S  01 xx 10 01 11 01  6.0
3.   VICTORIA   00 01 xx 11 01 01  5.0
4.   CIYMS      10 10 00 xx 01 10  4.0
5.   N BELFAST  01 00 10 10 xx 01  4.0
6.   STRANDTOWN 00 10 10 01 10 xx  4.0

BELFAST -v- DUBLIN, 1st INTER-CITY MATCH
Saturday 6th February 1926, Sterling's Cafe, Belfast

Between 1926 and 1936 an annual match was played between the chess-players of the cities of Belfast and Dublin. There were, in fact, 9 encounters in those years - no match being played in either 1930 or 1933. Honours were even over the 9 matches, with 4 wins to Belfast, 4 wins to Dublin and 1 draw. Below is an edited version of the 1926 match taken from the report on Monday 8th February in the Belfast News-Letter. A largely similar version appeared the same day in the Dublin Evening Herald.

The remarkable revival of interest throughout Ireland in the ancient game of Chess was further emphasised on Saturday when, for the first time in the present generation, a match took place between Dublin and Belfast.

It was organised by Mr. H. N. Bowesman, of Dublin, in conjunction with Mr. S. E. Manderson, secretary of the Belfast chess Club, and the latter was responsible for the arrangements at the Belfast end, which were carried out very satisfactorily.

It was a purely friendly fixture, nothing depending on it but the little honour that attaches to the winning of a game of pure skill, and it speaks well for the keen-ness of the Dublin players that a team of 19, chiefly business men, could be put together to travel all the way to Belfast and back for the pleasure of playing a single game of chess.

Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, the same spirit is not displayed in Belfast.

Many of our players show a disinclination to take part in the inter-club tournaments except in the home matches.

This enterprise on the part of the Dublin players and the wider experience thus gained, told in Saturday's match, and they had a comparatively easy victory over the local men, many of whom, from want of serious practice of this sort, were quite exhausted after three or four hours of strenuous play.

The visiting team was almost as strong as Dublin could produce. It included P. Baker, the last holder of the Irish championship, T. G. Cranston, his predecessor in the title, and J. Creevey, ex-champion of Leinster. Only two players were not present who might have strengthened the team, namely, Professor Thrift, who tied with J. J. O'Hanlon in the still undecided championship of 1925, and J. Doyle, the present Leinster champion.

In fairness to the visitors, however, the same thing may be said of the Belfast team, which included J. J. O'Hanlon, the veteran of many tournaments, and three players who have held the Belfast Championship. It was the pick of the local clubs, and not more than three or four players were absent who could with advantage have been substituted for any of the 19.

The visitors arrived by the midday train, and were entertained by their opponents to lunch in Sterling's Cafe, Corn Market, where the match took place.

After lunch the visiting team was photographed, and play began at 2.30.

Seated in the centre of the picture are three Irish champions.
The man with the beard is Philip Baker, champion in 1924, 1927, 1928 and 1929.
Next left is James Creevey, winner in 1933 and 1934.
Across the board from him is T. G. Cranston, champion in 1922 and 1931.

It was decided that all games not finished by 6 o'clock should be decided by two adjudicators - the two leaders of the teams - so as to allow the Dublin men to catch the train home. [The results of the adjudicated games are marked with an "x".]

Bd Belfast      7.5-11.5 Dublin         Opening
1  J.J O'Hanlon   1-0    P. Baker       Ruy Lopez
2  R.A. Williams  1/2x   T. G. Cranston Queen's Pawn
3  H. Thomas      1/2    N. H. Wallace  Ruy Lopez
4  W.J. Allen     0-1x   J. Creevey     Queen's Pawn
5  A.S. Roper     0-1    T.P. Kane      Vienna
6  J.W. Carey     1/2    A.P. Watkinson English Opening
7  A. Orr         1/2    P.W. Whelan    Sicilian Defence
8  W.H. Lloyd     1-0    H. McIlwaine   Alekhine's Defence
9  H. Gill        1-0    G.T. Gerrard   Ruy Lopez
10 F. Dickinson   1-0x   "Cú Uladh"     Sicilian Defence
11 F.H. Purdy     0-1    R.T. Varian    Vienna
12 P. McMahon     0-1    L.P. Younglao  Ruy Lopez
13 S. Robinson    0-1    H.N. Bowesman  Bishop's Opening
14 B. McCann      0-1    J. Taylor      Bishop's Opening
15 "Alpha"        1-0    G.B. Thrift    Alekhine's Defence
16 R.J. Cairns    0-1    J.P.M. Cotter  King's Gambit
17 J. McMeekin    1/2    A. Falkiner    Guioco Piano
18 J. Montgomery  0-1    J. Reynolds    Centre Counter
19 W.J. McCaughan 0-1    T. Brett       Sicilan Defence

The game at the top board was interesting as being a fresh trial of strength between two rivals for the Irish Championship. The Northern expert confirmed the form displayed by him at the autumn tournament and early in the game decured a decisive advantage which he turned into victory.

At board number 7 A. Orr, who gave a good account of himself with the Dublin players in the recent championship tournament, again kept his end up by drawing with a strong player in P. W. Whelan.
W.H. Lloyd, at the next board, followed Alekhine's innovation by meeting P-K4 with Kt-KB3 and though the defence seems against all theory, it was in this instance carried to a successful issue. On the other hand, G. B. Thrift adopted it unsuccessfully against "Alpha."

After the unfinished games had been adjudicated, Mr. Bowesman, on behalf of the visitors, said he was glad to be able to say there was no boundary in regard to chess, and that the match had been carried on very cordially on both sides. In the cases where the games had been submitted to adjudication there was not one where the decision was not agreed to absolutely, and the entire series of games were carried on with perfect satisfaction to everybody concerned. On behalf of the Dublin players he wished to propose a hearty vote of thanks to their Belfast hosts for the kind manner in which they had been received him and for the excellent arrangements made for the match. He hoped it was only the beginning of pleasant intercourse in chess between the two cities.

Mr. Cranston, in seconding, said he had some previous experience here, and he was delighted with the hospitality of the Northern players. He hoped they could look forward to the return match being played in Dublin. They, like their opponents, were chiefly business men, and had to leave their business to come, but they had thoroughly enjoyed their visit.

Mr. Manderson, replying on behalf of the Belfast clubs, said they were very pleased to have the Dublin players amongst them, and they hoped the match would become an annual fixture. Belfast had been defeated on this occasion, but they would knock spots off Dublin at their next encounter.

The proceedings concluded, and the visitors left for Dublin by the evening train.

The News-Letter report had claimed the Belfast players were exhausted towards the end of the session due to lack of serious practice. On the other hand, T.B. Rowland's chess column in the Herald for Saturday 20th February suggested fatigue after the journey from Dublin was a disadvantage that favoured Belfast in the game below and others.

[Event "Belfast -v- Dublin"] [Site "Belfast"] [Date "1926.02.06"] [Round "?"] [White "\"Cú Uladh\""] [Black "Dickinson, F."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B33"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "1926.02.06"] [EventType "match"] [WhiteTeam "Dublin"] [BlackTeam "Belfast"] {[Source: Dublin Evening Herald, 20th February 1926]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. Bd3 d6 7. O-O Qc7 8. Be3 d5 9. Nd2 e5 10. exd5 cxd5 11. f3 Be6 12. Bf2 Rd8 13. Re1 Bd6 14. Nf1 O-O 15. Qe2 Nh5 16. Be3 Nf6 17. Bg5 e4 18. fxe4 dxe4 19. Bxf6 exd3 20. cxd3 ({Accepting the loss of a piece. Better would have been} 20. Bxd8 dxe2 21. Bxc7 exf1=Q+ 22. Rxf1 Bxc7 23. b3 { when White is probably only a little worse.}) 20... gxf6 21. Kh1 Kh8 22. Rac1 Qd7 23. b3 Rg8 24. Qf3 Rg6 25. Rcd1 {Adjudicated a win for Dickinson/Belfast.} 0-1

WILLIAMSON SHIELD
A New Champion

The 1926 Williamson Shield commenced in mid-February, with three of the players - the champion Allen, Orr and McMahon - having played the previous year. After two rounds Allen and McMahon had each won against Orr and the only newcomer to the competition, Watson. Their third round encounter therefore assumed particular importance. Despite having the White pieces, Allen played rather timidly, content to allow exchanges. Each player inflicted doubled isolated pawns on the other, but Allen's pawns were more vulnerable to attack and he lost first one and then two Queenside pawns, thereby handing a rather bloodless victory to his opponent.

[Event "Williamson Shield"] [Site "Belfast"] [Date "1926.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Allen, William John"] [Black "McMahon, P.J."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C66"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "1926.02.??"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "IRL"] [SourceTitle "Ulster Archive"] [Source "David McAlister"] [SourceDate "2008.03.19"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2008.03.19"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. d4 Bd7 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. O-O Be7 7. Re1 exd4 { Castles here would lose at least a pawn. [This is a reference to the famous Tarrasch trap. In Tarrasch - Marco, 7th German Chess Federation Congress, Dresden 1892 the game continued after 7. 0-0 with 8.Bxc6 Bxc6 9.dxe5 dxe5 10. Qxd8 Raxd8 11.Nxe5 Bxe4 12.Nxe4 Nxe4 13.Nd3 f5 14.f3 Bc5+ 15. Nxc5 Nxc5 16.Bg5 Rd5 17.Be7 when Black resigned because after 17...Re8 (or Rf7) 18.c4 wins the exchange. Remarkably Tarrasch had already published this analysis in the Deutsche Schachzeitung.} 8. Nxd4 Nxd4 9. Qxd4 {9.Bxd7+ is probably better.} Bxb5 10. Nxb5 a6 11. Nc3 O-O 12. e5 {This gives Black a level game.} dxe5 13. Qxd8 Raxd8 14. Rxe5 Bb4 15. Bg5 Bxc3 16. bxc3 Rfe8 17. Bxf6 gxf6 18. Rxe8+ { If 18.Rc5 Re2 looks dangerous.} Rxe8 19. Kf1 Re5 20. Rb1 {20.Rd1 was better, and White's next move leads to the loss of a pawn.} b6 21. Rb4 Ra5 22. Rb2 Ra3 23. c4 Rc3 24. Ke2 Rxc4 25. Kd3 b5 26. c3 f5 27. Rb4 Rc6 28. c4 {The final mistake. Black gets another pawn with an easy win. White's play in this game has not much to commend it, and Black took full advantage of the opportunities. } Rd6+ 29. Kc3 c5 30. Rb1 b4+ 31. Kb3 Rd3+ 32. Kc2 Rc3+ 33. Kd2 Rxc4 34. Rc1 Rxc1 35. Kxc1 c4 0-1

[Annotations from the Belfast News-Letter for 8th April 1926]

When Allen lost his next game to Orr this left McMahon with an excellent chance of securing the Championship of Belfast. He then beat both Orr and Watson to win the tournament with a round to spare. However McMahon still had his return game to play against Allen and the champion of the previous three years was determined to gain his revenge for the loss of his title. However McMahon was content to do no more than play for a draw and after 3 hour's play and 51 moves Allen gave up the struggle in a dead drawn endgame.

WILLIAMSON SHIELD 1926

PLAYER          PJM WJA AO  JW  TOTAL 
P. J. McMAHON   XX  1=  11  11   5.5 
W. J. ALLEN     0=  XX  10  11   3.5 
A. ORR          00  01  XX  0=   1.5 
J. WATSON       00  00  1=  XX   1.5