Minor Pieces

Here’s some hot news from Redhill Chess Club, back in 1902.

There are a few interesting things to note here. At this time, Surrey League matches, just like the London League today, took place at central London venues, rather than on a home and away basis.

You’ll also spot that, as so often in their matches at this time, Richmond failed to field a full team. They frequently either had a couple of absentees at the bottom or a couple of nominated players who failed to turn up.

The impression I get is that the club was very ambitious, choosing to play in the Surrey Trophy against stronger opposition rather than the calmer waters of the Beaumont Cup. Their administrative skills, though, didn’t seem to match their ambitions. Chess clubs (and, no doubt most other clubs as well) are as good as their organisers, not as good as their players.

Regular readers will already have met Thomas Etheridge Harper and Charles Redway, and heard a brief mention of club founder Horace Lyddon Pring, but there are other members of this team who are of interest.

In particular, there’s a new name playing on top board, although he was probably losing his game against Leonard Percy Rees, one of the most important figures in early 20th century English chess and one well worth a future Minor Piece.

In the first decade of the 20th century there were a lot of strong British amateurs with retrospective ratings round about 2300-2400, so, by today’s standards, FM to IM strength. They rarely if ever played in major international tournaments so, except for those of us who spend much of our time in the dusty recesses of old books and magazines, or perhaps visiting BritBase, their names are largely forgotten today.

As it happens, many of these players had links with our area, West and South West London. You’ve already met George Edward Wainwright here, here, here and here.  Now I must introduce you to William Ward.

Researching him isn’t so easy. Cursed with one of the most popular male first names of his day, no middle names and a very common surname, any search for W Ward will turn up much of no relevance. In addition he came from a small family which has been little researched by genealogists: the few online trees I’ve been able to find don’t mention any chess connection and, if they give it at all, get his mother’s maiden name wrong.

Our William, 35 years old at the time of the above match, was born on 3 March 1867 in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, just north of Watford and now a large commuter village, and baptised there on 18 April the same year.

The 1871 census finds the Ward family there. William Ward senior is aged 27, a farmer of 184 acres employing 4 men and a boy, Ann (née Barford) is aged 26 and their two sons are William (4) and Mark (1). The family also have two servants. The parents were both born in Hatfield (the enumerator incorrectly recorded their sons as having been born there as well) and must have moved to Abbots Langley after their marriage. A third son, George Langton Ward, would be born early the following year. The family would later move to the Luton area, first to the small village of King’s Walden, and then to Lewsey, now a Luton suburb alongside the M1.

By 1881 young William is at boarding school in London: he’s recorded at 7 Highgate Road Kentish Town along with a Schoolmaster and a lot of other boys, including, exotically, three brothers from Quito (none of them, sadly, named Amos).

While his brothers followed in their father’s footsteps, pursuing a career in farming, William took a different route.  The 1891 census finds him, now aged 24, living in a boarding house at 50 Finsbury Park Road in North London, not all that far from Kentish Town, and working as a solicitor.

At some point in the mid 1880s, then, he must have studied Law, and perhaps, at the same time, taken up the game of chess. We first find him in 1890 playing in the 3rd class in a handicap tournament at Simpson’s Divan, which tells us he wasn’t a strong player. No child prodigy, then, but a young man who was attracted to the game, and, over the next few years, would discover a real talent.

Ward made rapid strides during the 1890s, soon playing matches for the famous City of London club (in their 1894-5 championship he reached the final stages) and taking part in representative matches for the South of England against the North.

His first external tournament was the Southern Counties Chess Union (SCCU) Championship in Southampton in 1897. Henry Ernest Atkins was a convincing winner on 8½/10, while William’s score of 4/10 was relatively modest, but no disgrace for a newcomer to chess at this level.

In the 1897-8 edition of the City of London Championship Ward finished in third place behind Thomas Francis Lawrence and Lucien Serraillier: by now he was clearly one of the capital’s strongest players.

In this game he demonstrates excellent opening knowledge, capping a fine performance with some sparkling tactics to force through a passed pawn. (Copy and paste the pgn of any game in this article here to play it through online.)

[Event “City of London CC Championship”]
[Date “1897.??.??”]
[White “Jones, Edward Owen”]
[Black “Ward, William”]
[Result “0-1”]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 b6 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Bd3 Bb7 9. O-O Nbd7 10. Rc1 c5 11. Re1 Ne4 12. Bf4 Nxc3 13. bxc3 c4 14. Bb1 Nf6 15. Ne5 Ba3 16. Rc2 b5 17. Rce2 Ne4 18. Bxe4 dxe4 19. Qb1 Qd5 20. f3 f6 21. fxe4 Qxe4 22. Nf3 Bc6 23. Nd2 Qd3 24. Qxd3 cxd3 25. Rf2 Bd5 26. e4 Bc4 27. Nxc4 bxc4 28. Rb1 Rae8 29. Rb7 Rxe4 30. Rxa7 Rfe8 31. Bd2 Re1+ 32. Rf1 R1e2 33. Rd1 Bb2 34. Rc7 Rxd2 35. Rxd2 Bxc3 36. Rd1 d2 37. Rxd2 Bxd2 38. Rxc4 Be3+ 39. Kf1 Rd8 40. Ke2 Bxd4 41. a4 Rd7 42. Kd3 Bb6+ 43. Ke4 Kf7 44. Rc6 Rd4+ 45. Kf3 Ba5 46. Ra6 Rxa4 0-1

The following year, the SCCU Championship in Salisbury was a very different story from the previous year. William shared 1st place with Joseph Henry Blake on 7½/10, with strong players such as Gunston, Bellingham, Loman and Sherrard trailing in their wake.

In this exciting drawn game, against the Dutch organist Rudolf Loman, both players displayed extensive awareness of contemporary theory in the very sharp Max Lange Attack. Ward had the better of the early exchanges but, in a very complex middlegame failed to make the most of his chances. The knight ending was still difficult for both players, and here Loman missed an opportunity.

[Event “SCCU Championship Salisbury”]
[Date “1898.??.??”]
[White “Loman, Rudolf Johannes”]
[Black “Ward, William”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. exf6 dxc4 8. Re1+ Be6 9. Ng5 Qd5 10. Nc3 Qf5 11. Nce4 Bb6 12. Ng3 Qg6 13. Nxe6 fxe6 14. Rxe6+ Kd7 15. fxg7 Qxe6 16. gxh8=Q Rxh8 17. Bd2 Rf8 18. f4 Kc8 19. Kh1 c3 20. bxc3 dxc3 21. Bxc3 Rxf4 22. Qh5 Qg6 23. Qd5 Qh6 24. Nf5 Qf8 25. Qe6+ Kb8 26. Ng3 a6 27. Re1 h5 28. Qg6 Qc5 29. Bd2 Rf8 30. Be3 Qc3 31. Rf1 Rxf1+ 32. Nxf1 Bxe3 33. Qe8+ Ka7 34. Qxe3+ Qxe3 35. Nxe3 Nd4 36. h4 Kb6 37. g4 hxg4 38. h5 Ne6 39. Nd5+ Kc6 40. h6 Ng5 41. Nf6 a5 42. Kg2 Nf7 43. Nxg4 Nxh6 44. Nxh6 Kc5 45. Nf5 Kb4 46. Ne3 a4 47. Nd5+ Ka3 48. Nxc7 Kxa2 49. Kf3 Kb2 50. Nb5 Kxc2 51. Ke3 Kb2 1/2-1/2

The 1898-9 City of London Championship proved a slight disappointment when he narrowly failed to make the final pool, but the 1899-1900 edition, held again as an all-play-all, was a different story. Lawrence was the winner on 14½/17, with Ward just half a point behind and the rest nowhere.

In 1900 William made his international debut, being selected to play in the 5th Anglo-American Cable Match, where he drew his game against Charles John Newman.

Rod Edwards’ retrospective ratings for 1900 put him on 2397, ranked 74th in the world.

A few days later he took part in an invitation tournament run by the City of London club, in which their members took on a team of international players based in London at the time. As you’ll see here, he scored an outstanding 8½/12, just behind Teichmann (9½), Mason and Gunsberg (9). While the winner hadn’t yet reached his peak and the runners-up were past their best, they were all genuine grandmasterly players. He was particularly devastating against the weaker competitors.

By now he was using the increasingly popular Queen’s Gambit with the white pieces, an opening which suited his style of controlled aggression perfectly.

Here he found himself with an IQP position out of the opening: understanding this pawn formation is still of vital importance to all serious competitive players today. You’ll meet his opponent in future Minor Pieces.

[Event “City of London Club Invitation R4”]
[Date “1900.04.10”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Ward, William”]
[Black “Lawrence, Thomas Francis”]
[Result “1-0”]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 c5 5. e3 dxc4 6. Bxc4 cxd4 7. exd4 Nc6 8. Nf3 Be7 9. O-O O-O 10. Rc1 h6 11. Be3 Nb4 12. Bf4 a6 13. a3 Nc6 14. Ba2 Qa5 15. Bb1 Rd8 16. Qd3 Qh5 17. Bc7 Rd7 18. Bg3 g6 19. Ne2 Bd6 20. Rfd1 Bxg3 21. Nxg3 Qg4 22. Qe3 Nh5 23. h3 Qf4 24. Nxh5 Qxe3 25. fxe3 gxh5 26. e4 Rd8 27. Rc5 e5 28. d5 f6 29. Ba2 Kg7 30. Rdc1 Ne7 31. Rc7 Kf8 32. Rf1 Ng6 33. Ng5 f5 34. Nh7+ Ke8 35. Nf6+ Kf8 36. d6 1-0

Against the artist and pianist Thomas Physick (from a family of sculptors) he chose a delayed exchange variation: another pawn formation which still plays a critical role in 21st century chess.

[Event “City of London Club Invitation R11”]
[Date “1900.04.30”]
[White “Ward, William”]
[Black “Physick, Thomas”]
[Result “1-0”]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. e3 h6 7. Bxf6 Bxf6 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Qb3 c6 10. Bd3 Qb6 11. Qc2 Na6 12. Qd2 Nb4 13. Bb1 a5 14. a3 Na6 15. O-O Bg4 16. Bd3 Rfe8 17. Rac1 Qd8 18. Bxa6 Rxa6 19. Na4 Ra8 20. Nc5 Qe7 21. Nd3 Bf5 22. Nf4 Qd6 23. Nh5 Bd8 24. Ng3 Bh7 25. Ne5 f6 26. Nd3 Bc7 27. Nc5 Qe7 28. Rc3 f5 29. f4 a4 30. Qd1 Ba5 31. Rd3 b5 32. Qf3 Bb6 33. Rc1 Qa7 34. Nf1 Re7 35. Rdd1 Rae8 36. Kh1 Qa8 37. Nd3 Rc8 38. Ne5 Rec7 39. Rc3 c5 40. dxc5 Bxc5 41. Rxd5 Qa7 42. Rcd3 Bf8 43. Rd8 Rc5 44. Rxc8 Rxc8 45. Qd5+ Kh8 46. Nf7+ 1-0

William Ward was again amongst the medals in the 1900-01 City of London Championship. Lawrence won again, with Herbert Levi Jacobs taking the silver and Ward the bronze. Edward Bagehot Schwann, coming to the end of his short life, was among the also-rans.

By now it was time for the census enumerator to call again. What we find is rather intriguing. William was in Kenley, Surrey, east of Coulsdon and south of Purley, visiting Isidore Wiener, a 41-year-old unmarried Hide Merchant’s Factor born in Holland but a British Subject. Also in the household were a housekeeper and a servant.

I’ve recently become interested in the significance of the word ‘visitor’ in census returns. Your census address is where you’re staying overnight. If you’re being paid to be there you’ll be described as a ‘servant’ or something similar. If you’re paying to be there you’ll be a ‘boarder’ or a ‘lodger’. A ‘visitor’ will often be a family member, but there might be other reasons. I can find no evidence that Isidore was a chess player, so perhaps he had some complicated legal business which required his solicitor to stay overnight. Perhaps they were just good friends. Who knows?

Anyway, in 1906 Isidore married 40-year-old Annie Sonnex (interesting surname) from Lancashire, continuing to live, now with his wife, in Kenley. A very late first marriage for both partners. They had their only child, a daughter named Albertine, a year later. In 1918, like many families with Germanic surnames at the time, they changed their name from Wiener to Winner. Albertine became a Winner in more ways than one, as you’ll see here.

And then we reach 1902, when we find William playing for Richmond Chess Club against Redhill. Had he moved to the Richmond area? Or did he have friends in the club who invited him to join and play in matches in central London? At present I don’t know.

It looks like he never owned his own property, living in lodgings and moving round various parts of London. I can find no further reference to Ward in association with Richmond Chess Club, although he would later join their local rivals Thames Valley.

You’ll find out what happened to William Ward after 1902 in my next Minor Piece.

Sources:

ancestry.co.uk

findmypast.co.uk

MegaBase

Britbase

EdoChess (William Ward’s page here.)

The City of London Chess Club Championship (Roger Leslie Paige 2005)