In the last two Minor Pieces (here and here) you met George Archer Hooke. Mention was made of his sister, Alice Elizabeth Hooke, who was also a competitive player: not as strong as her brother, but of more historical significance.
Alice was born on 20 October 1862, and, as expected was living at home in 1871 and 1881, although no occupation is listed for her on the 1881 census. By 1891, still at home, she was, like several of her siblings, working as a clerk (the details aren’t very legible). Presumably she, like George, had learnt chess from her father, but in those days chess clubs weren’t seen as places for women. Some clubs, like Twickenham, specified in their advertisements that they welcomed ‘gentlemen’. No plebs, and no ladies either.
But views on the role of women in society were changing. If men could have chess clubs, why couldn’t women?
Well, it certainly wasn’t the first Ladies’ Chess Club in England, and portrait painter Edith Mary Burrell (1858-1906) wasn’t all that young either, but the club, as you’ll see, would become very popular and successful.They soon found a venue in the Strand opposite Charing Cross Station and, by May, were playing their first match.
Alice, a keen social chess player, had wasted no time in joining, playing top board in this match. As you’ll see, the gentlemen of the Metropolitan club, as well as giving knight odds, were only their third team players, which suggests that most of the ladies were, at this point, not very strong players.
The following month their first Annual General Meeting took place. Miss Alice Elizabeth Hooke was elected Hon Secretary and Treasurer.
Most importantly, Mrs Rhoda Bowles was elected match captain and tournament secretary. All chess clubs are only as good as their organisers, and, in Rhoda Bowles, they had an organiser and publicist of exceptional energy and talent, with, I’d imagine, Alice Hooke doing the backroom work with considerable efficiency.
The club continued to thrive, offering a bewildering whirl of activities: internal tournaments, simultaneous displays, including one from Harry Nelson Pillsbury, fresh from his success at Hastings, and matches against other clubs. By October, with their membership having grown to 75, they found more commodious premises in Great Russell Street, close to the British Museum.
Lady Thomas was the mother of the future Sir George Thomas, and herself a strong player. Alice had been relegated from top board to board 9 by now, partly because of an influx of strong new members. The four players on the middle boards, all, coincidentally, with surnames beginning with F, would go on to play important roles in the Ladies’ Chess Club over the next few years. For the remarkable Louisa Matilda Fagan, I’ll refer you to Martin Smith’s articles referenced below. I hope to write about Gertrude Alison Beatrice Field, Rita Fox and Kate Belinda Finn at some point in the future.
Within a few months they were up to 100 members. Pillsbury visited again and Lasker looked in whenever he was in town.
In 1896 the Ladies’ Chess Club entered the London League as well as continuing their programme of internal competitions, friendly matches, such as the one below, against other clubs and simuls, in this case by Herbert Levi Jacobs.
Here, you see the F-squad in place on the top four boards, with the Belgian Marie Bonnefin on board 5 and Alice on board 6. By now they seem to have established their correct board order. While, for many of their members, the club probably served a social function, their strongest players were intensely competitive.
They had even bigger plans in store for 1897 when, to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, they planned to hold an International Ladies’ Chess Tournament at the Hotel Cecil in London.
The strongest lady players from around the world were invited, and, naturally enough, these included several of their club members. Alice Elizabeth Hooke was originally a reserve, but when one of the American invitees withdrew, she was granted a place in the competition.
I’ll refer you to two excellent articles (links at the foot of this post) which provide much more information. The tournament, just like the club, predictably attracted a lot of interest in the press and several of the games were published. Alice’s score of 10 points (8 wins over the board, 2 by default and 9 losses) was more than respectable for a reserve.
Here’s a photograph of the competitors. Alice, wearing a hat, is standing right at the back against the screen.
In this game against one of the German representatives (her first name is not known, at least to me, but she may well have been related to the organist and composer Carl Müller-Hartung (1834-1908)), her opponent failed to take advantage of an oversight at move 15, after which a poor choice at move 18 allowed Alice to demonstrate some impressive attacking skills. Click here to paste the pgn and play through the game.
[Event “London Women’s International”]
[Date “1897.06.23”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Hooke, Alice Elizabeth”]
[Black “Müller-Hartung”]
[Result “1-0”]
1. e4 e5 2. d4 Nc6 3. d5 Nce7 4. Nc3 d6 5. Be2 a6 6. f4 exf4 7. Bxf4 Ng6 8. Qd2 Be7 9. Nf3 Nf6 10. O-O-O Ng4 11. Rhf1 N6e5 12. Bxe5 Nxe5 13. Kb1 Bd7 14. Rf2 h6 15. Rdf1 Bf6 16. Nxe5 dxe5 17. Bh5 Qe7 18. d6 Qe6 19. dxc7 Rc8 20. Nd5 Bc6 21. Nxf6+ gxf6 22. Rxf6 Qd7 23. Bxf7+ Qxf7 24. Rxf7 Bxe4 25. Qd6 Rg8 26. Qe7# 1-0
Against her Belgian clubmate Marie Bonnefin, Alice lost a vital central pawn, after which her opponent’s passed pawns enabled her to bring the game to a neat conclusion.
[Event “London Women’s International”]
[Date “1897.06.24”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Bonnefin, Marie”]
[Black “Hooke, Alice Elizabeth”]
[Result “1-0”]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 O-O 7. c3 d6 8. h3 Bd7 9. Bc2 d5 10. b3 d4 11. Bb2 Bc5 12. Nbd2 Be6 13. Nc4 Bxc4 14. bxc4 Nd7 15. Nh2 f5 16. Kh1 fxe4 17. cxd4 Nxd4 18. dxe4 Rf7 19. f3 c6 20. Ng4 Qb6 21. Rb1 Qc7 22. Nf2 Raf8 23. Nd3 Nxc2 24. Qxc2 Bd6 25. Ba1 Nf6 26. Kg1 b5 27. c5 Qa7 28. Bxe5 Be7 29. Rbc1 Rd8 30. Nb4 Qa8 31. Rfd1 Rxd1+ 32. Rxd1 a5 33. Nd3 Nd7 34. Bd6 Qf8 35. e5 Rf5 36. Qb3+ Kh8 37. Qe6 Bxd6 38. cxd6 Rf7 39. Qg4 Nb6 40. Nc5 Nd5 41. Rc1 Nf4 42. Kh1 g6 43. Ne6 h5 44. Qxf4 Rxf4 45. Nxf8 Rxf8 46. Rxc6 Kg7 47. Rc7+ Kg8 48. d7 1-0
Alice’s game against one of the F-squad, Gertrude Field, had an interesting finish. Gertrude played an enterprising and correct piece sacrifice on move 25, but missed the immediate Nf3 on move 27. Defending in chess is always difficult, and Alice could have stayed in the game by playing 28… Ne7.
[Event “London Women International”]
[Site “London (Hotel Cecil)”]
[Date “1897.06.26”]
[Round “7”]
[White “Field, Gertrude Alison Beatrice”]
[Black “Hooke, Alice Elizabeth”]
[Result “1-0”]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bb6 5. c3 a6 6. Qb3 Qf6 7. d3 h6 8. O-O d6 9. Be3 Nge7 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Bxb6 cxb6 12. h3 Qg6 13. Nh4 Qf6 14. Nhf3 Bd7 15. Qd1 Rac8 16. Nh2 Kh8 17. Ng4 Qg6 18. f4 h5 19. f5 Qh7 20. Ne3 Qh6 21. Rf3 b5 22. Bd5 Ng8 23. Rg3 Nf6 24. Qe1 g6 25. Bxf7 Rxf7 26. Rxg6 Qh7 27. Qh4 Rcf8 28. Nf3 Rg7 29. Rxf6 Rxf6 30. Qxf6 Qg8 31. Qxd6 Qe8 32. Nh4 Rg3 33. Qh6+ Kg8 34. Ng6 Qd8 35. Qh8+ Kf7 36. Qh7+ Kf6 37. Nd5+ Kg5 38. Nh8 1-0
Her best result came in round 8, with a win against Louisa Fagan, who eventually finished in second place. Only a short extract is available, but the opening must have been a Centre Game (1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4), a favourite of both Alice and her brother George. It’s interesting to note that the two siblings frequently played the same rather unusual openings.
[Event “London Women’s International”]
[Site “London (Hotel Cecil)”]
[Date “1897.06.26”]
[Round “8”]
[White “Hooke, Alice Elizabeth”]
[Black “Fagan, Louisa Matilda”]
[Result “1-0”]
[SetUp “1”]
[FEN “r1bqk1nr/p1p2ppp/1pnp4/8/3bPB2/2N3Q1/PPP2PPP/2KR1BNR b kq – 0 1”]
1… Bxc3 2. Qxc3 Bb7 3. Qxg7 Qf6 4. Qxf6 Nxf6 5. f3 O-O-O 6. Bg5 Nxe4 7. Bxd8 1-0
Finally, we have a quick win against Miss Eschwege, who, overlooking that her d-pawn was pinned, blundered a piece and immediately resigned. It’s frustrating that, for many years, the press didn’t see fit to use initials for women. Here, again, we don’t know Alice’s opponent’s first name. Her chess playing father, Hermann, was born in Germany, but lived in London. He had three daughters: Kathleen had married by 1897, but either Ida or Nina would be possible. If you know, do get in touch.
[Event “London Women’s International”]
[Site “London (Hotel Cecil)”]
[Date “1897.07.01”]
[Round “15”]
[White “Hooke, Alice Elizabeth”]
[Black “Eschwege”]
[Result “1-0”]
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qe3 d6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Be2 Be7 7. Bd2 Bg4 8. Bxg4 Nxg4 9. Qg3 Qd7 10. h3 Nb4 11. O-O-O Ne5 12. Bf4 Bf6 13. Nf3 O-O-O 14. Nxe5 Bxe5 15. Bxe5 1-0
The experience of intensive competitive chess, with two games a day over ten days, must have been an educational experience for Alice and the other lady chess players.
Here’s a game she played the following year, where she crowns a strong attack (she did seem to like castling queenside) with a brilliant rook sacrifice.
[Event “Ladies CC v Athenaeum”]
[Date “1898.02.??”]
[White “Elliott, Arthur Campbell”]
[Black “Hooke, Alice Elizabeth”]
[Result “0-1”]
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nxd5 4. Bc4 Nc6 5. c3 Bg4 6. d4 Qd6 7. O-O O-O-O 8. Be2 Bxf3 9. Bxf3 e5 10. c4 Nf4 11. d5 Qf6 12. Qa4 Nd4 13. Bg4+ Kb8 14. Be3 Bc5 15. Nc3 h5 16. Bd1 Qg6 17. Bxf4 exf4 18. b4 f3 19. g3 h4 20. bxc5 hxg3 21. fxg3 Rxh2 0-1
Later that year the Ladies’ Chess Club visited Anerley, near Crystal Palace in South East London, for a combined chess and musical programme.
03 December 1898
Captain Alexander Beaumont’s name lives on in the Beaumont Cup, which has, since 1895-96, been the name of the second division of the Surrey Chess League. You’ll meet him in a future Minor Piece. Frank Gustavus Naumann would later become the first President of the British Chess Federation before losing his life on the Lusitania. Mrs Anderson, on Board 3 for the ladies, was the former Gertrude Alison Beatrice Field, who had just married Donald Loveridge Anderson.
In January 1899 their 4th birthday party’s guests included Lasker, Gunsberg, and, appropriately enough, Antony Guest. As the 20th century approached there was no stopping the Ladies’ programme of matches and social events.
At this time we can find Alice in the 1901 census, living at 27 Croxted Road, Herne Hill with her widowed mother Harriett, and working as a clerk in the General Post Office. This was just 2.3 miles up the A2199 from Anerley Village Hall, and close to Dulwich College School.
At Whitsun that year Alice, along with her clubmates Louisa Matilda Fagan, Kate Finn and Rita Fox, took part in the open section of the Kent County Chess Association Tournament. I haven’t been able to find the full results, but Miss Finn did well to finish in second place.
In 1902 she visited Norwich for the British Amateur Championship, playing in the 3rd Class section along with the Misses Foster and Oakley from the Ladies’ Chess Club (and our favourite chess playing clergyman, Rev WE Evill). Miss Finn, Mrs Anderson and a new member of the Ladies’ Chess Club, Mrs Frances Dunn Herring (née Gwilliam) took part in the 2nd Class section.
In 1903 Alice played in the Kent congress in Canterbury, playing in Section A of the ‘Extra’ (2nd Class) section and sharing 2nd place with a score of 4½/7.
The British Chess Championships took place for the first time in 1904, and from the start, the top places in the British Ladies’ Championship were usually taken by members of the Ladies’ Chess Club. Alice Elizabeth Hooke took part for the first time in Shrewsbury in 1906, winning five games and losing six.
In this game against Scotland’s Agnes Margaret Crum, she lost quickly using the Dutch Defence, an opening also favoured by her brother George.
[Event “British CF-03 Women Shrewsbury R6”]
[Date “1906.08.11”]
[White “Crum, Agnes Margaret”]
[Black “Hooke, Alice Elizabeth”]
[Result “1-0”]
1. d4 f5 2. e4 d6 3. Bd3 c6 4. Nf3 fxe4 5. Bxe4 Nf6 6. Bd3 Bg4 7. Nbd2 Nbd7 8. c4 e5 9. Qc2 exd4 10. O-O Qb6 11. Re1+ Kd8 12. Ng5 Bh5 13. Ne6+ Kc8 14. Ne4 Nxe4 15. Rxe4 c5 16. Bf4 h6 17. a3 Nf6 18. Ree1 Bf7 19. Bf5 Bxe6 20. Rxe6 Kc7 21. b4 Re8 22. Rae1 Rxe6 23. Rxe6 cxb4 24. c5 Qa6 25. cxd6+ Kd7 26. Re7+ 1-0
She was back again in Crystal Palace (she wouldn’t have had far to travel) the following year, with a similar result: four wins, one draw and six losses. She was, at this point, and by now in her mid 40s, some way below the best lady players in the country.
Here she is, pictured in the Daily Mirror, on the left in the lower photograph. Her opponent ‘s name was Agnes Lawson, not Lawrence.
By 1909, Alice had joined a new club, the Imperial Colonial Club, whose chess players seemed mostly to be connected with the Ladies’ Chess Club. There will be a lot more to say about this club in future Minor Pieces.
I’m not sure why boards 7 and 8 were reported as a loss for both players.
In July, the Imperial Review (perhaps connected with the Imperial and Colonial Club) published a feature on Alice Elizabeth Hooke, with the information that she’d won the Ladies’ Chess Club for the third year in succession, thus acquiring the cup in perpetuity (I wonder what happened to it) but had had to relinquish her post as secretary for health reasons. We also have a rather fine photograph.
Here’s the game for you to play through: you’ll notice the opening variation is the same as that from Alice’s game against Miss Eschwege from 12 years earlier.
[Event “Ladies’ Chess Club v Lee B4”]
[Date “1909.??.??”]
[White “Hooke, Alice Elizabeth”]
[Black “Hamilton, Benjamin William”]
[Result “1-0”]
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qe3 d6 5. Bd2 Nf6 6. Be2 Be7 7. Nc3 Be6 8. O-O-O a6 9. Kb1 b5 10. Bc1 Qb8 11. Nd5 b4 12. Bc4 Ne5 13. Nxf6+ Bxf6 14. Bxe6 fxe6 15. Qb3 O-O 16. f4 Ng6 17. Qxe6+ Kh8 18. Qc4 Be7 19. Ne2 a5 20. Rhf1 a4 21. Nd4 Bf6 22. Nc6 Qe8 23. Nxb4 c5 24. Na6 Qc6 25. Nb4 Qe8 26. Nd5 Bd8 27. Nc3 Rf6 28. Qb5 Qf8 29. f5 Ra5 30. Qe2 Ne5 31. Bf4 Nc6 32. g4 Nd4 33. Qc4 Rf7 34. Bxd6 Qe8 35. Bxc5 Nc6 36. Rd5 Ra8 1-0
Although the Ladies’ Chess Club was still growing, its activities were receiving less publicity in the press. Perhaps the novelty had worn off. It seems that Alice Hooke was less active at this time, perhaps partly because of ill health, and partly because she was having to care for her increasingly frail elderly mother.
By the 1911 census Harriett and Alice had moved to 12 Eatonville Road, Upper Tooting, just a 12 minute walk from Alice’s brother George’s rather more substantial house in Drakefield Road. Alice was now described as a Clerk in the Civil Service.
Harriett died in December 1912, but it wouldn’t be until 1914 that Alice resumed her chess career.
The British Championships took place in Chester that year, and Alice Elizabeth Hooke was back in the Ladies’ Championship, but without much success, winning four games and losing seven.
One game is available, but it doesn’t show her in a good light. She seemed unfamiliar with her opponent’s sharp opening variation, and, after only six moves, had a very bad position. Mrs Holloway was able to offer a bishop sacrifice for a swift victory.
[Event “British CF-11 Women Chester R6”]
[Date “1914.08.15”]
[White “Holloway, Edith Martha”]
[Black “Hooke, Alice Elizabeth”]
[Result “1-0”]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 Ng8 7. Re1 Nge7 8. Ng5 O-O 9. Qh5 h6 10. Nxf7 Rxf7 11. Qxf7+ Kh8 12. Re4 Nf5 13. Nd2 Nce7 14. Rg4 d6 15. Nf3 Bd7 16. Bxh6 Qf8 17. Bxg7+ Nxg7 18. Rh4+ 1-0
By now she had moved out of London, to Cobham, near Esher in Surrey. Electoral rolls give her address as White Lodge, Cobham. There are two houses of that name in Cobham, about a mile apart. I’d guess it was more likely to be this one than this one. As it was just her and a servant, the smaller and more centrally located property would have been more than adequate. Neither was close to the station, so I wonder how she travelled to work. Jumping ahead for the moment, she was still there in 1921, working as a civil servant in the Post Office Savings Bank in West Kensington.
But then, of course, World War 1 broke out, and, like many others, the Ladies’ Chess Club decided to close its doors for the duration.
As you probably already know from her brother George’s story, this was not the end of Alice Elizabeth Hooke’s chess career. You’ll find out what happened subsequently in the next Minor Piece.
But meanwhile, if you’re interested, there’s a lot more reading material for you.
There’s a lot of information about the Ladies’ Chess Club and the 1897 tournament available in various online sources.
The excellent Batgirl (Sarah Beth Cohen) has written a number of articles on the Ladies’ Chess Club on chess.com.
The Ladies’ Chess Club: The First Year
The Ladies’ Chess Club: Early Years
The Ladies’ Chess Club: Middle Years
See here for a full list of her articles on women’s chess.
My good friend Martin Smith has written a wonderful series of articles about Louisa Matilda Fagan. You can read the first of the series here: there are links to the subsequent articles at the end.
There’s a well-researched article by Joost van Winsen concerning the 1897 Ladies’ Chess Tournament on the Chess Archaeology website here.
Another informative article on the same event by Tim Harding can be found on the Chess Café website here.
Sources and acknowledgements:
ancestry.co.uk
findmypast.co.uk
chessgames.com: Alice’s page here.
Britbase (John Saunders): British Championship links here.
EdoChess (Rod Edwards): Alice’s page here.
chess.com
Justin Horton’s blog (no longer active)
Chess Archaeology
Google Maps
ChessBase/MegaBase
Minor Pieces 
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