Minor Pieces

My first Minor Piece featured the Reverend Samuel Walter Earnshaw, the missing link between Paul Morphy and my great grandmother Jane Houghton.

I promised another article at some point demonstrating some more of his games. It’s more than time I wrote it, so here it is.

Let me take you back first of all to 9 July 1858, when Earnshaw, a young chess addict in his mid twenties in his first ministry, at St Mary’s Church Bromley St Leonards in East London, just south of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, travelled into town to watch the young American star Paul Morphy in action against Samuel Standidge Boden. He recorded the moves, and, in 1874/5, submitted it for publication in the City of London Chess Magazine. You can read the first volume online here (it’s on page 280, with extensive annotations by Steinitz). The two Samuels became firm friends: I suggested in my previous article that Earnshaw might have been considered Boden’s Mate.

Here’s the game. Click here and paste the pgn to play through the game online.

[Event “Casuals Morphy-Boden +6-1=3”]
[Date “1858.07.09”]
[White “Morphy, Paul”]
[Black “Boden, Samuel Standidge”]
[Result “1-0”]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 3. Nf3 d6 4. c3 Bg4 5. Bc4 Qe7 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O Nc6 8. b4 Bb6 9. a4 dxc3+ 10. Kh1 c2 11. Qxc2 Bxf3 12. gxf3 Nxb4 13. Qb3 a5 14. Nc3 Nf6 15. e5 dxe5 16. fxe5 Nh5 17. Ne4 O-O 18. Bb2 Nf4 19. Rg1 Rad8 20. e6 Bd4 21. exf7+ Kh8 22. Rg4 Bxb2 23. Qxb2 Rxf7 24. Bxf7 Qxf7 25. Ng5 Qd5 26. Rxf4 Qxg5 27. Rg1 Qh6 28. Rf7 Rg8 29. Rxc7 Nd3 30. Qd4 {…} 1-0

Boden must have taught Earnshaw this variation, which would become his lifelong pet defence to the King’s Gambit.

The following year, he obtained a second curacy at St Thomas’s Church Birmingham, and, for some years, disappeared from the chess world.

His next job was in the small village of Nether Whitacre, 12 miles or so outside Birmingham, where he baptised several members of my great grandmother Jane Houghton’s family.

By 1865 he’d returned to chess, joining the Birmingham and Edgbaston Chess Club. Here he is, winning their club championship.

He was also submitting many of his games, losses as well as wins, to the Birmingham Journal (editor unknown, appearing irregularly between 17 June 1865 and 26 December 1868, 57 articles in total, according to Tim Harding in British Chess Literature to 1914). One wonders if Earnshaw himself wrote the column, given that it published many of his games and stopped at the point when he left Birmingham.

Let’s look at a few of them.

[Event “Casual Game: Birmingham”]
[Date “1865.08.??”]
[White “Earnshaw, Samuel Walter”]
[Black “Campbell, Joseph Graham”]
[Result “0-1”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Bc5 6. O-O d6 7. d4 exd4 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3 Bg4 10. Qb3 Bxf3 11. Bxf7+ Kf8 12. Bxg8 Rxg8 13. gxf3 Nxd4 14. Qd1 Qf6 15. f4 Ne6 16. e5 dxe5 17. fxe5 Qg6+ 18. Kh1 Rd8 19. Qb3 Qd3 20. Ba3+ Kf7 21. f4 Qf5 22. Rae1 Rd3 23. Qc2 Nd4 24. e6+ Kf6 25. Qxd3 Qxd3 26. Nd5+ Kg6 27. f5+ Kh6 28. Bc1+ g5 29. e7 Nxf5 30. Re6+ Rg6 31. Rxg6+ hxg6 32. Bxg5+ Kxg5 33. Rg1+ Kh4 34. e8=Q Qf3+ 35. Rg2 Qf1+ 36. Rg1 Qxg1#

[Event “Casual Game: Birmingham”]
[Date “1865.08.??”]
[White “Earnshaw, Samuel Walter”]
[Black “NN”]
[Result “1-0”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Bc5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O d6 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3 Bg4 10. Qa4 Bd7 11. Qb3 Na5 12. Bxf7+ Kf8 13. Qc2 Kxf7 14. e5 h6 15. d5 Ne7 16. e6+ Bxe6 17. dxe6+ Kxe6 18. Qe4+ Kf7 19. Re1 Re8 20. Bg5 hxg5 21. Nxg5+ Kg8 22. Qh7+ Kf8 23. Ne6+ Kf7 24. Qxg7#

[Event “Birmingham Championship R3”]
[Date “1865.09.??”]
[White “Earnshaw, Samuel Walter”]
[Black “Hill, FS”]
[Result “1-0”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O h6 8. cxd4 d6 9. d5 Nce7 10. Qa4+ c6 11. dxc6 bxc6 12. Bf4 Bb6 13. Nc3 Nf6 14. e5 Nh5 15. exd6 Nxf4 16. dxe7 Qd6 17. Ne4 Qg6 18. Bxf7+ Qxf7 19. Nd6+ Kxe7 20. Nxf7 Ne2+ 21. Kh1 Kxf7 22. Qc4+ 1-0

[Event “Birmingham Championship R3”]
[Date “1865.09.??”]
[White “Earnshaw, Samuel Walter”]
[Black “Hill, FS”]
[Result “1-0”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Bc5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O d6 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3 h6 10. Bb5 Bd7 11. e5 Nge7 12. exd6 cxd6 13. Ba3 Bc7 14. Bxc6 Bxc6 15. d5 Bd7 16. Rc1 O-O 17. Bb2 Bb6 18. Qd2 Nf5 19. Rfe1 Ba5 20. Nd4 Nh4 21. Nb3 Bb6 22. Ne4 Nf5 23. Rc3 a5 24. g4 Nh4 25. Rg3 f5 26. Qc3 Rf7 27. Nxd6 Rf6 28. gxf5 Kh7 29. Rxg7+ Kxg7 30. Qg3+ Kh7 31. Qxh4 Rxd6 32. Re7+ Kg8 33. Qg4+ 1-0

You can judge from these games that Earnshaw enjoyed attacking chess, being particularly fond of the Evans Gambit.

He was also travelling down to London to play at the capital’s chess haunts, where he was winning games against opponents such as the German endgame expert Josef Kling.

[Event “Casual game: Simpson’s Divan”]
[Date “1865.12.??”]
[White “Kling, Josef”]
[Black “Earnshaw, Samuel Walter”]
[Result “0-1”]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 3. Nf3 d6 4. c3 Bg4 5. Bc4 Bxf3 6. Qxf3 Nc6 7. d4 exd4 8. Bb5 Nge7 9. a4 a6 10. Bc4 O-O 11. Na3 Ng6 12. Nc2 dxc3 13. bxc3 Qe7 14. g3 Rae8 15. Bd3 f5 16. Kd1 fxe4 17. Bc4+ Kh8 18. Qh5 Qd7 19. Re1 Rf5 20. Qe2 d5 21. Bb3 d4 22. cxd4 Nxd4 23. Nxd4 Qxd4+ 0-1

In this game he was successful on the white side of the King’s Gambit.

[Event “Casual game: Simpson’s Divan”]
[Date “1865.12.??”]
[White “Earnshaw, Samuel Walter”]
[Black “Dr E”]
[Result “1-0”]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. h4 g4 5. Ne5 h5 6. Bc4 Nh6 7. d4 d6 8. Nd3 f3 9. g3 Nc6 10. c3 Bg7 11. Bf4 Bd7 12. Nd2 Qe7 13. Kf2 O-O-O 14. a4 Na5 15. Re1 Rhe8 16. Ba2 Qf8 17. b4 Nc6 18. a5 f5 19. Bd5 fxe4 20. Bxe4 Bf5 21. Bxc6 Bxd3 22. Rxe8 Rxe8 23. Bxe8 Qxe8 24. Qe1 Be2 25. Qb1 Qh8 26. Qe4 Qf8 27. Qe6+ Kb8 28. Ne4 Nf5 29. Qd7 Nxd4 30. Nxd6 Ka8 31. Ne8 Nc6 32. Qc8+ Nb8 33. Nxc7# 1-0

At this time, matches between clubs were starting to take place. In 1866 he played for Birmingham in a match against Worcester. Although he lost both his games, his team scored a narrow victory.

You’ll spot some interesting names in the Worcester squad. There’s Lord Lyttelton, Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire and sometime President of the British Chess Association. Then we have the future Sir Walter Parratt, whom you might recall would, a few decades later, play in several Windsor – Twickenham matches.

At some point that year Earnshaw played, as you will have seen in the earlier article, a series of games against Steinitz. It’s uncertain whether these were played in London or in Birmingham. I showed you the games last time.

Another game between Earnshaw and Steinitz was published in 1879, without any indication of when (except ‘some time ago’) or where it was played. It might, I suppose, have been one of this series.

[Event “Casual game: London?”]
[Date “1879.??.??”]
[White “Earnshaw, Samuel Walter”]
[Black “Steinitz, Wilhelm”]
[Result “0-1”]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 g4 5. Ne5 Qh4+ 6. Kf1 Nf6 7. Nc3 d6 8. Nd3 f3 9. g3 Qh3+ 10. Ke1 Bh6 11. Nf2 Qh5 12. d4 Nc6 13. a3 Be6 14. Qd3 O-O-O 15. Bxe6+ fxe6 16. Bxh6 Qxh6 17. h3 Qg6 18. hxg4 Nxg4 19. Nxg4 Qxg4 20. Kf2 e5 21. d5 Nd4 22. Rh4 Qg6 23. Rah1 h5 24. b4 Rdf8 25. Qe3 a6 26. Qd2 Ne2 27. Nxe2 fxe2+ 28. Kxe2 Qxg3 29. Kd1 Rf2 30. Qe1 Qf3+ 31. Kc1 Re2 32. Qd1 Qxa3+ 33. Kb1 Qxb4+ 34. Kc1 Rxe4 0-1

In the 1866-67 Birmingham Club Championship Earnshaw reached the semi-final, where he was paired against John Halford. After 8 games the scores were level, with three wins apiece and two draws, so lots were drawn, resulting in his opponent proceeding to the final.

Here’s one of his wins.

[Event “Birmingham Championship R3”]
[Date “1867.01.??”]
[White “Halford, John”]
[Black “Earnshaw, Samuel Walter”]
[Result “0-1”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 d5 6. Bb5 Ne4 7. O-O Bc5 8. Nxd4 Bd7 9. Bxc6 Bxc6 10. Be3 Bb6 11. f4 Qd7 12. c3 O-O 13. f5 f6 14. e6 Qe7 15. Rf4 Kh8 16. Rh4 Be8 17. Nd2 Nxd2 18. Qxd2 Rg8 19. Kh1 g6 20. g4 Bxd4 21. Bxd4 c5 22. Be3 d4 23. cxd4 gxf5 24. gxf5 Bc6+ 25. d5 Rad8 26. Qc2 Bxd5+ 27. Re4 Qd6 28. Bg1 Rg4 29. Rae1 Qc6 30. e7 Re8 31. Bxc5 Rxe4 32. Rxe4 Bxe4+ 0-1

In April 1867 Earnshaw took part in another match, this time against a combined team from two other clubs.

Lord Lyttelton was again representing the opposing team. I guess he was an honorary member of several clubs. Within a couple of decades exceedingly pleasant meetings between chess clubs would become much more frequent, strengthening the social bonds of friendship between Chess players. Long may they continue.

But then there seems to have been a break in Earnshaw’s chess career. In August 1867, as reported in my previous article, he was involved in a tragic incident, which must have affected him very much. Perhaps as a result, he left Nether Whitacre at the end of the year. His last baptism was in November, and by 22 December a new incumbent had taken over.

And look! There, on the other side, is Maria Howton (Houghton)’s illegitimate son, not, I should add, her first, fathered by a butcher in a neighbouring village, being baptised. Maria was a sister of my great grandmother Jane Houghton. Soon afterwards she’d finally marry, and Henry would take on his step-father’s surname, becoming Henry Tomes.

Earnshaw then took on a chaplaincy in Tremadog in North Wales, before being appointed headmaster of Archbishop Holgate School, Hemsworth, Yorkshire.

With a new job and five young children (born between 1861 and 1870) he must have been too busy to devote much time to chess, but by the mid 1870s he had joined both Sheffield and Leeds Chess Clubs. In 1874 he lost to Blackburne in a Sheffield simul, and in 1877 he was matched against a child prodigy in a friendly game.

Young Master Jackson didn’t exactly become a second Morphy, but his story is one for another time.

Here’s the game.

[Event “Casual Game: Leeds Chess Club”]
[Date “1877.02.??”]
[White “Jackson, Harry”]
[Black “Earnshaw, Samuel Walter”]
[Result “0-1”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 h6 5. O-O Bc5 6. Nc3 d6 7. h3 O-O 8. Ne2 Ne7 9. Ng3 Ng6 10. c3 Bb6 11. Qb3 Qe7 12. Be3 Bd7 13. a4 Bc6 14. Nf5 Qe8 15. Nxh6+ gxh6 16. Bxh6 Nh7 17. Nh2 a5 18. Ng4 Qe7 19. Bxf8 Rxf8 20. Nh6+ Kh8 21. Bxf7 Nf4 22. Bc4 Qg5 23. Ng4 Nf6 24. Be6 d5 25. Bf5 dxe4 26. dxe4 Nxg4 27. Bxg4 Bxe4 28. Kh2 Nxg2 29. f3 Qd2 30. Qd1 Qxb2 31. fxe4 Nf4+ 32. Be2 0-1

At the end of 1876, it appears that Earnshaw’s friend and fellow clergyman George Alcock MacDonnell took over the chess column of the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News. In 1877 Earnshaw returned to the ministry, becoming Rector of Ellough, a tiny village near Beccles in Suffolk, which nevertheless boasted a splendid church. His predecessor there, Richard Aldous Arnold, who had served his few parishioners for more than 60 years, came from the same family as Thomas Arnold of Rugby School and his poet son Matthew.

He now had more time for chess, travelling to London every seventh week to play at Simpson’s and Purssell’s, crossing swords, usually unsuccessfully, with the likes of Gunsberg, Blackburne, Mason and Bird, as well as winning miniatures against fellow amateurs. He would have been able to take the Great Eastern Railway from Beccles to their new Liverpool Street terminus, which had opened in 1874. He sent many of his games to MacDonnell, who was happy to publish them in his magazine column.

He was winning at one point in both these games, but ended up losing.

[Event “Casual Game: Purssell’s”]
[Date “1877.12.??”]
[White “Gunsberg, Isidor Arthur”]
[Black “Earnshaw, Samuel Walter”]
[Result “1-0”]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 d5 4. Bxd5 Nf6 5. Nc3 c6 6. Bb3 Bb4 7. d3 Bg4 8. Nf3 Bd6 9. O-O O-O 10. Ne2 Nh5 11. d4 g5 12. e5 Bc7 13. c3 a5 14. a3 Nd7 15. Qc2 a4 16. Ba2 Qe7 17. h4 Bxf3 18. Rxf3 g4 19. Rf1 Qxh4 20. Nxf4 Ng3 21. Rd1 Nxe5 22. dxe5 Bb6+ 23. Rd4 h5 24. Ng6 Qh1+ 25. Kf2 Qh2 26. Ne7+ Kh8 27. Bg5 f6 28. exf6 1-0

[Event “Casual Game: Simpson’s Divan”]
[Date “1878.04.??”]
[White “Bird, Henry Edward”]
[Black “Earnshaw, Samuel Walter”]
[Result “1-0”]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 3. Nf3 d6 4. c3 Bg4 5. d4 Bxf3 6. gxf3 Qh4+ 7. Ke2 exd4 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Be3 Nc6 10. Nc3 O-O-O 11. Nd5 Nge7 12. Nxb6+ axb6 13. d5 Nb8 14. Rc1 Ng6 15. Qd2 Rhe8 16. Bxb6 Na6 17. Be3 f5 18. Kd1 fxe4 19. Bxa6 bxa6 20. Qa5 Rd7 21. Qxa6+ Kd8 22. Qa8+ Ke7 23. Qa4 Qh5 24. Rf1 Qxd5+ 25. Ke1 exf3 26. Kf2 Qh5 27. Rh1 Qh4+ 28. Kxf3 Ne5+ 29. Ke2 Qg4+ 30. Kd2 Qg2+ 31. Kc3 Ra8 32. Qb5 Qe4 33. Rhe1 Rb8 34. fxe5 Qxe3+ 35. Rxe3 Rxb5 36. exd6+ Kxd6 37. Rd1+ Rd5 38. Rde1 Kc6 39. b4 Kb6 White won some moves later after Black made a mistake. 1-0

In the summer of 1878 Earnshaw played what would be his only public tournament, the Counties Chess Association meeting in London, but it didn’t go well for him. He only managed one draw from eight games (one may have been a loss by default) before withdrawing with four rounds still to play.

He threw away a good position again in this game.

[Event “Counties Chess Association London”]
[Date “1878.08.??”]
[White “Earnshaw, Samuel Walter”]
[Black “Martin, William”]
[Result “0-1”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Bc5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O d6 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. d5 Nce7 10. e5 Bg4 11. exd6 Qxd6 12. Bb2 f6 13. Qb3 Bxf3 14. Qxf3 Ng6 15. Bb5+ Kf7 16. Nd2 N8e7 17. Bc4 Kf8 18. Rac1 Rd8 19. Rfe1 Nxd5 20. Ne4 Qf4 21. Qb3 c6 22. g3 Qg4 23. Ba3+ Kg8 24. Nd6 h6 25. Bxd5+ cxd5 26. Qxd5+ Kh7 27. Re4 Qf3 28. Bc5 Rxd6 0-1

The tournament proved controversial in more ways than one. The second class tournament included teenage prodigy Harry Jackson, whose father provoked some anger by interfering in one of his son’s games. Yes, we’ve all known parents like that. But that was a minor incident compared with the participation of the automaton Mephisto (operated by Gunsberg, although this wasn’t known at the time) in the Handicap Tournament confined to amateurs.

A few weeks later, Earnshaw tried a Fried Liver Attack against Mason when Black’s pawn was already on a6. Stockfish, unlike MacDonnell in his annotations, is happy with this, but again White lost the thread, ending up on the wrong end of a brilliancy.

[Event “Casual Game: Simpson’s Divan”]
[Date “1878.08.??”]
[White “Earnshaw, Samuel Walter”]
[Black “Mason, James”]
[Result “0-1”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. Ng5 d5 6. exd5 Nxd5 7. Nxf7 Kxf7 8. Qf3+ Ke6 9. Nc3 Nce7 10. d4 b5 11. Bb3 Bb7 12. O-O c6 13. Ne4 Kd7 14. dxe5 Ng6 15. Qf5+ Kc7 16. e6 Be7 17. Bd2 Qf8 18. Ba5+ Kb8 19. Qh3 Qf4 20. Rae1 h5 21. c4 Nf6 22. Nxf6 gxf6 23. Qc3 Rg8 24. c5 Ne5 25. Bd1 Bc8 26. Qb3 h4 27. Bb6 Qf5 28. f4 Nd3 29. Bc2 Rxg2+ 30. Kh1 Qh3 0-1

Back in Suffolk, he was doing his bit to promote chess in Beccles.

By 1880 he was even described as a ‘chess celebrity’.

Here are a couple of wins against lower level opposition from this period.

[Event “Casual Game: Purssell’s”]
[Date “1880.06.??”]
[White “Earnshaw, Samuel Walter”]
[Black “NN”]
[Result “1-0”]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 Bg7 5. d4 d6 6. h4 h6 7. hxg5 hxg5 8. Rxh8 Bxh8 9. Nc3 c6 10. g3 Bg4 11. gxf4 gxf4 12. Bxf4 Bxd4 13. Qxd4 Bxf3 14. Qh8 Kd7 15. Qh3+ Kc7 16. Qxf3 Ne7 17. O-O-O Nc8 18. e5 d5 19. Bxd5 1-0

[Event “Casual Game”]
[Date “1880.08.??”]
[White “Earnshaw, Samuel Walter”]
[Black “NN”]
[Result “1-0”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Nd5 Nxd5 6. exd5 Nd4 7. Nxd4 exd4 8. O-O O-O 9. c3 Bc5 10. d3 a6 11. Ba4 b5 12. Bb3 Bb6 13. d6 c6 14. Qg4 Qf6 15. Bf4 dxc3 16. bxc3 Qxc3 17. Rae1 a5 18. Be5 Bxf2+ 19. Kxf2 Qd2+ 20. Kg1 Qh6 21. Rf6 Qd2 22. Rxf7 Qxe1+ 23. Rf1+ 1-0

His friend Samuel Boden’s death in January 1882 hit him hard: perhaps this is one reason why, by that time, his games were appearing less often in the press.

But in 1885 he turned up in an inter-club match. The St George’s team included Marmaduke Wyvill, runner-up in the first ever international tournament back in 1851, and formerly Rishi Sunak’s predecessor as MP for Richmond, Yorkshire.

On the other side of the board, you’ll notice George Archer Hooke, who had another half century of competitive chess ahead of him, two boards above Earnshaw, with the splendidly named problemist Edward Nathan Frankenstein sitting between them.

But the next we hear from Samuel Walter Earnshaw, sadly, is from this death record, giving his name as Earnshaw-Wall (Wall was his mother’s maiden name, an affectation used by his son Walter Ethelbert Stacey Earnshaw-Wall .

The cause of death is given as Gout (21 days) and Pericarditis (3 days).

You’ll have read MacDonnell’s warm tribute to his friend in the previous article.

A true and enthusiastic lover of chess, we are told. Not a great player, but a good enough player, and really that’s all that matters. He was, for his day, well booked up, enjoying gambit play and demonstrating strong attacking skills, but all too often he would miscalculate or make careless mistakes and throw away his advantage. But he clearly enjoyed playing, whether against fellow amateurs or against the leading masters of his time. He, and many others like him, over the past 150 years or more, are what chess, in my opinion, is really all about. I’m delighted that my great grandmother and her family had made his acquaintance.

Join me again soon for more Minor Pieces.

Sources and Acknowledgements:

ancestry.co.uk
findmypast.co.uk/British Newspaper Library
Wikipedia
ChessBase 17/Stockfish 17
chessgames.com (Earnshaw here)
Yorkshire Chess History (Steve Mann: Earnshaw here)|
EdoChess (Rod Edwards: Earnshaw here)
British Chess Literature to 1914 (Tim Harding: McFarland 2018)
Steinitz in London (Tim Harding: McFarland 2020)
Other sources referenced and linked to above