Last time we left London chess professional Francis Joseph Lee as the calendar turned from 1899 into 1900. He was finally selected for the Anglo-American Cable Match that year, being assigned to Board 2 where he took the white pieces against one of his London 1899 opponents, Jackson Whipps Showalter. Standing worse much of the way… Continue reading

If you read anything about chess from the late 1880s through to 1909 you’ll often come across the name of FJ (Francis Joseph) Lee, a regular competitor in both national and international events during that period. He played pretty consistently at about 2350 strength, finishing below the genuine masters, but above the amateurs. Yet he… Continue reading

Let me take you back more than 125 years, to the great London International Chess Tournament of 1899. Most of the world’s strongest players were there: the first two World Champions, Steinitz and Lasker, Pillsbury and Chigorin, Maroczy and Schlechter, Janowski and Blackburne. Here’s the cross-table. There was also a second section, won by Marshall,… Continue reading

One of the fun things family historians like to do is the One Name Study. You take an unusual surname and find out everything you can about all the bearers of that name. I have an interest (I’ll explain more later) in the very rare, and now, I believe extinct, at least in that form,… Continue reading

We left Reginald Charles Noel-Johnson last time, having just married Jane Ann Richards and joined the RAF on war service. Before I move on, my thanks to Brian Denman, who has sent me a whole pile of Noel-Johnson’s games. I’ll add a few earlier scores here: as always, click here and paste the pgn to… Continue reading

Here’s another game played by Alfred Lenton (see here and here), from the 1936 British Championship in Bournemouth against Reginald Charles Noel-Johnson, the subject of this Minor Piece. Noel-Johnson seemed ill at ease against Lenton’s favourite Réti Opening. (Click here and paste the pgn to play through any game in this article.) [Event “British Championship: Bournemouth R5”][Date “1936.06.12”][White… Continue reading

Last time we left Alfred Lenton in 1939, at the outbreak of World War 2. Although Alfred didn’t serve in the war, there were fewer opportunities for him to play chess. The county championship continued to take place, with Lenton retaining his title in 1940, and there was also a wartime county chess league, along with… Continue reading

Last time you met, amongst other chess playing Leicester Ladies, Elsie Margaret Reid, a British Ladies’ Championship contender, and witnessed her marriage to Alfred Lenton. It’s now time to meet her husband. Perhaps you’ve see Michael Wood’s 2010 documentary series Story of England. If you have, you’ll be aware that it tells its story from the perspective… Continue reading

We’ve met, briefly, one or two lady chess players in Leicester, and, while we’re still in the home of the 2023 British Championships, it’s time to look at the subject in more detail. Our story starts in 1912, when, at the Leicestershire Chess Club’s annual social evening, an informal tournament took place between four ladies.… Continue reading

As the British Championships were taking place in Leicester when I wrote this, it seemed appropriate to stay in my father’s home city a while longer and meet one of its finest ever players. Unless you’re in the habit of perusing old newspapers and magazines from a hundred years or so ago, you probably haven’t… Continue reading