There are those who are of interest because, like William Ward, they’re strong chess players who had distinguished careers. We can follow their results and study their games. There are others who might have had shorter or less distinguished chess careers but who are of interest because of their lives outside chess, or perhaps because Continue reading

Last time we left William Ward in 1909, when he had just competed in his fourth British Championship. As it happens, it would be his last appearance (perhaps his legal work was more pressing) but he continued playing in the City of London Championship, as well as in county matches. Here, as you can see, Continue reading

Last time we left William Ward at the time of the 1901 census, where he was staying overnight with one Isidore Wiener. As we know he played for Richmond at the end of 1902, was he living in our part of London at that time? But before that, in April 1902 William Ward played a Continue reading

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 Continue reading

If you take the train to Whitton station (one stop after Twickenham) and turn right you’ll find yourself in Whitton High Street, with a turning into Bridge Way (named after the railway bridge, not the card game) on your right. If you walk along Bridge Way you’ll find two turnings on your left, Cypress Avenue Continue reading

It’s time to continue the story of Richmond Chess Club through the 1890s. The club, as we’ve seen, was young and ambitious, and decided to enter the Beaumont Cup, run by the Surrey County Chess Association. The Surrey League (except that it never seems to be called that) started in the 1883-84 season. It seems Continue reading

Here’s something you might have seen before: Twickenham Chess Club’s 1896 victory over Metropolitan. Regular readers will have met several of these players already, but not Twickenham’s Board 6: E B Schwann. Edward Bagehot Schwann was born in Hampstead in 1872, probably towards the end of September. Edward came from a privileged background. His father, Continue reading

If you’ve been following these articles you’ll have met quite a lot of Twickenham Chess Club members from the 1880s and 1890s. You might have noticed they all had several things in common. They were all male, and, although they followed a wide variety of occupations, they were all from well-off upper middle class backgrounds. Continue reading

Last time we left George Edward Wainwright at the time of the 1921 census, when, approaching the age of 60, he’d recently retired from his senior post with the now defunct Local Government Board and moved to his wife’s home village of Box, not far from Bath. Chess in London for him was now over: no Continue reading

This is the third post in my series about George Edward Wainwright, sometime member of Twickenham, Guildford and Surbiton Chess Clubs, and one of the strongest English amateurs of his day. You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here. We left George in Surbiton in 1911, happily married, with four children and an important job in Continue reading