Yorkshire Chess History

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1890: Grosmont v Whitby

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The Whitby Gazette of Friday 19^th December 1890 reported as follows:

Chess. – Whitby v. Grosmont. – A match between these clubs was played at Grosmont on Wednesday evening [17/12/1890], and resulted in a victory for the home team, the score being as follows:-

Whitby		Grosmont
W. Forth	0 0	Dr. Smailes	1 1
R. Peguero	1	T. Short	0
E. Collier	1 1	W. Bird	0 0
G. L. Miller	1 1	R. Bennison	0 0
R. S. Sadler	0 0	T. Wood	1 1
J. Raynor	0 0	Jas. Petch	1 1
V. Collier	0	Jas. Mann	1
T. C. Alder	0 0	G. Schofield	1 1
J. W. Nicholson	0 0	G. Stephenson	1 1*
A. Oliver [?]	1 0	E. Jones	0 1*
V. E. Newbould	1 1	Jno. Mann	0 0
H. B. Corner	0 0	W. Stephenson	1 1
	----		----
	8		14

The match was essentially a 12-board match with 2 games played per board, where time permitted. Only one game was played on board 2 and only one board 7.

Walter Grimshaw, who you’d expect to be on board one for Whitby, was in London at the time. Nevertheless, it is surprising that the small inland village of Grosmont, at the north end of what is now the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, should be able to defeat the much larger town of Whitby so convincingly. Grosmont probably drew players from the wider area of Eskdaleside, and along the railway line.

The Whitby Gazette of Friday 2^nd February 1891 contained a “Register of Local Events” for the preceding year. Besides such noteworthy events as the first herring catch of the year on 4^th June, there were listed various competitive events between Whitby and nearby towns or villages, including a number of “ploughing and hedge cutting” matches and shooting matches. There is even recorded the formation of the Streonshalh Quoit club, “Steonshalh” being a Saxon name predating the Norse “Whitby”. However, only one chess match was listed, as above, which rather suggests this match was something of a novelty.

Identities of the players, where established:

T. C. Alder	Thomas Clavering Alder
R. Bennison	Robert Bennison
W. Bird
A. Oliver [?]	Arthur Horne Calvert [??]
E. Collier	Edwin Collier
V. Collier	Vincent Collier
H. B. Corner	Henry Brougham Corner
W. Forth	William Forth
E. Jones	Edwin Jones
Jas. Mann	James Mann
Jno. Mann	John Mann
G. L. Miller	George Longbotham Miller
V. E. Newbould	Victor Emmanuel Newbould
J. W. Nicholson	John W Nicholson
R. Peguero	Ramon Peguero
Jas. Petch	James Petch
J. Raynor
R. S. Sadler	Robert Sadler
G. Schofield	George Schofield
T. Short
Dr. Smailes	Dr. Francis William Smailes
G. Stephenson	George Stephenson
W. Stephenson	William Stephenson
T. Wood	Thomas Wood

See also Whitby Chess Club, and Grosmont Chess Club.

Created

13/12/2012

Last Updated

13/12/2012