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SHEFFIELD Chess History |
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Hodgett Memorial Trophy |
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A popular start-of-season event of the Sheffield and District Works Sports Association Chess Section was a team rapidplay tournament conducted in one evening at the start of the season. A trophy called the Speedicut Trophy was put into service as the trophy for the winners of the new event.
In time, a popular, long-standing and hard-working officer of the S&DWSA Chess Section and of South Yorkshire Police chess, and keen chess-player, albeit of modest playing strength, died as a result of contracting a form of hepatitis on a family holiday in Spain. That was Dave Hodgett, by day a station sergeant at Hackenthorpe police station. Dave was also one of the founders and official of Darnall & Handsworth Chess Club. The S&DWSA Chess Section members clubbed together to purchase a trophy as a memorial to Dave, and put it into service as a replacement for the Speedicut Trophy.
Time went by, and there came a time when the S&DWSA Chess Section felt it had shrunk to the point where it could no longer continue to function. The section’s trophies went into store with the Sheffield and District Works Sports Association. The S&DWSA was itself contracting in various areas, and the increasing stockpile of retired trophies got so large that it was decided to sell them at auction.
The opportunity was taken to purchase the Hodgett Memorial Trophy so that it was not lost to Sheffield chess. (A much older part of Sheffield chess history, the Davy Cup, got sold before there was time to step in and save it.)
When the Sheffield & District Chess Association’s summer league expanded to two divisions, the need arose for a second division trophy, and so the Hodgett Memorial Trophy was donated to the S&DCA for this new purpose.
(Click here for a photograph of the trophy.)
In its initial function, for the Works League team rapidplay, Hodgett winners were as follows:
Winners of the second division of the S&DCA summer league to date have been:
There was no summer league in 2019-20 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Created 02/09/2013 |
Copyright © 2013 Stephen John Mann |
Last Updated 16/02/2021 |