1938 British Chess Championship, Brighton • 1937« »1946

1938 British Chess Championship		Draw No.	Resid.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
1	Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander	9	Winchester	&;	½	1	1	0	½	½	1	½	1	1	1	8
2	Edward Guthlac Sergeant	8	London	½	&;	½	0	½	1	½	1	1	1	1	½	7½
3	Harry Golombek	11	London	0	½	&;	1	½	½	1	1	1	½	½	1	7½
4	Philip Stuart Milner-Barry	7	London	0	1	0	&;	1	½	½	0	½	1	1	1	6½
5	Theodore Henry Tylor	1	Oxford	1	½	½	0	&;	1	½	½	0	½	1	½	6
6	Sir George Alan Thomas	4	London	½	0	½	½	0	&;	½	1	1	½	1	½	6
7	Vera Menchik	6	London	½	½	0	½	½	½	&;	½	0	1	½	1	5½
8	James Macrae Aitken	3	Edinburgh	0	0	0	1	½	0	½	&;	1	0	1	1	5
9	Arthur Reynolds	12	Solihull	½	0	0	½	1	0	1	0	&;	½	0	1	4½
10	Frank Parr	2	London	0	0	½	0	½	½	0	1	½	&;	0	½	3½
11	Alfred Lenton	10	Leicester	0	0	½	0	0	0	½	0	1	1	&;	½	3½
12	Harold Vincent Mallison	5	Exeter	0	½	0	0	½	½	0	0	0	½	½	&;	2½

1938 British Ladies Chess Championship, Brighton • 1937« »1939

1938 British Ladies Championship		Draw No.	Resid.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
1	Miss Minnie Musgrave	1	Hastings	&;	½	1	1	½	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	9½
2	Mrs Florence Frankland Thomson	9	Glasgow	½	&;	½	0	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	8
3	Miss Rowena Mary Dew	6	Plymouth	0	½	&;	1	½	1	0	1	1	½	1	1	7½
4	Miss M Andrews	8	London	0	1	0	&;	½	½	½	1	1	1	½	½	6½
5	Mrs Esme Hewetson Budge	3	Kilmacolm	½	0	½	½	&;	½	1	½	½	1	1	0	6
6	Miss Dorothy Mary Dibley	10	Australia	0	0	0	½	½	&;	1	1	1	½	½	0	5
7	Mrs Edith St John	11	Manchester	½	0	1	½	0	0	&;	1	1	0	½	½	5
8	Miss Mary A E A Henniker-Heaton	12	London	0	1	0	0	½	0	0	&;	1	0	1	1	4½
9	Miss Katharine Tate Austin	4	London	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	&;	1	1	1	3½
10	Miss Agnes Margaret Crum	7	Edinburgh	0	0	½	0	0	½	1	1	0	&;	0	½	3½
11	Miss Mary Constance Forbes	2	Edinburgh	0	0	0	½	0	½	½	0	0	1	&;	1	3½
12	Mrs (Winifred) Muriel Pond	5	Erith	0	0	0	½	1	1	½	0	0	½	0	&;	3½

Biographical info

1938 BCF Major Open A

1938 British Major Open A		Resid.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
1	Ernst Ludwig Klein	London	&;	½	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	½	1	9
2	Dr Paul M List	London	½	&;	0	1	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	9
3	Baruch H Wood		0	1	&;	1	0	0	1	½	1	1	1	1	7½
4	Henry Holwell Cole		0	0	0	&;	1	1	1	0	½	1	1	1	6½
5	John Francis O'Donovan		0	0	1	0	&;	½	½	1	1	1	½	1	6½
6	Jacques Mieses		1	½	1	0	½	&;	0	1	0	½	1	1	6½
7	John Storr-Best		0	0	0	0	½	1	&;	0	½	1	½	1	4½
8	John David Solomon		0	0	½	1	0	0	1	&;	½	1	0	½	4½
9	(Edward) Leslie Stuart		0	0	0	½	0	1	½	½	&;	0	1	1	4½
10	Erin Serracino Inglott	Malta	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	1	&;	1	½	3
11	(Alexander) Aird Thomson		½	0	0	0	½	0	½	1	0	0	&;	½	3
12	Ronald Lee-Johnson		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	½	½	&;	1½

Photo of the 1938 BCF Congress, from CHESS, October 1938, p22. This photo was taken at the start of Major Open A, round 1 on Monday 8 August 1938. A correction to the caption printed in the magazine: the player shown in the middle of the row nearest camera (smoking a pipe) is (Edward) Leslie Stuart (1918-2005) who was still playing in tournaments as recently as the 2001 Monarch Assurance Isle of Man Masters. In the next row, on the right, is a gentleman wearing a dog collar, two places to the right of John Keeble. Given that there was only one clergyman in Keeble's section (First Class A) this is presumably the Rev. William Rawson Greenhalgh. So far I've not been able to identify any further players, though I've a hunch that the youngish player in Keeble's row, opposite side of the table, further to the left as we look at it, might be Jack Good. If you hover with the mouse over faces, you can see these identifications. JS.

1938 BCF Major Open B

1938 British Major Open B		Resid.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
1	Francis Ernest A Kitto	Christchurch	&;	½	1	1	½	1	1	1	½	0	1	1	8½
2	Dr (Jakob) Adolf Seitz	Norway	½	&;	½	1	½	½	1	1	½	1	1	1	8½
3	Imre König	Yugoslavia	0	½	&;	0	1	½	1	½	½	1	1	1	7
4	Ronald Blow		0	0	1	&;	1	½	0	1	1	1	0	1	6½
5	Jacob Baruch Perlmutter	Belgium	½	½	0	0	&;	½	½	1	1	½	½	1	6
6	(Arthur) John Peters		0	½	½	½	½	&;	1	0	1	½	½	1	6
7	Alfred Joseph Butcher		0	0	0	1	½	0	&;	0	1	1	1	½	5
8	John James O'Hanlon	Ireland	0	0	½	0	0	1	1	&;	0	½	1	1	5
9	Robert Spitz1	Hornsey	½	½	½	0	0	0	0	1	&;	½	1	1	5
10	Marton Blum2 [Martin Blaine]		1	0	0	0	½	½	0	½	½	&;	½	1	4½
11	Leo/Leiser Schächter		0	0	0	1	½	½	0	0	0	½	&;	0	2½
12	Cecil Perfect Hammond		0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	1	&;	1½

¹ Spitz's score given as 4½ in BCM but it adds up to 5 in the crosstable. And is given as 5 in the crosstable in CHESS, October 1938, p16
² At the time Martin Blaine still used his birth name Marton Blum (born Hungary, circa 1916). Also known as Martin Blum, he changed it by deed poll in December 1946 to Martin Blaine (died 1995). BritBase uses the post-1946 version of his name for game scores.

(BCM, Sept 1938, pps 418-420)... The results in the remaining tournaments were as follows—

First Class A: 1-2 Austen Lacey Homer¹ (Stourbridge), Richard Charles Nairn (Liverpool) 8½/11; 3 Irving John (Jack) Good 7; 4 Newman Clissold 6½; 5 Cyril A Nightingale 6; 6 Rev. William Rawson Greenhalgh 5½; 7-8 John Keeble (Norwich, aged 82), Charles Henry Taylor 5; 9 W A Davidson 4½; 10 Charles William Roberts 4; 11 Frederick William Flear (Welwyn Garden City, aged 80) 3; 12 Capt. Hugh Windsor Fiesch Heneage 2½. ¹ Austen Lacey Homer (1894-1971) was a nephew of H E Atkins according to the Falkirk Herald - Wednesday 24 August 1938.

First Class B: 1-2 S Feldman (Golders Green), Wilfred Hugh Miller Kirk (Hampton Hill) 7/11; 3-4 Ward Mayhew Parker Mitchell (USA), George Arthur Peck 6½; 5-8 John G Hayes, A H Knight, Jack Jean Moore, John Stanley Giles 6; 9 Ralph Carter Woodthorpe 5; 10 A L Davies 4½; 11 Lt.Col. Charles Edward Stuart-Prince 4; 12 Herbert Francis Gook 1½.

First Class C : 1 Aibhistín de Búrca a.k.a. Austin Bourke (Waterford) 10/11; 2-3 A L Gordon, Patrick Humphrey Sullivan 8; 4 Flight-Lt. Leslie E Vine 7; 5 Rev. Arthur Percival Lacy-Hulbert 5½; 6-7 Ernest J Randall, Robin Humphries Rushton 5; 8 E A Jones 4½; 9-10 Leonard Charles Birch, Arthur T Watson 4 each; 11 Henfrey Austin Turriff 3½; 12 H Ward 1½.

Second Class A: 1 F Cooper 8½/11; 2 Frank Percival Pounce 8; 3 Owen Dixson 6½; 4 Lt.-Col. C C Robertson 6; 5-7 Mrs. Helen Muriel Cobbold, F J Andrews, W F Watson 5½; 8 F Brook 5; 9-10 William Maxwell Batten, John Spedan Lewis 4½; 11 Maurice Ellinger 4; 12 Mrs. Lucy Storr-Best (née Morris) 2½.

Second Class B: 1 James Paine Goble (Bromley) 9/11; 2 F M C Silok 8; 3 James M Ellam 7½; 4 Samuel Reginald Tomkinson 6; 5-7 W R Bale, J Butterworth, W G Evans 5½; 8 Thomas M Warburton 5; 9-11 W A Aston, Miss Cicely Mary Murphy, I Brewer 4½; 12 T P Miller ½.

Third Class, Division 1: 1 F Silk (Liverpool) 8½/11; 2-3 G G E Garrett, E D Janett 8; 4-5 T Fuller, William Henry Shields-Collins 7; 6-7 J H Brown, Alexander Schofield 5; 8 Mrs. Mary Dew (née Rowe) 4½; 9-10 W L Beaumont, Arthur Trimnell 4; 11 Miss N F Harris 3; 12 Rev. E G Wood 2.

Third Class, Division 2 : 1 A C Murphy (Bromley) 10/11; 2 J Francis 9½; 3 Mrs. Ballard 8½; 4 H N Brooks 8; 5-6 Mrs. Grace Lydia Mallison, Douglas Enty Budge 6; 7 John E Coleman 5; 8 Mrs. H Mackenzie 4½; 9 Miss Mary D Storr-Best 4; 10 Mrs. F Simpson 2½; 11 Miss Edith Maud Eleanor John Goodacre 2; 12 Mrs. Mary Louisa Chichely Jephson 0.

At the prizegiving, which was presided over by the President of the B.C.F., J. N. Derbyshire, there were present the Mayor, Alderman Hone, the Mayoress and Mrs. Sidney, who, as the Mayor said, "had done a great service to Brighton in getting the British Chess Federation to hold their congress there this year.” It was announced that next year’s congress would be held at Bournemouth during the last two weeks of August.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFO

1938 British Women's Chess Champion

Minnie Musgrave (born 4 November 1879, Stainton Le Vale, Lincolnshire, died 21 October 1968, Hailsham, Sussex)

Her father, Benjamin Musgrave (1851-83) was a farmer of 404 acres in Lincolnshire, married to Sarah Ann (née) Hinton (1847-1918). By 1911 she and her widowed mother were living in Hastings, after first moving to East Claydon in Buckinghamshire (where Sarah came from originally) and then Willesden in Middlesex in 1901.

Brian Denman has posted more information on the Hastings CC website. Here is a summary. First record of her playing chess in Hastings in 1919 when she played Blackburne in a simul. Played county chess for Sussex and for Hastings CC. Played a match versus Agnes Stevenson, one of the strongest British women players, in 1925, losing 1½-3½. Moved away from Hastings on war work towards the end of WW2, returning after the war. Sussex Ladies' Champion, 1951, 1952 and 1953 (shared), and possibly earlier (records are unclear). Last record of her playing chess in 1956.

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Other entrants in the 1938 British Ladies' Chess Championship:

Mrs FF Thomson (Glasgow – Florence Frankland Thomson, née Wilson, 1885-1939 – sometimes referred to as Mrs W Thomson. Mother of (Alexander) Aird Thomson)

Miss Rowena Mary Dew (Plymouth, later Bruce)

Miss M Andrews (London)

Mrs DE Budge (Kilmacolm) – Esmé Hewetson Budge (née Benson, 1907-98), wife of Douglas Enty Budge (1891-1951), who (the husband, that is) allegedly lost a four-move game to a 17-year-old Glasgow schoolboy Alec Maclennan at the 1950 BCF Congress in Buxton (Third-Class section). Her father Rev. Wilfrid Benson (1871-1938 - obituary, BCM, March 1938, p112), mother Charlotte Isabel Benson (née Hewetson, 1869-1942) and sister Violet Hewetson Benson (1901-1961) also took part in BCF Congresses (e.g. 1935).

Miss DM Dibley (Australia – Dorothy Mary Dibley, 1899-1981, woman champion of New South Wales, Australia, acc. to the Glasgow Herald).

Mrs E St John (Manchester – Edith St John, née Fraser, b (3 April 1882? in Scotland?), emigrated to Canada, (probably) 1901 resid. Wallace, Manitoba with father (farmer) Laurence G & mother Jane H Fraser & siblings, (definitely) m. 31 Dec 1907, Wallace, Manitoba, Canada, d. ? [after 1948], played in the 1937 Women's World Championship in Stockholm – husband was Dr Frederic Agar St John, 1874-1947, his obit in BCM).

Miss M Henniker Heaton (London – Mary Araluen Elizabeth Anne Henniker-Heaton, 1904-1972)

Miss K Austin (London) – full name Katharine Tate Austin, born 12 July 1901, Melbourne, Australia, died 3 October 1983, Kendal, Westmorland, England. Head Staff Supervisor, John Lewis's, Holborn in 1939 (resid. Flat 14, 19a Cavendish Square, in the next flat to Eric Coad-Pryor who also worked for John Lewis's). Married Frank Kay Sugden (1909-67) in 1960, Holborn, London.

Miss AM Crum (Edinburgh – Agnes Margaret Crum, 1879-1961)

Miss Mary Constance Forbes (1869-1959) - follow this link

Mrs (Winifred) Muriel Pond (Erith) - born 1906 (Isle of Wight), married Walter Charles Pond in 1932, died 21 October 1995. Her maiden name was Winifred Muriel Brown, and her father James Henry Brown was also a chess player who took part in at least one BCF Congress.

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Robert Spitz (5 April 1886 - 23 March 1947, Prague)

Obituary, BCM, July 1947

The friends of Robert Spitz—and there are many—will hear with deep regret of his death.

He had not enjoyed good health of late and he passed away on March 23rd, whilst in Prague on a business trip.

Originally from Czechoslovakia, he made his home in London in 1906, and thus commenced an association with a country that he came to regard as his own.

A staunch supporter of the Kent County Team, the City of London Chess Club and the Imperial Chess Club, no Match Captain ever appealed in vain for his services.

Quickly appreciative of his opponent’s good play and equally ready to admit any fault of his own, Mr. Spitz made a courteous opponent. He was a first class player, and, more often than not, made a 50 per cent score in the strong City of London Championship Tournament of pre-War years—no mean feat. A very modest man, one could say with fairness, he was as strong as he was unassuming.

During the war years his work [he was a china and glass merchant – JS] took him to Birmingham where he played as often as pressure of work would permit.

A sad loss to British Chess.

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File Updated

Date	Notes
10 February 2016	Alexander-Aitken (part game), Mitchell-Feldman, Wood-Klein (complete), Kitto-Koenig (source info updated)
25 March 2016	Added Mallison-Menchik, plus seven games from subsidiary sections (contributed by Brian Denman, for which many thanks)
28 August 2020	Added some details about the 1938 British Women's Chess Champion, Minnie Musgrave.
14 September 2020	Added the full score of Alexander-Milner-Barry (Rd 3), which was found by Alan Smith in the Washington Evening Star. It replaced the previous part-game from BCM. Many thanks to Alan.
15 September 2020	Six more games added: four Championship games, all played by Dr Aitken: Aitken-Tylor (Rd 2), Aitken-Reynolds (Rd 4), Mallison-Aitken (Rd 6) and Aitken-Menchik (Rd 7); F.Thomson-Crum (Rd 3) from the Ladies Championship; and a Major Open A game, A.Thomson-Solomon (rd 2), all of which I must have overlooked in a previous trawl through the Glasgow Herald. Also, I've added some biographical notes on the competitors in the British Ladies' Championship.
10 November 2020	4 more games added, played by Dr JM Aitken in the Championship (we now have all his games, thanks to Geoff Chandler and his major project to input all the many-times Scottish champion's games). The added games are vs F Parr (rd 3), Sir George Thomas (rd 5), EG Sergeant (rd 9) and CHO'D Alexander (rd 10). Many thanks to Geoff.
13 November 2020	Sean Coffey has found another game: A.Butcher-J.O'Hanlon (rd 10, Major Open B). Many thanks, Sean.
30 November 2020	Another two games from the Championship proper found by Gerard Killoran in the Leicester Evening Mail (for which Alf Lenton wrote a column): Mallison-Lenton (rd 2) and Thomas-Alexander (rd 11). Many thanks, Gerard.
16 April 2022	Added one game: J.Storr-Best 0-1 B.H.Wood, Major A, rd 1. Many thanks to Gerard Killoran.
18 April 2022	Added one game: W.Davidson 0-1 J.Keeble, First Class A. Contributed by Gerard Killoran via the English Chess Forum, 18 April 2022, for which many thanks.
20 April 2022	Added ten games. Two from Major A (E Klein 1-0 E L Stuart, rd 5, part-game; P.List 1-0 A.Thomson, rd 7) and eight from Major B (A Peters ½-½ J A Seitz, rd 1; J A Seitz ½-½ I Koenig, rd 4; J O'Hanlon 0-1 J A Seitz, rd 5; L Schaechter 0-1 J A Seitz, rd 6; J Perlmutter 0-1 I Koenig, rd 6, first ten moves only; J A Seitz 1-0 C Hammond, rd 9; M Blaine (then known as Marton or Martin Blum) 0-1 J A Seitz, rd 10; J A Seitz 1-0 A Butcher, rd 11). Many thanks to Ulrich Tamm who found these games in various continental publications.
21 April 2022	Added four more games from subsidiary sections: (1) H.Cole 1-0 J.Mieses, Major A (rd 7); (2) R.Spitz 1-0 L.Schaechter, Major B (rd 9); (3) A.Gordon 1-0 E.Randall, First Class C; (4) NN ½-½ O.Dixson, Second Class A. Many thanks to Gerard Killoran for contributing these scores via the English Chess Forum.
27 April 2022	Added two games from subsidiary sections: (1) Lacy-Hulbert 1-0 L Birch (First Class C, rd 11); (2) James Blackley Goble 1-0 W A Aston (Second Class B). Contributed by Gerard Killoran via the English Chess Forum, for which many thanks.
15 October 2023	Some biographical data added relating to (Winifred) Muriel Pond (née Brown), thanks to Jon D'Souza-Eva, Chris Kreuzer and Townsend at the English Chess Forum.