1949 Stevenson Memorial, SCCU Championship, Milton [Teacher] Training College, Southsea - 13-23 April 1949 • »1950

SCCU champion was Dr. James M Aitken

1949 Stevenson Memorial SCCU Championship		Residence	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Nicolas Rossolimo	Paris	w13+	b8+	w5+	b2+	w3=	b11+	b4+	w10+	b6=	w12+	9
2	Ludek Pachman	Prague	w12+	b4+	b20+	w1-	b15+	b3=	w5+	w11+	w8+	b10+	8½
3	Saviely Tartakower	Paris	w10+	b21+	w6+	b11+	b1=	w2=	b12+	w4-	b5+	w16+	8
4	James Macrae Aitken1	London	b14+	w2-	w8+	b6=	w5+	b10=	w1-	b3+	b7+	w11+	7
5	Philip Norman Wallis	Yorkshire	b17+	w16+	b1-	w25+	b4-	w19+	b2-	b13+	w3-	w6+	6
6	Sir George Thomas	London	b9+	w15+	b3-	w4=	w11-	b23+	w13=	b18+	w1=	b5-	5½
7	Frederick Forrest L Alexander	Westcliff	b19-	w11-	w10-	b28+	w22+	w14+	b17+	b16+	w4-	b8=	5½
8	Herbert Gibson Rhodes	Southport	w22+	w1-	b4-	b26+	w10-	b27+	w23+	w12+	b2-	w7=	5½
9	Harold Saunders	London	w6-	b22+	b15-	b23-	w28+	w17-	b14=	w19+	b26+	w21+	5½
10	Gabriel Jacquin Wood	London	b3-	w25-	b7+	w16+	b8+	w4=	w11=	b1-	w15+	w2-	5
11	Dr Otto Friedman	London	w18=	b7+	w19+	w3-	b6+	w1-	b10=	b2-	w21+	b4-	5
12	H G Wright	Surrey	b2-	b18=	w24+	w20+	b19=	w15+	w3-	b8-	w13+	b1-	5
13	Leonard W Barden	London	b1-	w14=	b17+	b18=	w23=	w21+	b6=	w5-	b12-	w25+	5
14	Francis Samuel Woolford	Gloucester	w4-	b13=	b23-	w24=	w26+	b7-	w9=	b17+	w20+	b15=	5
15	Philip Ashby Ursell	Bournemouth	w27+	b6-	w9+	b21+	w2-	b12-	b20=	w22+	b10-	w14=	5
16	Wilfred Henry Pratten	Fareham	w23+d	b5-	w21-	b10-	b24+	w25+	b19+	w7-	w18+	b3-	5
17	Denis Victor Mardle	Luton	w5-	b24=	w13-	b22+	w18=	b9+	w7-	w14-	b27+	b26+	5
18	Bertram Goulding Brown	Cambridge	b11=	w12=	b27=	w13=	b17=	w20=	b21+	w6-	b16-	b19=	4½
19	Anthony H Knight	Maidstone	w7+	b20=	b11-	w27+	w12=	b5-	w16-	b9-	b22+	w18=	4½
20	Mary Henniker-Heaton	London	b25+	w19=	w2-	b12-	w27+	b18=	w15=	b21-	b14-	w28+	4½
21	Henry Holwell Cole	London	w24+	w3-	b16+	w15-	b25+	b13-	w18-	w20+	b11-	b9-	4
22	Graham Powell Britton	Southampton	b8-	w9-	b28+	w17-	b7-	w26+	b25+	b15-	w19-	w27+	4
23	Ralph Carter Woodthorpe	London	b16-d	b27-	w14+	w9+	b13=	w6-	b8-	w26-	w28=	b24=	3½
24	(Edward) Douglas Fawcett	London	b21-	w17=	b12-	b14=	w16-	w28=	b26-	w27+	b25=	w23=	3½
25	B R Adams	Plymouth	w20-	b10+	w26+	b5-	w21-	b16-	w22-	b28+	w24=	b13-	3½
26	Charles H L Jackson	Hampshire	—	w28+	b25-	w8-	b14-	b22-	w24+	b23+	w9-	w17-	3
27	John James O'Hanlon	Dublin	b15-	w23+	w18=	b19-	b20-	w8-	b28+	b24-	w17-	b22-	2½
28	John Poole	Harrow	—	b26-	w22-	w7-	b9-	b24=	w27-	w25-	b23=	b20-	1

+d/-d = win/loss by default
¹ SCCU (Southern Counties Chess Union) Champion

Crosstable from the London Chess Bulletin, Vol.1 no.9, 6 May 1949 - n.b. a couple of results corrected, also complete/corrected player names: Bertram Goulding Brown, Miss Mary Henniker-Heaton, Ralph Carter Woodthorpe, C. H. L. Jackson and John Poole)

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[London Chess Bulletin, Vol.1, No.8, 22 April 1949]

ENTERTAINING CHESS AT SOUTHSEA CONGRESS - Foreign Masters in the lead

The first Congress to be organised on Swiss lines in this country has certainly proved to be an interesting event for it has so far produced fighting games, some of them of highly original character.

With only three foreign masters and some withdrawals among the stronger British players, the field was neither as strong nor as lengthy as had been expected. It is naturally not surprising, in the circumstances, that the foreigners soon had the leading positions in their grasp.

The Congress opened on the 13th April with a field on 28 players in the Stevenson Memorial Tournament. This was no doubt disappointing to the organisers, who had allowed for 48 entries, but as they had arranged the event to coincide with the Midland Championships at Birmingham and the West of England C.A. at Plymouth, it is hardly astonishing that the numbers were down. Also, as luck would have it, the universities started their terms directly after Easter and this cut out quite a number of players who are regarded as being among our future masters.

British Blunders

The British contingent flattered on several occasions to deceive as when P. N. Wallis, after sacrificing brilliantly against Rossolimo to secure a tremendous attack on the King, finished weakly and lost. A number of other chances were missed and up to the end of round 5 no British player had yet succeeded in depriving any of the masters of so much as half a point.

That there must be some reason for this disappointing showing is quite evident, and British organisers must bring themselves to realise that we are not playing the kind of chess in this country likely to lead to success in the international field. Chess played at the rate of 20 or even 24 moves an hour with adjudication before the ending is reached has been a very bad training ground in the past, and it is too early yet to feel the full benefit of the London League's new system of playing match games to a finish. It is sincerely to be hoped that other leagues and other bodies will soon adopt similar measures.

Swiss System Advantages

The principal advantages derived from the adoption of the Swiss System, apart from the fact that it allows a much larger number of players to take part, have become evident during the course of this and the Birmingham Congresses.

In the first place the tournament sorts out the strong players in the first few rounds, and these have then to meet each other in the middle rounds. This means that neither player can afford to sit tight on the draw with the certainty that he can get into the prize list. Can this mean that we have found one of the best means of getting rid of the abomination of the "grandmaster"? draw?

Secondly all players, even when not doing well, have still an interest in finishing as high up the table as they can at the expense of those near them, and the system operates rather on the lines of the "ladder" tournament which is ofter a popular feature in club chess.

Thirdly, the continuous pairing of players with similar scores brings about many "needle" games, and these are of great value from the publicity point of view. Interest is bound to be the greater among the general public if the spectators can witness real battles.

Finally, the players do not know in advance whom they will meet or the colours they will have, and they cannot therefore prepare special variations for the discomfiture of particular opponents with any certainty of being able to make use of them.

All these considerations are of great importance to tournament promoters and indeed to the cause of brighter chess. It is to hoped that first impressions will be confirmed with greater experience.

Latest Scores

As we go to press the leading scores are: Rossolimo 5½, Dr. Tartakower 5, G. Wood and Barden 3½ each. There are 4 more rounds.

[London Chess Bulletin, Vol.1 No.9, 6 May 1949] Rossolimo does it again — Finished strongly to head Southsea list — The great run of success enjoyed by the three foreign competitors in the Southsea Congress was very nearly complete . . . but not quite! A gruelling tournament, with plenty of good fighting chess throughout ended in their gaining the first three places, Rossolimo adding to his laurels by capturing first place ahead of Dr. Tartakower. He evidently likes the air at British seaside resorts! In the 8th round Dr. Aitken at last redeemed British honour a little by beating Tartakower very well and in the next round Sir Geo. Thomas took half a point out of the eventual winner, Rossolimo. The final result was no surprise, for we still have no players of the calibre of the visiting players, and there is much to be done before we shall produce young masters capable of sustained success in the hard battle which is modern international chess. Dr. J. M. Aitken finished fourth. [In the SCCU] Championship he accordingly takes the title. The organisers were lucky that a southerner finished clear of the field in this way, for there was a strong probability that the Champion might have had to be selected by means of the Sonneborn-Berger system for splitting ties. It does not yet seem to be realised that the Swiss System is only effective in placing the first three or four players accurately, and no championship title should be awarded on lower placings.

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Passages from 'Southsea Chess Tournament 1949' by Harry Golombek (En Passant Publications, 1949)...

SOUTHSEA, 1949 [page 2 - introduction by Harry Golombek]

Once again I should point out that the idea of all this was conceived by [Wilfred Henry] Pratten's fertile mind, to whom the British Chess world owes a deep debt of gratitude. The Czech master, Pachman. was much impressed with this side of the Congress and told me when he left that he would urge upon the Czecho-Slovak Chess Federation the desirability of holding similar events during their tournaments.

As for the actual chess played at Southsea—well the following selection of some 53 of the better and more interesting games will show its intriguing quality. The chief tournament, the Stevenson Memorial was, alas, a runaway victory for the foreign masters. But it should be pointed out that the three masters invited were of an extremely formidable character. Rossolimo, the French champion, is an ever-improving player, who, it will be remembered, won first prize at the last Hastings tournament; Pachman is one of the most promising of all the world's younger players, and Dr. Tartakower is the hero of a hundred tournaments.

For several reasons the British opposition was not so strong as could have been hoped. C. H. O'D. Alexander was busy giving the commentaries; Broadbent and Milner Barry could not spare the time from their official duties; I myself was not only busy with daily reports but also occupied in preparing material for this book, and, as I have said already, there were a number of other Congresses m progress at the same time. Possibly, even probably, had we all played, the same three players would have obtained the three leading places. But I doubt whether their scores would have been so outstanding.

...

CONSULTATION GAMES [page 37]

On Sunday afternoon, April 17th, the three foreign rnasters each played a game against three amateurs in consultation. The aftemoon was beautifully sunny and the event took place on the lawn of the Rozel Hotel. A running commentary on the games was given by C. H. O'D. Alexander and Golombek. The three masters all entered into the spirit of the occasion and played thoroughly sporting and exciting chess as will be seen by the games that follow.

The scores of these three consultation games have been appended to the download.
(1) L Pachman 1-0 ED Fawcett, WH Pratten & Borland (either John Alexander Charles Borland or Robert Edmond Borland, who were brothers)
(2) S Tartakower 1-0 PN Wallis, Burrell, Large
(3) PA Ursell, DTA Lamport, Hole ½-½ N Rossolimo - the consultation partners were probably Philip Ashby Ursell (1902-76), Derek Thomas Anthony Lamport (born 1933) and Brian John Hole (1932-1990).

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Manchester Guardian, 5 May 1949 [author? possibly Julius du Mont?]

The "Swiss System"

The "Swiss system" of pairing, which was introduced at the Southsea Congress, worked well. The results would have been still better had the entries been more even in strength. The system will be applied in the British Championship tournament at Felixstowe in August, when there will be no inordinate discrepancy in strength between top and bottom of the list.

A disadvantage of the system is that it is possible for a competitor to play black more often than white¹. Another is that one prize-winner may have a much easier passage to a high place than another. Among the advantages must be reckoned that there can be no slackening of effort when a player's score begins to mount, for this only means that he will meet stronger opposition in the next round. And as the players do not know beforehand who their next opponents will be, nor whether they will be white or black, prepared variations are virtually impossible.

While the Swiss system is unlikely ever to take the place of a full-sized selected tournament, it is a very good substitute when it is desired to give more players their chance within a limited period.

¹ in this respect the Swiss system does not differ from single-cycle round-robin events with an even number of players. (JS comment)

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File Updated

Date	Notes
15 March 2019	Original upload
18 March 2019	Added crosstable.
29 November 2020	Added two games played by Dr JM Aitken (rd 1 vs R Woodthorpe and rd 9 v FFL Alexander), which were input as part of the Aitken input project by Geoff Chandler.
30 November 2020	Brian Denman points out that the game O'Hanlon-Woodthorpe was actually played in rd 2 (14.04.1949) and not rd 3 (15.04.49). Thanks, Brian.
30 November 2020	Added the game O'Hanlon-Rhodes (rd 6), contributed by Ulrich Tamm, who found it in a copy of the German magazine Caissa. Many thanks to Ulrich.
30 December 2025	Added a stub (9 moves) of the game H Rhodes 1-0 G Britton, rd 1. Many thanks to Ulrich Tamm for submitting the score.
22 February 2026	Deleted the score Fawcett 1-0 Pratten (rd 6) which had been sourced from Roger Paige's book Wilfred Henry Pratten (2004). It was a duplicate of the consultation game Pachman vs Fawcett, Pratten & Borland which was played during the course of this congress. Pratten did play Fawcett in the tournament but he won and it was in round 5. The score is not available.
24 February 2026	Added some part-games and annotations and applied amendments, having had access to Golombek's book of the tournament (many thanks to Paul Brown). 53 games and 3 part-games from the tournament proper, 3 consultation games and 1 game from a lower section.