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Editor: Dr Tim Harding |
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Editor: Dr Tim Harding |
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© Dr Tim Harding
Last modified:
15 March 2008
AT LEAST two correspondence chess matches were played in the year 1846 between Europeans resident on the Caribbean island of Trinidad. The main match was played for a large cash stake but unfortunately the full score cannot be reconstructed. If any reader in Trinidad can help, please get in touch!
At that time there were both Anglophone and Francophone settlements on the island. The local newspaper, The Port of Spain Gazette, is the main source of information about this. The paper at this time had four pages in each issue. It was published twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays. The back page, and part of the third page, was usually in French; the front of the paper in English.
The clue to the existence of these matches was found in the 17 January 1847 chess column of Bell’s Life in London, in the ‘To Correspondents’ section (page 8, column 1). This shows that George Walker received a letter about it, probably from one of the English chess-players in Trinidad, as his item contains additional information was not to be found in the issues of The Port of Spain Gazette which are currently available.
In particular, Walker mentions the money that was wagered and that the moves were printed in the Port of Spain Gazette as the games were in progress. Also the detail about the players being from two different ethnic communities is not mentioned in the Gazette, perhaps because this would have been obvious to all local readers from the mention of St Joseph’s.
Here is the Bell's Life report:
CHESS IN TRINIDAD: In June last two English gentlemen, pupils and children of “Bell”, residents at the port of Spain, Trinidad, challenged ‘the combined chess talent of Trinidad’ in the Gazette, to play a match by correspondence. The glove was gallantly taken up by some French gentlemen, members of the St Joseph Club; and two games being played, both were won by our countrymen; the match beginning August 5, and ending Nov 28. Both games have been forwarded to us for publication; but though replete with creditable strokes of talent, and marks of much Chess genius, we frankly avow that being long they are hardly strong enough for our record... The above match began for a stake of a hundred dollars; but some party feeling arising between English and French, nearly one thousand dollars changed hands at the close.
Examination of the Trinidad newspaper film shows that there was in fact an earlier correspondence game on the island, which led to the subsequent challenge. On 9 June 1846, the Gazette reported that:
A match at Chess is now in course of play between some gentlemen of Port of Spain and some gentlemen of St Joseph, who have formed themselves in two Clubs, one calling itself the Port of Spain, the other the St Joseph Chess Club. The right to the first move was won by the St Joseph gentlemen, and the state of the game at the present moment is as follows.
There followed the first seven moves played by each side and the comment that many Chess players throughout the colony would probably take an interest in the progress of the contest. The Gazette considered that by publishing the chess moves ‘we can increase the means of innocent recreation to our rural friends during the dull months of the rainy season’.
Further moves in this early game were printed on 16 June and 26 June. On the latter date, the record of the moves was followed by the challenge which led to the match later reported by Bell’s Life.
Connected with Chess matters, the following challenge has been left with us.
‘CHESS. Two Amateurs of Port of Spain will be happy to play a Match by correspondence, against the combined Chess Talent of Trinidad. The names of the challengers can be obtained on application at our office.’
From this, it seems fair to surmise that the ‘Two Amateurs’ were unimpressed by the quality of play in the early game and believed themselves capable of doing better.
On Friday 10 July, the paper printed the next set of moves in the first game, including a correction to a misprint in the previous report. The remaining moves, including a complete record of the game, appeared in the 31 July number of the paper. The St Joseph’s Club offered a knight sacrifice, which Black had to decline, resulting in a draw by perpetual check.
St Joseph's Chess Club - Port of Spain Chess Club
Bishop’s Opening (C23)
Trinidad corr, 1846
The Port of Spain Gazette.
Moves 1–7 published Tuesday 9 June 1846:
1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 Bc5 3 c3 Qe7 4 d3 d6 5 a4 a5 6 Be3 Bxe3 7 fxe3 Nf6
Next moves published Tuesday 16 June:
8 h3 0–0 9 Nf3 h6 10 Nbd2 Be6 11 Nh4
Printed on 26th June:
11...Nxe4 12 Nhf3 Ng3 13 Rg1
Originally misprinted as Ng1 but corrected on Friday 10 July, when the game was given to Black's 21st.
13...Bxc4 14 Nxc4 e4 15 dxe4 Qxe4 16 Nfd2 Qh4 17 Qf3 Nc6 18 Qf2 Ne5 19 Nxe5 dxe5 20 0–0–0 Qg5 21 Nf3 Ne4
The final moves (and complete score) appeared on 31 July:
22 Qc2 Qxe3+ 23 Kb1 Nd6 24 Rge1 Qb6 25 Nxe5 Rad8 26 Rd2 f6 27 Ng4 Nc4 28 Nxh6+ Kh8
The paper actually printed "Knight's rooks square" but …Kh8 must be the move played as the alternative loses.
29 Nf7+ ½-½.
This move was not actually printed but it must be what was intended. The paper wrote: 'The St Josephs Club here draws the game by giving perpetual check'
The next chess report appeared in the Gazette of Tuesday 18 August.
CHESS. The challenge which appeared in our columns of the 26th June having been accepted by the St Joseph Club, to play a match of three Games, the following are the moves of the first Game, the St Joseph Club having the move.
The early part of this game to White’s ninth move followed. On the 28 th August. the game was continued to move thirteen and the first eight moves of the second game, with the Amateurs having the move, was also printed.
Some more moves appeared on 11 September, but unfortunately the microfilm in the British Newspaper Library, Colindale, lacks several weeks in September-October 1846. This means I was unable to make a full reconstruction of the second, and more important, chess match. The next report seen was on 20 October, so about five or six moves each in each game are unknown, which means that at least one and possibly two or three reports are missing. I have the later moves of the games but it is impossible to reconstruct the missing sequences.
So does any reader in the Caribbean have access to the original files of this newspaper in order to fill in the gap?
St Joseph's Chess Club – Two Amateurs (Port of Spain)
Bishop’s Opening (C23)
Trinidad challenge match, game 1, 1846
1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 Bc5 3 c3 Qe7 4 d3 b5 5 Bxb5 Bxf2+ 6 Kxf2 Qc5+ 7 d4 Qxb5 8 Nf3 exd4 9 cxd4 d6 10 Nc3 Qd7 11 Re1 Ne7 12 Qd3 Ba6 13 Qe3 Nbc6 14 Nd5 Nxd5 15 exd5+ Ne7 16 Qe4 h6 17 Bd2 Bb7 18 Re2 Kd8 19 Rae1 Nxd5... [0–1]
Two Amateurs (Port of Spain) – St Joseph's Chess Club
Trinidad challenge match, game 2, 1846
Second game of the match, publication of the moves commencing 28/8/1846
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Bc4 Bc5 5 Ng5 Nh6 6 Bxf7+ Nxf7 7 Nxf7 Kxf7 8 Qh5+ g6 9 Qxc5 Re8 10 Qd5+ Re6 11 0–0 Kg7 12 h4 d6 13 Nd2 a5 14 e5... [1–0]
It is not possible to reconstruct either game beyond this point. A further interim report was printed in The Port of Spain Gazette on 10 November in which the opponents are described as ‘Port of Spain’ rather than ‘Two Amateurs’. The final moves appeared in the paper on 1 December (page 2). The St Joseph’s Club resigned after 53 moves in the first game and after Port of Spain’s 48th move in the second game. The paper’s final comment was:
We are told the above are very fair specimens of Chess. It will be seen that the Amateurs win both games—thus fully proving that the challenge which appeared in our number of 26th June last was no empty boast.
It is worth making two points about this unusual match. One is the large amount of money that changed hands as a result, very unusual for a correspondence game. These were wealthy colonial entrepreneurs or planters, and perhaps they were rather bored and looking for excitement.
Secondly, it was a contest between the Anglophones and Francophones, which also probably helps to explain the interest in the match and the level of betting. It was after all only three years since Staunton had beaten Saint-Amant and a year since Pest had beaten Paris 2-0 in their postal match. French superiority at chess, once widely acknowledged, was in ruins.
© Tim Harding, 2008