Another reconstruction challenge

[Gerard Killoran]

This (featuring the second Bertram of the week) was going smoothly...

02 Nov 1912, 3 - Dorking Advertiser a.png

[Event "BCF-ch 9th First Class B"] [Site "Richmond"] [Date "1912.08.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Goulding Brown, Bertram"] [Black "MacAlister, John"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B01"] [Opening "Scandinavian: Mieses-Kotrvc gambit"] 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. b4 Qxb4 5. Rb1 Qd6 6. Nf3 Nf6 7. d4 e6 8. Rb3 Qd8 9. Be2 Be7 10. Bf4 a6 11. Ne5 Nbd7 12. Bf3 Rb8 13. Qb1 Nb6 14. Ne2 Bd6 15. O-O O-O 16. Rc1 Bxe5 17. Bxe5 Nfd7 18. Bg3 Re8 19. Rd1 Ra8 20. h3 c5 21. Be4 Nd5 22. c4 N5f6 23. Bc2 {Dorking Advertiser, 02 Nov 1912. p.3} 1-0

until this. Can anyone help?

02 Nov 1912, 3 - Dorking Advertiser b.png

[John Saunders]

I think I've got it. If you substitute 20...c6 for 20...c5, it makes some sort of sense...

[Event "BCF-ch 9th First Class B"] [Site "Richmond"] [Date "1912.08.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Goulding Brown, Bertram"] [Black "MacAlister, John"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B01"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "1912.??.??"] 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. b4 Qxb4 5. Rb1 Qd6 6. Nf3 Nf6 7. d4 e6 8. Rb3 Qd8 9. Be2 Be7 10. Bf4 a6 11. Ne5 Nbd7 12. Bf3 Rb8 13. Qb1 Nb6 14. Ne2 Bd6 15. O-O O-O 16. Rc1 Bxe5 17. Bxe5 Nfd7 18. Bg3 Re8 19. Rd1 Ra8 20. h3 c6 ({ The score gives} 20... c5 {('P-QB4') but it must be wrong - JS}) 21. Be4 Nd5 22. c4 N5f6 23. Bc2 b5 24. c5 h6 25. Qc1 Nd5 26. Bd6 e5 27. Rg3 Kh8 28. dxe5 Nxe5 29. Nf4 Nc4 30. Nh5 g5 31. Rxd5 cxd5 32. Qa1+ f6 33. Nxf6 d4 34. Qxd4 Re1+ 35. Kh2 Ne5 36. Ne4 Kg8 37. Qxe5 {Source: Dorking Advertiser, 02 Nov 1912. p.3. Contributed by Gerard Killoran, 27 February 2024.} 1-0

[Gerard Killoran]

That makes sense, I hope these do too...

[Event "BCF-ch 10th Major Open"] [Site "Cheltenham"] [Date "1913"] [Round "?"] [White "Muller, Oscar Conrad"] [Black "Schories, Georg"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [Opening "Giuoco Pianissimo: Canal variation"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 g5 8. Bg3 Bg4 9. Bb5 a6 10. Bxc6+ bxc6 11. h4 Nh5 12. hxg5 hxg5 13. Qd2 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Qf6 15. O-O-O Kd7 16. Qe2 Ng7 17. Na4 Ba7 18. c3 Ne6 19. Rxh8 Rxh8 20. d4 exd4 21. e5 Nf4 22. Qxa6 Qf5 23. Qxa7 Ne2+ 24. Kd2 Nxg3 25. exd6 Qf4+ 26. Kc2 Nf5 27. Qxc7+ Ke6 28. Nc5+ Kf6 29. Qxc6 Kg7 30. d7 dxc3 31. Qe4 Qb8 32. b4 Kf6 33. Rd5 Ng7 34. Qd4+ {Dorking Advertiser, 18 Oct 1913, p.3} 1-0

[Event "BCF-ch 9th First Class A"] [Site "Richmond"] [Date "1912.08.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Letchworth, Thomas Wilfrid"] [Black "Palmer, Edward Davidson"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C49"] [Opening "Four knights: symmetrical, Maroczy system"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bb4 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 d6 7. Ne2 Ne7 8. Ng3 Bg4 9. c3 Bc5 10. h3 Be6 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. d4 Bb6 14. Nh4 Ng6 15. Nhf5 Ne7 16. Qg4+ Ng6 17. Qh5 Bxf5 18. Qxh6 Nf4 19. Nxf5 Ne6 20. d5 {Dorking Advertiser 19 Oct 1912, p.3} 1-0

[Event "BCF-ch 9th Major Open"] [Site "Richmond"] [Date "1912.08.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Schories, Georg"] [Black "Maas, Arthur James"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C14"] [Opening "French: classical, Alapin variation"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. Nb5 Nb6 8. c3 a6 9. Na3 f6 10. Bd3 O-O 11. Qh5 g6 12. Qe2 fxe5 13. dxe5 c5 14. h4 Nc6 15. g3 Bd7 16. f4 Na4 17. Nf3 c4 18. Bc2 Nxc3 19. Qd2 Nb5 20. h5 c3 21. bxc3 Nxa3 22. hxg6 Nxc2+ 23. Qxc2 hxg6 24. Ng5 Nxe5 25. Rh7 Qf6 26. O-O-O Bb5 27. Rdh1 Nf7 28. Nxf7 Rxf7 29. R1h6 Rg7 30. Rh8+ Kf7 31. Rxa8 Qf5 32. Rhh8 Qxc2+ 33. Kxc2 Ke7 34. Kd2 g5 35. Ke3 gxf4+ 36. Kxf4 Kd6 37. Raf8 e5+ 38. Kf3 Kc5 39. Rhg8 Rh7 40. Rh8 Rg7 41. Rhg8 Re7 42. g4 Kc4 43. g5 Kxc3 44. g6 e4+ 45. Kf4 e3 46. Rf7 Re4+ 47. Kf5 Bd3 48. Kf6 e2 49. Rc8+ Kd2 50. g7 e1=Q 51. g8=Q Qh4+ {Dorking Advertiser, 05 Oct 1912, p.7} 0-1

[Event "BCF-chW 9th"] [Site "Richmond"] [Date "1912.08.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Houlding, Mary Mills"] [Black "Anderson, Gertrude Alison"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B01"] [Opening "Scandinavian (centre counter) defence"] 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 c6 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Bd2 Qc7 7. Be2 Bf5 8. Ne5 Nbd7 9. f4 Qb6 10. Nc4 Qxd4 11. Qc1 Nd5 12. Ne3 e6 13. Nexd5 exd5 14. Be3 Qf6 15. Qd1 Bc5 16. Bxc5 Nxc5 17. O-O O-O 18. Bf3 Rad8 19. g4 d4 20. g5 Qd6 21. Ne2 d3 22. Ng3 Bh3 23. Rf2 Rfe8 24. b4 Ne6 25. Ne4 Qxf4 26. Bg2 Qe3 27. cxd3 Bxg2 28. Kxg2 Rxd3 29. Qg4 Rd4 30. Re2 Nf4+ {Dorking Advertiser 21 Sep 1912, p3} 0-1

[Event "BCF-ch 17th Major Open"] [Site "Southport"] [Date "1924.08.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Sergeant, Philip Walsingham"] [Black "Rhodes, Herbert Gibson"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A53"] [Opening "Old Indian: Janowski variation"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 Bf5 4. f3 Nc6 5. e4 Bg6 6. g3 e5 7. d5 Nb8 8. Bg2 Be7 9. Nge2 Nfd7 10. O-O O-O 11. g4 a5 12. Ng3 Na6 13. Be3 b6 14. Qd2 Nac5 15. Nf5 Bxf5 16. gxf5 h6 17. Ne2 Bg5 18. Bxg5 hxg5 19. Rad1 f6 20. h4 gxh4 21. Qe1 Kf7 22. Qxh4 Rh8 23. Qg3 Rh6 24. f4 Qe7 25. Rfe1 Rah8 26. fxe5 fxe5 27. Nc3 Nf6 28. Kf2 Nh5 29. Qg4 Nf4 30. Rh1 Rh2 31. Rxh2 Rxh2 32. Rg1 Qf6 33. Qg3 Qh6 34. Kf1 Kf8 35. f6 gxf6 {Manchester Evening News 27 Sep 1924, p.7} 0-1


[Event "Surrey vs Yorkshire"] [Site "St. Bride's, London"] [Date "1924.10.11"] [Round "Semi-Final"] [White "Atkins, Henry Ernest"] [Black "Michell, Reginald Pryce"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D64"] [Opening "QGD: Orthodox defence, Rubinstein attack (with Rc1)"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. Rc1 c6 8. Qc2 Re8 9. Bd3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nd5 11. Ne4 Qa5+ 12. Ke2 Qd8 13. Rhd1 h6 14. Bxe7 Qxe7 15. Kf1 N5b6 16. Bb3 Nf8 17. Ne5 f6 18. Nf3 Rd8 19. Nc5 Nd5 20. e4 Nc7 21. Kg1 Kh8 22. a3 Rb8 23. Ba2 Bd7 24. Nxd7 Rxd7 25. Rd2 Rbd8 26. Rcd1 Nb5 27. a4 Nc7 28. Qc3 Na6 29. Bb1 Qb4 30. Bc2 c5 31. Bb3 cxd4 32. Qxb4 Nxb4 33. Rxd4 Rxd4 34. Nxd4 a6 35. Kf1 e5 36. Nf5 Rxd1+ 37. Bxd1 Ne6 38. Ke2 Nc5 39. Nd6 Kg8 40. f3 Kf8 {Manchester Evening News, 18 Oct 1924, p.7} 1/2-1/2

[John Saunders]

Many thanks, Gerard. I have uploaded all of these games to BritBase...

1912 British Championship
1913 British Championship
1924 British Championship
HE Atkins Games Collection

Re the Atkins game vs Michell: I looked up the match report in BCM - November 1924, p443 - and was surprised to see that it was reported as the County Final. But you (and the newspaper) were right and BCM was wrong - it was indeed a semi-final match. Two months later BCM reported on the true County Final (Surrey v Warwickshire) without acknowledging their error.