1st Hampstead Summer Festival, 11-17 July 2011

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Adam Raoof
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1st Hampstead Summer Festival, 11-17 July 2011

Post by Adam Raoof » Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:54 am

does anyone have a suitable photo of Hampstead / chess related I could use, or further details of the history of Hampstead CC for our brochure?

1st Hampstead Summer Festival, 11-17 July 2011

Hampstead is a great place for playing chess. As a member of a rival club I remember playing many matches against Hampstead, which was founded in 1885 and met in the crypt of the Baptist Church on Heath Street until about 2009. The sets and boards and clocks they used seemed to be relics of the Victorian era, and the setting added to the atmosphere for every encounter.

Nowadays there is a thriving chess club which meets at Golders Green Parish church hall in West Heath Drive (I am biased, as I am the Secretary), and Hampstead has a thriving community of young players in the local schools, supported by talented coaches.

It is therefore fitting that the first Hampstead Summer Festival will feature the best of that local talent. Over the weekend there will be simultaneous displays by International Masters, and a special display by the President of the English Chess Federation and TV celebrity CJ de Mooi (Eggheads) on Saturday 16th July. There will be free coaching sessions for kids, and you'll be able to play chess on a giant chess set courtesy of Chess & Bridge Ltd of Baker Street.

http://www.hampsteadsummerfestival.com
Adam Raoof IA, IO
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Carl Hibbard
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Re: 1st Hampstead Summer Festival, 11-17 July 2011

Post by Carl Hibbard » Thu Jun 09, 2011 11:33 am

Do we need all this duplicate type posting of exactly the same message?
Cheers
Carl Hibbard

Tim Harding
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Re: 1st Hampstead Summer Festival, 11-17 July 2011

Post by Tim Harding » Sat Jun 11, 2011 11:49 pm

Adam, sorry, I agree with Carl that the History threads are not appropriate to announce a current tournament. If you have a historical query relevant to a current item, please post only the query here and possibly make a very brief cross-reference to the current item posted elsewhere.

That said, I cannot tell you whether the Hampstead Chess Club now existing is the same club with continuous existence, but there was a Hampstead CC at the start of the 20th century.
What is your evidence for its foundation in 1885?
In 1901 it organised a 7-player postal tournament, probably only for club members, with a strong entry including F. W. Flear, J. Mahood and R. C. Griffith.
This was reported in the chess column of the Hampstead Record for 1901 and from the problem numbers it looks as if the column had begun in 1899. No editor was named but it was possibly Max J. Meyer who, I believe, lived in Hampstead.
I looked at 1901 only in the British Newspaper Library a couple of years ago and there is a brief reference to this competition in my book "Correspondence Chess in Britain and Ireland, 1824-1987.
So I suggest you look at 1899, 1900 and 1902 if you can find them.
This column is NOT mentioned in the book "Chess Columns: A List" edited by the late Ken Whyld.
Tim Harding
Historian and FIDE Arbiter

Author of 'Steinitz in London,' British Chess Literature to 1914', 'Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography', and 'Eminent Victorian Chess Players'
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Adam Raoof
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Re: 1st Hampstead Summer Festival, 11-17 July 2011

Post by Adam Raoof » Mon Jun 13, 2011 11:38 am

Point taken.

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report ... mpid=22645 is where I found the date 1885 as the earliest mention of the club's existence.
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John Townsend
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Re: 1st Hampstead Summer Festival, 11-17 July 2011

Post by John Townsend » Sun Jun 19, 2011 6:00 pm

A chess source refers to the "newly-formed Belsize and South Hampstead Chess Clubs" a good six years earlier than 1885. (see The Westminster Papers, 1 Jan. 1879, p. 195).

With best wishes,

John Townsend,
Author of "Notes on the Life of Howard Staunton"
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Gordon Cadden
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Re: 1st Hampstead Summer Festival, 11-17 July 2011

Post by Gordon Cadden » Thu Jun 23, 2011 9:46 am

John, the Hampstead Chess Society first met in 1880, shortly after Daniel Clewin Griffith moved to Hampstead. They would meet once a week at a nominated members house. The strongest member of the society was E. Seymour. Early in 1885, Daniel Griffith with several members of the society, formed the Hampstead Chess Club. They hired a room at the Hampstead Subscription Library, Stansfield House, Hampstead High Street. In the winter of 1885, 13 years old Richard Griffith entered the Handicap Tournament, and was placed in the Knight Class Section.
The Belsize Club was established before 1880, and I note your reference to 1879, taken from the Westminster Papers.

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Re: 1st Hampstead Summer Festival, 11-17 July 2011

Post by John Townsend » Fri Jun 24, 2011 10:21 am

Gordon,

The Westminster Papers article at the start of 1879 is saying that there were two newly-formed clubs, Belsize and South Hampstead. It seems unclear how this South Hampstead Chess Club relates to the slightly later Hampstead Chess Club, if at all.

Regards,

John Townsend

Gordon Cadden
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Re: 1st Hampstead Summer Festival, 11-17 July 2011

Post by Gordon Cadden » Fri Jun 24, 2011 10:31 am

John, Believe that they are one and the same club; The South Hampstead Station would have been close to the Belsize Club which met at the Princess of Wales Hotel, corner of Abbey Road and Belsize Road. The club was established in 1878. This area borders on West Hampstead, Kilburn and St. John's Wood, and was actually some distance from Belsize Park.