Henry Holwell Cole (1873-1953)

[John Saunders]

I also discovered that my Chessbase file of his games is a bit scrambled as I have him playing games in 1950, when he apparently died in 1922... Any snippets of information would be useful.

No doubt mixed up with HH Cole, who did play at Southsea 1950. HH sticks in my memory because I defeated him in the decisive game for first prize in the Plymouth Premier Reserves 1948, my first adult congress at age 19....

Following on from Kevin's post about Harold Godfrey Cole, I thought it might be helpful to start another thread about the man with whom HG Cole is often confused - Henry Holwell Cole - who was the man Leonard played at Plymouth in 1948.

I came across an informative pen picture of him from the Westminster Gazette, 27 February 1897...

1897-02-27-Westminster-Gazette-H-H-Cole.jpg

... and here's a game that followed on from that piece...

[Event "County Surrey v Kent"] [Site "London"] [Date "1897.??.??"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Lewis, LW (Rev)"] [Black "Cole, Henry Holwell"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C65"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "1897.??.??"] [EventType "team-match"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [WhiteTeam "Kent"] [BlackTeam "Surrey"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ENG"] [BlackTeamCountry "ENG"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bd6 5. Bg5 O-O 6. Nbd2 a6 7. Ba4 h6 8. Bh4 b5 9. Bb3 Bb7 10. a3 Bc5 11. Bg3 d6 12. c3 Bb6 13. O-O Kh7 14. Kh1 Qe7 15. Nh4 g6 16. Qe2 Rad8 17. f4 Bc8 18. f5 g5 19. Nhf3 Nh5 20. Qe1 f6 21. Bd5 Na5 22. b4 Nb7 23. Nb3 c5 24. c4 Rd7 25. cxb5 axb5 26. Bc6 Rc7 27. Bxb5 cxb4 28. axb4 d5 29. Ra6 Qd6 30. Bf2 d4 31. g3 Nd8 32. Ra1 Rc3 33. Nc5 Bxc5 34. bxc5 Qxc5 35. Bc4 Qc6 36. Qe2 Ng7 37. Be1 Rxc4 38. dxc4 Nxf5 39. exf5 g4 40. Qg2 gxf3 41. Qf2 Qxc4 42. Ra7+ Rf7 43. Rxf7+ Nxf7 44. Kg1 Ng5 45. Kh1 Bb7 {Source: Westminster Gazette, 27 February 1897} 0-1

[John Saunders]

In late December 1898, Henry Holwell Cole's life took a terrible turn for the worse when he was committed to London's Bethlem Hospital (from which the word 'bedlam' derives, of course). Those with access to the FindMyPast website will be able to read of his bout of mental health problems in some detail, but you don't have to be a psychiatrist to diagnose at least part of the poor man's problems. The casebook report tells us "his brother died suddenly, then his mother [in 1898] - his greatest friend committed suicide." His father died the following year.

HH Cole seems to have been there for some months but, happily, it would appear that he managed to get his life back on track thereafter. The 1901 census finds him lodging with his aunt and her family and working as a clerk. He married in 1910, had a family and lived quite a long life. It's possible there was some sort of hiatus in his chess career as I can't see any of his games between 1899 and 1929 but thereafter he was a tournament regular right up to 1949.

[Kevin Thurlow]

Both Coles had problems then. HH did well to score +19=1-0 on a high board for Ludgate Circus.

I was aware that both played in those Cable Matches with USA. They seemed to be active at much the same time (until HG died) which probably explains how they got confused.

[John Saunders]

I've been informed that Hertfordshire Chess Association had Henry Holwell Cole's scorebooks in its possession, as of the 1990s. Does anyone know their current whereabouts? A collection of his games would make a nice feature for Britbase.info were they to be input. Alternatively, they could be offered to chessgames.com who do a good job of showcasing historical player collections.

[Paul Dupré]

Surrey Chess Champion

1895 COLE, Henry Holwell

Also, years later played in the 1933 British Championships in Hastings, where he was born in 1873.

[David Lettington]

Cole was also the Kent Chess Champion in both 1933 and 1934.

[John Townsend]

"On the 9th March, Mr. H. H. Cole, of the Battersea Chess Club, played 19 of his fellow members simultaneously, the single player scoring 14.5 wins to 4.5 losses. Mr. Cole is only twenty - one years of age, and is a rapidly rising player, and, in a recent match, Surrey v. Kent, he played top board and scored for his county. No doubt Mr. Cole will be heard of in future."

(BCM, Vol. 15, 1895, page 168)

[John Saunders]

I have stumbled upon some further info about Henry Holwell Cole in CHESS, September 1946, Vol.11/132, page 306, but I'm not quite sure what to make of it.

The page was entitled A GREAT VETERAN and it gave three of his games. The introductory paragraph read...

Three fine games by H. H. Cole, who was a power in New South Wales chess nearly sixty years ago but still plays a smashing game.

I had no idea H H Cole found his way to NSW, Australia. The date seems to indicate this was around 1886 but he would only have been a teenager at the time.

Here are the three games, for interest. CHESS doesn't give their provenance beyond the opponents' names, but fortunately Brian Denman has further info which I have added.

[Event "Hastings v Bexhill"] [Site "Bexhill"] [Date "1946.03.16"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Cole, Henry Holwell"] [Black "Hamilton, Donald Algernon Wm"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D00"] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "1946.03.16"] [EventType "team-match"] [EventRounds "1"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [SourceTitle "Denman Collection"] [Source "Brian Denman"] [SourceDate "2023.11.29"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.11.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] [WhiteTeam "Hastings"] [BlackTeam "Bexhill"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ENG"] [BlackTeamCountry "ENG"] 1. d4 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. Bd3 e6 4. Nd2 Nbd7 5. f4 c5 6. c3 cxd4 7. cxd4 Qc7 8. Ngf3 Bd6 9. O-O O-O 10. Ne5 g6 11. Qe1 Be7 12. Qg3 Nh5 13. Qh3 f5 14. g4 Nxe5 15. fxe5 Ng7 16. gxf5 Nxf5 17. Nf3 Qd8 18. Bd2 Bd7 19. Rf2 Nh4 20. Raf1 Nxf3+ 21. Rxf3 Rxf3 22. Rxf3 Qb6 23. Qg2 Kg7 24. Bc3 Rf8 25. Rxf8 Bxf8 26. Qg5 Be8 27. Qf6+ Kg8 28. e4 dxe4 29. Bxe4 Bf7 30. Qf3 Bb4 31. a3 Bxc3 32. Qxc3 Kg7 33. Kg2 Be8 34. d5 exd5 35. Bxd5 Bc6 36. e6+ Kg8 37. Bxc6 Qxc6+ 38. Qxc6 bxc6 39. Kf3 Kg7 40. Kf4 Kf6 41. e7 Kxe7 42. Ke5 a6 43. b3 g5 44. b4 h6 45. Kf5 Kd6 46. Kg6 c5 47. bxc5+ Kxc5 48. Kxh6 g4 49. Kg5 Kc4 50. Kxg4 Kb3 51. h4 Kxa3 52. h5 a5 53. h6 a4 54. h7 Kb3 55. h8=Q a3 56. Qa1 {Sources: H H Cole; CHESS, September 1946, Vol.11/132, p306. The Black player may well have been D A W Hamilton, though 'Chess' gives his initial as 'B' and H H Cole's scorebook seems also to suggest that the initial was 'B' (though it is possible that here 'D' was written originally and then altered). The date of the game is uncertain, though in a match between Hastings and Bexhill at Bexhill on 16.3.1946 H H Cole defeated D A W Hamilton on board 3 (Denman Collection)} 1-0
[Event "Brighton v Hastings"] [Site "Hastings"] [Date "1945.10.13"] [Round "?"] [White "Morton Ball, John Raymond (Col)"] [Black "Cole, Henry Holwell"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "1945.10.13"] [EventType "team-match"] [EventRounds "1"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [SourceTitle "Denman Collection"] [Source "Brian Denman"] [SourceDate "2023.11.29"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.11.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] [WhiteTeam "Brighton"] [BlackTeam "Hastings"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ENG"] [BlackTeamCountry "ENG"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 d6 5. d3 Nf6 6. Be3 Nd4 7. h3 c6 8. Bxd4 Bxd4 9. Nxd4 exd4 10. Ne2 Qb6 11. Bb3 a5 12. c3 dxc3 13. bxc3 O-O 14. Rb1 Qc5 15. d4 Qg5 16. Ng3 Nxe4 17. Nxe4 Qxg2 18. Ng3 Re8+ 19. Kd2 Qxf2+ 20. Ne2 Qe3+ 21. Ke1 Qxc3+ 22. Kf2 Qe3+ 23. Ke1 Bxh3 24. Qc2 g6 25. Qd2 Qf3 26. Rc1 Qxh1+ {Sources: H H Cole; CHESS, September 1946, Vol.11/132, p306. Played at the same time as the Sexton Cup match, but not included as part of that match (Denman Collection)} 0-1
[Event "Lud-Eagle CC trial match"] [Site "London"] [Date "1944.06.10"] [Round "?"] [White "Cole, Henry Holwell"] [Black "Walls, Leonard"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E70"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "1944.06.10"] [EventType "match"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [SourceTitle "Denman Collection"] [Source "Brian Denman"] [SourceDate "2023.11.29"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.11.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 O-O 5. e5 Ne8 6. Be3 d6 7. f4 f6 8. Nf3 Bg4 9. h3 Bxf3 10. Qxf3 fxe5 11. Qd5+ Kh8 12. dxe5 c6 13. Qd2 Nd7 14. O-O-O Qa5 15. Kb1 Rd8 16. exd6 Nxd6 17. g4 Nc5 18. Qc2 Qb4 19. a3 Qa5 20. h4 Ne6 21. h5 Nxf4 22. hxg6 h6 23. c5 Nb5 24. Bxb5 cxb5 25. Rxd8 Qxd8 26. g5 Qd3 27. Qxd3 Nxd3 28. gxh6 Be5 29. g7+ Bxg7 30. hxg7+ Kxg7 31. Bh6+ {Sources: H H Cole; CHESS, September 1946, Vol.11/132, p306 (Denman Collection) - CHESS gives Black's name as "L Wallis"} 1-0

Has BHW got his wires crossed or am I misunderstanding something?