Photo of St Bride's, former London chess venue

[MartinCarpenter]

I'm pretty sure the clocks used in 1981 would have been very old too
(They tend to only get replaced when they absolutely stop working. A few might even have directly survived that long.).

Fascinating photos.

[Gordon Cadden]

Can now identify the Hampstead players in the 1931 photograph.
On Bd.24 nearest the camera, is Ernest Montgomery Jellie 1866 - 1949
On Bd.23 is A.J. Field, who died August, 1944, aged 71 years
On Bd.22 is Harry Israel, whom I met socially.
On Bd.20 is T.I. Casswell 1902 - 1989 Played several match games with him.
On Bd.17 is Julius du Mont 1881 - 1956
The lady with the hat, on board 18, is J.W. Morling. Mrs Stevenson was playing for the Kent Team.

[John Saunders]

Can now identify the Hampstead players in the 1931 photograph.
On Bd.24 nearest the camera, is Ernest Montgomery Jellie 1866 - 1949
On Bd.23 is A.J. Field, who died August, 1944, aged 71 years
On Bd.22 is Harry Israel, whom I met socially.
On Bd.20 is T.I. Casswell 1902 - 1989 Played several match games with him.
On Bd.17 is Julius du Mont 1881 - 1956
The lady with the hat, on board 18, is J.W. Morling. Mrs Stevenson was playing for the Kent Team.

Interesting stuff, Gordon. You're nearly there as regards which boards we are looking at but the lady in the hat can't be J.W. Morling, because the latter was a man called John William Morling! (I think I'm on fairly safe ground in ruling out the possibility of transvestism in 1930s competition chess.) He was born in 1864 and died in 1940. Obituary in June 1940 BCM.

So the Middlesex players are on the right as we look at the photo with the nearest players being board 24. The guy on the right nearest camera does look a fair bit like Andrew Stone's g-grandfather as depicted in the S&B article previously referenced. We can then count off the visible clocks in the row - seven (or count heads - also 7) - so that's boards 24 to 18, from foreground to background. That accords with the lady in the hat being on the penultimate board on the left - Mrs Stevenson, playing for Kent on board 19. We can't see board 17 because it must be in the next row so no Julius du Mont, I'm afraid.

Thus, from nearest to furthest as we look at the photo...

24 left: J. Stuart Hodgson right: E. M. Jellie
23 left: P. Sullivan right: A. J. Field
22 left: H. R. Lorch right: H. Israel
21 left: J. P. Goodfellow right: A. T. Stow
20 left: J. C. Thompson right: T. I. Casswell
19 left: Mrs. Stevenson right: A. G. Kershaw
18 left: H. Vine right: J. W. Morling

And the chap watching play on the left is Middlesex captain Harold Meek - readily recognisable from the other photo taken that day.

[Leonard Barden]

So John Crittenden Thompson already had his beard (though a tidier version than later) and his crouched stance at the board 20 years before he achieved his pioneering fame with the Hippopotamus, while Harold Israel's hair was darker in his youth. I am rather relieved to learn that my mentor and Guardian predecessor Julius du Mont was not, after all, in the picture, as following Gordon's post I looked for him in vain.
For more on JC Thompson, see this old Forum thread: http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=553

[Stewart Reuben]

>Fascinating to see A.J. Bernfield as a healthy schoolboy. A stalwart member of the Metropolitan club, I remember him with a cigarette permanently attached to his lips, coughing his lungs out. Surprisingly, he played a reasonable game.<

Indeed. We played and drew in the British Championship in Aberystwyth in 1961. From memory it was a 90 move marathon 3 sessions in which I played about 15 blunders which should have lost half point and he played about seven. This included my failing to claim a draw by repetition on at least two quite separate occasions. This success enabled me to avoid coming bottom. He had that distinction. No, I do not have the game. It delayed publication of the pairings by some hours.

1955 we played the London Boys at St Bride's. The rate of play was something like 40 moves in 2 hours. Some of the clocks we used would have been of the older rectangular TYPE shown in that 1931 photo. The clocks were set at 11.30. I, an innocent schoolboy, asked why they were set at that time considering the rate of play. 'Because that is the way they are set for the London League.' My reply, 'But this isn't the London League.' The following round they were set at the hour. Thus, in the 2015 FIDE Competition Rules: 6.3 If mechanical chessclocks are used, they shall be set so that each unit registers six o’clock at the first time control. English chess has had a considerable effect on the Laws and Rules.

[John Saunders]

>Fascinating to see A.J. Bernfield as a healthy schoolboy. A stalwart member of the Metropolitan club, I remember him with a cigarette permanently attached to his lips, coughing his lungs out. Surprisingly, he played a reasonable game.<

Indeed. We played and drew in the British Championship in Aberystwyth in 1961. From memory it was a 90 move marathon 3 sessions in which I played about 15 blunders which should have lost half point and he played about seven. This included my failing to claim a draw by repetition on at least two quite separate occasions. This success enabled me to avoid coming bottom. He had that distinction. No, I do not have the game. It delayed publication of the pairings by some hours.

1955 we played the London Boys at St Bride's. The rate of play was something like 40 moves in 2 hours. Some of the clocks we used would have been of the older rectangular TYPE shown in that 1931 photo. The clocks were set at 11.30. I, an innocent schoolboy, asked why they were set at that time considering the rate of play. 'Because that is the way they are set for the London League.' My reply, 'But this isn't the London League.' The following round they were set at the hour. Thus, in the 2015 FIDE Competition Rules: 6.3 If mechanical chessclocks are used, they shall be set so that each unit registers six o’clock at the first time control. English chess has had a considerable effect on the Laws and Rules.

[Event "GBR-ch 48th"] [Site "Aberystwyth"] [Date "1961.08.22"] [Round "8.17"] [White "Bernfield, Abram"] [Black "Reuben, Stewart"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E35"] [PlyCount "182"] [EventDate "1961.08.14"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "GBR"] [SourceTitle "BritBase"] [Source "John Saunders"] [SourceDate "2023.05.15"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.05.15"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. Qxc3 Ne4 8. Qc2 Bf5 9. Qb3 b6 10. Nf3 O-O 11. e3 c5 12. Be2 Nc6 13. O-O c4 14. Qa2 b5 15. Nd2 Na5 16. Nxe4 dxe4 17. Bd1 Qg5 18. f4 Qh4 19. Bd2 Nc6 20. a4 Be6 21. Qa3 Rfb8 22. axb5 Rxb5 23. Qd6 Rc8 24. Ra6 Rd5 25. Qa3 Rb5 26. Rf2 Rb6 27. Bc2 Bd5 28. Ra4 Qd8 29. Bc3 Rcb8 30. Qa1 f5 31. Bd1 Rb5 32. Be2 Nb4 33. Rxa7 Nd3 34. Bxd3 exd3 35. Qa4 Qe8 36. Qa3 Qxe3 37. Bd2 Qxd4 38. Bc3 Qc5 39. Rxg7+ Kf8 40. Qxc5+ Rxc5 41. Rxh7 Rcb5 42. h3 R5b7 43. Rh8+ Kf7 44. Rxb8 Rxb8 45. Kh2 Rg8 46. g3 Rg6 47. Rf1 Rb6 48. g4 Be4 49. Kg3 Ra6 50. Rf2 Kg6 51. Kh4 Ra1 52. Rh2 Rg1 53. Rf2 Rc1 54. Rh2 Rg1 55. Rf2 Rc1 56. Rd2 Rg1 57. g5 Bf3 58. b3 Be4 59. bxc4 Rc1 60. Be5 Rxc4 61. Ra2 Rc8 62. Ra6+ Bc6 63. Bc3 Rc7 64. Ba5 Rc8 65. Kg3 Kh5 66. Bc3 Rc7 67. Ba5 Rc8 68. Ra7 Be4 69. Ra6 Bc6 70. Bc3 Rc7 71. Kf2 Kh4 72. Ke3 Kxh3 73. g6 Bd5 74. Ra3 Bc4 75. g7 Rd7 76. Ra8 Re7+ 77. Be5 Rd7 78. Rh8+ Kg2 79. g8=Q+ Bxg8 80. Rxg8+ Kf1 81. Bd4 d2 82. Kxd2 Rxd4+ 83. Ke3 Rd5 84. Re8 Rd7 85. Re5 Rf7 86. Kf3 Rf8 87. Ra5 Ke1 88. Ke3 Re8+ 89. Kd3 Rf8 90. Kd4 Kf2 91. Ke5 Kf3 {Source: British Championship, Aberystwyth 1961, compiled by Eric Fisher. Contributed by Andy Ansel, 19 May 2023.} 1/2-1/2

[Owen Phillips]

Yes nice to reminisce a bit. Mind you I doubt I am the only player who used to end up with bruised knees from those very solid and thick table legs!!