Two important Cup results this week

Athenaeum started climbing the table with a valuable 4-0 victory away from home against Roehampton.

In a clash that may well have a bearing on who will take home the Cup at the end of the season, RAC and MCC had a 4-4 score draw!

Here is the scorecard:

 Royal Automobile Club   v   Marylebone Cricket Club

RAC  Black  top board

1. Roger Emerson                  0        v       1        Adam Eckersley-Waites

2. Nigel Povah                       1        v       0        Tom  Eckersley-Waites

3. Henry Strausser                 1        v       0        Gary Senior

4. Natasha Regan                   0        v       1        Dominic Lawson

5. Stephen Meyler                 ½        v       ½      Keith Richardson

6. Robert Feather                   0         v       1       Ed Goodall

7. Lee Green                          1        v        0       Chris Waites

8. Fred Edge                          ½        v       ½      Peter Rust

Hamilton-Russell Cup in the News

Readers of the British Chess Magazine will have seen that the January issue features an interesting article by David Taylor of The Athenaeum about his match against Francis Ford of Brooks. Although Brooks don’t play in the Cup itself they are very much part of the HR scene.

A very enjoyable read!

An HR Cup game from 1933 by Sir John Simon

There is a record of a very early game from the Hamilton-Russell Cup, which I found in Edward Winter’s article on a chess playing statesman Sir John Simon.

Sir John was Home Secretary (1915 and 1935-1937), Foreign Secretary (1931-1935), and Chancellor of the Exchequer (1937-1940). According to Winter: “In March 1935 he went to Berlin to negotiate with Hitler, and towards the end of that decade he was regarded as Neville Chamberlain’s right-hand man.”

Sir John Simon was also an avid chess player. In 1933, the Milwaukee Sentinel carried an amusing article about his devotion to the game.

Thanks to Winter, we have a game of Sir John’s in the HR Cup!

A fun game it is too!

The match was Sir John Simon (Reform Club) playing white against W.H. Williamson of the Authors’ Club.

The tournament was referred to as Hamilton-Russell Cup (Social Clubs), London, 1933

And the opening was the Albin Counter-Gambit

I have uploaded the game so that you can run through it. You may need to download CB Light first, if so, please follow the instructions.

More HR Cup results

Earlier this week we reported Athenaeum’s victory over The Reform. There have now been two more Cup matches. with RAC triumphing against the Chelsea Arts (1-5) and Oriental / East India defeating Hurlingham (0.5 – 4.5).

RAC maintain their lead at the top of the table.

Roehampton edged out by MCC

This week saw the MCC away from home beat Roehampton by 2.5 to 1.5 in a friendly match.

Athenaeum beat The Reform

The two clubs met last week, but tonight was the Cup match and The Athenaeum ended up winning away from home 4-2 against The Reform.

Chelsea Arts and Hurlingham end honours even in their Cup match

Hurlingham hosted the Chelsea Arts last night and the match ended in a 3-3 draw. The Clubs now share fourth spot in the table.

MCC win clash against EIC/ORI

Two of last year’s main contenders clashed last night with the MCC emerging on top, winning the Cup game at home 4.5 – 0.5.

Oxford & Cambridge win against Brooks

O&C gained a 4-0 win away from home against Brooks in a friendly match.

Athenaeum take victory against the Reform

The Athenaeum beat The Reform tonight 3.5-2.5 in a friendly match.

The two clubs clash again next week in the Cup.