CHESS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9791, 15 October 1917, Page 7

CHESS

The ladder match for the championship of tho Wellington Chess Club between Messrs K. J - Barnes (defender) and W. E. Mason (challenger) ended in favour of the former, who won both games. Ho is in line form this year. The contest for rung 16 between Messrs S. Mackay and E. S. TajTor ended in favour of tho latter by 21 games to 11. Mr Taylor twbo is still loading m tno club's annual handicap tourney, closely followed by Messrs Barnes, Purchas, and S. Mackay) has now challenged tae president, Mr C. W. Tanner, for the next higher rung. As showing the popularity of the ladder competition it may be added that sixteen matches have been completed since Easter, while eight more are in progress or about to commence. The Wellington South Club is sending a fairly representative team to Masterton for' the two-round match against the local club that is scheduled to commence nest Saturday evening, and to conclude on rue forenoon of the following Monday (Labour Day). By scoring two wins last week Mr W. J. Harper improved his chance of annexing the third prize in the club’s current handicap tourney. A ten-aside match was played by telegraph on Monday last between tho Nelson and Marlborough Clubs, and was won by the former—Nelson scoring 4 wins and drawing 3 games. Tho remaining 3 games are marked incomplete, but the adjudication of these cannot deprive Nelson of victory. A writer in cue of our Marlborough contemporaries estimates tho final result as likely to be Nelson 8 points, Marlborough 2 points. No less than seven of the games in the recently played match Otago v. Canterbury arc marked incomplete. According to southern critics an exceptionally close result may be looked for when the final figures are available. The tourney held recently to decide the Auckland championship was won b.v Mr P. N. Stewart, an ex-member of the Bradford Chess Club. He left Eng-

land some 6 or V years ago, and corn* peted for the New Zealand championship at the 1913-14 congress, winning exactly half his games and giving promise of doing better later on. Mr J. C. Grierson, who. during tho past 22 years, has hold the Auckland championship ten times, and boon runner-up for the title on eight occasions, came next to Mr Stewart in the tourney just concluded. The Auckland Club’s handicap tourney resulted in a tic between Messrs Stewart (class I) and T- Cannon (class II). Mr Cannon thus wins the valuable local trophy known as "The Gambit Cup," Mr Stewart being ineligible through having competed in a championship congress. This being Mr Cannon’s second win, the trophy is. now’won outright by him. The success of this returned soldier, who is a quid and very unassuro ing player, is naturally very popularDRAUGHTS. The Watersiders’ Draughts Club ha* two new sealed handicap tourneys in progress, viz., a senior and a junior. Eighteen players are taking part in the senior contest, in which each competitor plays GS games, i.c., four games with each of his IT opponents. The following arc the best scores to date:—Burgess jo wins 5 losses. Mnnson 10—6’, Butler £6—lo, Kent IS—lO, J. Ecid 21—11, W. Wright 21—16, W. Connor 32—16, J. A. Green 13—17, and -J. Grant 31—22. There arc 31 competitors in the junior tourney —each of whom has to piny GO games (two rounds). The best tallies to date are as follow-:—-J. T tieucu r3—)i), ,T Jenkins 49—11 (complete!, W. Epsom 20-12, McCabe 32-13. J- Ham 33—15. Hazel 25—17, Martel: 26—Jc. R. A. Bull eg ‘*o and J. Armstrong 36 —23. The departure of the club champion, Mr C. Erickson, for Westport, leaves a gap very hard to fill in local draughts circles.