Williamson Shield 1912
On the 27th February 1912 the first game in the first Williamson Shield was finally played. On that night in the Victoria Chess Clubrooms the home team was playing Strandtown in the Ulster Trophy [the league competition for the clubs in Belfast and neighbouring towns]. The visitors lost 11/2 to 61/2 but their one victor, Joseph Carey, a well-known local artist, had something to celebrate, as can be seen from this excerpt from the report on the match two days later in the Belfast News-Letter:
The game between Mr. J. W. Carey and Mr J. McMeekin at board No. 2 also counts in the match for the championship of Belfast, and Mr. Carey therefore has the honour of making the first score in this competition.
The position with three games still to be played, as reported in the local press on the 11th April, was that Harold Thomas was leading with 3/3 and with 1 game to play, while Carey was second with 2/3. However, W. Kirkpatrick had by this stage some catching up to do as he still had three games to play, including games against the two leaders. Two days later Kirkpatrick played Thomas, and "at an early stage Thomas, through an oversight, lost a bishop, and although the game adjourned, he then resigned without further play." This put Kirkpatrick on two points. He next played Carey on the 2nd May, but the game was not completed in the first session; two days later Kirkpatrick lost to William Allen, then, as appears in the Belfast News-Letter report on the 16th May:
The adjourned game between Mr. J. W. Carey and Mr. W. Kirkpatrick was played out on the 9th inst., and after some ups and downs the latter was able to force a draw by perpetual check. The score is now - Mr. Thomas 3, Mr. Carey and Mr. Kirkpatrick 21/2, and as by the conditions the winner must be a clear point ahead, another round will be necessary to decide the championship.
WILLIAMSON SHIELD 1912
T C K A M PTS
H.THOMAS X 1 0 1 1 3.0
J.W.CAREY 0 X = 1 1 2.5
W.KIRKPATRICK 1 = X 0 1 2.5
W.J.ALLEN 0 0 1 X 1 2.0
J.McMEEKIN 0 0 0 0 X 0.0
Interestingly, the original conditions of play had erroneously assumed that only two people would compete in a play-off. No doubt a matter that would have to be considered by the club secretaries.
Six months passed.
On the 28th November 1912 the Belfast News-Letter reported:
It will be recollected that last year's tourney for possession of the Williamson Challenge Shield remained undecided. According to the rules it was necessary to have a lead of 1 point in order to win and at the end of the tourney Mr. H. Thomas was only 1/2 point ahead of Mr, J. W. Carey and Mr. W. Kirkpatrick, these three had to play a deciding match. The season was then so far advanced that this match was allows to lie over until the present. Mr Kirkpatrick has, we understand, withdrawn, and the first game in the match between Mr. Thomas and Mr. Carey has resulted in favour of the former. There were some mistakes on both sides, and it was evident that neither player was in his usual form. Two games are still to be played and, as matters now stand, one win or two draws will be sufficient to secure the championship of the city for Mr. Thomas.
The last sentence suggests that the one of the rules, that points in the play-off were to be added to the original score, had either been forgotten, or dropped in favour of a straight play-off, because if the rule still applied then Thomas would only have needed to draw one of the final two games.
The Belfast News-Letter for the 26th December brought news of the completion of the 81/2 year saga to find a name to put on one of the silver plates surrounding the Williamson Challenge Shield:
The second of the games between Mr Harold Thomas and Mr J. W. Carey to decide the tie for the chess championship of Belfast for 1912-3 has, after a prolonged contest, resulted in favour of the former, and as he has now won two out of three match games he thus becomes the holder of the Williamson Challenge Shield and champion of Belfast. Mr. Thomas is a member of the Belfast Chess Club, the championship of which he has also held for some years, and is generally recognised as the strongest chess player in the city. We congratulate him on attaining the new distinction, which his play so well merits.
WILLIAMSON SHIELD 1912 PLAY-OFF
G1 G2 PTS
H.THOMAS 1 1 2.0
J.W.CAREY 0 0 0.0
H. Thomas - J. Carey [D35]
Williamson Shield Play-off Belfast (Game 2), 1912
[Annotations from the Belfast News-Letter chess column for 2nd January 1913]
Play through the game with our PGN Viewer
If 57...Kc7 58.f4 winning the e-pawn.
An error which greatly prolonged the game. By 60.Nc6 Kxb7 61.Nxd4 exd4 62.Kxd4 White would have got rid of the Bishop. and gained the necessary start for capturing the Black Pawns with his King.
60...Kxb8 61.Nc6+ Kc7 62.Kd5
62.Nxd4 as in the last note is now useless, as Black having his King a square nearer could prevent the white King getting at his pawns.
62...Bc3 63.Nxe5
Giving Black the chance of drawing (see next note) 63.Ne7 instead would have maintained White's winning advantage.
63...Kd8 64.Ke6 f4 65.Ng6 Ke8 66.Nxf4 Kf8 67.Ng6+ Kg8 68.h4 Be1 69.h5 Bg3 70.Ne7+ Kf8 71.Ng6+ Ke8 72.Ne5 Kf8 73.Kf5 Ke7
Fatal. By 73...Kg8 and h7 he could have drawn as the white King could never have got to g6, the key of the position.
74.f4 Bh2
The game is lost in all variations. If 74...Kf8 instead of the text move, White plays 75.Nd3 and if then 75...Kf7 to hold the key square 76.Kg4 Bh2 77.Ne5+ followed by Nf3.
75.Kg6 Bxf4 76.Nd3 Bd2 77.Kxg7 Ke6 78.Kg6 Be3 79.Ne1 Ke5 80.Nf3+ Kf4 81.Kxh6 Kg3+ 82.Kg6 Kxg2 83.Ng5 1-0
