Winner's POV Chapter 3: London 1851 Provincial Tournament
In Winner's POV, we take a look at tournaments from the 19th century and see the games that allowed the top player to prevail. Some tournaments will be known and famous, others will be more obscure - in a time period where competition is scarce, I believe there is some value in digging for hidden gems in the form of smaller, less known events.
Chapter 3: London 1851 Provincial Tournament
Howard Staunton's goals for the London 1851 gathering were much more numerous than just a grand tournament. He had aspirations to form an international chess committee to standardize things like time controls and rules (regarding castling, promotion, etc), as well as the construction of a comprehensive opening "book" that relied on the knowledge of many international masters. Among his many desires, he had a few that specifically pertained to chess playing that was to happen in 1851:
- A grand, international tournament (covered in chapter 2)
- A smaller, English-only "Provincial" tournament (which we'll be covering here)
- A consultation match played between a team of foreigners vs. a team of British players (this also fell through, and was replaced by a series of matches between present masters - unrelated to this series)
While this tournament may not command as much respect and prestige as its grander sibling, it was still given space in Staunton's tournament book, and includes a player that Paul Morphy considered to be his strongest opponent during his tour of Britain.
Format and Prizes
This tournament was open to any and all British amateurs who considered themselves a class below those playing in the main tournament. As the number of competitors was expected to be extremely high, the initial plan was for this tournament to be a single-game knockout, with prizes for the top four in first-to-two matches. However, it seems the majority of potential competitors found the thought of facing so many opponents overwhelming, and the exact opposite happened: only 10 gentleman signed up. Because of this, it was decided beforehand that each match would be first to two wins instead. The top four prizes were unchanged.
Once again, a look at the accounting section of the book is probably the simplest way to talk about prizes:
A grand prize of £27.50 in 1851 (for the uninformed: there are 20 shillings per pound (£)) is apparently worth £4090 in 2022. Note that this prize is equivalent to the prize for 4th place in the grand tournament.
Players
Thankfully, the list of players for this tournament was presented in a much nicer fashion:
Referencing Edo, the strongest players in this tournament were Samuel Boden (27th), Charles Ranken (33rd) and Frederick Deacon (38th). In the last chapter, I noted that it would probably make more sense to use the rankings from the prior year, as the tournament in question doubtlessly influenced the rankings; that isn't possible here, since all of Boden, Ranken and Deacon have their first entry in 1851.
The Winner: Samuel Boden
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Samuel Boden was the winner of the second London 1851 tournament. 1851 was a good year for Boden; in addition to this tournament win, he also released his book, A Popular Introduction to the Study and Practice of Chess, which Staunton gave many praises and gives at least one mention of in his notes. With this being the biggest achievement of Boden's chess career thus far, it's time to look at the London 1851 Provincial tournament from the Winner's POV.
Round 1: vs. Silas Angas
Angas was less of a chess player and more of a problem composer, whose compositions had appeared frequently in Staunton's Chess Player's Chronicle. His database games are scant, but he had a couple of nice wins under his belt.
In a symmetrical English, Boden quickly sought to apply pressure, coercing Angas to castle Kingside and planting his Bishop on the appropriate long diagonal. This ended up being a good construction, as after Angas initiated a series of trades to alleviate the pressure, Boden maintained attacking prospects. The puzzle maker failed to give his opponent enough respect, and his King quickly found itself in inescapable danger.
The second game was a complete stomp, with Angas playing a poor Sicilian variation and losing a piece very early on. Unfortunately for the puzzle composer, his tactics just weren't up to snuff.
Round 2: Bye
With five players escaping the first round, a single match had to be played to remove one of them and allow for four prize winners. The match was drawn to be between Charles Ranken and Frederick Deacon, with Ranken winning 2-0.
Round 3: vs. Robert Brien
Brien was the editor of the Chess Player's Chronicle after Staunton, though this would not be for many years after this tournament. His first ever database games are from this event, so it's hard to talk about his skill much at all. He defeated John Trelawny 2-0 in round 1.
In a completely symmetrical Italian, Boden made the first mistake, allowing Brien to make a series of trades that crippled Boden's structures on both sides of the board. Boden was forced to sacrifice a pawn to put Brien on the defensive, but the threats only got him so far.
Although Brien never fully let go of his advantage, he didn't find the winning plan, and drew the game from a position of strength. Certainly not a good game from Boden, but I assure you, it wouldn't be his worst game of the event by a long shot.
This game, on the other hand, was doubtlessly Boden's worst game. I think it's obvious why.
Having not played a good game yet this round, Boden threw all caution to the wind and utilized the Center Gambit, choosing a line where Black wins a full exchange, something Brien happily accepted. The chaos quickly proved to be something he wasn't a fan of, as he later returned the exchange - this reduced the pressure, but not the complexity.
The war waged on, with both players making threats and defenses in turn. Brien made the last calculation error of the game, which cost him two pawns in front of his King. Boden, certainly wanting to take whatever win he could get, promptly traded off everything and entered an easily won endgame. A chaotic game whose result could have gone either way.
Not wanting to be outdone, Brien sacrificed a full piece out of the opening in this final game. Although he gained three pawns, and was technically not behind in material, neither Staunton nor Stockfish found it to be very impressive. He didn't play badly, necessarily, but as the game wore on, his weaknesses were easier to exploit than Boden's, and it cost him the match. For only being four games, this bout was a complete roller coaster from start to finish.
Round 4: vs. Charles Ranken
As anticipated, the top two ranked players faced off in the final round. These rankings were doubtlessly caused by this tournament, but as mentioned, neither player was ranked prior to 1851 so we work with what we have. Ranken defeated Major James Robertson 2-0 in round 1, Deacon 2-0 in "round 2," and William Hodges 2.5-1.5 in round 3, like Boden. Supposedly, he founded the Oxford University Chess Club in 1869 with Lord Randolph Churchill, Winston Churchill's father.
Like Anderssen, Boden opted for the King's Gambit in his first White game in this short and important match. When his initial attack quickly lost steam, he sacrificed a Knight for three of Ranken's Kingside pawns. Though initially the attack looked fierce, Ranken quickly refuted it, and Boden was forced to retreat into a hopeless position. Once again, Boden was behind to start the match.
Ranken evidently wanted to keep things under control for game two, choosing an Italian that didn't produce a novelty until move 14 (which is very late, if you've been paying attention). This novelty was not a good one as Ranken, like Angas, failed to consider how quickly Boden could launch a Kingside attack with his pieces. Suddenly the match was tied, and it could honestly go either way.
The last game, truthfully, was a little underwhelming. A Bishop's opening that transposed into an Italian followed mainline theory for quite some time. Then, for some reason, Ranken simply dropped his pawn on d5 unnecessarily. His Kingside activity certainly gave him compensation, but it wasn't long before he slipped into a tactic that cost him an exchange, and the match was over.
Conclusion
This win put Boden "on the map" so to speak, with regards to British chess. He would later go on to edit one of England's many chess magazines, as well as play a role in the British Chess Association when it became more involved in tournaments in about a decade. He would, however, never win another chess tournament.
