As mentioned in the 1957 post there was an increase in numbers in the 1958 championship with 14 entries compared to the 12 in 1957. Although it looks as if two players withdrew from the competition in the seven months or so the competition ran. The competition was also run over seven rounds rather than the six in 1957.
Again, it has been a trawl through the Portsmouth Evening News which in the main source for Hampshire Chess news in this period. Currently the British Newspaper Archives only cover up to 1959 so not sure if I will be able to source many more from the newspaper. I was able to find the majority of results from rounds one to five, but round six and seven proved more difficult.
For a list of the winners of the Hampshire Individual Championship and links to any articles I have written the table on the Hampshire Individual Championship is the best place to look. In addition, the table on the Hampshire Tournaments will detail these and any other tournament articles I have completed. Both of these are available from the menu at the top of the site as well.
Round 1
A number of players from 1957 returned for the 1958 championship, but there were also a number of new participants. Wilf Pratten was back to defend his title and started with a win against another player (MC Martin) from 1957. The game is given below, although this is the only one from the championship, I have been able to locate (I have added another game of Marshall Thompson against Wilf Pratten from the 1961 London Commercial League).
| Player | Result | Player | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| WC Martin | 0 | WH Pratten | 1 |
| CH Henshaw | 1 | Sq-Ldr L Vine | 0 |
| L West | ½ | Capt GP Britton | ½ |
| RW Davis | 0 | AR Cullinane | 1 |
| M Ventham | ½ | M Thompson | ½ |
| SL Russell | 1 | Hobbs | 0 |
| JAC Borland | 1 | A Samuels | 0 |
CH Henshaw, AR Cullinane, SL Russell and JAC Borland were the other winners, whilst L West drew with 1931 champion Captain GP Britton and Michael Ventham and new participant Marshall Thompson also drew.
Round 2
| Player | Result | Player | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| WH Pratten | 1 | SL Russell | 0 |
| CH Henshaw | 1 | JAC Borland | 0 |
| AR Cullinane | ½ | Capt GP Britton | ½ |
| M Thompson | 1 | WC Martin | 0 |
| M Ventham | 1 | Hobbs | 0 |
| L West | 1 | RW Davis | 0 |
| Sq-Ldr L Vine | ½ | A Samuels | ½ |
Wilf Pratten continued his winning ways, beating veteran 1935 champion SL Russell and CH Henshaw joined him on 100% winning against JAC Borland. Just behind on 1½ points were Marshall Thompson, AR Cullianane, L West and Michael Ventham.
Below is Marshall Thompson’s game against Wilf Pratten from the London Commercial League in 1961 where he missed a win in the ending, but also showed Wilf Pratten’s defensive abilities to find a draw in a tricky Rook and Pawn ending.
Round 3
| Player | Result | Player | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| WH Pratten | 1 | CH Henshaw | 0 |
| M Thompson | 1 | L West | 0 |
| M Ventham | 1 | JAC Borland | 0 |
| WC Martin | 1 | RW Davis | 0 |
| Sq-Ldr L Vine | 1 | Capt GP Britton | 0 |
| A Samuels | 1 | Hobbs (def) | 0 |
| SL Russell | ½ | AR Cullinane | ½ |
The two players on 100% met and Wilf Pratten defeated CH Henshaw to move onto three out of three. With his six wins from 1957 this meant he had won at least nine games in a row in the Hampshire Championship (difficult to find much from the 1956 championship which was won by P Ursell (any relation to the Ursell’s who play for Ringwood Chess club in the Southampton Chess League?)).
Marshall Thompson and Michael Ventham beat L West and JAC Borland respectively to remain just half a point behind. Hobbs defaulted his game against Alec Samuels and withdrew from the competition.
Round 4
| Player | Result | Player | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| WH Pratten | ½ | M Ventham | ½ |
| AR Cullinane | 0 | M Thompson | 1 |
| L West | 0 | CH Henshaw | 1 |
| JAC Borland | 1 | SL Russell | 0 |
| Capt GP Britton | ½ | WC Martin | ½ |
| A Samuels | 0 | Sq-Ldr L Vine | 1 |
| RW Davis | 1 | Bye | 0 |
Michael Ventham stopped the steam rolling Wilf Pratten, holding him to a draw in round four. Marhsall Thompson beat Bob Cullinane to join Pratten on three and half points from four games. CH Henshaw came out on top against L West and he joined Michael Ventham half a point behind the two leaders with three points.
1952 Champion Sq-Ldr L Vine had recovered from his slow start to be in fifth place with two and a half points, after he beat Southampton’s Alec Samuels. This left the top of the Championship as below.
Round 5
| Player | Result | Player | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| M Thompson | ½ | WH Pratten | ½ |
| M Ventham | 1 | CH Henshaw | 0 |
| JAC Borland | ½ | Sq-Ldr L Vine | ½ |
| L West | ½ | AR Cullinane | ½ |
| SL Russell | WC Martin | ||
| RW Davis | ½ | Capt GP Britton | ½ |
Wilf Pratten was held to another draw by Marshall Thompson and with Michael Ventham beating CH Henshaw he joined them at the top with four points from five games. I could not locate the result of the SL Russell – WC Martin game and it also seems that Alex Samuels withdrew at this stage leaving just the 12 players.
Round 6
| Player | Result | Player | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| M Thompson | 1 | Unknown | 0 |
| WH Pratten | ½ | Unknown | ½ |
| M Ventham | ½ | Unknown | ½ |
It is a shame but no results from the sixth round have been located. But from the article before the seventh round, it does mention the scores of Wilf Pratten and Marshall Thompson and therefore their results of a draw and win respectively are known, although not their opponents.
It also supplied the draw for the seventh and final round and going into this Marshall Thompson was half a point ahead of Wilf Pratten and Michael Ventham was one and a half points behind, but from five games rather than the six played by the other two players.
Round 7
| Player | Result | Player | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| JAC Borland | 0 | M Thompson | 1 |
| L West | 0 | WH Pratten | 1 |
| Sq-Ldr L Vine | 0 | M Ventham | 1 |
| SL Russell | Capt GP Britton | ||
| CH Henshaw | RW Davis | ||
| AR Cullinane | WC Martin |
Only the three results were available for the last round where the article in the Portsmouth Evening News states that Marhsall Thompson won his game and finished on six points. In addition, Willf Pratten and Michael Ventham both won their games and finished on five and a half points in second place.
Although I do not have all the round-by-round details, I have now obtained the final placings for the tournament.
| Player | Club | Score |
|---|---|---|
| M Thompson | Southampton | 6 |
| WH Pratten | Fareham | 5½ |
| M Ventham | Southampton | 5½ |
| JAC Borland | Fareham | 3½ |
| AR Cullinane | Portsmouth | 3½ |
| Sq-Ldr L Vine | Eastleigh | 3½ |
| SL Russell | Andover | 3½ |
| WC Martin | Fareham | 3 |
| CH Henshaw | Basingstoke | 3 |
| Capt GP Britton | Portsmouth | 2½ |
| RW Davis | Portsmouth Comm. Centre | 2½ |
| L West | Portsmouth Comm. Centre | 2½ |
This was Marshall Thompson first Hampshire Individual Chess Championship, but he would go on to win the title another eight times (once shared) with his last one coming in 1977. He also played for the Hampshire County chess team more than 65 times scoring approx. 50% and was normally on the top three boards (21 times on board one).
Marshall Thompson was also a prominent Southampton Chess Club player and was always close to ECF 200 in the 1970’s. He was born in 1935 and therefore would have been 22 or 23 at the time of his first championship title.
The 1977 / 78 season was the last time he played for Hampshire, if anyone knows any more on his chess or personal career, please do let me know?
Acknowledgements and sources:
- British Newspaper Archive
- Portsmouth Evening News
- Britbase
- Roger Paige / Arthur Brameld for Wilf Pratten games
- Southampton Chess Club