The 1893 Ulster Championship
The first Ulster Championship had been held as part of the 1892 North of Ireland Chess Congress. The chess column of the Belfast News-Letter for 26th October 1893 announced the imminent arrival of the second Championship:
At the chess tournament held in this city during the autumn of 1892, Mr. E. Robinson, president of the Holywood Chess Club, succeeded in winning the coveted title of Ulster chess champion. He is not, however, to be allowed to hold the trophy (a silver rook) for a lengthened period, without attempts to wrest it from him, and accordingly a contest for the championship will take place in the rooms of the Belfast Chess Club, probably during the second week of November.
On the afternoon of Monday 6th November a preliminary tournament got underway to determine who would be the challenger for Robinson's title. There were five competitors - A. W. Hutton, D. Murray and R. T. Roth of the Belfast Chess Club, William McCrum of Armagh and R. A. Williams of the Holywood Chess Club.
W. McCrum - R. T. Roth
Ulster Championship Preliminary Tournament Belfast, 1893
Annotations by McCrum in the Dublin Evening Mail 30th November 1893]
1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 Nc6 4.Qe3 d6
Risky, but White trusted to the strength of his attack on the King's side.
16...Re8 17.Qd3 b5 18.g5 bxc4 19.Qxc4 Nh5 20.Bxg7 Kxg7
20...Nxg7 looks better.
21.Qd4+ Kh7 22.Bd3
To stop any danger from Ng3.
22...Ng3 23.gxh6 Kxh6 24.Ng5 Rf8 25.Rhg1 Nef5
A mistake; he should have retreated the other Knight.
26.Qf2 Nh5 27.Bxf5 gxf5 28.Rdf1
With a view to playing Qg2 and Nxf7 winning.
28...Qd7 29.Qh4 f6 30.Re1 Rae8
Evidently he cannot take the Knight.
31.Ne6 Rg8 32.Ref1 Loss of time; he might have played 32.Rg5 at once; with greater advantage if Black declines the sacrifice.
32...c6 33.Rg5
A beautiful sacrifice, gaining a strong advantage, even if Black declines to take the Rook.
33...fxg5
33...Qf7 was the only move.
34.fxg5+ Kg6 35.Nf4+ Nxf4
Ruinous. He should have played 35...Kf7
36.Qh6+ Kf7 37.Qf6 checkmate 1-0
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|
|
H |
M |
M |
R |
W |
Total |
|
A. W. Hutton |
X |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2.0 |
|
W. McCrum |
1 |
X |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3.0 |
|
D. Murray |
1 |
0 |
X |
1 |
0 |
2.0 |
|
R. T. Roth |
0 |
0 |
0 |
X |
0 |
0.0 |
|
A. R. Williams |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
X |
3.0 |
[Crosstable from the Belfast News-Letter for 16th November 1893]
The tournament having resulted in a tie for first place between McCrum and Williams, it was then arranged for them to play a match of 3 games to determine who would meet Robinson for the championship. The first two games of the match produced a win apiece and "after a tough engagement" [BNL] the third game was drawn. The organising committee then decided that instead of further efforts to break the tie there would be a three-cornered contest between McCrum, Williams and Robinson to decide the destination of the title.
The triangular tournament commenced on Tuesday 5th December when Robinson and McCrum contested a Greco Counter Gambit that ended in a draw. The following day Williams and McCrum drew a Sicilian Defence in 24 moves. Finally on Friday 8th December Williams had the White pieces in his encounter with the 1892 champion. The game was a Ruy Lopez and was won by Robinson, who thus became Ulster champion for the second time.
|
|
R |
M |
W |
Total |
|
E. A. Robinson |
X |
= |
1 |
1.5 |
|
W. McCrum |
= |
X |
= |
1.0 |
|
A. R. Williams |
0 |
= |
X |
0.5 |