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Friday, December 28, 2018

Scarborough 1929

     Scarborough, a town on the North Sea coast of North Yorkshire, England is the largest holiday resort on the Yorkshire coast. The town has fishing and service industries which today includes a growing digital and economy, as well as being a tourist destination.  
     On December 16, 1914 the town was attacked by the Imperial German Navy as were the ports of Hartlepool, West Hartlepool and Whitby. The attack resulted in 592 casualties, many of them civilians, of whom 137 died. The attack caused public outrage towards both the German Navy for the attack and against the Royal Navy for its failure to prevent the raid. 
     Scarborough held an annual chess festival founded in 1925 which continues to this day. In 1929 the festival was held at the Pavilion Hotel from May 18 to May 25 and included two players of international repute, Dr. Savielly Tartakower and Sir George Thomas. The others except surprise co-winner Harold Saunders were chosen only at the very beginning of the tournament. 
     After Saunders beat Tartakower early in the rounds, the tournament became an exciting race between them. Tartakower and Thomas are too well known to write about, but the others are almost unknown to players today. 
     Co-winner Harold Saunders (September 4, 1876 – July 13, 1950, 73 years old) was born in Montreal, Canada, as the eighth of eleven children. Some time before 1891, most of the family moved to London where his father was a jeweler. Harold became a stockbroker. During his career he had considerable success in local tournaments. His father, and two of his older brothers, Edward Saunders and Ernest Saunders, were also competitive chess players. 
     Victor Wahltuch (May 24, 1875 – August 27, 1953, 78 years old) was born in Manchester, England. A talented amateur, he was London Champion in 1935-36 (after a play-off) and competed in the London Tournament of 1922. He passed away in London in 1953. 
     Edith Holloway (nee Crittenden) (born 1868 – May 8, 1956, 87 years old) was Women's World Championship Challenger in 1927, 1935 and 1937. She was also British Women's Champion in 1919 and 1936. 
     John Jackson (January 27, 1932) of Scotland is virtually unknown today. His father taught him to play chess at the age of 12 and he joined the Glasgow Chess Club at the age of 14. There he was mentored by W.A. Fairhurst. Active in the local club and a participant in several Scottish Boys' Championships, as well as the British Boys' Championships of 1948 and 1949, he was Scotland's representative in the first World Junior championship in 1951. In October 1954 he emigrated to Canada, where he continued to play chess until family constraints restricted these activities. At last report he was living in retirement in Toronto. 
     Charles F. Bolland (October 3, 1868 – April 9, 1937, 68 years old) was born in Springs Grove, Hunslet, Leeds as the 6th of 7 children of iron master William T. Bolland. He grew up with his grandmother he first years and after 1872 with his father and his mother's sister. He was admitted at Clare College, Cambridge in 1886 where he earned an MA degree in 1898. He worked as a clergyman several places, before he became vicar and then a rector. He retired to Chichester, West Sussex and died in Hastings. In 1928 he lost a match against Vera Menchik, two to five with no draws. 
     Henry A. Cadman (May 7, 1872 – June 3, 1933, 61 years old) was born near Huddersfield, Yorkshire as the 1st of 9 children where his father was a solicitor. A solicitor is a lawyer who gives legal advice and represent the clients in the courts. A barrister can be distinguished from a solicitor because they wear a wig and gown in court. They work at higher levels of court than solicitors and their main role is to act as advocates in legal hearings, which means they stand in court and plead the case on behalf of their clients in front of a judge. Cadman studied law, and ran for about 25 years after his father’s death the law firm Cadman, Grylls and Co. in Gomersal. He was also a commissioner for oaths, or as they are known in the U.S., a public notary). He died in Scarborough in 1933. 

Final standings: 
1-2) Saunders and Tartakower 6.0-1.0 
3) Thomas 5.5-1.5 
4) Wahltuch 3.5-3.5 
5) Holloway 2.5-4.5
6) Jackson 2.0-5.0 
7) Bolland 1.5-5.5 
8) Cadman 1.0-6.0
 

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