The idea that women could play a decent game of chess was a fairly new concept. Many men believed women made up rules as the game progressed and they would do things like castle ou of check and ignore the touch-move rule. Of course, that was not the case and this tournament proved women really could play chess even if they were not on a par with the best men players.
Playing hours were from 1:00pm until 5:00pm and after a dinner break games were resumed from &:pm until 11:00pm Monday through Saturday.
English players were: Eschwege, Field, Fox, Gooding, Hooke, Rudge, Sidney, Thomas, Thorold and Watson.
Others were: Berry and Finn (Ireland), Forbes-Sharp (Scotland), Bonnefin (Belgium), de la Vingne (France), Fagan (Italy), Hertzsch and Muller-Hartung,S. Stevenson (Canada) and Worrall (Unitetd States).
Two of the ladies representing other countries actually lived in England. Madame Bonnefin lived in London and Mrs. Fagan was also living in England. Additionally, the US representative, Harriet Worral, who was living in Brooklyn, was of English origin.
Alice Hooke was a substitute for Eliza Campbell Foot of the United States who was expected to attend but failed to put in an appearance.
Little is known of Mrs. Foot outside her chess related activities. She was born February 23, 1851. She was reported to have been a cousin to Wilhelm Steinitz. On December 6, 1914 near the Manhattan Chess Club during a stormy evening, she was carrying an umbrella which apparently blocked her view of an oncoming vehicle as it came around the corner. She was struck and killed instantly; the driver never stopped.
Gertrue Field Anderson was British Women's Champion in 1909, 1912 and 1921. She later married player named Donald L. Anderson. Born in 1880, she passed away in 1924 after having been in ill health for some time.
Alice Elizabeth Hooke was the sister of noted British player George Archer Hooke (a857-1934). She never married and lived most of her life in London. where she was born in 1862.
For most of her life she worked as a Civil Servant clerk. As a very keen player, for forty years she was one of the leaders in the development of women's chess in England.
She shared first place in two British Ladies' Championships in her late 1860s.
The following game is an interesting one.
The following game was pretty routine for a while. Field was on the attack and on move 25 she sacrificed a Bishop. The sacrifice was not bad, but against correct play it offered no more than equal chances.
On her 26th move Hooke retreated her Queen to the wrong square and should have lost, but Field didn’t find the refutation which left the chances still balanced. Even so, Hooke’s position was difficult to defend. As often happens in such situations Hooke finally cracked and lost quickly. The complications were enormous and Stockfish quibbled with several moves, but that was just nitpicking.
Gertrude Field–Alice E. Hoole1–0C51Ladies' First Int’l Tmt., London1897Stockfish 16
C51: Evans Gambit: Declined 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.c4 c5 4.b4 b6
n My System Nimzovich claimed that 4...Bb6 does not lost a tempo because 4.b4
is unproductive because it does nothing for white's developemnt. Although far
less popular than accepting the gambit, declining it is probably safer. I 5.c3 a6 5...f6 6.d3 d6 7.a4 and now either 7...a6 or 7...a5 6.b3 f6 6...e7 7.d3 f6 8.g5 h6 9.h4 d6 is equal. Da Castro,J-Williams,A Abuja
2003 7.d3 h6 8.0-0 d6 9.e3 ge7 10.bd2 0-0 11.xb6 cxb6 12.h3
White should have played 12.a4 as a measure against 12...b5! (if not here,
then on the next few moves) which would have been to black's advantage. g6 13.h4 f6 14.hf3 d7 15.d1 ac8 16.h2 h8 17.g4 g6 18.f4 White is
mistakenly playing for a K-side attack when her real prospects are on the
Q-side and so 18.a4 was the proper course. h5 18...exf4
is advantageous for black. 19.xf4 Actually 19.d4 is better, but this is
likely what white intended. e5 20.xe5 dxe5 21.f2 b5 22.b3 xh3
and black has the advantage. 19.f5 After this white has a strong attack. h7 20.e3 h6 21.f3 b5 22.d5 g8 23.g3 23.g4 packed more punch. g6 24.g3 f6 25.fxg6 h4 26.f3 is excellent prospecys. Black should now play
28...Nge7, but not... xg6 27.e1 g5 28.f1 Vacating fe for the N. ce7 29.f3 h6 30.xh4 xd5 31.xd5 with a strong attack. 23...f6 24.e1 g6 25.xf7 xf7 26.xg6 h7 This retreat loses rather quickly. 26...f8 and Black is OK. 27.h4 e7 Now white has to find 28.Rf1 to
avoid getting an inferior position. 28.f1 Things are getting tactical nad
both sides have plenty of room for errors tht lead to a loss! e8 28...xg6 loses to 29.fxg6 e7 30.xf6 29.f3 h7 29...xg6 30.fxg6 e7 31.d4 exd4 32.xf6 g8 33.f5 is winning for white. 30.xh5 g7 31.h4 g8 32.h6 xg6 33.fxg6 xg6 34.xg6+ xg6 35.f6 e8 Wgite's advantage is
minimal. 27.h4 27.f3 at once was necessary. e7 27...e7 28.xf6
wins 28.g5 and black must surrender her Q. 27...cf8 28.f3 One move to late to do any damage, but black's position is still
precarious and she must find the right move every move. g7
Which she does not. 28...e7 29.g5 xg6 and now it's black who is
winning no matter if white plays 30.Nxf7+ or 30.fxg6 30.xf7+ xf7 31.fxg6 xg6 with a piece up. 28...e7 29.g3 Black now equalizes as follows... g7 30.xg7 xg7 29.xf6 Game over. xf6 30.xf6 g8 31.xd6 e8 32.h4 g3 33.h6+ g8 34.g6 Intending Qh8+ and mate follows. d8 34...
Bxf5avoids the immediate mate, but itt's equally hopelless. 34...a5
A pass to demonstrate the mate threat. 35.h8+ f7 36.h7+ f6 37.d5+ g5 38.h4+ g4 39.f6# 35.h8+ White mates in this line, too. f7 36.h7+ f6 37.d5+ g5 38.h8 1-0 Missing the mate, but black's position is so bad
that she resigned anyway. 38.h4+ g4 39.h6 f3 39...a5 40.xe5+ xe5 41.f4# 40.h2 40.gxf3+ g3 41.e3 h3 42.f4+ g4 43.e2+ h3 44.g2# 40...a5 41.gxf3+ xf3 42.e3+ g4 43.e2# 1–0
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