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.
[Event "Ladies' First Int’l Tmt., London"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1897.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Gertrude Field"]
[Black "Alice E. Hoole"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C51"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 16"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.11"]
{C51: Evans Gambit: Declined} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bb6 {
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... Nf6 6. d3 d6 7. a4 {and now either 7...a6 or 7...a5}) 6. Qb3 Qf6 (
6... Qe7 7. d3 Nf6 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 d6 {is equal. Da Castro,J-Williams,A Abuja
2003}) 7. d3 h6 8. O-O d6 9. Be3 Nge7 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Bxb6 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.} Qg6
13. Nh4 Qf6 14. Nhf3 Bd7 15. Qd1 Rac8 16. Nh2 Kh8 17. Ng4 Qg6 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 {[%mdl 8192]} (18... exf4 {
is advantageous for black.} 19. Rxf4 {Actually 19.d4 is better, but this is
likely what white intended.} Ne5 20. Nxe5 dxe5 21. Rf2 b5 22. Bb3 Bxh3 {
and black has the advantage.}) 19. f5 {After this white has a strong attack.}
Qh7 20. Ne3 Qh6 21. Rf3 b5 22. Bd5 Ng8 23. Rg3 (23. g4 {packed more punch.} g6
24. Rg3 f6 25. fxg6 h4 26. Rf3 {is excellent prospecys. Black should now play
28...Nge7, but not...} Qxg6 27. Qe1 Qg5 28. Rf1 {Vacating fe for the N.} Nce7
29. Nf3 Qh6 30. Nxh4 Nxd5 31. Nxd5 {with a strong attack.}) 23... Nf6 24. Qe1
g6 25. Bxf7 Rxf7 26. Rxg6 Qh7 {[%mdl 8192] This retreat loses rather quickly.}
(26... Qf8 {and Black is OK.} 27. Qh4 Ne7 {Now white has to find 28.Rf1 to
avoid getting an inferior position.} 28. Rf1 {Things are getting tactical nad
both sides have plenty of room for errors tht lead to a loss!} Be8 (28... Nxg6
{loses to} 29. fxg6 Re7 30. Rxf6) 29. Nf3 Nh7 (29... Nxg6 30. fxg6 Re7 31. Nd4
exd4 32. Rxf6 Qg8 33. Nf5 {is winning for white.}) 30. Qxh5 Rg7 31. Nh4 Qg8 32.
Qh6 Nxg6 33. fxg6 Rxg6 34. Nxg6+ Bxg6 35. Rf6 Be8 {Wgite's advantage is
minimal.}) 27. Qh4 (27. Nf3 {at once was necessary.} Ne7 (27... Re7 28. Rxf6 {
wins}) 28. Ng5 {and black must surrender her Q.}) 27... Rcf8 28. Nf3 {[%mdl
2048] One move to late to do any damage, but black's position is still
precarious and she must find the right move every move.} Rg7 {[%mdl 8192]
Which she does not.} (28... Ne7 29. Ng5 Nxg6 {and now it's black who is
winning no matter if white plays 30.Nxf7+ or 30.fxg6} 30. Nxf7+ Rxf7 31. fxg6
Qxg6 {with a piece up.}) (28... Ne7 29. Rg3 {Black now equalizes as follows...}
Rg7 30. Rxg7 Qxg7) 29. Rxf6 {Game over.} Rxf6 30. Qxf6 Qg8 31. Qxd6 Qe8 32. Nh4
Rg3 33. Qh6+ Kg8 34. Ng6 {Intending Qh8+ and mate follows.} Qd8 {34...
Bxf5avoids the immediate mate, but itt's equally hopelless.} (34... a5 {
A pass to demonstrate the mate threat.} 35. Qh8+ Kf7 36. Qh7+ Kf6 37. Nd5+ Kg5
38. h4+ Kg4 39. Nf6#) 35. Qh8+ {White mates in this line, too.} Kf7 36. Qh7+
Kf6 37. Nd5+ Kg5 38. Nh8 {1-0 Missing the mate, but black's position is so bad
that she resigned anyway.} (38. h4+ Kg4 39. Qh6 Rf3 (39... a5 40. Nxe5+ Nxe5
41. Qf4#) 40. Kh2 (40. gxf3+ Kg3 41. Qe3 Kh3 42. f4+ Kg4 43. Qe2+ Kh3 44. Qg2#)
40... a5 41. gxf3+ Kxf3 42. Qe3+ Kg4 43. Qe2#) 1-0
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