He courteous moved alike to each and all
He never sought with scathing words to sting
Demeanor just the same to great and small
The dignity that's said to hedge a king
Was nature's gift to him, and to his pail
That attribute of our dead friend will cling
How truly these words apply to himself,
and with what melancholy
pathos they are now invested.
Walter Spens (February 1, 1842 - July 13, 1900, 58 years old) wrote those lines in 1891, on the death of the great Scottish player Captain George Mackenzie.
Spens, the 1894 Scottish Champion, was born in Glasgow and passed away in Edinburgh. In 1870, a Glasgow Sheriff who was a strong player and an important figure in Glasgow chess circles, appointed Spens as a Sheriff-Substitute. Spens was known there as the "boy-sheriff" because he was only 28 years old. He wrote a number of important legal works, some of which showed his interest in social conditions, the poor, and the interests of workers.
In Scotland a sheriff is a judge who presides over cases in the sheriff court. Sheriffs handle a variety of cases, including debts, contract disputes, bankruptcy and family matte
In 1882, Spens became chess editor of the Glasgow Weekly
Herald and in his column many of his chess problems were published. In1884, he was mainly instrumental in forming the Scottish Chess Association. He was always a liberal supporter of the game, and in this respect when he passed away editorials claimed that chess in Scotland had lost its life and soul.
It was said Spens loved the game for the pleasure that came as a reward for playing it, but he regarded it as an amusement and a recreation from more serious pursuits. A good attitude, I think.
Although considered a strong player, in gua obituary the British Chess Magazine noted that “he hardly did himself justice as a tournament player (even though) he won several important national prizes.” Chess metrics estimates his highest ever rating to have been 2375 in 1867. While that rating os rather modest it paced him in the world’s top 25 and in a group of better known players of the day such as Eugene Rousseau and James Mortimer.
His style of play was positional, but he was always on the alert for brilliant tactics and pretty endin. However,he was not adverse to taking risks and sometimes losy games a more careful player woulf have won.
The following game was played in a match against a player about whom I could not locate any information. The game, which won Spens a Brilliancy Prize, does not appear in any databases of his games, but it was published in the September 1900 issue of the British Chess Magazine. While hardly brilliant, we get to see the tactical side of Spens’ play and the game is entertaining.
H.J. Thomas–Walter Spens0–1B00Match, Dundee, Scotland1900Stockfish 17
B00: Double Fianchetto Defense 1.e4 b6 2.d4 g6 Hypermodern play long before Nimzovich. 3.c4 3.h4 Interesting! h5 4.d3 g7 5.c3 b7 6.g5 d6 7.d2 d7 8.f4 is about equal. Bacrot,E (2659)-Sherman,R (2126) chess. com INT 2023 3...g7 4.c3 e5 Premature. Probably his best was 4...Bb7 4...b7 5.e3 d6 6.e2 d7 7.f3 c6 White is better. Chan,M (2294)-Wong Meng Leong (2219) Singapore 1999 5.d5 White's [lan is tp keep the position closed and engineer an attack against black's K. but opening up the position was a better idea. 5.dxe5 xe5 6.c2 Black is going to have to waste a tempo returning his B to g7. g7 7.e3 b7 8.0-0-0 with the more active position. 5...d6 6.d3 e7 7.g4 Very bold! d7 8.b4 More to the point would have been 8.h4 0-0 Mills correctly thought this was risky and suggested ...a6 and ...b5 followed by ...Nc5 9.h4 f6 9...f5 This crazy move is something only an engine would suggest! 10.gxf5 a5 11.fxg6 axb4 12.gxh7+ h8 13.b5 c5 14.g5 d7 15.h5 c6 16.dxc6 xc6 17.e2 xe4 And Stockfish informs us that black is clearly better. I will have to take the engine's word for it. 10.f3 h5 11.g5 c6 12.e2 White could have tried 12.dxc6 and then opening up the g-file with 13/gxh6 a5 13.b5± cxd5 14.exd5 With this move white inadvertently exposes his own K. 14.xd5 exd5 15.cxd5 and white has only a slight advantage. 14...e4 Very nice! Thus gives black active play on the dark squares and the e-file. 15.xe4 xe4 16.xe7 c3+ 16...xe7 was a bit more advantageous/ 17.c1 e8 18.xe4 and now... f5 19.gxf5 gxf5 20.d3 20.d3 d8 20...fxe4 21.fxe4 xe4+ 22.xe4 xe4+ 23.f2 g4 with a easy win. 17.d1 xe7 17...xa1 might be tempting, but white equalizes with 18.xe4 c7 19.xf8 xf8 18.b1 f2+ 19.xf2 hxg4 20.c2 20.fxg4 xg4+ 21.c2 b4 20...f6 21.g3 e5 22.g2 a1 Intending ...Qc3+ 23.d2 g3 As strong as this might look it is actually a mistake that allows white to equalize. Even so, had black played the correct 23///Re8 the complications would have been enormous and beyond calculating over the board. 23...e8 maintains a solid advantage. 24.e2 24.fxg4 but not this/ xg4 25.e2 xe2 26.xe2 f5+ 27.d3 c8 Black is winning. 28.xa1 xc4+ 29.b3 d4 24...f5 25.xa1 ac8 26.xf5 xc4+ 27.d3 xe2 28.xe2 xf5 White's extra R is meaningless! 29.e3 c2+ 30.e1 gxf3 31.xf3 b2 32.d1 e5+ 33.d2 f4 34.e3 e4 35.f3 xd5+ 36.c2 xa2+ 37.d3 d5+ 38.c2 c4+ 39.c3 e4+ 40.b2 xc3 41.xc3 b4+ 42.c2 a4 The ending is won for black/ 24.e2 White may have equalized, but his position is difficult to play. e5 Black's position is not so easy to play either. In fact, the B should have stopped on d4 because with his next move white actually has a bit of an advantage. 25.f4 g2 This is an outright error. 25...d4 keeps fighting. 26.xg3 g4 27.h5 After this it's clear that white's sudden counterattack gives him the initiative. ae8 28.hxg6 e3 29.h2 c8 30.h7+ f8 31.h6+ g7 32.xg7+ xg7 33.bg1 f5 34.d2 f3 A very complicated situation that is in black's favor. 26.h2 d4 27.xg2 c5 28.h5 f5 29.g5 29.xf5 was considerably better. xf5+ 30.d3 xd3+ 31.xd3 g7 A very complicated ending. White scored 5-0 in long, tedious Shootouts/ 29...b4 It would have been better to trade Bs and then play ...Re8 30.d1 fc8 31.b3 This results in the advantage changing hands agaun...for the last time. 31.xf5= and White has nothing to worry. xc4+ 32.d3 xf4 33.xf4 xg5 34.g4 xf5+ 35.xf5 gxf5 36.g1+ h8 37.g5 31...e8 32.xf5 White has totally collapsed. 32.g3 was the crucial defense. xe2 33.xe2 xb1 34.xb1 xf4 35.f3 Here black has only one move that wins! d2 36.c2 36.d1 a4# 36...a4+ 37.b2 a3+ 38.b1 b4+ 39.a1 e8 40.hxg6 f5 41.xf5 xe2 42.xe2 c3+ 43.b1 c1# 32...xe2 33.d3 a4+ 34.xb4 b2+ 35.a3 xb1 36.c2 d4! White resigned. Ot's mate in 4. This game earned Spens a Brilliancy Prize. While the game may not have been [erfect there are a lot of hidden points that make it interesting. 0–1
White was Henry James Thoms See https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2841134
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