Some notes on Ches’s photographs

The players are taking part in the Dupree Chess Tournament, which was the under 21 championship for juniors in Brighton and Hove. In 1933 Colonel Sir William Thomas Dupree, Bt., left a large sum of money in his will for the encouragement of young chess players. The new tournament had a first prize of £100, which was a very large sum of money in those days. As the years passed, the value of the prize money was not fully updated to allow for inflation. In the 1990s the number of entries went down and the Council, which partly administered the competition, brought it to an end and used the prize money for other purposes. This was controversial, but no legal challenge was issued.  

The photographs on the website were taken at the 1954-55 tournament. This was won by Neil Tasker after he had obtained the same points score as Gordon Anderson, a former Varndean GS pupil. The Sonneborn-Berger system was used to split the tie and Neil was awarded the first prize.

In the first photograph, seated (left to right) are Michael Partis, Ches Clifton, John Styles (onlooker), Neil Tasker and Michall.

The second photograph has more onlookers. The juniors facing the camera are Ches Clifton, Neil Tasker and Michall and the two young players with their backs to the cameras are Thomsett and Michael Warner. The onlookers (left to right) are Paul Ormowe, The mayor of Hove, A.H. Dilley (the person behind him has not been identified), Richard Durell, William Goord and John Styles.

Ches and Neil are known to club members, but I enclose notes about others in the photographs:

Thomsett and Michall are unknown to me, but Michael T Partis (born 1937) has enjoyed a successful chess career. He won the 1956-57 Dupree competition and followed this by winning the West Sussex Queen and London University Championships in 1957. Later he went on to Leicester University and then became a lecturer at Glasgow University. In Scotland he won the West of Scotland Championship and participated in the 1976 Scottish Championship at Dundee. After this he emigrated to Australia and competed in the 1977-78 Australian Championship at Perth and the 2001-02 Australian Seniors at Melbourne. He may still be alive.

Michael J Warner (1941 – 1981) was a very talented young player, who won the 1958-59 and 1959-60 Dupree Tournaments. However, after that he only played a limited amount of chess. He enjoyed a successful career as an RAF pilot, but sadly a terrible illness brought his life to a premature end.

Paul I Ormowe (c. 1917 – 1955) , the secretary of Brighton CC, also died at a relatively young age. Only a few months after this photograph was taken he passed away in Hove Hospital.

Richard C Durell (1897-1996) was a treasurer of the Sussex Chess Association and also ran the Dupree Tournament with George D Self (1898-1985) for several years. George is not in the photograph, but he was secretary and match captain for Sussex from 1925-65. He was headmaster at a school in Ringmer.

William A Goord (1905 – 1967) was a match captain at the Brighton CC and took over the captaincy of the county team after George Self’s illness in 1965.

John F G Styles (1882 – 1977) was a treasurer and vice-president at the Brighton CC. He had been a bank manager.