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.
