Longtime readers of this august and learned journal will no doubt be able to cast their minds back to reading with interest the exploits of the brilliant recluse Mister Herbert William Trenchard.
Mister HW Trenchard was of course one of the finest, perhaps the finest, NLC chess player ever.
(The topic of who can claim the crown rages in the NLC bar: Mister Mieses may have a claim, but his best chess years were behind him by 1938 when he joined the NLC…).
Now then, Mister Trenchard played for England, tussled with Pillsbury and Tarrasch and took the scalp of the reigning world champion Emanuel Lasker. But above all, he was committed: he lived, played and died in 1 Whitehall Place. The man knew what he was doing.
So when contemplating the life of so great an NLC chessplayer, it is never an unwelcome distraction to observe one of his masterful victories over top class opposition.
Here’s his game from the British Chess Club v National Liberal Club, 1898, as reported in the Westminster Budget.
Readers will note that little has changed. The Libs lost the toss, then the match. Even Mister Trenchard made a sacrifice that was “more bold than sound”. NLC chess remains ever faithful to its origins.
The original cuttings from the Westminster Budget newspaper:
The cover of the first edition of the Westminster Budget, 1893:
