Jan-08-11
 | | GrahamClayton: Portrait: http://tinyurl.com/28mknwk |
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| Feb-22-13 | | optimal play: In 1895, Wallace, who was the reigning Australian chess champion,
was challenged to a match by Frederick Karl Esling for the title. It was played in Melbourne between 8 June and 11 July, and aroused great interest. Wallace narrowly won, winning seven games and losing five, with four draws. Chessgames.com has one of those games on the database (round 10) so I have today submitted the other 15 to complete the full 16 game match. |
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| Jan-29-14 | | optimal play: <<<<FORMER CHESS CHAMPION.> DEATH OF MR. A. E. N. WALLACE.>
The death has occurred at his home, Danrenth, Double Bay, of Mr. Albert Edward Noble Wallace, a former Australian chess champion. Mr. Wallace, who was considered to be one of the most brilliant players Australia has produced, was the youngest son of the late Mr. R. G. Wallace, of Hollywood House, County Antrim, Ireland. He came to Australia at the age of 16 years, and settled in Queensland, where two years later he won the chess championship of that state. Later he came to New South Wales, and joined the Government Savings Bank, in which he was accountant. Until defeated recently by Mr. L. Crakanthorp, of Manly, he held the title of the champion chess player of the Commonwealth. He was 54 years of age.
The funeral took place yesterday, Canon Howard Lea (rector of St. Mark's) conducting services at the house and at Rookwood Cemetery, where the remains were interred. The late Mr. Wallace is survived by Mrs. Wallace, who is well known in journalistic circles, and a son and daughter, both of whom are at the Sydney University.> - The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW) issue Wednesday 21 March 1928> |
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| Sep-19-15 | | thomastonk: I found this game in a German newspaper:
Wallace v Bowen, Melbourne, August 1895 (maybe some Australian friends can find more; Bowen could be a player from Adelaide).1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O d6 8. cxd4 Nf6 9. d5 Ne5 10. Nxe5 dxe5 11. Qa4+ c6 12. dxc6 O-O 13. Ba3 Re8 14. Rd1 Qb6 15. cxb7 Bxb7 16. Nd2 Ng4 17. h3 Qxf2+ 18. Kh1 Qh4 19. Rf1 Nf2+ 20. Rxf2 Qxf2 21. Rf1 Qxd2 22. Bxf7+ Kh8 23. Bxe8 h6 24. Bc1 Qb4 25. Qd7 Qxe4 26. Rf3 Qe1+ 27. Kh2 Bxf3 28. Bxh6 gxh6 29. Bg6 1-0 First, we see 16 moves of a normal Evans Gambit. 
click for larger view17.h3? Childish! White had the strong 17.♗xf7+! ♔xf7 18.♕d7+ ♔g8 19.♕xg4. In the next position, Black had to find one of several winning moves. 
click for larger view18.. ♕h4?. Fail. I leave the problem to the readers. 19.♖f1? (Better was 19.♕xa5.) 19.. ♘f2?. Horrible. Find a better move! A few moves later, we see another interesting position. 
click for larger view24.♗c1?. Fail. Once again: find the winning move yourself! It's easy. And in the next position, Black missed the win and gave a stupid check, which allowed White's nice final combination. 
click for larger viewHave fun. |
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| Sep-19-15 | | optimal play: <thomastonk> Bowen appears to have been a local club player in Adelaide. That game you posted would be from Wallace's simultaneous exhibition at Adelaide in July 1895. CHESS.
AN EXHIBITION BY THE CHAMPION.
TWENTY GAMES SIMULTANEOUSLY.
Since Blackburne, the English champion, was in Adelaide some years ago, no chess event has created such widespread interest as the exhibition of simultaneous play by the Australian Champion, Mr. A. E. N. Wallace, on Wednesday evening. The Cafe de Paris was engaged for the occasion by Sir Edwin Smith, Patron of the South Australian Chess Association. The worthy knight, who does so much to encourage sports and games of all kinds invited chess players from all the associated clubs, and many players who do not belong to clubs, to watch the games, and when the champion made his first move there were over a hundred lookers on. Sir Edwin Smith and Sir Charles Todd closely watched the games at the top boards. The local team was a formidable one. Charlick, the ex-champion of Australia and South Australia, was of course too powerful a calibre to be in included; but McArthur, the present champion of the colony; Hilton, an ex-champion; Apperly, the runner-up to McArthur in the recently concluded champion tourney; Fagan, who played so brilliantly at times in the same tourney; Harrison, the Norwood crack; Pollitt, who plays No.1 board for Hindmarsh; and Pavia, the dashing Semaphorean, were amongst the twenty who faced the champion. Most of the other players were younger and less experienced, but they included some of the rising local talent, notably Day, of Hindmarsh; <Bowen, of Norwood;> H. Watts, of North Adelaide; Butler, of the Semaphore; and Swan, of Unley; and they performed very creditably. Of course, the team might have been stronger, and amongst names that will immediately suggest themselves to chess players are those of Coombe, of Gawler, the runner-up in last year's Champion Tourney; Belcher, of Kersbrook, who is one of our best players; McDonald, the veteran of the Adelaide Club; Hindley, the St. Peter's don; Laughton, of North Adelaide; and King, of Hindmarsh. It was, however, a capital idea to give less experienced players an opportunity, at the same time making Wallace's task somewhat easier than it might have been. Mr. H. Barrett, the veteran Director, who had charge of the proceedings, arranged the tables in two rows, along which Wallace moved alternately. In every game the champion had the move, and various were his opening moves. He soon made evident his penchant for open rather than close games. <He offered the interesting Evans Gambit to several players, including McArthur, Hilton, and Harrison; but <Bowen>, who is also very fond of it, was the only one bold enough to accept and try to work his way through the sea of troubles which confronts Black when the gambit is accepted, and although beaten, he played capitally, at one time having the better of the position.> The Queen's Gambit evaded was seen in two or three games; in others the King's Gambit was played; a few players were content to offer the dull French defence, while Apperly essayed the Petroff defence. The champion, with a cigarette between his lips, moved rapidly from board to board, and the first three moves in each case were made without the slightest hesitation. The fourth time round he paused at two or three boards to take in the situations, but a mere glance at most games sufficed for his quick eye to discern the correct move. So rapidly did he move that in half an hour he had made eight moves all round, or in all 160. As the games entered upon the "mid" stage and became more complicated the champion took a little longer to consider the positions, yet in the second half-hour he got through 100 moves. The great feature of his play was then very noticeable. It is rapid development. His pieces were all deployed to advantage very early in the game, and he was not long about getting up some powerful attacking combinations against the castled Kings. He certainly made the games lively, even where the close French defence had been adopted. In the third half-hour be made no less than 140 moves, and won his first game from Wright amidst cheers, hauling down his colours on his seventeenth move. This was a beautiful mate. After an hour and a half's play an adjournment was made so that the players might partake of the excellent refreshments laid out by Mr. Faulkner. ...continued... |
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| Sep-19-15 | | optimal play: ...continued...
Before the guests left the tables, Sir Edwin Smith remarked that it had given him great pleasure to enable so many chess players to see Mr. Wallace play. (Cheers ) He was a great admirer of chess, but found he was too impulsive to play very much. He was very pleased to see Mr. Wallace, who so richly deserved the championship he had won. Sir Charles Topp joined in the welcome and congratulations to Mr. Wallace. Personally, he gave up chess soon after he was mated, and since then it had been nothing but constant cheques. (Laughter.) He hoped Mr. Wallace would long retain the championship. Mr. Wallace, who was enthusiastically received, returned his sincere thanks. He hoped that that evening he would be able to do better than he did against Melbourne. Cheers having been given for Sir Edwin Smith, play was resumed at half past 9. ...
At the close of his trying mental and physical ordeal, during which he made over 600 moves, the champion was warmly cheered and congratulated. He won eleven games, lost five, and drew four.
In his simultaneous exhibition in Melbourne, he won twelve, lost seven, and drew one. - South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA) issue Thursday 18 July 1895 page 7 |
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| Sep-20-15 | | thomastonk: <optimal play> Many thanks! Meanwhile I found the game in the British Chess Magazine, 1895, page 440.
There is an article "The Champion of Australia", pages 438-439, which covers the Wallace-Esling match and several exhibitions, and it is followed by three games. The information of Wallace v Bowen confirm that it was played on July 17th, 1895 in a 20-board simultaneous exhibition in Adelaide. Since the game has been played in a simultaneous exhibition, I criticized some of Wallace's moves to harsh, of course. And I didn't emphasized Wallace final blow. 
click for larger view28.♗xh6! hxg6 29.♗g6.
My posting was motivated by the fun I had studying the final part of the game. It has an interesting geometrical character due to the absence of knights and the small number of pawns. |
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| Sep-20-15 | | optimal play: <thomastonk> I'm surprised to hear that these games made it into the European chess publications or that they even cared who was "The Champion of Australia”. Blackburne came down here in the mid 1880’s and beat our best like rented donkeys! Anyway, I like playing over these old colonial games since they’re often quaint and quirky, like the game you posted. Just don’t run a computer over the moves!
;) |
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| Sep-21-15 | | thomastonk: <optimal play> Back then there was a notable mutual interest. The index of that volume of 'BCM' has 9 entries for 'Chess in Australia'.
The article "The Champion of Australia" is a letter of a correspondent using the pseudonym "Cluen", who also wrote an article "Chess in Australasia" on pages 334-336 (three full pages). My motives to study these old games are quite similar to yours, I think, and one or two years ago I added the name Wallace to my 'list' of interesting players. <Just don’t run a computer over the moves!> Please, see what happened here: Gustavus Charles Reichhelm I solved that puzzle without much efforts, and very soon I had to 'defend' that I posted it. Back to the Wallace game: I found it more than a week ago, and I returned to its nice tactics at least twice before I posted the selected positions. Their difficulty ranges from Wednesdays to Thursdays puzzles, I would say. No insane Sundays puzzles for sure. |
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| Sep-22-15 | | optimal play: <thomastonk> The Reichhelm problem is interesting because white needs the black pawn to prevent the king escaping; without it, white couldn't force mate. Here's a miniature from late in Wallace's career...
[Event "Australian Championship"]
[Site "Brisbane, Australia"]
[Date "1924.08.12"]
[EventDate "1924.08.11"]
[Round "2"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "F. Robinson"]
[Black "Albert Edward Wallace"]
[ECO "C30"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. Bc4 d6 5. f5 Nf6 6. d3 d5 7. Bb5 dxe4 8. Bxc6+ bxc6 9. dxe4 Qxd1+ 10. Kxd1 Nxe4 11. Re1 Bxf5 12. Nxe5 O-O-O+ 13. Bd2 Rhe8 14. g4 Rxe5 15. gxf5 Nf2+ 16. Kc1 Rxe1+ 17. Bxe1 Rd1# 
click for larger viewWhite's final position looks rather unflattering. |
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| Sep-22-15 | | thomastonk: <optimal play> Ouch! That game hurts. :) We have here only a small number of games from this phase of his career, although many games from the Australian Championships of 1922, 1924 and 1926 are known. Among them a draw with young Purdy from 1926, which looks quite entertaining at first sight. |
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| Sep-22-15 | | optimal play: <thomastonk> Yeah, ouch indeed! :D I don't think 5.f5 is any good, and although this game is against weak opposition, the 51 yr old Wallace showed he could still play purposefully and with skill. I especially liked castling long to check at move 12 and then of course 15...Nf2+ to win! I submitted almost all the games from his 1895 match with Esling, plus a few of his others, and I think it would be good for his later games to also be included in his database here, but chessgames.com are so tardy with their uploads that it's hard to get motivated to send in more games. |
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| Sep-23-15 | | thomastonk: <optimal play: .. but chessgames.com are so tardy with their uploads that it's hard to get motivated to send in more games.> That hits the mark! |
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| Jul-10-21 | | optimal play: <<<<<The Chess Championship of New South Wales> Under the auspices of the N.S.W.C.A this tourney excited great enthusiasm, was reported daily in the press and was altogether an unqualified success.> Mr Jacobsen was first,
Messrs <Wallace> and Jonas tied for second, Messrs Foster, Miles, and Dr Lancaster for fourth, Mr Christenson was seventh,
Mr Pietzcker eighth,
Mr Wallis ninth,
and Mr Mackenzie, who practically withdrew, was tenth.> The first prize was 20 guineas, presented by Mr Robert Smith, the second ?10 10s, the third ?5 5s and the fourth ?3 3s.> - Sydney Morning Herald (NSW), Saturday 28 December 1901, page 4> 1901 New South Wales Chess Championship
Results for Albert Edward Wallace:-
1st round 8th July lost to Llewellyn Bently Lancaster 2nd round 11th July lost to Julius Leigh Jacobsen 3rd round 15th July lost to Francis J Wallis
4th round 18th July drew with George H Foster
5th round 22nd July won against William Henry Jonas 6th round 25th July had a bye
7th round 29th July won against C Mackenzie
8th round 1st August had a bye
9th round 5th August won against John Alexander Pietzcker 10th round 8th August won against William John Miles 11th round 12th August won against John K Christenson Final score 5?/9 (+5 =1 -3)
The only game missing from Wallace?s 1901 New South Wales Chess Championship tournament: [Event "New South Wales Chess Championship"]
[Site "Sydney, NSW, Australia"]
[Date "1901.08.05"]
[Round "9.2"]
[White "John Alexander Pietzcker"]
[Black "Albert Edward Wallace"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C65"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "1901.07.08"]
[EventType "tournament"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AUS"]
[SourceDate "2004.01.29"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. a3 Bg4 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Bg3 h5 10. h3 h4 11. Bh2 Bh5 12. Qc1 Bxf3 13. gxf3 Qd7 14. Kg2 O-O-O 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Rh1 Rdg8 17. Nd2 g4 18. hxg4 Nxg4 19. fxg4 Qxg4+ 20. Kf1 Qg2+ 21. Ke2 Qxf2+ 22. Kd1 Rg2 23. c3 Be3 24. Bg1 Rxg1+ 25. Rxg1 Qxg1+ 26. Kc2 Qg2 27. Qe1 Bf4 28. Rd1 h3 29. Qh1 Bxd2 30. Qxg2 hxg2 31. Rg1 Bf4 32. Rxg2 Rh2 33. Rxh2 Bxh2 0-1 I have today submitted this game to Chessgames.com for inclusion into the database to complete the NSW Championship games for Wallace. |
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| Jul-10-21 | | Nosnibor: Any relation to the crime writer Edgar Wallace? |
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| Jul-11-21 | | optimal play: Six years ago on this forum, <thomastonk> and myself were discussing the problem of games taking so long to be uploaded that we stopped submitting them: <Sep-23-15 thomastonk: <optimal play: .. but chessgames.com are so tardy with their uploads that it's hard to get motivated to send in more games.> That hits the mark!> Well, I'm pleased to see that problem has completely disappeared with my latest submission being uploaded in less than 24 hours! J A Pietzcker vs A Wallace, 1901 Good work Chessgames!
Now all we have to do is fix up the <question mark> problem. <The first prize was 20 guineas, presented by Mr Robert Smith, the second ?10 10s, the third ?5 5s and the fourth ?3 3s.> <Final score 5?/9 (+5 =1 -3)> The first prize was 20 guineas, presented by Mr Robert Smith, the second 10 pounds 10 shillings, the third 5 pounds 5 shillings and the fourth 3 pounds 3 shillings. Final score 5.5/9 (+5 =1 -3) |
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Kibitzing
