The chess games of Spencer Crakanthorp

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Spencer Crakanthorp

Number of games in database: 27
Years covered: 1905 to 1928
Overall record: +22 -3 =2 (85.2%)*
* Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games.

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Most played openings
D51 Queen's Gambit Declined (2 games)
B01 Scandinavian (2 games)
C21 Center Game (2 games)

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SPENCER CRAKANTHORP
(born Feb-17-1885, died Aug-01-1936, 51 years old) Australia

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Spencer Crakanthorp was born in Sydney. He was Australian Champion in 1925 and 1926, and New Zealand champion in 1923/24 and 1925/26. He also played once in the British Championship (1912) where he shared 5th place. He was the New South Wales champion six times and played in 23 telegraphic matches against Victoria, won 13 and drew four.

Son of Lawrence Spencer Crakanthorp, he was also the father-in-law of Cecil John Seddon Purdy and the grandfather of John Spencer Purdy. He passed away in Sydney in 1936.

Wikipedia article: Spencer Crakanthorp

page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 27

Game	Result	Moves	Year	Event/Locale	Opening
1. H Taylour vs S Crakanthorp	0-1	31	1905	NSW-ch	D51 Queen's Gambit Declined
2. W H Jonas vs S Crakanthorp	1-0	28	1905	NSW ch	C01 French, Exchange
3. S Crakanthorp vs H Taylour	1-0	28	1905	NSW ch	C21 Center Game
4. S Crakanthorp vs J Spedding	1-0	43	1905	NSW ch	B01 Scandinavian
5. G W Baynes vs S Crakanthorp	0-1	57	1905	NSW ch	D02 Queen's Pawn Game
6. T M Bradshaw vs S Crakanthorp	0-1	26	1905	NSW ch	D35 Queen's Gambit Declined
7. S Crakanthorp vs W H Jonas	1-0	57	1905	NSW ch	C43 Petrov, Modern Attack
8. S Crakanthorp vs G W Baynes	1-0	15	1905	NSW ch	B46 Sicilian, Taimanov Variation
9. G Brown vs S Crakanthorp	0-1	33	1908	NSW ch	C60 Ruy Lopez
10. J Lambert vs S Crakanthorp	0-1	39	1908	NSW ch	C46 Three Knights
11. S Crakanthorp vs W H Jonas	1-0	43	1908	NSW ch	C66 Ruy Lopez
12. S Crakanthorp vs B Parker	1-0	48	1908	NSW ch	B06 Robatsch
13. B Parker vs S Crakanthorp	0-1	61	1908	NSW ch	A07 King's Indian Attack
14. T M Bradshaw vs S Crakanthorp	0-1	21	1908	NSW ch	C12 French, McCutcheon
15. S Crakanthorp vs J Lambert	1-0	27	1908	NSW ch	C21 Center Game
16. S Crakanthorp vs T M Bradshaw	1-0	32	1908	NSW ch	B32 Sicilian
17. H Taylour vs S Crakanthorp	0-1	36	1908	NSW ch	C59 Two Knights
18. S Crakanthorp vs H Taylour	1-0	47	1908	NSW ch	C67 Ruy Lopez
19. E Cummings vs S Crakanthorp	0-1	36	1908	NSW ch	D51 Queen's Gambit Declined
20. S Crakanthorp vs E Cummings	½-½	40	1908	NSW ch	C11 French
21. R P Michell vs S Crakanthorp	1-0	41	1912	BCF-ch 9th	C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed
22. J J O'Hanlon vs S Crakanthorp	0-1	22	1912	BCF-ch - Major Open m	D31 Queen's Gambit Declined
23. S Crakanthorp vs G Gundersen	1-0	24	1923	New South Wales - Victoria Match	D32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch
24. S Crakanthorp vs B Kostic	0-1	44	1924	Sydney Match	B01 Scandinavian
25. S Crakanthorp vs Severin Woinarski	½-½	40	1926	AUS-ch	D52 Queen's Gambit Declined


page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 27

REFINE SEARCH: White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Crakanthorp wins | Crakanthorp loses

Feb-17-08		brankat: Three generations of fine Chess masters. A great Chess playing family!

Feb-17-11		Benzol: A pity that there aren't more games of his here.

Feb-17-11		Penguincw: < Benzol: A pity that there aren't more games of his here.> I'm pretty sure that there are more of Spencer Crakanthorp 's games out there.

Feb-17-12		brankat: Happy Birthday Mr.Crakanthorp.

May-30-12		Benzol: My word! Someone has been busy finding games by Mr Crakanthorp. Brilliant. :)

Jun-29-12		Benzol: Is Lawrence Spencer Crakanthorp the same player?

Jun-29-12		whiteshark: <Benzol> I'd guess so, unless there have been two Spencer Crakanthorp playing in the same tournament against B.Parker. Well, you're the expert of AUS/NZ chess history, aren't you? ;)

Jun-29-12		whiteshark: Here's his enlisting document of 1916: http://mappingouranzacs.naa.gov.au/... so his full name is <Lawrence Spencer Crakanthorp>, though his place of birth is given as Islington, England http://mappingouranzacs.naa.gov.au/...

Jun-29-12		whiteshark: L.S. Crakanthorp photos: 1905: http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/151684... 1908: http://www3.photosau.com/Manly/scri... 1916 Corp. L.S. Crackanthorp in uniform: http://www3.photosau.com/Manly/scri... 1925: http://www3.photosau.com/Manly/scri...

Jun-29-12		Nosnibor: <whiteshark>From all of the historical information you have provided it would appear that the bio has the wrong birth date of L S Crakanthorp. The enlisting document of January 1916 states his age as 44 years old which means that he was born in 1871 and not 1885.This seems to make sense because the 1925 photograph reflects an image of a man well past 40 years of age.

Jun-29-12		Stonehenge: From a PDF file: Crakanthorp, Lawrence Spencer (1857�1929) MAN02686 Cpl L S Crakanthorp, 1915 MML Anne (Crackanthorp) Purdy, grand-daughter of Lawrence Spencer Crakanthorp contributed an excellent article on him to Australian Chess Lore, vol 3, 1984, p3�32, from which the following is abridged: Lawrence Crakanthorp was born in Islington, London on 15th November 1857 and came to Australia when he was 15. He returned to England as a sailor before the mast sailing round the Horn, but came back to Australia after an extensive walking tour through Europe. He married Florence Wentworth Eldershaw in 1884 (she died of Spanish flu after WWI) and they lived in Surry Hills and Paddington. They had eight children, including Spencer Crakanthorp, born 17 February 1885. Lawrence came to Manly circa 1901 from Wagga Wagga. He had passed the Public Health examinations with such distinction that he was offered the top job available, at Manly, where he became the Sanitary Inspector (or Municipal Officer of Health). He and Spencer joined the Manly Chess Club. Lawrence enlisted in WWI (aged 59) and fought in the trenches. He died 16 December 1929. Spencer Crakanthorp was a chess prodigy, and was Chess Champion of NSW on several occasions from 1905 to 1933. He was Australian Champion in 1926 and 1928/29. He married Emily Diana Harris in September 1914, and they had a daughter, Anne, in 1915.

Jun-30-12		Benzol: <whiteshark> <Well, you're the expert of AUS/NZ chess history, aren't you? ;)> LOL. I wish. Thanks to both <whiteshark> and <Stonehenge> for their efforts on this one. Thanks guys. :)

Mar-22-14		redwhitechess: Retrieved about eights articles and games of Crakanthorp. http://ageofchess.blogspot.com/2014...

Mar-22-14		morfishine: <redwhitechess> Excellent! I'd like to see the origin of the family name

Feb-17-16		TheFocus: Happy birthday, Spencer Crakanthorpe. "Release the Kraken!" is heard at the start of his attacks.

Feb-18-16		Chessical: "Spencer Crakanthorp, the winner of the New South Wales chess championship, was born in Sydney in 1885. After living in several of the inland towns of New South Wales his parents finally settled in Wagga Wagga. Young Spencer (then eight years of age) was first taught the moves by Mrs Houlding, who at that time was the lady champion of Australia, and, showing a great liking for the game, his parents, both good players, gave him every encouragement and completed his tuition. After winning several handicap tourneys at Wagga, which was then the champion country town of New South Wales, he played for that town against several others, his record being 11 wins and 1 loss. After leaving Wagga he went to live at Manly, Sydney, and joined the North Sydney Chess Club, which won the suburban competition two years in succession. The Manly Club, which owes its foundation to the Crakanthorps, was successful in winning the suburban championship the following years, and in 1906 had an unbroken succession of victories. In a set match with Mr W. H. Jones, of Sydney, young Crakanthorp won on time limit, but ceded the point, and the match was declared off. A little later the championship of New South Wales was annexed, with, a score of 9 out of 10, the loss being to W. H Jones. When Mr W. S. Viner threw out an open challenge for the championship of Australasia Mr Crakanthorp promptly accepted it, but the great distance between Perth (where Viner lives) and Sydney proved a bar, and the match has not yet eventuated. Mr Crakanthorp contends that Mr Viner cannot justly claim the title of "champion" until he proves his superiority over him. It will be remembered that Messrs Viner and Crakanthorp competed in the contest for the New Zealand championship at Christchurch last year. There were twenty competitors, and Mr Viner won the title of "champion of New Zealand" with a score of 17 1/2 wins, 1 1/2 losses, Mr Crakanthorp being second with 15 wins, 4 losses. Crakanthorp beat Viner in the individual game between the pair in the tournament, and was also awarded the brilliancy prize for the game he played against A. Gifford, of Westport." Source: "Otago Witness," (NZ), issue 2820, 1st April 1908, p.67.

Feb-18-16		Chessical: "Obituary. Mr. Spencer Crakanthorp, one of the leading figures in Australian chess for more than 30 years, died at a private hospital in Sydney on Saturday, aged 51 years. Mr. Crakanthorp won his first chess tournament at Wagga (N.S.W.) at the age of 13 years, and he won the first State championship for which he entered in 1905 [1]. His long list of tournament successes included two Australian championships [2], two New Zealand championships [3], and six New South Wales championships. He was also fifth in a British championship in 1912 [4], the only one which he entered." Source: The Australasian (Melbourne), Saturday 8 August 1936, p.11 [1] 2nd New South Wales Championship, Sydney, August 1905 [2] Sydney 1926 and Perth 1927 [3] Wellington 1923/24 and Dunedin 1925/26 [4] 9th British Chess Federation Championship, Richmond, August 1912

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D51		Queen's Gambit Declined (2 games)
B01		Scandinavian (2 games)
C21		Center Game (2 games)