Stourbridge Chess Club was founded in 1852. This is an ongoing project to document the history of the club. If you have any information that you think may be relevant please send it to the webmaster.
Club was founded 1852
The club was founded one lovely afternoon 20th May 1852 at the house of Mr Henry Firmstone of Woodfield House, Wordsley. There were present some 12 in all including Lord Lyttelton, Charles Harrison (M.P. for Bewdley), Mr Harding surgeon and their host who was president of the chess club for many years.
Match versus Kidderminster 1858
The Brierley Hill Advertiser of 1858 reports matches between Kidderminster and Stourbridge in which Lord Lyttelton himself took part. The Kidderminster side won the first round but Stourbridge, playing on their home ground of the Mechanics Institute won the return match by 11 games to 5 and an elegant supper was served in the lecture room.
Match scores
Sourced from EDO
| Stourbridge | Score | Kidderminster | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lyttelton, George | 0 | 3 | Zachary, Francis |
| Yarranton, Thomas | 3 | 0 | Harrison, Charles |
| Firmstone, Henry | 2 | 1 | Crump |
| Bartleet, W.S. | 2 | 0 | Sheppard, J.H |
| Harding, T.M. | 2 | 1 | Lester |
| Bolton, Thomas | 2 | 0 | Thynne |
| 11 | 5 | ||
Match versus Cambridge 1858
The club played a correspondence match versus Cambridge university consisting of two games played "by committee". Cambridge won both games. There was an article about it in the London Illustrated News
Match versus Wolverhampton 1866
From "Household Chess magazine" The Return match was played at Wollaston Hall, the residence of the president of Stourbridge Chess Club . At the request of the Stourbridge players, the champions of the two clubs were paired the same as in the last contest, with one exception, the President of of the Wolverhampton club was matched against Mr. A. Freer instead of his previous adversary Mr Doughty. The Wolverhampton club was again victorious after an interesting struggle, The games falling so evenly to each club that the result of the match was a matter of uncertainty till the close of play. The following score will show the pairing of the players and the number of games won by each:
Match scores
| Stourbridge | Score | Wolverhampton | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lord Lyttelton | 0 | 3 | A. Scott |
| H.O Firmstone | 0 | 3 | W.C. Umbers |
| A. Freer | 2½ | ½ | John Neve |
| H. Freer | 2 | 1 | S. Foulkes |
| W.A. Baxter | 2 | 1 | Wm. Lees |
| T.M. Harding | 1½ | 2½ | T. Chittenden |
| 8 | 10 | ||
H.O Firmstone was the president of Stourbridge Chess Club and W.A. Baxter the secretary.