It was the year of the Great Frost when temperatures dipped to -27C, An Ideal Husband premiered at the Haymarket Theatre and the MCC finally defined the rules of First-Class cricket.
The year 1895 was a very, very different time.
Except, perhaps, for one thing: back then the great Battersea Chess Club still smashed up Hammersmith with all the ease and elegance of a W.G. Grace cover drive.
A warning from history?
In the historic first meeting between the clubs, Battersea dished out a sound 8.5-3-5 thrashing to the boys from Hammersmith and sent them packing back to west London a volley of “Tally ho, scoundrels!”
Unearthed by chess tutor Richard James, a snippet from the Morning Post – a paper later incorporated into The Daily Telegraph – records this portentous meeting.
Dated February 4, 1895, it reads: “The Battersea Chess Club received a visit on Wednesday last from the Hammersmith Chess Club […].”
The cutting lists players from both sides, including J. H. Taylor, E. Creswell, H. H. Cole and A. W. Fisher for Battersea. It reports the match ending 8.5-3.5 and Hammersmith being one player short.
The Hammersmith club back then wasn’t related to the Hammersmith Chess Club that exists today. At some point, the old HCC folded and the latest incarnation only came onto the scene in 1962.
But fast forward 124 years and not much has changed…
Ahead of El Chessico, our annual match against the west London side, we’re hoping to roll back the years.
