-- under construction --

Ramsgate 1929 is widely cited as one of Vera Menchik's high points of her career, finishing "second" with Rubinstein a half game behind Capablanca. What is commonly omitted is that Ramsgate 1929 was a team tournament and Menchik, Rubinstein, and Capablanca were on the same team, so they did not play each other.

Formally known as the <Kent County Chess Association Congress> held 30 Mar - 8 Apr 1929, this team tournament has largely overshadowed another Ramsgate event; the BCF Congress was held at Ramsgate that summer and marked the first British championship won by Sultan Khan.

THE FORMAT

Ramsgate 1929 was a "Scheveningen" type team tournament (Wikipedia article: Scheveningen system). The format was first used at Scheveningen in 1923. One "local" or "home" team, usually of developing players, faces a "visiting" team of more experienced players. Each player plays against every player on the opposing team. It is a good way for local players to gain experience and perhaps earn title norms.

HOME TEAM

George Thomas -- Thomas was among the initial group awarded the IM title when FIDE established it in 1950. His most impressive tournament result was at Hastings 1934/5, where he was equal first with Max Euwe and ahead of Salomon Flohr, Jose Raul Capablanca, Mikhail Botvinnik, and Andre Lilienthal. Thomas played on seven English Olympiad teams (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/hx...), winning one individual silver and one gold, along with one team bronze medal. Thomas was also an excellent badminton and tennis player.

Fred Dewhirst Yates -- Yates played on three English Olympiad teams (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/th...), winning one team bronze medal. He won numerous British championships and his inconsistent results in international events were often attributed to his poor health and the distraction of having to do chess journalism, often on events in which he was a participant. Yates won one of the brilliancy prizes at Karlsbad 1923 for his win against Alekhine (Alekhine vs Yates, 1923).

Reginald Michell -- Michell played on two English Olympiad teams (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/rp...), and played in eight Anglo-American cable matches (Game Collection: Anglo-American Cable Matches, 1896-1911). Michell finished equal second with Price behind Mir Sultan Khan at the BCF championship held at Ramsgate later that year.

Theodore Tylor -- Tylor played on one English Olympiad team (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/0i...).

William Winter -- Winter played on four English Olympiad teams (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/o2...). He was also one of the initial group awarded the IM title by FIDE when it was introduced in 1950.

Edward Guthlac Sergeant -- Sergeant played mostly in domestic events -- numerous London and British championships as well as Hastings tournaments.

Hubert Price -- Price played in a number of BCF championships. His best result was equal second with Michell behind Mir Sultan Khan at the BCF championship held at Ramsgate later that year. Price also played in a number of Hastings premier tournaments. His best result was second behind Borislav Kostic in the 1921/2 tournament, the first to invite a foreign master.

VISITING TEAM

Jose Raul Capablanca -- Despite having lost the world championship to Alexander Alekhine in 1927, Capablanca was still a fearsome force at the chessboard, and had been active in tournaments, presumably because of his hopes for a rematch against Alekhine.

Akiba Rubinstein -- Rubinstein was probably one of the strongest masters to never play a world championship match, although he came close to arranging one with Emanuel Lasker just prior to the outbreak of World War I. Rubinstein played for two Polish Olympiad teams (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/n1...), winning one individual gold, one team gold, and one team silver medal.

Vera Menchik -- Menchik was born in Moscow, but moved to England at the age of 15. She was a pupil of Geza Maroczy and completely dominated the woman's world championship from its inception in 1927 until her death in a bombing raid in 1944 (+78 -1 =4). She was the first woman to play in top-level international tournaments with men, and the informal "Vera Menchik Club" of male masters that lost games to her included many prominent players. The trophy in the Womens Olympiad is the <Vera Menchik Cup>.

Geza Maroczy -- Maroczy came close to a world championship match with Emanuel Lasker in 1906 in Cuba, but as with so many potential matches over the years, it never came to pass, and like other hopefuls over the years, he never got another chance. Maroczy played on three Hungarian Olympian teams (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/k2...), winning one gold and one silver team medal. Maroczy was given the GM title in 1950 when FIDE made their first round of awards.

Georges Koltanowski -- Koltanowski was born in Belgium and was on tour in South America when World War II began. He was allowed to move to the United States in 1940 and lived there for the rest of his life. Koltanowski played on two Belgian and one United States Olympiad teams (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/fv...). He was instrumental in making the Swiss system format popular in the US, beginning with his direction of the 1947 US Open in Corpus Christi. He wrote a long-running chess column for the <San Francisco Chronicle> and was known in his later years for his chess lectures, blindfold play and knight tour demonstrations.

Victor Soultanbeieff -- Soultanbeieff was born in the Ukraine and moved to Belgium in the early 1920s. He won the Belgian championship multiple times, but work obligations limited his opportunities for international play. He was on the Belgian Olympiad team at Folkstone, 1933 (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/6s...).

unknown player -- Znosko-Borovsky was born in Russia and moved to Paris in 1920. He won one of the third brilliancy prizes at Ostend 1906 for his game against Burn (Burn vs Znosko-Borovsky, 1906). He was also a noted dramatic and literary critic.

RESULTS

The home team had several players that were retroactively awarded the IM title when FIDE established it in 1950, but they were still seriously overmatched. With the likes of GMs such as Capablanca, Rubinstein, and Maroczy, the visiting team won by a convincing score of 31.5 - 17.5. Everyone on the visiting team had a plus score with the exception of Znosko-Borovsky, who had a minus score. Everyone on the home team had a minus score with the exception of Thomas, who had an even score. This is born out with the round by round scores, with the home team having a minus score for every round except Round 4, which they actually won (+1 -0 =6), and the last round (7), which was a tie (+1 -1 =5).

                          HOME
                                    S
                        M           e
                T       i       W   r
                h   Y   c   T   i   g   P
                o   a   h   y   n   e   r
                m   t   e   l   t   a   i
                a   e   l   o   e   n   c
                s   s   l   r   r   t   e
VISTORS
Capablanca      =   =   V   =   V   V   V   5.5
Rubinstein      =   =   =   V   V   V   =   5.0
Menchik         V   =   V   =   =   =   V   5.0
Marozy          H   V   =   V   =   =   V   4.5
Koltanowski     =   =   =   =   V   =   V   4.5
Soultanbeieff   H   V   V   =   =   V   H   4.0
Znosko-Borovsky V   H   H   =   H   =   V   3.0

                3.5 3.0 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.0 1.5

V -- Visiting team win
H -- Home team win