TF Lawrence (not to be confused with TE Lawrence, and certainly not with DH Lawrence) was one of that group of strong amateurs (about 2400 on retrospective ratings, so FM/IM strength by today’s standards) who were active in English chess in the years leading up to the First World War, all of whom are virtually forgotten today, and several of whom had connections with the area around Richmond, Twickenham, Kingston and Surbiton.

I’ve already featured two of their number, George Edward Wainwright and William Ward, here. Now it’s time to investigate the life and games of Thomas Francis Lawrence.

Let’s start by crossing the North Sea to visit a place very familiar to all chess fans: Wijk aan Zee.  Before 1968 the tournament took place 5 km inland, in the city of Beverwijk. Immediately south of Beverwijk is the municipality of Velsen, divided by the North Sea Canal.

This canal was constructed between 1865 and 1876 to improve access from Amsterdam harbour to the North Sea. The chief engineer was John Hawkshaw and the contractors were Henry Lee & Sons of Westminster.

It was in Amsterdam, at some point between 1866 and 1870, that the marriage between Henry Lawrence and Esther Jane Izard was recorded. Our man Thomas Francis Lawrence was born in Velsen on 2 March 1871, and another son, Henry Arthur Edward Lawrence, followed on 8 August 1873.

Why were Henry and Esther in Velsen? Were they involved in the construction of the canal in some way? At the moment, I don’t know for certain. I can certainly identify Esther Jane Izard, who was born in Cheltenham in about 1834, although by 1841 her mother, Elizabeth, was a widow working as a laundress. I have no idea at all who Henry was, though: no one in his family seems to know and, as he had a fairly common name, there’s no way of finding out.

We can pick the family up in the 1881 census, living at 37 Henry Street, St Marylebone, which has been renamed Allitsen Road: you’ll find it in St John’s Wood, just north west of Regent’s Park. Esther, a widow, is working as a dressmaker, and her two sons, Thomas and ‘Edward’, are both scholars.

By 1891 they’ve moved to 32 Great George Street, which runs from St James’s Park to Big Ben and Westminster Bridge, with Downing Street just a stone’s throw away.  Esther is now a housekeeper (which could mean all sorts of things) and her younger son, now named ‘Henry E A’, is a Solicitor’s Clerk. Thomas isn’t at home: I haven’t yet been able to locate him. It’s quite possible he was abroad at the time.

Thomas Francis Lawrence didn’t come from a chess playing background, and it was only round about this time that he learnt the moves. This didn’t prevent him becoming recognised, within only a few years, as one of the strongest players in London. His name first appeared in the press in 1893, playing for the City of London Club, and for the South of England against the North. He entered the City of London Club championship in 1893-94, sharing first place in his section, but losing the play-off against the eventual winner of the championship, Herbert Levi Jacobs. The following year he made the final pool, and in 1895-96 he won the Gastineau Cup for the first time. It wouldn’t be the last.

In 1895 he made the news playing a six-board blindfold simul match against Arthur Curnock (also mentioned in the above clipping), winning two games (scores available online) and drawing four.

This game was published in the Chess Player’s Chronicle on 16 October 1895, with White’s name being given as I Passmore and no venue. It’s reasonable to assume that the initial was incorrect and this was Devon born music teacher Samuel Passmore, and that the game might well have been played in the City of London CC Championship.

The fascinating Max Lange Attack was very popular at the time, and here White’s 23rd and 24th moves each cost half a point, as he’d missed Lawrence’s rather unusual winning coup. Click on any move in any game in this article for a pop-up window.

[pgn]

[Event “City of London CC?”]
[Site “City of London CC, London ENG”]
[Date “1895.??.??”]
[White “Passmore, Samuel”]
[Black “Lawrence, Thomas Francis”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “C56”]
[Annotator “Tactical Analysis 5.2 (1s)”]
[PlyCount “54”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O Bc5 6. e5 d5 7. exf6 dxc4 8.
Re1+ Be6 9. Ng5 Qd5 10. Nc3 Qf5 11. g4 Qg6 $1 {[#]} (11… Qxf6 12. Nd5 Qd8 13.
Rxe6+ Ne7 14. Qf3 $1 $18) 12. Nce4 $146 {C56: Two Knights: 4 d4 exd4 5 0-0
Nxe4.} ({Predecessor:} 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. Rxe6+ Kf7 14. Nd5 Bd6 15. fxg7 Kxe6
16. gxh8=Q Rxh8 17. Nf4+ Bxf4 18. Bxf4 Kd7 19. Bg3 Kc8 {1-0 (35) Kolisch,
I-Steel,R Liverpool 1861}) 12… Bb6 13. f4 {aiming for f5.} O-O-O (13… gxf6
$2 14. f5 $1 Qg7 15. fxe6 (15. Nxe6 fxe6 16. Nxf6+ Kd8 $11) 15… d3+ 16. Kg2
$18) (13… d3+ $5 14. Be3 gxf6 $11) 14. f5 {White is slightly better.} Bxf5
15. gxf5 Qxf5 16. Rf1 (16. Nxf7 d3+ 17. Kg2 (17. Kh1 $2 Rhe8 $17) 17… dxc2
$17) 16… d3+ (16… Qg6 $5) 17. Kh1 dxc2 $2 {[#]} 18. Qxd8+ $1 $18 Rxd8 19.
Rxf5 Rd1+ 20. Kg2 Rg1+ 21. Kh3 gxf6 22. Rxf6 Be3 {[#]} 23. Rxf7 $2 Rxc1 $11 {
Really sharp!} 24. Ne6 $2 {[#]} Rd1 $1 $19 {Black is clearly winning.} (24…
Rxa1 {leads to mate.} 25. Rxc7+ Kb8 26. Nd6 a6 27. Rxb7+ Ka8 28. Nc7#) 25. Rc1
(25. Rxc7+ $142 Kb8 26. Rf7 (26. Rxh7 $2 b5 $19)) 25… Bxc1 26. Rxc7+ Kb8 27.
N4c5 {[#]} Bf4 $1 {Never resign too early! Weighted Error Value: White=1.18/
Black=0.68} 0-1

[/pgn]

In 1896, playing on top board for the City of London Club against the Divan Chess Association, he found himself facing none other than the great Emanuel Lasker.

Here’s the game: you’ll see that Mr Lawrence totally outplayed his illustrious opponent, and was still winning according to Stockfish in the final position, where he was about to reach a queen ending with an extra pawn.

[pgn]

[Event “Divan Chess Association v City of London CC”]
[Date “1896.15.05”]
[White “Lawrence, Thomas Francis”]
[Black “Lasker, Emanuel”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “C66”]
[Annotator “Tactical Analysis 5.2 (1s)”]
[PlyCount “86”]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Be7 5. Nc3 d6 6. d4 exd4 7. Nxd4 Bd7 8.
Bxc6 bxc6 9. b3 O-O 10. Bb2 Re8 11. Qd3 Bf8 {C66: Ruy Lopez: Steinitz Defence.}
12. Rad1 Rb8 $146 ({Predecessor:} 12… c5 13. Nde2 Bc6 14. Ng3 Qc8 15. Nd5 Nd7
16. c4 a5 17. Nf5 Bxd5 18. cxd5 Ne5 19. Qg3 {1-0 (30) Tarrasch,S-Steif,A
Nuremberg 1891}) 13. Rfe1 g6 14. Qa6 Rb6 15. Qd3 {& White is more active.} Bg7
16. Nf3 Ng4 {Against e5} 17. Na4 Bxb2 18. Nxb2 {Pair of Knights!} Rb8 19. Nc4 {
Threatens to win with e5.} f6 {Prevents e5.} 20. Qd4 Ne5 21. Nfxe5 ({Don’t play
} 21. Qxa7 $6 Nxc4 22. bxc4 c5 $15) 21… fxe5 22. Qd3 ({But not} 22. Qxa7 Ra8
23. Qe3 Rxa2 $11) 22… Qf6 23. Ne3 Rf8 24. f3 Kg7 25. c4 Rf7 $2 {[#]} (25…
c5 $16) 26. Qc3 (26. c5 $1 $18 {is the precise move to win.}) 26… Qe7 (26…
c5 $16) 27. c5 $18 Rf6 28. Nc4 Be8 29. f4 Rxf4 30. cxd6 cxd6 31. Rxd6 {
Strongly threatening g3.} Rb5 32. Qh3 Rf6 33. Rxf6 Qxf6 34. Rf1 Qe7 35. Qf3 Bf7
{[#]} 36. Nd6 Qxd6 37. Qxf7+ {Endgame KQR-KQR} Kh6 38. Qxa7 Rc5 39. Kh1 {
h3 is the strong threat.} Rc2 $2 (39… Rc3 $16) 40. Qe3+ Kg7 41. a4 Rd2 42. a5
c5 43. Ra1 $2 ({Less strong is} 43. Qf3 Kh6 44. h3 Ra2 45. Qe3+ Kg7 $18) ({
White should play} 43. h3 $18 {aiming for Qc3.} Qd3 44. Qxd3 Rxd3 45. Rb1)
43… Rd1+ $2 {Weighted Error Value: White=0.54/Black=0.55} (43… Rd3 $14 44.
Qe1 Rxb3) 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

Perhaps Lasker had underestimated his opponent, but to go from learning the moves to outplaying the world champion in only a few years is a pretty impressive performance, I think you’ll agree.

Thomas won the City of London Championship again in 1896-97 and, for a third consecutive time, in 1897-98. At that time the winner received two trophies, the Gastineau Cup and the Mocatta Trophy, a full size Staunton ivory set and board, with silver mounts and inscriptions, valued at 16 guineas. The deal was that if you won the championship three times you got to keep the Mocatta Trophy in perpetuity, so the set and board was his.

In this game he demolished his opponent’s French Defence.

[pgn]

[Event “City of London CC Championship”]
[Site “London ENG”]
[Date “1896.??.??”]
[White “Lawrence, Thomas Francis”]
[Black “Jones, Edward Owen”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C06”]
[Annotator “Tactical Analysis 5.2 (1s)”]
[PlyCount “61”]

1. e4 {Tarrasch/Steinitz} e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 Nc6
7. Ne2 Qb6 8. Nf3 f6 {[#]} 9. Nf4 $146 {[#] And now 0-0 would win. C06: French
Tarrasch: 3…Nf6 4 e5 Nfd7 5 Bd3 main lines.} ({Predecessor:} 9. exf6 Nxf6 10.
O-O Bd6 11. dxc5 Qxc5 12. Ned4 O-O 13. Qe2 Re8 14. Be3 Qa5 15. Ng5 Bd7 16. Qc2
h6 17. Bh7+ Kf8 18. f4 Re7 19. b4 {1-0 (31) Tarrasch,S-Kuerschner,M Nuremberg
1890 EXT 2015 [Tarrasch/Steinitz]}) 9… fxe5 10. Nxe5 ({Worse is} 10. Nxe6
cxd4 11. Nxf8 Kxf8 $15) ({White must play} 10. dxe5 $18 Nd8 11. Ng5) 10…
Ndxe5 $11 11. dxe5 {Qh5+ is the strong threat. The position is equal.} g6 {
Prevents Qh5.} 12. h4 Nxe5 13. h5 Nxd3+ $4 (13… g5 $17 14. Nh3 g4) 14. Qxd3
$18 {White leaves nothing to chance now.} g5 15. Ng6 {& White is more active.}
hxg6 (15… c4 16. Qc2 hxg6 17. Qxg6+ Ke7) 16. Qxg6+ Kd7 {Threatens to win
with …e5.} 17. Qf6 {[#] Deflection} Rh7 {Hoping for …Qd8.} 18. Qxf8 {
aiming for Qg8.} Qd6 19. Qf6 e5 $2 (19… Kc6 20. Qxg5 (20. Bxg5 Bd7 $16) 20…
Qd7) 20. Qf5+ Kc6 21. Qxh7 Be6 22. Bxg5 e4 23. Qe7 Qe5 24. Qf6 Qd6 25. Bf4 Qd7
26. h6 d4 27. cxd4 cxd4 28. Rc1+ Kb5 29. Rh5+ Kb4 30. Bd2+ Ka4 31. Ra5# {
Weighted Error Value: White=0.80/Black=1.04} 1-0

[/pgn]

In this game from an inter-club match he took advantage of his opponent’s misplaced queen.

[pgn]

[Event “City of London v St George’s”]
[Site “City of London CC, London ENG”]
[Date “1896.04.11”]
[White “Lawrence, Thomas Francis”]
[Black “Jackson, Edward Mackenzie”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C64”]
[Annotator “Tactical Analysis 5.2 (1s)”]
[PlyCount “67”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. O-O Qf6 {[#]} 5. Nc3 $146 ({Predecessor:} 5.
c3 Nge7 6. Bxc6 Nxc6 7. d4 Bd6 8. Be3 b6 9. Nbd2 Ba6 10. Re1 h6 11. Nf1 O-O-O
12. d5 Ne7 13. Qa4 Kb7 {1-0 (38) Baird,D-Martinez,D New York 1889}) 5… Nge7
6. d3 {C64: Ruy Lopez: Classical Defence (3…Bc5) except 4 0-0 Nf6.} Nd4 7.
Nxd4 Bxd4 8. Ne2 {White is slightly better.} Bb6 9. Kh1 O-O (9… c6 $5 10. Ba4
d5 $11) 10. f4 c6 11. Ba4 d5 12. f5 dxe4 13. dxe4 Qh4 {aiming for …Rd8.} 14.
Ng3 $2 ({Only move:} 14. Nc3 $16) 14… Rd8 (14… Nxf5 $5 15. exf5 (15. Nxf5
Bxf5 16. exf5 Qxa4 $17) 15… Qxa4 $17) 15. Qf3 {Bb3 is the strong threat.} Bd7
16. Bb3 {And now f6 would win.} Be8 17. Nh5 Nc8 18. g3 Qh3 19. Bg5 Rd6 {[#]} (
19… Nd6 {keeps fighting.}) 20. Rad1 $2 {Really sharp!} (20. Rfd1 $1 $18)
20… Bc7 $2 (20… Bc5 $14) 21. Bc4 $18 b5 $2 (21… Nb6 22. Rxd6 Bxd6) 22.
Bd3 $2 (22. Be2 $18 f6 23. Nxf6+ Rxf6 24. Bxf6 gxf6 25. Qb3+ Kf8 26. c4 (26.
Qe6 Qh6 $15)) 22… f6 $11 23. Bh4 {With the idea Rfe1. & White is more active.
} Bxh5 $4 (23… Nb6 $11 {and Black is okay.}) 24. Qxh5 $18 Ne7 25. Rfe1 g6 {
[#]} 26. Qf3 gxf5 27. exf5 Rf8 28. Re4 Kh8 $2 (28… Rf7 29. Rg4+ Rg7 30. Rxg7+
Kxg7) 29. Rg4 {Hoping for Bf1.} Rd4 $2 (29… Rxd3 30. Rxd3 Nd5) 30. Rxd4 exd4
31. Re1 Rf7 {[#]} 32. Rxe7 $1 Rxe7 33. Bxf6+ Rg7 34. Qxc6 {Weighted Error
Value: White=0.68/Black=0.92} 1-0

[/pgn]

The City of London was not Lawrence’s only club. He was also representing Ibis, which tells us that, like Charles Redway, he was working for the Prudential Assurance Company.

Unsurprisingly, he soon came to the selectors’ attention, and in 1897 was chosen to play board 4 in the second Anglo-American Cable Match, where he lost to Boston lawyer John Finan Barry, miscalucating a tactical variation and losing a couple of pawns. He didn’t play the following year, but in 1899 again went down to the same player, being outplayed in a minor piece ending.

In 1898 Cassell’s Magazine ran a feature on amateur players at the City of London Chess Club, including this photograph of Thomas Francis Lawrence playing Henry Holwell Cole. (Thanks to Gerard Killoran for posting this on the English Chess Forum here.)

Here’s the accompanying pen-picture of Lawrence.

In 1899 he was invited to take part in a major international tournament that was due to take place in London. It was clear that he was considered a player of considerable potential who would benefit from crossing swords with the world’s finest. Even up to a couple of days before the first round it was hoped he would take part, but in the end he decided to reject the offer: I have yet to discover why. An even later withdrawal was Amos Burn, who stated that he was dissatisfied with the general arrangement of the tournament and with the supercilious treatment he received from some members of the management team.

In the 1898-99 edition of the City of London CC Championship Lawrence failed to retain his title: it was Herbert Levi Jacobs who had his name inscribed on the Gastineau Cup for the second time. One of the other players in the final pool was the novelist Louis Zangwill.

He was back on top in 1899-1900, though, with a score of 14½/17, a point ahead of William Ward, with the rest of the field well behind.

In April 1900 the City of London Chess Club ran an invitation tournament in which their leading members were pitted against leading foreign-born masters resident in London. Teichmann won with 9½/12, just ahead of Gunsberg and Mason, who shared second place, William Ward had an excellent result, just another half point behind. Lawrence finished on 50%, scoring 5/6 against the bottom half of the field, but only 1/6 against the top half. Not a bad result, and exactly as expected according to retrospective ratings, but neither did it suggest that he was ready to take on the world elite. In fact, looking at his games, you’ll have to admit he was lucky to score as many as he did: most of his wins came from opponents blundering in good positions. Here’s his best effort from this tournament, against Dutch organist Rudolf Loman.

[pgn]

[Event “London City Club Invitation”]
[Site “London”]
[Date “1900.04.26”]
[Round “9”]
[White “Lawrence, Thomas Francis”]
[Black “Loman, Rudolf Johannes”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C49”]
[Annotator “Tactical Analysis 5.2 (1s)”]
[PlyCount “73”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 d6 7. Bxc6 bxc6 8.
Ne2 Re8 9. Ng3 {C49: Four Knights: 4 Bb5 Bb4.} d5 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bd2 $146 {
The position is equal.} ({Predecessor:} 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. c3 Ba5 13. exd5 Bb6
14. dxc6 Qxc6 15. Re1 Bb7 16. Qc2 Rad8 17. b4 {1/2-1/2 (67) Mason,J-Zukertort,
J Vienna 1882}) 11… Bc5 12. Bc3 d4 13. Bd2 Rb8 14. b3 Bg4 15. h3 Bd7 16. Nh2
g5 {Prevents f4.} 17. h4 Nh7 18. Nh5 ({Not} 18. Ng4 Bf8 $16) 18… Kh8 19. Ng4
Re6 20. hxg5 hxg5 21. g3 $2 {[#]} (21. Qf3 $18 {is more deadly.}) 21… Qe7 $16
22. Kg2 Rg6 23. Rh1 Qe6 $2 (23… Kg8 $16) 24. f3 Kg8 25. Rh2 {[#] Strongly
threatening Qh1.} Kf8 $2 (25… Qd6 $16 {is a better defense.}) 26. Qe2 $2 (26.
Qh1 $18 {is the precise move to win.}) 26… Qe7 27. Rah1 {Ng7! is the strong
threat.} Bxg4 28. fxg4 {Threatens to win with Nf4!} Qe6 29. Ng7 Rxg7 30. Rxh7
Qg6 $2 (30… Rxh7 $16 31. Rxh7 Kg8) 31. Rh8+ {White is clearly winning.} Rg8
32. R1h6 Ke7 33. Rxg6 Rxh8 34. Bxg5+ Kd7 35. Rg7 Kc8 36. Rxf7 Kb7 37. Bf6 {
Weighted Error Value: White=0.55/Black=0.52} 1-0

[/pgn]

A third cable match defeat, against Philadelphia building contractor Hermann Voigt, reinforced the suggestion that he was a strong amateur at this point in his career rather than a player of genuine master standard.

Lawrence’s style usually tended towards the safe and solid, but he clearly kept up to date with opening theory and favoured the sacrificial Albin-Chatard Attack against the French Defence. Here’s an example from the 1900-01 City of London Championship, against Canadian born doctor Stephen Smith, with a bonus game in the annotations. Alas, Smith and Jones indeed!

[pgn]

[Event “City of London CC Championship”]
[Site “City of London CC, London ENG”]
[Date “1900.12.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Lawrence, Thomas Francis”]
[Black “Smith, Stephen Francis”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C14”]
[Annotator “Tactical Analysis 5.2 (1s)”]
[PlyCount “61”]
[EventDate “1903.??.??”]
[SourceVersionDate “2022.08.14”]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4 {[#]} f6 $146 {[#]} ({
Black should try} 6… h6 $14 7. Be3 c5) ({Predecessor:} 6… a6 7. Qg4 f5 8.
Qh5+ g6 9. Qh6 Bxg5 10. hxg5 Qe7 11. Nge2 Nc6 12. Nf4 Nf8 13. O-O-O Nd8 14.
Nfxd5 exd5 15. Nxd5 Qf7 16. Bc4 Be6 17. Nf6+ Ke7 18. d5 Bxd5 19. Nxd5+ Ke8 20.
Nf6+ Ke7 21. Bxf7 Nxf7 22. Qg7 {1-0 (22) Lawrence,T-Jones,E London 1899}) 7.
Bd3 $1 {C14: French: Classical System: 4 Bg5 Be7 main line.} c5 (7… fxg5 8.
Qh5+ Kf8 9. Rh3 gxh4 10. Rf3+ Bf6 11. Rf4 (11. exf6 Nxf6 12. Qxh4 Nc6 $14)) (
7… Nc6 8. exf6) 8. Qh5+ Kf8 9. exf6 {& White is much more active. White is
better.} Nxf6 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. Nf3 (11. dxc5 $16 {aiming for 0-0-0.} Nd7 12.
Nf3) 11… cxd4 $15 12. Ne2 Nc6 13. Ng5 Ne5 {Inhibits Qf7+.} 14. Nf4 Ke7 15.
O-O-O g6 16. Qe2 Nxd3+ {Black cannot hold the game after this.} ({Better is}
16… Bxg5 $14 17. hxg5 Kd6) 17. Rxd3 $18 {The board is on fire.} Qd6 18. g3 {
Hoping for Re1.} Be5 $2 (18… Bd7 19. Ngxe6 Bxe6) 19. Rf3 {Black must now
prevent Nd3. White is clearly winning.} Rf8 20. Nd3 {Pair of Knights!} Rxf3 21.
Qxf3 {Strongly threatening Qf7+.} Bf6 22. Nxh7 e5 23. Nxf6 Be6 24. Nh7 {
Inhibits Rf8.} Bf5 25. Re1 e4 26. Qf4 Rc8 27. Ne5 {Threatens to win with Qg5+.}
Qc7 28. Re2 Ke6 {[#]} 29. Nxg6 $1 Qxf4+ 30. Nxf4+ Kd6 31. Nf6 {Weighted Error
Value: White=0.31/Black=0.75} 1-0

[/pgn]

Lawrence was successful again in this event, getting his name on the trophy for the fifth time in six years. This time he notched up an impressive 19½/21, with Jacobs two points behind and Ward another point adrift.

By then it was time for the census enumerator to call round again. He found the Lawrence family still at 32 Great George Street, with not much changed from the past decade. Esther was still there, and still a housekeeper. Thomas and his brother, this time recorded as ‘Edward H A’, were both at home, and both working as clerks.

The association with Richmond isn’t obvious at this point: you’ll recall that in 1904 he claimed to have been associated with the club for some years, but in 1901 he was still in Westminster, although the District Railway would have taken him there reasonably quickly. He would have had friends there, from the City of London Club, and also Charles Redway from the Ibis Club.

What happened to Thomas Francis Lawrence next? Did he make the great leap forward to become a world class player? Did he continue his relationship with Richmond Chess Club? You’ll find out in my next Minor Piece.

 

Sources and Acknowledgements:

ancestry.co.uk

findmypast.co.uk

Wikipedia

chessgames.com

MegaBase

The City of London Chess Club Championship (Roger Leslie Paige)

English Chess Forum

Chess Notes (Edward Winter)

BritBase

Gerard Killoran

Brian Denman