Portsmouth High School and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Foundation hosted the Sir William Dupree & Phyllis Loe Chess Tournament 2025 during the Easter Holidays. This event is open to all young people of Portsmouth and the surrounding areas and Tuesday night saw a prize giving ceremony hosted by the Former Lord Mayor of Portsmouth Councillor Tom Coles and his wife, the Former Lady Mayoress of Portsmouth, Nikki Coles.
Sir William Thomas Dupree was an English brewer. In the early 1890s he became manager of the Simonds brewery in Portsmouth and later left to set up his own business, Portsmouth United Breweries. He was Mayor of Portsmouth twice in the early 1900s. Councillor Phyllis Loe was Lord Mayor of Portsmouth in 1972. This tournament is designed for the encouragement of chess playing for young people in and around Portsmouth.
Sir William left a large amount of money in this Will, in 1933, to be used for young male chess players, initially in Brighton and Portsmouth. The tournament was combined to include girls in the 1970s.
For the first time in its 100 year history, a teenage girl, Melissa Hamilton, has won the tournament.
‘I am proud to be the first girl to win the Sir William Dupree and Dame Phyllis Loe tournament overall. It’s a huge achievement, and I hope that it encourages more girls to play chess and realise the game has no gender limits. Many thanks to all involved in organising such a great event,’ said Melissa.
‘This has been a wonderful evening to celebrate young people’s achievements in chess,’ said the Former Lord Mayor. ‘By playing chess, young people develop key thinking skills, logic and strategy and it has been fantastic to see these achievements celebrated at Portsmouth High School this evening.’