no photo available
Mr Powter was the 1918 Durban champion and won the title only once.
There is a short mention of him on page 127 of Len Reitstein's book
"A History of Chess in South Africa", where the final moves of
Archer vs Powter from the 1926 Durban championship are given (Archer won).
In his comments, Reitstein says that Powter and Archer tied for 2nd place
on 6 out of 9, just half a point behind McCord, who defeated Archer in the
penultimate round of the 1926 championship.
Incidentally, there is a gravestone in the Umkomaas main cemetery for a
Philip Powter (1851-1929) who could be our man, but that needs confirmation!
I found the complete game score referred to above in an Australian newspaper:
[Event "Durban ch"]
[Site "Durban"]
[Date "1926.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Archer jnr, Jack (JC)"]
[Black "Powter, P E."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B42"]
[Annotator "Keith"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "1926.??.??"]
[Source "newspapers"]
[SourceDate "2021.??.??"]
{Source: Weekly Times, Melbourne, 18 Feb 1928. "The winner of this game is a
youth still in his teens, and he is another of the younger generation who
shows great promise. The game occurred in a tourney for the championship of
the Durban Chess Club last year."} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5.
Bd3 Qc7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. O-O Be7 8. Nd2 d6 9. Kh1 Nbd7 10. c3 O-O 11. f4 b5 12.
Qe2 Bb7 13. f5 e5 14. N4b3 Nc5 15. Nxc5 dxc5 16. Rf3 Rad8 17. Rg3 Kh8 18. b3
Qd6 19. Bc2 Qc7 {diagram here for SA Chess History by Reitstein} 20. Rh3
{attacks weakness on h7, idea is g4-g5 removes defender} 20... Rd6 (20... Bc6
$1 {then ...Qb7 hits Pe4, stops g4-g5}) 21. g4 Ng8 $2 {much too passive, Black
must use weak Pe4 and d-file for counter-attack} (21... h6 $2 22. g5 Ng8 23. Rg1 $18)
(21... g5 $5 22. Bxg5 Nxe4 $1 23. Bxe4 Bxg5 24. Bxb7 Rxd2 25. Qe4 Qd6 26. f6 h6 $15)
(21... Qa5 $1 {is the computer move, favouring Black eg.} 22. Bf2 Qa3 23. Nf1 Qb2 24. Re1 Nd7 $17)
(21... Rfd8 $2 22. g5 Rxd2 23. Bxd2 Nxe4 24. Bxe4 Rxd2 25. Qxd2 Bxe4+ 26. Kg1 $16)
22. g5 Qd7 23. Nf3 Rd8 $2 (23... f6 24. g6 h6 25. Bxc5 Rc6 $16) 24. Nxe5 Qxf5 $1 25. Qh5 Rf8 (
25... Bxe4+ {was similar} 26. Kg1 (26. Bxe4 $1 Qxe4+ 27. Kg1 Rf8 28. Rf1 $18)
26... Rd1+ $3 27. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 28. Qxd1 Qxe5 29. Bxe4 Qxe4 $44 {
with play for the exchange}) 26. Kg1 $1 {unpins with Rf1 to follow} 26... Bxe4
27. Rf1 Qxe5 $4 (27... Bxc2 28. Rxf5 Bxf5 29. Rh4 $1 $18) ({the surprising}
27... Rd1 $3 {fights on eg.} 28. Bxd1 (28. Ng6+ Qxg6 $1 29. Bxd1 Qxh5 30. Bxh5
f6 $16) (28. Rxd1 $2 Bxc2 29. Rd2 Be4 $11) 28... Qxe5 29. Bf4 Qe6 $16) (27...
Qxf1+ $4 28. Kxf1 Bxc2 29. Nxf7+ Rxf7+ 30. Qxf7 $18) 28. Qxh7+ Bxh7 29. Rxh7# 1-0