was "on the whole representative and piquant." Originally called the Professional Championship of Snooker, the annual competition was not titled the World Championship until 1935, but the 1927 tournament is now referred to as the first World Snooker Championship. Schedule Summary The first match played was between Melbourne Inman and Tom Newman at Thurston's Hall, Leicester Square in London. The snooker game was played as an added extra to the main event, a billiards match. The match was played on an experimental billiard table with inch , inch smaller than normal. The billiards match was to 16,000 with Inman receiving a 3,500 start. The match started on 29 November 1926 with two sessions per day until 11 December. One of snooker was played at the end of each . Inman won the first two frames, but after 8 frames Newman led 5–3. Inman then won the next five frames to secure victory 8–5, the match finishing on the Monday afternoon, a week after it started. Newman won the billiards match easily 16,000–13,039 despite giving a 3,500 handicap. Tom Dennis and Fred Lawrence played their match on 9 and 10 December at the Lord Nelson Hotel, Carlton Street, Nottingham. Dennis led 5–3 after the first day. Although Dennis won the first frame on the second afternoon, Lawrence won the other three to leave the match level at 6–6. In the evening session Dennis won the first two frames to eliminate Lawrence 8–6. Joe Davis and Joe Brady met on 29 and 30 December 1926 in Cable Street, Liverpool. Davis won all four frames in the afternoon and led 5–3 at the end of the first day. The match ended 10–5 on the second day, with Davis having achieved a winning margin at 8–5. Tom Carpenter and Nat Butler played their match on 31 December 1926 and 1 January 1927 at Thurston's Hall. Eight frames were played on the first day, in two sessions. The score was 2–2 after the afternoon but Carpenter won all four in the evening to lead 6–2. Butler won the first frame on the second day but Carpenter won the next two to win 8–3. The first semi-final saw Joe Davis meet Albert Cope over three days from 31 January to 2 February in Birmingham. On the first day Davis won the four afternoon frames and three of the four in the evening to lead 7–1. On