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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210108
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210109
DTSTAMP:20210109T122609Z
CREATED:20190823T085537Z
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SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of William Ritson Morry (05-ix-1910 08-i-1994)
DESCRIPTION:We remember William Ritson Morry who passed away on Saturday\, January 8th\, 1994. \n(A point of detail : It is incorrect\, but many do\, to write WRM hyphenated. His first name was William\, his middle name was Ritson and his surname was Morry. He chose to use his middle name and was known by his friends as Ritson. Maybe this was because he father was also William Morry?) \nWRM was born in the Wirral on Monday\, September 5th 1910 and his parents were William D Morry (born 16th July 1877). William was a sub-postmaster and seller of fancy goods. His mother was Norah Morry who undertook “unpaid domestic duties”. \nIn the 1939 register he is recorded as being a solicitor with his own practice and was living at 294 Walmley Road\, Royal Sutton Coldfield\, Warwickshire with his parents : he was 29 years old. \n294 Walmley Road\, Royal Sutton Coldfield\, Warwickshire\, B76\, 2PL\nIn 1940 WRM married Nellie Cooper in Sutton Coldfield. \nIn 1943 WRM was mentioned in the London Gazette several times: \nWRM appears in the London Gazette in 1943.\nIt would appear that this was the start of his first bankruptcy proceedings.. \nWRM was\, by now\, living at “Lyndon”\, Coleshill Road\, Sutton Coldfield\, Warwickshire : \nLyndon\, Coleshill Road\, Sutton Coldfield\, Warwickshire\nand in the same year on September 30th he was officially made bankrupt as recorded in the London Gazette\, order number 195. This notice was repeated in the Edinburgh Gazette of the same year. \nOn the 8th of June 1944 he was recorded as being struck-off the list of solicitors under the Solicitors Acts of 1932 to 1941. It was determined that WRM had engaged in “fraudulent conversion of clients money” \nBirmingham Daily Post 30 October 1945\nFor more on this see the excellent Chess in the Courts by Edward Winter. \nIn 1954 WRM sued BH Wood for libel over a letter BHW sent to Henry Golding of the Monmouthshire County Chess Association warning him of WRMs financial history. Here is a summary of the action : \nThe Birmingham Post\, July 15th\, 1954\nIn 1983 WRM was living at Flat 2\, 53\, Mayfield Road\, Moseley\, Birmingham\, West Midlands and recorded as a Retired Chess Journalist. Elsewhere he was recorded as a freelance chess and cricket journalist. \n57\, Mayfield Road\, Moseley\, Birmingham\, B13 9HT\nand\, unfortunately\, in this year he made another appearance in the London Gazette (2nd September 1983) having been made bankrupt. \nLondon Gazette\, 2nd September 1983\nHowever\, despite these unfortunate life events WRMs contribution to chess goes above and beyond them as he won the BCF President’s Award in 1984. \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume CXIV (114\, 1994)\, Number 2 (February)\, pp. 98 – 99 we have this obituary from Bernard Cafferty: \nW Ritson Morry – a Tribute \nThat great chess character\, known to everybody simply as Ritson\, has left us in the fullness of years\, coincidentally during the first Hastings Congress he missed for decades. \nWilliam Ritson Morry (5 ix 1910-8 i 1994) was a player\, organiser\, writer\, arbiter and occasional sponsor of tournaments whose life touched so many aspects of chess that it is hard to know where to begin. \nWilliam Ritson Morry (05-ix-1910 08-i-1994)\nRitson was educated in North Wales at the same school as BH Wood. Both were at Birmingham University at the same time\, after which Ritson trained as a solicitor. As early as 1930 he founded the Birmingham Junior League\, and a little later wrote a chess column for a time for a local newspaper\, though Ritson is hardly the first person you think of as someone who would hit deadlines consistently. He was equal second in a rather unrepresentative British Championship of 1936 and equal third in 1951. An unfortunate incident in the mid-1940s led to him being struck off\, whereupon he became a chess professional\, who eked out a precarious living for the last 48 years of his life. Yet\, I never heard him complain\, for he was able to immerse himself in chess full time\, and what could be better than that? \nWilliam Ritson Morry playing Baruch Harold Wood at the British Championships in Blackpool from 1956\nHe ran a series of newsletters\, which hardly covered their expenses and produced and British Championship and Hastings bulletins for many years. 1951 was a significant year in his life\, for he gained the FIDE Arbiter title (he was always an expert on the rules and many of the conventions we all play to were codified by him\, or under his guidance). Later on Ritson\, a great raconteur\, was the life and soul of the show in Hastings which\, along with the Warwickshire chess team and Erdington CC\, was the great love of his life. \nAberystwyth Chess Congress 1955\, W Ritson Morry and KL Gardiner\, En Passant Chess Publications\, 1955\nAt times he seemed to run Hastings almost single-handed in the Frank Rhoden era. In fact GM Vasyukov went back to Moscow in 1966 and wrote that Ritson Morry was the only controller to be seen in the morning\, afternoon and evening sessions of play. I recall that Ritson was amused when I told him of this\, but did not demur. To show that there was life in the old dog\, he organised a series of Birmingham international tournaments in the 1970s at which Tony Miles got much of his early experience. \nTackle Chess by William Ritson-Morry & W Melville Mitchell\nOne such tournament was financed by him alone\, on the basis of the sale of a piece of land in Sutton Coldfield where a change of planning status had led to a windfall profit. \n  \nHastings Chess Congress 1955-56\, RG Wade & W. Ritson Morry\, En Passant Chess Publications\nHe also saved Hastings in late 1974\,by giving a partial guarantee when another sponsor reduced his contribution. A few years later the Inland Revenue made him bankrupt when they could not get their piece of the action out of the deal. Doubtless Ritson thought that the money had gone to a worthier cause. I must not fail to mention his love of gambling or his erudition. Many is the time when you could have an exposition from him of the law of England\, the practice of the courts and the police\, or the political news of the day. \nWilliam Ritson Morry (05-ix-1910 08-i-1994)\nHe was deeply immersed in local Labour Party politics in Birmingham and was a friend of football referee\, ‘rainmaker’ Dennis Howell\, one-time Minister for Sport. Ritson also played a great deal of postal chess\, winning the British title in 1943. His book on the game written in conjunction with a Birmingham schoolmaster Mel Mitchell is a very instructive one\, and he also wrote many reports and amusing articles for BCM\, particularly one on of the failings of the Elo rating system regulations. \nHere is a game Ritson won against the veteran German GM at the London Easter congress of 1940: \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nBernard wrote about WRM a year later for the centenary edition of the programme for the Hastings International Congress : \n“‘Ritson’ as we all knew him was an institution in British Chess\, active as a player\, writer\,  organiser\, drafter of rules and well-known for his skill as a raconteur\, Educated in North Wales\, he spent the rest of his life\, from university days onwards\, in Birmingham\, but the Hastings Congress was very close to his heart.  He played in a number of pre-war events\, and also a few post-war\, but by the time of the Frank Rhoden revival of the mid-1950s he was firmly in the saddle organising the post-Christmas traditional event. In fact I recall how perturbed Frank Rhoden was when the news came that Ritson might emigrate to the West Indies.  It was not clear then how he could be replaced\, for he supervised the morning\, afternoon and evening sessions at the Sun Lounge (his favourite venue) and later at the Falaise Hall when the congress was still of such a size that we could all\, including the Premier\, be fitted into one room. \nWilliam Ritson Morry\nRitson also did game commentaries for some years and produced a bulletin for at least three decades. He was greatly encouraging of younger talent and the objective historian has to recall the indignation he felt when players like Tony Miles and Nigel Short were not happy with the restraints imposed by financial stringency. \nHastings bench memorial bench for William Ritson Morry\nIn his declining years Ritson was still a regular until his illness of late 1993\, and a fixture at the “gate” where the public paid their entrance money at the Cinque Ports Hotel. The choice of word is deliberate as a visit to the dogs and the bookmaker was one of his rare pleasures outside chess.  Best of all\, however\, one recalls him telling his fund of stories and reminisces to anyone who cared to listen. His voice\, alas\, has been stilled\, and we are left to recall his selfless devotion to chess and\, in particular\, to the Hastings Congress. \nHere is an obituary from the Midland Counties Chess Union \nHere is an in-depth article from William Hartston in The Independent \nWilliam Ritson Morry (05-ix-1910 08-i-1994)\nHere is a biography from the Midland Counties  Chess Union newsletter from 1994. \nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess by Harry Golombek : \nMidlands organiser and player who was a chess professional and journalist. As a player his best performances were an =2nd in the British Championship 1936 and an = 3rd in 1951. \nIn the international field his best results have been an =3rd with List in the Major Open A section of the Nottingham congress of 1936 and =1st with Milner-Barry in the Premier Reserves A at the Hastings congress 1946/7. He has played for England in international matches against the Netherlands (thrice) and against Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. \nWilliam Ritson Morry talking about Malik Mir Sultan Kahn\nA keen and accomplished correspondence player\, he had the title of British Postal Master on account of his winning the British Correspondence Championship in 1943. \nBut it is as tournament and congress organiser that he is best known. He founded the Birmingham Junior League in 1930 and has organised thirty-four Birmingham congresses. He conceived the idea of a junior world championship and in 1951 he held the first World Junior Championship tournament at Birmingham (won by Borislav Ivkov). In the same year he was awarded the title of FIDE judge. He has also had much to do with the organisation of the Hastings Christmas chess congresses in the 1970s. \nWilliam Ritson Morry (05-ix-1910 08-i-1994)\nHe has written much for British chess magazines and was the co-author along with the late W. R. Mitchell  of Tackle Chess\, London\, 1967.
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-william-ritson-morry/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,Hastings,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210107
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210108
DTSTAMP:20210120T121210Z
CREATED:20190823T092701Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210120T121210Z
UID:1064-1609977600-1610063999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of WIM Elaine Pritchard (née Saunders) (07-i-1926 07-i-2012)
DESCRIPTION:Signature of Elaine Saunders from a Brian Reilly “after dinner” postcard from Hastings Christmas Congress\, 1945-1946\nWe remember Elaine Pritchard who passed away on Saturday\, January 7th\, 2012. \nDorée Elaine Zelia Saunders was born on Thursday\, January 7th\, 1926. Her father was Henry de Beaufort Saunders (b. 7 Aug 1900\, Folkestone\, Kent d. Between Jul 1989 and Sep 1989) and her mother was Dorée Nellie Irene Dudley (b. 3 May 1900\, d. 9 Jun 1970) \nIn the 1939 register Henry is listed as a Garage proprietor who had “retired through incapacitation”. He is recorded as a Air Raid Precautions Warden who was also a first aider. His wife is listed as undertaking “unpaid domestic duties”. The record for Elaine is blanked out with “This Record Officially Closed” meaning that they believe that she might still be alive. They are listed as residing at The George & Dragon Hotel in High Wycombe\, Buckinghamshire. \nThe George and Dragon Hotel\, High Street\, West Wycombe\, Buckinghamshire \, HP14 3AB\nShe was taught chess by her father and then her early trainer was Charles Dealtry Locock who lived with the family in the hotel above. \nElaine aged 10 playing her father Henry de Beaufort Saunders\n[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsfLYRuau_8[/embedyt] \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nShe married David Pritchard on Friday March 7th 1952 in the Chelsea Registry Office. Elaine was living at Wylderne\, Bridge Street\, Great Kimble\, Aylesbury HP17 9TW. At the time of their marriage David was a Flight Lieutenant. \nElaine and David had a daughter\, Wanda H Zelia Pritchard on March 21st 1958. She became Wanda Dakin who was also a chess player. Wanda attended Guildford High School for Girls and then Royal Holloway College\, Egham. \nIn their later years Elaine and David lived at Badgers Wood\, Hascombe Road\, Godalming\, Surrey\, GU8 4AA : \nBadgers Wood\, Hascombe Road\, Godalming\, Surrey\, GU8 4AA\nFrom British Chess (Pergamon Press\, 1983)\, Botterill\, Levy\, Rice and Richardson : \n“Chesswise I seem already to have lived an alarmingly long time\, the era of Capablanca and Alekhine back across the war years was another world. The three games I have chosen belong to three distinctly different periods in these fifty years – the juvenile long-ago\, the most elderly present and the middle when I was playing tolerably well and was awarded the WIM title. \nMy father\, assisted by a 2d. (= almost 1p) book of rules from Smiths\, taught me the moves at somewhere round the age of five. We were rescued by the problemist CD Locock who noticed me playing in a girls’ tournament two years later. It was he who brought me up on a diet of the Scotch\, the Evans and any gambit that was going. We analysed them in some depth – for those days – and my severe task-master made me copy out long columns of dubious lines. He also made me his guinea-pig for his Imagination in Chess and it is small wonder that I still find it hard to resist a sacrifice\, and much of my undoing comes from premature sorties such as f4 and Qh5. \nMiss Elaine Saunders\, the girl chess champion playing in the annual WW White Memorial Tournament in Sevenoaks. on June 25th 1939. Source : https://www.chessmarginalia.com/miss-elaine-saunders/\nIn retrospect he must have been a brilliant teacher. Starting in 1936 a succession of girls’ titles came my way including the FIDE under-21\, and in 1939 the British Ladies at the age of 13. It is hard to assess how strong or weak one was at the time because there has been such a marked improvement in the standard of play among women over recent years. At all events\, those pre-war years were happy ones\, especially away from chess which took second place to horses and more physical pastimes. \nThirteen Years Old Chess Champion Elaine Saunders\, of Twickenham has entered for next months British Ladies’ Championship. Source : The People\, July 23rd\, 1939.\nThe incident which received the most publicity was the ‘affair Alekhine’. Most of the pre-war giants were kindly if a little condescending towards me but the new World Champion – he had just regained the title from Euwe – showed me no mercy. He took on 30 Kent players at the Charing Cross Hotel and after 5 hours demolished all except myself. The ending was equal. He stood over our board and glowered. ‘Give the child a draw’\, said someone in Russian in the audience\, which despite them mid-night hour were everywhere on chairs and even under tables. ‘I know what I am doing’ came the reply\, and of course he did. I lost. \nAt 13 the world changed. I almost gave up chess. There were no celebrations after that Ladies Championship. The foreign masters packed their bags for home; we packed them for exile in Buckinghamshire and filling sandbags. \nMy saddest personal loss of the war was Vera Menchik\, perhaps the strongest lady player of all time. \nLeaving university with a poor\, but lightning degree in French\, I was employed by the Foreign Office and spent the next few years in London. While at college I had won the Notts County Championship and like to remember my last game on top board for county against the great HE Atkins\, so many times British Champion\, making his final appearance for Leicestershire. \nI forsook women’s events and achieved probably my best results\, finishing equal 3rd in the London Championship final\, having beaten David Hooper with an Allgaier Gambit\, and qualifying for the British Championship at Buxton in a section which included L. Barden\, V. Berger and DB Pritchard. \nMarrying David in 1952\, we went to the Far East for three years and on our return I made a come-back to women’s chess and won the title at Blackpool in 1956. I was consequently despatched to the Western Zonal in Venice and finished equal 2nd with Lazaravic. This qualified me for the Interzonal\, but my daughter Wanda arrived (March 21st 1958) before I could get to the starting post. Meanwhile with Eileen Tranmer we represented the BCF in the first women’s Olympiad in Emmen in 1957 where we finished 7th. The Finals went well for me and included a draw against Rubtsova\, the then world champion. The results of the two tournaments were sufficient for me to be awarded the IWM title. My BCF grading at that time was 200 and has gone down ever since! \nFriedl Rinder (Germany) plays Elaine Pritchard at the Havering Women’s Tournament in Romford on August 25th 1967. Tournament was won by Nona GaprindashvilliMandatory Credit: Photo by ANL/Shutterstock (1876414a)\nAnd so some 20 years on and still a teacher\, we reach the final period\, that of comparative dotage. Notwithstanding\, I have been fortunate enough to have played in the last four Olympiads at Skopje\, Medellin\, Haifa and Buenos Aires\, twice as captain of the team. It was\, of course\, pleasurable to win a silver medal at Haifa\, despite the fact that the East European bloc was missing. The last of the three games comes from Haifa at a crucial stage. Playing for a team has always seemed more fun. \nAlso in my dotage belong two books\, Chess for Pleasure \nChess for Pleasure by Elaine Pritchard\nand The Young Chess Player (Faber) and organisation of girl’s chess\, particularly the Faber Cup” \nThe Young Chess Player by Elaine Pritchard\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess (Robert Hale 1970 & 1976)\, edited by Anne Sunnucks : \n“International Woman Master (1957) and British Woman Champion in 1939\, 1946\, 1956 and 1965. \nRowena Bruce and Elaine Saunders at Nottingham 1946 where they tied for 1st place. Elaine won the play-off with 2.5/3. Courtesy of Keverel Chess.\nElaine Pritchard was\, as a child\, one of the few girl prodigies in the history of the game. She was taught the moves by her father when she was 5.5 and started to play in tournaments at the age of 7. When she was 10 years old\, she won an under-21 girls’ tournament sponsored by FIDE and at the age of 13 won the British Ladies Championship for the first time. \nShe is married to David Pritchard\, ex-Southern Counties Champion and Malayan Champion in 1955\, when she was stationed with the RAF in Singapore\, who tells of how when he first met her\, when she was about 7\, she was unable to reach the far side of the board. \nHer successes in more recent years include 2nd in the Western European Women’s Zonal Tournament of 1957 and 6th in the same event at Arenys de Mar in 1966; 3rd at Havering 1967 and 3rd at Paignton 1967. She played for the British Chess Federation team in the First Women’s Chess Olympiad at Emmen in 1957.” \nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess\, Edited by Harry Golombek : \n“International Woman master and British Woman champion 1939\, 1946\, 1956 and 1965\, she was a girl prodigy with perhaps the most natural talent for the game of any British-born woman. She was playing competitive chess at the age of seven and was only ten when she won the FIDE Girls Open chess championship (under-21) in London in 1936\, winning eleven out of twelve games played. \nBritish Girl Champion (under-18) 1936-8 she won the British Women’s Championship in 1939 at the age of thirteen. Winning the title on three more occasions she hardly ever had a bad result in the event but\, by profession a teacher\, she did not always have the time to devote to the game. \nHer best international results were 2nd in the Western European Zonal Women’s tournament in 1957 (the year she gained the Woman master title)\, and two 3rd places in Paignton and Havering 1967. She represented the B.C.F. in Women’s Olympiads at Emmen 1957\, Skopje 1972\, Medellin in 1974 and Haifa 1976. (H.G.)” \nElaine did not merit mention by Hooper & Whyld it would appear. \nThe following obituary by James Pratt appeared in the February 2012 issue of British Chess Magazine : \n“Via Godalming Chess Club we learn of the death of International Woman Master\, Elaine Pritchard (née Dorée Elaine Zelia Saunders ) (7 i 1926 Brentford – 7 i 2012 Gloucester). British Lady Champion in 1939\, 1946\, 1956 and 1965\, she became an IWM in 1957. A child prodigy\, she won the World Girls Under 21s at the age of ten and first captured the British Ladies title at the outbreak of WWII. Mrs Pritchard wrote two books\, Chess for Pleasure and The Young Chess Player. She was an occasional BCM contributor. Her last published grade was in 2003. She was an Honorary Life Member of the ECF.” \nand here courtesy of Edward Winter is an excellent article on chess prodigies including many scanned photographs of Elaine. \nand here is an obituary for the ECF written by Stewart Reuben \nand here is her Wikipedia entry \nand some more photographs. \nand finally a discussion of Elaine on the English Chess Forum.
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-elaine-pritchard/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Writer
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210107
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210108
DTSTAMP:20210107T130636Z
CREATED:20190822T170348Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210107T130636Z
UID:1012-1609977600-1610063999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of GM Harry Golombek OBE (01-iii-1911 07-i-1995)
DESCRIPTION:Signature of H Golombek from a Brian Reilly “after dinner” postcard from Southsea 1951.\nWe remember Harry Golombek OBE who passed away on Saturday\, January 7th\, 1995. \nHarry Golombek was born on Wednesday\, March 1st\, 1911 in Lambeth\, London and his parents were Barnet (Berl) Golombek (Golabek) (1878-1943) and Emma Golombek (née  Sendak) (1883-1967). \nThe Polish word Golabek translates to “small dove” in English. \nBarnet was a “Dealer of gas fittings” and was 33 when Harry was born and Emma was 26. Both of his parents were born in Zambov which is in the Lomza Gubernia region of the Kingdom of Poland which existed from 1867 – 1917. Their nationalities are both recorded as Russian in the 1911 UK census.  we don’t know (as yet) when Barnet and Emma settled in the UK. \nHarry had a brother Abraham (born in 1906) and a sister Rosy born in 1908. The family lived in 200b\, Railton Road\, Herne Hill. Lambeth. \n200b\, Railton Road\, Herne Hill\, Lambeth\, SE24 0JT\nHe is a recorded with a service number of 992915 as being a member of The Royal Regiment of Artillery in 1939 and was discharged as having reached the age limit in 1956 aged 45 and one day. \nHarry Golombek’s record of discharge in 1956 from the Army.\nHarry married his long time nurse\, Noel Frances Judkins (1941 – 2011) in January 1988 and they had (born in 1992) one son : Oliver Golombek-Judkins  BVSc MRCVS who is a successful Somerset based veterinary surgeon. The marriage was recorded in the district of Kensington & Chelsea. \n37\, Albion Crescent\, Chalfont St Giles\, Buckinghamshire\, HP8 4ET : the home of Harry Golombek OBE\nThe date of probate was 22 Mar 1995 and the executor of HGs will was David Anderton OBE. \nIn 1966 Harry became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)\, Civil division awarded in the 1966 Queen’s Birthday (rather than New Years) Honours list. \nThe citation read simply : \nHarry Golombek. For services to Chess : He was the first UK person to be so honoured. \nHastings memorial bench for Harry Golombek OBE\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nThe Harry Golombek memorial bench at St Giles Churchyard\, Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire. Photograph courtesy of Geoff Chandler.The Harry Golombek memorial bench at St Giles Churchyard\, Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire. Photograph courtesy of Geoff Chandler.In 1985 Harry was awarded the long overdue (but Honorary) title of Grandmaster by FIDE. \nHarry was Southern Counties (SCCU) Champion in the 1955-56 and 1963-64 seasons. \nHarry was in 1974-82 a FIDE Zonal President and from 1978-96 he was the FIDE Permanent Fund Administrator. \nSadly\, he never received the Presidents Award for Services to Chess from either the BCF or ECF : maybe a posthumous award is long overdue? \nHarry Golombek\, aged 20\, becomes the youngest winner of the Surrey Challenge Cup in 1931. British Chess Magazine 1931\, September\, page 419.\nHere (from British Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXXII (132)\, 2011\, Number 3 (March)\, pp.150-154 is an affectionate collection of memories from Bernard Cafferty : \n“In recalling four decades of knowing the GOM of 20th century English chess\, one has to stress the ‘English’ aspect. The ‘Harry’ part of his name was much more significant than the Polish surname\, and\, though he was the most cosmopolitan of men\, who fitted into any milieu\, my abiding memory of him always throws up the quirks that are the sign of an Englishman. I wonder how many of my readers recall the classic English actors Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford\, whose main preoccupation in their films was…. getting to know the latest cricket score from Lords or The Oval. \nHarry Golombek. Source : The Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match\nIndeed\, Harry was a long-time member of Surrey Cricket Club\, and once\, when he came back from being an arbiter at an international tournament in Tenerife\, his main comment to me was not about the event or the players\, but rather that the volcanic rock of the Atlantic island made for brackish water\, so that one could not get…. a decent cup of tea! \nLeft to right Baruch H Wood\, Philip Stuart Milner-Barry\, Vera Menchik (playing in the women’s world championship (held concurrently with the 1939 Buenos Aires Olympiad) which she won with 17 wins and 2 draws)\, Sir George Thomas\, Conel Hugh O’Donel Alexander and Harry Golombek. England withdrew after their preliminary group due to the outbreak of war despite qualifying for the top final. Thanks to Leonard Barden\nI first met Harry in the early 1950s when I was a teenage student keen on chess and accordingly spent my meagre pocket money on a day out in Manchester to watch the Counties Final match between Lancashire and the all-conquering Middlesex side of those years. Harry and I were about the only spectators. He was there reporting for The Times. I recall that the top board game was between the veterans William Winter and WA Fairhurst. The game duly appeared in the BCM with Harry’s notes\, for he was the long-serving Games Editor of that august publication. \nPlayers at the 1946 British Championships in Nottingham : Back (from left to right): Gabriel Wood\, Reginald Broadbent\, Philip Milner-Barry\, Andrew RB Thomas\, Baruch H Wood. Front (from left to right): Bob Wade\, Frank Parr\, William Winter\, Robert Combe\, Hugh Alexander\, Harry Golombek\, Gerald Abrahams.. Photograph : BritBase\nPerhaps I may enter a belated correction to “Who’s Who” here. Some editions stated that he was editor of BCM after the Second World War. Not so. His stint in the editorial chair was 1938-40\, after which he was called up\, initially being assigned to the Royal Artillery. Perhaps that is a sign of the speciality of the Services – fitting a square peg in a round hole – but he was swiftly transferred to the Intelligence Corps\, perhaps at the behest of Hugh Alexander who knew that Harry had studied German at his London grammar school in Camberwell and then at London University. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nThe Judges / Arbiters from the 1953 Zurich Candidates tournament : Harry Golombek\, Alois Nagler and Alex Crisovan\nClearly\, under the conditions of 1940\, a linguist was just what was needed to make up the team of mathematicians\, cryptographers and such like who were tasked with breaking the secrecy of German coded messages. \nThe BCF Team at the Amsterdam Olympiad 1954. Left to right : Barden\, Clarke\, Penrose\, Wade\, Golombek (board three) and Alexander\nI once mentioned the misunderstanding over the “Who’s Who” entry to Brian Reilly. He laughed it off\, saying that it was almost certainly the abiding fault of HG – not taking Brian’s repeated advice to fit a new typewriter ribbon! \nHarry Golombek and Gordon Crown in around 1946-47.\nI could relate to that since Harry’s handwritten game scores\, written in pencil and descriptive notation\, were very hard to decipher\, a real scribble that only the man himself could make sense of. When I asked him why he did not use algebraic notation\, he commented that he wrote for so many English-language outlets: The Times\, The Times Weekend Supplement\, Observer and chess book publishers like Bells and Penguin who knew their audiences of those years were supporters of the Pawn to King’s Knight Three school. In fact\, Harry commented\, he had made more money out of his Penguin book The Game of Chess than from all his other extensive book authorship and journalism. \nThe Game of Chess\, Harry Golombek\, 1954\, Penguin Books\nand the paperback version : \nThe Game of Chess\, Harry Golombek\, 1954\, Penguin Books\nMoreover\, it took him about three whole days to assemble the documents and papers to enable him to fill in his income tax form. \nHarry Golombek simultaneous display at Hull Chess Club. Year and photographer unknown\nThat reminds me that\, when he was in his final years\, and in an old person’s rest home\, he arranged for his extensive library to be transferred in many large tea chests from his house in Chalfont St Giles\, Bucks\, to the St Leonards address where I had worked for the BCM for the last 12 years and which had recently been vacated as a result of Murray Chandler deciding to transfer BCM operations to London. I had the task\, arranged with The Friends of Chess and the BCF\, to do a sort-out and preliminary catalogue of his books and magazines which Harry was bequeathing to the BCF to form the nucleus of a National Chess Library. That would be a pleasant enough task\, but it was prolonged into many weeks by having to decant the valuable chess material from the tea chests\, much of it covered in dust and even spiders’ webs\, from the many financial and other papers to do with his financial affairs. It was then that I first learned what a ‘tip sheet’ was\, and it was not until stockbroker David Jarrett\, BCF Hon Treasurer\, came down for a visit that the dross amongst the many papers was separated from the gold and passed to Harry’s executor David Anderton. \nHarry Golombek contemplates his options after White (JH Donner) played 9.a3 in the 1952 Anglo-Dutch Match. Donner won in 33 moves and the game was BCM #11\,074\nReverting to the cup of tea story\, the first time I got to know Harry well was at the British Championship at Leicester in 1960. Many of the participants were lodged in University accommodation near the venue. Every evening\, after play had finished\, a number of us got together for a chat over a cup of tea in the accommodation unit’s kitchen. There Harry would regale us with stories from his many visits abroad\, particularly to Moscow for the world title matches involving Botvinnik. Harry had formed many interesting views on Soviet society. Amongst the stories he told was of the all-pervasive dead hand of the bureaucracy. He was used to filing his reports on the match in English at the Central Post Office. One day\, a clerk behind the grille\, told him he could not accept it\, since the regulations stated that all outgoing material had to be in Russian. \nHarry Golombek\, Stanley Sedgwick\, Brian Reilly and DJ Morgan in the garden of Brian Reilly. Photo probably taken by Freddy Reilly.\nWith his logical mind\, and not appreciating the discipline and associated bureaucracy which the rulers tried to impose on Soviet society\, Harry commented that “Yesterday\, I submitted in English and it was accepted”\, at which the clerk drew herself up to her full height and stated firmly: “Yesterday was yesterday\, today is today”. Harry’s considered views included these: Communism would never be made to work properly in Russia\, since the Russians lack the requisite discipline. “They should have tried it on the Germans. They might have made it work”. He once commented that when he went to Germany in the decade or so after the war\, he was aware that some of those whom he met had been strong supporters of Nazism: “If they had had their way\, they would have turned me into a bar of soap!”. I got a benefit from Harry being in Moscow. I wanted to get a copy of Chigorin’s collected games by Grekov\, a very rare item. Harry duly promised to seek one out on his next visit to Moscow and a second-hand copy of this fine book came to me through the post some weeks later. No charge to me\, of course. \nHarry Golombek in play against Borislav Ivkov\, Hastings 1955/6.\nHarry played a big role in drawing up the Rules of Chess as they applied to post-1945 competitive play. He served on the appropriate FIDE commission for decades and always argued that too precise a codification limited the discretion of the arbiter to apply a common sense solution to a concrete set of circumstances. Alas\, that sensible approach has been moved away from in recent times\, especially with the introduction of quick-play finishes and associated fine points about time limits. \nKick Langeweg plays Hugh Alexander in the Anglo-Dutch Match of October 7th \, 1961. Peter Clarke (right) is playing Johan Teunis Barendregt and Harry Golombek observes\nA final shrewd comment from Harry\, based on his Moscow experience: “In 1917\, the new Bolshevik regime claimed that they were abolishing all titles\, privilege and so on. The result? Forty years later they have the most class-conscious society I have encountered.” One proof of this might be given – the Soviet internal passport system\, one point of which required the holder (and for a long time no peasant was allowed such an identity document – who\, then\, could claim that the Tsar had abolished serfdom in the middle of the 19th century?) to state his/her ethnic origin: Russian\, Ukrainian\, Kalmyk\, Armenian\, Jew and so on. The Western mind boggles… ” \nHarry Golombek during a team event\, Jonathan Penrose on the adjacent board.\nWe leave the final word in reminiscences of Golombek to his near-neighbour in Chalfont St Giles\, Barry Sandercock : \n” Harry was a very interesting man to talk to and liked to talk about the early days when he played against some of the great players. He was also very knowledgeable on many subjects\, the arts\, music etc. I played him when he gave a simul at Gerrards Cross in 1955 (Jan.21st} and managed a draw after 3 hours play. I remember\, the local paper once wrote an article about him\, calling him an ex-world champion. I got a letter published where I pointed out that he was an ex-British Champion not ex-world champion. I hope he didn’t see that!” \nHarry Golombek awaits the start of the game during an Anglo team match.\n“To finish\, a characteristic Golombek game\, with his own notes. I (Ed) have selected one of the games from his victorious British Championship playoff match against Broadbent in 1947. It is characteristic of him in many ways. The game features a typically smooth positional build-up\, from his beloved English Opening\, played with the Nh3 development plan\, which was a particular favourite of his. The notes are also very typically Golombek – concentrating in the main on verbal explanations\, with relatively few variations\, but also characterised by occasionally extreme dogmatism in his assessments\, such as the notes to moves 1\, 2 and 6\, for example. The game and notes were published in the December 1947 issue of The British Chess Magazine.” \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFrom The Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match by Klein and Winter : \n“Harry Golombek is a Londoner\, He was born in 1911\, and learned chess when twelve years of age. He is another of those who went through the mill of the British Boys’ Championship\, winning it in 1926. He has played in most English international tournaments\, and has represented Great Britain in team tournaments. In the London International Tournament\, 1946\, he came fifth. \nA graduate of London University\, he served in the Foreign Office during the war\, but has since retired to the country (Chalfont St. Giles). His literary activities include 50 Great Games of Modern Chess \nFifty Great Games of Modern Chess\, Harry Golombek\,\nLegend\, according to James Pratt\, has it that HG wrote the book without the aid of a chess set! \nand Capablanca’s Hundred Best Games. \n\nCapablanca’s 100 Best Games of Chess\, H. Golombek\, Bell and Sons\, London\, 1947\nHe reports chess tournaments for The Times\, and edits The Times Weekly chess column. \nThe World Chess Championship 1954\nHis chess is perhaps not inspired and lacks the spark of enterprise\, but he is a solid player on the whole and is apt to hold the best to a draw.” \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nHere is HGs entry from Hooper & Whyld (The Oxford Companion to CHESS) : \n“English player and author. International Master (1950)\, International Arbiter (1954)\, honorary Grandmaster (1985). In 1945 Golombek became chess correspondent of The Times\, a position he held until 1989. Also in 1945 he decided to become a professional chess-player. \nThe World Chess Championship 1957\, Macgibbon & Kee\, H. Golombek\nHe won the British Championship three times (1947\, 1949\, 1955) and was equal first in 1959 but lost the play-off (to Jonathan Penrose) and played in nine Olympiads from 1935 to 1962. An experienced arbiter and a good linguist\, supervisor of many important tournaments and matches\, he served for 30 years on the FIDE Commission that makes\, amends\, and arbitrates upon The laws and rules of chess. \nHis many books include Capablanca’s Hundred Best Games (1947)\, \nThe World Chess Championship 1948 (1949)\, \nThe World Chess Championship by Harry Golombek\nRéti’s Best Games of Chess (1954)\, \nRéti’s Best Games of Chess\, Harry Golombek\, Bell\, 1954\nand A History of Chess (1976).” \nChess : A History\, H. Golombek\, Putnam\, London\, New York\, 1976\nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess (Robert Hale 1970 & 1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“International Master and International Chess Judge. British Champion in 1947\, 1949 and 1955. Captained the British Chess Federation team for many years in Chess Olympiads. In the 1972 Olympiad\, captained the BCF women’s team. Chess author and chess correspondent of The Times since 1945 and the Observer since 1955. British Chess Federation to FIDE. \nPost-banquet photograph – left to right : Harry Golombek\, Andras Adorjan\, Danny Wright\, Brian Eley\, Michael Stean\, D. Silk\, Robert Silk\, AK Henderson. The Robert Silk Fellowship Tournament\, Canterbury\, 1973. Source : British Chess Magazine\, Volume 93\, Number 5\, page 192\nBorn in London on 1st March 1911\, Golombek learned to play chess at the age of 12 and in 1929 won the London Boy’s Championship. Two years later he became the youngest player to win the Surrey Championships. After graduating in languages at London University\, Golombek devoted his full time to chess\, apart from the way years\, when served in the army and at the Foreign Office\, and was awarded the OBE for his services to the game in 1966. He was the editor of the British Chess Magazine from 1938 to 1939 and for many years served as its games editor. He is now its overseas news editor. In his capacity as International Chess Judge\, he has acted as judge in World Championship matches since 1954. \nTwo thirds of the BCF team for the 1964 Tel Aviv Olympiad. : Owen Hindle\, Michael Franklin\, Harry Golombek and Michael Haygarth\nHe has competed in a number of international tournaments\, his best results being 1st at Antwerp 1938\, 1st at Leeuwarden 1947\, 1st at Baarn 1948 and -4th with Barcza\, Foltys and Gliogoric at Venice 1949. in 1951\, he represented the British Chess Federation in the Zonal tournament at Bad Pyrmont and came 5th\, qualifying for the Interzonal. ” \nHarry Golombek\, Peter Wells\, Ray Keene\, Leonard Barden and Henry Mutkin take part in the obligatory “Staring at the board” posed picture during the 1985 Varsity Match\nHis publications include : Capablanca’s 100 Best Games of Chess (1947); World Chess Championship 1948 (1949); Pocket Guide to the Chess Openings (1949); \nA Pocket Guide to the Chess Openings\, RC Griffith and H Golombek Bell & Sons\, 1949\nHastings Tournament 1948-1949 (1949); \nHastings Tournament 1948-1949\, H Golombek and W Ritson Morry\, En Passant\, 1949\nSouthsea Tournament 1949 (1949); Prague 1946 (1950); \nPrague 1946\, H Golombek\, CHESS\, Sutton Coldfield\, 1950\nPrague 1946\, H Golombek\, CHESS\, Sutton Coldfield\, 1950\nBudapest 1952 (1952); \nBudapest 1952\, H. Golombek\, British Chess Magazine\, 1952\n50 Great Games of Modern Chess (1952); Reti’s Best Games of Chess (1954); 22nd USSR Championship (1956); \n22nd USSR Championship\, H. Golombek\, British Chess Magazine\, (1956)\nWorld Chess Championship 1957 (1957); Modern Opening Chess Strategy (1959); \nModern Opening Chess Strategy\, H\, Golombek\, Macgibbon & Kee\, London (1960)\nand a translation of The Art of the Middle Game by P. Keres and A. Kotov. \nHe enjoys classical music and has been known to be successful on the Stock Exchange.” \nA reasonable enquiry might be : “What did Harry write about himself?” Well\, according to \nThe Encyclopaedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977) \nThe Encyclopaedia of Chess\nwe have : \n“British international master\, three times British champion and the first person to figure in that country’s Honours List on account of his services to chess. Golombek was born in London and lived there till the Second World War. Educated as Wilson’s Grammar School and the University of London\, he became London Boy Champion in 1929 and London University Champion 1930-3. By this time he was part of a trio of the leading players in England\, the other two being Alexander and Milner-Barry. (Ed : It is curious that HG does not mention William Winter : maybe they were not like minded souls?) \nHarry Golombek OBE\nHis best result in the British championship before the Second World War was -2nd with EG Sergeant\, 1/2 a point below Alexander at Brighton 1938. In that year he won first prize in a small international tournament at Antwerp ahead of Koltanowski. In 1938 too he became editor of the British Chess Magazine and occupied this post till he entered the army in 1940. \nHarry Golombek OBE\nBefore the war he had already played in three International Team Tournaments (or Olympiads as they subsequently became called) at Warsaw 1935\, Stockholm 1937 and Buenos Aires 1939. \nMorris (Moses) Sobkowski\, Anatoly Karpov and Harry Golombek\nAfter the Buenos Aires event he went onto play in an international tournament at Montevideo where he came second to the World Champion\, Alexander Alekhine. \nBrian Reilly\, Ray Keene\, George Botterill\, Anatoly Karpov\, Harry Golombek and Viktor Korchnoi\nIn the war he served first in the Royal Artillery\, from 1940-1 and then\, for the rest of the war\, in the Foreign Office at Bletchley Park\, employed (like Alexander\, Milner-Barry and quite a number of other chess-players) in code breaking. \nJohn Nunn\, Adrian Hollis and Harry Golombek posing for the obligatory “staring at the board” picture for the 19?? Varsity Match sponsored by Lloyds Bank\nAfter the war he made chess and writing about the game his livelihood\, becoming Times Chess Correspondent in 1945 and Observer Chess Correspondent in 1955. As a player he had a consistently good record in the British Championship\, coming in the prize list on fourteen out of eighteen occasions he competed in the event. He was British Champion at Harrogate 1947\, Felixstowe 1949 and Aberystwyth 1955. \nHarry Golombek OBE\nHere is HGs win against his old friend PS Milner-Barry from Aberystwyth 1955 : \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nHarry Golombek OBE plays Sir Philip Stuart Milner-Barry OBE\nHe represented England in six more Olympiads\, Helsinki 1952\, Amsterdam 1954\, Moscow 1956\, Munich 1958\, Leipzig 1960 and Varna 1962. \nHarry Golombek OBE\nHis best individual international results were first prizes at small tournaments in Leeuwarden 1947\, Baarn 1948 and Paignton 1950 (above Euwe and Donner); =4th with O’Kelly at Beverwijk 1949\, =4th with Barcza\, Foltys and Gligoric at Venice 1949\, and 5th at the European Zonal tournament at Bad Pyrmont 1951\, thereby becoming the first British player to have qualified for the Interzonal. He was awarded the OBE in the Queen’s Birthday List in 1966. \nHarry Golombek\, Norman Fishlock-Lomax and Denis Victor Mardle at the Hastings International Congress of 1965(?)\nA founding member of the FIDE Commission for the Rules of Chess\, he became a FIDE International Judge and as such officiated at six World Championship matches. He was also chief arbiter at a FIDE Candidates tournament\, at an Interzonal and two European Team Championship finals\, etc. When the FIDE President\, Dr Euwe\, had to return home from Reykjavik before the 1972 Spassky-Fischer match got started. Golombek represented FIDE in Iceland and did much to ensure that the match took place and that it continued to be played. \nHarry gave more than the average number of simultaneous displays in this career. For the photograph below Leonard Barden provided the following caption : \n“Harry was invited because it was the 50th anniversary of his victory in the London Boys 1929 a success which he often referred to in his Times column. There were seven 30-board simuls that day\, the top three being England Juniors v USSR (Spassky\, Vasyukov\, Kochiev) where Spassky had the worst simultaneous result of his career. No 4 was by Murray Chandler\, Harry was No5 and the others by Whiteley and Rumens. The juniors who played the Russians were personally invited.” \nHarry was invited because it was the 50th anniversary of his victory in the London Boys 1929 a success which he often referred to in his Times column. There were seven 30-board simuls that day\, the top three being England Juniors v USSR (Spassky\, Vasyukov\, Kochiev) where Spassky had the worst simultaneous result of his career. No 4 was by Murray Chandler\, Harry was No5 and the others by Whiteley and Rumens. The juniors who played the Russians were personally invited.\nA prolific writer and translator of books on the game\, he has had some thirty-five books published on various aspects of chess. Among them are : Capablanca’s Best Games of Chess\, London\, New York 1947; Reti’s Best Games of Chess\, London 1954; New York 1975;  The Game of Chess\, London 1954; Modern Opening Chess Strategy\, London 1959; A History of Chess\, London\, New York 1976.“ \nHarry Golombek OBE\nFrom British Chess (Pergamon Press\, 1983)\,  Botterill\, Levy\, Rice and Richardson\,  we have this rather brief biography : \n“Thee times British Champion (Harrogate 1947\, Felixstowe 1949\, Aberystwyth 1955) and the first person to figure on the Honours List for services to Chess. He has represented England in 9 Olympiads. A FIDE International Judge and Arbiter has has officiated at 6 World Championship matches. He is chess correspondent of The Times and a prolific writer and translator” \nHere is his brief Wikipedia entry \nand here is a fascinating insight into HGs Bletchley Park days. \nBill Hartston wrote this excellent obituary published in The Independent. \nA recent article from Andre Schultz of Chessbase. \nEdward Winter has written this interesting article last updated in December 2020 despite announcing self-dormancy in March 2020. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nHere we have  a selection of publications not already mentioned above : \nSouthsea Chess Tournament\, Harry Golombek\, En Passant\, 1949\nB.C.M. Quarterly\, number 3: 4th Candidates Tournament 1959\, H. Golombek\, 19??.\nB.C.M. Quarterly\, number 6: 1930 Scarborough International Tournament\, H. Golombek\,\, 1962.\nChess\, Harry Golombek and Hubert Phillips\, HG & G Witherby\, 1959\nInstructions to Young Chess Players\, Harry Golombek\, The Brompton Library\, 1966\nFischer v Spassky\, the World Chess Championship\, 1972\, Harry Golombek\, Times Newspapers\, 1973\nThe Laws of Chess and Their Interpretations\, H. Golombek\, Pitman Publishing\, 1976\nImprove Your Chess\, Harry Golombek\, Pitman\, 1976\nThe Best Games of C.H.O’D. Alexander\, 1976\nA Dataday Chess Diary for 1979 with a foreword from Harry Golombek\nB.C.M. Classic Reprints\, number 20: World Chess Championship 1948\, Golombek\, Harold\, 01-03-1982 (1949). ISBN 978-0-900846-35-9.
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-harry-golombek/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Honours,Player,Writer
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201229
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201230
DTSTAMP:20211229T134506Z
CREATED:20190823T183010Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211229T134506Z
UID:1104-1609200000-1609286399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Brian Reilly (12-xii-1901 29-xii-1991)
DESCRIPTION:Signature of Brian Reilly from an after dinner post card from Hastings 1945-46\nWe remember Brian Patrick Reilly who passed away on December 29th\, 1991. \nBrian Reilly probably sometime in the 1920s.\nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE (written by Wolfgang Heidenfeld) :”Irish master born at Menton\, of Irish descent\, who has represented Ireland in nine Olympic team tournaments between 1935 and 1968; three times on top board. \nBrian observes a game during one of the early 1930s tournaments in Nice\nHe was also Irish representative at seven FIDE congresses. Reilly played in a number of small international tournaments\, wining first prize at Nice 1931 and sharing fourth prize with Klein and EG Sergeant behind Reshevsky\, Capablanca and Sir G. Thomas at Margate 1935. \nBrian Reilly playing Dr. Josep Vallve probably at Barcelona Chess Club in June 1935. Brian won in 61 moves.\nWinner of Irish championship in 1959 and 1960. General Editor of British Chess Magazine since 1949.” \nBrian Reilly and friends\nHis obituary in British Chess Magazine was written by Bernard Cafferty and appeared in Volume CXII (112\, 1992)\, Number 2 (February)\, page 70: \nBrian with journalist colleagues.\n“With great regret we have to report that Brian Patrick Reilly has\, to use the older term\, ‘joined the great majority’. \nBrian analysing with Irish team mate\, Wolfgang Heidenfeld\nB. P. Reilly (Menton\, 12 xii 1901-Hastings\, 29 xii l99l) was born into an expatriate family on the French Riviera\, and so was bilingual. He learned his chess in France where he had many friends and acquaintances. He knew Alekhine in the 1920s and 1930s and was a witness at Alekhine’s wedding. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nMany years later he was to do extensive research on Alekhine’s life\, and was the first to establish (though he did not publish the fact) that the Russian did not complete his doctorate studies at the Sorbonne\, so that “Dr” Alekhine must be considered a purely honorary title. \nBrian won the Nice tournament of 1931\, ahead of Noteboom\, Mieses\, . . . Sir George Thomas . . . Znosko-Borovsky. . . and played for Ireland at the 1935 Olympiad beating Fine. \nCrosstable for Nice 1931 from Megabase 2020\nThese results\, taken with his fourth place at Margate 1935\, behind Reshevsky\, Capablanca and Sir George Thomas\, made it clear that he was of IM strength. \nNice Masters\, 1931. Standing : Daniel Noteboom\, Abraham Baratz\, George Renaud (Organiser)\, John J O’Hanlon\, Marcel Duchamp\, Brian Reilly (winner)\, Seated : Eugene Znokso-Borovsky\,\, Arpad Vajda\, Sir George Thomas\, Jacques Mieses\, Stefano Roselli del Turco\, Jacob Adolf Seitz. British Chess Magazine\, 1931\, page 201\nDuring the war Brian was interned in France as a British citizen\, coming close to starvation for a time. He described all this in the very detailed account of his life in the September 1980 BCM\, on which we have drawn\, along with the many reminiscences Brian passed on to the present writer. \nBrian analysing with the Irish team at an Olympiad\nAfter working for the Sutton Coldfield magazine just after the war (he did not get on well with B. H. Wood\, thinking him not very business-like – do we put this too diplomatically?) Brian was a freelance translator in the pharmaceutical industry before taking over BCM in 1949. At the time the magazine was technically bankrupt. \nSir George Thomas And Brian ReillySir George Thomas (left)\, leader of the British chess team\, playing Irishman Brian Reilly at the Easter Chess Congress\, Margate\, April 24th 1935. (Photo by Harry Todd/Fox Photos/Getty Images)\nIn 1964 he moved the office from London to St Leonards\, showing his business acumen yet again. He ran the bookstall for many years at the Hastings Congress at the Sun Lounge and the Falaise Hall. \n \nAfter the union troubles of 1970-71 and the Fischer boom he arranged for the magazine to be typeset by his son Freddy at the family home in West Norwood. This led to an expansion in the pagination after some teething troubles. \nBrian Reilly playing Cesar Munoz (Ecuador) in round 8 of the Leipzig Olympiad played on 23rd October 1960. The game was drawn in 48 moves.\nAll this while\, Brian was playing for Ireland in Olympiads\, and attending to FIDE affairs as a FIDE delegate. \nBrian relaxing during a FIDE Congress dinner\nAfter the death of his son Freddy in 1980\, the magazine was sold to the BCF and Brian retired as editor in September 1981\, remaining as a consultant for nearly a decade. \nBrian Reilly\, Ray Keene\, George Botterill\, Anatoly Karpov\, Harry Golombek and Viktor Korchnoi\nHis last years were spent in Hastings\, where it was his wont to carry on with the long sea-front walks that he had practised since a breakdown in health due to overwork. He had strong views on correct diet and exercise which he could expound to anyone willing to listen. The fact that he could walk up to six miles a day in his late eighties and that his faculties\, including his memory\, only seemed to be weakening in his last two years\, is proof enough of the validity of his theories. \nBrian Reilly playing Wolfgang Unzicker on board 1 during the preliminaries of the 1960 Leipzig Olympiad.\nOn his 90th birthday he attended the office and drank a glass of champagne to celebrate the occasion. We have the testimony of Mrs Arnold\, who worked with him so long\, that he was still talking of visiting the Hastings Congress. This was on Boxing Day\, the day after he had been admitted to St Helen’s Hospital with a chest infection. He assured her he would be up and about again\, but old friends such as Harry Golombek and Ritson Morry waited for him in vain as Hastings got under way. . . \nBrian Reilly at a FIDE Congress (possibly Nice 1974?)\nBrian Reilly at a FIDE Congress (possibly Nice 1974?)\nBCM readers\, too\, must be counted amongst his old friends who will miss him. They should be aware that\, but for Brian\, and his decades of hard work. there would now be no BCM.” \nBrian Reilly in the BCM office. Photographed most likely by Freddy Reilly.\nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume CI (101)\, Number 8 (August)\, pp 352 – 369 a conversation between B.P. Reilly and W.H. Cozens : \nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 1\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 2\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 3\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 4\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 5\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 6\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 7\nHe won the BCF President’s Award in 1983 along with BH Wood \nHere is his Wikipedia entry \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 8\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 9\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 10\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 11\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 12\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 13\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 14\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 15\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 16\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 16\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 1
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-brian-patrick-reilly/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Journalist,Player,Remembering,Writer
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201228
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201229
DTSTAMP:20210201T132752Z
CREATED:20210201T132752Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210201T132752Z
UID:13692-1609113600-1609199999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Frank Parr (17-xii-1918  28-xii-2003)
DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of Frank Parr (17-xii-1918  28-xii-2003)
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-frank-parr-17-xii-1918-28-xii-2003/
CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201228
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201229
DTSTAMP:20201229T172508Z
CREATED:20200409T195301Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201229T172508Z
UID:4300-1609113600-1609199999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Charles (Mike) Bent (27-xi-1919 28-xii-2004)
DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers Mike Bent who passed away on Tuesday\, December 28th 2004. \nCharles Michael Bent was born on Thursday\, 27th of November 1919 and in that year Charles was the fifth most popular boy’s name. \nHe was born in Portsmouth\, Hampshire. \nIn 1939 he was living at 5\, Ashburton Road\, Gosport with his mother Eileen B. Bent (née Hill) and was a Sub Lieutenant in the Royal Navy. \nHe wrote “Best of Bent: Composer’s Choice of His Chess Endgame Studies\, 1950-93” This was edited by TG Whitworth. \nThe Best of Bent\, CM Bent\, edited TG Whitworth\, July 1993\nHe died in Swindon on the 28th of December\, 2004 having last resided in Hungerford\, RG17. Whilst writing the Studies column for British Chess Magazine he resided at “Black Latches”\, Inkpen\, Newbury\, Berkshire. \n“Black Latches”\, Inkpen\, Newbury\, Berkshire\nThe C. M. Bent Memorial Composing Tourney was held in 2006-07. \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume XCV (95\, 1975)\, Number 1 (January)\, page 22 we have a charming introduction to CMB from the retiring editor of the Studies column\, AJ Roycroft : \n“A studies article without a diagram? Yes\, and without an apology either. Instead this introduced my successor\, Charles Michael Bent\, who is as remarkable without the chessboard as he is with it. Now since\, as at May 1974\, he has composed the total\, rarely exceeded by anyone\, of 670 studies (of which only 375 have been published)\, and about 600 problems (one tenth published)\, his other achievements and activities\, insofar as he can be persuaded to talk about them\, are worth recounting. \nMichael Bent has a passion for all-the-year-round tennis\, and loves the country life. Walking and climbing\, all-forms of do-it-yourself\, word-play nabla/del\, puzzles\, conjuring and listening to music make the mixture extraordinarily rich. Yet if there was a single word to characterise him it would be simplicity (his choice)\, with (my addition) a strong and individual sense of humour. \nPhysically he is a lean\, balding 54-year-old as fit as most men half his age. He played at Junior Wimbledon before the War and only three of four years back won the singles tennis championship of his half of Berkshire. He is a modest and delightful companion\, and to visit him and his wife Viola\, to whom he credits responsibility for the serenity of his condition and surroundings\, is a relaxing pleasure I always look forward to in my own hustled and tense London-centered existence. \nIn his own words he was never really a player of chess at all\, but first sight of problems (during the war) and endings (just after it) acted like fireworks on a dark night and lit an imagination which still lacks basic technical knowledge. So\, artistic rather than ‘scientific’\, have never knowingly composed a didactic study. Am told my ‘style’ is easily recognised. Am aware\, but perfectly content\, that I compose much that the expert will easily solve\, in the hope that the less initiated may be entertained and as attracted as I was in the beginning. \nThere is a feast\, including many surprises\, in store for you and me\, at the hands of your new chess-chef\, ‘CMB of the BCM’.” \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume 125 (2005)\, Number 2 (February)\, page 98 we have a brief obituary from John Beasley : \n“Charles Michael Bent died just over a month after his 85th birthday. Mike Bent had long been Britain’s leading composer of endgame studies\, he was a witty and entertaining writer on the subject (and on many others)\, and the pleasure he gave was rightly acknowledged by the granting in 2001 of one of the BCF President’s Awards for services to chess. \nBCM published his first study in 1950 and one of his last 50 years later\, and he was our endgame study columnist from January 1975 to March 1985. There will be a steady flow of quotations in Endgame Studies during the coming months. John Beasley” \nThe Studies column was taken over in April 1985 by Paul Lamford. \nHere is his Wikipedia entry (complete with errors). \nCMB won the BCF President’s Award in 2001. \nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess (Robert Hale 1970 & 1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“Born on the 27th November 1919\, Michael Bent has only one possible challenger\, Harold Lommer\, as the finest composer of endgame studies England has ever produced. Although up to October 1967\, he had composed 546 problems and 320 studies\, he now concentrates almost exclusively on studies. His 17 honoured studies include three 1st prizes. His partiality towards Knights is shown in the typical study selected here. \nMichael Bent was educated at the Royal Naval College\, Dartmouth\, but had to leave the Navy because of chronic sea-sickness. He served in the Rifle Brigade in the Second World War and afterwards became a rubber plant in Johore\, where he survived several terrorist attacks. How now lives with his wife in a Berkshire Village. \nApart from Chess\, Michael Bent has other recreations\, including wood carving\, stamp collecting\, composing crossword puzzles and butterfly collecting. His butterfly collection included 500 Malayan specimens. He is also a strong tennis player. Thirty-one years after playing at Wimbledon as a junior\, he won the Newbury and District singles title in 1967.” \nCM Bent\n2nd Honorable Mention\nNew Statesmen 1964 Tourney Award\,\n5th March 1965 \n  \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-charles-michael-bent-27-xi-1919-28-xii-2004/
CATEGORIES:Composer,Death Anniversary,History,Problemist
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201224
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201225
DTSTAMP:20201030T175937Z
CREATED:20200410T131002Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201030T175937Z
UID:4340-1608768000-1608854399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of FM Victor W Knox (24-xii-2001)
DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of FM Victor W Knox (24-xii-2001)
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-fm-victor-w-knox-24-xii-2001/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,Player
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201218
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201219
DTSTAMP:20201030T175740Z
CREATED:20191012T092904Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201030T175740Z
UID:1515-1608249600-1608335999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Peter Copping (12-x-1922 18-xii-1989)
DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of Peter Fairburn Copping (12-x-1922 18-xii-1989)
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-peter-fairburn-copping-12-x-1922-18-xii-1989/
CATEGORIES:Composer,Death Anniversary,History,Problemist
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201218
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201219
DTSTAMP:20211221T100514Z
CREATED:20190823T191554Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211221T100514Z
UID:1132-1608249600-1608335999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of William Winter (11-ix-1898 18-xii-1955)
DESCRIPTION:William Winter\, British Open Chess Champion\, 1934. The verso frontispiece of Chess for Match Players\, William Winter\, London\, Lawrence & Wishart\, 1st edition. 1936\nAuthor’s inscription from Chess for Match Players\, William Winter\, London\, Lawrence & Wishart\, 1st edition. 1936\nBCN remembers William (Willy) Winter who passed away on Sunday\, December 18th\, 1955 from tuberculosis (at the time known as “the white plague”). He refused to enter a sanatorium.  \nThere is some variation from sources who quote his Date of Birth. All have 11th of September as the date but vary by the year giving either 1898 or 1899. However careful research by John Townsend (Wokingham) gives 1897 and this work is cited by Edward Winter. \nLate in 2021 historian Gerard Killoran (Ilkley) discovered this clipping from the Hampshire Advertiser – Wednesday 22 September 1897 p.2: \nHampshire Advertiser – Wednesday 22 September 1897 p.2\nwhich confirms JTs evidence from the 1939 register. \nHis father was William Henderson Winter and his mother Margaret Winter. He was born in Medstead\, Hampshire. In the 1911 census their address was recorded as “The Boynes”\,  Four Marks\, Alton\, Hampshire and the family had two servants : a cook and a housemaid. In 1936 Winter lived at The Old Cottage\, North Road\, Three Bridges\, Sussex. \nIn the second quarter of 1933 William married Amelia Jennett (née Potter) in the district of Pancras. William knew Amelia as Molly and wrote about her extensively in his memoirs. Amelia was married to Dennis Jennett but Dennis had an affair with another woman and a convenient to all parties “arrangement” was entered into. However\, Willy’s father was less than impressed. \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale 1970&1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“International Master\, chess. professional and British Champion in 1935 and 1936\, William Winter is one of the most colourful  figures that British chess has produced. A born bohemian\, Winter could on many occasions have been mistaken for a tramp\, yet he was equally capable of turning up at a dinner or some other official occasion\, well-groomed and looking the split image of his famous uncle\, Sir James Barrie\, and making a speech of such wit and culture that every other speech would seem flat. \nBorn in Medstead in Hampshire on 11th September 1898\, of Scottish parentage. Winter’s mother was the youngest sister of Sir James Barrie\, and his father a brilliant scholar who had entered St. Andrew’s University at the age of 16\, taken honours in classics and then won a scholarship to Cambridge to read mathematics. \nWinter was taught to play chess by his father\, who was a strong player\, when he was 12. From the time he was introduced to the game his main aim in life was to become a first-class player\, and his previous interest\, cricket\, had to take a back seat. \nWhen he was 15\, he joined the city of London Chess club\, one of the leading clubs in the country\, and his game-rapidly improved. He went up to Cambridge to read law for a year during-the l9l4-l9l8 war\, before he became of age for military service and joined the Honourable Artillery Company. While he was stationed at Leeds he learned that the British champion\, F. D. Yates\, and the Mexican master\, A. G. Conde\, were in the habit of playing chess on a Saturday afternoon in a café in Bradford. \nWinter started going to this café and made the acquaintance of the two masters\, who would occasionally give him a game. \nOn returning to Cambridge when the war was over\, Winter became President of the University Chess Club and also started to take an active interest in politics. He joined the University Socialist Society and the local branch of the Independent Labour Party\, and when the Communist Party was formed he became a Communist. \nIn 1919 Winter became Cambridge University Champion and won a match against R. H. V. Scott\, a leading British player\, by a score of 4-2\, thereby securing for himself an invitation to play in the Victory Congress at Hastings. His lack of experience of master play proved too great a handicap\, and he came 11th out of 12. \nEdo rating profile for William Winter from http://www.edochess.ca/players/p7187.html\nOn leaving Cambridge after taking his degree in 1919\, Winter persuaded his parents to allow him a year in which to play chess before settling down to a career. He hoped that during that year he might be able to prove that he had sufficient talent to become a professional player. This did not prove the case\, and Winter had to resign himself to becoming a solicitor. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nIn 1921 he became articled to a London firm\, but after a dispute with his father\, which resulted in his allowance being stopped\, Winter had to give up his articles and decided to concentrate his energies on politics. He went to live in Bristol and addressed open-air meetings all over the city on behalf of the Communist party\, until he was arrested for sedition and sentenced to six months imprisonment. After his release Winter continued his political activities until he was forced to abandon them on medical advice. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nHaving given up politics\, Winter decided to try his luck as a chess professional. This proved to be a success\, and within two years he was making a reasonable living teaching the game\, playing games for fees at St. George’s Cafe in St. Martin’s Lane in London and writing for The Manchester Guardian and The Daily Worker. \nWinter remained a chess professional for the rest of his life\, apart from the war years. He wrote two chess best sellers: Chess for Match Players\, published in 1936 \nChess for Match Players\, William Winter\, Carroll & Nicholson\, 1936\nand reprinted in 1951\, and Kings of Chess; \nKings of Chess\, William Winter\, Carroll and Nicholson Ltd\, 1954\nand was co-author with F. D. Yates of Modern Master Play\, \nModern Master Play\, FD Yates and W. Winter\, 1930\nand with FD Yates of World Championship Candidates Tournament\, 1953. \nWinter never reached the very highest ranks as a player\, although he won the British Championship twice and represented his country in four Chess Olympiads: Hamburg in 1930\, Prague in 1931\, Folkestone in 1933 and Warsaw in 1935. In the Great Britain v. U.S.S.R. radio match in 1946 he defeated Bronstein in the first round and then characteristically went out and celebrated his victory in such a way that his defeat in the return round was inevitable. \nWilliam Winter (11-IX-1897\, 18-XII-1955)\nAlthough he achieved no great successes in international tournaments\, in individual games he beat many of the world’s leading players\, including Nimzowitsch and Vidmar\, and had draws against Capablanca and Botvinnik among others. \nWilliam Winter (11-IX-1897\, 18-XII-1955)\nWilliam Winter (11-IX-1897\, 18-XII-1955)\nHe died of tuberculosis in London in December 1955\, after refusing to go into a sanatorium.” \nIn Kings\, Commoners and Knaves\, (Russell Enterprises\, 1999)\, page 393 Winter quotes Winter (!) from Chess Masterpieces (Marshall) as follows: \nI consider [Winter v Vidmar\, London\, 1927] to be my best game partly on account of the eminence of my opponent and partly because of the importance of the occasion on which it was played\, and also because on three occasions in which the situation was extremely complicated. I was fortunate enough to discover the only continuation which not only was necessary to secure victory\, but to actually save the game \nHere is that game: \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFrom The Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match by Klein and Winter : \nThe Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match\, E. Klein and W. Winter (1947\, Pitman)\n“W. Winter was born in 1899 in Hampshire. A Cambridge graduate in Law\, he devoted himself eventually entirely to chess and is the only Englishman who\, despite all vicissitudes\, has faithfully remained a professional. After winning the Cambridge University Championship in 1921 he competed in a number of international tournaments. His outstanding performance was in the tournament in Scarborough 1928\, which he won. He won the British Championship in 1935 and 1936\, and has represented his country on four occasions in international team tournaments. In Hamburg\, 1930\, he was undefeated. \nScene at London. From left to right – Seated : Fairhurst\, List and Winter in play. Standing König and Sir George Thomas\nHis literary activities include Chess for Match Players and The Alekhine-Capablanca World Title Match\, 1927. He edits the chess column in the Soviet Weekly. \nGames Played In the World’s Championship Match between Jose Paul Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine\, FD Yates and W\, Winter\, 1928\, Printing Craft Limited\nHis chess record is erratic and does not reflect his true ability. He is capable of some of the finest chess\, but often plays too impulsively. His greatest strength lies in King’s side attacks. which he handles with skill and accomplishment.” \nWilliam Winter (11-IX-1897\, 18-XII-1955)\nFrom the Preface of The World Chess Championship : 1951 by Lionel Sharples Penrose we have : \n“Mr. Winter’s chess career has been a long one and he occupies an extremely high position among British players. He has been British Champion twice\, in 1935 and 1936. Among other notable successes was his first place in the Scarborough International Tournament in 1928. He defeated Nimzovich in the London Tournament in 1927. Against the present world championship contenders he has a very fine score\, a draw against Botvinnik at Nottingham in 1936 and a win and a loss against Bronstein in the Radio Match\, Great Britain v U.S.S.R. in 1946. Mr. Winter is a specialist in writing about the art of chess\, and players throughout the country owe a great deal to his deep and logical expositions.” \nGames Played in the World’s Championship Match between Alexander Alekhin (Holder of the Title) and E D Bogoljubow (Challenger)\, Printing Craft Limited\, 1930\, FD Yates and W. Winter\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (BT Batsford\, 1977) Edited by Harry Golombek : \nInternational Master and twice British Champion (1935 and 1936)\, Winter was an excellent illustration of Réti’s thesis that players tend to be opposite over the board to their character in real life. Over the board he was classical\, scientific and sober; away from the board he was revolutionary\, moved by his emotions (he contrived to be both a fervent Communist and a staunch patriot)\, and more often than not\, drunk. \nHis university career\, where he read law\, coincided with the First World War and\, after a brief interruption for military service he returned to Cambridge where in 1919 he became university champion and defeated R. H. V. Scott (a strong player who won the British Championship in 1920) in a match by 4-2. On the strength of this he was invited to play in the Hastings Victory tournament of 1919 where\, however\, he did badly\, coming 11th out of 12. \nWilliam Winter (11-ix-1897\, 18-xii-1955)\nAfter an interval during which he fervently pursued a political career to such an extent as to incur a six-months prison sentence for sedition (Winter always denied the sedition and said that the charge was trumped-up one)\, he took up the career of chess professional. The life suited him since it enabled him to lead the kind of Bohemian existence that pleased his artistic temperament. It should be mentioned that he was a nephew of Sir James Barrie and would have fitted in well on one of his uncle’s plays. \nAs a player he was eminently sound and\, being an apostle of Tarrasch\, a fine clear strategist. But he was lacking in tactical ability and his poor health and his way of life interfered with his consistency and impaired his stamina. But he had a number of fine victories over great players (Bronstein\, Nimzowitsch and Vidmar for example). \nIM William Winter (11-ix-1897\, 18-xii-1955)\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nHe played in four Olympiads: Hamburg 1930 (scoring 76.7% on 4th board)\, Prague 1931 (58.8% on 4th board)\, Folkestone 1933 (59.1% on 3rd board) and Warsaw 1935 (41.7% on 1st board). He was selected to play at Stockholm in 1937 but\, having “lost” his passport three times. he was refused a fresh one by the authorities. \nHis best international individual results were =6th at London 1927\, and =5th at Lodz 1935. \nHis career as a chess journalist (he wrote for the Manchester Guardian following FD Yates and the Daily Worker) was somewhat impeded and spoilt by his Bohemian ways\, be he wrote some excellent works on chess : Chess for Match Players\, London\, 1936″ \nWinter was a popular subject for his Swiss namesake\, Edward Winter and there are several mentions in his excellent books. \nIn Chess Facts and Fables (McFarland\, 2006) we have Chess Note 2819\, page 71 which shows a photograph (from CHESS\, November 1935) taken in Poland of Winter and Max Krauser\, Heavyweight wrestling Champion of Europe. Quite what the occasion we are not told. \nHere is an excellent article (as you’d expect) from Edward Winter \nApart from all of the contributions above possibly the most comprehensive comes from FM Steve Giddins writing in three parts in British Chess Magazine\, during 2006 and 2007 : \nPostscript: Since our article was published we were contacted by Steve Giddins who informed us that he owned the copyright to the articles (rather than the publisher BCM) and that he did not wish us to make them available via this article. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nIn the “Mid-October” issue of CHESS for 1962\, (Volume 27\, Number 418)  we had the following announcement: \nWILLIAM WINTER’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY\nEdited by David Hooper\, will be serialised in CHESS commencing with our next number. Nephew of Sir James Barrie\, twice British Chess Champion\, a lifelong Communist and freethinker\, imprisoned for his political views\, “Willie Winter”\, with his Bohemian way of life\, was undoubtedly the most colourful figure in British Chess for many decades irrespective of whether you agree with his views (most readers may not!)\, you will find him a delightful writer whose gifted pen draws you engrossed from page to Page. \nAnd so\, for your delectation\, here are William Winter’s Memoirs.
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-william-winter/
CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Remembering,Writer
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201217
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201218
DTSTAMP:20201219T104718Z
CREATED:20201217T000114Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201219T104718Z
UID:1759-1608163200-1608249599@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary for Harold Lommer (18-xi-1904 17-xii-1980)
DESCRIPTION:We remember Harold Lommer who passed away on December 17th\, 1980. \nHarold Maurice Lommer was born on Friday\, November 18th 1904 in Islington\, London to German parents. Curiously his birth entry was missing from the original record and has been inserted manually as an after-thought. Anyone know the reason for this? \nHe left England aged 4 in 1908 to live in Switzerland and returned to England in 1926. \nIn the 1939 Census Harold was a resident at 16a Gwendwr Road\, Barons Court\, Hammersmith\, London. \n16a Gwendwr Road\, Barons Court\, Hammersmith\, London\nAccording to the census record HML was living in a household of three persons and his occupation was that of Foreign Correspondent. \nIn 1949 Harold married Valija S Linkuns in Fulham. \nHe died in Valencia\, Provincia de València\, Valenciana\, Spain. \nHarold Maurice Lommer (18-XI-1904\, 17-XII-1980)\nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess by Hooper & Whyld : \n“International Judge of Chess Compositions (1958)\, International Arbiter (1962)\, International Master for Chess Compositions (1974)\, the greatest British study composer. Born in Islington of German parentage\, he moved to Switzerland when he was four and returned to England 18 years later.\nInspired in his youth by the Saavedra study\, he\nbecame the leading specialist on promotion tasks\, and in 1933 was the first to show allumwandlung in a study\, which Rinck had declared was impossible. Lommer also showed in studies six consecutive promotions to rooks (1935) and a minimal with concurrent promotions to queen\, bishop\, and knight. (For another task record see star-flights.) After the Second World War he became proprietor of a Soho club\, where players and composers often met; in 1949 the club organized a small international tournament\, won by Bernstein\, Lommer retired in 1961 and went to live in Valencia\, where he died. \nIn 1939 Lommer and the English player Maurice A. Sutherland (d.1954)\, who backed the project\, published 1\,234 Modern End-game Studies. In 1975 Lommer compiled a sequel\, 1\,357 End-game Studies. These two collections\, catholic in taste\, made by a composer who was above all an artist\, have become standard works. Besides his studies\, the best of which are in these books\, he composed fairy problems.” \n1234 Modern End-Game Studies\, Lommer & Sutherland. Dover\, 1938 (originally\, this one 1967)\n1234 Modern End-Game Studies\, Lommer & Sutherland. Dover\, 1938 (originally\, this one 1967)\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale 1970&1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“FIDE Judge of Endgame Studies since 1958. Born on 18th November 1904 in London\, Harold Lommer’s parents were German and he was educated mainly in Switzerland. Since the late 1950s he has lived in Spain. He has composed about 1000 endgame studies and is joint author with MA Sutherland\, of the anthology 1234 Modern End-Game Studies\, published in 1938. He is particularly well-known for his under-promotion tasks\, but would prefer to be known for his other work as well. \nFor some 100 years up to 1957\, he was joint owner and manager of the Mandrake Club in Soho\, London\, used by many well-known chess players\, journalists and theatre personalities.” \n[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjcv9XGJGJI[/embedyt] \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume CI (101\, 1981)\, Number 3 (March)\, pp. 86-88 we have this obituary from CM Bent : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CI (101\, 1981)\, Number 3 (March)\, pp. 86-88\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CI (101\, 1981)\, Number 3 (March)\, pp. 86-88\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CI (101\, 1981)\, Number 3 (March)\, pp. 86-88\n[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWZVnZ801a4[/embedyt] \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\n1357 End-Game Studies\nHarold Maurice Lommer (18-XI-1904\, 17-XII-1980)
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-for-harold-maurice-lommer-18-xi-1904-17-xii-1980/
CATEGORIES:Composer,Death Anniversary,Problemist
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201216
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201217
DTSTAMP:20201216T152412Z
CREATED:20190823T104100Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201216T152412Z
UID:1076-1608076800-1608163199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Thomas Dawson (28-xi-1889 16-xii-1951)
DESCRIPTION:We remember Thomas Dawson who passed away on Sunday\, December 16th\, 1951. \nHe was also known by the pseudonym T. Dyke Robinson (we are looking for a primary source for this) \nThomas Rayner Dawson was born on Thursday\, November 28th 1889 in Leeds\, Yorkshire to Henry and Jane Dawson (née Rayner). \nThe early history of TRD and his family has been meticulously researched by Yorkshire chess historian\, Steve Mann. We recommend you visit this page to discover the detail. \nAccording to Edward Winter in Chess Notes TRD lived at the following addresses : \n\n5 Clyde Road\, Wallington\, Surrey\, England (Ranneforths Schachkalender\, 1925\, page 139)\n2 Lyndhurst Road\, Thornton Heath\, Surrey\, England (Ranneforths Schach-Kalender\, 1930\, page 65).\n31 Clyde Road\, Croydon\, England (Fairy Chess Review\, issues from 1946 to 1949*).\n\nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP\, 1984 & 1996)by Hooper & Ken Whyld : \n“English composer\, pioneer of both fairy problems and retrograde analysis. His problems in these fields form the greater part of his output (about 6\,500 compositions) and are better remembered than his studies and orthodox problems. For fairy problems he invented new pieces: grasshopper (1912) LEO (1912)\, NEUTRAL MAN (1912) NIGHT RIDER (1925)\, and VAO (1912); he codified new rules such as the maximummer (1913) and various kinds of series-mover; and he used unorthodox boards. \nIn 1915 he wrote Retrograde Analysis\, the first book on the subject\, completing the project begun several years earlier by the German composer Wolfgang Hundsdorfer (1879-1951). \nRetrograde Analysis\, Thomas Dawson & Hundsdorfer\, 1915\nFrom 1919 to 1930 Dawson conducted a column devoted to fairy problems in the Chess Amateur\, In 1926 he was a co-founder of The Problemist \, which he edited for its first six years and he founded and edited The Problemist Fairy Supplement (1931-6) continued as The Fairy Chess Review (1936-51). \nAsymmetry\, TR Dawson & Wolfgang Pauly\, Chess Amateur\, 1927\nBesides conducting columns in several newspapers and periodicals\, one of them daily and one in the Braille Chess Magazine\, Dawson edited the problem section of the British Chess Magazine from 1931 to 1951; he devised and published in its pages (1947-50) a systematic terminology for problem themes in the hope that it would supplant the extensive jargon then and now in use\, Dawson wrote five hooks on fairy problems: Caissa’s Wild Roses (1935); C. M. Fox\, His Problems (1936); Caissa’s Wild Roses in Clusters (1937); Ultimate Themes (1938); and Caissa’s Fairy Tales (1947). \nCaissa’s Wild Roses in Clusters\, TR Dawson\, Chess Amateur\, 1937\nCharles Masson Fox (1866-1935) was a patron whose generosity made possible the publication of four of these books and the two fairy problem magazines founded by Dawson. Ultimate Themes deals with tasks\, another of Dawson’s favourite subjects. In 1973 all five books were republished in one volume. Five Classics of Fairy Chess. \nFive Classics of Fairy Chess\, TR Dawson\, Dover Publications Inc.; Revised edition (1 Sept. 1973)\nDawson found it difficult to understand the problemist’s idea of beauty because it is not susceptible to precise definition. The artist talks of “quiet” moves\, oblivious that they are White’s most pulverizing attacks! This aesthetic folly\, reverence\, response thrill to vain-glorious bombast runs throughout chess.(See Bohemian for a problem showing 16 model mates\, a task Dawson claimed as a record but a setting Bohemian composers would reject.) His genius did not set him apart from his fellows; he could find time for casual visitors and would explain his ideas to a tyro with patience\, modesty\, and kindness. Although he won many tourney prizes much of his work was designed to encourage others\, to enlarge the small band of fairy problem devotees\, He composed less for fame than to amuse himself\, confessing to another composer ‘We do these things for ourselves alone.’ \nCaissa’s Fairy Tales\, TR Dawson\, Chess Amateur\, 1947\nA chemistry graduate\, Dawson took a post in the rubber industry in 1922 and rose to be head of the Intelligence Division of the British Rubber Manufacturer for which he founded\, catalogued\, and maintained a technical library. Unwell for the last year of his life\, he died from a stroke. K. Fabel and C. E. Kemp\, Schach ohne Grenzen or Chess unlimited (1969) is a survey\, written in German and English\, of Dawson’s contribution to the art of fairy problems.” \nThomas Rayner Dawson (28-xi-1889 16-xii-1951)\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale 1970 & 1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“British problemist. Born on 28th November 1889. Died on 16th December 1951. Universally known as TRD.\, the great master of Fairy problems. His wealth of invention held the chess world enthralled. His output comprised about 6\,400 problems and 150 studies. \nDawson was a nephew of the late James Rayner\, himself a noted chess problemist . From as early as about 1910\, TRD had conducted the ‘Chess Endings‘ section in the Chess Amateur\, and its Fairy section from 1919. He worked with BG Laws from Mark 1930 conducting the problem pages of the British Chess Magazine\, and following Laws’ death he assumed complete charge of the section from October 1931 to February 1951 when ill health forced him to relinquish the work. \nFairy Chess Review\nThe Problemist Fairy Chess Supplement subsequently renamed The Fairy Chess Review was started by TRD in August 1930. TRD was concerned in a number of other chess publications ; chess for the Blind\, several books of the AC White Christmas series\, BCPS Honours 1926-29\, and the CM Fox series. \nHe was largely instrumental in the publication of the first issue of The Problemist on 1st January 1926\, and was editor until May 1931. He was President of The British Chess Problem Society from September 1931 to 1943. \nUltimate Themes\, TR Dawson\, Chess Amateur\, 1938\nApart from chess\, Thomas Dawson\, MSc\, FRIC\, FIRI was an international authority on rubber\, and was responsible for the creation of the world-famous rubber library at Croydon\, as well as its ‘Dawson’ system of rubber literature documentation. A Guide to Fairy Chess and The Problemist March 1952 detail the remarkable life-time accomplishments of TRD.” \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXI (71\, 1951)\, Number 3 (March) pp. 78-80 we have notice of the retirement of TRD written by Brian Reilly : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXX1 (71\, 1951)\, Number 3 (March) pp. 77 – 80.\nFollowing that we have this appreciation from the incoming Problem Editor\, Stanley Sedgwick of 337 Strone Road\, Manor Park\, London E12 : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXX1 (71\, 1951)\, Number 3 (March) pp. 77 – 80.\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXX1 (71\, 1951)\, Number 3 (March) pp. 77 – 80.\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXX1 (71\, 1951)\, Number 3 (March) pp. 77 – 80.\nUnfortunately TRD was to pass away not much more than a year after the retirement notice and in British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 4 (April) pp. 107 – 108 we have this obituary also from Stanley Sedgwick : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 4 (April) pp. 107 – 108\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 4 (April) pp. 107 – 108\nThe same obituary contains the following appreciate by Gerald Abrahams : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 4 (April) pp. 107 – 108\nFrom Wikipedia : \n“Thomas Rayner Dawson (28 November 1889 – 16 December 1951) was an English chess problemist and is acknowledged as “the father of Fairy Chess”.[1] He invented many fairy pieces and new conditions. He introduced the popular fairy pieces grasshopper\, nightrider\, and many other fairy chess ideas. \nDawson published his first problem\, a two-mover\, in 1907. His chess problem compositions include 5\,320 fairies\, 885 directmates\, 97 selfmates\, and 138 endings. 120 of his problems have been awarded prizes and 211 honourably mentioned or otherwise commended. He cooperated in chess composition with Charles Masson Fox. \nDawson was founder-editor (1922–1931) of The Problemist\, the journal of the British Chess Problem Society. He subsequently produced The Fairy Chess Review (1930–1951)\, which began as The Problemist Fairy Chess Supplement. At the same time he edited the problem pages of The British Chess Magazine (1931–1951). \nPublications \nCaissa’s Playthings a series of articles in Cheltenham Examiner (1913)\nRetrograde Analysis\, with Wolfgang Hundsdorfer (1915)\nFata Morgana\, with Birgfeld\, Nanz\, Massmann\, Pauly (1922)\nAsymmetry\, with W. Pauly (1928)\nSeventy Five Retros (1928)\nCaissa’s Wild Roses (1935)\nC. M. Fox\, His Problems (1936)\nCaissa’s Wild Roses in Clusters (1937)\nUltimate Themes (1938)\nCaissa’s Fairy Tales (1947)\nThe last five titles were collected as Five Classics of Fairy Chess\, Dover Publications (1973)\, ISBN 978-0-486-22910-2.”
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-thomas-rayner-dawson/
CATEGORIES:Composer,Death Anniversary,History,Problemist
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201215
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201216
DTSTAMP:20201226T165141Z
CREATED:20190822T163644Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201226T165141Z
UID:1000-1607990400-1608076799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Horatio Caro (05-vii-1862 15-xii-1920)
DESCRIPTION:We remember Horatio Caro who passed away on Wednesday\, December 15th\, 1920. \nHoratio Caro was born on Saturday\, July 5th 1862. On the same day Heinrich Georg Bronn\, German geologist and paleontologist passed away. \nHis parents were (in the 1861 census) Jacob and Mathilda Caro (née Lüpschütz\, possibly Lipschütz) living at 4\, Warwick Place\, Jesmond\, Newcastle upon Tyne. \nHoratio’s birth was recorded at Lombard Street\, Newcastle upon Tyne. \nJacob and Horatio moved to Berlin to live at 2\, Winterfeld Strasse. They both had joint German/British citizenship. \nIn 1896 Jacob passed away and his affairs were handled by family solicitors\, Daggett and Grey of 3 Dean Street\, Newcastle-upon-Tyne : \nThe London Gazette\, 1896\nOn December 15th 1920 JHD Reid\, Master of the Institution of South Grove (a workhouse) recorded the discharge of Horatio. The reason stated was “dead”. \nHis death was registered in Mile End Old Town and he is buried in the East Ham Jewish cemetery\, London Borough of Newham\, Greater London located at Section E Row 18 Plot 14. \nGrave marker for Horatio Caro. Photograph from Gordon Cadden to Ken Whyld Assocation\nAccording to Wolfgang Heidenfeld in The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \n“A minor English master who spent most of his chess life in Berlin. Though he had indifferent tournament not much better match results (he lost to Mieses\, and Winawer\, drew twice with Von Bardeleben and beat Lewitt)\, his name has become immortal through the Caro-Kann Defence\, which he expounded in his own journal\, Brüderschaft\, in 1886.” \nThe Caro-Kann Defence is characterised by \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\n(as an alternative to the French Defence) in which the c8 bishop may be active from an early stage. \nCaro famously was able to overcome Emanuel Lasker in just 14 moves in 1890 : \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nThere is also the Caro Variation of the Ponziani Defence which was known since the 1850s and recommended by Caro in Deutsches Wochenschach\, 1893: \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFrom Chess\, Facts and Fables (McFarland and Company\, Inc.\, 2006)\, page 12\, Chess Note 3096\, Edward Winter : \n“We can now add a tenth specimen to the collection (of ‘Rare queen sacrifices’)\, having noted the following position on page 81 of Brüderschaft\, 10 March 1888 : \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nThe magazine (see also page 155 of the 12 May 1888 issue) stated that in this game\, played in February 1888 (in Berlin?)\, Horatio Caro mated his unidentified opponent in five moves as above.” \nIn another place we are grateful to Brian Denman who mentioned that  Caro made an  appearance for the Great Britain team in the 1898 cable match against America. He lost on board 3 against John Barry. \nRichard James replied : “He also represented Berlin in a cable match against New York in 1905. EdoChess has his highest rating as 2545 (11th in the world) in 1892.” \nAlso\, according to Richard James : \n“He spent most of his life in Germany. Page 353 of the Jubiläums-Ausgabe (1926) of Kagans Neueste Schachnachrichten (yes\, I also read Edward Winter’s Chess Notes) claims that he lived in Frankfurt up to his 22nd year and in Berlin from 1882 onwards (arithmetic fail). Some sources claim\, incorrectly\, that he died in Berlin. \nHis death was registered in Mile End Old Town. In the 1911 census there are a lot of Caros in St George in the East\, just the other side of the Commercial Road from Mile End Old Town\, from their first names clearly Jewish. There’s also Blanche Caro\, a 65-year-old Polish born widow\, described as a furrier\, in hospital in Mile End Old Town.” \nThere is extensive discussion from the same above source. \nFrom Wikipedia : \n“Horatio Caro (5 July 1862 – 15 December 1920) was an English chess master. \nCaro was born in Newcastle upon Tyne\, England\,[1] but spent most of his chess career in Berlin\, Germany. He played several matches. In 1892\, he drew with Curt von Bardeleben (+2 –2 =2)\, lost to Szymon Winawer (+2 –3 =1). In 1897\, he lost to Jacques Mieses (+3 –4 =3). In 1903\, he drew with Bardeleben (+4 –4 =0). In 1905\, he won against Moritz Lewitt (+4 –3 =5). \nIn tournaments\, he won in Berlin (1888\, 1891\, 1894\, 1898 (jointly)\, and 1903). He also took 10th at Berlin 1883\, took 4th at Berlin 1887\, tied for 2nd-3rd at Nuremberg 1888\, took 3rd at Berlin 1889\, took 2nd at Berlin 1890. \nHe took 3rd at Berlin 1894\, took 9th at Berlin 1897\, took 17th at Vienna 1898\, took 4th at Berlin 1899\, tied for 6-7th at Berlin 1902\, tied for 11-12th at Coburg 1904\, tied for 7-8th at Barmen 1905\, took 9th at Berlin 1907\, tied for 3-5th at Berlin 1908\, and took 4th at Berlin 1911. \nCaro died in London at age 58. \nHis claim to fame is linked to the opening Caro-Kann Defence (B12)\, which he analysed along with Marcus Kann and jointly published about on the German journal Bruederschaft in 1886.”
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-horatio-caro/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201212
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201213
DTSTAMP:20201212T190642Z
CREATED:20200407T103614Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201212T190642Z
UID:4127-1607731200-1607817599@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of David Pritchard (19-x-1919 12-xii-2005)
DESCRIPTION:We remember David Pritchard who passed away on Monday\, December 12th\, 2005. \nDavid Brine Pritchard was born on Sunday\, October 19th\, 1919. On this day the first US Distinguished Service Medal was awarded to a living female recipient\, Anna Howard Shaw. \nHe was born in Wandsworth taking his mothers’  Winifred maiden name of Brine (as was customary in those days). His father was Arthur Pritchard (DoB : 4th January 1890) and he was the managing director of an Engineering Company. Arthur and Winifred married in Maidenhead\, Berkshire in 1917. \nAt the time of the 1939 census David was a chiropodist and recorded as single and living in Munee Cottage\, Main Street\, Bedford. Main Street appears to have been renamed to Main Road which is in Biddenham. It is likely DBPs cottage was something like : \n48 and 50 Main Road Biddenham\, Bedford\, Hertfordshire\nDuring the second world War David joined the Royal Air Force and was stationed in the Far East and following the war\, he switched to intelligence work also for the RAF. He attained the rank of Squadron Leader and played much chess during this period of his life. \nIn 1950 David completed his first book : The Right Way to Play Chess\, Elliot Right Way Books\, 1950\, ISBN 1-58574-046-2 \nThe Right Way to Play Chess\, Elliot Right Way Books\, DB Pritchard\, 1950.\n(Ed : This was the first chess book of this article’s author and was thoroughly consumed!) \nOn page 224 of said book David wrote : \nChessplayers – and this must be whispered – are generally an egotistical\, ill-mannered crowd. If they conformed to common rules of decorum these words would not have to be written \nfollowed by \nI once carried out a private survey at a well-known chess restaurant where a large number of ‘friendly’ games are always in progress. In less than 30 per cent of those observed was resignation made with a good grace. In two-thirds of the games the loser either knocked his king over\, abruptly pushed the pieces into the centre of the board\, started to set up the men for a fresh game\, or got up and walked away without saying a word to his opponent. \nHe married Elaine Saunders in 1952. \nElliot Right Way Books was an excellent choice of publisher for David and only 36 minutes by car from his new home in Godalming. \nHe won the Singapore Championship in 1954 and the Malaysian Championship in 1955. \nVisiting https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter97.html you will find two images of David and Elaine playing chess in Singapore. \nDavid and Elaine had a daughter\, Wanda on March 21st 1958. She became Wanda Dakin who was also a chess player. Wanda attended Guildford High School for Girls and then Royal Holloway College\, Egham. \nDavid was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 1958-59 and 1965-66 seasons. \nFrom the British Championships\, 1959 in York we have this sparkling game with Frank Parr : \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nBy now David had developed an  interest in chess variants and board games in general. \nHe played in and won (several times) the Battle of Britain Chess Tournament : DBP was the organisations President. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nIn 1970 he brought out his third book :  Begin Chess\, David Pritchard\, Elliot Right Way Books\, 1952 \nBegin Chess by David Brine Pritchard\, Elliot Right Way Books\, 1970\nBegin Chess by David Brine Pritchard\, Elliot Right Way Books\, 1970\nDavid became President of British Chess Variants Society and wrote many books on variants and indoor games. \nHere is an interview compiled by Hans Bodlaender about David’s Encyclopedia of Chess Variants : \nEncyclopedia of Chess Variants\, DB Pritchard\, GAMES & PUZZLES PUBLICATIONS\, 1994\nParticularly interesting was this Q&A : \nDo you think computers and the Internet will have effect on chess and on chess variants? If so\, in what way? \nI think that the Internet will inevitably introduce chess to more players but I forsee chess variants\, because of their novelty\, benefitting in particular from publicity on the net. I expect variants to gain more and more adherents in the future. \nDavid was preparing a second edition before he passed away. This was completed and made available on-line by John Beasley. \nThe Pritchard family lived at Badgers Wood\, Hascombe Road\, Godalming\, Surrey\, GU8 4AA in an idyllic location : \nBadgers Wood\, Hascombe Road\, Godalming\, Surrey\, GU8 4AA\nand here is the exceptional interior with games room : \n  \nBadgers Wood\, Hascombe Road\, Godalming\, Surrey\, GU8 4AA\nAt the time of his passing he had five grand children. \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXVI (126\, 2006)\, Number 2 (February)\, page 76 : \n“David Brine Pritchard (19 x 1919 Streatham\, London – 12 xiii 2005\, London) has died following a fall . He was a strong amateur player and a successful author of books on chess and other games. \nDavid Pritchard was a Squadron Leader in the RAF during the war and later rejoined it to work in intelligence. Whilst serving with the RAF he won the Malayan Chess Championships in 195\, and he was also instrumental in the running the UK event known as Battle of Britain Tournament which attracted a strong field in its heyday and generated revenue for the RAF Benevolent Fund. \nHe was a dangerous. attacking played who scored a number of notable scalps in the British Championship including Penrose and Miles\, without ever achieving the consistency required to challenge for the leading positions.  He won the Southern Counties championships in 1959 and 1966. \nAs an author\, Pritchard’s most successful book was The Right Way to Play Chess (Elliott\, 1950\, with numerous reprints). which is still to be found for sale in many British bookshops. \nHe will also be remembered as a leading authority on chess variants : he was reported to be in the process of preparing a second edition of The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants (1994) at the time of his death. He was also a very good correspondence player\, an inventor composer of chess puzzles of all sorts (some of which appeared in BCM) and his interest in Fairy chess dated back to the 1940s. \nHis wife Elaine Pritchard\, the leading woman player of the 1950s and 1960s\, and their daughter Wanda (who also played competitive chess) survive him. We send them our condolences on behalf of BCM and its readers.” \nDavid Pritchard (19-x-1919 12-xii-2005)\, Passport photograph\nHe was a leading member of Godalming Chess Club and played in the Surrey Border League. \nThe David Pritchard Shield from the Surrey Border League\nHere is David’s Wikipedia entry \nThe Family Book of Games\, DB Prichard\, Brockhampton Press\, 1994
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-david-brine-pritchard-19-x-1919-12-xii-2005/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Variants,Writer
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201211
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201212
DTSTAMP:20210804T171641Z
CREATED:20210125T154414Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210804T171641Z
UID:13467-1607644800-1607731199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Richard Griffith (22-vii-1872 11-xii-1955)
DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of Richard Griffith (22-vii-1872 11-xii-1955) \nSee Chess World\, Volume 11\, Number 6\, June 1956\, page 128. \nHere is his Wikipedia entry.
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-richard-griffith-22-vii-1872-11-xii-1955/
CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Writer
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201211
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201212
DTSTAMP:20201211T135933Z
CREATED:20191211T101420Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201211T135933Z
UID:2290-1607644800-1607731199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of FM Peter Clarke (18-iii-1933 11-xii-2014)
DESCRIPTION:PH Clarke\nWe remember FM Peter Clarke who passed away on Thursday\, December 11th\, 2014 whilst living at Chapel House\, Bude\, Cornwall\, EX23 9SQ \nPeter Hugh Clarke was born on Saturday\, March 18th 1933 in West Ham\, London. His mother’s maiden name was Ekblom. \nFrom The Modest Master of Morwenstow by James Pratt (sadly\, as yet\, unpublished) : \n“Peter Hugh Clarke was born in London on 18th March\, 1933. At the age of eight or nine he taught himself the game from ‘The Book of Knowledge’ and played friendly games with his cousin\, who was about a year older. Peter’s father supported his game for many years. PHC was a student at St. Bonaventures School and London University. World War II\, and its even longer aftermath\, robbed him of a number of playing opportunities. It is surprising that he had no childhood heroes\, although later the play of Botvinnik\, Keres and Smyslov impressed him.” \nPeter Clarke with father\, Courtesy of Keverel Chess\nFrom British Chess (Pergamon\, 1983) written by George Botterill : \nChess correspondent of The Sunday Times\, Clarke played for England in the Olympiads of 1954\, 56\, 58\, 60\, 62\, 66 and 68. He has never won the British Championship but has come 2nd on 5 occasions. \nA fine writer. His best books are Mikhail Tal’s Best Games of Chess \nMikhail Tal’s Best Games of Chess\, PH Clarke\, Bell\, 1961\nand Petrosian’s Best Games of Chess 1946-1963 both published by Bell. \nPetrosian’s Best Games of Chess 1946-1963\, PH Clarke\, George Bell & Sons Ltd\, 1964\nThe most remarkable thing about Clarke’s chess career was they way in which he became transformed\, in about 1968-9\, into the most drawish of players. In British tournaments he has become notorious for correct but dull solidity.” \nPeter was Southern Counties (SCCU) Champion for the 1945-55 season. \nPeter was England’s third Correspondence Grandmaster (CGM) in 1980 after Keith Richardson and Adrian Hollis. \nPeter at the dinner table\nFrom BCM / ECF : \n“FIDE and British Master P.H. Clarke will be best remembered as biographer to Tal and to Petrosyan\, but he was so much more. The young Clarke played for Ilford CC in the London League and for Essex at county level. Doing national service he was to learn the Russian that was to so shape his writings. \nThe 1964 England Olympiad (Tel Aviv) Team : Owen Hindle\, Čeněk Kottnauer\, Peter Clarke\, Michael Franklin\, Norman Littlewood & Michael Haygarth\nFor a brief period in the late 1950s\, and early sixties\, he was the number two player in England\, ahead of the vastly more experienced Alexander and Golombek. He played\, of course\, below Jonathan Penrose\, a partnership that bore fruit when preparing openings; latterly they both became Correspondence Grandmasters.” \nPeter Clarke at the 1963 Ilford Whitsun Congress. Source : British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXXIII\, Number 7 (July)\, page 194\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFM Peter Clarke\n“At the British Championships itself he finished second on his first appearance; he was to tie for silver medal on no less than five occasions\, appearing\, almost without a break for thirty years\, a run that ended in 1982. He represented the BCF – as it then was – in eight Olympiads\, playing on top board in 1966. \nBorislav Ivkov playing Peter Clarke at the 1960 Leipzig Olympiad. The game was a QGA which was drawn\nThe Clarke family moved to the West of England in the late Sixties. PHC played in thirteen WECU Championships\, and lost only twice. As a player he could be cautious\, agreeing too readily to draws. Accuracy and respect meant more to him than ambition. The biographer became a journalist as illness cut short his playing career. In his time he beat Larsen\, Penrose and Szabo. \n \nIn 1962 he married BH Wood’s daughter\, Peggy. They had three daughters. In 1975 my mother happened across Peter and Peggy on Morecambe prom. ‘Never’ she was later to tell me\, ‘have I seen a couple more in love.'” \nPeter Clarke & Peggy Wood in 1962\, Courtesy of Keverel Chess\nWe are grateful to James Pratt to allow us to quote from the the sadly unpublished “Modest Master from Morwenstow” as follows : \nPHC by John Littlewood : \n“Peter had a relatively short career at the top and it is interesting to comment on his style. In essence\, his great strength lay in positional understanding which backed-up his defensive skills rather than helped his ability to create wins; in other words\, he won games in which his opponents over-pressed or opted for dubious positional moves. \nAfter doing well in English chess\, he was perhaps pushed into international chess too early for him to develop his own personal creative style. Playing for England and meeting strong players\, he tended towards a rather negative approach that may have been necessary for the team but was not good for his own personal progress\, as shown when he later met English opponents who outstripped him in their positive will-to-win. His friendship with Penrose (a far stronger player) led to far too many draws which did neither of them any good. \nMikhail Tal’s Best Games of Chess\, PH Clarke. Bell\, 1961\nTo be fair\, Peter was not an easy player to beat but\, on the other hand\, he was not too hard to draw against if you felt so inclined. His forte lay in his knowledge of the game and his excellent writing skills\, where he was at his happiest; there is hardly a book of his that I haven’t enjoyed.” \nPetrosian’s Best Games of Chess 1946-1963\, PH Clarke\, Bell\, 1971\nWriting in BCM 04/64\, John Littlewood called PHC a self-style non-tactician and disagreed with Clarke’s belief in the inner logic (‘I have made no mistakes and therefore my position is OK.’) of positions where tactics are to the fore. \nFM Peter Clarke\nPHC by Leonard Barden : \n“Peter’s contribution to British Chess was important as a player and even more so as a writer. His best period was 1956-61. He\, Penrose and myself used to stay in the same hotel during the British Championships and prepare and analyse together\, although we played hard when actually paired. Peter was the solid man in the English team\, gradually taking over the role of Golombek. It was important that we did reasonably well in this period which provided a bridge between the Alexander/Golombek era and the rise of Keene/Hartston. \nPeter was always a good friend to me and his family gave me hospitality each year during the Ilford Congress. Peter’s books\, especially the one about Tal\, were real works of scholarship in an era where there were no computers to facilitate the job. He could have achieved more as a player if he had been able to concentrate fully on that\, but the economic climate then was poor for professionals.” \nPeter and life long friend\, Jonathan Penrose\, Courtesy of Keverel Chess\nPHC by Bernard Cafferty : \n“Right up to that point of his illness in the 1980’s he had worthily defended the reputation of the older generation in the British Championship\, as the last survivor\, still active at that level\, from the Penrose era. I first saw Peter at the 1951 British Championship at Chester and first played him at the 1952 Bristol Universities individual contest. \n24th USSR Chess Championships\, PH Clarke\, British Chess Magazine\, 1959\nHe left the University of London before taking his degree (study of chess rather taking over his life)\, but then had the good fortune to go on to study Russian while doing his National Service\, around 1954-55. Or was he still in the Army when the Moscow 1956 Olympiad took place? He certainly did well there\, perhaps less affected than other Westerners by the strangeness of the place that was just recovering slightly from the depths of Stalin’s baleful influence. \n  \nVV Smyslov – My Best Games of Chess\, edited and translated by PH Clarke\, Routledge and Kegan Paul\, 1958\nI do recall that for a couple of years Peter changed his cautious style. This was around 1957-58 when he scored one of his two wins against Penrose. Was it at Ilford? I remember that the game appeared with notes by B.H. Wood in ‘The Illustrated London News’ column. \nCien Miniaturas Rusas\n  \nI used to see Peter regularly at the Paignton and Hastings Congresses in the 1990’s but not in the last couple of years. His health seems restored.” \nPeter with Brian Reilly observing playing ? with ? in the background.\nPHC by Ken Harman : \n“I am very pleased to hear about your book about Peter Clarke; not sure I can contribute much as I wasn’t a friend of his so only knew him through seeing him and Margaret at chess tournaments. He was a quiet spoken gentleman who played such quiet positional chess that I would call it ‘monastic chess’. I think Clarke thought chess a search for spiritual truth\, only to be found in the cloisters of spiritual truth\, only to be found in the cloisters of contemplative life – ‘The Thomas Merton of Chess’\, if you like. Of course\, I have no idea if he was a spiritual man in real life but his chess always struck me as if he was reaching for heaven and found hell in a doubled pawn. He seemed like a nice man and I suspect his wife Margaret was the dominant one. I have his book on Mikhail Tal’s Best Games of Chess (Bell 1961) which is signed by him and may well have been his copy\, because as you open the book – there is a small newspaper clipping and a photo of Clarke sellotaped which is rather unusual being that the book is about Tal\, and not him. ” \nPeter plays Erich Gottlieb Eliskases at the 1960 Leipzig Olympiad\nPHC by Alan P. Borwell (ICCF Honorary President) : \n“I first met Peter at the 1959 BCF Congress in York when I was a member of local organising committee and then at Paignton and when York played & won the National Club Championship in 1964/5. \nIn 1966 I played Peter in the British Chess Championship in last round in Sunderland.” \nPeter analyses “al fresco” with ?. Possibly from Hastings ?\nand from Wikipedia : \nPeter Hugh Clarke (18 March 1933 – 11 December 2014) was an English chess player\, who hold titles FIDE master (FM) and International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (1980)\, FIDE International arbiter (1976)\, Chess Olympiad individual silver medal winner (1956). \nPeter Clarke started playing chess at the age of six. He twice won the London Boys’ Chess Championship (1950\, 1951). He was British Chess Championship multiplier participant where five times won silver medal. \nSince 1959\, Peter Hugh Clarke has been working as a chess journalist in the newspaper Sunday Times and magazine British Chess Magazine. He known as the biographical book’s author of Mikhail Tal (1961) and Tigran Petrosian (1964). Thanks to his good knowledge of Russian language\, he translated the book about Vasily Smyslov in 1958. In 1963 he wrote a book 100 Soviet Chess Miniatures. \nPeter Clarke played for England in the Chess Olympiads : \nIn 1954\, at second reserve board in the 11th Chess Olympiad in Amsterdam (+2\, =2\, -3)\,\nIn 1956\, at reserve board in the 12th Chess Olympiad in Moscow (+7\, =5\, -0) and won individual silver medal\,\nIn 1958\, at fourth board in the 13th Chess Olympiad in Munich (+2\, =10\, -3)\,\nIn 1960\, at third board in the 14th Chess Olympiad in Leipzig (+4\, =7\, -3)\,\nIn 1962\, at second board in the 15th Chess Olympiad in Varna (+3\, =10\, -2)\,\nIn 1964\, at second board in the 16th Chess Olympiad in Tel Aviv (+2\, =8\, -2)\,\nIn 1966\, at first board in the 17th Chess Olympiad in Havana (+2\, =10\, -1)\,\nIn 1968\, at third board in the 18th Chess Olympiad in Lugano (+0\, =7\, -1).\nAlso he played for England in the World Student Team Chess Championship (1954\, 1959)and in the Clare Benedict Chess Cup (1960-1961\, 1963\, 1965\, 1967-1968) where won team silver medal (1960) and 4 bronze medals (1961\, 1963\, 1967\, 1968). \nIn later years\, Peter Clarke active participated in correspondence chess tournaments. In 1977\, he won British Correspondence Chess Championship. In 1976\, Peter Clarke was awarded the International Correspondence Chess Master (IMC) title and received the International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (GMC) title four years later.
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-fm-peter-hugh-clarke-18-iii-1933-11-xii-2014/
CATEGORIES:British Championships,Correspondence,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Writer
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201211
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201212
DTSTAMP:20201216T163810Z
CREATED:20190822T155314Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201216T163810Z
UID:985-1607644800-1607731199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Joseph Blake (11-xii-1951)
DESCRIPTION:We remember English player Joseph Blake who passed away on Tuesday\, December 11th\, 1951. \nJoseph Henry Blake was born on Thursday\, February 3rd\, 1859 in Farnborough\, Hampshire. His parents were Joseph Denner and Eliza Blake (née Early). In 1871 Joseph (aged 12) had a brother Frank (aged 10)\, sisters Annie (8)\, Elizabeth S (7)\, Eliza E (1) and a servant\, Kate Longman aged 18. The family lived in Lydia Cottage\, Hewitts Road\, Millbrook\, South Stoneham\, Hampshire. \nAccording to the 1861 census Joseph was two years old and living with his parents and Frank in Rotten Row\, Yeovil\, Somerset. \nIn 1881 the family has upped sticks again and moved to 2 St. Lawrence Road\, Saint Mary\, Eastleigh\, Hampshire. This address is also given as the South West Telegraph Office. Eliza was now the head of the household and a widower. Apart from Eliza E aged 11 everyone worked for the railway. \nIn 1891 Joseph had become Head of the Household (aged 32) and they had acquired a servant (Anna M Cornell) and a blacksmith (Francis Cornell) from Braintree in Essex. \nIn 1900 Joseph married Alice New in Cheltenham\, Gloucestershire. They lived at 24\, Barton Road\, Eastleigh\, Hampshire. Tragically\, Alice passed away in 1903. \nJoseph Henry Blake\nBy 1911 Joseph was 52 and had retained his career as a Railway Clerk. He lived at 33\, Broomfield Road\, Tolworth\, Surrey : \n33\, Broomfield Road\, Tolworth\, Surrey\nHe is recorded as the head of a household of one and a widower. \nIn 1939 Joseph was living at 10 Springfield Court\, Springfield Road\, Kingston Upon Thames\, Surrey. He was now retired. \nNo doubt there would have been other addresses not captured by the census records. \nAccording to The Encyclopedia of Chess\, (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \n“A leading British player in the 1890s and for many years editor of the Games Section of the British Chess Magazine between the two world wars. Blake’s best tournament performance came at the age sixty-three when\, at Weston-super-Mare in 1922\, he came 1st ahead of Maróczy\, Kostić\, Sir George Thomas and Yates. \nThe remarkable feature about Blake’s chess career is that he retained his skill and his comprehension of the game for a much longer period that most chess players. This extended from 1887 when he was 1st at the Counties Chess Association tournament at Stamford ahead of Bird and Pollock\, a performance he was to repeat in 1891 at Oxford\, to 1909 when he tied with H. E. Atkins for first place in the British Championship\, to 1923 when he won the Weston-super-Mare tournament\, right into the 1930s when he was principal annotator for the British Chess Magazine.” \nChess Endings for Beginners\, JH Blake\, George Routledge First Edition (1900)\nand according to The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale\, 1970 & 1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“One of the leading British players at the end of the last century and the beginning of the present century. Born on 3rd February 1859. Represented England in the Anglo-American cable matches in 1902 and 1909. His best results were 1st in the Counties’ Chess Association Tournament 1887\, ahead of Bird and MacDonnell; =1st with HE Atkins in the 1909 British Championship\, but lost the play-off for the title; 1st at Weston-super-Mare 1922 ahead of Maroczy\, Kostich\, Sir George Thomas and Yates\, and winner of the brilliancy prize for his game against Sir George Thomas; 2nd in the international correspondence chess tournament organised by Le Monde Illustre in 1895. \nBlake was President of the Southern Counties Chess Association in 1911 and President of the Hampshire Chess Association from 1910-1912 and from 1927-1929. He was also Hon. Secretary of the City of London Chess Club for some years.” \nAccording to Tim Harding in the excellent Correspondence Chess in Britain and Ireland\, 1824-1987 : \nRailway clerk Joseph Henry Blake\, the leading English correspondence player of the 1890s; also a strong OTB amateur player. He was a regular contributor to British Chess Magazine from the 1880s to the late 1930s. \nIn British Chess Magazine\, Volume XXXIX (39\, 1919)\, Number 3 (March) we have the following from Julius du Mont : “I presume it relates more particularly to chess professionals in this country\, at any rate\, it does not seem to me that the jews hold rank amongst first-class amateurs in proportion to their numbers. \nIn London there are very few if any of the class of RC Griffith\, GA Thomas\, JH Blake\, HG Cole\, EG Sergeant\, and many others to say nothing of the younger recruits \, W.Winter and RHV Scott.” \nFrom the 1949 British Chess Magazine (written by RN Coles) we have this : \nJH Blake is Ninety \nAfter an absence of ten years I looked in recently on the Kingston and Thames Valley Chess Club. There were many new faces and a number of familiar ones\, among the latter one of rosy countenance\, trim beard and twinkling eyes\, none other than JH Blake\, more vigorous than ever and attaining his 90th birthday on the 3rd February. \nTwenty years ago in this same club I (RN Coles) was learning the game\, now middle age approaches. Blake was an elderly man in those days\, who had retired from all competitive play because of the strain it imposed; now\, so far from showing the weight of years\, he is back in competitive chess again.  He won the club championship last year and is in a fair way to repeating his victory this year. Of all the ‘Grand Old Men’ of chess\, few have still been champions in their 90th year. \nOlder readers of the BCM will remember him as their Games Editor for many years\, but few memories will cover the whole series of his successes beginning with a 1st at Stamford in 1887. Even 1922 must seem a distant year to the generation of today. That was the year that Maroczy and Kostic were invited to Weston-super-Mare to meet such rising young English masters as FD Yates and Sir George Thomas. And the first prize amongst those talented players was won by JH Blake\, who had been born just when Morphy returned to England after his Paris Victory over Anderssen ! \nAll readers of the BCM and all players everywhere will wish Britain’s oldest master continued health and increasing vigour\, and those who knew him today will be surprised if he does not continue his attack for another decade at least. \nBesides winning the first prize at Weston Blake also won the brilliancy prize with the following game : (#10\,229) \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 2 (February)\, pp.44-46 contained an obituary with articles from MDB* : \n*(Careful investigation by Richard James suggest that MDB is Mabel Dorothy Barker\, JHB’s niece in 6th Cross Road.) \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 2 (February) pp. 44 – 46\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 2 (February) pp. 44 – 46\nand EG Sergeant : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 2 (February) pp. 44 – 46\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 2 (February) pp. 44 – 46\n[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcSXOFgU7Mc[/embedyt] \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFor more on this game and its often mis-reported continuation see this article from Edward Winter. \nFrom Wikipedia : \n“Joseph Henry Blake (3 February 1859\, Farnborough\, Hampshire – 11 December 1951\, Kingston-upon-Thames) was an English chess master. \nBlake won many tournaments played in England toward the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. He won at Stamford 1887\, Oxford 1891 (joint)\, Brighton 1892\, Cambridge 1893\, and Salisbury 1898 (joint). He also took 5th at Manchester 1882\, tied for 3-4th at Birmingham 1883 (Section B)\, took 4th at Bath 1884\, tied for 6-8th at London 1889 (Henry Bird won)\, took 2nd at Cambridge 1890\, tied for 3rd-4th at Woodhall Spa 1893\, shared 2nd at Craigside 1895\, took 3rd at Hastings (Amateur) 1895\, took 2nd\, behind Henry Ernest Atkins\, at Bristol 1896\, and won at Folkestone 1901. \nHe took 2nd in an international correspondence tournament organised by Le Monde Illustré in 1895\, shared 1st in the 1909 British Championship in Scarborough but lost to Atkins the play-off\, and shared 1st at London 1911. He was British correspondence champion in 1922. \nBlake represented England in cable matches against the United States in 1902\, 1909 and 1910. \nHis best achievement was victory\, ahead of Géza Maróczy\, George Alan Thomas\, Fred Yates and Boris Kostić\, at Weston-super-Mare 1922. He shared 2nd at London 1922 (Major Open)\, tied for 7-8th at Hastings International Chess Congress 1922/23 (Akiba Rubinstein won)\, took 2nd\, behind Thomas\, at London 1923\, took 5th at Liverpool 1923 (Jacques Mieses won)\, tied for 7-8th at Hastings 1923/24 (Max Euwe won)\, tied for 6-7th at Weston-super-Mare 1924 (Euwe won)\, took 2nd\, behind R.P. Michell\, at London 1925\, took 4th at London 1926 (Victor Buerger won)\, and tied for 7-9th at Weston-super-Mare 1926 (Euwe won).” \nHe is the author of Chess endings for beginners (London 1900). \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-joseph-henry-blake/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Writer
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201208
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201209
DTSTAMP:20211208T155947Z
CREATED:20191208T001021Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211208T155947Z
UID:3679-1607385600-1607471999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of John Fuller (12-v-1928  08-xii-2004)
DESCRIPTION:We remember John Fuller who passed away aged 76 on Wednesday\, December 8th 2004. His death was recorded in the district of Lancaster. At the end of his life he lived in Carnforth\, in Lancashire. \nJohn Arthur Fuller was born in Hendon\, Middlesex on Saturday\, May 12th 1928. His parents were Horace Arthur Fuller (a Bank Officer) and Phyllis Fuller (née Gooch). \nJohn had three brothers: Julian Frederick who was two years older\, Nigel Anthony who was three years younger and Adrian Easterbrook who was six years younger. \nThey lived at 12\, High View\, Pinner in Middlesex. \n12\, High View\, Pinner\, Middlesex\, HA5 3PA\nOn August 26th 1939\, aged eleven\, John (described as a scholar) departed from Liverpool on board the SS Ceramic (part of the Shaw Savill & Albion Company shipping line) and duly arrived one hundred and twenty days later in Sydney\, New South Wales. \nThe family returned to Liverpool in March 1945 on board the Athlone Castle which was of the Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company Ltd. John was now sixteen years old. \nAccording to ancestry.co.uk he is survived by a son\, Robert. The family tree indicates that John had two sons and two daughters but his wife is marked as Private and so her name is not visible. We speculate that it may be Ann Fuller (née Dent) but this is awaiting confirmation. \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale\, 1972 & 1976) by Anne Sunnucks : \n“British Master\, British Boy Champion in 1946 and British Correspondence Champion from 1953-1955. Born on 12th May 1928 Fuller learned to play chess when he was 11. In 1946 \, the year in which he won the British Boys Championship\, he also tied for the London Boys Championship. He went on to win the Middlesex Championship three times and the Warwickshire Championship twice. Fuller played for England in matches between Scotland and the Netherlands and in the Clare Benedict International Team Tournament. He also had the best British score in the Premier Tournament at Hastings in 1949 and 1955. \nHe was a design engineer.” \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsfords\, 1977) by Harry Golombek: \n“British master and design engineer by profession. British Boy Champion in 1946. Fuller was a player of great promise with a fine understanding of the game. But a serious illness disturbed the even flow of his chess career and\, though he recovered and made some more appearences in the chess world\, he eventually withdrew from chess on an international and national level. \nFuller played twice in the Hastings Premier tournament: =5th 1949/50 and 6th in 1955/6.” \nThe Oxford Companion to Chess is silent on JAF. \nThere has been considerable discussion of JAF in another place. \nBCN would like to acknowledge help received from Richard James\, Leonard Barden\, Rob Fuller and John Upham in putting this article together. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nSubsequent to this post being published our attention was kindly drawn by John Saunders to the obituary in BCM\, Volume 125 (2005)\, #5 (May)\, page 247. Here is the article: \nJohn Fuller (12 v 1928 – 8 xii 2004\, Carnforth) was a British Master and British correspondence champion in 1954 and 1955. Having spent some of the war years in Australia\, he quickly made his mark in junior chess on his return to Britain. He shared first place with Leonard Barden in the 1946 London Boys’ Championship and went on to win the British Boys’ Championship in 1946 with 5/5 in the final section\, ahead of Gordon Crown and Leonard Barden. He beat an off-form Crown in nine moves in the last round (see game above) He played a number of correspondence games with Crown\, himself a richly gifted player\, who w0as to die tragically young in 1947\, and it was reported that Fuller had the better of these encounters. \nFuller became a design engineer\, but his business and chess careers were both affected by a serious bout of tuberculosis when he was a young man. He won the Hastings Premier Reserves ‘B’ with 8/9 in 1947/48 ahead of Alan Phillips and Arthur Winser\, and in 1949 Leonard Barden remembers playing off with him for a place in the 1949/50 Hastings premier after the two of them had made similar scores at the 1949 British Championship. \n“We played the match at Sir George Thomas’s flat in autumn 1949… and John crushed me in that. Not sure of the score\, I think it was 2.5- 0.5.” \nHe played in the Hastings Premier in 1949/50 and again in 1955/56\,and made the best British scores on both occasions – 4/9 and 3.5/9 respectively. He also represented England in matches against Scotland and the Netherlands\, and in the Clare Benedict team tournament. He only appeared three times in British Championships\, scoring 6.5 in 1949\, 5.5 in 1950 and 6.5 in 1958. He ranked in the top ten of the British Chess Federation Grading List on six occasions\, with a best place of third equal in 1958. He seems to have dropped out of over the board competition chess shortly after being awarded the (now defunct) British Master title in 1963/64. \nHarry Golombek referred to Fuller in The Encyclopaedia of Chess (1977) as a player of great promise with a fine understanding of the game”. Alan Phillips told BCM that he was “one of the most promising players of his generation… he slaughtered me three times”. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nLeonard Barden had the following memories of John Fuller: “He was a member of West London Chess Club\, which was historically significant as his good friend and fellow member (both living in Harrow) was Jim Slater\, who 25 years later told me that knowing John was one of the factors which kept his interest in chess up to the point where he became our Maecenas… John was a tall redhead\, outgoing and friendly\, and a natural talent who also worked on theory. With the better opportunities available to later generations I’m sure he would have reached IM strength.”
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-john-fuller-12-v-1928-iii-2005/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201203
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201204
DTSTAMP:20211202T104020Z
CREATED:20200323T140601Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211202T104020Z
UID:3698-1606953600-1607039999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of A(lfred) Christopher Reeves (19-ii-1939 03-xii-2012)
DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers Dr. A(lfred) Christopher Reeves who passed away on Monday\, December 3rd\, 2012 in St. Agnes\, Cornwall. His probate record (#4073868) is dated December 3rd\, 2012 being recorded in the Bristol registry. \nAlfred Christopher Reeves was born in Wharfedale\, Yorkshire on Sunday\, February 19th\, 1939. His mother’s name was Tomlin. \nAlfred detested his first name to the extent that he asked people to call him Christopher and\, when asked\, told them that the A was for Arthur. For this reason much of the chess literature uses Arthur whereas public records use Alfred. \nIn British Chess Magazine\, Volume 133 (2013)\, Number 1 (January)\, page 2 we have this obituary from James Pratt: \n“Alfred Christopher Reeves (Leeds\, 19 ii 1939 – St Agnes?\, 3 xii 2012). Chris Reeves was a FIDE Master of Composition. He toyed with entering the priesthood but became a child psychotherapist. He started composing (“…my solace and diversion …”) in 1960\, largely specialising in the orthodox two move field. Though not a prolific composer\, his work was known worldwide.\nHe was Sub-Editor of The Problemist” \nFrom the The Encyclopaedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE\, John Rice writes: \n“British problemist\, output consists of skilfully constructed two-movers in the modern style.” \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale\, 1970 & 1976)\, Anne Sunnucks wrote: : \n“Problem composer. Since 1960 he has composed about 70 modern-style two movers\, and is considered to be one of the most talented British composers. His originality and technique enable him to build into tangible form what would be no more than a passing idea for most composers. He has edited the problem section of Correspondence Chess\, and he controlled BCF tourneys and International Team matches.” \nFrom British Chess (Pergamon Press\, 1983) Botterill\, Levy\, Rice and Richardson we have this: \n“I was born on February 19th\, 1939\, the second son of a doctor who practised in a busy Yorkshire coal-mining town. As a youngster I acquired a taste for chess problems as soon as I learnt the moves of the game. \nI owe my initiation to the admirable column which DM Davey used to run in the weekly review The Tablet and to the enterprise of one of the masters of the boarding school to which I was sent when still quite young. Davey’s column catered for novice chess problemists like myself by conducting graded solving tournaments with modest handicaps. \nThese tournaments ran conveniently the length of the school term\, just long enough to sustain a young person’s enthusiasm\, The teacher in question used to put the week’s problem up on the school noticeboard and dozens of small schoolboys participated as a result. The Tablet column was not only a boon for beginners like me. It had a very discriminating band of solvers who were given ample space to express their views on each week’s problems. This had the additional effect of making it a popular forum for budding composers who need the stimulus and encouragement of audience response in what is\, after all\, a very solitary sort of pastime. \nMy fascination with chess problems soon diverted my energies away from the game itself. I was eight when I began solving. Another 13 years elapsed before I seriously tried my hand at composing. My immediate inspiration was the example of the then young trio of British composers\, Barry Barnes\, Michael Lipton and John Rice. Their latest work incorporating\, try-play\, and often exploiting complex patterns of relationships between mates\, was regarded as unacceptably\, ultramodern\, in some quarters but found ready appreciation with the solvers of Davey’s column. \nOther sorts of problems I had enjoyed; these I wanted to emulate. The powerful attraction their work had on me has made me chary ever since of the strictures of self-appointed guardians of chess problem ‘taste’\, who suggest that the modern two-mover cannot hold the same interest for the solver as the more traditional type. It certainly did not have a negative effect on me. \nProblem I was one of my earliest compositions\, in fact the first to gain any sort of award. At the time I was a theological student destined for the priesthood. I recall having felt some scruples about indulging in the frivolous pastime of chess problem composition not that it prevented me from becoming thoroughly addicted! \nI have found that a bad conscience makes a good chess problem\, and the greatest spur for composition is the feeling that one should really be busy doing something else. The problem shows a duel between the white queen and the black knight on d5\, each of whose eight possible moves feature as a unique defence against one of the white queen tries. Solvers have often found the key to this problem’ quite elusive. \nProblem I \nThe Tablet\, 30th June\, 1962 \n3rd Honorary Mention BCPS Ring Tournament \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nWhite to play and mate in 2 \n1.Qa1?…Nc7!\n1.Qa4?…Nb6!\n1.Qb1?…N5b4!\n1.Qc1?…Nc3!\n1.Qe1?…Ne3!\n1.Qf1?…N5f4!\n1.Qg4?…Nf6!\n1.Qg1?…Ne7! \nKey! Qb3! \nThe 1960s were my golden period of problem composition. They were my solace and diversion as I passed by way of theological studies through an Oxford degree to the foothills of a different career from the one I had originally envisaged\, not the ‘cure of souls’ but the management and treatment of emotionally disturbed children and their families. By the end of the decade I was\nalready engaged in working as a Child Psychotherapist. Since then I have found that human problems have tended to displace my former involvement with problems of the chess pieces. Whereas\nbetween 1960 and 1970 I composed seventy problems\, in the subsequent decade I could manage only a dozen more. The reason for this slowing down in production\, however\, has not only been the demands of personal\, family and professional life. \nAs a composer I have concentrated almost exclusively on the orthodox two-move field\, one which if not yet exhausted nevertheless presents a major challenge to the composer to find something new to say or some new way of saying it. It is no accident (though I admit to a slight feeling of regret) of heterodox problems has expanded enormously in the past few years. \nOf my eighty or so problems\, fifty have been honoured in tournaments\, ten with First prizes\, ten with other prizes and the rest with Honourable Mentions and Commendations. My ambition is to\nreach a respectable century of compositions\, though I being to wonder whether I shall ever make the mark. I would also like to reach the FIDE Master norm for problem composition. I have\nhad twenty of my problems included in the triennial FIDE Albums so far\, a few of them joint compositions. Here again\, however\, my productivity (or lack of it) may eventually tell against me. \nStill\, the problemist must always keep the business of honours in perspective. Composing problems is an essentially private business. Your opponent is the power of the pieces\, not a fellow sitting opposite Vou. Unlike the chess player\, one can keep one’s defeats to oneself when one puts the pieces away after a fruitless evening pondering over a board\, so it seems only fair that\none’s successes likewise should be modestly recorded. \nBy a coincidence two of the three problems which I have selected to round off this brief note about myself and my compositions are ones which got no recognition from the tournament judge\nat the time\, although I count them amongst my best works. \nI have chosen a trio of problems all roughly on the same theme\, namely\, the four possible moves of the pawn from its starting square. In chess problem parlance this is called the BP4M* theme when applied to the Black pawn\, and the Albino theme when applied to the White pawn. \nII and III show two ways in which four mates can be provided to meet each of the BP4M moves\, only to be changed in the next phase of play. In II\, the change is between mates set before the key and those operative after it; in III\, the change is more radical\, involving the transfer of the WR from one position to another\, thereby creating two separate but related (or ‘twin’) problems. Incidentally\, a good way to begin to get a taste of what composing involves is to take a problem like III and try to express the theme in full (here the changed BP4M) without resorting to the twinning device. \nMy last example\, IV\, shows a duel between white and black pawns\, with the four Albino tries being met by the four possible BP4M defences. \n(* BP4M is BCNs replacement for a word starting with p now considered by some as offensive.). \nWhilst the player may rejoice in a victory soundly accomplished I can think of few pleasures to compare with the satisfaction which comes from accomplishing the sort of task which IV entails\, especially when one is fairly sure that it has not been successfully achieved before. For me\, at all events\, this is what two-mover chess problem composition is all about: its is the ‘art if the all-but-impossible’!” \nProblem II \nDie Schwalbe August\, 1965 \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nWhite to play and mate in 2 \n1…dxc6+ 2. Bxc6\n1…d6 2.Nd5\n1…d5 2.Qb4\n1…dxe6 2.Bc8 \nKey 1.Qxe5! (2.exd7) \n1…dxc6 2.Nxc6\n1…d6 2.Qf6\n1…d5 2.Qc7\n1…dxe6 2.Qxe6\n1…Rd5+ 2.Nd5 \nProblem III \n1st Prize  \nProblemist Twin Tournament 1966-67 \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nWhite to play and mate in 2 \nProblem IV \nProbleemblad\, May\, 1965 \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nWhite to play and mate in 2 \nClearly Chris was a hugely popular figure in the problem world. Here is a collection of tributes from the BCPS.
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-alfred-christopher-reeves-19-ii-1939-3-xii-2012/
CATEGORIES:Composer,Death Anniversary,History,Problemist,Remembering
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201203
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201204
DTSTAMP:20191214T143821Z
CREATED:20190823T182153Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20191214T143821Z
UID:1098-1606953600-1607039999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Christopher Reeve (03-XII-2012)
DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of Christopher Reeve (03-XII-2012)
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-christopher-reeve/
CATEGORIES:Composer,Death Anniversary,History,Problemist
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201203
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201204
DTSTAMP:20201202T195659Z
CREATED:20190822T151040Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201202T195659Z
UID:971-1606953600-1607039999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Dr. James Aitken (27-x-1908 03-xii-1983)
DESCRIPTION:Signature of JM Aitken from a Brian Reilly “after dinner” postcard from Hastings Christmas Congress\, 1945-1946\nWe remember Dr. James Aitken who passed away on Saturday\, December 3rd\, 1983. \nJames Macrae Aitken was born on Tuesday\, October 28th 1908 in Calderbank\, Lanarkshire\, Scotland. \nHis very early history is best record here at the wonderful Chess Scotland web site. \nHe attended Balliol College\, Oxford. \nLuckily for all of us Scottish chess enthusiast Geoff Chandler is transcribing JMAs games from the players personal scorebooks. We hope to see these games appearing in Britbase and other locations in the near future. \nFrom The Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match by Klein and Winter : \n“JM Aitken was born in 1908 in Scotland\, and learned chess at the age of eight. He played several times in the Scottish Championship\, and won it in 1935. In the Stockholm international team tournament\, 1937\, he played for Scotland. His best performance in international chess was at Hastings\, 1945\, when he scored 6 points and did best among the British contingent. \nJames Macrae Aitken\nHe is a graduate of both Oxford and Edinburgh\, and a Ph.D. At the beginning of the war he joined the Foreign Office. ” \nThe Aitken Variation is a line recommended in the British Chess Magazine of 1937 of the Giuocco Piano as follows : \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume CIV (104\, 1984)\, Number 1 (January)\, page 65 : \n“Dr. James Macrae Aiken (27 October 1908 – 3 December 1983) died at his home in Cheltenham on the Saturday morning when he was due to turn out in a county match that afternoon. Sh he was active to the end\, since he played in the veterans’ competition in both at the Southport BCF Congress and at the Guernsey tournament in October. \nTen times Scottish Champion\, the worthy doctor represented Scotland at Olympiads both pre- and post-war. At the 1937 Stockholm Olympiad he beat Ståhlberg\, while later on he also had the grandmaster scalps of Bogoljubow and Tartakower to his credit. \nHe retired from his work at the Foreign Office some ten years ago\, and continued playing in West Country chess\, always taking a high board for Gloucestershire. At the BCM we have a particular cause to remember him with gratitude since he was both a book reviewer and occasional annotator for two decades\, and a life-long subscriber. \nAs a person he was always friendly and objective in his judgements both of chess positions and personalities. Your editor recalls many interesting conversations with him at BCF Congresses. The loss is greatest\, of course. for Scottish Chess. \nPerhaps we may close on a lighter note\, since the following anecdote reminds one that Dr Aitken also turned out for Great Britain in matches just after the war. At an early FIDE Congress after the war the first official FIDE list of masters and grandmasters was being drawn up. The BCF made application for recognising the mastership of HE Atkins. The Soviet delegate\, Kotov\, objected since he thought he heard the name of Aitken\, whom he knew had lost both games to Bondaresvky on board eight of the 1946 GB-USSR Radio Match. It was gently pointed out that the application concerned a player who had come ahead of no less than Chigorin at Hannover 1902. End of objection! \nJames Macrae Aitken in 1965 by “Mac”\nWe take this game from the Bournemouth tournament played on the eve of the Second World War. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \n“Talented Scottish amateur who won the Scottish championship ten times\, Dr. Aitken’s chief international activity was representing Scotland in the Olympiads. \nAt Stockholm 1937 he scored 32.4% on top board but he had the distinction of beating the Swedish grandmaster Ståhlberg. At Munich 1958 he scored 67.6% on 2nd board; at Tel Aviv 1964\, 28.1% on 2nd board; at Skopje 1972\, 38.9% on 6th board.” \nBoth Sunnucks and Hooper & Whyld are silent on Aitken. \nFrom Wikipedia : \n“James Macrae Aitken (27 October 1908 – 3 December 1983) was a Scottish chess player.[1][2] Aitken was born in Calderbank\, Lanarkshire\, Scotland. In 1938 he received a PhD from Edinburgh University on the topic of ‘The Trial of George Buchanan Before the Lisbon Inquisition’.[3] \nAitken learned chess from his father at age 10.[4] He was Scottish champion in 1935\, 1952\, 1953\, 1955\, 1956\, 1957\, 1958\, 1960\, 1961 and 1965\, the latter jointly with PM Jamieson.[1] He was also London Champion in 1950.[1] In 1959 he had his best result in the British Championship\, finishing tied for seventh place.[4] Aitken represented Scotland in four Chess Olympiads. He played top board at Stockholm 1937\, scoring only 32.4% but he did defeat Swedish GM Gideon Ståhlberg[4][5] and draw with American GM Samuel Reshevsky.[4] He played second board at Munich 1958 and Tel Aviv 1964\, scoring 67.6% and 28.1% respectively. Aitken played sixth board at Skopje 1972\, scoring 38.9%.” \nAitken was Southern Counties (SCCU) Champion for the 1948-49 season \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\n“Aitken represented Great Britain in matches against the USSR and Yugoslavia.[4] In the 1946 radio match between the United Kingdom and the USSR he lost his match with Igor Bondarevsky on board 8.[6] Aitken defeated GM Savielly Tartakower at Southsea 1949[4][7] and GM Efim Bogoljubow at Bad Pyrmont 1951.[4][8] \nDuring World War II\, Aitken worked in Hut 6 at Bletchley Park on solving German Enigma machines.[9] On 2 December 1944 Bletchley Park played a 12-board team match against the Oxford University Chess Club. Bletchley Park won the match 8–4 with C.H.O’D. Alexander\, Harry Golombek\, and Aitken on the top three boards.[10] Aitken wrote many book reviews for the British Chess Magazine.[11] Aside from chess his hobbies included golf\, philately\, bridge\, and watching cricket.[4] He died in Cheltenham in 1983\, aged 75.[2]” \nAnother biography may be found here at the wonderful Chess Scotland \nDr. James Aitken (27-x-1908 03-xii-1983)
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-james-macrae-aitken/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201129
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201130
DTSTAMP:20210514T084840Z
CREATED:20190823T190915Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210514T084840Z
UID:1126-1606608000-1606694399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of IM Robert Wade OBE (10-iv-1921 29-xi-2008)
DESCRIPTION:We remember IM Bob Wade OBE who was born 100 years ago today on Sunday\, April 10th 1921 \nIn 1979 Queen’s Birthday Honours List\, Civil Division Bob Wade was awarded the OBE. The citation read simply : “For services to Chess” \nHe won the BCF Presidents’ Award in 1986. \nIn the Foreword to the 2009 ECF Yearbook\, President Gerry Walsh wrote : \n“As I started this report I had just heard the sad news that IM Bob Wade had died aged 87. I first met Bob at one of the Whitby Congresses and in 1972 he played in the Teeside GM Tournament where I recall he beat the three Hungarian players Portisch\, Bilek and Sax (ed : aged 51).” \nGeurt Gijssen wrote in Chesscafe.com : \n“I received the sad news that Bob Wade passed away at the age of eighty seven. He played his last tournament in London in August. When I was young I read about his exploits as a chess player\, and he was the arbiter in many important chess events. I met him in 1993 when I was the organizer of the first part of the match Karpov – Timman\, played in The Netherlands in three different cities: Zwolle\, Arnhem\, and Amsterdam. He was the only member of the Appeals Committee and Bob was always present watching the games in the playing hall. He gave me invaluable advice about all elements of the match venues. It was very clear that he was an experienced chess player and arbiter\, and I learned many things from him. May he rest in peace.” \nFrom the 1952 Ilford Congress (30 May – 2 June) and originally published in BCM\, July 1952\, page 187. (l-r) : Harold Israel\, Alan Phillips\, Bob Wade\, Otto Friedman\, Abe Yanofsky\, Alfred William Bowen and Harold Meek. Thanks to John Saunders and Leonard Barden\nWade was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 1956-57\, 1957-58 and 1964-65 seasons. \nFrom the Preface of The World Chess Championship : 1951 by Lionel Sharples Penrose we have : \n“Mr. Wade is also passionately devoted to the game. Before coming to Europe\, he was three times champion of New Zealand. He had played in tournaments in England but his chief successes have been on the Continent. At Venice in 1950\, he obtained a high place in a very severe contest in which some of the strongest Russia\, Czech\, Dutch\, French\, Italian\, North and South American players took part. Much of his time is occupied in chess organising and teaching. He is an acting vice-president of the F.I.D.É and in this official capacity he attended the match in Moscow\, which is the subject of this book.” \nIM Bob Wade\nPaul McKeown researched (and Simon Spivack asked permission to reproduce his words) the earliest part of Bob’s life as follows: \n“On May 20th\, 1919\, Thomas Graham Wade\, aged 27\, Sergeant in the NZ Expeditionary Force\, repatriated with honour from war-time service in Egypt\, Gallipoli and France\, married Amy Lilian Neave\, aged 21\, in South Dunedin. A New Zealander of Scots and English descent\, his family was Graham from Montrose. The family name\, Wade\, came from Marshall George Wade\, the soldier and engineer who led the Hanoverian forces against the Scots at the time of the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion and was immortalised in the original third verse of the British national anthem: \nLord\, grant that Marshal Wade\,\nMay by thy mighty aid\,\nVictory bring. \nMay he sedition hush and like a torrent rush\,\nRebellious Scots to crush\,\nGod save the King. \nIM Bob Wade\nRobert Graham Wade\, known in the Scots manner to his family as Robin\, and later to his many friends as Bob\, was their first child\, born April 10th\, 1921\, at Dunedin. Over the next few years he was joined by sisters\, Lilian\, Agnes\, Betty\, June\, his brother Ted and finally by his youngest sister Amy. The family lived for a number of years at Portobello. \n[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wITe3tNjnfs[/embedyt] \nAt that time\, Portobello was a scattered community of about 150 people with three shops and a pub on the Otago Peninsula. Bob attended Portobello Primary School\, a small country school\, finished “dux” or top of class\, and then attended the King Edward Technical High School at Stuart Street in Dunedin.” \nIM Bob Wade\nIn The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP\, 1984 & 1996)\, Hooper & Whyld: \n“Wade Variation\, 147\, also known as the Modern Variation\, in the Queen’s Gambit Declined\, Meran Variation\, from Bogoljubow-Wade\, Oldenburg\, 1949; \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\n1239 in the French Defence\, introduced by Wade in a match against Schmid in 1950. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nHooper & Whyld go on to write : \n“New Zealand-born Robert Graham Wade (1921- ) won the championship of his homeland three times before moving to England as a young man\, He won the British Championship twice and trained many English players.” \nAside from the two variations mentioned by Hooper & Whyld there are other Wade Variations : \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nwhich Jim Plaskett dubbed the “Sidestep Variation” \nand \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nwhich is the Pytel-Wade Variation of the Scandinavian Defence. \nAnne Sunnucks wrote in The Encyclopaedia of Chess (Robert Hale\, 1970 & 1976) : \n“International Master (1950 Ed: actually 1954)\, International Judge (1958)\, New Zealand Champion three times and British Champion in 1952 and 1970. \nBob Wade was born in New Zealand on 10th April 1921 and is a professional chess player. He has lived in England for many years and has played regularly for the British Chess Federation team in Chess Olympiads. He has played a prominent part in coaching schemes for juniors and is largely responsible for recent successes of English juniors in international events. \nBob Wade v. Aldecoa of the Philippines from the 1958 Munich Olympiad played on October 9th 1958. The game was won by Bob in 60 moves. From the collection of David Jarrett with many thanks.\nHe is chess correspondent of Associated Newspapers and Independent Television News and editor of a series of books on Contemporary Chess Openings published by Batsford. \nAuthor of a number of books on the game\, his publications include books on the World Championship of 1951\, 1957 (ed : this book was\, in fact\, by Golombek) and 1963\, the first in collaboration with W. Winter; The Closed Ruy Lopez (Batsford\, 1970) in collaboration with LS Blackstock and PJ Booth: World Chess Championship (Batsford\, 1972) in collaboration with Svetozar Gligoric; Games of RJ Fischer (Batsford\, 1972) in collaboration with KJ O’Connell and Soviet Chess (Neville Spearman\, 1968). \nWade was a member of the FIDE Laws Commission from 1950 to 1952.” \n[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RKIcwmE8IU[/embedyt] \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \n“International Master who was born at Dunedin\, New Zealand\, but came to live In England in 1946 and has represented both countries on different occasions. He has nearly always done well in British Championships and won the title in Chester in 1952 and again at Coventry in 1970. He had played for the British Chess Federation at the Olympiads of 1954\, 1956\, 1958\, 1960 and 1962\, winning the shortest game of the Varna Olympiad in that year in nine moves against Anton Kinzel of Austria \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nHe played for the New Zealand team at the 1970 Olympiad at Siegen but returned to the BCF team at Skopje in 1972. \nHis best individual international results were a fifth place at Venice 1950 and again fifth at the Masters section of the Capablanca Memorial at Cienfuegos in Cuba in 1975. Possessor of a sharp clear-cut style of play\, he once drew a match with the West German grandmaster Lothar Schmid with neither side drawing a game\, though this was before Schmid received the grandmaster title. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nHe has done much valuable work in England teaching the young\, and was responsible for the text of a highly successful television series in 1975. \nHis main books are : Soviet Chess\, London\, 1967; Botvinnik-Bronstein Match 1951 (in co-operation with W. Winter)\, London\, Toronto 1951; Match Petrosian-Botvinnik\, London\, 1963; Sousse 1967\, The Chess Player\, Nottingham\, 1968.” \nFrom British Chess (Pergamon Press\, 1983) we have this article from George Botterill : \n“In the Birthday Honours list of 1979 Bob Wade was awarded the OBE for his services to chess. Few rewards can have been more thoroughly earned. For some reason\, Bob has always been held in greater esteem abroad than in the country for which he has done so much. But the many players who have turned to him for advice or who have simply enjoyed his hospitality\, which is always ungrudgingly available to fellow chess players\, know the measure of his dedication to the game. \nTheodore Tylor vs Bob Wade at Paignton 1953. Bob held TT to a draw to secure first place\nWade was born in Dunedin\, a third generation New Zealander of Scots and English ancestry. He started a a career as a civil servant in the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Having won the New Zealand Championship in 1944 and 1945 he was sent over to participate in the British Championship of 1946. The result was not exactly a success – a mere 3.5 points out of 11. But Bob was not to be disheartened so easily. Feeling he was capable of better things\, he took leave of absence in 1947 and did the circuit\, such as it then was\, of chess tournament in Europe and North America. \nBob giving a simul in Leeds in the 1950s\nWhen he returned to New Zealand he found that he had been transferred to another department in a civil service reorganisation. The new job was not so congenial. He stuck it out for 6 months – during which time he won the New Zealand Championship for a third time – and then handed in his resignation to take up the precarious life of a chess professional. \nIM Bob Wade\nSettling in Britain he soon gained the IM title (ed : 1954). But even in those days when still a young man Wade did not concentrate exclusively on his own playing career. In 1949 he went to the FIDE congress and was one of the five people – the others were BH Wood\, Ragozin\, Zubarev and Rogarde – who collaborated on the writing of the official rules for the game. \nBob Wade OBE\, Murray Chandler MNZM and David Anderton OBE at the 1986 Dubai Olympiad. Photograph by Frits Agterdenbos\nHe also served as a member of the commission that determined who the original holders of international titles would be. When you consider that Wade was also on the 1950 commission that decided the composition of the World Championship Interzonals\, it becomes apparent that this man played a significant part in the shaping the structure of modern international chess. \nBob at a CentYMCA event with Neil Carr\, Mike Wills\, Aaron Rose and Jon Ady\nAlthough rarely at the top in international tournaments\, Wade was always a very dangerous player\, capable on his day of beating anybody in the world. He won the British Championship twice at Chester in 1952 and at Coventry in 1970. \nBob playing Kick Langeweg at IBM 1961.\nIn recent years Wade has put his main energies into junior training and organisation and also into his work as the editor of Batsford’s highly productive and extremely successful series of chess books. \nBob with John Nunn and Boris Spassky at the GLC Masters\nIt is hard to say in what department one should place Wade’s greatest contributions to British Chess. Living through what is retrospect look to have been the Dark Ages of British chess – the 1950s and 1960s – he has demonstrated that even in a social and cultural environment that made playing chess economically ‘impossible’ profession to follow it was still possible to dedicate a life to chess\, if one had the determination. \nLeonard Barden\, Henry Mutkin\, Adrian Hollis and Bob Wade observe Nick Ivell vs Ken Regan at the 1983 Varsity match\nDuring those years he was really the only British Player who regularly active in international tournaments. Since then he has been constantly active as an author\, editor and adviser\, always working to transform Britain into a country more congenial to good chess. \nBob at the demo board at London Central YMCA chess club.\nBut we suspect that he might regard this role as trainer and coach as the most important thing of all. He is\, quite appropriately the British Chess Federation’s Chief National Coach. \nBob doing one of the things he loved best : teaching. He was discussing a position at Havana 1965. Dr JR Capablanca\, son of the former world champion\, on the right\, interpreted.\nIf one had to choose a single best game from Wade’s whole tournament career\, it would probably be this one. \nGeorge Botterill \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nDr. Fazekas (left) playing Bob Wade at an Ilford Congress\, photographer unknown\nIn the January 2009 issue of British Chess Magazine John Saunders wrote a ten page obituary as follows : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXIX (129\, 2009)\, #1 (January)\, pp. 34-43\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXIX (129\, 2009)\, #1 (January)\, pp. 34-43\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXIX (129\, 2009)\, #1 (January)\, pp. 34-43\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXIX (129\, 2009)\, #1 (January)\, pp. 34-43\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXIX (129\, 2009)\, #1 (January)\, pp. 34-43\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXIX (129\, 2009)\, #1 (January)\, pp. 34-43\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXIX (129\, 2009)\, #1 (January)\, pp. 34-43\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXIX (129\, 2009)\, #1 (January)\, pp. 34-43\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXIX (129\, 2009)\, #1 (January)\, pp. 34-43\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXIX (129\, 2009)\, #1 (January)\, pp. 34-43\nLeonard Barden wrote this obituary \nHere is Bob’s Telegraph obituary. \nJohn Saunders interviewed Bob at his Blackheath home and wrote this extensive article for the 1999 British Chess Magazine. \nHis detailed results in Olympiads\, from olimpbase.org\, follow. \nAmsterdam 1954\, England board 4\, 6/12 (+4−4=4);\nMoscow 1956\, England board 3\, 6½/14 (+2−3=9);\nMunich 1958\, England 1st reserve\, 7/14 (+5−5=4);\nLeipzig 1960\, England 2nd reserve\, 6/11 (+4−3=4);\nVarna 1962\, England 2nd reserve\, 6/12 (+4−4=4);\nSiegen 1970\, New Zealand board 2\, 9/15 (+7−4=4);\nSkopje 1972\, England board 3\, 7½/14 (+4−3=7).\nWade won several middle-strength Master events in the British Isles: Ilford 1957 and 1968\, Paignton 1959\, Dublin 1962\, and Southend-on-Sea 1965. \nWade was generally no more than a middle-ranking player in strong international tournaments. His other highlights against high-standard international-level competition include: \ntied 4–5th at Haifa/Tel Aviv 1958 on 7½/13 (winner Samuel Reshevsky);\n3rd at Bognor Regis 1959 on 7/10 (winner Erno Gereben);\n5th at Reykjavík 1964 on 7½/13 (winner Mikhail Tal);\ntied 4–5th at Málaga 1966 on 7/11; (winners Alberic O’Kelly de Galway and Eleazar Jiménez);\n6th at Briseck 1971 on 7/13 (winner Gideon Barcza);\n5th at Cienfuegos ‘B’ 1975 on 10/17; (winners Julio Boudy and Amador Rodriguez);\ntied 7–12th in the World Senior Championship\, Bad Woerishofen 1992\, on 7½/11 (winner Efim Geller).\nWade was the only British player to have faced Bobby Fischer in tournament play (outside of Olympiads). They met three times\, with Wade drawing one game and losing the other two. \nHis detailed Wikipedia entry may be found here \nBob was an active author and wrote (or co-wrote) around 22 books as follows : \nThe World Chess Championship\, W.Winter & RG Wade\, Turnstille Press\, 1951\nHastings Chess Congress 1955-56\, RG Wade & W. Ritson Morry\, En Passant Chess Publications\nChess Tactics for Beginners\, RG Wade\, Bott and Morrison\, 1960\nThe World Chess Championship: 1963 Botvinnik vs Petrosian\, Wade\nSoviet Chess\, RG Wade\, Neville Spearman (UK) & David McKay Company\, Inc\, New York\, 1968\nSousse 1967 : International Chess Tournament\, RG Wade\, The Chess Player\, 1968\nThe Velimirovic Attack\, Sozin Sicilian\, TD Harding and RG Wade\, Chessman Publications Ltd.\, 1969.\nThe Closed Ruy Lopez\, Wade\, Blackstock and Booth\, Batsford\, 1970\nPalma 1970 : Interzonal Chess Tournament\, RG Wade and LS Blackstock\, The Chess Player\, 1970\nThe Games of Robert J. Fischer\, Robert Wade and O’Connell\, Batsford 1972\, 2nd ed. 1972\, reprinted 1973\, First limp edition 1981\, Reprinted 1985\, 1981\, 1989\, Second edition (The Complete Games of Bobby Fischer) 1992\nWorld Championship Interzonals\, Wade\, Blackstock and Kotov\, Batsford\, 1974\nThe World Chess Championship\, Gligoric and Wade\, Batsford\, 1974\nThe Marshall Attack\, Wade & Harding\, Batsford\, 1974\nPlaying Chess\, RG Wade\, Batsford/TVTimes\, 1974\nSicilian Lasker-Pelikan\, 1978\, Batsford\, Wade\, Speelman\, Povah and Blackstock\n44th USSR Championship Final Moscow 1977\, RG Wade\, LS Blackstock and HC Thomas\, Master Chess Publications\, 1977\n45th USSR Championship Final Leningrad 1977\, RG Wade\, LS Blackstock and HC Thomas\, Master Chess Publications\, 1977\nBugojno\, 1978\, RG Wade\, LS Blackstock and HC Thomas\, Master Chess Publications\, 1978\n46th USSR Chess Championships 1978\, RD Keene\, JDM Nunn\, RG Wade\, Master Chess Publications\, 1978\, ISBN 0 906634 00 8\nTournament of the Stars:~ Montreal 1979\, RG Wade\, LS Blackstock\, AL Hosking\, Master Chess Publications\, 1979\nInterpolis Supertournament:~ Tilburg 1979\, LS Blackstock & RG Wade\, Master Chess Publications\, Chess\, Sutton Coldfield\, 1979\nFighting Chess\, Kasparov and Wade\, Harper Collins\, 1983\nTrends in the Reti\, Volume 1\, RG Wade\, 1992\nBatsford Chess Endings\, Speelman\, Tisdall and Wade\, 1993\nChess for Children\, Ted Nottingham and Bob Wade\, Sterling Juvenile\, 1996\nTrends in the Reti\, Volume 2\, RG Wade\, 1996\nWinning Chess : Tactics and Strategies\, Sterling Juvenile\, 2001\nIn 2007 Ray Cannon published the following tribute : \nBob Wade : Tribute to a Chess Master\, Ray Cannon & Ray Keene\, Impala\, 2007\nHowever\, Paul McKeown remains Bob’s official biographer. \nIM Robert Wade OBE
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-robert-graham-wade-obe/
CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201125
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201126
DTSTAMP:20201123T173527Z
CREATED:20190823T110243Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201123T173527Z
UID:1078-1606262400-1606348799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary for Anthony Dickins (01-xi-1914 25-xi-1987)
DESCRIPTION:We remember Anthony Dickins who passed away this day (Wednesday\, November 25th) in 1987. \nAnthony Stewart Mackay Dickins was born at 1 Rivers Street\, Bath\, Somerset on Sunday\, November 1st\, 1914. On this day was the Battle of Coronel — The Royal Navy suffered its first defeat of World War I\, after a British squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock met and was defeated by superior German forces led by Vice-Admiral Maximilian von Spee in the eastern Pacific. \n1\, Rivers Street\, Bath\, Somerset\, BA1 2QA\nAnthony’s parents were Frederick and Florence Dickins (née Mackay) Frederick was a Captain in the Royal Artillery and was born on 25th November 1879\, commissioned on May 26th 1900. He became a Colonel on 26th May 1930 and retired November 25th 1936. He was alive in 1972 (aged 92) and living in Bexhill passing away aged 101/102. He was awarded the CIE which is “Companion\, Order of the Indian Empire in 1914”. \nAnthony was baptised on December 29th in Seend\, Wiltshire. Anthony had a brother Frederick James Douglas born in 1907 who married Nellie or Peggie Moist (records are unclear). \nIt would appear that Florence and Anthony (aged 5) travelled to Bombay from Plymouth on board the SS City of York (Ellerman Lines) departing December 26th\, 1919 presumably to visit his father in India. The ships master was J. McKellan. \nAt the time of the 1939 Census Anthony was residing in the Tavistock Hotel in Tavistock Square. His occupation was given as journalist and editor and described as single. \nFrom the Hull Daily Mail (extant and renamed Hull Live) of March 4th\, 1939 we have this part review of a magazine called The Joys of Poetry. Anthony was the editor : \nHull Daily Mail\, 4th March 1939\nHe died in Lambeth Wednesday\, November 25th) in 1987. We have yet to determine where he was buried or cremated. \nFrom http://chesscomposers.blogspot.com/2012/10/november-1st.html : \n“Anthony Dickins wrote A Guide to Fairy Chess (1967) and other books about fairy chess. He edited the column of non-original fairy problems for “The Problemist”. He was specialized in constructional problems and was also an International Judge.” \nAnthony Stewart Mackay Dickins\nFrom British Chess (Pergamon Press\, 1984)\, Botterill\, Levy\, Rice and Richardson : \n(article by JM Rice) \n“Chess first entered my life seriously about 1950 at the well-known Mandrake Social and Chess Club in Meard Street\, Soho\, run by Harold Lommer and Boris Watson. Purely literary connections took me there in the first place\, as it was a rendezvous for the literary fraternity\, such as Dylan Thomas\, David Gascoyne and others. \nAfter the war Harold converted a small wine-vault into a tiny cramped chess-room\, with some dozen tables and boards. Many well-known\npersonalities in the world of Chess were occasional visitors\, such as Grandmasters Ossip Bernstein\, Paul Keres\, Jacques Mieses and Friedrich Sämisch; British Champions Willy Winter\, Bob Wade and Dr. Fazekas; M. J. Franklin\, now a British Master\, and the Problemists\, Dr. E. T. O. Slater and B. J. da C. Andrade. Mieses was then in his late eighties and charged a fee of half-a-crown (12.5 pence) for a game. When his name was mispronounced ‘Mister My-ziz’ he would say ‘I am Meister Mieses\, not Mister My-ziz’. \nSämisch once played fourteen of us blindfold\, defeating all except one\, a very strong Indian player\, Atta\, who obtained a draw. My regular ‘partners’ were Vicki Weiss\, the famous cartoonist\, his brother Oscar\, Richard Crewdson\, Mr Keller (a professional who played sharply for a shifty shilling)\, Brian Mason\, Colin ‘Puffer’ Evans\, (whose strategy was to puff cigarette ash and smoke all over the board to bemuse the opponent) and Bob Troy (who always fell fast asleep immediately after making each move and had to be wakened on his next turn to play). There was a juke-box in the next room constantly blaring forth pop and bop. Most of all I played with Alex Distler\, and with him always’variants of the game’ like Cylindrical Chess\, Rifle Chess\, Progressive Chess\, or the Losing Game. \nIn this colourful and inspiring\, if rather smoky and noisy\, atmosphere I composed my first six chess problems\, helpmates and cylindricals\, though I did not then know of the existence of Problem books or magazines\, nor had I heard of Sam Loyd\, Max Lange\, or T. R. Dawson when the Mandrake closed in the late fifties and Harold Lommer retired to Spain to write his two monumental works on Endgame Studies. \nFor the next 10 years or so I played at the West London and Athenaeum Chess Clubs\, for Middlesex County and at Hastings congresses\, meanwhile regularly solving the problems in the two evening newspapers for practice. \nIn 1965\, in my 51st year\, I discovered chess-problem magazines and the British Chess Problem Society\, and was soon asked by John Rice to join the Fairy\nChess Correspondence Circle\, whose director\, W. Cross\, perhaps the greatest solver of all time\, guided my early footsteps in fairyland. At this point I compiled for my own use a summary of all the usual rules and conventions in Fairy Chess\, as these were numerous and complicated. It occurred to me that a few other people might also welcome such a summary\, so I put it into book form as A Guide to Fairy Chess\, which I published by myself in 1967 under the imprint ‘The O Press’\, a pun on the name ‘Kew’ where I was then living. \nA Guide to Fairy Chess\nTo my amazement it had rave reviews (‘the comprehensive work\, so long awaited’\, ‘more like an encyclopaedia’\, ‘the bible of Fairy Chess’) and sold like hot cakes\, going into three editions\, each one enlarged and revised\, the third produced by Dover Publications\, New York\, in 1971. Two years later I edited Dover’s publication of T. R. Dawson’s Five Classics of Fairy Chess. \nFive Classics of Fairy Chess\, TR Dawson\nIn 1970 I flew to the States to spend a few days in the J. G. White collection in Cleveland\, Ohio\, researching historical material on Fairy Chess. This Ohio collection has the largest chess library in the world\, and to my surprise I found that it contains also ‘every book or article ever written on or about ‘Omar Khayyam and Alice in Wonderland . To find oneself suddenly and unexpectedly transported\, as if by magic carpet\, into a superbly organised library with the most complete collections in the world of the three subjects that happen to be one’s own three principal literary interests is an experience that must approach closely to entering Nirvana\, and I am happy to have had it. This visit enabled me to write A Short History of Fairy Chess (1975) and to give the lecture Alice in Fairyland to the Lewis Carroll Society in London\, published in their journal Jabberwocky and reprinted by myself in 1976 (2nd edn 1978) . \nA Short History of Fairy Chess\, ASM Dickins\nIn 1972 I decided to present my (by then) extensive collection of Fairy Chess books and magazines to my old university library at Cambridge to prevent the possible break-up of the collection as a single unit\, and to ensure that at least one fairly complete Fairy Chess collection was retained in Britain. \nIn 1968 I was invited to open a Fairy Chess section in The Problemist\, organ of the BCPS\, which I handed over to Dr. C. C. L. Sells in 1970\, and from 1974 to 1981 I ran another column in that magazine called ‘Other Types’. This chess journalism has brought me into touch with many problemists\, and made many friends for me\, in foreign countries. \nIn 1967\, on a visit to Mannheim for the Schwalbe annual meeting\, I met Wilhelm Karsch\, then editor of Feenschach\, and in 1968 in Munich I again met Dr. Karl Fabel\, whom I first came to know in London in 1967\, and also Peter Kniest\, one of the two present editors of Feenschach. In 1969\, on a visit to Paris\, a meeting was arranged for me at the late Jean Oudot’s flat\, with Pierre Monr6al\, J. P. Boyer\, F. de Lionnais (author of the Dictionnaire des Echecs) and other French problemists\, and altogether I have attended twenty three major problemist meetings in various countries\, including FIDE meetings in The Hague\, Wiesbaden\, Canterbury and Helsinki. It has been my constant aim to try to encourage and cultivate the practice and study of Fairy Chess and to keep alive the great legacy that T.R. Dawson left to the world when he died in 1951. \nIn recent years I have developed close relations with the younger generation of West German problemists\, who are very active in Fairy Chess\, centred round 29-year-old Bernd Ellinghoven\, who helps Peter Kniest to edit Feenschach and who printed my last booklet\, Fairy Chess Problems (1979)\, containing\npoems as well as problems\, combined in a new kind of fairy technique\, for I believe that Fairy Chess represents in many ways the ‘poetry’ of Chess. \nFAIRY CHESS PrOblems (1979)\nFor\nthe 50th birthday of T. R. Dawson on the 28th November 1939 a certain Dr Lazarus of Budapest wrote in Fairy Chess Review: ‘T. R. D. these three\nletters represent a conception in the Poetry of Chess which is amongst the most ingenious of all its turns\, one of its most strange and interesting phases… Without T.R.D. human culture would lack a factor in its development’. Those people (and there are some) who would banish Fairy Chess altogether from Caissa’s realm resemble the iron-hearted Mr. Gradgrinds who would abolish romance\, mystery\, poetry\, invention\, discovery and imagination from human life. \nFairy Chess Review\nElsewhere I have written: ‘The Game for Murderers\, The Problem for Philosophers\, Fairy Chess for Sufis’\, because the aim of the game-player is to ‘mate’ (kill) the opponent (from Arabic\, mat _ dead)\, while the problemist has no personal opponent to kill\, but merely a philosophical problem to resolve. In Fairy Chess\, however\, the adept is transported to another plane of existence\, to an ‘undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveller returns’\,to new’dimensions’ of thought (as in 3- and 4-dimensional problems) – in short\, to Fairyland\, to Nirvana. \nThe three problems represent my early\, middle and later compositions. The helpmate in three moves (Black plays first in a helpmate) is a miniature culminating in an ideal Mate. C. H. O’D. Alexander was much tickled by what he called ‘the deceptive pawn’ on a2\, which unexpectedly does not promote. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nThe Construction Task with 113 White moves\, all ‘maintaining’ the legal stalemate position in which Black finds himself\, is a standing record that defeated the previous record of 112 such moves obtained independently by six problemists in six countries\, one of them an lnternational Master of FIDE. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nThe Knight’s Tour is one of the oldest genres of Fairy Chess\, dating from the earliest days of chess\, and in TR Dawson’s Fairy Chess Review he published many of them.\, including some that showed the ‘square numbers’ (1\,4\,9\,16\,25\,36\,49\,64) all on one rank – in the present example I have added the extra strict condition that as many as possible of the numbers 1 to 16 must be in the SW corner and as many as possible of the numbers 1 to 32 must be in the W half of the board. \nFor two reasons the perfect ideal in this task cannot be attained\, firstly because of the given position of the number 25\, and secondly because it is not possible to make a Knight’s tour on a 4 x 4 board in the SW corner. \nSolutions : \n1. Helpmate\, Evening News\, 20th February 1957 dedicated to Harold Lommer \nHelpmate in 3 moves \n1. Kd5 Nb1\n2. Kc4 e8=Q\n3. Kb3 Qb5 mate \n2. Construction Task Record\, Feenschach 9341 Sep/Oct 1969 dedicated to Karl Fabel \n113 unforced stalemate maintenances with Promotion in Play (Pawn promotions count as 4 moves) unforced as W has some moves that do not maintain stalemate\, so he is not ‘forced’ to maintain it. \n3. Knight’s Tour Chessics 5(180) July\, 1978 dedicated to D. Nixon. \nKnights tour with\na) All square number on 4th rank\nb) maximum of 1-16 in SW quad\nc) maximum of 1-32 in W half \nKnight’s tour solution from ASM Dickins\n100 Classics of the Chessboard
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-for-anthony-stewart-mackay-dickens/
CATEGORIES:Composer,Death Anniversary,History,Problemist
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201125
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201126
DTSTAMP:20201125T163549Z
CREATED:20190822T163322Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201125T163549Z
UID:998-1606262400-1606348799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Amos Burn (31-xii-1848 25-xi-1925)
DESCRIPTION:We remember Amos Burn who passed away on November 25th\, 1925. \nAmos Burn was born in Kingston-upon-Hull on Sunday\, December 31st 1848 to Amos and Mary Burn (née Webster). His father is recorded as a merchant. Amos and Mary were residents of Bourne Street at the time of the birth. \nOn February 15th 1849 Amos was baptized in All Saints Anglican Church\, Sculcoates\, Kingston-Upon-Hull \nAmos married Martha Ann Jäger in Birkenhead on Dec 27th 1879. They had two daughters Elsie Martha\, born 24th Oct 1880 and Hilda Marian\, born  26th Oct 1881. \nFor further detail of ABs family please consult the excellent Amos Burn : A Chess Biography by Richard Forster \nIn 2006 an article by WD Rubinstein was published in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography \nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP\, 1984)\, Hooper & Whyld : \n“One of the world’s top ten players at the end of the 19th century. Born in Hull : he learned chess when 16\, came to London at the age of 21\, and rapidly established himself as a leading English player\, A pupil of Steinitz\, he developed a similar style; both he and his master were among the world’s best six defensive players\, according to Nimzowitsch. Not wishing to become yet another impecunious professional. Burn decided to put his work (first a cotton broker then a sugar broker) before his chess\, and he remained an amateur. He made several long visits to America\, and was often out of practice when he played serious chess. \nUntil his thirty-eighth year he played infrequently and only in national events\, always taking first or second prize. From 1886 to 1889 he played more often. In 1886 he drew matches with Bird (+9-9) and Mackenzie (+4=2-4); at London 1887 he achieved his best tournament result up to this time\, first prize (+8—1) equal with Gunsberg (a play-off was drawn +1=3—1); and at Breslau 1889 he took second place after Tarrasch ahead of Gunsberg\, After an isolated appearance at Hastings 1895 he entered another spell of chess activity\, 1897-1901\, The best achievement of his career was at Cologne 1898\, first prize ( + 9=5-1) ahead of Charousek\, Chigorin\, Steinitz\, Schlechter\, and Janowski. At Munich 1900 he came fourth (+9=3—3). His Last seven international tournaments began with Ostend 1905 and ended with Breslau 1912. A comparative success\, in view of his age. was his fourth prize shared with Bernstein and Teichmann after Schlechter\, Maroczy\, and Rubinstein at Ostend 1906; 36 players competed in this five-stage event\, 30 games in all for those who completed the course. \nRetired from both business and play he made his home in London and edited the chess column of The Field from 1913 until his death. A shy and retiring man\, a loyal companion to those who came to know him\, he freely gave advice to young and aspiring players.” \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nThe front cover of the November 1975 issue of the British Chess Magazine featured Amos Burn : \nAmos Burn – See W.H.Cozen’s ‘Half a Century Back’…from the front cover of the November 1975 issue of British Chess Magazine\nFrom British Chess Magazine\, 1975\, November\, pp. 481-483 : \nHalf a Century Back\nChess in 1925\nby W.H. Cozens\n  \nAmos Burn was a very different figure and his career is poorly documented. He is overdue\, not for a reappraisal but simply an appraisal\, He was born (in Hull) in 1848 – an incredible 127 years ago. All the years that could have been his prime as a chessplayer he devoted to business. (Marine insurance was his speciality.) He was based in Liverpool but travelled considerably\, including several crossings of the Atlantic – quite an undertaking in those days. He played some casual chess\, soon overshadowing the Rev. John Owen to become Liverpool’s answer to Manchester’s Blackburne. He also played for the City of London Chess Club; but it was not until he was nearly 40\, presumably with his financial position secured\, that he entered the international chess arena. Between the ages of 38 and 64 he played in 22 international tournaments. At Breslau (1889) he was second to Tarrasch\, above Louis Paulsen\, Blackburne\, Schallop … In Amsterdam the same year he was first\, ahead of Emanuel Lasker. His finest achievement was first place at Cologne 1898\, in front of Charousek\, Chigorin\, Steinitz\, Schlechter et al.\, (16 in all) with a win against Steinitz. The lack of a book on Cologne 1898 is – since the publication of Mannheim 1914′: the biggest gap in tournament literature. \nAt Karlsbad 1911 he defeated not only the winner\, as mentioned above\, but also Alekhine\, whom he steered into a knight versus bad bishop ending. His style was unashamedly modelled on that of Steinitz\, and marked by extreme tenacity. To him is attributed the epigram ‘He who combinates is lost’. He could play a combination when in the mood but he much preferred to let the opponent break his own back by attacking too impetuously. Nimzowitsch wrote: ‘The number of really great defensive players is very small’\, adding that he knew of only six: Steinitz\, Emanuel Lasker\, Burn\, Bernstein\, Duras and Louis Paulsen. \nIn the 1911 Cable Match between G.B. and the U.S.A. Marshall came from San Sebastian straight to London and asked permission for his top board game to be played over the board. When he found that his opponent was to be the 64-year-old Amos Burn he must have smiled\, for he had twice defeated him resoundingly – at Paris 1900 (also having some fun at Burn’s expense in his annotations to the game) and again at Ostend 1905. This time he was in for a shock. Within twenty moves the old man had won his queen for two pieces. Marshall played on\, probably with a red face\, until move 37\, rather than have his loss cabled home too early. Against Burn he might have spared himself the trouble. \nBurn was a superb annotator. His work\, notably in ‘The Field‘ from 1913 on\, sets a standard to which one looks back nostalgically in these days of hieroglyphics. The day before he died\, at the age of 77\,he had been at work on analysis and annotation. Tournaments were now plentiful enough for it to be possible to pick out the band of regular professionals\, and to assess their prowess. Tartakower was placed 2\, 5\, l\, 5; Reti 5\, 5’ 5\,-11; Grunfeld 4\,8\,8\,9; Nimzowitsch was erratic with 1\,2\,9; so was Rubinstein with 1\, 2\, 3\, 12. Marshall was consistent with 3\, 4\, 5. Lasker\, Capablanca and Alekhine appeared once each – with distinction\, of course.” \nThe Burn Variation is a line in the french defence dating from the 1870s\, played regularly by Burn at the tournaments of Hastings\n1895\, Cologne 1898\, and Vienna 1898. More recently it has been favoured by Petrosyan. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale\, 1970 & 1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“A leading British player of his day\, Amos Burn was born in Hull on 31st December 1848. He learned the game when he was 16 and an apprentice with a firm of Liverpool cotton-brokers\, but it was not until 1886 that he achieved his first major tournament success by coming 2nd in the London tournament and 1st at Nottingham. These results gained him an invitation to Frankfurt 1887\, which marked the beginning of his career as an international player. \nBurn’s greatest successes were 1st at Amsterdam 1889\, ahead of Lasker\, 2nd at Breslau 1889\, behind Tarrasch but ahead of Mieses\, Von Bardeleben\, Bauer\, Gunsberg and Paulsen; and 1st at Cologne 1898\, ahead of Charousek\, Steiniitz\, Tchigorin and Schlecter. \nAfter the St. Petersburg 1909 tournament\, Burn’s results began to deteriorate and he finally retired from tournament chess after the Breslau 1912 tournament. \nFrom 1913 until his death\, Burn was chess editor of The Field. He died on 25th November 1925.” \nAmos Burn (31-xii-1848\, 25-xii-1925) circa 1920\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \n“British Grandmaster and second only to Blackburne in late nineteenth-century British chess. He was born in Hull and learned to play chess at sixteen\, but devoted little time to the game at first\, preferring to establish himself in a commercial career. \nHe returned to chess in his middle thirties\, his first major national success being first prize at Nottingham 1886 and second prize at London 1886. Within three years he had gained an international reputation by winning at Amsterdam 1889\, ahead of Lasker\, and finishing 2nd to Tarrasch at Breslau 1889. Burn continued to appear in international tournaments until the age of sixty-four\, his most notable triumph being first prize at Cologne 1898 in front of Charousek\, Steinitz\, Chigorin and Schlechter. He was chess editor of The Field from 1913 until his death in 1925.” \nEdward Winter wrote a feature article on the game McDonald-Burn\, Liverpool\, 1910 \nHis Wikipedia article is here \nAccording to Edward Winter in Chess Notes Burn lived at 19 Luxemburg Gardens\, London W6\, England (Amos Burn\, The Quiet Chessmaster by R.N. Coles\, page 7). \nAmos Burn (31-xii-1848\, 25-xii-1925)\nand an excellent article from the Liverpool Museum is here \nAmos Burn (left) and Rev. John Owen circa 1885.\nAmos Burn\, the quiet chessmaster\, RN Coles\nAmos Burn : A Chess Biography by Richard Forster
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-amos-burn/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201124
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201125
DTSTAMP:20201123T173646Z
CREATED:20190823T091032Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201123T173646Z
UID:1058-1606176000-1606262399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Rev. John Owen (08-iv-1827 24-xi-1901)
DESCRIPTION:We remember Reverend John Owen who passed away on the 24th November 1901) \nJohn Owen was born on April 8th\, 1827 to John and Sarah Owen in Marchington\, Uttoxeter\, Staffordshire. \nHe was baptised at Marchington\, St. Peter on April 9th\, 1827 by H. Bennett and their residence was recorded as “Brook House”. His father is recorded as being a gentleman. \nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP\, 1984) by Hooper & Whyld : \n“English player\, vicar of Hooten\, Cheshire\, from 1862 to 1900. In 1858\, playing under the pseudonym ‘Alter’\, he lost (=2-5) a match against Morphy\, who conceded pawn and a move. (Hoffer attributed this poor result to Owen’s just being married.) Subsequently Owen played better. He drew a match with Kolisch in 1860 (+4-4) and at the London tournament of 1862 took third prize after Andersen (whom he defeated) and L. Paulsen ahead of Dubois\, GA MacDonnell\, Steinitz and Blackburne. \nFrom 1857 to 1898 Owen played in more than a dozen tournaments\, all of them in Great Britain. \nHe liked close openings and often played the Queen’s Fianchetto Defence\, sometimes named after him\, and the Larsen Opening.” \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \nProbably\, the strongest of all the chess-playing reverends of the nineteenth century. Owen came 3rd at Birmingham 1858\, below Löwenthal and Falkbeer\, but ahead of Saint-Amant\, Staunton and Bird; but is should be pointed out that the method of play was still by the old knock-out system. \nHe was also =3rd with MacDonnell in the first congress of the British Chess Association at London in 1862. \nHe also had the distinction of losing matches to Morphy\, Zukertort and Burn\, though he beat Burn in a later match. He drew a match with Kolisch in 1860. \nSunnucks is silent on Owen. \nAccording to The Complete Chess Addict (Faber&Faber\, 1987)\, Mike Fox & Richard James : \n“For the record (and because it’s so impressive) here is the most devout team of all time\, If there is anything in the efficacy of prayer they’d be tough to stop : \n\nFr Ruy Ruy López (de Segura)\nFr William Lombardy\nRevd GA MacDonnell\nRevd J Owen\nHis Holiness Pope Leo XIII\nHis Holiness Pope Innoncent III\nSt Teresa of Ávila (capt.)\nThomas à Becket”\n\nA much fuller biography may be found at the excellent Yorkshire Chess History web site  \n[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZlsydt8iqA[/embedyt] \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\n[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QBhgUes_dM[/embedyt] \nFrom Wikipedia : \n“John Owen (8 April 1827 – 24 November 1901) was an English vicar and strong amateur chess master. He ranked among the world’s top ten chess players for certain periods of the 1860s. He was a major figure in English chess from the mid 1850s to the 1890s. \nOwen was born in Marchington\, and obtained his early schooling at Repton School\, Derbyshire. In 1850 he graduated from Trinity College\, Cambridge\, and received his M.A. from Cambridge three years later. He was ordained by the Church of England in 1851\, and served as Vicar of Hooton\, Cheshire from 1862 to his retirement in 1900. \nIn 1858 he won a chess game against the young American master Paul Morphy\, the world’s best player\, who was then touring Europe. ” \nThis led to a match between the two. Despite being given odds of pawn and the move (meaning he started the game with an extra pawn and always moved first)\, Owen lost the match 6–1\, never winning a game. \nHis performance in the very strong 1862 London tournament\, the first international round-robin event (in which each participant plays every other) was more impressive. He finished third\, ahead of future world champion Wilhelm Steinitz\, and was the only player to win against the eventual tournament winner\, Adolf Anderssen. Louis Paulsen placed second. This result was arguably Owen’s top lifetime chess achievement. \nOwen continued to play frequently and often successfully in British tournaments into the 1890s\, and performed strongly in several matches against top British players\, who were essentially chess professionals. He never competed outside the British Isles. He died in Twickenham. \nOwen is the eponym of Owen’s Defence\, a chess opening characterised by the moves 1.e4 b6. Owen was the first strong player to play this frequently\, including in his victory over Morphy.” \nAmos Burn (left) and Rev. John Owen circa 1885.
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-rev-john-owen/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201122
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201123
DTSTAMP:20201121T152309Z
CREATED:20191026T200914Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201121T152309Z
UID:1653-1606003200-1606089599@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Mary Rudge (06-ii-1842 22-xi-1919)
DESCRIPTION:We remember Mary Rudge who passed away one hundred and one years this day on Saturday\, 22-xi-1919. \nShe was born in Leominster\, Herefordshire on February 6th\, 1842. Her father was Henry Rudge (born 1794 in Gloucestershire) who was a surgeon and General Practitioner. Her mother was Eliza Rudge (née Barrett) who was born in Ledbury\, Herefordshire in 1802. \nMary was part of a typically large household and according to the 1851 census she had sisters Sarah (23)\, Caroline (18)\, Emily H (12)\, brothers Henry (14) and Alfred (10). Assisting Henry with medical matters was Wiliam S Boyce and acting as a “General Servant” was Thomas Rotheroe (18).  Their address is given as “21\, Middle Marsh\, Leominster\, Herefordshire\, England” (HR6 8UP). According to HM Land Registry : “Middlemarsh is in the Leominster North & Rural ward of Herefordshire\, County of\, Herefordshire\, Worcestershire and Warwickshire.” \nBy 1861 the household had relocated to 62\, Broad Street\, Leominster and the servants were James Price (18) whose occupation is given as a Groom and Sarah Gardener (21) who was the House Servant. \nMary moved\, “helpless from rheumatism”\, at some point\, to Truro and then to the British Home for Incurables\, Streatham. She died in Guys Hospital\, London\, on 22 November 1919.  \nEditor of British Chess Magazine at the time of her obituary was Isaac McIntyre Brown who afforded Mary a pathetic three lines.  \nFrom Wikipedia : \n“Mary Rudge (6 February 1842 in Leominster – 22 November 1919 in London) was an English chess master. \nRudge was born in Leominster\, a small town in Herefordshire\, England. She began playing chess in a correspondence tournament in 1872. The first mention of over the board competition is in August 1874 when she played in the second class at the Meeting of the Counties’ Chess Association at Birmingham. After the death of her father\, Henry Rudge\, she moved to Bristol where she started playing chess seriously. \nRudge was the first woman member of the Bristol Chess Club\, which did not allow women to be members of the club until she joined in 1872. She played against Joseph Henry Blackburne\, who gave a blindfold simultaneous display against ten opponents. The following year she played in another blindfold simultaneous display given by Johannes Hermann Zukertort. In March 1887 she played and drew on board six for Bristol against Bath at the Imperial Hotel in Bristol. At the beginning of 1888\, Rudge played and won on board six for Bristol & Clifton against City Chess & Draughts Club. The following year\, she won the Challenge Cup of Bristol & Clifton Chess Club. In 1889\, she became the first woman in the world to give simultaneous chess exhibitions. She won the Ladies’ Challenge Cup at Cambridge 1890\, and won the second class at the Southern Counties’ tournament at Clifton 1896.[1]” \nMiss Stevenson  & Mary Rudge\n“First Women’s International Chess Congress\nShe was a winner of the first Women’s International Chess Congress under the management of the Ladies’ Chess Club of London in conjunction with the Women’s Chess Club of New York. Lady Newnes was president of the Tournament Committee\, and Sir George Newnes\, Baron Albert Salomon von Rothschild\, Mr. Harry Nelson Pillsbury and some others offered prizes. The tournament was played at the Hotel Cecil in the Masonic Hall for six days\, but the final rounds were decided at the Ideal Café\, the headquarters of the Ladies’ Chess Club\, from 22 June to 3 July 1897.[2] Miss Rudge was 55 years old and the oldest of the 20 players\,[3] and had substantial experience playing chess at the time. She was a well-known English player\, ranking in chess strength with the first class of the leading men’s clubs. She won the event with 18 wins and 1 draw\, followed by Signorina Louisa Matilda Fagan (Italy)\, Miss Eliza Mary Thorold (England)\, Mrs. Harriet Worrall (USA)\, Madame Marie Bonnefin (Belgium)\, Mrs. F.S. Barry (Ireland)\, Lady Edith Margaret Thomas (England)\, among others.” \nHere is an in-depth article about this event from Chesscafe.com \nMrs. Bowles (Hon. Sec.); Miss Rudge; and Mrs. Fagan from chesscafe.com\n“Over the next years\, she took part in various competitions\, playing in Bristol and Dublin. In 1898\, she played against world champion Emanuel Lasker in a simultaneous display at the Imperial Hotel. Lasker was unable to finish all the games in the time available\, and Rudge’s was one of those unfinished. He conceded defeat because he would be lost with best play.” \nMary Rudge\nHere is an article from the Bristol Chess Times \nand another from the same source. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nThe International Ladies Congress
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-mary-rudge-02-xi-2019/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201122
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201123
DTSTAMP:20201121T151805Z
CREATED:20190823T185607Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201121T151805Z
UID:1116-1606003200-1606089599@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of WIM (Patricia) Anne Sunnucks (21-ii-1927 22-xi-2014)
DESCRIPTION:We remember WIM Patricia Anne Sunnucks who passed away this day\, November 22nd\, 2014\, aged 87 years. \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1983)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \n“International Woman master and British Women’s Champion 1957\, 1958 and 1964. Her best international result was a 2nd in the 1954 Western European Zonal. This qualified her for the 1955 Women’s Candidates tournament\, but as this held in the USSR and she was at the time serving as a Major in the British Army\, the authorities would not give her leave to participate. \nMiss Sunnucks has represented England a number of times in Olympiads and team matches. She has compiled The Encyclopedia of Chess\, London\, 1970.” \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale\, 1970 & 1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“International Woman Master (1954) and winner of the British Ladies’ Championship in 1957\, 1958 and 1964. \nBorn on 21st February 1927 Anne learned the moves at the age of 8 but did not take up chess seriously until she was 21\, when she joined the same club as International Master\, Imre König” whose pupil she became. \nIn the 1954 Western European Zonal tournament\, she came 2nd and qualified for the 1955 Women’s Candidates tournament but was unable to compete. \nShe played for Great Britain v. the USSR in 1954 and for the British Chess Federation team in the Women’s Chess Olympiads of 1966 and 1972. She also represented the BCF in the Western European Zonal tournaments of 1963 and 1966.” \nAnne Sunnucks vs Chaudé de Silans (Amsterdam\, 1962)\nThe Encyclopedia of Chess by Anne Sunnucks\nAnne created Camberley Chess Club in 1972. She offered to open her spacious home at 28\, Brackendale Close\, Camberley for weekly club nights and matches. \nAnne Sunnucks (third from left) playing in the 1971 British Ladies Championship in Palatine School\, Blackpool. Courtesy of Lancashire Evening Post.\nAnne was a director of BMS (?\, Mothersill\, Sunnucks) Chess Supplies Ltd. which retailed chess books and equipment which the grateful membership purchased ! \nIn September 1984 in Bracknell\, Berkshire Anne married Richard C Mothersill. \nAnne passed away on November 22nd\, 2014 at a retirement village in Meadow Park\, Braintree\, Essex. \nFrom Brian Towers : It is also worth noting that she was an occasional contributor to the weekly chess ‘Magazine’ programme which was broadcast on the Third Network (the precursor to Radio 3) between Autumn 1958 and Summer 1964. \nAccording to Megabase2020\, her highest Elo rating was 2045 but we suspect it was in reality\, quite a bit higher. \nIn 1972 Anne was awarded with a FIDE Medal of Merit. \nWIM Patricia Anne Sunnucks\nFor much of her early chess life Anne was coached by IM Imre (Mirko) König. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nWIM Patricia Anne Sunnucks\nFull Caption\nFrom Wikipedia :\nPatricia Anne Sunnucks (21 February 1927 – 22 November 2014[1]) was an author and three-times British Women’s Chess Champion (1957\, 1958\, 1964). During her chess career she was always known as Anne Sunnucks. \nShe was educated at Wycombe Abbey School[2]\, Buckinghamshire. Although she learned how to play chess at the age of 8\, she did not play seriously until the age of 21\, when she joined the same chess club as Imre König\, who became her tutor. By finishing tied for second place in the 1953 British Women’s Championship she became one of three British representatives in the 1954 Western European Zonal. \nSunnucks earned the Woman International Master title by placing second in the 1954 Western European Zonal. Although this result qualified her to play in the next event in the Women’s World Championship sequence\, she was a major in the Women’s Royal Army Corps and the authorities would not allow her to travel to the USSR where the 1955 Women’s Candidates tournament was being held. Sunnucks represented England several times in Olympiads and team matches\, including Great Britain vs. USSR 1954\, the Anglo-Dutch match in 1965\, and top board for the British Chess Federation (BCF) team at the 1966 Women’s Chess Olympiad at Oberhausen. She participated in the Women’s World Championship cycle two more times\, representing the BCF in the Western European Zonal tournaments of 1963 and 1966. Sunnucks won both the Army and the Combined Services Championships in 1968\, and was the only woman to compete in either. Sunnucks compiled The Encyclopaedia of Chess (1970\, second edition: 1976). \nHer married name was Anne Mothersill.”
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-patricia-anne-sunnucks/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201119
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201120
DTSTAMP:20210224T131121Z
CREATED:20210224T120404Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210224T131121Z
UID:14503-1605744000-1605830399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of SIM Graham Mitchell (04-xi-1905 19-xi-1984)
DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of SIM Graham Mitchell (04-xi-1905 19-xi-1984)
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-sim-graham-mitchell-04-xi-1905-19-xi-1984/
CATEGORIES:Correspondence,Death Anniversary,English,History,Remembering
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201118
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201119
DTSTAMP:20201117T182639Z
CREATED:20190823T184658Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201117T182639Z
UID:1112-1605657600-1605743999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Jim Slater (13-iii-1929 18-xi-2015)
DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers Jim Slater (13-iii-1929 18-xi-2015) \nJames Derrick Slater was born on Wednesday\, March 13th\, 1929. On the same day “Leon Trotsky gave his first interview to the foreign press in his apartment in Turkey\, saying he was writing a book tracing the history of his opposition to Joseph Stalin and expressing a desire to go to Germany because he preferred the care of German physicians.” \nHe was born in Heswall\, Cheshire (Wirral\, Merseyside was the registration district) to Hubert Slater and Jessica Alexandra Barton. \nHe arrived (aged 31) in Southampton on board the Pretoria Castle as a first class passenger whilst resident in 16\, Stafford Terrace\, Kensington and his occupation was given as Company Director. \nHe died on 18th November 2015 in Cranleigh\, Surrey aged 86. He had four children one of which is Mark Slater. \nJames Slater\, Chairman Slater Walker Securities plcDirector\, British Leyland. (Photo by Photoshot/Getty Images)\nJim wrote his chess autobiography as follows : \n(This text was retrieved using the Wayback machine via https://web.archive.org/web/20110909053137/http://www.jimslater.org.uk/views/chess/) \n“As a boy Jim Slater enjoyed playing Monopoly and draughts but his main indoor hobby was chess. He stopped playing chess after leaving school as he found it took too much time and concentration while studying for accountancy. \nIt was not until a colleague asked Jim to teach him to improve his game in the late 1960s that his interest in chess was rekindled. For a short while Jim joined a London chess club (Richard James reveals that this is West London Chess Club as mentioned in their internal magazine) but found he preferred correspondence chess which he could play much more conveniently when he returned home in the evening. Jim did quite well in his correspondence club\, going up a few grades\, until he reached a level at which it became hard work. \n[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ces3-UaGDAc[/embedyt] \nJim had maintained a link with Leonard Barden\, who was a British Champion and a chess correspondent. With his help Jim began subsidising the annual Hastings Tournament with a view to expanding it so that leading players would have a chance to qualify as international masters. Other countries would not invite British players to play in their tournaments until they became international masters so they were in an impossible situation. The small amount of help Jim was able to give to Hastings was arranged in a very low-key way and attracted very little publicity. The World Chess Championship would prove to be a very different proposition. \nBritish accountant\, investor and business writer Jim Slater (1929 – 2015) signing documents at a desk\, UK\, 11th May 1965. (Photo by Reg Burkett/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)\nFor the previous two decades the Russians had dominated world chess and then the West produced two exceptional players – Bobby Fischer of the USA and Bent Larsen of Denmark. In particular\, Fischer had fantastic potential but he was handicapped by being extremely temperamental. \nIn the final rounds of the World Chess Championship the players were playing the best of ten games. In the quarter finals Fischer won six games to nil. In the semi-final Fischer was paired with Larsen and also beat him six games to nil. This had never happened before in world chess\, and for the first time it looked as if the Russians were going to get a run for their money. \nPersonalities\, Crime\, pic: 3rd December 1976\, Financier Jim Slater arriving at London’s Mansion House Police Court to face fraud charges involving more than 4\,000\,000 (Photo by Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)\nIn the last qualifier Fischer came up against Petrosian\, a brilliant defensive player. Fischer won the first game but lost the second. The next three games were drawn. It was said by some that Fischer had a bad cold and everyone wondered if he could regain his earlier momentum. After this relapse he won the next four games. This made Fischer challenger to Spassky. Spassky too was a brilliant attacking player and had been a chess genius since early childhood\, so it promised to be an exceptional match. \nWhile preparations were being made for the World Championship in Iceland\, Fischer started to complain about the prize money which he thought should be doubled.\n‘I was driving into London early one Monday morning in mid-July feeling disappointed that after all this build-up Fischer might not be taking on Spassky\, when it suddenly occurred to me that I could easily afford the extra prize money personally. As well as providing me with a fascinating spectacle for the next few weeks it would give chess players throughout the world enormous pleasure for the match to proceed.’ \nJim Slater \nFrom The Complete Chess Addict (Faber&Faber\, 1987) \, Mike Fox & Richard James: \n“Jim Slater\, the financier and children’s author\, was a strong schoolboy player. He gave up chess for finance. This turned out a very good thing for chess\, since he was able to tempt Bobby Fischer (with a £50\,000 increase in stake-money) into playing Boris Spassky for the world title in 1972. Here’s what the young Slater was capable of:” \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nBobby Fischer Goes to War\, Faber&Faber\, 2004\nFrom Bobby Fischer Goes to War \, David Edmonds and John Eidinow\, Faber & Faber\,  2004 we have a fuller account as follows : \n“Driving to work in London early on Monday morning\, 3 July\, Jim Slater was upset by a radio report on the challenger’s non-appearance in Reykjavik. Slater was a businessman who had set up his own company\, Slater Walker Securities\, in 1964\, when he was in his mid-thirties. His partner\, Peter Walker\, had left the business to become a Conservative member of parliament and a government minister under Edward Heath and\,later\, Margaret Thatcher. At the time of the Fischer-Spassky match\, the company reportedly had a controlling interest in 250 companies around the world. Supremely confident\, decisive\, ruthless in business\, Slater had by then amassed a fortune of\, in his own words\,’£6 million and rising’. A gambler by nature\, the one big luxury he allowed himself was to play bridge for thousands of pounds with stronger opponents. \nHe was also a chess fan and supporter of the game\, subsidizing the annual Hastings tournament. In the years following Fischer-Spassky\, he would\, alongside the former British champion and journalist Leonard Barden (who provided the vision and organization)\, transform the state of British chess by channelling funds into junior competition. Now he decided that he could easily afford the money to send Fischer to Reykjavik – or expose the American as a coward. He would double the prize\, putting an additional £50\,000 ($125\,000) into the pot. Arriving at his office that Monday morning\, he passed on his offer through Barden\, who then spoke to Marshall\, giving the US attorney some background details about this championship angel. Marshall then talked to Fischer. Slater says he also telephoned his friend David Frost\, who in turn rang his friend Henry Kissinger’ Kissinger then contacted Fischer. What motivated Slater?’As well as providing me with a fascinating spectacle for the next few weeks\, I could give chess players throughout the world enormous pleasure’ \nSlater’s offer made headlines in London’s Evening Standard and his house was soon swarming with reporters. When he returned from work\, he told his astonished wife\,’I had a good idea on the way to the office.’The good idea was couched in challenging terms: ‘If he isn’t afraid of Spassky\, then I have removed the element of money’ \nHere is the famous headline from the July 3rd\, 1972\, London edition of the Evening Standard retrieved from Edward  Winters‘ https://chesshistory.com/winter/extra/spasskyfischer.html \nLondon Edition of the Evening Standard\, July 3rd\, 1972. Retrieved from https://chesshistory.com/winter/extra/spasskyfischer.html\nIt is not altogether clear how the British offer finally persuaded Fischer. Paul Marshall certainly had a hand\, initially pushing it as the answer to all Fischer’s financial demands.’But he wouldn’t accept it; he says.’His experiences with people promising things had taught him not to believe them\, particularly with money. And he wanted proof. And he said no.’Marshall tried to change his mind. Phoning Barden\, the attorney took his place in the gallery of callers that saved the match.’I said if I were them I would rephrase the offer. Slater should say he didn’t think his money was at risk\, because Fischer was just making excuses. He should say that deep down Fischer was frightened. I said Bobby might be piqued by that challenge – and he was. I knew Bobby was very very competitive and combative and would not like to be thought of as a chicken.’ Slater denies this version of events. He maintains it was always his idea to express his offer as a taunt. He never spoke to Fischer and never received a word of gratitude from him.’Fischer is known to be rude\, graceless\, possibly insane\,’he says.’I didn’t do it to be thanked. I did it because it would be good for chess.'” \nThe match between Fischer and Spassky was a most exciting one and fully up to everyone’s expectations. Fischer won the match. \nA few months later\, in an endeavour to help our young players\, Jim Slater offered on behalf of The Slater Foundation to give a prize of £5\,000 (about £75\,000 in today’s money) to the first British grand master and £2\,500 to the next four. Over the next few years Great Britain went from having no grand masters to twenty and became one of the strongest teams of young chess players in the world.” \nHere is an obituary written by Stewart Reuben \nand here is an obituary from Liberal England \nHere is an item from the Slater Foundation \nand here is his entry from chessgames.com which lists  one game from 1947 : “James Derrick Slater\, better known as Jim Slater\, was an English accountant\, investor and business writer. Slater became a well-known chess patron in the 1970s\, when he stepped in to double the prize fund of the Fischer-Spassky world championship match at a time when Fischer was threatening not to play\, thereby enabling the match to go forward. Afterwards he provided significant financial backing for the development of young British players\, many of whom later contributed to Britain becoming one of the world’s strongest chess countries in the 1980s.” \nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP\, 1984) by Hooper and Whyld : \n“British chess patron\, financier\, children’s author\, Slater achieved wide fame in the chess world on the occasion of the Spassky-Fischer world championship match of 1972. Fischer showed reluctance to play and apparently decided to do so when Slater added £50\,000 to the prize fund. Slater has also made contributions to many other chess causes and in 1973 set-up the Slater Foundation\, a charitable trust which\, among other activities\, pays for the coaching of young players and provides help for their families if needed. Leonard Barden advises the trust on chess matters. In the 1970s\, partly owing to this patronage\, junior players in Britain became as strong as those in any other country.” \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977) by Harry Golombek: \n“An English financier\, a great patron and benefactor of chess\, both on a national and world level. Passionately devoted to chess from schooldays. He said that on leaving school he hesitated between the alternatives of become a chess master and of going into business\, opting for the latter on the grounds that he was not sure of his chess-playing prowess. \nIt is perhaps a fortunate thing for chess that he did not become a chess-master\, since he offer of a £50\,000 increase to the stake at the match at Reykjavik in Iceland in 1972 may well have swayed Fischer into consenting to play. He established a Slater Foundation Fund which helps young English players to go and play abroad.” \nHere is his Wikipedia entry \nHere is a small item from Dennis Monokroussos \nThe Zulu Principle\, Jim Slater\nInvestment Made Easy\, Jim Slater\nReturn to Go\, Jim Slater\nThe Tricky Troggle\, James and Christopher Slater\nThe Great Gulper\, James and Christopher Slater
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-james-derrick-slater/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,Fischer,History,Sponsor
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/methode_times_prodmigration_web_bin_e81e9c9d-c2f8-3935-95d7-34a050ff9637.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201117
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201118
DTSTAMP:20211117T160434Z
CREATED:20190822T164355Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211117T160434Z
UID:1004-1605571200-1605657599@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Gordon Crown (20-vi-1929 17-xi-1947)
DESCRIPTION:We remember Gordon Crown who died this day (November 17th) in 1947. \nGordon Thomas Crown was born on Thursday\, June 20th\, 1929 to James Crown (born 18th November 1899) and Hilda M Crown (born 3rd October 1900\, née Sharrott). \nJames was a refrigerating engineer and Hilda carried out unpaid domestic duties. The birth was registered in the district of West Derby\, Lancashire. \nGordon attended Holt Secondary School which is now known as Childwall Sports and Science Academy. \nAccording to the electoral register of 1939 they lived at 8 Ingledene Road\, Liverpool\, Liverpool C.B.\, Lancashire\, England. (This is L18 3HJ in this day and age.) \nAccording to Zoopla : “This 4 bed freehold semi-detached house is located at 8 Ingledene Road\, Liverpool L18 3HJ and has an estimated current value of £581\,000. Ingledene Road has 19 properties on it with an average current value of £492\,220\, compared to an average property value of £325\,035 for L18. There have been 5 property sales on Ingledene Road\, L18 over the last 5 years with an average house price paid of £474\,900. There are currently 108 properties for sale in L18 with an average asking price of £372\,163 and 59 properties to rent in L18 with an average asking rent of £408 pw.” \n8 Ingledene Road\, Calderstones\, Liverpool\, L18 3HJ\nLiverpool Echo 15 April 1946\nBoth Sunnucks and Hooper & Whyld are silent on GTC : surprising! \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \n“Gordon Crown is one the sad might-have-beens of the world of chess. In his short life he had already shown himself to be of master strength and a potentially very great player when suddenly\, at the age of eighteen\, he died during an operation. \nHe learnt chess when aged nine and soon became one of the best players\, first in Liverpool\,\, his home town\, and then in Lancashire\, of which county he won the Junior Championship three years in succession. \nCrown first came into national prominence when he came second in the British Boys Championship in 1946. (Ed : the winner was John Fuller) In the Hastings Congress of 1946/7 he won first place in a strong Premier Reserves Section. \nThe last year of his life even saw him reaching out to international success\, Playing on board 9 for Britain against The Netherlands he scored 1.5 out of 2 against L.J. Tummers. Then he won third prize in the British Championship at Harrogate. As a result of this success he was promoted to board 4 for Britain against Australia in a radio match when he beat Dr. M. Gellis. \nHarry Golombek and Gordon Crown in around 1946-47.\nIn September 1947 he was hurried to hospital suffering from peritonitis and\, being a diabetic\, succumbed under the operation. \nAs a player he excelled in both the opening and endgame phases and possessed a style of play that stamped him as a future grandmaster. As a person he was modest\, clever and a very agreeable companion. This was great loss for British and\, almost certainly\, world chess.” \nWe have reproduced his obituary from British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXVII (1947)\, Number 12 (December)\, Page 387-8 and we assume that this was written by TJ Beach: \n“The tragic death of Gordon on November 17th  after an operation\, will be felt keenly-by chess players throughout the country. Although only l8 years of age he had risen to a high place in British chess circles. Learning the elements of the game in 1938\, he had won the Lancashire Junior Championship in three successive years\, was champion of the Liverpool Chess Club and Merseyside champion with 100 per cent scores last season\, headed his section of the Premier Tournament at the last Hastings Christmas Congress\, and\, filling the vacancy caused by the late withdrawal of R. F. Combe the 1946 champion\, took third prize in the British Championship played at Harrogate in August of this year. \nIn three international team matches he scored l.5 points on Board 9 against Tummers\, of Holland; was one of the two British players to score a full point against the visiting U.S.S.R. team\, sharing honours with Kotov in two finely played games on Board 4; and followed this with a win over Dr. Gellis\, of Victoria\, in the recent radio match with Australia\, despite the earlier loss of the exchange through an oversight. His full match record for the past twelve months in international\, county\, and club matches read: won 16\, drawn 2\, and lost l. (to Kotov). \nHis play was notable for his exceptional knowledge of opening and end-game strategy\, but his prowess was not by any means confined to “book” knowledge. Possessing deep positional insight\, real combinational ability\, and chess experience beyond his years\, his concentration\, tenacity\, and\ndetermination to win had already made him one of the most formidable match and tournament players in the country. Many of us felt that he would become a worthy British champion within the next few years\, and possibly reach even greater heights in the international sphere\, and it is\, perhaps\, not too much to say that many chess players were already looking forward to the day when Gordon Crown would lead British chess to a high place in international esteem: Now those dreams have been rudely shattered\, and the loss to British chess is great indeed. \nGordon Crown was not merely a youthful chess prodigy. Although suffering for many years from the physical disability which has now caused his premature death\, he had a distinguished record at the Holt High School\, Liverpool\, and had entered Liverpool University only a month ago to read for the degree of B.A. Unable to play football and cricket\, in which latter he was deeply interested\, he became a tennis and table-tennis player of well above average ability and was an excellent exponent of billiards and snooker. Among other interests were cycling\, and military history and strategy\, in which he had read and studied widely. \nNo study of Gordon Crown would be complete without reference to his personality quite apart from his ability. Possessed of a quiet assurance and confidence in matters pertaining to chess\, he was modest in victory\, generous in his rare defeats\, and ever ready to help small clubs by means of a lecture or simultaneous display. \nNever too busy to play the humblest novice\, he gave untold pleasure and a new interest in life to many men who had suffered during the war by introducing them to the\nfascination of chess\, and by this means helped materially in the vital task of rehabilitation. With charm and dignity Gordon Crown won a warm place in the hearts and affections of those who were fortunate enough to be counted among his friends\, and whilst our deepest sympathy goes out to his parents in their tragic loss\, they may well ae proud that their son achieved so much that was really worth while within so few years\, for we shall remember Gordon with affection long after his chess exploits are but a dim memory.-T. J. B.” \nThe following is one of the last games\, if not the last; played by Crown in competitive chess. Score and notes from “The Field” \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nand here is the scan of the original article: \nObituary of Gordon Thomas Crown\, part one\nand \nObituary of Gordon Thomas Crown\, Part Two\nWe are grateful to Leonard Barden on the identity of T.J.B. : \n“Thomas John Beach\, wartime RAF navigator with Distinguished Flying Cross\, leading light of Liverpool chess\, regular British championship player for many years\, chairman of BCF junior selectors\, father of a leading Midlands expert\, a good and dedicated man” TJB was the father of Richard Beach who won the British Boys Under 18 title in 1961. \nAccording to the British Chess Magazine\, 1943\, March\, page 56 GTC lived at 8 Ingledene Road\, Calderstones\, Liverpool 18\, England. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nGordon Thomas Crown\, from CHESS\, 1948\, January\, page 86\nOn 17 November 1947 he was admitted to hospital\, complaining of a stomach upset. Diagnosed too late with appendicitis\, complicated by his diabetes\, he died in the operating theatre. \nHis friend (and former British champion) Leonard Barden speculates that had he lived\, Crown would have become at least a strong Grandmaster\, further noting that he was ” … open\, friendly and modest as well as a clear and enthusiastic explainer of his chess ideas; I think he would have been like Keres or Gligoric in their countries\, a model for our young players.” \nHarry Golombek was similarly impressed with Crown’s play\, stating that “In his short life\, he had already shown himself to be of master strength and was potentially a very great player.” \nWe are grateful to be able to use comments from long time friend\, Leonard Barden posted under the nom de plume of Roberts Partner on chessgames.com : \n“As to the circumstances of Crown’s death. The finger of blame must be pointed at the family doctor for failing to make a timely correct diagnosis. On Sunday 16 November 1947 a chess friend visited the Crown home at Ingledene Road\, Liverpool\, and found Crown in bed. He explained that his doctor had diagnosed a stomach upset and had recommended rest. The friend and Crown played and analysed together for several hours\, and Crown did not appear in any physical discomfort. But that night after the friend left his condition deteriorated and he was rushed to hospital where he died in the early morning hours of 17 November. There was also a belief among some Liverpool chess players that the hospital procedures could have been better.” \nand \n“On another thread some CG posters expressed surprise at the Ritson Morry v Crown game where Morry fell into a well-known opening trap. \nThe British championship at Harrogate in August 1947 was played in a spa building where the underfloor heating was still switched on. This coincided with one of the warmest summers on record (it was the year in which Compton and Edrich made their memorable cricket achievements for Middlesex). By the second week of the BCF congress older and overweight players (the latter group including Ritson Morry) were wilting. Ritson also had some long adjourned games\, and by the time of his game with Crown in the final round was exhausted. The game finished in 15-20 minutes so by the time other players went to spectate after their opening moves there was just a reset board with no sign of the players and no indication of what had transpired. Other final round results went Crown’s way so that he finished third outright and thus got selected on a high board for the USSR match.” \nWestern Daily Press 22 September 1947\nand here is an article by ddtru (?) in chess.com : full article \nWe are grateful to renowned chess historian\, Taylor Kingston for supplying these scans of an article from Chess Life in 1947 about Gordon Crown written by Reuben Fine : \nChess Life article about Gordon Thomas Crown\, Part One\nand \nChess Life article about Gordon Thomas Crown\, Part Two\nFrom Wikipedia: \n“Gordon Thomas Crown (20 June 1929 – 17 November 1947) was a promising British chess player who died of appendicitis at the age of eighteen. He is best known for his win against the Russian Grandmaster Alexander Kotov shortly before his death. \nCrown was born in Liverpool in 1929. He finished second in the British under 18 championship in 1946 and improved rapidly\, winning the Premier Reserve section of the 1946/7 Hastings International Chess Congress. This led to his being placed on the reserve list for the 1947 British Chess Championship. Following the withdrawal of the defending champion Robert Forbes Combe\, he was allowed to play in the championship\, where he finished third (Harry Golombek won). \nConsequently\, he was selected to play for the British team in the 1947 Britain-USSR match\, where he caused a sensation by defeating the Soviet Grandmaster Alexander Kotov\, though he lost the return game. He also defeated Max Gellis in a Britain-Australia radio match.” \nInterestingly\, via the EC Forum\, Geoff Chandler pointed out a note by Edward Winter in which Bill Hartston recounts advice from David Bronstein : “Look at the games of Gordon Crown. He really understood chess”. From NOW! magazine\, (6-12 February 1981\, page 80.): thanks Geoff ! \nGordon Thomas Crown
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-gordon-thomas-crown/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201116
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201117
DTSTAMP:20201116T143818Z
CREATED:20190823T184126Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201116T143818Z
UID:1108-1605484800-1605571199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Edward Sergeant OBE (3-xii-1881 16-xi-1961)
DESCRIPTION:We remember Edward Sergeant OBE (3-xii-1881 16-xi-1961) \nEdward Guthlac Sergeant was born on Saturday\, December 3rd 1881 : in the same year British Chess Magazine was founded by John Watkinson. \nHe was born in Crowland\, South Holland\, Lincolnshire. The registration district was Peterborough and the inferred county was Northamptonshire. His father was William R Sergeant (aged 27) and his mother was Frances E Sergeant (aged 25). He had a sister\, Hilda who was one year older. William was a registered general medical practitioner. \nHe was named Guthlac after a monk who “came to what was then an island in the Fens to live the life of a hermit.” \nSignature of EG Sergeant from a Brian Reilly “after dinner” postcard from Margate 1936.\nAccording to the 1891 census EGS was aged 9 and living with his father\, mother\, sister and their domestic servant Margaret A George who was their general domestic servant who hailed from Scotland. They lived at 2\, Gladstone Terrace\, Gateshead\, NE8 4DY. This was in the Ecclesiastical parish of Christchurch. \n2\, Gladstone Terrace\, Gateshead\, NE8 4DY\nIn the 1911 census aged 29 as nephew to the head of the household (5 St Peters Terrace\, Cambridge) EGS is listed as a solicitor who is single. The size of the household in 1911 was relatively modest at 12. He was living with George Edward Wherry (59\, surgeon university professor) and his wife Albinia Lucy Wherry (53). Albinia Lucy Wherry was a nurse and also writer. During WWI she was stationed in Paris at the Gare du Nord where she supported British forces from 1915-18. the sub-registration district was St Andrew the Great. \nAccording to Edward Winter in Where did they live? in April 1916 EGS was living at 39 Chichele Road\, Cricklewood\, London NW2 3AN\, England. EGWs source for this is : Chess Amateur\, April 1916\, page 202. \n39 Chichele Road\, Cricklewood\, London NW2 3AN\n1918 was an important year for Edward when he married Dorothy Frances Carter (born 1887) in Gravesend. In the same year Dorothy and Edward had a son Richard who passed away in 2014 \nTwo years later Dorothy and Edward had a son Lewis Carter Sergeant born on January 30th 1920. The birth was registered in Paddington. Lewis lived at 3 Woodhill Court\, 175 Woodhill\, London\, SE18 5HSL and passed away in 2004 the death being registered in Greenwich. \nOn the 1920 Electoral Roll\, EGS was now living with Dorothy Frances Sergeant at St. Stephen’s Mansions\, 5\, Monmouth Road\, Edmonton. \nIn 1923 they upped sticks and moved to 27. King Edward’s Grove\, Teddington.  \nSadly Dorothy passed away in 1926 at the modest age of 39. \nCoventry Evening Telegraph 10 October 1933\nAccording to the 1939 census EGS was listed as a widowed\, civil servant living at 24\, Gloucester Road\, Kingston Upon Thames\, KT2 7DX. This would be the address that Edward saw out the rest of his life. \n24\, Gloucester Road\, Kingston Upon Thames\, KT2 7DX\nHe shared this address with Edith Carter (born 4th May 1878) who is described as being of “Private Means” and Ada M Wenman (6th August 1881) who is described as being a “domestic”. \nIn 1949 he was awarded the OBE in the Birthday Honours in recognition of his 39 years’ service in the office of the Solicitor to the Board of Inland Revenue. \nAccording to John Saunders : EGS died in the New Victoria Hospital\, New Malden\, Surrey\, on 16 November 1961. His residence at death had been 24 Gloucester Road\, Kingston Hill. Probate (26 Jan 1962) granted to Lewis Carter Sergeant\, a Lieutenant-Colonel in HM Army. Effects £6\,586. \nE.G. Sergeant in characteristic pose v. Miss Vera Menchik at Margate\, 1939\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \nA British master who had a long and solidly distinguished career in British chess but never quite succeeded in breaking through the barrier to international success. A civil servant by profession\, he was awarded the OBE for his services in the Inland Revenue and Sergeant on Stamp Duties was regarded as an authoritative work. \nSergeant’s earliest performance in the British Championship\, at the Crystal Palace in London 190\, was one of his best. He came =2nd with JH Blackburne. RP Mitchell and GE Wainwright with 6.5 points\, a point below the winner of the title\, HE Atkins. \nHe was 3rd at Edinburgh in 1920 and his best result in the competition came in Brighton 193\, where he came equal second with H. Golombek\, a 1/2 point below the winner\, CHO’D Alexander. \nA stalwart supporter of the City of London Chess Club\, he won its championship in two successive years\, 1916 and 1917. He played for Britain against the USA in the 1908 and 1909 cable matches and also played on a high board for London against various American cities in the Insull Trophy matches in the years 1926-31. \nAs a player he was strongly influenced by the scientific principles of Siegbert Tarrasch and did well during the period when the Tarrasch school enjoyed its heyday. But he was at a loss when confronted with more modern methods.” \nBoth Sunnucks and Hooper & Whyld are silent on EGS : surprising! \nEGS was a cousin of PW Sergeant. \nWe asked  Leonard Barden of his memories of EGS and he was kind enough to reply :  \n“People have different ways of expressing satisfaction with their position. Botvinnik adjusted his tie\, Kasparov put his watch back on\,  Sergeant rubbed his hands together….He liked to counter the Queen’s Gambit Declined in the classical way with a kind of Lasker Defence.” \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXXII\, March\, 1962\, Number 3\, pages 76 -80 we reproduce an obituary from Bruce Hayden entitled “E.G. Sergeant – An Appreciation” as follows : \n(note the incorrect birth location presumably based on the 1891 census information) \nEdward Guthlac Sergeant\, part one\nEdward Guthlac Sergeant\, part two\nEdward Guthlac Sergeant\, part three\nEdward Guthlac Sergeant\, part four\nEdward Guthlac Sergeant\, part five\nSergeant on Stamp Duties\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nHere is his Wikipedia entry
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-edward-guthlac-sergeant/
CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Player
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