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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210107
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210108
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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\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:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-elaine-pritchard/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Writer
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210108
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210109
DTSTAMP:20210109T122609Z
CREATED:20190823T085537Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210109T122609Z
UID:1052-1610064000-1610150399@britishchessnews.com
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:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-william-ritson-morry/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,Hastings,Player
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200518
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200519
DTSTAMP:20200517T135203Z
CREATED:20190823T160941Z
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SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Brian Harley (27-x-1883 18-v-1955)
DESCRIPTION:Brian Harley (27-10-1883 18-v-1955)\, from chesscomposers.com and Chess Notes\nDeath Anniversary of Brian Harley (27-x-1883 18-v-1955) \nFrom chesscomposers.com : \n“Brian Harley composed mostly two- or threemovers and wrote many books to make chess problems more popular: for instance his “Mate in Two Moves” inspired Geoff Foster’s first steps into problemdom.\nHarley’s “The Modern Two-move Chess Problem” written in collaboration with Comins Mansfield is probably the best known of his efforts. \nBrian Harley was the inventor of the term “mutate” for the block problems with changed mates. He was the president of the British Chess Problem Society from 1947 until 1949. In his honour\, each year the British magazine “The Problemist” awards the best twomover problem with the “Brian Harley” award.” \nand Edward Winter writes about Brian Harley (scroll down a little).  \nHere is BHs obituary from British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXV\, Number 9\, pages 284 – 287 written by S. Sedgwick : \n“With the death of Brian Harley on May 18th\,1955\, the chess problem is the poorer by an authoritative exponent\, and a writer of unusual clarity and popular appeal. His sudden passing at his home at Bognor Regis will be mourned. by a very wide circle of friends; to his wife and son\, with whom he enjoyed an enduring happiness\, we extend our deep-felt sympathy. \nBorn at Saffron-Walden\, Essex\, on October 27th\,1883\, Harley was educated at Wellingborough and Haileybury. Qualifying as an actuary he entered the National Provident Institution\, in whose employment\, apart from War Service\, he passed his professional life\, until his retirement in 1947.  \nAs a player he had initially a considerable reputation\, above that enjoyed as a problemist. Two books\,  Chess and its Stars and Chess for the Fun of it\, reflect this aspect of his chess work. When playing was eventually renounced for problems he still retained his love of annotation\, bringing to this a wide knowledge\, larded by the apt witticism and an approach that was neither superficial yet avoided the pitfalls of pedantry. \nChess and its Stars\nHis first problem appeared at the age of fifteen\, in 1898. Whilst Harley’s early period has some noteworthy items\, it lacks the verve and distinction of his later output\, following his awakening of interest in the mutate in 1916_and the fertile years following his appointment as Chess Editor of The Observer\, London\, in 1919. In England under the lead o[ Phillip Williams in the Chess Amateur\, the mutate had sprung into\,popularity during and after the Great War\, with Harley among its ardent exponents. He continued the cult in his Observer column\, where he did much to popularize it. It is possibly symbolic that when Williams died in 1922 his travelling board and men should pass to Harley; it would be difficult to find a comparable instrument that has witnessed the genesis of so much concentrated chess devilry\, implicit in all mutates\, as this board used first by Williams and then by Harley. \nIn July\, 1919\, Harley published his system in the Good Companion folder. This paper\, the outcome of much thought\, attempted to evaluate the constituent parts of a chess problem on a semi-mathematical basis. Point values were set down for the elements in White keys\, Black defences thereto\, and the resultant White mates\, the summation giving values for comparison with other works similarly treated. In an accompanying paper on the block-change it was here that Harley introduced the term “mutate\,” the word passing\, without cavil\, into the current idiom. Under the evocative power of Harley’s work and pen his Observer feature from 1919 onwards has come to rank with the great columns of the past. No composer of substance was absent from its pages and the result is a collection of works and descriptive criticism that has enriched the chess literature of the world. Early on\, Harley came to know the late Godfrey Heathcote\, and the welcome presence of the great composers name in the column gave it a sublimity possessed by no other comparable English journal. Harley’s comments on his contributors work was one of the many attractive features of his column. He kept the popular approach very much in mind without unduly over-weighting it; this\, blended with a brand of humour all his own (often literary in character)\, and a grasp of essentials drove home the salient points of a problem to the uninitiated solver with a peculiar vividness. He could ‘be incisive when wanted\, technical when he pleased\, his gentle rebuke for the inferior production or undetected flaw could not be other than well taken\, authoritative without ostentation\, his succinct criticisms are now legendary to be treasured and repeated when the occasion demands. An incorrigible faddist in his regard for the short threat in the three-mover\, Harley seldom admitted this type to his pages\, pleading aversion by solvers. He conducted over one hundred solving contests during his column’s life; these weekly battles of wits affording enormous pleasure to all concerned. \nChess for the Fun of It\nTo his column came the established composer and the hesitant\, possibly young\, beginner. To this last group Harley gave every encouragement and unreservedly of his advice and help. There must be few British composers who have not felt his benefit directly\, through the medium of his wonderful letters\, lit all the way through by the warm glow of an endearing personality. \nHarley’s constructive powers brought him to the front rank of the world’s composers. His output of 450 includes long range work in four and five moves and in later years\, sui-mates. In the chess-men he found a pliable medium for the realization of an unusual vision and creative gift. In the two-mover he gave to the mutate much substantial and classic work. He appears to have given to this type more specialized attention than any other in the two-move field. Elsewhere in this length his work covers a wide variety of themes with a strong liking for task renderings. A composer with few serious constructive foibles\, his mode of expression\, in consequence suffered little. His was not the temperament to linger with one theme and squeeze it dry. One or two renderings of the theme on hand and he would pass to the next. Hence the diversity of his work which imbues it with especial charm. To underline this point one could indicate\, almost at random\, Harley’s entries in the multimate tourney of the Cleveland Chess Bulletin. Certainty the theme had few attractions for him but his entries showed how superbly such problem ideas could be clothed. \nIn the three-mover Harley has graced both sides of the aesthetic fence\, and that with distinction\, giving equally to the strategic and model-mate.genre. His friendship with Heathcote however influenced him considerably here and one is inclined to the view\, that in this length\, Harley held firmly to the eternal values in chess art. In both types Harley attained especially in task renderings\, rare heights of complexity and construction. His lighter mood showed to the full-to the incipient solver much of the low cunning of which the three-mover is capable. \nHe came to the sui in the late forties. When Heathcote was convalescing in London\, following an operation\, Harley took some specimens with him when he visited his friend The ensuing discussion stimulated Harley to further experiments and the authentic touch of the great master of technique is evident in his work here also. Harley gave many of his works to his own “Observer” column but did not neglect the other sources of publication. To quote his own words his ideal problem was “a mixture of art\, science\, humour\, and puzzlement.” His best work shows brilliantly his love for the integration of the beautiful and the true inner essence and spirit of chess. \nHis contribution to the literary and technical side of chess problems outside his journalistic work is seen in his two books Mate in Two (1931) and Mate in Three (1943).\nMate in Two is stamped with all Harley’s inimitable style and remains a mine of information for all levels. Standing\, as it does\, mid-way between the old and the new\, the book\, apart from an absorbing chapter on changed play\, reflects and even labours under the influence of the “Good Companion” period. Harley in later editions to a certain extent remedied this deficiency and the book\, now long out of print\, lies on our shelf\, its fundamentals unimpaired\, as one of the classic expositions in the art. Mate in Three\, written from a’ narrower viewpoint\, proved another successful publication. Here Harley entered more controversial ground\, crossing swords. with hitherto established theory. The book\, although not evoking absolute technical authority\, gives a broad and eloquent outline\, written from the artistic standpoint\, of three-move work fundamentally\, with few significant omissions. Made memorable by the inclusion of many works both by Harley and Heathcote\, the book is that of a true artist\, and is of great importance theoretically as the one modern work devoted to this length by an English author. \nA further important contribution to chess problem theory was his thesis on “Black Correction” read before the British Chess Problem Society on November 29th\, 1935. In the mid thirties\, this thesis\, more than anything else\, was instrumental in precipitating a flood of work on correction and associated ideas. Readers of this magazine will recall this period\, and I trust that this short recapitulation will still the tiresome arguments regarding the choice between “correction” and “continued defences.” Harley’s choice is at once apt and descriptive and it should not be forgotten that here\, he touched upon White Correction\, an esoteric aristocrat\, greeted by ten years or so of utter silence before systematic investigation by the moderns. \nElected President of the British Chess Problem Society in 1947-1949 it so happened that I was its Secretary at the time. We exchanged hundreds of letters on problematic subjects\, the scope of his knowledge always affording surprise. The Society benefited enormously from his advice and counsel\, and during the somewhat delicate situation arising from the arbitration in the two-move section of the 1948 Olympic Tourney it was with alacrity that one turned to a mind of the calibre of Harley. Coming to the man he was widely read\, a Latin scholar\, and his knowledge of Dickens was above average; a keen bridge player\, an instrumentalist (piano)\, all the varied facets of his character would come out at some time in his chess writings. His physical presence at any gathering gave it stature. Of medium height\, lovable\, somewhat dapper\, the shrewd contemplative face of this chess Barrie with its ever present cigarette holder and fund of anecdote has enriched and enlivened many a dull Committee Meeting. \nMate in Two Moves\nOn the death of Anthony Guest in 1925\, Harley succeeded as Problem Editor of the Morning Post until 1932. In addition he was Problem Editor of Empire Review\, 1923-1926\, and Time and Tide\, from 1951 until his death. Lesser appointments included several technical journals where he acted under pseudonyms. Amusing were the anagrammatical pseudonyms used occasionally for composing in Hilary Bream and Harry Blaine. \nBrian’s integrity and character endeared him to innumerable correspondents and solvers. Most of us nourish a characteristic Brian Harley story; one must suffice here. It concerns the time when Brian was introduced to the late Sir John Simon who made the delightful response “l need no introduction for I meet him every Sunday and for years hive wrestled with his problems\, eventually solving them in the House of Commons.” For this weekly enrichment of our lives we have much to thank him for. \nIn middle life Brian married Ella Margaret Beddall; there is one son\, Nigel. With his wife\, Brian shared many problematic triumphs and it was to her that his various\nbooks were dedicated.  \nMate in Three Moves\nBefore closing this brief review of Brian’s achievements a word should be said regarding the summary end of his work in the Observer and a tribute paid by one of his many solvers in this column. On the former it will be regarded with universal regret by all problemists that no arrangements have been made to continue Brian’s incomparable’work in the journal he  served with such distinction. Regarding the latter am very grateful to Halford W. L. Reddish\, Esq.\, for an appreciation that admirably epitomizes the feelings of us all on this melancholy occasion. \nMr. Halford Reddish writes- \n“l am one of thousands of solvers\, from the expert to the merest tyro\, who will miss our weekly battle with Brian Harley in the Observer. In the world of chess and chess problems his name and fame are secure. His characteristically titled Chess for the Fun of It is a delightful exposition of the game: his Mate in Two Moves and Mate in Three Moves are classics in their particular field. \nTo those of us who knew Brian personally his passing leaves an unfillable gap. I had known him and admired him and loved his witty\, cheery\, kindly personality for many years. He was one of those rare beings who became a close friend even before our first meeting-for we had corresponded for a long time before we first came face to face. And although chess and chess problems were our primary link he had many other interests which kept him young and keen in mind after his retirement from business and which enlarged and enriched his correspondence. It is typical of him that no letter came from him without some mention of his dear wife\, who shared to the full his varied interests. To her and to his only son to the deep sympathy of his many friends.”
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-brian-harley/
CATEGORIES:Composer,Death Anniversary,History,Problemist
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