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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201117
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201118
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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\n Save as PDF
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-gordon-thomas-crown/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201119
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201120
DTSTAMP:20260817T135628Z
CREATED:20210224T120404Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135628Z
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) \n Save as PDF
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-sim-graham-mitchell-04-xi-1905-19-xi-1984/
CATEGORIES:Correspondence,Death Anniversary,English,History,Remembering
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BEGIN:VEVENT
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\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\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\n Save as PDF
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-robert-graham-wade-obe/
CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering
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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. \n Save as PDF
URL:https://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: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.” \n Save as PDF
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-john-fuller-12-v-1928-iii-2005/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200113
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200114
DTSTAMP:20230213T142309Z
CREATED:20200417T141944Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230213T142309Z
UID:4742-1578873600-1578959999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Geoffrey Diggle (06-xii-1902 13-ii-1993)
DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of Geoffrey Harber Diggle (06-xii-1902 13-ii-1993) \nHere is his Wikipedia entry \n Save as PDF
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-geoffrey-harber-diggle-06-xii-1902-13-ii-1993/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Journalist,Player,Remembering,Writer
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200716
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200717
DTSTAMP:20230217T193732Z
CREATED:20200716T220105Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230217T193732Z
UID:7479-1594857600-1594943999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Raaphi Persitz (26-vii-1934 04-ii-2009)
DESCRIPTION:We remember Raaphy(i) Persitz who passed away on Wednesday\, February 4th\, 2009. \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXIX (129\, 2009)\, Number 3 (March)\, pp. 130-134 by John Saunders we have this detailed obituary: \nRaaphy Persitz\nA tribute to a great friend of British chess\, by John Saunders\nRaphael Joseph Arie (Raaphy) Persitz (26 vii 1934\, Tel Aviv – 4 ii 2009\, Tel Aviv) \n28th December 1955: Israeli chess player Raaphy Persitz in play at the International Chess Congress at Hastings. (Photo by Folb/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)\nRaaphy Persitz\, one of the strongest players resident in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s and also one of BCM‘s most popular contributors\, has died aged 74. Raaphy was born in Tel Aviv\, the grandson of Shoshana Persitz (1893-1969)\, a publisher who became an early member of the Knesset\, the Israeli parliament. Raaphy became Israel’s first junior champion in 1951 and shortly afterwards came to study PPE (Philosophy\, Politics and Economics) at Oxford University where he was a member of their very strong chess team and a close friend of Leonard Barden and others. \nRaaphy Persitz (26-vii-1934 04-ii-2009). 26 year-old Raaphy Persitz at the 1960 Leipzig Olympiad playing on board four for Israel. He scored +6\, =2\, -4.\nOne of his most publicised feats was to win his Varsity match game and also a county match against Hugh Alexander on the same day (see the May 1954 or March 2004 issues of the magazine for further details). Raaphy played three times in the Varsity match and also represented England in three Students Olympiads in the mid-1950s. He represented Israel in the 1960 Leipzig Olympiad on board four\, and also played twice in the Hastings Premier\, in 1955-56 and 1968-69\, the latter being his swansong in competitive chess as he turned his attention to a career in banking which took him first to Switzerland and eventually to his home town of Tel Aviv. As a player his best result was probably finishing third behind Reshevsky and Szabo at the first major international tournament held in Israel\, Haifa/Tel Aviv 1958. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nDespite giving up competitive play\, Raaphy never lost his love of the game and remained an avid reader of magazines and follower of the game until the end of his life. And\, of course\, he remained a perceptive and humorous writer on the game though his output was much lower than in the 1950s. The news of his death came as a particular shock to me as\, only a couple of weeks previously\, he had sent me a fax saying how moved he had been by the tribute I had writ- ten to Bob Wade in the January 2009 issue of BCM. That was typical of his kindness to wards me which dated back to when I took my first tottering steps as BCM editor in 1999. We never actually met in person but spoke occasionally on the telephone and exchanged faxes (Raaphy didn’t seem to communicate by email). \nRaaphy Persitz (26-vii-1934 04-ii-2009)\nAs a long-time reader of the magazine I had enjoyed his Student’s Corner column contributions. The column had been initiated by Abe Yanofsky in the early 1950s and Raaphy had inherited it in 1958. I was particularly delighted when\, in 2004\, after I had written about his 1954 feat in winning his Varsity match game and a county match against English number one CHO’D(Hugh) Alexander on the same day\, Raaphy consented to write another column (which appeared in the May 2004 issue of BCM). I never succeeded in getting him to write another one but it was such a pleasure to have him write for the magazine during my spell as editor. \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(Regarding the above game there is a note from Sally Simpson on chessgames.com as follows: \nRaaphi Persitz agreed to play for Oxford v Cambridge in London and also on the same day for Oxon v Gloucester in a county match in Swindon. \nThis is the second game\, he won both games. \nBe aware that Bruce Hayden in ‘Cabbage Heads and Kings’\, which is where I got this game from\, mentions this but also added that these games took place on the same day as the 1954 Grand National (won by Royal Tan). This is wrong as the Grand National that year was run on the 10 April. \nI think that maybe Bruce saw the score of the games with the two games a day story in a Sunday newspaper covering Saturdays Grand National and perhaps got the dates mixed up. \n) \nThe fax he sent me on 7 January 2009 seems particularly poignant now but it is a good example of Raaphy’s kindness and self-deprecating humour. Here is the full text: \n“Dear John\, I was moved by your wide-ranging obituary of Bob Wade in the BCM[January 2009\, p34l. I dare say you did justice to his contributions and devotion to chess\, spanning well over half a century. I have several pleasant recollections of conversations and over-the-board encounters with Bob. One such tussle\, a hard-fought draw\, was reproduced by Bob\, with comments (in the Student’s Corner) in a book containing his eventful games. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nAnother\, somewhat less felicitous\, recollection harks back to a game we contested at Ilford\, where\, in extreme time trouble\, I blithely played Rxh7+\, expecting …Qxh7\, but overlooking the simple …Kxh7\, leaving me a whole rook down with no compensation\, whereupon I duly resigned. What impressed me at the time was the lightning speed with which Bob reacted to my ill-fated blunder – as if it were nothing but inevitable… \nWith warmest wishes for a healthy\,\nhappy\, fruitful 2009. Raaphy.” \nI had hoped to publish the above as a Letter to the Editor but\, sadly\, it must now appear as part of Raaphy’s obituary. The draw with Bob Wade referred to in the fax was played in Dublin in 1962 and featured in Student’s Corner in BCM in the December 1966 issue on page 356. It seems appropriate to reproduce the game here in tribute to these two recently departed and much-loved chessplayers. \nNotes by Persitz\nUnlike the majority of games that have\, over the years\, appeared in the Student’s Corner\, the following dour struggle between Bob Wade (White) and myself (Black)\, from Dublin\, 1962\, is in no way outstanding: it does not contain any brilliant combinations; it is not a positional masterpiece; it is certainly not devoid of mistakes. Nor is it amusing\, or original\, or of theoretical interest or particularly instructive. Yet (with the aid of the interspersed comments) it ought to give the student a pretty shrewd and realistic idea of the stuff competitive chess is made of: the endless number of laborious variations that have to be examined; the annoying little threats that must be attended to; the treacherous pitfalls to be sidestepped; the technical hurdles to be surmounted; the frustrating little details\, indifference to which may be fatal; in brief\, the drudgery that has become part and parcel of contemporary tournament practice\, without which success is unimaginable. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nRaaphy Persitz Tributes\nLeonard Barden: Raaphy was probably my best friend at Oxford – certainly so among chessplayers. We played hundreds of blitz games in the junior common room at Balliol and later for some months in 1957 we shared a London flat\, analysing Russian championship games over breakfast. He was a wonderful man to know\, bright\, witty\, gentle\, sympathetic and knowledgeable. \nLeonard Barden (centre) with Raaphi Persitz\, JB Sykes\, OI Galvenius and DM Armstrong\, Ilford\, May\, 1953\nA tribute by Amatzia Avni: Ordinary people have a mixture of good qualities and bad ones. After 20 years of friendship with the late Raaphy Persitz I can attest that he was a distinct type: one sided\, positive-only; pure gold. \nI first met him in 1989. I had just written my first chess book (in Hebrew) and was searching for someone to write me an introduction. The word was that Persitz was back in town\, after long years abroad. Having seen glimpses of his amazing linguistic skills\, I contacted him and he agreed immediately. He didn’t know me\, hadn’t read a single sentence of the book\, yet he didn’t hesitate: “yes\, sure\, I’ll be glad to”. \nThat was typical Persitz: always ready to help\, unconditionally. The introduction\, needless to say\, was a sheer delight\, a class or two above the rest of the book. In later years he gave me a hand several times polishing my texts and making them more reader-friendly to English-speaking readers. Somehow he seemed to know what I wished to express better than I did. His suggestions enabled me to convey my meaning in a clear and precise manner. \nRaaphy was modest and reserved. Once I called him and realized he was upset. “My mother had passed away some weeks ago\,” he said. I was puzzled why he didn’t tell me the sad news at the time. “I didn’t want to bother you” was his reply. \nA couple of years ago I stumbled upon Bruce Hayden’s old book Cabbage Heads and Chess Kings. One of the book’s chapters was headed “Raaphy Persitz star or comet?”. I learned that\, in the 1950s\, Persitz gained bright victories in England\, against Penrose\, Alexander\, Milner-Barry and others. Searching a Chessbase database I found out that he also done battle with some out- standing international players. Yet\, in all our meetings and hundreds of hours of conversation\, he never said a thing about that! \nPersitz was a master of understatement. I learned that if I wrote “very fine” or “extremely strong”\, the ‘very’ and ‘extremely’ would fly out of the window. If I made a firm stand on a certain issue\, he would add “probably”\, “apparently’ or “it may be argued that”\, because it was indeed only an opinion\, not a fact. Over time\, following his line of thought made me improve the way I expressed myself and thought about chess. \nPersitz’s distinctions in chess\, in linguistics and in journalism are evident to anyone who ever read his chess books and articles. He also excelled at economics\, but I am unqualified to comment on this. \nGod bless you\, Raaphy. I feel privileged to have known you. Amatzia Avni. \nHere is his Wikipedia entry \n Save as PDF
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-raaphi-persitz-26-vii-1934-04-ii-2009/
CATEGORIES:2023,British Championships,History,Player,Remembering
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