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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201125
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201126
DTSTAMP:20201125T163549Z
CREATED:20190822T163322Z
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SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Amos Burn (31-xii-1848 25-xi-1925)
DESCRIPTION:We remember Amos Burn who passed away on November 25th\, 1925. \nAmos Burn was born in Kingston-upon-Hull on Sunday\, December 31st 1848 to Amos and Mary Burn (née Webster). His father is recorded as a merchant. Amos and Mary were residents of Bourne Street at the time of the birth. \nOn February 15th 1849 Amos was baptized in All Saints Anglican Church\, Sculcoates\, Kingston-Upon-Hull \nAmos married Martha Ann Jäger in Birkenhead on Dec 27th 1879. They had two daughters Elsie Martha\, born 24th Oct 1880 and Hilda Marian\, born  26th Oct 1881. \nFor further detail of ABs family please consult the excellent Amos Burn : A Chess Biography by Richard Forster \nIn 2006 an article by WD Rubinstein was published in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography \nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP\, 1984)\, Hooper & Whyld : \n“One of the world’s top ten players at the end of the 19th century. Born in Hull : he learned chess when 16\, came to London at the age of 21\, and rapidly established himself as a leading English player\, A pupil of Steinitz\, he developed a similar style; both he and his master were among the world’s best six defensive players\, according to Nimzowitsch. Not wishing to become yet another impecunious professional. Burn decided to put his work (first a cotton broker then a sugar broker) before his chess\, and he remained an amateur. He made several long visits to America\, and was often out of practice when he played serious chess. \nUntil his thirty-eighth year he played infrequently and only in national events\, always taking first or second prize. From 1886 to 1889 he played more often. In 1886 he drew matches with Bird (+9-9) and Mackenzie (+4=2-4); at London 1887 he achieved his best tournament result up to this time\, first prize (+8—1) equal with Gunsberg (a play-off was drawn +1=3—1); and at Breslau 1889 he took second place after Tarrasch ahead of Gunsberg\, After an isolated appearance at Hastings 1895 he entered another spell of chess activity\, 1897-1901\, The best achievement of his career was at Cologne 1898\, first prize ( + 9=5-1) ahead of Charousek\, Chigorin\, Steinitz\, Schlechter\, and Janowski. At Munich 1900 he came fourth (+9=3—3). His Last seven international tournaments began with Ostend 1905 and ended with Breslau 1912. A comparative success\, in view of his age. was his fourth prize shared with Bernstein and Teichmann after Schlechter\, Maroczy\, and Rubinstein at Ostend 1906; 36 players competed in this five-stage event\, 30 games in all for those who completed the course. \nRetired from both business and play he made his home in London and edited the chess column of The Field from 1913 until his death. A shy and retiring man\, a loyal companion to those who came to know him\, he freely gave advice to young and aspiring players.” \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nThe front cover of the November 1975 issue of the British Chess Magazine featured Amos Burn : \nAmos Burn – See W.H.Cozen’s ‘Half a Century Back’…from the front cover of the November 1975 issue of British Chess Magazine\nFrom British Chess Magazine\, 1975\, November\, pp. 481-483 : \nHalf a Century Back\nChess in 1925\nby W.H. Cozens\n  \nAmos Burn was a very different figure and his career is poorly documented. He is overdue\, not for a reappraisal but simply an appraisal\, He was born (in Hull) in 1848 – an incredible 127 years ago. All the years that could have been his prime as a chessplayer he devoted to business. (Marine insurance was his speciality.) He was based in Liverpool but travelled considerably\, including several crossings of the Atlantic – quite an undertaking in those days. He played some casual chess\, soon overshadowing the Rev. John Owen to become Liverpool’s answer to Manchester’s Blackburne. He also played for the City of London Chess Club; but it was not until he was nearly 40\, presumably with his financial position secured\, that he entered the international chess arena. Between the ages of 38 and 64 he played in 22 international tournaments. At Breslau (1889) he was second to Tarrasch\, above Louis Paulsen\, Blackburne\, Schallop … In Amsterdam the same year he was first\, ahead of Emanuel Lasker. His finest achievement was first place at Cologne 1898\, in front of Charousek\, Chigorin\, Steinitz\, Schlechter et al.\, (16 in all) with a win against Steinitz. The lack of a book on Cologne 1898 is – since the publication of Mannheim 1914′: the biggest gap in tournament literature. \nAt Karlsbad 1911 he defeated not only the winner\, as mentioned above\, but also Alekhine\, whom he steered into a knight versus bad bishop ending. His style was unashamedly modelled on that of Steinitz\, and marked by extreme tenacity. To him is attributed the epigram ‘He who combinates is lost’. He could play a combination when in the mood but he much preferred to let the opponent break his own back by attacking too impetuously. Nimzowitsch wrote: ‘The number of really great defensive players is very small’\, adding that he knew of only six: Steinitz\, Emanuel Lasker\, Burn\, Bernstein\, Duras and Louis Paulsen. \nIn the 1911 Cable Match between G.B. and the U.S.A. Marshall came from San Sebastian straight to London and asked permission for his top board game to be played over the board. When he found that his opponent was to be the 64-year-old Amos Burn he must have smiled\, for he had twice defeated him resoundingly – at Paris 1900 (also having some fun at Burn’s expense in his annotations to the game) and again at Ostend 1905. This time he was in for a shock. Within twenty moves the old man had won his queen for two pieces. Marshall played on\, probably with a red face\, until move 37\, rather than have his loss cabled home too early. Against Burn he might have spared himself the trouble. \nBurn was a superb annotator. His work\, notably in ‘The Field‘ from 1913 on\, sets a standard to which one looks back nostalgically in these days of hieroglyphics. The day before he died\, at the age of 77\,he had been at work on analysis and annotation. Tournaments were now plentiful enough for it to be possible to pick out the band of regular professionals\, and to assess their prowess. Tartakower was placed 2\, 5\, l\, 5; Reti 5\, 5’ 5\,-11; Grunfeld 4\,8\,8\,9; Nimzowitsch was erratic with 1\,2\,9; so was Rubinstein with 1\, 2\, 3\, 12. Marshall was consistent with 3\, 4\, 5. Lasker\, Capablanca and Alekhine appeared once each – with distinction\, of course.” \nThe Burn Variation is a line in the french defence dating from the 1870s\, played regularly by Burn at the tournaments of Hastings\n1895\, Cologne 1898\, and Vienna 1898. More recently it has been favoured by Petrosyan. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale\, 1970 & 1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“A leading British player of his day\, Amos Burn was born in Hull on 31st December 1848. He learned the game when he was 16 and an apprentice with a firm of Liverpool cotton-brokers\, but it was not until 1886 that he achieved his first major tournament success by coming 2nd in the London tournament and 1st at Nottingham. These results gained him an invitation to Frankfurt 1887\, which marked the beginning of his career as an international player. \nBurn’s greatest successes were 1st at Amsterdam 1889\, ahead of Lasker\, 2nd at Breslau 1889\, behind Tarrasch but ahead of Mieses\, Von Bardeleben\, Bauer\, Gunsberg and Paulsen; and 1st at Cologne 1898\, ahead of Charousek\, Steiniitz\, Tchigorin and Schlecter. \nAfter the St. Petersburg 1909 tournament\, Burn’s results began to deteriorate and he finally retired from tournament chess after the Breslau 1912 tournament. \nFrom 1913 until his death\, Burn was chess editor of The Field. He died on 25th November 1925.” \nAmos Burn (31-xii-1848\, 25-xii-1925) circa 1920\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \n“British Grandmaster and second only to Blackburne in late nineteenth-century British chess. He was born in Hull and learned to play chess at sixteen\, but devoted little time to the game at first\, preferring to establish himself in a commercial career. \nHe returned to chess in his middle thirties\, his first major national success being first prize at Nottingham 1886 and second prize at London 1886. Within three years he had gained an international reputation by winning at Amsterdam 1889\, ahead of Lasker\, and finishing 2nd to Tarrasch at Breslau 1889. Burn continued to appear in international tournaments until the age of sixty-four\, his most notable triumph being first prize at Cologne 1898 in front of Charousek\, Steinitz\, Chigorin and Schlechter. He was chess editor of The Field from 1913 until his death in 1925.” \nEdward Winter wrote a feature article on the game McDonald-Burn\, Liverpool\, 1910 \nHis Wikipedia article is here \nAccording to Edward Winter in Chess Notes Burn lived at 19 Luxemburg Gardens\, London W6\, England (Amos Burn\, The Quiet Chessmaster by R.N. Coles\, page 7). \nAmos Burn (31-xii-1848\, 25-xii-1925)\nand an excellent article from the Liverpool Museum is here \nAmos Burn (left) and Rev. John Owen circa 1885.\nAmos Burn\, the quiet chessmaster\, RN Coles\nAmos Burn : A Chess Biography by Richard Forster
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-amos-burn/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201125
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201126
DTSTAMP:20201123T173527Z
CREATED:20190823T110243Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201123T173527Z
UID:1078-1606262400-1606348799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary for Anthony Dickins (01-xi-1914 25-xi-1987)
DESCRIPTION:We remember Anthony Dickins who passed away this day (Wednesday\, November 25th) in 1987. \nAnthony Stewart Mackay Dickins was born at 1 Rivers Street\, Bath\, Somerset on Sunday\, November 1st\, 1914. On this day was the Battle of Coronel — The Royal Navy suffered its first defeat of World War I\, after a British squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock met and was defeated by superior German forces led by Vice-Admiral Maximilian von Spee in the eastern Pacific. \n1\, Rivers Street\, Bath\, Somerset\, BA1 2QA\nAnthony’s parents were Frederick and Florence Dickins (née Mackay) Frederick was a Captain in the Royal Artillery and was born on 25th November 1879\, commissioned on May 26th 1900. He became a Colonel on 26th May 1930 and retired November 25th 1936. He was alive in 1972 (aged 92) and living in Bexhill passing away aged 101/102. He was awarded the CIE which is “Companion\, Order of the Indian Empire in 1914”. \nAnthony was baptised on December 29th in Seend\, Wiltshire. Anthony had a brother Frederick James Douglas born in 1907 who married Nellie or Peggie Moist (records are unclear). \nIt would appear that Florence and Anthony (aged 5) travelled to Bombay from Plymouth on board the SS City of York (Ellerman Lines) departing December 26th\, 1919 presumably to visit his father in India. The ships master was J. McKellan. \nAt the time of the 1939 Census Anthony was residing in the Tavistock Hotel in Tavistock Square. His occupation was given as journalist and editor and described as single. \nFrom the Hull Daily Mail (extant and renamed Hull Live) of March 4th\, 1939 we have this part review of a magazine called The Joys of Poetry. Anthony was the editor : \nHull Daily Mail\, 4th March 1939\nHe died in Lambeth Wednesday\, November 25th) in 1987. We have yet to determine where he was buried or cremated. \nFrom http://chesscomposers.blogspot.com/2012/10/november-1st.html : \n“Anthony Dickins wrote A Guide to Fairy Chess (1967) and other books about fairy chess. He edited the column of non-original fairy problems for “The Problemist”. He was specialized in constructional problems and was also an International Judge.” \nAnthony Stewart Mackay Dickins\nFrom British Chess (Pergamon Press\, 1984)\, Botterill\, Levy\, Rice and Richardson : \n(article by JM Rice) \n“Chess first entered my life seriously about 1950 at the well-known Mandrake Social and Chess Club in Meard Street\, Soho\, run by Harold Lommer and Boris Watson. Purely literary connections took me there in the first place\, as it was a rendezvous for the literary fraternity\, such as Dylan Thomas\, David Gascoyne and others. \nAfter the war Harold converted a small wine-vault into a tiny cramped chess-room\, with some dozen tables and boards. Many well-known\npersonalities in the world of Chess were occasional visitors\, such as Grandmasters Ossip Bernstein\, Paul Keres\, Jacques Mieses and Friedrich Sämisch; British Champions Willy Winter\, Bob Wade and Dr. Fazekas; M. J. Franklin\, now a British Master\, and the Problemists\, Dr. E. T. O. Slater and B. J. da C. Andrade. Mieses was then in his late eighties and charged a fee of half-a-crown (12.5 pence) for a game. When his name was mispronounced ‘Mister My-ziz’ he would say ‘I am Meister Mieses\, not Mister My-ziz’. \nSämisch once played fourteen of us blindfold\, defeating all except one\, a very strong Indian player\, Atta\, who obtained a draw. My regular ‘partners’ were Vicki Weiss\, the famous cartoonist\, his brother Oscar\, Richard Crewdson\, Mr Keller (a professional who played sharply for a shifty shilling)\, Brian Mason\, Colin ‘Puffer’ Evans\, (whose strategy was to puff cigarette ash and smoke all over the board to bemuse the opponent) and Bob Troy (who always fell fast asleep immediately after making each move and had to be wakened on his next turn to play). There was a juke-box in the next room constantly blaring forth pop and bop. Most of all I played with Alex Distler\, and with him always’variants of the game’ like Cylindrical Chess\, Rifle Chess\, Progressive Chess\, or the Losing Game. \nIn this colourful and inspiring\, if rather smoky and noisy\, atmosphere I composed my first six chess problems\, helpmates and cylindricals\, though I did not then know of the existence of Problem books or magazines\, nor had I heard of Sam Loyd\, Max Lange\, or T. R. Dawson when the Mandrake closed in the late fifties and Harold Lommer retired to Spain to write his two monumental works on Endgame Studies. \nFor the next 10 years or so I played at the West London and Athenaeum Chess Clubs\, for Middlesex County and at Hastings congresses\, meanwhile regularly solving the problems in the two evening newspapers for practice. \nIn 1965\, in my 51st year\, I discovered chess-problem magazines and the British Chess Problem Society\, and was soon asked by John Rice to join the Fairy\nChess Correspondence Circle\, whose director\, W. Cross\, perhaps the greatest solver of all time\, guided my early footsteps in fairyland. At this point I compiled for my own use a summary of all the usual rules and conventions in Fairy Chess\, as these were numerous and complicated. It occurred to me that a few other people might also welcome such a summary\, so I put it into book form as A Guide to Fairy Chess\, which I published by myself in 1967 under the imprint ‘The O Press’\, a pun on the name ‘Kew’ where I was then living. \nA Guide to Fairy Chess\nTo my amazement it had rave reviews (‘the comprehensive work\, so long awaited’\, ‘more like an encyclopaedia’\, ‘the bible of Fairy Chess’) and sold like hot cakes\, going into three editions\, each one enlarged and revised\, the third produced by Dover Publications\, New York\, in 1971. Two years later I edited Dover’s publication of T. R. Dawson’s Five Classics of Fairy Chess. \nFive Classics of Fairy Chess\, TR Dawson\nIn 1970 I flew to the States to spend a few days in the J. G. White collection in Cleveland\, Ohio\, researching historical material on Fairy Chess. This Ohio collection has the largest chess library in the world\, and to my surprise I found that it contains also ‘every book or article ever written on or about ‘Omar Khayyam and Alice in Wonderland . To find oneself suddenly and unexpectedly transported\, as if by magic carpet\, into a superbly organised library with the most complete collections in the world of the three subjects that happen to be one’s own three principal literary interests is an experience that must approach closely to entering Nirvana\, and I am happy to have had it. This visit enabled me to write A Short History of Fairy Chess (1975) and to give the lecture Alice in Fairyland to the Lewis Carroll Society in London\, published in their journal Jabberwocky and reprinted by myself in 1976 (2nd edn 1978) . \nA Short History of Fairy Chess\, ASM Dickins\nIn 1972 I decided to present my (by then) extensive collection of Fairy Chess books and magazines to my old university library at Cambridge to prevent the possible break-up of the collection as a single unit\, and to ensure that at least one fairly complete Fairy Chess collection was retained in Britain. \nIn 1968 I was invited to open a Fairy Chess section in The Problemist\, organ of the BCPS\, which I handed over to Dr. C. C. L. Sells in 1970\, and from 1974 to 1981 I ran another column in that magazine called ‘Other Types’. This chess journalism has brought me into touch with many problemists\, and made many friends for me\, in foreign countries. \nIn 1967\, on a visit to Mannheim for the Schwalbe annual meeting\, I met Wilhelm Karsch\, then editor of Feenschach\, and in 1968 in Munich I again met Dr. Karl Fabel\, whom I first came to know in London in 1967\, and also Peter Kniest\, one of the two present editors of Feenschach. In 1969\, on a visit to Paris\, a meeting was arranged for me at the late Jean Oudot’s flat\, with Pierre Monr6al\, J. P. Boyer\, F. de Lionnais (author of the Dictionnaire des Echecs) and other French problemists\, and altogether I have attended twenty three major problemist meetings in various countries\, including FIDE meetings in The Hague\, Wiesbaden\, Canterbury and Helsinki. It has been my constant aim to try to encourage and cultivate the practice and study of Fairy Chess and to keep alive the great legacy that T.R. Dawson left to the world when he died in 1951. \nIn recent years I have developed close relations with the younger generation of West German problemists\, who are very active in Fairy Chess\, centred round 29-year-old Bernd Ellinghoven\, who helps Peter Kniest to edit Feenschach and who printed my last booklet\, Fairy Chess Problems (1979)\, containing\npoems as well as problems\, combined in a new kind of fairy technique\, for I believe that Fairy Chess represents in many ways the ‘poetry’ of Chess. \nFAIRY CHESS PrOblems (1979)\nFor\nthe 50th birthday of T. R. Dawson on the 28th November 1939 a certain Dr Lazarus of Budapest wrote in Fairy Chess Review: ‘T. R. D. these three\nletters represent a conception in the Poetry of Chess which is amongst the most ingenious of all its turns\, one of its most strange and interesting phases… Without T.R.D. human culture would lack a factor in its development’. Those people (and there are some) who would banish Fairy Chess altogether from Caissa’s realm resemble the iron-hearted Mr. Gradgrinds who would abolish romance\, mystery\, poetry\, invention\, discovery and imagination from human life. \nFairy Chess Review\nElsewhere I have written: ‘The Game for Murderers\, The Problem for Philosophers\, Fairy Chess for Sufis’\, because the aim of the game-player is to ‘mate’ (kill) the opponent (from Arabic\, mat _ dead)\, while the problemist has no personal opponent to kill\, but merely a philosophical problem to resolve. In Fairy Chess\, however\, the adept is transported to another plane of existence\, to an ‘undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveller returns’\,to new’dimensions’ of thought (as in 3- and 4-dimensional problems) – in short\, to Fairyland\, to Nirvana. \nThe three problems represent my early\, middle and later compositions. The helpmate in three moves (Black plays first in a helpmate) is a miniature culminating in an ideal Mate. C. H. O’D. Alexander was much tickled by what he called ‘the deceptive pawn’ on a2\, which unexpectedly does not promote. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nThe Construction Task with 113 White moves\, all ‘maintaining’ the legal stalemate position in which Black finds himself\, is a standing record that defeated the previous record of 112 such moves obtained independently by six problemists in six countries\, one of them an lnternational Master of FIDE. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nThe Knight’s Tour is one of the oldest genres of Fairy Chess\, dating from the earliest days of chess\, and in TR Dawson’s Fairy Chess Review he published many of them.\, including some that showed the ‘square numbers’ (1\,4\,9\,16\,25\,36\,49\,64) all on one rank – in the present example I have added the extra strict condition that as many as possible of the numbers 1 to 16 must be in the SW corner and as many as possible of the numbers 1 to 32 must be in the W half of the board. \nFor two reasons the perfect ideal in this task cannot be attained\, firstly because of the given position of the number 25\, and secondly because it is not possible to make a Knight’s tour on a 4 x 4 board in the SW corner. \nSolutions : \n1. Helpmate\, Evening News\, 20th February 1957 dedicated to Harold Lommer \nHelpmate in 3 moves \n1. Kd5 Nb1\n2. Kc4 e8=Q\n3. Kb3 Qb5 mate \n2. Construction Task Record\, Feenschach 9341 Sep/Oct 1969 dedicated to Karl Fabel \n113 unforced stalemate maintenances with Promotion in Play (Pawn promotions count as 4 moves) unforced as W has some moves that do not maintain stalemate\, so he is not ‘forced’ to maintain it. \n3. Knight’s Tour Chessics 5(180) July\, 1978 dedicated to D. Nixon. \nKnights tour with\na) All square number on 4th rank\nb) maximum of 1-16 in SW quad\nc) maximum of 1-32 in W half \nKnight’s tour solution from ASM Dickins\n100 Classics of the Chessboard
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-for-anthony-stewart-mackay-dickens/
CATEGORIES:Composer,Death Anniversary,History,Problemist
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201125
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201126
DTSTAMP:20201030T154235Z
CREATED:20200408T152648Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201030T154235Z
UID:4203-1606262400-1606348799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Stewart Haslinger (25-xi-1981)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of GM Stewart Haslinger (25-xi-1981)
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-stewart-haslinger-25-xi-1981/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201128
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201129
DTSTAMP:20211127T122058Z
CREATED:20200409T080835Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211127T122058Z
UID:4236-1606521600-1606607999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Nicholas Frost (28-xi-1983)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Nicholas Frost (28-xi-1983)
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-nicholas-a-frost-28-xi-1983/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player
END:VEVENT
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
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:20201130
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201201
DTSTAMP:20201030T154834Z
CREATED:20200410T215434Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201030T154834Z
UID:4393-1606694400-1606780799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of WIM Teresa Needham (30-xi-1965)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of WIM Teresa M Needham (30-xi-1965)
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-wim-teresa-m-needham-30-xi-1965/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201130
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201201
DTSTAMP:20260817T135617Z
CREATED:20200411T223418Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135617Z
UID:4518-1606694400-1606780799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Simon Williams (30-xi-1979)
DESCRIPTION:GM Simon Williams\nBest wishes to GM Simon Williams on his fortieth birthday\, this day (November 30th) in 1979. \nSimon was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion in the 2001-02 (shared with Simon Knott) and the 2006-07 season. \nHis Wikipedia entry is here \nGM Simon Williams
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-simon-kim-williams-30-xi-1979/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer
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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.
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:20201206
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201207
DTSTAMP:20211106T121121Z
CREATED:20191130T140838Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211106T121121Z
UID:2213-1607212800-1607299199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of IM John Hawksworth (06-xii-1963)
DESCRIPTION:We wish happy birthday to IM John Hawksworth born on Friday\, December 6th\, 1963. \nJohn Crofton Hawksworth was “born in Brighton\, England\, in December 1963 to Robert Marshall Hawksworth and Norah Connor Hawksworth née Crofton. He was baptised at St Saviour’s Church of England church in Pimlico\, London\, in 1964.[1]” \nThis was written about John who was 15 just prior to the Spassky vs the BCF Junior Squad simultaneous display in 1979 : \n“Bradford Grammar and Bradford. Rating 194. Yorkshire under-18 champion.” \nHe was awarded the IM title in 1986. \nAccording to ChessBase his highest FIDE rating was 2370 in January\, 1990 aged 27 which was the last year of serious competition at the 77th British Championships in Eastbourne. \nHe then pursued a highly successful career in the financial sector and is currently the Chief Economist for PriceWaterhouseCoopers. \nIM John Crofton Hawksworth (standing\,far left)\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nIM John Crofton Hawksworth (standing\, second from right)\nAt the Lloyds Bank Masters : Front (l-r) : Joel Benjamin\, Ian Wells\, Rear : Peter Morrish\, Stewart Reuben\, Richard Beville\, Gary Senior\, Richard Webb\, John Hawksworth\, Andrew King\, Nigel Short\, Mark Ginsburg\, Daniel King\, David Cummings\, Erik Teichmann\, John Brandford and Micheal Pagden
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-john-crofton-hawksworth-06-xii-1963/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201208
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201209
DTSTAMP:20211208T155947Z
CREATED:20191208T001021Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211208T155947Z
UID:3679-1607385600-1607471999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of John Fuller (12-v-1928  08-xii-2004)
DESCRIPTION:We remember John Fuller who passed away aged 76 on Wednesday\, December 8th 2004. His death was recorded in the district of Lancaster. At the end of his life he lived in Carnforth\, in Lancashire. \nJohn Arthur Fuller was born in Hendon\, Middlesex on Saturday\, May 12th 1928. His parents were Horace Arthur Fuller (a Bank Officer) and Phyllis Fuller (née Gooch). \nJohn had three brothers: Julian Frederick who was two years older\, Nigel Anthony who was three years younger and Adrian Easterbrook who was six years younger. \nThey lived at 12\, High View\, Pinner in Middlesex. \n12\, High View\, Pinner\, Middlesex\, HA5 3PA\nOn August 26th 1939\, aged eleven\, John (described as a scholar) departed from Liverpool on board the SS Ceramic (part of the Shaw Savill & Albion Company shipping line) and duly arrived one hundred and twenty days later in Sydney\, New South Wales. \nThe family returned to Liverpool in March 1945 on board the Athlone Castle which was of the Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company Ltd. John was now sixteen years old. \nAccording to ancestry.co.uk he is survived by a son\, Robert. The family tree indicates that John had two sons and two daughters but his wife is marked as Private and so her name is not visible. We speculate that it may be Ann Fuller (née Dent) but this is awaiting confirmation. \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale\, 1972 & 1976) by Anne Sunnucks : \n“British Master\, British Boy Champion in 1946 and British Correspondence Champion from 1953-1955. Born on 12th May 1928 Fuller learned to play chess when he was 11. In 1946 \, the year in which he won the British Boys Championship\, he also tied for the London Boys Championship. He went on to win the Middlesex Championship three times and the Warwickshire Championship twice. Fuller played for England in matches between Scotland and the Netherlands and in the Clare Benedict International Team Tournament. He also had the best British score in the Premier Tournament at Hastings in 1949 and 1955. \nHe was a design engineer.” \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsfords\, 1977) by Harry Golombek: \n“British master and design engineer by profession. British Boy Champion in 1946. Fuller was a player of great promise with a fine understanding of the game. But a serious illness disturbed the even flow of his chess career and\, though he recovered and made some more appearences in the chess world\, he eventually withdrew from chess on an international and national level. \nFuller played twice in the Hastings Premier tournament: =5th 1949/50 and 6th in 1955/6.” \nThe Oxford Companion to Chess is silent on JAF. \nThere has been considerable discussion of JAF in another place. \nBCN would like to acknowledge help received from Richard James\, Leonard Barden\, Rob Fuller and John Upham in putting this article together. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nSubsequent to this post being published our attention was kindly drawn by John Saunders to the obituary in BCM\, Volume 125 (2005)\, #5 (May)\, page 247. Here is the article: \nJohn Fuller (12 v 1928 – 8 xii 2004\, Carnforth) was a British Master and British correspondence champion in 1954 and 1955. Having spent some of the war years in Australia\, he quickly made his mark in junior chess on his return to Britain. He shared first place with Leonard Barden in the 1946 London Boys’ Championship and went on to win the British Boys’ Championship in 1946 with 5/5 in the final section\, ahead of Gordon Crown and Leonard Barden. He beat an off-form Crown in nine moves in the last round (see game above) He played a number of correspondence games with Crown\, himself a richly gifted player\, who w0as to die tragically young in 1947\, and it was reported that Fuller had the better of these encounters. \nFuller became a design engineer\, but his business and chess careers were both affected by a serious bout of tuberculosis when he was a young man. He won the Hastings Premier Reserves ‘B’ with 8/9 in 1947/48 ahead of Alan Phillips and Arthur Winser\, and in 1949 Leonard Barden remembers playing off with him for a place in the 1949/50 Hastings premier after the two of them had made similar scores at the 1949 British Championship. \n“We played the match at Sir George Thomas’s flat in autumn 1949… and John crushed me in that. Not sure of the score\, I think it was 2.5- 0.5.” \nHe played in the Hastings Premier in 1949/50 and again in 1955/56\,and made the best British scores on both occasions – 4/9 and 3.5/9 respectively. He also represented England in matches against Scotland and the Netherlands\, and in the Clare Benedict team tournament. He only appeared three times in British Championships\, scoring 6.5 in 1949\, 5.5 in 1950 and 6.5 in 1958. He ranked in the top ten of the British Chess Federation Grading List on six occasions\, with a best place of third equal in 1958. He seems to have dropped out of over the board competition chess shortly after being awarded the (now defunct) British Master title in 1963/64. \nHarry Golombek referred to Fuller in The Encyclopaedia of Chess (1977) as a player of great promise with a fine understanding of the game”. Alan Phillips told BCM that he was “one of the most promising players of his generation… he slaughtered me three times”. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nLeonard Barden had the following memories of John Fuller: “He was a member of West London Chess Club\, which was historically significant as his good friend and fellow member (both living in Harrow) was Jim Slater\, who 25 years later told me that knowing John was one of the factors which kept his interest in chess up to the point where he became our Maecenas… John was a tall redhead\, outgoing and friendly\, and a natural talent who also worked on theory. With the better opportunities available to later generations I’m sure he would have reached IM strength.”
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-john-fuller-12-v-1928-iii-2005/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201209
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201210
DTSTAMP:20211109T181851Z
CREATED:20190822T222348Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211109T181851Z
UID:1014-1607472000-1607558399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of WGM Dr. Jana Bellin (09-xii-1947)
DESCRIPTION:Happy birthday WGM Dr. Jana Bellin on this day (December 9th) in 1947. \nJana Malypetrova\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale\, 1970 & 1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“International Woman Master (1969)\, Czech Woman Champion in 1965 and 1967 and British Woman Champion since 1970. \nJana Malypetrova\nJana was born in Prague on the 9th December 1947 and learned to play chess at the age of eleven. She made her first appearance in the international field when she played 2nd board for Czechoslovakia in Women’s Chess Olympiad in Oberhausen in 1966. In the same year she represented Czechoslovakia in the Zonal tournament at Varna and came 11th. \nJana Malypetrova\nShe is now married to the British International Master\, William Hartston\, and played 1st board for England in the Women’s Chess Olympiad in Skopje in 1972 and represented England in the Zonal tournament in Wijk aan Zee in 1973 in which she tied for 1st place. In the same year she came =6th in the Interzonal Tournament. She is a doctor.” \nJana & Bill Hartston celebrate a family double at the British Championships in 1973 at Eastbourne\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \n“Born in Prague\, Czechoslovakia\, but moved to England in 1970 after her marriage to WR Hartston. Czechoslovak Woman champion in 1965 and 1967 (under her maiden name of Malypetrova) and British Ladies champion in the five years 1970 to 1974. International Woman master since 1969.” \nBill and Jana Hartston are shown with some of their many chess sets. CHESS\, August 1973\, page 323\nFrom British Chess (Pergamon Press\, 1983) Botterill\, Levy\, Rice and Richardson : \nHastings International Chess Congress 21 year old Jana Malypetrova From Czechoslovakia And Vassily Smyslov From Russia.  Mandatory Credit: Photo by Michael Fresco/ANL/Shutterstock (1876232a)\n“Jana Miles was born 9 December 1947 in Prague\, Czechoslovakia. She moved to England when she married Bill Hartston. Divorced from Hartston in 1978\, she subsequently married Tony Miles.  \nHastings International Chess Congress 21 year old Jana Malypetrova From Czechoslovakia And Vassily Smyslov From Russia.  Mandatory Credit: Photo by Michael Fresco/ANL/Shutterstock (1876232a)\nShe was Czech woman champion in 1965 and 1967 and has regularly been the British Ladies Champion since moving to this country. She is a doctor of medicine.” \nBill and Dr\, Jana Hartston (née Malypetrova)\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nSir Philip Stuart Milner-Barry OBE presents Dr. Jana Hartston with the ? prize\nFrom Wikipedia : \n“Jana Bellin (née Malypetrová; born 9 December 1947) is a British\, formerly Czechoslovak chess player. She was awarded the Woman International Master chess title in 1969 and the Woman Grandmaster title in 1982. \nMoment of concentration for reigning women’s champion of Great Britain Jana Hartston and some of the 30 Post Officer players – all men who challenged her at postal headquarters London on September 6. Jana beat seven\, drew with sixteen and lost to seven.\nBellin was born in Prague\, Czechoslovakia. She was the Czech Women’s Champion in 1965 and 1967 under her maiden name of Malypetrová. After her marriage to William Hartston she moved to England in 1970 and won the British Women’s Championship in 1970\, 1971\, 1972\, 1973\, 1974\, 1976\, 1977 (after a play-off)\, and 1979. \nMoment of concentration for reigning women’s champion of Great Britain Jana Hartston and some of the 30 Post Officer players – all men who challenged her at postal headquarters London on September 6. Jana beat seven\, drew with sixteen and lost to seven.\nShe has fifteen appearances in the Women’s Chess Olympiads\, representing Czechoslovakia in 1966 and 1969 and England thirteen times from 1972 through 2006\, seven times on first board. \nMoment of concentration for reigning women’s champion of Great Britain Jana Hartston and some of the 30 Post Officer players – all men who challenged her at postal headquarters London on September 6. Jana beat seven\, drew with sixteen and lost to seven.\nAt the Olympiad she earned individual silver medals in 1966 and 1976\, a team bronze medal in 1968 with the Czechoslovakian team\, and a team silver in 1976 with England. \nBritish Speed Chess Championship Grandmaster Nigel Short Playing Chess In The Park With L-r Susan Arkell Sheila Jackson And Dr Jana Miles. Courtesy of Shutterstock\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“Bellin is a medical doctor specialising in anaesthetics\, and works in intensive care at Sandwell General Hospital\, West Bromwich\, England. \nJana with Sheila Jackson to her left\nShe is also Chairman of the FIDE Medical Commission\, which supervises drug testing of chess players. \nBritish Speed Chess Championship Grandmaster Nigel Short Playing Chess In The Street With Woman Grandmaster Dr Jana Miles : Credit : Shutterstock\nBellin was married first to International Master William Hartston\, then to Grandmaster Tony Miles\, and after that to International Master Robert Bellin. She and Bellin have two sons: Robert (born 1988) and Christopher (born 1991).[citation needed] \nDr. Jana Bellin\nShe is the granddaughter of thrice Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia\, Jan Malypetr. and cousin of author and human rights campaigner Jiří Stránský. \nWGM Dr. Jana Bellin\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-jana-bellin/
CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201210
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201211
DTSTAMP:20211210T095748Z
CREATED:20200402T173520Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211210T095748Z
UID:3986-1607558400-1607644799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Peter Batchelor (10-xii-1996)
DESCRIPTION:Best wishes to FM Peter Batchelor on his birthday. \nPeter J Batchelor was born on Tuesday\, December 10th\, 1996. “Breath” by The Prodigy was the UK Number One Single. His father is the player Guy Batchelor. \nPeter’s first recorded rapidplay event was on the 17th of July 2005 in the Barnet Knights Under-9 tournament where he scored 4/6 and his first (!) standard play event was on August 20th 2005 being the British Land UK Terafinal which was not such a happy result. \nHis first published ECF grading was 56E in July 2006 at the age of ten with a rapidplay grading of 57A. \nPeter played league chess in the Middlesex and London Leagues playing initially for Willesden & Brent and then with Wanstead & Woodford both with his father Guy. \nPeter attended the Capital City Academy which is a “specialist sports and arts Academy in Willesden\, North West London\, in the borough of Brent.” He has returned there post-graduation to teach chess and run the school chess club. \nPeter studied mathematics at the University of Warwick and now lives in London. \nAccording to Ben Purton : “I captain Peter in the 4NCL chess league\, he is one of the most professional and talented players on my squad. He is extremely smart and nice to be around. Peter would be an asset to any organisation in the future and any graduate scheme would be foolish not to take such a person on. \nI have seen him grow in to one of the best U21 chess players in the UK and hope to see him gain his IM title soon.” \nPeter became a FIDE Master in 2015 and\, according to Felice and Megabase 2020 his peak FIDE rating was 2365 in December 2016. \nFIDE rating profile for Peter Batchelor according to Megabase 2020\nPeter plays for Grantham Sharks in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL). \nWith the white pieces Peter plays the Queen’s Gambit and the Trompowsky Attack. \nAs the second player Peter plays the Classical variation of the Caro-Kann and the Alartortsev Variation. \nOn chess.com Peter plays under the nom de plume of Pbatch. \nPeter Batchelor\, 4NCL Final weekend\, 2014\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFM Peter Batchelor at the 2013 British Championships\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-peter-j-batchelor-10-xii-1996/
CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201211
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201212
DTSTAMP:20260817T135602Z
CREATED:20190822T155314Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135602Z
UID:985-1607644800-1607731199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Joseph Blake (11-xii-1951)
DESCRIPTION:We remember English player Joseph Blake who passed away on Tuesday\, December 11th\, 1951. \nJoseph Henry Blake was born on Thursday\, February 3rd\, 1859 in Farnborough\, Hampshire. His parents were Joseph Denner and Eliza Blake (née Early). In 1871 Joseph (aged 12) had a brother Frank (aged 10)\, sisters Annie (8)\, Elizabeth S (7)\, Eliza E (1) and a servant\, Kate Longman aged 18. The family lived in Lydia Cottage\, Hewitts Road\, Millbrook\, South Stoneham\, Hampshire. \nAccording to the 1861 census Joseph was two years old and living with his parents and Frank in Rotten Row\, Yeovil\, Somerset. \nIn 1881 the family has upped sticks again and moved to 2 St. Lawrence Road\, Saint Mary\, Eastleigh\, Hampshire. This address is also given as the South West Telegraph Office. Eliza was now the head of the household and a widower. Apart from Eliza E aged 11 everyone worked for the railway. \nIn 1891 Joseph had become Head of the Household (aged 32) and they had acquired a servant (Anna M Cornell) and a blacksmith (Francis Cornell) from Braintree in Essex. \nIn 1900 Joseph married Alice New in Cheltenham\, Gloucestershire. They lived at 24\, Barton Road\, Eastleigh\, Hampshire. Tragically\, Alice passed away in 1903. \nJoseph Henry Blake\nBy 1911 Joseph was 52 and had retained his career as a Railway Clerk. He lived at 33\, Broomfield Road\, Tolworth\, Surrey : \n33\, Broomfield Road\, Tolworth\, Surrey\nHe is recorded as the head of a household of one and a widower. \nIn 1939 Joseph was living at 10 Springfield Court\, Springfield Road\, Kingston Upon Thames\, Surrey. He was now retired. \nNo doubt there would have been other addresses not captured by the census records. \nAccording to The Encyclopedia of Chess\, (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \n“A leading British player in the 1890s and for many years editor of the Games Section of the British Chess Magazine between the two world wars. Blake’s best tournament performance came at the age sixty-three when\, at Weston-super-Mare in 1922\, he came 1st ahead of Maróczy\, Kostić\, Sir George Thomas and Yates. \nThe remarkable feature about Blake’s chess career is that he retained his skill and his comprehension of the game for a much longer period that most chess players. This extended from 1887 when he was 1st at the Counties Chess Association tournament at Stamford ahead of Bird and Pollock\, a performance he was to repeat in 1891 at Oxford\, to 1909 when he tied with H. E. Atkins for first place in the British Championship\, to 1923 when he won the Weston-super-Mare tournament\, right into the 1930s when he was principal annotator for the British Chess Magazine.” \nChess Endings for Beginners\, JH Blake\, George Routledge First Edition (1900)\nand according to The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale\, 1970 & 1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“One of the leading British players at the end of the last century and the beginning of the present century. Born on 3rd February 1859. Represented England in the Anglo-American cable matches in 1902 and 1909. His best results were 1st in the Counties’ Chess Association Tournament 1887\, ahead of Bird and MacDonnell; =1st with HE Atkins in the 1909 British Championship\, but lost the play-off for the title; 1st at Weston-super-Mare 1922 ahead of Maroczy\, Kostich\, Sir George Thomas and Yates\, and winner of the brilliancy prize for his game against Sir George Thomas; 2nd in the international correspondence chess tournament organised by Le Monde Illustre in 1895. \nBlake was President of the Southern Counties Chess Association in 1911 and President of the Hampshire Chess Association from 1910-1912 and from 1927-1929. He was also Hon. Secretary of the City of London Chess Club for some years.” \nAccording to Tim Harding in the excellent Correspondence Chess in Britain and Ireland\, 1824-1987 : \nRailway clerk Joseph Henry Blake\, the leading English correspondence player of the 1890s; also a strong OTB amateur player. He was a regular contributor to British Chess Magazine from the 1880s to the late 1930s. \nIn British Chess Magazine\, Volume XXXIX (39\, 1919)\, Number 3 (March) we have the following from Julius du Mont : “I presume it relates more particularly to chess professionals in this country\, at any rate\, it does not seem to me that the jews hold rank amongst first-class amateurs in proportion to their numbers. \nIn London there are very few if any of the class of RC Griffith\, GA Thomas\, JH Blake\, HG Cole\, EG Sergeant\, and many others to say nothing of the younger recruits \, W.Winter and RHV Scott.” \nFrom the 1949 British Chess Magazine (written by RN Coles) we have this : \nJH Blake is Ninety \nAfter an absence of ten years I looked in recently on the Kingston and Thames Valley Chess Club. There were many new faces and a number of familiar ones\, among the latter one of rosy countenance\, trim beard and twinkling eyes\, none other than JH Blake\, more vigorous than ever and attaining his 90th birthday on the 3rd February. \nTwenty years ago in this same club I (RN Coles) was learning the game\, now middle age approaches. Blake was an elderly man in those days\, who had retired from all competitive play because of the strain it imposed; now\, so far from showing the weight of years\, he is back in competitive chess again.  He won the club championship last year and is in a fair way to repeating his victory this year. Of all the ‘Grand Old Men’ of chess\, few have still been champions in their 90th year. \nOlder readers of the BCM will remember him as their Games Editor for many years\, but few memories will cover the whole series of his successes beginning with a 1st at Stamford in 1887. Even 1922 must seem a distant year to the generation of today. That was the year that Maroczy and Kostic were invited to Weston-super-Mare to meet such rising young English masters as FD Yates and Sir George Thomas. And the first prize amongst those talented players was won by JH Blake\, who had been born just when Morphy returned to England after his Paris Victory over Anderssen ! \nAll readers of the BCM and all players everywhere will wish Britain’s oldest master continued health and increasing vigour\, and those who knew him today will be surprised if he does not continue his attack for another decade at least. \nBesides winning the first prize at Weston Blake also won the brilliancy prize with the following game : (#10\,229) \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 2 (February)\, pp.44-46 contained an obituary with articles from MDB* : \n*(Careful investigation by Richard James suggest that MDB is Mabel Dorothy Barker\, JHB’s niece in 6th Cross Road.) \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 2 (February) pp. 44 – 46\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 2 (February) pp. 44 – 46\nand EG Sergeant : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 2 (February) pp. 44 – 46\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 2 (February) pp. 44 – 46\n\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFor more on this game and its often mis-reported continuation see this article from Edward Winter. \nFrom Wikipedia : \n“Joseph Henry Blake (3 February 1859\, Farnborough\, Hampshire – 11 December 1951\, Kingston-upon-Thames) was an English chess master. \nBlake won many tournaments played in England toward the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. He won at Stamford 1887\, Oxford 1891 (joint)\, Brighton 1892\, Cambridge 1893\, and Salisbury 1898 (joint). He also took 5th at Manchester 1882\, tied for 3-4th at Birmingham 1883 (Section B)\, took 4th at Bath 1884\, tied for 6-8th at London 1889 (Henry Bird won)\, took 2nd at Cambridge 1890\, tied for 3rd-4th at Woodhall Spa 1893\, shared 2nd at Craigside 1895\, took 3rd at Hastings (Amateur) 1895\, took 2nd\, behind Henry Ernest Atkins\, at Bristol 1896\, and won at Folkestone 1901. \nHe took 2nd in an international correspondence tournament organised by Le Monde Illustré in 1895\, shared 1st in the 1909 British Championship in Scarborough but lost to Atkins the play-off\, and shared 1st at London 1911. He was British correspondence champion in 1922. \nBlake represented England in cable matches against the United States in 1902\, 1909 and 1910. \nHis best achievement was victory\, ahead of Géza Maróczy\, George Alan Thomas\, Fred Yates and Boris Kostić\, at Weston-super-Mare 1922. He shared 2nd at London 1922 (Major Open)\, tied for 7-8th at Hastings International Chess Congress 1922/23 (Akiba Rubinstein won)\, took 2nd\, behind Thomas\, at London 1923\, took 5th at Liverpool 1923 (Jacques Mieses won)\, tied for 7-8th at Hastings 1923/24 (Max Euwe won)\, tied for 6-7th at Weston-super-Mare 1924 (Euwe won)\, took 2nd\, behind R.P. Michell\, at London 1925\, took 4th at London 1926 (Victor Buerger won)\, and tied for 7-9th at Weston-super-Mare 1926 (Euwe won).” \nHe is the author of Chess endings for beginners (London 1900). \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-joseph-henry-blake/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Writer
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201211
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201212
DTSTAMP:20211209T112235Z
CREATED:20191209T163736Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211209T112235Z
UID:2261-1607644800-1607731199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Matthew Turner (11-xii-1975)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of GM Matthew James Turner (11-xii-1975)
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-matthew-james-turner-11-xii-1975/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201211
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201212
DTSTAMP:20201211T135933Z
CREATED:20191211T101420Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201211T135933Z
UID:2290-1607644800-1607731199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of FM Peter Clarke (18-iii-1933 11-xii-2014)
DESCRIPTION:PH Clarke\nWe remember FM Peter Clarke who passed away on Thursday\, December 11th\, 2014 whilst living at Chapel House\, Bude\, Cornwall\, EX23 9SQ \nPeter Hugh Clarke was born on Saturday\, March 18th 1933 in West Ham\, London. His mother’s maiden name was Ekblom. \nFrom The Modest Master of Morwenstow by James Pratt (sadly\, as yet\, unpublished) : \n“Peter Hugh Clarke was born in London on 18th March\, 1933. At the age of eight or nine he taught himself the game from ‘The Book of Knowledge’ and played friendly games with his cousin\, who was about a year older. Peter’s father supported his game for many years. PHC was a student at St. Bonaventures School and London University. World War II\, and its even longer aftermath\, robbed him of a number of playing opportunities. It is surprising that he had no childhood heroes\, although later the play of Botvinnik\, Keres and Smyslov impressed him.” \nPeter Clarke with father\, Courtesy of Keverel Chess\nFrom British Chess (Pergamon\, 1983) written by George Botterill : \nChess correspondent of The Sunday Times\, Clarke played for England in the Olympiads of 1954\, 56\, 58\, 60\, 62\, 66 and 68. He has never won the British Championship but has come 2nd on 5 occasions. \nA fine writer. His best books are Mikhail Tal’s Best Games of Chess \nMikhail Tal’s Best Games of Chess\, PH Clarke\, Bell\, 1961\nand Petrosian’s Best Games of Chess 1946-1963 both published by Bell. \nPetrosian’s Best Games of Chess 1946-1963\, PH Clarke\, George Bell & Sons Ltd\, 1964\nThe most remarkable thing about Clarke’s chess career was they way in which he became transformed\, in about 1968-9\, into the most drawish of players. In British tournaments he has become notorious for correct but dull solidity.” \nPeter was Southern Counties (SCCU) Champion for the 1945-55 season. \nPeter was England’s third Correspondence Grandmaster (CGM) in 1980 after Keith Richardson and Adrian Hollis. \nPeter at the dinner table\nFrom BCM / ECF : \n“FIDE and British Master P.H. Clarke will be best remembered as biographer to Tal and to Petrosyan\, but he was so much more. The young Clarke played for Ilford CC in the London League and for Essex at county level. Doing national service he was to learn the Russian that was to so shape his writings. \nThe 1964 England Olympiad (Tel Aviv) Team : Owen Hindle\, Čeněk Kottnauer\, Peter Clarke\, Michael Franklin\, Norman Littlewood & Michael Haygarth\nFor a brief period in the late 1950s\, and early sixties\, he was the number two player in England\, ahead of the vastly more experienced Alexander and Golombek. He played\, of course\, below Jonathan Penrose\, a partnership that bore fruit when preparing openings; latterly they both became Correspondence Grandmasters.” \nPeter Clarke at the 1963 Ilford Whitsun Congress. Source : British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXXIII\, Number 7 (July)\, page 194\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFM Peter Clarke\n“At the British Championships itself he finished second on his first appearance; he was to tie for silver medal on no less than five occasions\, appearing\, almost without a break for thirty years\, a run that ended in 1982. He represented the BCF – as it then was – in eight Olympiads\, playing on top board in 1966. \nBorislav Ivkov playing Peter Clarke at the 1960 Leipzig Olympiad. The game was a QGA which was drawn\nThe Clarke family moved to the West of England in the late Sixties. PHC played in thirteen WECU Championships\, and lost only twice. As a player he could be cautious\, agreeing too readily to draws. Accuracy and respect meant more to him than ambition. The biographer became a journalist as illness cut short his playing career. In his time he beat Larsen\, Penrose and Szabo. \n \nIn 1962 he married BH Wood’s daughter\, Peggy. They had three daughters. In 1975 my mother happened across Peter and Peggy on Morecambe prom. ‘Never’ she was later to tell me\, ‘have I seen a couple more in love.'” \nPeter Clarke & Peggy Wood in 1962\, Courtesy of Keverel Chess\nWe are grateful to James Pratt to allow us to quote from the the sadly unpublished “Modest Master from Morwenstow” as follows : \nPHC by John Littlewood : \n“Peter had a relatively short career at the top and it is interesting to comment on his style. In essence\, his great strength lay in positional understanding which backed-up his defensive skills rather than helped his ability to create wins; in other words\, he won games in which his opponents over-pressed or opted for dubious positional moves. \nAfter doing well in English chess\, he was perhaps pushed into international chess too early for him to develop his own personal creative style. Playing for England and meeting strong players\, he tended towards a rather negative approach that may have been necessary for the team but was not good for his own personal progress\, as shown when he later met English opponents who outstripped him in their positive will-to-win. His friendship with Penrose (a far stronger player) led to far too many draws which did neither of them any good. \nMikhail Tal’s Best Games of Chess\, PH Clarke. Bell\, 1961\nTo be fair\, Peter was not an easy player to beat but\, on the other hand\, he was not too hard to draw against if you felt so inclined. His forte lay in his knowledge of the game and his excellent writing skills\, where he was at his happiest; there is hardly a book of his that I haven’t enjoyed.” \nPetrosian’s Best Games of Chess 1946-1963\, PH Clarke\, Bell\, 1971\nWriting in BCM 04/64\, John Littlewood called PHC a self-style non-tactician and disagreed with Clarke’s belief in the inner logic (‘I have made no mistakes and therefore my position is OK.’) of positions where tactics are to the fore. \nFM Peter Clarke\nPHC by Leonard Barden : \n“Peter’s contribution to British Chess was important as a player and even more so as a writer. His best period was 1956-61. He\, Penrose and myself used to stay in the same hotel during the British Championships and prepare and analyse together\, although we played hard when actually paired. Peter was the solid man in the English team\, gradually taking over the role of Golombek. It was important that we did reasonably well in this period which provided a bridge between the Alexander/Golombek era and the rise of Keene/Hartston. \nPeter was always a good friend to me and his family gave me hospitality each year during the Ilford Congress. Peter’s books\, especially the one about Tal\, were real works of scholarship in an era where there were no computers to facilitate the job. He could have achieved more as a player if he had been able to concentrate fully on that\, but the economic climate then was poor for professionals.” \nPeter and life long friend\, Jonathan Penrose\, Courtesy of Keverel Chess\nPHC by Bernard Cafferty : \n“Right up to that point of his illness in the 1980’s he had worthily defended the reputation of the older generation in the British Championship\, as the last survivor\, still active at that level\, from the Penrose era. I first saw Peter at the 1951 British Championship at Chester and first played him at the 1952 Bristol Universities individual contest. \n24th USSR Chess Championships\, PH Clarke\, British Chess Magazine\, 1959\nHe left the University of London before taking his degree (study of chess rather taking over his life)\, but then had the good fortune to go on to study Russian while doing his National Service\, around 1954-55. Or was he still in the Army when the Moscow 1956 Olympiad took place? He certainly did well there\, perhaps less affected than other Westerners by the strangeness of the place that was just recovering slightly from the depths of Stalin’s baleful influence. \n  \nVV Smyslov – My Best Games of Chess\, edited and translated by PH Clarke\, Routledge and Kegan Paul\, 1958\nI do recall that for a couple of years Peter changed his cautious style. This was around 1957-58 when he scored one of his two wins against Penrose. Was it at Ilford? I remember that the game appeared with notes by B.H. Wood in ‘The Illustrated London News’ column. \nCien Miniaturas Rusas\n  \nI used to see Peter regularly at the Paignton and Hastings Congresses in the 1990’s but not in the last couple of years. His health seems restored.” \nPeter with Brian Reilly observing playing ? with ? in the background.\nPHC by Ken Harman : \n“I am very pleased to hear about your book about Peter Clarke; not sure I can contribute much as I wasn’t a friend of his so only knew him through seeing him and Margaret at chess tournaments. He was a quiet spoken gentleman who played such quiet positional chess that I would call it ‘monastic chess’. I think Clarke thought chess a search for spiritual truth\, only to be found in the cloisters of spiritual truth\, only to be found in the cloisters of contemplative life – ‘The Thomas Merton of Chess’\, if you like. Of course\, I have no idea if he was a spiritual man in real life but his chess always struck me as if he was reaching for heaven and found hell in a doubled pawn. He seemed like a nice man and I suspect his wife Margaret was the dominant one. I have his book on Mikhail Tal’s Best Games of Chess (Bell 1961) which is signed by him and may well have been his copy\, because as you open the book – there is a small newspaper clipping and a photo of Clarke sellotaped which is rather unusual being that the book is about Tal\, and not him. ” \nPeter plays Erich Gottlieb Eliskases at the 1960 Leipzig Olympiad\nPHC by Alan P. Borwell (ICCF Honorary President) : \n“I first met Peter at the 1959 BCF Congress in York when I was a member of local organising committee and then at Paignton and when York played & won the National Club Championship in 1964/5. \nIn 1966 I played Peter in the British Chess Championship in last round in Sunderland.” \nPeter analyses “al fresco” with ?. Possibly from Hastings ?\nand from Wikipedia : \nPeter Hugh Clarke (18 March 1933 – 11 December 2014) was an English chess player\, who hold titles FIDE master (FM) and International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (1980)\, FIDE International arbiter (1976)\, Chess Olympiad individual silver medal winner (1956). \nPeter Clarke started playing chess at the age of six. He twice won the London Boys’ Chess Championship (1950\, 1951). He was British Chess Championship multiplier participant where five times won silver medal. \nSince 1959\, Peter Hugh Clarke has been working as a chess journalist in the newspaper Sunday Times and magazine British Chess Magazine. He known as the biographical book’s author of Mikhail Tal (1961) and Tigran Petrosian (1964). Thanks to his good knowledge of Russian language\, he translated the book about Vasily Smyslov in 1958. In 1963 he wrote a book 100 Soviet Chess Miniatures. \nPeter Clarke played for England in the Chess Olympiads : \nIn 1954\, at second reserve board in the 11th Chess Olympiad in Amsterdam (+2\, =2\, -3)\,\nIn 1956\, at reserve board in the 12th Chess Olympiad in Moscow (+7\, =5\, -0) and won individual silver medal\,\nIn 1958\, at fourth board in the 13th Chess Olympiad in Munich (+2\, =10\, -3)\,\nIn 1960\, at third board in the 14th Chess Olympiad in Leipzig (+4\, =7\, -3)\,\nIn 1962\, at second board in the 15th Chess Olympiad in Varna (+3\, =10\, -2)\,\nIn 1964\, at second board in the 16th Chess Olympiad in Tel Aviv (+2\, =8\, -2)\,\nIn 1966\, at first board in the 17th Chess Olympiad in Havana (+2\, =10\, -1)\,\nIn 1968\, at third board in the 18th Chess Olympiad in Lugano (+0\, =7\, -1).\nAlso he played for England in the World Student Team Chess Championship (1954\, 1959)and in the Clare Benedict Chess Cup (1960-1961\, 1963\, 1965\, 1967-1968) where won team silver medal (1960) and 4 bronze medals (1961\, 1963\, 1967\, 1968). \nIn later years\, Peter Clarke active participated in correspondence chess tournaments. In 1977\, he won British Correspondence Chess Championship. In 1976\, Peter Clarke was awarded the International Correspondence Chess Master (IMC) title and received the International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (GMC) title four years later.
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-fm-peter-hugh-clarke-18-iii-1933-11-xii-2014/
CATEGORIES:British Championships,Correspondence,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Writer
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201211
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201212
DTSTAMP:20210807T163528Z
CREATED:20200410T112417Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210807T163528Z
UID:4331-1607644800-1607731199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Gawain Jones (11-xii-1987)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of GM Gawain Christopher B Jones (11-xii-1987) \nGawain was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 2012-13 season.
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-gawain-christopher-b-jones-11-xii-1987/
CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201211
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201212
DTSTAMP:20260817T135555Z
CREATED:20200411T223934Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135555Z
UID:4523-1607644800-1607731199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Christopher Wood (11-xii-1940)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Christopher Baruch Wood (11-xii-1940)
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-christopher-baruch-wood-11-xii-1940/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201211
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201212
DTSTAMP:20260817T135547Z
CREATED:20210125T154414Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135547Z
UID:13467-1607644800-1607731199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Richard Griffith (22-vii-1872 11-xii-1955)
DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of Richard Griffith (22-vii-1872 11-xii-1955) \nSee Chess World\, Volume 11\, Number 6\, June 1956\, page 128. \nHere is his Wikipedia entry.
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-richard-griffith-22-vii-1872-11-xii-1955/
CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Writer
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201212
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201213
DTSTAMP:20201212T190642Z
CREATED:20200407T103614Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201212T190642Z
UID:4127-1607731200-1607817599@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of David Pritchard (19-x-1919 12-xii-2005)
DESCRIPTION:We remember David Pritchard who passed away on Monday\, December 12th\, 2005. \nDavid Brine Pritchard was born on Sunday\, October 19th\, 1919. On this day the first US Distinguished Service Medal was awarded to a living female recipient\, Anna Howard Shaw. \nHe was born in Wandsworth taking his mothers’  Winifred maiden name of Brine (as was customary in those days). His father was Arthur Pritchard (DoB : 4th January 1890) and he was the managing director of an Engineering Company. Arthur and Winifred married in Maidenhead\, Berkshire in 1917. \nAt the time of the 1939 census David was a chiropodist and recorded as single and living in Munee Cottage\, Main Street\, Bedford. Main Street appears to have been renamed to Main Road which is in Biddenham. It is likely DBPs cottage was something like : \n48 and 50 Main Road Biddenham\, Bedford\, Hertfordshire\nDuring the second world War David joined the Royal Air Force and was stationed in the Far East and following the war\, he switched to intelligence work also for the RAF. He attained the rank of Squadron Leader and played much chess during this period of his life. \nIn 1950 David completed his first book : The Right Way to Play Chess\, Elliot Right Way Books\, 1950\, ISBN 1-58574-046-2 \nThe Right Way to Play Chess\, Elliot Right Way Books\, DB Pritchard\, 1950.\n(Ed : This was the first chess book of this article’s author and was thoroughly consumed!) \nOn page 224 of said book David wrote : \nChessplayers – and this must be whispered – are generally an egotistical\, ill-mannered crowd. If they conformed to common rules of decorum these words would not have to be written \nfollowed by \nI once carried out a private survey at a well-known chess restaurant where a large number of ‘friendly’ games are always in progress. In less than 30 per cent of those observed was resignation made with a good grace. In two-thirds of the games the loser either knocked his king over\, abruptly pushed the pieces into the centre of the board\, started to set up the men for a fresh game\, or got up and walked away without saying a word to his opponent. \nHe married Elaine Saunders in 1952. \nElliot Right Way Books was an excellent choice of publisher for David and only 36 minutes by car from his new home in Godalming. \nHe won the Singapore Championship in 1954 and the Malaysian Championship in 1955. \nVisiting https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter97.html you will find two images of David and Elaine playing chess in Singapore. \nDavid and Elaine had a daughter\, Wanda on March 21st 1958. She became Wanda Dakin who was also a chess player. Wanda attended Guildford High School for Girls and then Royal Holloway College\, Egham. \nDavid was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 1958-59 and 1965-66 seasons. \nFrom the British Championships\, 1959 in York we have this sparkling game with Frank Parr : \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nBy now David had developed an  interest in chess variants and board games in general. \nHe played in and won (several times) the Battle of Britain Chess Tournament : DBP was the organisations President. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nIn 1970 he brought out his third book :  Begin Chess\, David Pritchard\, Elliot Right Way Books\, 1952 \nBegin Chess by David Brine Pritchard\, Elliot Right Way Books\, 1970\nBegin Chess by David Brine Pritchard\, Elliot Right Way Books\, 1970\nDavid became President of British Chess Variants Society and wrote many books on variants and indoor games. \nHere is an interview compiled by Hans Bodlaender about David’s Encyclopedia of Chess Variants : \nEncyclopedia of Chess Variants\, DB Pritchard\, GAMES & PUZZLES PUBLICATIONS\, 1994\nParticularly interesting was this Q&A : \nDo you think computers and the Internet will have effect on chess and on chess variants? If so\, in what way? \nI think that the Internet will inevitably introduce chess to more players but I forsee chess variants\, because of their novelty\, benefitting in particular from publicity on the net. I expect variants to gain more and more adherents in the future. \nDavid was preparing a second edition before he passed away. This was completed and made available on-line by John Beasley. \nThe Pritchard family lived at Badgers Wood\, Hascombe Road\, Godalming\, Surrey\, GU8 4AA in an idyllic location : \nBadgers Wood\, Hascombe Road\, Godalming\, Surrey\, GU8 4AA\nand here is the exceptional interior with games room : \n  \nBadgers Wood\, Hascombe Road\, Godalming\, Surrey\, GU8 4AA\nAt the time of his passing he had five grand children. \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXVI (126\, 2006)\, Number 2 (February)\, page 76 : \n“David Brine Pritchard (19 x 1919 Streatham\, London – 12 xiii 2005\, London) has died following a fall . He was a strong amateur player and a successful author of books on chess and other games. \nDavid Pritchard was a Squadron Leader in the RAF during the war and later rejoined it to work in intelligence. Whilst serving with the RAF he won the Malayan Chess Championships in 195\, and he was also instrumental in the running the UK event known as Battle of Britain Tournament which attracted a strong field in its heyday and generated revenue for the RAF Benevolent Fund. \nHe was a dangerous. attacking played who scored a number of notable scalps in the British Championship including Penrose and Miles\, without ever achieving the consistency required to challenge for the leading positions.  He won the Southern Counties championships in 1959 and 1966. \nAs an author\, Pritchard’s most successful book was The Right Way to Play Chess (Elliott\, 1950\, with numerous reprints). which is still to be found for sale in many British bookshops. \nHe will also be remembered as a leading authority on chess variants : he was reported to be in the process of preparing a second edition of The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants (1994) at the time of his death. He was also a very good correspondence player\, an inventor composer of chess puzzles of all sorts (some of which appeared in BCM) and his interest in Fairy chess dated back to the 1940s. \nHis wife Elaine Pritchard\, the leading woman player of the 1950s and 1960s\, and their daughter Wanda (who also played competitive chess) survive him. We send them our condolences on behalf of BCM and its readers.” \nDavid Pritchard (19-x-1919 12-xii-2005)\, Passport photograph\nHe was a leading member of Godalming Chess Club and played in the Surrey Border League. \nThe David Pritchard Shield from the Surrey Border League\nHere is David’s Wikipedia entry \nThe Family Book of Games\, DB Prichard\, Brockhampton Press\, 1994
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-david-brine-pritchard-19-x-1919-12-xii-2005/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Variants,Writer
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201213
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201214
DTSTAMP:20201212T223944Z
CREATED:20191213T135517Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201212T223944Z
UID:2383-1607817600-1607903999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of David Shire (13-xii-1947)
DESCRIPTION:Happy Birthday to David Shire. \nDavid John Shire was born on Saturday\, December 13th 1947. On the same day “Ballerina” by Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra hit #1 on the Billboard Best Sellers in Stores record chart.
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-david-j-shire-13-xii-1947/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Composer,Player,Problemist
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201213
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201214
DTSTAMP:20201213T110541Z
CREATED:20191213T140256Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201213T110541Z
UID:2387-1607817600-1607903999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of Colin Sydenham (13-xii-1937)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of Colin Peter Sydenham (13-xii-1937)
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-colin-peter-sydenham-13-xii-1937/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Composer,Player,Problemist
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201214
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201215
DTSTAMP:20201213T185406Z
CREATED:20191211T173844Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201213T185406Z
UID:2311-1607904000-1607990399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Brandon Clarke (14-xii-1995)
DESCRIPTION:Happy Birthday Wishes to IM Brandon George I Clarke born on this day (December 14th)\, 1995. “Earth Song” by Michael Jackson was the UK Number One single. \nIn the 2003 London Junior Championships he was =13 with 4/7 \nIn July 2004 he secured his first published standard play grading of 84D and 62D for rapid play.  His first recorded rapid  play tournament was on the 4th of October 2003 being the Mini Squad Under 8s. In this event he beat a certain Jamie Horton who had a grading of 45D at the time. \nIn 2006 Brandon won outright the London Under 12 title with 7.5/9. Marcus Harvey was a runner-up. This situation was repeated one year later. \nIn 2009 Brandon won the LJCC Under-16 title this time with Akash Jain as runner-up. His TPR for a score of 5/6 was 199. \nBrandon was a chess scholar at Wellington College\, Berkshire and was part of the strongest school / college team to play in the National Schools competition for many years that included James Holland\, Felix Jose Ynojosa-Aponte\, Alexander Galliano\, Latefah Meesam-Sparkes\, Akash Jain\, Adrian Archer-Lock and latterly William Foo and Richard Zhu. Despite being easily the strongest team they were denied the title by the antiquated age handicapping rules. \nFIDE rating profile for Brandon Clarke according to MegaBase 2020\nHe became an International Master in early 2019 and plays much chess in Australia\, New Zealand and England having lived in the USA for some time after leaving Wellington College. \nAged 24 Brandon has achieved his highest FIDE rating of 2445 and it shows every sign of increasing. \nIM Brandon Clarke\, British Championships (Major Open)\, Torquay 2019\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nWith the White pieces Brandon is almost exclusively an e4 player with occasional forays with the Queen’s pawn. Against the Najdorf he prefers 6.Bg5 and allows the Marshall against the Ruy Lopez. \nAs the second player he plays the Najdorf and the King’s Indian Defence most of the time. \nBrandon has his own YouTube Channel. \nOn Chess.com he plays under the handle of Biranidun with a blitz rating of 2847. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nIn January 2019 Brandon scored a very impressive victory in the 126th (!) New Zealand Open. “The 2019 126th New Zealand Open is part of the 126th New Zealand Congress and is a 9-round Swiss event being held at the Waipuna Conference Centre in Auckland from 14-22 January 2019.” \nCross table from the 126h New Zealand Open\nBrandon made a welcome return to the UK and comfortably won the 2019 Major Open in Torquay with 8.5/9 as an IM. \nBrandon plays for Australia Kangaroos in the Pro Chess League. \nThe ECF grading web site shows his only club to be Littlethorpe (in Leicestershire) although Brandon played for Warwickshire Select in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL). \nIM Brandon Clarke\, British Championships (Major Open)\, Torquay 2019\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-brandon-george-i-clarke-14-xii-2005/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201214
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201215
DTSTAMP:20201030T162932Z
CREATED:20191211T174157Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201030T162932Z
UID:2315-1607904000-1607990399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Ian Thomas (14-xii-1967)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of IM Ian Thomas (14-xii-1967)
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-ian-thomas-14-xii-1967/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201214
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201215
DTSTAMP:20201030T163058Z
CREATED:20191211T174833Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201030T163058Z
UID:2317-1607904000-1607990399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Karl CC Mah (14-xii-1980)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of IM Karl CC Mah (14-xii-1980) \nIM Karl CC Mah\nIM Karl CC Mah
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-karl-cc-mah-14-xii-1980/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201215
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201216
DTSTAMP:20201226T165141Z
CREATED:20190822T163644Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201226T165141Z
UID:1000-1607990400-1608076799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Horatio Caro (05-vii-1862 15-xii-1920)
DESCRIPTION:We remember Horatio Caro who passed away on Wednesday\, December 15th\, 1920. \nHoratio Caro was born on Saturday\, July 5th 1862. On the same day Heinrich Georg Bronn\, German geologist and paleontologist passed away. \nHis parents were (in the 1861 census) Jacob and Mathilda Caro (née Lüpschütz\, possibly Lipschütz) living at 4\, Warwick Place\, Jesmond\, Newcastle upon Tyne. \nHoratio’s birth was recorded at Lombard Street\, Newcastle upon Tyne. \nJacob and Horatio moved to Berlin to live at 2\, Winterfeld Strasse. They both had joint German/British citizenship. \nIn 1896 Jacob passed away and his affairs were handled by family solicitors\, Daggett and Grey of 3 Dean Street\, Newcastle-upon-Tyne : \nThe London Gazette\, 1896\nOn December 15th 1920 JHD Reid\, Master of the Institution of South Grove (a workhouse) recorded the discharge of Horatio. The reason stated was “dead”. \nHis death was registered in Mile End Old Town and he is buried in the East Ham Jewish cemetery\, London Borough of Newham\, Greater London located at Section E Row 18 Plot 14. \nGrave marker for Horatio Caro. Photograph from Gordon Cadden to Ken Whyld Assocation\nAccording to Wolfgang Heidenfeld in The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \n“A minor English master who spent most of his chess life in Berlin. Though he had indifferent tournament not much better match results (he lost to Mieses\, and Winawer\, drew twice with Von Bardeleben and beat Lewitt)\, his name has become immortal through the Caro-Kann Defence\, which he expounded in his own journal\, Brüderschaft\, in 1886.” \nThe Caro-Kann Defence is characterised by \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\n(as an alternative to the French Defence) in which the c8 bishop may be active from an early stage. \nCaro famously was able to overcome Emanuel Lasker in just 14 moves in 1890 : \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nThere is also the Caro Variation of the Ponziani Defence which was known since the 1850s and recommended by Caro in Deutsches Wochenschach\, 1893: \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFrom Chess\, Facts and Fables (McFarland and Company\, Inc.\, 2006)\, page 12\, Chess Note 3096\, Edward Winter : \n“We can now add a tenth specimen to the collection (of ‘Rare queen sacrifices’)\, having noted the following position on page 81 of Brüderschaft\, 10 March 1888 : \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nThe magazine (see also page 155 of the 12 May 1888 issue) stated that in this game\, played in February 1888 (in Berlin?)\, Horatio Caro mated his unidentified opponent in five moves as above.” \nIn another place we are grateful to Brian Denman who mentioned that  Caro made an  appearance for the Great Britain team in the 1898 cable match against America. He lost on board 3 against John Barry. \nRichard James replied : “He also represented Berlin in a cable match against New York in 1905. EdoChess has his highest rating as 2545 (11th in the world) in 1892.” \nAlso\, according to Richard James : \n“He spent most of his life in Germany. Page 353 of the Jubiläums-Ausgabe (1926) of Kagans Neueste Schachnachrichten (yes\, I also read Edward Winter’s Chess Notes) claims that he lived in Frankfurt up to his 22nd year and in Berlin from 1882 onwards (arithmetic fail). Some sources claim\, incorrectly\, that he died in Berlin. \nHis death was registered in Mile End Old Town. In the 1911 census there are a lot of Caros in St George in the East\, just the other side of the Commercial Road from Mile End Old Town\, from their first names clearly Jewish. There’s also Blanche Caro\, a 65-year-old Polish born widow\, described as a furrier\, in hospital in Mile End Old Town.” \nThere is extensive discussion from the same above source. \nFrom Wikipedia : \n“Horatio Caro (5 July 1862 – 15 December 1920) was an English chess master. \nCaro was born in Newcastle upon Tyne\, England\,[1] but spent most of his chess career in Berlin\, Germany. He played several matches. In 1892\, he drew with Curt von Bardeleben (+2 –2 =2)\, lost to Szymon Winawer (+2 –3 =1). In 1897\, he lost to Jacques Mieses (+3 –4 =3). In 1903\, he drew with Bardeleben (+4 –4 =0). In 1905\, he won against Moritz Lewitt (+4 –3 =5). \nIn tournaments\, he won in Berlin (1888\, 1891\, 1894\, 1898 (jointly)\, and 1903). He also took 10th at Berlin 1883\, took 4th at Berlin 1887\, tied for 2nd-3rd at Nuremberg 1888\, took 3rd at Berlin 1889\, took 2nd at Berlin 1890. \nHe took 3rd at Berlin 1894\, took 9th at Berlin 1897\, took 17th at Vienna 1898\, took 4th at Berlin 1899\, tied for 6-7th at Berlin 1902\, tied for 11-12th at Coburg 1904\, tied for 7-8th at Barmen 1905\, took 9th at Berlin 1907\, tied for 3-5th at Berlin 1908\, and took 4th at Berlin 1911. \nCaro died in London at age 58. \nHis claim to fame is linked to the opening Caro-Kann Defence (B12)\, which he analysed along with Marcus Kann and jointly published about on the German journal Bruederschaft in 1886.”
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-horatio-caro/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Horatio_Caro.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201215
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201216
DTSTAMP:20201030T163431Z
CREATED:20200323T141033Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201030T163431Z
UID:3700-1607990400-1608076799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary for Thomas Ricketts (03-vii-1896 15-xii-1979)
DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary for Thomas Charles Donald Ricketts (03-vii-1896 15-xii-1979) \nSee Sunnucks
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-for-thomas-charles-donald-ricketts-03-vii-1896-15-xii-1979/
CATEGORIES:Composer,History,Problemist
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201216
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201217
DTSTAMP:20201216T152412Z
CREATED:20190823T104100Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201216T152412Z
UID:1076-1608076800-1608163199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Thomas Dawson (28-xi-1889 16-xii-1951)
DESCRIPTION:We remember Thomas Dawson who passed away on Sunday\, December 16th\, 1951. \nHe was also known by the pseudonym T. Dyke Robinson (we are looking for a primary source for this) \nThomas Rayner Dawson was born on Thursday\, November 28th 1889 in Leeds\, Yorkshire to Henry and Jane Dawson (née Rayner). \nThe early history of TRD and his family has been meticulously researched by Yorkshire chess historian\, Steve Mann. We recommend you visit this page to discover the detail. \nAccording to Edward Winter in Chess Notes TRD lived at the following addresses : \n\n5 Clyde Road\, Wallington\, Surrey\, England (Ranneforths Schachkalender\, 1925\, page 139)\n2 Lyndhurst Road\, Thornton Heath\, Surrey\, England (Ranneforths Schach-Kalender\, 1930\, page 65).\n31 Clyde Road\, Croydon\, England (Fairy Chess Review\, issues from 1946 to 1949*).\n\nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP\, 1984 & 1996)by Hooper & Ken Whyld : \n“English composer\, pioneer of both fairy problems and retrograde analysis. His problems in these fields form the greater part of his output (about 6\,500 compositions) and are better remembered than his studies and orthodox problems. For fairy problems he invented new pieces: grasshopper (1912) LEO (1912)\, NEUTRAL MAN (1912) NIGHT RIDER (1925)\, and VAO (1912); he codified new rules such as the maximummer (1913) and various kinds of series-mover; and he used unorthodox boards. \nIn 1915 he wrote Retrograde Analysis\, the first book on the subject\, completing the project begun several years earlier by the German composer Wolfgang Hundsdorfer (1879-1951). \nRetrograde Analysis\, Thomas Dawson & Hundsdorfer\, 1915\nFrom 1919 to 1930 Dawson conducted a column devoted to fairy problems in the Chess Amateur\, In 1926 he was a co-founder of The Problemist \, which he edited for its first six years and he founded and edited The Problemist Fairy Supplement (1931-6) continued as The Fairy Chess Review (1936-51). \nAsymmetry\, TR Dawson & Wolfgang Pauly\, Chess Amateur\, 1927\nBesides conducting columns in several newspapers and periodicals\, one of them daily and one in the Braille Chess Magazine\, Dawson edited the problem section of the British Chess Magazine from 1931 to 1951; he devised and published in its pages (1947-50) a systematic terminology for problem themes in the hope that it would supplant the extensive jargon then and now in use\, Dawson wrote five hooks on fairy problems: Caissa’s Wild Roses (1935); C. M. Fox\, His Problems (1936); Caissa’s Wild Roses in Clusters (1937); Ultimate Themes (1938); and Caissa’s Fairy Tales (1947). \nCaissa’s Wild Roses in Clusters\, TR Dawson\, Chess Amateur\, 1937\nCharles Masson Fox (1866-1935) was a patron whose generosity made possible the publication of four of these books and the two fairy problem magazines founded by Dawson. Ultimate Themes deals with tasks\, another of Dawson’s favourite subjects. In 1973 all five books were republished in one volume. Five Classics of Fairy Chess. \nFive Classics of Fairy Chess\, TR Dawson\, Dover Publications Inc.; Revised edition (1 Sept. 1973)\nDawson found it difficult to understand the problemist’s idea of beauty because it is not susceptible to precise definition. The artist talks of “quiet” moves\, oblivious that they are White’s most pulverizing attacks! This aesthetic folly\, reverence\, response thrill to vain-glorious bombast runs throughout chess.(See Bohemian for a problem showing 16 model mates\, a task Dawson claimed as a record but a setting Bohemian composers would reject.) His genius did not set him apart from his fellows; he could find time for casual visitors and would explain his ideas to a tyro with patience\, modesty\, and kindness. Although he won many tourney prizes much of his work was designed to encourage others\, to enlarge the small band of fairy problem devotees\, He composed less for fame than to amuse himself\, confessing to another composer ‘We do these things for ourselves alone.’ \nCaissa’s Fairy Tales\, TR Dawson\, Chess Amateur\, 1947\nA chemistry graduate\, Dawson took a post in the rubber industry in 1922 and rose to be head of the Intelligence Division of the British Rubber Manufacturer for which he founded\, catalogued\, and maintained a technical library. Unwell for the last year of his life\, he died from a stroke. K. Fabel and C. E. Kemp\, Schach ohne Grenzen or Chess unlimited (1969) is a survey\, written in German and English\, of Dawson’s contribution to the art of fairy problems.” \nThomas Rayner Dawson (28-xi-1889 16-xii-1951)\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale 1970 & 1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“British problemist. Born on 28th November 1889. Died on 16th December 1951. Universally known as TRD.\, the great master of Fairy problems. His wealth of invention held the chess world enthralled. His output comprised about 6\,400 problems and 150 studies. \nDawson was a nephew of the late James Rayner\, himself a noted chess problemist . From as early as about 1910\, TRD had conducted the ‘Chess Endings‘ section in the Chess Amateur\, and its Fairy section from 1919. He worked with BG Laws from Mark 1930 conducting the problem pages of the British Chess Magazine\, and following Laws’ death he assumed complete charge of the section from October 1931 to February 1951 when ill health forced him to relinquish the work. \nFairy Chess Review\nThe Problemist Fairy Chess Supplement subsequently renamed The Fairy Chess Review was started by TRD in August 1930. TRD was concerned in a number of other chess publications ; chess for the Blind\, several books of the AC White Christmas series\, BCPS Honours 1926-29\, and the CM Fox series. \nHe was largely instrumental in the publication of the first issue of The Problemist on 1st January 1926\, and was editor until May 1931. He was President of The British Chess Problem Society from September 1931 to 1943. \nUltimate Themes\, TR Dawson\, Chess Amateur\, 1938\nApart from chess\, Thomas Dawson\, MSc\, FRIC\, FIRI was an international authority on rubber\, and was responsible for the creation of the world-famous rubber library at Croydon\, as well as its ‘Dawson’ system of rubber literature documentation. A Guide to Fairy Chess and The Problemist March 1952 detail the remarkable life-time accomplishments of TRD.” \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXI (71\, 1951)\, Number 3 (March) pp. 78-80 we have notice of the retirement of TRD written by Brian Reilly : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXX1 (71\, 1951)\, Number 3 (March) pp. 77 – 80.\nFollowing that we have this appreciation from the incoming Problem Editor\, Stanley Sedgwick of 337 Strone Road\, Manor Park\, London E12 : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXX1 (71\, 1951)\, Number 3 (March) pp. 77 – 80.\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXX1 (71\, 1951)\, Number 3 (March) pp. 77 – 80.\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXX1 (71\, 1951)\, Number 3 (March) pp. 77 – 80.\nUnfortunately TRD was to pass away not much more than a year after the retirement notice and in British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 4 (April) pp. 107 – 108 we have this obituary also from Stanley Sedgwick : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 4 (April) pp. 107 – 108\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 4 (April) pp. 107 – 108\nThe same obituary contains the following appreciate by Gerald Abrahams : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 4 (April) pp. 107 – 108\nFrom Wikipedia : \n“Thomas Rayner Dawson (28 November 1889 – 16 December 1951) was an English chess problemist and is acknowledged as “the father of Fairy Chess”.[1] He invented many fairy pieces and new conditions. He introduced the popular fairy pieces grasshopper\, nightrider\, and many other fairy chess ideas. \nDawson published his first problem\, a two-mover\, in 1907. His chess problem compositions include 5\,320 fairies\, 885 directmates\, 97 selfmates\, and 138 endings. 120 of his problems have been awarded prizes and 211 honourably mentioned or otherwise commended. He cooperated in chess composition with Charles Masson Fox. \nDawson was founder-editor (1922–1931) of The Problemist\, the journal of the British Chess Problem Society. He subsequently produced The Fairy Chess Review (1930–1951)\, which began as The Problemist Fairy Chess Supplement. At the same time he edited the problem pages of The British Chess Magazine (1931–1951). \nPublications \nCaissa’s Playthings a series of articles in Cheltenham Examiner (1913)\nRetrograde Analysis\, with Wolfgang Hundsdorfer (1915)\nFata Morgana\, with Birgfeld\, Nanz\, Massmann\, Pauly (1922)\nAsymmetry\, with W. Pauly (1928)\nSeventy Five Retros (1928)\nCaissa’s Wild Roses (1935)\nC. M. Fox\, His Problems (1936)\nCaissa’s Wild Roses in Clusters (1937)\nUltimate Themes (1938)\nCaissa’s Fairy Tales (1947)\nThe last five titles were collected as Five Classics of Fairy Chess\, Dover Publications (1973)\, ISBN 978-0-486-22910-2.”
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-thomas-rayner-dawson/
CATEGORIES:Composer,Death Anniversary,History,Problemist
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201216
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201217
DTSTAMP:20201030T164341Z
CREATED:20200408T130020Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201030T164341Z
UID:4193-1608076800-1608163199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Stephen J Cullip (16-xii-1973)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Stephen J Cullip (16-xii-1973)
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-stephen-j-cullip-16-xii-1973/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201217
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201218
DTSTAMP:20211217T150849Z
CREATED:20200408T124730Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211217T150849Z
UID:4181-1608163200-1608249599@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Paul Cooksey (17-xii-1971)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Paul S Cooksey (17-xii-1971)
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-paul-s-cooksey-17-xii-1971/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201218
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201219
DTSTAMP:20211221T100514Z
CREATED:20190823T191554Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211221T100514Z
UID:1132-1608249600-1608335999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of William Winter (11-ix-1898 18-xii-1955)
DESCRIPTION:William Winter\, British Open Chess Champion\, 1934. The verso frontispiece of Chess for Match Players\, William Winter\, London\, Lawrence & Wishart\, 1st edition. 1936\nAuthor’s inscription from Chess for Match Players\, William Winter\, London\, Lawrence & Wishart\, 1st edition. 1936\nBCN remembers William (Willy) Winter who passed away on Sunday\, December 18th\, 1955 from tuberculosis (at the time known as “the white plague”). He refused to enter a sanatorium.  \nThere is some variation from sources who quote his Date of Birth. All have 11th of September as the date but vary by the year giving either 1898 or 1899. However careful research by John Townsend (Wokingham) gives 1897 and this work is cited by Edward Winter. \nLate in 2021 historian Gerard Killoran (Ilkley) discovered this clipping from the Hampshire Advertiser – Wednesday 22 September 1897 p.2: \nHampshire Advertiser – Wednesday 22 September 1897 p.2\nwhich confirms JTs evidence from the 1939 register. \nHis father was William Henderson Winter and his mother Margaret Winter. He was born in Medstead\, Hampshire. In the 1911 census their address was recorded as “The Boynes”\,  Four Marks\, Alton\, Hampshire and the family had two servants : a cook and a housemaid. In 1936 Winter lived at The Old Cottage\, North Road\, Three Bridges\, Sussex. \nIn the second quarter of 1933 William married Amelia Jennett (née Potter) in the district of Pancras. William knew Amelia as Molly and wrote about her extensively in his memoirs. Amelia was married to Dennis Jennett but Dennis had an affair with another woman and a convenient to all parties “arrangement” was entered into. However\, Willy’s father was less than impressed. \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale 1970&1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“International Master\, chess. professional and British Champion in 1935 and 1936\, William Winter is one of the most colourful  figures that British chess has produced. A born bohemian\, Winter could on many occasions have been mistaken for a tramp\, yet he was equally capable of turning up at a dinner or some other official occasion\, well-groomed and looking the split image of his famous uncle\, Sir James Barrie\, and making a speech of such wit and culture that every other speech would seem flat. \nBorn in Medstead in Hampshire on 11th September 1898\, of Scottish parentage. Winter’s mother was the youngest sister of Sir James Barrie\, and his father a brilliant scholar who had entered St. Andrew’s University at the age of 16\, taken honours in classics and then won a scholarship to Cambridge to read mathematics. \nWinter was taught to play chess by his father\, who was a strong player\, when he was 12. From the time he was introduced to the game his main aim in life was to become a first-class player\, and his previous interest\, cricket\, had to take a back seat. \nWhen he was 15\, he joined the city of London Chess club\, one of the leading clubs in the country\, and his game-rapidly improved. He went up to Cambridge to read law for a year during-the l9l4-l9l8 war\, before he became of age for military service and joined the Honourable Artillery Company. While he was stationed at Leeds he learned that the British champion\, F. D. Yates\, and the Mexican master\, A. G. Conde\, were in the habit of playing chess on a Saturday afternoon in a café in Bradford. \nWinter started going to this café and made the acquaintance of the two masters\, who would occasionally give him a game. \nOn returning to Cambridge when the war was over\, Winter became President of the University Chess Club and also started to take an active interest in politics. He joined the University Socialist Society and the local branch of the Independent Labour Party\, and when the Communist Party was formed he became a Communist. \nIn 1919 Winter became Cambridge University Champion and won a match against R. H. V. Scott\, a leading British player\, by a score of 4-2\, thereby securing for himself an invitation to play in the Victory Congress at Hastings. His lack of experience of master play proved too great a handicap\, and he came 11th out of 12. \nEdo rating profile for William Winter from http://www.edochess.ca/players/p7187.html\nOn leaving Cambridge after taking his degree in 1919\, Winter persuaded his parents to allow him a year in which to play chess before settling down to a career. He hoped that during that year he might be able to prove that he had sufficient talent to become a professional player. This did not prove the case\, and Winter had to resign himself to becoming a solicitor. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nIn 1921 he became articled to a London firm\, but after a dispute with his father\, which resulted in his allowance being stopped\, Winter had to give up his articles and decided to concentrate his energies on politics. He went to live in Bristol and addressed open-air meetings all over the city on behalf of the Communist party\, until he was arrested for sedition and sentenced to six months imprisonment. After his release Winter continued his political activities until he was forced to abandon them on medical advice. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nHaving given up politics\, Winter decided to try his luck as a chess professional. This proved to be a success\, and within two years he was making a reasonable living teaching the game\, playing games for fees at St. George’s Cafe in St. Martin’s Lane in London and writing for The Manchester Guardian and The Daily Worker. \nWinter remained a chess professional for the rest of his life\, apart from the war years. He wrote two chess best sellers: Chess for Match Players\, published in 1936 \nChess for Match Players\, William Winter\, Carroll & Nicholson\, 1936\nand reprinted in 1951\, and Kings of Chess; \nKings of Chess\, William Winter\, Carroll and Nicholson Ltd\, 1954\nand was co-author with F. D. Yates of Modern Master Play\, \nModern Master Play\, FD Yates and W. Winter\, 1930\nand with FD Yates of World Championship Candidates Tournament\, 1953. \nWinter never reached the very highest ranks as a player\, although he won the British Championship twice and represented his country in four Chess Olympiads: Hamburg in 1930\, Prague in 1931\, Folkestone in 1933 and Warsaw in 1935. In the Great Britain v. U.S.S.R. radio match in 1946 he defeated Bronstein in the first round and then characteristically went out and celebrated his victory in such a way that his defeat in the return round was inevitable. \nWilliam Winter (11-IX-1897\, 18-XII-1955)\nAlthough he achieved no great successes in international tournaments\, in individual games he beat many of the world’s leading players\, including Nimzowitsch and Vidmar\, and had draws against Capablanca and Botvinnik among others. \nWilliam Winter (11-IX-1897\, 18-XII-1955)\nWilliam Winter (11-IX-1897\, 18-XII-1955)\nHe died of tuberculosis in London in December 1955\, after refusing to go into a sanatorium.” \nIn Kings\, Commoners and Knaves\, (Russell Enterprises\, 1999)\, page 393 Winter quotes Winter (!) from Chess Masterpieces (Marshall) as follows: \nI consider [Winter v Vidmar\, London\, 1927] to be my best game partly on account of the eminence of my opponent and partly because of the importance of the occasion on which it was played\, and also because on three occasions in which the situation was extremely complicated. I was fortunate enough to discover the only continuation which not only was necessary to secure victory\, but to actually save the game \nHere is that game: \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFrom The Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match by Klein and Winter : \nThe Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match\, E. Klein and W. Winter (1947\, Pitman)\n“W. Winter was born in 1899 in Hampshire. A Cambridge graduate in Law\, he devoted himself eventually entirely to chess and is the only Englishman who\, despite all vicissitudes\, has faithfully remained a professional. After winning the Cambridge University Championship in 1921 he competed in a number of international tournaments. His outstanding performance was in the tournament in Scarborough 1928\, which he won. He won the British Championship in 1935 and 1936\, and has represented his country on four occasions in international team tournaments. In Hamburg\, 1930\, he was undefeated. \nScene at London. From left to right – Seated : Fairhurst\, List and Winter in play. Standing König and Sir George Thomas\nHis literary activities include Chess for Match Players and The Alekhine-Capablanca World Title Match\, 1927. He edits the chess column in the Soviet Weekly. \nGames Played In the World’s Championship Match between Jose Paul Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine\, FD Yates and W\, Winter\, 1928\, Printing Craft Limited\nHis chess record is erratic and does not reflect his true ability. He is capable of some of the finest chess\, but often plays too impulsively. His greatest strength lies in King’s side attacks. which he handles with skill and accomplishment.” \nWilliam Winter (11-IX-1897\, 18-XII-1955)\nFrom the Preface of The World Chess Championship : 1951 by Lionel Sharples Penrose we have : \n“Mr. Winter’s chess career has been a long one and he occupies an extremely high position among British players. He has been British Champion twice\, in 1935 and 1936. Among other notable successes was his first place in the Scarborough International Tournament in 1928. He defeated Nimzovich in the London Tournament in 1927. Against the present world championship contenders he has a very fine score\, a draw against Botvinnik at Nottingham in 1936 and a win and a loss against Bronstein in the Radio Match\, Great Britain v U.S.S.R. in 1946. Mr. Winter is a specialist in writing about the art of chess\, and players throughout the country owe a great deal to his deep and logical expositions.” \nGames Played in the World’s Championship Match between Alexander Alekhin (Holder of the Title) and E D Bogoljubow (Challenger)\, Printing Craft Limited\, 1930\, FD Yates and W. Winter\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (BT Batsford\, 1977) Edited by Harry Golombek : \nInternational Master and twice British Champion (1935 and 1936)\, Winter was an excellent illustration of Réti’s thesis that players tend to be opposite over the board to their character in real life. Over the board he was classical\, scientific and sober; away from the board he was revolutionary\, moved by his emotions (he contrived to be both a fervent Communist and a staunch patriot)\, and more often than not\, drunk. \nHis university career\, where he read law\, coincided with the First World War and\, after a brief interruption for military service he returned to Cambridge where in 1919 he became university champion and defeated R. H. V. Scott (a strong player who won the British Championship in 1920) in a match by 4-2. On the strength of this he was invited to play in the Hastings Victory tournament of 1919 where\, however\, he did badly\, coming 11th out of 12. \nWilliam Winter (11-ix-1897\, 18-xii-1955)\nAfter an interval during which he fervently pursued a political career to such an extent as to incur a six-months prison sentence for sedition (Winter always denied the sedition and said that the charge was trumped-up one)\, he took up the career of chess professional. The life suited him since it enabled him to lead the kind of Bohemian existence that pleased his artistic temperament. It should be mentioned that he was a nephew of Sir James Barrie and would have fitted in well on one of his uncle’s plays. \nAs a player he was eminently sound and\, being an apostle of Tarrasch\, a fine clear strategist. But he was lacking in tactical ability and his poor health and his way of life interfered with his consistency and impaired his stamina. But he had a number of fine victories over great players (Bronstein\, Nimzowitsch and Vidmar for example). \nIM William Winter (11-ix-1897\, 18-xii-1955)\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nHe played in four Olympiads: Hamburg 1930 (scoring 76.7% on 4th board)\, Prague 1931 (58.8% on 4th board)\, Folkestone 1933 (59.1% on 3rd board) and Warsaw 1935 (41.7% on 1st board). He was selected to play at Stockholm in 1937 but\, having “lost” his passport three times. he was refused a fresh one by the authorities. \nHis best international individual results were =6th at London 1927\, and =5th at Lodz 1935. \nHis career as a chess journalist (he wrote for the Manchester Guardian following FD Yates and the Daily Worker) was somewhat impeded and spoilt by his Bohemian ways\, be he wrote some excellent works on chess : Chess for Match Players\, London\, 1936″ \nWinter was a popular subject for his Swiss namesake\, Edward Winter and there are several mentions in his excellent books. \nIn Chess Facts and Fables (McFarland\, 2006) we have Chess Note 2819\, page 71 which shows a photograph (from CHESS\, November 1935) taken in Poland of Winter and Max Krauser\, Heavyweight wrestling Champion of Europe. Quite what the occasion we are not told. \nHere is an excellent article (as you’d expect) from Edward Winter \nApart from all of the contributions above possibly the most comprehensive comes from FM Steve Giddins writing in three parts in British Chess Magazine\, during 2006 and 2007 : \nPostscript: Since our article was published we were contacted by Steve Giddins who informed us that he owned the copyright to the articles (rather than the publisher BCM) and that he did not wish us to make them available via this article. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nIn the “Mid-October” issue of CHESS for 1962\, (Volume 27\, Number 418)  we had the following announcement: \nWILLIAM WINTER’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY\nEdited by David Hooper\, will be serialised in CHESS commencing with our next number. Nephew of Sir James Barrie\, twice British Chess Champion\, a lifelong Communist and freethinker\, imprisoned for his political views\, “Willie Winter”\, with his Bohemian way of life\, was undoubtedly the most colourful figure in British Chess for many decades irrespective of whether you agree with his views (most readers may not!)\, you will find him a delightful writer whose gifted pen draws you engrossed from page to Page. \nAnd so\, for your delectation\, here are William Winter’s Memoirs.
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-william-winter/
CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Remembering,Writer
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