The scorebooks are very attractive. Red embossed in gold.
Inside one of the books was his lifetime membership to the BCF.
James G WIlley 1878 - 1961
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Geoff Chandler
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James G WIlley 1878 - 1961
Three of this lad's scorebooks (all partially filled) has landed in the Edinburgh Chess Club. They were amongst the collection of Fairhurst books. I managed to decipher the game he played v Meikle in the 1911 Manchester - Liverpool match (Willey played for Manchester.) see http://www.edochess.ca/players/p4623.html and passed it onto to John for Britbase.
The scorebooks are very attractive. Red embossed in gold.
Inside one of the books was his lifetime membership to the BCF.
The scorebooks are very attractive. Red embossed in gold.
Inside one of the books was his lifetime membership to the BCF.
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John Upham
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Re: James G WIlley 1878 - 1961
Interesting stuff indeed.
Anyone know of the BCFs "Information Bureau" ?
Anyone know of the BCFs "Information Bureau" ?
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Twitter: @BritishChess
Facebook: facebook.com/groups/britishchess
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John Townsend
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Re: James G WIlley 1878 - 1961
The "James E. Willey Esq." on the life membership seems to differ from the "James G. Willey" in the title of this thread.
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Geoff Chandler
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Re: James G WIlley 1878 - 1961
Indeed it does John. The BCF treasurer at that time was H.E.Dobell https://www.englishchess.org.uk/100-yea ... eration/2/ and the 'E' looks the same. (I'd say they are the same.)
The link I gave in my first post has; Name: Willey, James G. and he uses the initials for himself as 'JGW' in his scorebooks. Yet another mystery. We will have to wait and see if a letter from J.E.Willey turns up in the BCF archives saying he has lost his lifetime membership card and thinks someone else may be using it.
The link I gave in my first post has; Name: Willey, James G. and he uses the initials for himself as 'JGW' in his scorebooks. Yet another mystery. We will have to wait and see if a letter from J.E.Willey turns up in the BCF archives saying he has lost his lifetime membership card and thinks someone else may be using it.
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John Townsend
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Re: James G WIlley 1878 - 1961
Geoff, perhaps you already know that there is a link between JGW and Fairhurst. In the 1911 census, James George Willey, a coal merchant, was boarding in the house of Elizabeth Ann Fairhurst, the widowed mother of William Albert Fairhurst, who was then a seven-year-old boy.
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John Saunders
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Re: James G WIlley 1878 - 1961
Geoff very kindly sent me the score of the Meikle-Willey game which I append below...
Willey was accorded a brief obituary in BCM (August 1961, p218)
His opponent in the 1911 match was Joseph Stephen Meikle (20 July 1873 - 15 July 1951), a Liverpool accountant and company director.
EDIT: Geoff tells me the game was in one of J G Willey's scorebooks, not William Fairhurst's. I've changed the note in the PGN to reflect that.
Willey was accorded a brief obituary in BCM (August 1961, p218)
Willey's birth and death dates were 6 July 1878 and 10 June 1961BCM, August 1961, page 218 wrote:James G. Willey, of Deganwy, died in June [1961] at the age of eighty-two. He was a prominent figure in North of England chess between 1910 and 1924. He reached the final of the Manchester Championship in 1922 and played second board for Cheshire. He was a life member of the British Chess Federation.
His opponent in the 1911 match was Joseph Stephen Meikle (20 July 1873 - 15 July 1951), a Liverpool accountant and company director.
EDIT: Geoff tells me the game was in one of J G Willey's scorebooks, not William Fairhurst's. I've changed the note in the PGN to reflect that.
Last edited by John Saunders on Tue Feb 21, 2023 1:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Geoff Chandler
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Re: James G WIlley 1878 - 1961
Hi John Britbase,
Glad you agree with the score. It was a bit of struggle till I got used to his Q's looking like a 2.
I'll send more over time.
Hi John Historian,
No I never knew about but I've only had the Fairhurst box of scorebooks and papers for two days.
Glasgow chess club (now defunct) had a lot of chess history in storage and have passed it onto Edinburgh so we can display it. I put aside the Willey books thinking there might be a Glasgow connection. I was very impressed with the style of the book which cost one shilling. Thought I'd share.
The Fairhurst games (over 1,000 - chessgames.com has 300+) have 'thankfully' been PGN'd though a few locations and events are missing. Alan McGowan tidying up that part. To be honest I had only played over a few Fairhurst games but that is rapidly changing, I've been well entertained with some of his games. I'm going through them, I'll go over every one, and if something looks odd I'll look at the original to make sure it has been PGN'd correctly. Who did the original has done a good job so I do not expect to find many (if any) I'm just in 7th heaven playing over all these games.
This of course will take time. If I see something interesting that could be me off on a sidetrack for an hour or more. (which has already happened, when I looked at the first one, chosen by random after I was sent the PGN's )
"Who did the original has done a good job." They even deciphered this one.
Glad you agree with the score. It was a bit of struggle till I got used to his Q's looking like a 2.
I'll send more over time.
Hi John Historian,
No I never knew about but I've only had the Fairhurst box of scorebooks and papers for two days.
Glasgow chess club (now defunct) had a lot of chess history in storage and have passed it onto Edinburgh so we can display it. I put aside the Willey books thinking there might be a Glasgow connection. I was very impressed with the style of the book which cost one shilling. Thought I'd share.
The Fairhurst games (over 1,000 - chessgames.com has 300+) have 'thankfully' been PGN'd though a few locations and events are missing. Alan McGowan tidying up that part. To be honest I had only played over a few Fairhurst games but that is rapidly changing, I've been well entertained with some of his games. I'm going through them, I'll go over every one, and if something looks odd I'll look at the original to make sure it has been PGN'd correctly. Who did the original has done a good job so I do not expect to find many (if any) I'm just in 7th heaven playing over all these games.
This of course will take time. If I see something interesting that could be me off on a sidetrack for an hour or more. (which has already happened, when I looked at the first one, chosen by random after I was sent the PGN's )
"Who did the original has done a good job." They even deciphered this one.
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Geoff Chandler
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Re: James G WIlley 1878 - 1961
The score from that above score sheet.
W. Fairhurst,- A. Feneridis. 17.08.1975
W. Fairhurst,- A. Feneridis. 17.08.1975