J D Slater Trophy

[Kevin Thurlow]

It seems this was presented for the British Postal Chess Team Championship(?). Somebody has just found it...

Any info on its history would be gratefully received!

[Graham Borrowdale]

It always surprises me how trophies so often seem to go missing. Presumably the organisers know who wins them and arrange for them to be returned in time for the following season’s presentation. On the odd occasion I have been the custodian of a trophy I have always been paranoid about giving it back in time. Maybe the seasons are longer in postal chess.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Yes, the aim should always be to return it in time for it to be engraved for that year's AGM or similar landmark.

[Kevin Thurlow]

Yes, we even had a Civil Service trophy disappear, when we asked the winner to return it and he said he had never taken it away... I am no longer a fan of trophies, as if you're an organizer, they are a nightmare to track down, and if you win one, you're committed to returning it at a probably inconvenient time. It's also a pain if someone's donated it and you may have to tell them you have no idea where it is.

Even postal chess organizational experts are a bit nonplussed about the Slater trophy and have no idea what it was. The group that presented it may no longer exist...

[Leonard Barden]

I would assume that it was presented by Jim Slater in the middle to late 1960s when he was a keen member of BH Wood's Postal Chess Club and had half a page including a photo of CHESS devoted to his business career and chess ambitions. The PCC had an inter-club league.

I recall around that time Jim asked me what were his chances of becoming an IM or GM if he took it seriously and had professional coaching, and was very disappointed when I instantly replied "zero". He was then in his mid -thirties and around 150-160 strength in my judgment after playing some games with him.

It was after that conversation that he decided to do the job vicariously, starting with the Slater Young Masters and continuing with the Slater awards.

[Kevin Thurlow]

I did wonder if it were Jim Slater. I may have the appropriate "Chess" magazines in storage. Now Leonard has reminded me, I recall that when JS got involved in Spassky-Fischer, his name was familiar to me. I did play in the BPCTC, which merged with another event in 2004 (so maybe the trophy became redundant), but we never won it. Inland Revenue won it a couple of times, so we have asked one of their more senior officials if he remembers.

The problem is that all the people involved with organizing the event are sadly no longer with us.

[Paul Habershon]

I started a postal game against Jim Slater. I don't have a record of exact details or moves but I think we were in a Candidates section of the British Correspondence Chess Championship around 1970. He had to withdraw early on; I guess his involvement in high finance and perhaps his chess philanthropy were beginning to dominate his life. I have copies of the BCCA magazine buried somewhere in my garage but perhaps someone has some more accessible ones from around that time. Was the BCCC controller W.T. (Bill) Chamberlain?

[John Clarke]

I can remember Mr Slater's donation of the trophy being mentioned in Chess, some time in the late 1960s. As Leonard says, this was around the time he was getting into chess sponsorship in a big way, with the Young Masters tournaments. (First one won by Ray Keene, if I'm not mistaken, and the second by Robert Bellin - I don't think there were any others.)

As for the trophy itself, the Chess report about it included a photo. There was nothing to give an idea of its size, but it took the form of a substantial-looking chess table with a pair of envelopes lying on it, very nicely done.

[Kevin Thurlow]

Thanks John - the found trophy doesn't look like that apparently, so puzzlement continues. The one you mentioned sounds much more splendid.