Bob Wade

Historical knowledge and information regarding our great game.
Paul McKeown
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by Paul McKeown » Tue Jan 06, 2009 4:40 pm

John Upham wrote:I totally agree with RDC as I recall that as a Junior I was advised to reach a winning position and let the adjudicators win it on my behalf. I was advised it was worth saccing time on the clock and not to play further moves. This is terrible advice for young players. I am appalled that adjudication still exists in some leagues : WHY ON EARTH CANNOT PEOPLE SEE THIS IS A BAD THING? :twisted:
John,
a perfect illustration of what you are talking about is the following:
How to play the End Game in Chess, Leonard Barden, MacMillan, 1975 wrote:A really ambitious team may even adopt slightly dubious techniques to ensure wins on adjudication. When I was match captain of Oxfordshire in the 1951 County Championship final against Middlesex, it was clear ten minutes before adjudication time that the match might well depend on a difficult endgame in progress on a lower board where the Oxfordshire player, a rather nervous Swedish student, I. Galvenius, was opposed by the experienced former international player J. Stone. The Oxfordshire top boards had finished their games and our number one player, Canadian champion, D. A. Yanofsky, pointed out to me that our Swedish player had his hand hovering over a piece and that this could well be a decisive error… What I did as match captain was to announce in a loud voice, just by Galvenius ear, ‘It is five minutes to go to adjudication time.’ Galvenius’s hand jumped in the air and he did not make any move between then and adjudication time. The position went for adjudication, and after three days of analysis by the Oxfordshire top boards (Yanofsky, Tylor, Barden and Persitz) a clever winning line was found, depending on a single tempo in an ending of rook against three pawns. The position was given a win for the Oxfordshire player, and on that game the County Championship was decided.
P.

Paul McKeown
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by Paul McKeown » Tue Jan 06, 2009 8:04 pm

Another RGW Middlesex question, which concerns the final of the 1979-80 BCF Counties Championship at Aston University, on 5 July 1980. All sources give the result as a victory by 11½–8½ to Middlesex under David Foley-Comer's legendary captaincy. No problem there.

However, Bob played John Littlewood with the Black pieces on board 2. Bob had a terrible score against anyone by the name of Littlewood, whether John, Norman, or later still, Paul. But the result of this particular edition of Littlewood – Wade is given as a win for Wade in the Middlesex match book, Vol. III, confirmed further by an analysis of the individual Middlesex representatives score for the season, with RGW given P4 W3 D1. However, BH Wood gives the win to Littlewood. [Chess, Vol. 45 Nos. 839-40 July 1980, p. 199 and The Daily Telegraph, Chess column, Saturday August 2, 1980] Interestingly, Chess gives the match score as probably by 11½–8½, which would tend to indicate that the results of adjudicated games were awaited. This theory appears to be strengthened on close examination of the Middlesex match book, in which the results of boards 2 and 13 are typed over correction fluid. The BCM does not seem to carry a report at all.

Neither Bob, nor John Littlewood (I spoke with John after our game at last year's County final...) could remember what had happened and I don't happen to have Bob's diary for 1980.

Can anyone help with this?

I'm sure that the answer can be found either in the BCF Yearbook or in the SCCU Bulletin.

Richard?

Thanks people for all the help!

P.

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JustinHorton
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by JustinHorton » Wed Jan 07, 2009 2:13 am

Paul McKeown wrote: Norman Knight was at the time a senior civil servant, with a particular interest in the librarian's art of indexing. He wrote several influential papers on the subject - which I understand are still referred to librarians today - which is why I asked you if you knew anything about him, you previously having been a librarian.
Ah, well strictly speaking we do "cataloguing" and "classification" while "indexing" is something slightly different, albeit related.
"Do you play chess?"
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Richard Haddrell

Re: Bob Wade

Post by Richard Haddrell » Wed Jan 07, 2009 3:02 am

In response to Paul McKeown, hope no slips.
(1)
From SCCU Bulletin, with a couple of excursions into Yearbooks

MIDDX OPEN CAPTAINS & results (very potted)
89-90 CA Mackenzie. Middx finished 4th/8 in SCCU stage (match points 4/7).
90-91 CA Mackenzie. Middx again 4th/8, MP 4/7. Many defaults.
91-92 A Laurence. Middx withdrew with 2 matches outstanding, finished bottom out of 8 teams.
92-93 J McVicar. Middx 7th/10, MP 3½/9. Many defaults.
93-94 R Pearce. Middx 3rd/9, MP 6/8. Suddenly 200+ down to bd 10 or so, headed by JS Speelman. Qualified for (and easily won) national Minor Counties. SCCU Bulletin: "Minor County, indeed!"
94-95 R Pearce. Middx 2nd/9, MP 7/8. Reached national Final, lost to Cambs on board count.
95-96 R Pearce. Middx 3rd/9, MP 6/8. Lost to Essex in national QF.
96-97 R Pearce. But Middx withdrew all their teams from SCCU competition, played no matches.
97-98 No Open Team.
98-99 No Open Team.

RGW RESULTS for Middx. Results from RGW's point of view.
89-90
(RGW is in Middx nomination list in 12th place.)
04.11.89 at Wanstead (A v Essex). Bd 3, W v G Kenworthy: 1-0
18.11.89 at Hendon (H v Kent). Bd 3, W v RG Eales: ½-½
90-91 no games (but nominated 9th).
91-92 no games (not nominated)
92-93 no games. Nomination scheme is scrapped.
93-94
04.12.93 at Haverstock School (H v Surrey). Bd 12, W v Kevin Hurst 172: ½-½
12.02.94 at Chess & Bridge (H v Berks). Bd 11, W v MC Bowhay 160: 1-0
94-95
15.10.94 at Chess & Bridge (H v Herts). Bd 9, W v KS Ellis 176: ½-½
12.11.94 at Chess & Bridge (H v Kent). Bd 10, B v IM Pountney 182: 1-0
03.12.94 at Bracknell (A v Berks). Bd 7, W v PS Janota 174: 1-0
11.02.95 at Trinity College Cambridge (A v Cambs). Bd 11, B v D Cristinacce: ½-½
11.03.95 at Wanstead (A v Essex). Bd 15, B v RP White 179: 1-0
01.07.95 at Birmingham (National Final v Cambs). Bd 12, P Garner: ½-½
95-96
21.10.95 at Chess & Bridge (H v Berks). Bd 8, MV Taylor: ½-½
10.02.96 at Chess & Bridge (H v Essex). Bd 12, B v M Roberts 183: 1-0
18.05.96 at Wanstead (QF A v Essex). Bd 6, B v JP Manley 205: 0-1

There were no further Middx Open matches in the period in question.
______________________

(2)
The Littlewood game looks like a win for RGW on the evidence I've seen. Middx - Lancs 5.7.80 appears in the SCCU Bulletin (late July) as 10½ - 7½ with two for adjudication, and one of the two is Wade - Littlewood. The Bulletin notes that RGW claims win, JEL draw. (In the other unfinished game - on bd 15, not 13 - it is Lancs that claims the win.) Information about the claims will have come from the Middx match captain. Unusually the Bulletin's next issue does not seem to contain the adjudication results. However the "1980-81" BCF Yearbook which appeared in the autumn gives the match in full. It does not mention adjudications but has bd 2 as a win for RGW (and 15 as a win for Lancs).

I don't know what Chess says about Wade - Littlewood, but it seems unlikely it knew the result of the game if it only had a "probable" match score.

Richard Haddrell

Ian Kingston
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by Ian Kingston » Wed Jan 07, 2009 8:52 am

JustinHorton wrote:
Paul McKeown wrote: Norman Knight was at the time a senior civil servant, with a particular interest in the librarian's art of indexing. He wrote several influential papers on the subject - which I understand are still referred to librarians today - which is why I asked you if you knew anything about him, you previously having been a librarian.
Ah, well strictly speaking we do "cataloguing" and "classification" while "indexing" is something slightly different, albeit related.
G. Norman Knight wrote the definitive book on indexing, entitled Indexing, the Art of: A Guide to the Indexing of Books and Periodicals. I think the last edition was published in 1979, so it's somewhat out of date (no treatment of electronic publications, obviously).

Paul McKeown
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by Paul McKeown » Wed Jan 07, 2009 3:57 pm

Richard Haddrell wrote:n response to Paul McKeown, hope no slips. ...and following text ....
Richard, thank you very much indeed; this must have taken you some considerable time.

I can now say for certain that Bob played for Hertfordshire once, a win in the 1946-47 season. He first played for Middlesex in the 1948-49 season and his last game was in the 2000-01 season. During that period his score for Middlesex was P145 W63 D54 L28, although up to the early 1970's, his score consisted of a mountain of wins, with only the occasional draw or loss. He played 8 times for Middlesex in the 1999-2000 season (W1 D5 L2), whilst he played 7 times in 1962-63 (W5 D1 L1), 1968-69 (W4 D1 L2) and 1978-79 (W3 D2 L2). He played in 8 BCF finals, Middlesex winning 6 times and losing tied matches twice on board count. Altogether he played under 15 Middlesex match captains: David Brine Pritchard, Norman A MacLeod, John Poole, RG Duce, unknown, Eileen Tranmer, unknown, Daniel Wright, Martin Blaine, David Foley-Comer, Ray Jennings, John CH Nyman, Colin Mackenzie, Robin Pearce and Paul McKeown; they were all immensely grateful for his contribution.

[Mind you Bob's mentor, Frederic Kuskop Kelling managed to play for Wellington in the very first telegraph match in New Zealand in 1891 and then not miss a match for the rest of his life, his last match being played in 1945! That's dedication!]

I have promised Simon Spivack the first draft of the book's chapter about RGW and Middlesex for the MCCA website; Simon - my open and abject apologies for keeping you waiting! The first draft will, unfortunately, deal only with Bob playing for the county; the final draft will include details about his work for the county, which given the Middlesex county records seem to be scattered to the four winds and otherwise inaccessible is going to be tough. I will have to go through all the BCF Yearbooks from about 1952 through to about 2000; happily those diaries of Bob's which I have give some clues where to look (as occasionally do BCM and Chess). No doubt the SCCU Bulletins will be of value too. Don't worry, Richard, I'm not asking for your help with regard to that at this moment, as I'm going to park this particular chapter, soon.

To complete the first draft, though, I would like to fill in a few details:
A. In the information you gave me, I'm missing the Middx. match result for the matches which Bob was involved in. These were
04.11.89 at Wanstead (A v Essex)
18.11.89 at Hendon (H v Kent)
04.12.93 at Haverstock School (H v Surrey)
12.02.94 at Chess & Bridge (H v Berks)
15.10.94 at Chess & Bridge (H v Herts)
12.11.94 at Chess & Bridge (H v Kent)
03.12.94 at Bracknell (A v Berks)
11.02.95 at Trinity College Cambridge (A v Cambs)
11.03.95 at Wanstead (A v Essex)
01.07.95 at Birmingham (National Final v Cambs) - I know this one 8-8!
21.10.95 at Chess & Bridge (H v Berks)
10.02.96 at Chess & Bridge (H v Essex)
18.05.96 at Wanstead (QF A v Essex)

I hope, Richard, that it wouldn't be imposing too much on your time to ask you for this?
Thanks!

B) Also in the national final against Cambridgeshire 1 July 1995, what colour did Bob have? He was playing on board 12, if that helps. I'm sure you would have supplied the colour, Richard, if it was available, so this is a general appeal to anyone who was there that day. We know who you are, so confess now before it's too late!

C) Who was Middlesex match captain in the following seasons (this must be in the relevant Yearbook...):
1) 1961-62
2) 1965-66

D) Can anyone tell me the status of the match between Kent and Middlesex at the John Lewis Building on 11 December 1965 (1965-66 season)? Was it Ebony only or was it a combined Amboyna and Ebony match? The details recorded in the Middlesex match records seem a bit hazy...

E) Can anyone help fill in the following grades:
1965-66 season (lists in BCM and Chess only go down to 3a):
01) KB Harman (Kent)
1966-67 season (I have neither BCM nor Chess nor the BCF YB for this period):
02) JF Dunn (Norfolk)
03) PC Gibbs (Warwickshire)
04) JR Phillips (Sussex)
1968-69 season (BCM only goes down to 3a and I have neither Chess nor the BCF YB):
05) GJ Nicholas (Sussex)
06) PN Wallis (Leicestershire)
1969-70 season (BCM only goes down to 3a and I have neither Chess nor the BCF YB):
07) R Persitz (Oxfordshire)
08) GJ Nicholas (Sussex)
1970-71 season (BCM only goes down to 3a and I have neither Chess nor the BCF YB):
09) RG Eales (Cambridgeshire)
10) GH Bennett (Hampshire)
3) RA Beach (Staffordshire)
1971-72 season (BCM only goes down to 3a and I have neither Chess nor the BCF YB):
11) GJ Nicholas (Sussex)
12) MW Wills (Essex) could be MW Mills?
1972-73 season (BCM only goes down to 207 and I have neither Chess nor the BCF YB):
13) E Klein (Essex)
1978-79 season (James Coleman gave me a reference to a list in BCM, but for complicated reasons, which I will explain later, this is the wrong list. The graders, I think, had a difficult season... I will give the exact dates for the games, for those in the know.)
14) PV Byway (Herts) (25 Nov 1978)
15) JB Howson (Essex) (10 Feb 1979)
16) R Moss (Berks) (3 Mar 1979)
17) NE Povah (Surrey) (31 Mar 1979)
18) ME Binks (Gloucs) (28 Apr 1979)
19) B Eley (Yorks) (2 June 1979)
20) J Horner (Lancs) (7 July 1979)
1980-81 season
21) JE Littlewood (Lancs)
1983-84 season
22) RA Harris (Surrey)
23) ACL Dyson (Cambs)
1984-85 season
24) S Gillam (Surrey)
25) N Davey (Bucks)
26) G Kenworthy (Sussex)
27) JA Freeman (Berks)
28) AG Trangmar (Kent)
1985-86 season
29) PG Maguire (Herts)
30) DR Carless (Staffs)
31) J Hall (Lancs)
1987-88 season
32) A Robbings (Bucks)
33) NH Bradbury (Herts)
34) U Ekenburg (Cambs)
35) GF Yates (Essex)
36) RG Eales (Kent)
1988-89 season
37) AJ Toll (Oxon)
38) FJ Kwiatkowski (Sussex)
39) PR Davies (Leics)
40) PM Gayson (Yorks)
1989-90 season
41) G Kenworthy (Essex)
42) RG Eales (Kent)

Thanks everyone for your help and submissions. Keep them coming.

Best Regards,
Paul M.

Richard James
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by Richard James » Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:02 pm

Paul

I have grading lists from the mid 70s onwards, also BCM & Chess from the years you are interested in. I'll try to look them up when I have time if no one else beats me to it.

You're welcome to come and look round my library if it helps.


Richard

Paul McKeown
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by Paul McKeown » Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:11 pm

Richard,

Thanks.

Would Saturday evening be possible?

Regards,
Paul.

Paul McKeown
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by Paul McKeown » Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:43 pm

Player (12) MW Wills was definitely Wills and not Mills - he was listed in the 1961 list as 4b, playing for Metropolitan and London YMCA. Now if I could get his grade for 1971-72... 4b was equivalent to 185 - 192 in today's currency (who knows what it will become next season :roll: )

Richard Haddrell

Re: Bob Wade

Post by Richard Haddrell » Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:03 am

Paul McKeown wrote:In the information you gave me, I'm missing the Middx. match result for the matches which Bob was involved in. These were...
Results from Middx viewpoint.
04.11.89 at Wanstead (A v Essex)
12 - 8

18.11.89 at Hendon (H v Kent)
9½ - 10½

04.12.93 at Haverstock School (H v Surrey)
15 - 5

12.02.94 at Chess & Bridge (H v Berks)
14½ - 5½

15.10.94 at Chess & Bridge (H v Herts)
13½ - 6½

12.11.94 at Chess & Bridge (H v Kent)
11½ - 8½

03.12.94 at Bracknell (A v Berks)
14 - 6

11.02.95 at Trinity College Cambridge (A v Cambs)
8 - 12

11.03.95 at Wanstead (A v Essex)
14½ - 5½

01.07.95 at Birmingham (National Final v Cambs) - I know this one 8-8!
8 - 8*

21.10.95 at Chess & Bridge (H v Berks)
11 - 9

10.02.96 at Chess & Bridge (H v Essex)
13½ - 6½

18.05.96 at Wanstead (QF A v Essex)
5½ - 10½

Luckily only one of these matches had any adjudications!

Richard

Jonathan Rogers
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by Jonathan Rogers » Thu Jan 08, 2009 11:55 am

Paul

M Wills must be right. He was around 185 or so in 1994 when I played him (he was playing for East Ham) and I would guess that he could have been active thirty years before then.

I spectated (indeed, wrote a report for CHESS on) the Middlesex v Cambs final in 1995, those being the great days when people were interested in the County and National Club Finals (I was there because I was playing in the Nat Club Final the following day, playing for Barbican in the match which would enable us to host the aforementioned ECC qualifier in 1996...). In Cambridge v Middlesex, Mestel played White and beat Crouch on top board. So if Bob was on board 12 for Middlesex (which I don't recall) then he must have been White.

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Re: Bob Wade

Post by Paul McKeown » Thu Jan 08, 2009 1:13 pm

Jonathan Rogers wrote:In Cambridge v Middlesex, Mestel played White and beat Crouch on top board. So if Bob was on board 12 for Middlesex (which I don't recall) then he must have been White.
Cheers!
P.

Paul McKeown
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by Paul McKeown » Thu Jan 08, 2009 1:15 pm

Richard - thanks for this, brilliant.

P.

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JustinHorton
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by JustinHorton » Thu Jan 08, 2009 3:51 pm

My apologies for the delay in sending the fax, by the way: I came down with a temperature two days ago so I'm laid up at home around twenty miles from our fax machine...
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

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E Michael White
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by E Michael White » Thu Jan 08, 2009 7:39 pm

Paul

I probably have some of the pre 1972 grades you need. I recently began clearing out my attic and came across some boxes from about 4 house moves ago and havent thrown them out yet. I dont have much post 72 when I lost interest in BCF grades as I realised the system was becoming deflationary due to weekend tournaments !

Before I go ferreting around can you confirm that when you say for example, you need P N Wallis's grade for the 68/69 season, you want the grade published approx Aug 1968 ( which was 202 ) and not at the end of the 68/69 season published approx Aug 69 ( which was 200 ). I suppose looking forwards or backwards at grades is the chess equivalent of half full or half empty wine glasses and a graders viewpoint might be half evaporated due to grade deflation.