Bob Wade

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

Post by Paul McKeown » Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:21 pm

E Michael White wrote: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 ).
Michael,

Thank you very much for this - I'm delighted! The grades I am looking for are those as close as possible to the start of the season, so yes that would be the list published in August 1968, when Bob's grade had dropped down to its, then, lowest ebb, 3a/215. When you supply the grades, would you be so kind as to quote also the date when the particular list was published, please?

Just to make sure we are on the same wavelength, here are the grades I'm using for RGW:
"1952-53" 2a
"1954" 2a
"1955" 2a
"1956" 2a
"1957" 2a
"1958" 2a
"1959" 2b
"1960" 2a
"1961" 2b
"1962" 2b
"1963" 2b
"1964" 2b/223
1965 2b/225
1966 2b/223
1967 2b/218
1968 3a/215
1969 2b/222
1970 3a/216
1971 2a/225
1972 228
1973 216
1974 210
1975 219
1976 220* *indicates provisional or less than 20 games
1977 215*
1978 220*
1979 211*

N.B. The reason I have put quotes around the earlier grades, is that I have confirmed that the quoted name was the official name for the list; I have yet to do that beyond 1965, but will do that soon - it just ensures that there is no confusion about what grades are being spoken about.
E Michael White wrote: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.
Don't throw them out! If you really, really, really need the space, I can always make a home for them, I have great need for that sort of stuff!

Best Regards,
Paul McKeown.

Paul McKeown
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by Paul McKeown » Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:31 pm

Michael,

How far back do your grading lists go?
I have a few older ones which I felt dauntingly difficult, but if you're up for a challenge, just let me know!

P.

Richard James
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by Richard James » Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:39 pm

Paul

If it's any help to you I have grading lists going back to the early/mid seventies here, plus complete runs of CHESS and BCM for earlier years.


Richard

E Michael White
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by E Michael White » Thu Jan 08, 2009 10:03 pm

Paul

I have most between 1961 and 1972 but dont get your hopes up for any early years. I used to have some handwritten 1950s Union Lists that a grader gave me, going down to 11a but I think I threw these out a few years ago.

If Richard has Chess they will be in those. BHW used to publish down to 3a first and then a month or two later would publish the lower grades. So you would have to look through several issues to get the whole picture.

Paul McKeown
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by Paul McKeown » Thu Jan 08, 2009 10:31 pm

Michael,

In that case, try the following:
"1961" - RF Holmes (Cambridgeshire)
"1962" - WJ Hartwell (Norfolk), TK Hemingway (Hertfordshire), JD Mills (East Glamorgan), DG Springgay (Sussex)
"1963" - A Sepaphour (East Glamorgan)
"1964" - GA Winbow (Cambridgeshire)

I have a feeling that the majority (or all) of these were ungraded at the time, as I couldn't find their grades in Chess. But just to make sure.

Regards.
P.

Paul McKeown
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by Paul McKeown » Fri Jan 09, 2009 3:15 pm

Look at the profession...

...not many issued with that!
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Leonard Barden
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Re: Oxfordshire v Middlesex 1952

Post by Leonard Barden » Sat Jan 10, 2009 4:08 pm

It's more than half a century ago and my memory of events has dimmed, but here are some points and recollections.

Oxfordshire had won the county championship for the first time in 1950-1, but did not meet the two strongest teams who often monopolised the final. Middlesex were drawn away to Devon in the quarter-finals and lost with a much weakened team, while Lancashire lost to Cheshire, so we beat these two in the semi-final and final. I was match captain, not because people felt I had any special leadership qualities, but because of an Oxfordshire rule that the county champion automatically got the job. Naturally the following season we hoped to take on Middlesex, the recognised No1. I don't agree with Paul on page 4 above that we dragged out the date for the final, at that time all Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire fixtures were arranged in university term, and autumn term didn't start till October. Also we played in London, so the final was virtually a home fixture for Middlesex, who had numerous 200+ and British championship players. Middlesex also fiddled their board order a little by putting Harold Israel on No 1, ostensibly because he was county champion but probably also as a sacrifice against Yanofsky, who annotated the game for CHESS along with his controversial analysis. I forget who won the toss but if I did that would explain why we took Black on odd-numbered boards.

It was my policy as captain to pack the team with university players. I think our four dons were Theodore Tylor, the top Englishman at Nottingham 1936, Rupert Cross, a blind former British championship player, Hans Schenk, who had competed against Flohr and Spielmann in pre-war Prague, and Sir Robert Robinson. Chess was popular among students-we had over 100 teams of three taking part in the inter-college event in a 7-round Swiss-and the county team was so strong that David Armstrong, an Australian who had played for Sydney v London in a radio match, wasn't included against Middlesex. I should add that the native Oxfordshire players didn't like my selection policy one bit and the following season there was a coup d''etat and a new rule that a certain percentage of the team had to be non-University. Oxfordshire never again contended for the county championship.

I recall that match captains announcing how long till adjudication was quite common at that time, though I did indeed on Yanofsky's prompting make the announcement loudly close to Galvenius. He was a very nervous player, so much so that before the final I seriously considered an offer from amateur hypnotist G Spencer Brown, who had played for Cambridge in a previous Varsity match and was now doing post-graduate work at Oxford, to sooth our Swede's tensions the evening before the match. Unfortunately the Oxford Mail got wind of the plan, ran it as a front page story, and naturally wanted their reporter to sit in on the hypnosis session. Galvenius equally naturally took fright and would have nothing to do with being hypnotised. But I guess he was the one player I could rely on for his reaction to the 5 mins till adjudication announcement. His opponent Joe Stone was a cool and analytical pipe-smoker but I still recall the dirty look he gave me when I made the announcement.

It's not correct to imply as is done above, that Oxfordshire's adjudication analysis was mainly by Yanofsky. If I recall right (I don't have the team lists and results now) there were four for adjudication and we needed 2.5 else Middlesex would win on tie-break. The entire team spent the train journey back to Oxford analysing. Two positions had small advantages but looked drawn. Robinson had s a tricky queen ending where Sir Robert himself, an expert correspondence player, produced some subtle analysis to demonstrate a draw. So it all boiled down to Galvenius v Stone where forced play led quickly to R v 3 united pawns, Galvenius having the rook. The four of us, Yanofsky, Tylor, Persitz and myself spent 3-4 days on the position which for a long time seemed not winnable. It was Tylor who found the decisive trick, I think a zugzwang move, and I recall his excited tone as he told me about it.

I did not know that Yanofsky was sending our analysis to CHESS until the post came and I opened my copy of the magazine. I think quite a few people were annoyed with Dan and even more with BH for publishing while the position was still sub judice.That's possibly why BH tried to deflect attention by the stuff about the House of Lords. However at that time in appeals both sides could see each other's analysis and comment on it. I believe Middlesex's final rejected appeal was on some line omitted by Yanofsky. Bob certainly had seen the Yanofsky material before his final decision and I recall he was non-committal about it. The same material was in our analysis sent to the BCF.

There was a sequel 40 years later to the 1990s, wheh I received a review copy of a book by John Nunn. Unfortunately I'm not now sure of the title, but it was pre-Gambit Books and pre-computer checking. In it Nunn had a chapter, or part of a chapter, about Galvenius v Stone and he concluded that the adjudication decision was wrong and that the endgame was a draw! I was gobsmacked, but then I examined the analysis and managed to reconstruct the zugzwang finesse which Tylor had found in 1952 but which Yanofsky, presumably in haste, had omitted and Nunn had also overlooked. I informed Nunn of this and in the next edition of his book he changed his text and confirmed that it was a win after all. I'm really sorry I can't give the book title but hopefully somebody on this forum can track it down from the details provided. If not, go to Nunn himself.

Paul McKeown
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by Paul McKeown » Sat Jan 10, 2009 6:24 pm

Leonard,

I am delighted to see your detailed and informative response. I can't write at length now, as I'm heading out the door, but two points:

a) I think it was quite normal for Middlesex to play its county champion on the top board; the match records indicate that Bob rarely managed to play board one for years, often playing below the most unlikely sounding individuals.
b) I was aware of the analysis in John Nunn's book; it was called Tactical Chess Endings and I have to say I have been a great fan of the book since I bought it: it is always a treat to dip into it from time to time.
c) I was told that the county delayed the match; you say this is not true, but as you should certainly know better than anyone, then I am happy to accept that.

Thank you. Do you mind if I ask you some more questions about various things at a later date?

Best Regards,
Paul McKeown.

Paul McKeown
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by Paul McKeown » Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:11 am

Paul McKeown wrote: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.
I find myself in the position of having to correct myself; that is of itself not surprising, however, finding a game Bob played for Middlesex that had not already been dredged up from the murky bed of Old River Time is - at least to me!

Richard James gave me to his collection of BCF Yearbooks from 1975-76 to 2006 on loan for a week; I had intended dragging out all sorts of information out of them, such as when Bob served in what role for the BCF or FIDE or Middlesex county, etc. My eye was caught however in the very first Yearbook, however, when I found that Middlesex 2nd team had played at Birmingham on 14 June 1975 in the Final of the Minor Counties Championship, with Bob Wade beating PJ Romilly on top board after adjudication. Lancashire won the match, with the score recorded in the YB as 5½ – 12½, with Middlesex having been docked 2 points for fielding two unregistered players. Surprisingly, it was "Little Napoleon", the legendary David Foley-Comer, who was the unfortunate Middlesex II match captain.

After having picked my jaw up from the table on which the YB was resting, I went and checked the Middlesex Match Book concerned, and yes, RGW played in that match; I simply hadn't expected Bob to have played for anything quite so lowly. I went carefully through the match books and it seems that this was the only time that he represented Middlesex II; I haven't checked the 3rd, 4th or 5th teams — but really, what do you want?

Anyway, that leaves a mystery?
1) Who were the unregistered players? I can narrow the 20 down to 4, RG Wade, WG Raines, JA Yeo, J Feakes, none of whom had played for Middlesex II earlier in the season. I expect RGW was one.
2) What happened? Why did Middlesex field unregistered players? Had there been a late withdrawal and had Bob played as a filler?

Does anyone know the full story?

Here is the match score:

Code: Select all

 1     RG Wade   1	PJ Romilly	0
 2     DJ Mabbs     ½	JE Horner	½
 3     JC Benjamin  ½	JM Ripley	½
 4     JV Skilleter	½	MJ O’Hara	½
 5     WG Raines	0	E Rayner	1
 6     MW Hawley	½	D Shuttleworth	½
 7     KR Clark	0	TJ Stuttard	1
 8     T Welsh	0	G Hall	1
 9     SJF Walsh	½	Miss SA Jackson	½
10    S Lodge	½	RA Barton	½
11    HB Angel	0	A Baruch	1
12    JA Yeo	1	R Van Kemenade	0
13    VP Aeron	½	P Lamford	½
14    N Skinner	1	RJ Starkie	0
15    N Benjamin	0	RV Hart	1
16    J Hodgson	0	JV Innes-Reid	1
17    J Feakes	0	DG Robertson	1
18    I Hayes	0	M Bennett	1
19    DG Wayte	0	JS Ridgeway	1
20    BJ Silver	1	D Miller	0
		5½*		12½
*Adjusted score, 2 players not registered.

Regards,
Paul McKeown.

Paul McKeown
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by Paul McKeown » Tue Jan 13, 2009 4:47 pm

JustinHorton wrote: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...
Justin,

How's things? Better? Any progress... ?

Paul McKeown
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by Paul McKeown » Tue Jan 13, 2009 5:13 pm

Justin,

I wonder if I could trouble you further, seeing as you are the only person I know in Spain.

Bob played in the international tournament at Barcelona from 8 November – 22 November 1946. The tournament was held to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Barcelona Chess Club and included, amongst many other strong players, the future grandmasters Najdorf, Guimard, Yanofsky, O'Kelly and Pomar. The tournament was royally sponsored by Cinzano and El Mundo Deportivo, a well-known sports newspaper, and received wide public recognition.

I wrote to Deportivo asking if they had back copies, but they never replied. I would dearly love a tournament photograph, as this is the only early important tournament for which I have not been able to obtain one. Do you think you might be able to help? I know Spain is a large country, and for all I know, Barcelona might be hundreds of miles from where you live, but if you could, I would be delighted.

Best Regards,
Paul McKeown.

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JustinHorton
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by JustinHorton » Fri Jan 16, 2009 10:10 am

Sorry for the long delay - I'm now back within reach of a fax. If Paul wants to PM me his number...
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

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Paul McKeown
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by Paul McKeown » Fri Jan 16, 2009 11:34 am

JustinHorton wrote:Sorry for the long delay - I'm now back within reach of a fax. If Paul wants to PM me his number...
Sent you a PM about 20 minutes ago. Still in my Outbox, don't know whether it stays there until you pick it up; if so, not quite like email, when it would just get sent whilst I'm connected , with a copy going to my sent folder. Perhaps someone could explain the mechanism.

In any case, if you don't get the PM, just drop a line, either by PM or on the forum!

Cheers,
P.

Paul McKeown
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by Paul McKeown » Thu Jan 22, 2009 5:05 pm

Leonard,

Specially for you, the match score for the Middlesex - Oxfordshire BCF County Championship Final for the 1951–52 season, played on 29th Nov. 1952 at the National Chess Centre.

Code: Select all

Bd.   Middlesex         Grd     Col.   Res.   Oxfordshire       Grd
1.    Dr. O Friedmann    3a      W     0–1    DA Yanofsky IM     1a
2.    W Winter IM        2a      B     ½–½    TH Tylor           2a
3.    AY Green           3a      W     1–0    LW Barden          2b
4.    H Israel           2b      B     0–1    R Persitz
5.    Dr. JM Aitken      2b      W     1–0    Dr HG Schenk
6.    EM Sergeant        3a      B     1–0    JE Pike
7.    M Blaine           3a      W     0–1    DJ Youston
8.    SH Crockett                B     ½–½ †  Sir R Robinson
9.    NA Macleod                 W     1–0 ‡  H Morton
10.   J Stone                    B     0–1 ‡  OI Galvenius
11.   Dr K Hirsch                W     0–1 †  DL Barrett
12.   N Honan                    B     ½–½    JB Sykes
TOTAL                                 5½–6½

Notes and Key
† indicates that the result was determined by adjudication of RG Wade
‡ indicates that the result was determined by adjudication of an appeals panel consisting of RG Wade, H Golombek and J Penrose
1. Grades listed are those given in 1954 for the period covering 1951–53, unless not available, in which case they are those given for the complete post-war period to 1953.   
2. Titles given are those the player concerned had already been awarded.
So the Middlesex board 1 was not Harold Israel – but your point remains – William Winter was clearly the stronger player. Oscar Friedmann was probably the Middlesex champion – he certainly was at some time around then – I might be bothered later to check exactly when.

Clearly a very strong county match – three British champions, a Scottish champion, a Canadian champion, a Palestine (later Israel) champion, a whole host of British championship players.

Leonard Barden
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Re: Bob Wade

Post by Leonard Barden » Thu Jan 22, 2009 6:18 pm

Ah, my ancient memory was erretically faulty. Israel would probably have been Yanofsky's opponent in the National Club championship which Oxford University won in 1952. Otto Friedmann was a good tactician, and may have been the equal of the declining Willie at that time, so I think my memory of the possibly fiddled board order related to the National Club match.
And my memory of what happened in the adjudications was also faulty. I recalled Henry Morton but my memory wrongly assigned him a draw. At least I was accurate about Sir Robert's game.