London Central YMCA (aka CentYMCA) Chess Club

Historical knowledge and information regarding our great game.
Malcolm Clarke
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Re: London Central YMCA (aka CentYMCA) Chess Club

Post by Malcolm Clarke » Thu Feb 16, 2012 11:43 pm

Thanks for clarifying this Daryl.

However I have only just seen your reply to my posting on the DHSS Regional Championships in the General Chat section so I thought I would reply here.

I did see the list of winners and the name D Taylor appeared as champion for 1974 and 1975. However knowing that there was a David C Taylor who played for Hendon to a reasonably good standard, and the fact that I thought that you may have been a full time student at the time (Not necessarily a barrier to participation) meant that I did not automatically assume it was you, but well done on winning it twice consecutively.

I can well imagine that the final stage was not the most difficult part of winning it.

Daryl Taylor
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Re: London Central YMCA (aka CentYMCA) Chess Club

Post by Daryl Taylor » Fri Feb 17, 2012 10:04 am

Hi Malcolm,

That was my gap year, when I worked for the DHSS in regional planning (Euston Tower) and operational research (Great Titchfield Street). I was London region and national DHSS chess champion in that year. I remember the finals were held in Whitley Bay, and I beat George Spence from Liverpool in the final. A fine looking trophy, as I recall, though I only remember winning it once.

In terms of the standard of chess, the CENTYMCA club championship was a great deal more challenging.

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John Upham
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Re: London Central YMCA (aka CentYMCA) Chess Club

Post by John Upham » Fri Feb 17, 2012 3:47 pm

During a clear out I found a load of CentYMCA photographs from around 1978 -1980. :D

I've uploaded them to http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 194&type=1 and hopefully they are publicly visible.

If you can identify any persons, locations and dates I'd be most grateful!
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Simon Brown
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Re: London Central YMCA (aka CentYMCA) Chess Club

Post by Simon Brown » Fri Feb 17, 2012 6:49 pm

John, I can't see them. But I can via Facebook so I will comment there.

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John Upham
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Re: London Central YMCA (aka CentYMCA) Chess Club

Post by John Upham » Sat Feb 18, 2012 12:33 am

Simon Brown wrote:John, I can't see them. But I can via Facebook so I will comment there.
Ummm. I made the Album "public" but maybe that is insufficient...
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John Upham
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Re: London Central YMCA (aka CentYMCA) Chess Club

Post by John Upham » Sat Feb 18, 2012 10:04 pm

John Upham wrote:A reunion of London Central YMCA Chess Club has been pencilled in for June 16th 2012 in the Folkestone area. :D
Due to another re-union I have had to bring this re-union forward to June 16th 2012.
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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: London Central YMCA (aka CentYMCA) Chess Club

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Sat Feb 18, 2012 10:19 pm

John Upham wrote:
John Upham wrote:A reunion of London Central YMCA Chess Club has been pencilled in for June 16th 2012 in the Folkestone area. :D
Due to another re-union I have had to bring this re-union forward to June 16th 2012.
That appears to be the same date...

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John Upham
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Re: London Central YMCA (aka CentYMCA) Chess Club

Post by John Upham » Sat Feb 18, 2012 10:38 pm

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:
John Upham wrote:
John Upham wrote:A reunion of London Central YMCA Chess Club has been pencilled in for June 16th 2012 in the Folkestone area. :D
Due to another re-union I have had to bring this re-union forward to June 16th 2012.
That appears to be the same date...
Originally it was one week later but I edited it to avoid it being spidered.
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George Szaszvari
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Re: London Central YMCA (aka CentYMCA) Chess Club

Post by George Szaszvari » Mon Feb 20, 2012 2:41 am

John Upham wrote:During a clear out I found a load of CentYMCA photographs from around 1978 -1980. :D

I've uploaded them to http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 194&type=1 and hopefully they are publicly visible.

If you can identify any persons, locations and dates I'd be most grateful!
Thanks John. Although I wasn't at that event (or even in the country?), all those I knew have been identified. When we were young! :D

Malcolm Clarke
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Re: London Central YMCA (aka CentYMCA) Chess Club

Post by Malcolm Clarke » Fri Mar 09, 2012 6:52 pm

With respect to Daryl Taylor's earlier correspondence I can confirm that having seen the list of DHSS National Champions from 1972 to 1988 inclusive, that he is listed as being the winner in both 1974 and 1975.

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John Upham
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Re: London Central YMCA (aka CentYMCA) Chess Club

Post by John Upham » Mon Apr 09, 2012 8:03 pm

I have heard from Mike Wills (via Ian Watson) who writes that he wishes to attend the reunion and is happy to go to London for it or Folkestone.

I guess that suggests London would be most convenient for more persons.

Next question: where?

June 16th is the scheduled date.
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Daryl Taylor
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Re: London Central YMCA (aka CentYMCA) Chess Club

Post by Daryl Taylor » Mon Apr 09, 2012 9:46 pm

I visited Mike in Folkestone last August and I can recommend the day out. The journey is surprisingly quick on the high speed line from St Pancras, and you could probably take over a pub or hotel function room or equivalent for an afternoon more easily than in the Smoke.

It's unlikely that I shall get to the UK this year, but I wish you all a great time.

Malcolm Clarke
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Re: London Central YMCA (aka CentYMCA) Chess Club

Post by Malcolm Clarke » Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:38 am

Although as I said in an earlier post my cricket scoring duties mean that I would be unlikely to attend, switching to London does give me an outside chance of attending if the cricket is either rained off or finishes early.

George Szaszvari
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Re: London Central YMCA (aka CentYMCA) Chess Club

Post by George Szaszvari » Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:16 pm

As one of those personal little serendipitous moments in life that often gets forgotten, it occurred to me that this little story was worth recording here since it reminded me that chess clubs are also important community activity centers where people meet. The ability to freely meet and interrelate is an important cornerstone of civilization. Hope you enjoy this bit of reminiscing.

One evening in the 1990s, while hanging out in my favorite chess club at the London Central YMCA in the new building (when did the move happen?), I was looking through a master game by myself, when a stranger wandered in and politely struck up a conversation about the game I was analyzing. He preferred that I explain to him what I was looking at rather than engage in playing a game, so, since the visitor seemed a pleasantly sincere enough bloke, and I was a full time chess coach in those days, I gave it the whole nine yards. With each revelation concerning the plans and tactical twists and turns of the game under scrutiny, the visitor's eyes widened with excitement while his face increasingly expressed unabashed delight. This positive feedback only encouraged me further, here being someone with an obvious love for that "Eureka moment" in understanding things. He introduced himself as Laszlo Heltay, a stunning privilege for me since I often listened to his direction and stewardship of musical classics on BBC Radio 3. With his life devoted fully to music Laszlo didn't have much time for chess, but clearly appreciated the game. Laszlo was delighted to find that I was of Hungarian extraction and we spent the rest of the evening chatting about life and everything over a drink, or two. Although a British citizen, Laszlo traveled a lot, and said his favorite city was Barcelona, in Spain, where he preferred to have his home address. Apparently, he's still there...

http://usuaris.tinet.cat/setcanta/english/heltay.htm

Kevin O'Connell
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Re: London Central YMCA (aka CentYMCA) Chess Club

Post by Kevin O'Connell » Sun Apr 29, 2012 8:05 am

Seeing the mentions of simultaneous displays - the most unusual one I ever gave was a tandem 'replacement' display (with Tony Rubin) below the Portman Stand at Ipswich Town Football Club immediately before the Bradford City match (1988-9 season, I think). There were tannoy announcements, prize presentation(s) on the pitch for one (or more?) of the kids taking part, and a photo on the back of the programme for the following home match (Portsmouth). Unfortunately, I can't lay my hands on the programme or a decent scan of it (which I have somewhere), and can't read the date off the source I located (my "Chess Trainer Manual, Foundation Level Syllabus").

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