London Central YMCA (aka CentYMCA) Chess Club

[Malcolm Clarke]

I have not kept very much of my CentYMCA material, but I have come across two letters from Andrew Martin, that were circulated to members. The first one was written in 1985 prior to the EGM (already mentioned on this forum), gave Andrew's view on the situation, and the second in 1987 advising us that our best alternative was to move away from the YMCA. This, and the fact that I have BCF/ECF yearbooks going back 20 years has given me a better picture of how the evolution of London Central YMCA to Barbican took place.

Following the EGM, the players who remained with CentYMCA paid a levy on top of their YMCA subscription. As some players did not want to pay a levy in top of what they already thought was a costly membership for what they got out of it, then instead of operating with six teams in the London League, only four were entered. If things had remained unchanged we would have been playing in divisions 1, 2,3 ,4, 6 and 7, but we ended up playing in divisions 1, 3, 6 and 7 (if my memory is correct).

We then remained at the YMCA paying the levy for two years, and had two secretaries Mike Mozouros and Alison Martin, and continued to run four teams, but it was evident from Andrew's letter, that if we carried on playing at the YMCA for the 1987/88 season we would have a hard job even running one team.

The suggestion was that we renamed ourselves London Central, and played our London League matches at Bishopsgate until we found ourselves a new venue. However I think that we found ourselves the Barbican Centre fairly quickly, as I can remember visiting there before moving out of London in 1988.

Looking at the National club championship results for the 1989/90 season I saw the name London Central appear, which seems to confirm that we played under this name from 1987/88 to 1989/90. Also contrary to what I originally thought, we ran four London League teams during our first season as London Central

However by the 1990/91 season the name was changed from London Central to Barbican, and Barbican were also London League champions in 1990/91. The impression I had was that Brian Sammes who appeared to play an important part in the move to the Barbican was keen on the name change.

As for the link between Barbican and Cavendish other people are better placed to provide information. One thing I do know is that in the 2004 yearbook included Barbican's NCL results for the previous season, but they were not listed amongst the list of London League clubs.

As I was less involved with the club from 1985 onwards I may have omitted important information, but hopefully I have provided an accurate picture of what happened.

[andrew martin]

Poignant memories from the past! Its good to see so many ex-YMCA members and friends alive and kicking. They obviously remember the club in the same affectionate way that I do.

I couldn't help but laugh when I read the obituary of Michael Crewdson AKA ' The Colonel' to all YMCA members. I don't recall him ' leading the YMCA junior chess club to national pre-eminence. That is a gross exaggeration.....more likely he lead his partners to despair on the bridge table. Chess-wise he used to play the Stonewall with both White and Black; enough said.

I wonder what became of 'bloody' Len Hardy. Another unique figure:)

[George Szaszvari]

I do wish Martin Barkwill and forum readers to know that he, the Great
Barkers, was one of the best chess friends anyone could have, as I'm sure you'll agree.

Steady on there, old chap. This is a slagging off, only, medium. I am minded to report you to the moderators.

Shocking, isn't it, how I've become all mushy in my old age?

[Daryl Taylor]

Chess-wise he used to play the Stonewall with both White and Black; enough said.

We called it the Crewdson Shuffle.

Michael was one of two chess club members who were on the governing board of the Central YMCA. The other was Les ... [Something - Andrew, please refresh my memory]. Unfortunately Michael's gradualist approach to everything made him more of a handicap than an asset, whereas Les seemed to suffer from depression much of the time and would go AWOL for long periods.

[George Szaszvari]

Would that be Norman R Oliver of Lewisham Chess Club

Yes, Norman remained as league secretary until the end. His premature departure was a big blow to London chess.

Yes, the affable Norman Oliver, famous for enjoying a few pints, was part of a most interesting group
of friendly and garrulous Lewisham chessplayers that included Tony Swift and Len Pickett. These three
often collaborated on openings research, much of it pretty good considering they were amateur club
players, which Tony Gillam published in Nottingham. Their famous work on the DERLD (delayed exchange
ruy lopez deferred) was special... e.g., I was at a London weekend swiss tournament in which IGM
Pachman was totally crushed on the black side by someone simply following analysis published in the
DERLD book, and recall a quote that the GM, a famous openings theoretician himself, vowed never to
play 1...e5 in reply to 1.e4 again... at least against an English player!

It is an odd feeling to find all these old friends kicking the bucket in the last few years, but I guess
that we'll all be meeting up again sooner or later in another realm... (spooky strains of Vera Lynn
singing: we'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when....)

Someone I forgot to mention was, in posts acknowledging positive contributions to chess, Richard Furness,
former BCF Director of Junior Chess, having just read about his passing on, too. Richard was not a young
man when I liaised with him, so his journey beyond is not surprising, but he was one of the unsung better
people that the game benefited from. E.g., He fought elements within the BCF that tried to scotch Luke
McShane's trip abroad to play in Szombathely (even though I organized it, not the BCF) because he was
"too young", despite daddy Rod McShane accompanying him. The same nay-sayers were already wanting
to stop Luke from having anything to do with the World u-10 championship that was to happen later
in the year, and Rod swore that if the BCF bureaucrats (who are these people, anyway?) didn't get out
of the way, then Luke would become Australian for chess purposes (daddy Rod was Australian). The rest
is history, as Luke had a great trip and went on to the world u-10 to win it. The Pert twins were on that
Hungary trip, too, and I remember that daddy Pert, a great character, had a taste for Johnny Walker Black
Label (in moderation, I hasten to add.)

Excuse me for rambling on like this, but I'm getting all nostalgic and mushy again....

[George Szaszvari]

Reminds me of a crap game I won from my, "I'm packing in 1. e4, but don't know what else I can play" phase:
1. Na3! Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 e5 5. d3 d5 6. O-O Be7 7. c3 O-O 8. e4 dxe4 9. dxe4 Nxe4 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Bxe4 Bh3? 12. Qh5 f5 13. Qxh3 fxe4 14. Qe6+ Nf7 15. Be3 b6 16. Rad1 Qe8 17. Qxe4 Bf6 18. Qxe8 Rfxe8 19. Kg2 Rad8 20. Rfe1 Ne5 21. Bf4 Bg6 22. Rxe8+ Rxe8 23. Be3 Ne5 24. h3 Kf7 25. f4 Nc6 26. Kf3 Rd8 27. Rxd8 Nxd8 28. Ke4 Ke6 29. f5+ Kd7 30. g4 Nf7 31. Nb1 Kc6 32. b3 Nd6+ 33. Kd3 h6 34. c4 Nf7 35. Nd2 a6 36. Ne4 Ne5+ 37. Ke2 Nd7 38. Nxf6 (sealed, but Black resigned before resumption) 1-0

I'm glad I packed in 1. e4 and eventually took up 1. d4, my results have somewhat improved, but I did enjoy the year and a half in which I drifted about with a variety of dross openings, 1. Na3, 1. g4, 1. b3, 1. g3. Of those, 1. g4 is rank bilge but works against timid club players who start quaking, not sure why. 1. b3 is almost mainstream, enjoyable for a short while, but all the mock Nimzowitchery got a bit stereotypical in the end. 1. g3 is good, but I reckon you really need a very broad experience of chess to play it well, as there are many transpositions to 1. d4, 1. e4, 1. c4 and 1. Nf3 lines and many transpositions to reverse openings, too. 1. Na3? Well it's crap, basically, but it is actually a lot better than it looks...

The above game doesn't demonstrate that 1.Na3 is crap. Black transposed into a reversed King's Indian set up,
more or less justifying Na3, and just went astray. Kinda reminds me of how badly I could play, too! But why show
us crap when you you could be showing us something excellent, aha, or at least better fought and more interesting?
Kudos to all of you who retain your game scores since I now regret not having saved my own. All I can do is vaguely
recall some cameo moments from happier experiences. One game score that did somehow survive between some book
pages, Nick Andrianov (a former Soviet IM who now lives here) looked at it with me several years ago, saying he liked
the fluid attack and cool defense, a good game worth publication. So here goes:

(white) Szaszvari, G (black) Giddins, SW, Upminster Open, 1988/5/29: English Opening: 1.c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6
3.g3 Bb7 4.Bg2 c5 5.0-0 e6 6.b3 Be7 7.Bb2 0-0 8.e3 d5 9.Qe2 Nc6 10.Rfd1 dxc4 11.bxc4 Qc7 12.d3 a6 13.Nc3
Rfd8 14.Ne1 Rab8 15.f4 Na7 16.Nf3 b5 17.a4 bxc4 18.dxc4 Ne4 19.Nxe4 Bxe4 20.Be5 Bd6 21.Rxd6 Rxd6 22.Ng5
Bxg2 23.Qh5 h6 24.Bxd6 Qxd6 25.Qxf7+ Kh8 26.Nxe6 Rb7 27.Qe8+ Kh7 28.Kxg2 Re7 29.Nf8+ Kg8 30.Qa8 Qd2+
31.Kh3 Kf7 32.Rb1 Qd3 33.Rb8 Qf5+ 34.Kg2 ½-½

[George Szaszvari]

I wonder what became of 'bloody' Len Hardy. Another unique figure:)

Wasn't Len Hardy that stout fellow who did some kind of construction job and belched a lot?

[Michael Yeo]

[quote="George Szaszvari"]

Yes, the affable Norman Oliver, famous for enjoying a few pints, was part of a most interesting group
of friendly and garrulous Lewisham chessplayers that included Tony Swift and Len Pickett. These three
often collaborated on openings research, much of it pretty good considering they were amateur club
players, which Tony Gillam published in Nottingham. Their famous work on the DERLD (delayed exchange
ruy lopez deferred) was special... e.g., I was at a London weekend swiss tournament in which IGM
Pachman was totally crushed on the black side by someone simply following analysis published in the
DERLD book, and recall a quote that the GM, a famous openings theoretician himself, vowed never to
play 1...e5 in reply to 1.e4 again... at least against an English player!


Not quite! CHESS January 1973 Page 120 gives the DERLD game as Eley -Pachman, but the quote regarding never answering 1. P-K4 with 1....P-K4 against an Englishman again is appended to the game Yeo -Pachman which alleges that my 21 move draw had followed 19 moves of a Cambridge inter-college match when it was actually only 14 moves of a British U21 game against Maurice Staples - the rest I had to work out over the board. Eley didn't follow the best line from the DERLD book either which was very good!

[George Szaszvari]

Yes, the affable Norman Oliver, famous for enjoying a few pints, was part of a most interesting group
of friendly and garrulous Lewisham chessplayers that included Tony Swift and Len Pickett. These three
often collaborated on openings research, much of it pretty good considering they were amateur club
players, which Tony Gillam published in Nottingham. Their famous work on the DERLD (delayed exchange
ruy lopez deferred) was special... e.g., I was at a London weekend swiss tournament in which IGM
Pachman was totally crushed on the black side by someone simply following analysis published in the
DERLD book, and recall a quote that the GM, a famous openings theoretician himself, vowed never to
play 1...e5 in reply to 1.e4 again... at least against an English player!

Not quite! CHESS January 1973 Page 120 gives the DERLD game as Eley -Pachman, but the quote regarding never answering 1. P-K4 with 1....P-K4 against an Englishman again is appended to the game Yeo -Pachman which alleges that my 21 move draw had followed 19 moves of a Cambridge inter-college match when it was actually only 14 moves of a British U21 game against Maurice Staples - the rest I had to work out over the board. Eley didn't follow the best line from the DERLD book either which was very good!

Thanks for the clarification. Even if the quote was appended to M. Yeo-Pachman was not Pachman referring to his
combined experiences against English players on the black side of 1.e4 e5? Did you mean the DERLD book line was very
good, or Eley's deviation? Were the two games played in the same tournament?

[Michael Yeo]

Yes, the affable Norman Oliver, famous for enjoying a few pints, was part of a most interesting group
of friendly and garrulous Lewisham chessplayers that included Tony Swift and Len Pickett. These three
often collaborated on openings research, much of it pretty good considering they were amateur club
players, which Tony Gillam published in Nottingham. Their famous work on the DERLD (delayed exchange
ruy lopez deferred) was special... e.g., I was at a London weekend swiss tournament in which IGM
Pachman was totally crushed on the black side by someone simply following analysis published in the
DERLD book, and recall a quote that the GM, a famous openings theoretician himself, vowed never to
play 1...e5 in reply to 1.e4 again... at least against an English player!

Not quite! CHESS January 1973 Page 120 gives the DERLD game as Eley -Pachman, but the quote regarding never answering 1. P-K4 with 1....P-K4 against an Englishman again is appended to the game Yeo -Pachman which alleges that my 21 move draw had followed 19 moves of a Cambridge inter-college match when it was actually only 14 moves of a British U21 game against Maurice Staples - the rest I had to work out over the board. Eley didn't follow the best line from the DERLD book either which was very good!

Thanks for the clarification. Even if the quote was appended to M. Yeo-Pachman was not Pachman referring to his
combined experiences against English players on the black side of 1.e4 e5? Did you mean the DERLD book line was very
good, or Eley's deviation? Were the two games played in the same tournament?

Sorry - I meant that the book was very good.

Eley,Brian (2296) - Pachman,Ludek (2512)
Islington op Islington (2), 16.12.1972

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.Nc3 Nd7 8.d4 exd4 9.Nxd4 0-0 10.Qe2 Nc5 11.Rd1 Qe8 12.Bf4 Bf6 13.e5 Bd8 14.Bg3 b5 15.Ne4 Nxe4 16.Qxe4 Bd7 17.f4 Rb8 18.f5 g6 19.Qf4 c5 20.f6 Rb6 21.Nf3 Rxf6 22.exf6 Bf5 23.Bh4 Qe6 24.Rxd8 1-0

The book recommended 9. Qxd4 with advantage (as played by Tal).
My game was Round 3. Not sure why Pachman was given 2 Blacks in a row as well as the 1 point upfloat!

[George Szaszvari]

Sorry - I meant that the book was very good.
Eley,Brian (2296) - Pachman,Ludek (2512)
Islington op Islington (2), 16.12.1972
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.Nc3 Nd7 8.d4 exd4 9.Nxd4 0-0 10.Qe2 Nc5 11.Rd1 Qe8 12.Bf4 Bf6 13.e5 Bd8 14.Bg3 b5 15.Ne4 Nxe4 16.Qxe4 Bd7 17.f4 Rb8 18.f5 g6 19.Qf4 c5 20.f6 Rb6 21.Nf3 Rxf6 22.exf6 Bf5 23.Bh4 Qe6 24.Rxd8 1-0
The book recommended 9. Qxd4 with advantage (as played by Tal).
My game was Round 3. Not sure why Pachman was given 2 Blacks in a row as well as the 1 point upfloat!

You forgot to give your own game vs Pachman

[Michael Yeo]

If you insist.....

Yeo,Michael J (2120) - Pachman,Ludek (2512)
Islington op Islington (3), 16.12.1972
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 Bb4 5.Nxe5 Qe7 6.Qd3 Nxe5 7.dxe5 Qxe5 8.Bd2 0-0 9.0-0-0 d6 10.f3 Bd7 11.g4 Bc6 12.Nd5 Bxd2+ 13.Qxd2 Bxd5 14.exd5 Rfe8 [14...c6 15.Bc4 cxd5 16.Rhe1 Ne4 17.Qxd5 Qf4+ 18.Kb1 Nf6 19.Qd4 Qxf3 20.g5 Ne8 21.Re7 Rc8 22.Rf1 Qh5 23.Rexf7 Rxf7 24.Bxf7+ Qxf7 25.Rxf7 Kxf7 26.Qd5+ Ke7 27.Qxb7+ Rc7 28.Qe4+ 1-0 Yeo,M-Staples,M/Brighton 1972] 15.Bb5 c6 16.Rhe1 Qxd5 17.Rxe8+ Nxe8 18.Qxd5 cxd5 19.Bxe8 Rxe8 20.Rxd5 Re6 21.Kd2 1/2-1/2

[Malcolm Clarke]

With regard to the mention of Michael Crewdson in an earlier post, I can easily see how his role with the junior section could have been exaggerated. I do remember him writing an article about Cathy Haslinger's success in an international tournament in a Centymca publication, and I believe he may have written other articles on junior successes. If someone is publicising the success of junior chess players to the non-chess playing fraternity, the people who he is relaying the message to, may have come to the conclusion that he had more direct responsiblity for this success than he actually did.

Sandwiched between Daryl Taylor captaining our London League winning team in 1979/80. and being very unlucky not to repeat this success in 1984/85, Michael captained our Eastman Cup winning team of 1982/83.

In response to another query there was a Les Osborne who had some role in the YMCA administration, who was recruited to play in one 6th team match at short notice, and surprised Mike Wills by winning. If he had further involvement with our chess club, there is nothing else that sticks in my mind.

[Daryl Taylor]

Thank you Malcolm! Les Osborne was our other YMCA governor. I always got the impression that he was intellectually highly capable, but prone to serious bouts of depression.

Again Andrew may remember the details of the Egg Head Quiz contest held at Dartford YMCA sometime during the early 80s. The quizmaster was a prime candidate for Monty Python's Upper Class Twit of the Year, and one of the questions concerned the Turkish army officer who became the country's first President. Les was first to the buzzer with the answer Kemal Atatürk, whereas the answer on the quizmaster's card was Mustafa Kemal. Les was absolutely furious that his answer was not accepted:

That is not the answer on the card.

But IT'S THE SAME PERSON!

That is not the answer on the card.

[Malcolm Clarke]

As someone who has organised about 20 quizzes, one has to be aware that you can get conflicting information on different parts of the internet, and need to be aware that some things can change over time eg partners of film stars, but quizzes can move on to a new dimension, if participants may be forced to guess if it says Cassius Clay or Muhammad Ali on the answer card.

The fact that the quiz was held at Dartford YMCA indicates that it could have been an inter-YMCA event, although I may be wrong on this. I certainly remember the Inter-YMCA chess events, in which London Central YMCA played against the Polish, German, Waltham Forest, Wimbledon and Hornsey YMCA's. The Polish YMCA played in the London League for several years, and I believe that one of their players used to lodge with Mike Wills.