English Chess Forum

Well if you ever get hold of it let me know, though do bear in mind it's a little before my time.

My main point is simply to bear in mind that sources are often partial and that any decent historian understands that the subject as well as the author of a document will have had a point of view.

JustinHorton wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 08, 2021 10:23 pm

Well if you ever get hold of it let me know, though do bear in mind it's a little before my time.

I am still hopeful that someone on here will have a copy.

David Sedgwick wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 08, 2021 10:00 pm

Indeed it was. If I remember correctly. Wood states in "To Our Readers" that the Federation of Master Printers had advised him to "settle" the dispute by closing down his in house printing operation, ostensibly on age and health grounds, and to make the staff redundant.

I remember that as a recommendation, but I thought it came from a fellow businessman (was the "Federation of Master Printers" a management organisation ?)

Did Sutton Coldfield stay with traditional methods until BH sold up? That's as opposed to converting to desktop publishing using Apple Macs. BCM used external printers in the same era but switched to algebraic without apparent difficulty.

The magazine switched to a "new look" in the early 80s, not sure if that involved a new process but it may have done.

Matt Mackenzie wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 05, 2021 6:03 pm

John Upham wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 05, 2021 11:50 am

CHESS & Bridge are offering for download the first ever issue of CHESS
untitled_11.jpg

You have to pay for it though......

... and it's worth every penny (I bought mine and I'm now waiting for Volume 1 Number 2 to appear).

Hi everyone. Sorry I came to this thread a little late. Excellent article by John, a superb read. Dave, I will send you a copy of the BH Wood document, which he wrote at a difficult time for himself both personally and professionally. BH highlights both the death of his wife and of the family's best friend and describes the challenges caused to his business by "G" who was elected as the shop steward in 1976. From refusals to work when a bulb was out (despite there being other bulbs and windows), through a myriad of other issues, it does rather seem to illustrate many of the printing dispute challenges of the 1970s.

What did G have to say on the matter

Mike Gunn wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 09, 2021 10:09 am

Matt Mackenzie wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 05, 2021 6:03 pm

John Upham wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 05, 2021 11:50 am

CHESS & Bridge are offering for download the first ever issue of CHESS
untitled_11.jpg

You have to pay for it though......

... and it's worth every penny (I bought mine and I'm now waiting for Volume 1 Number 2 to appear).

Our club has a full run of issues until mid-1960 (including the first three volumes in bound form)

Baruch Harald Wood looms large in British Chess History. Managed to keep his magazine in production throughout the Second World War, after being ordered into War Work, as an Industrial Chemist. Of course, he had the support of his wife, Peggy.
Full of praise for Alexander Alekhine, before the War, followed by bitterness towards him, for moving to Vichy France. All Alekhine ever wanted, was to play chess, but he made many enemies. He death, was, I suspect, murder. The official story, was that he died from food poisoning.
Baruch Wood created a sensation, by published an image of Alekhine at the point of death.
Have all of B.H. Woods magazines, fully bound.

Gordon Cadden wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 22, 2021 4:59 pm

Baruch Harald Wood looms large in British Chess History. Managed to keep his magazine in production throughout the Second World War, after being ordered into War Work, as an Industrial Chemist. Of course, he had the support of his wife, Peggy.
Full of praise for Alexander Alekhine, before the War, followed by bitterness towards him, for moving to Vichy France. All Alekhine ever wanted, was to play chess, but he made many enemies. He death, was, I suspect, murder. The official story, was that he died from food poisoning.
Baruch Wood created a sensation, by published an image of Alekhine at the point of death.
Have all of B.H. Woods magazines, fully bound.

Choked to death on a piece of meat, I always thought?

The various foul play allegations have in my experience, been heavy on speculation and weak in actual evidence.

My Club, Sutton Coldfield CC, is said to be co-founded by BH Wood. Unfortunately, the Club has no historical records from before the time that Wood sold his chess business in the 1980s. Apparently he founded or co-founded it in 1937 as Sutton Coldfield YMCA (which is where it first met) before it became Sutton Coldfield CC in 1939. I wrote a history page about him here: http://www.suttonchess.btck.co.uk/RollofHonour/BHWood

Does anyone know any more about the formation of the Club? Or any Club bulletins from before the 1980s?