Ronald (Ronnie) Wilson Ives, Yorkshire Chess

[Ingrid Ives]

I can't immediately identify any others but may be able to in due course. (I've a notion the very tall gentleman, 4th from the left, back row, pinstripe, might be Harry Matchett, but I'm not quite sure.

John, you mentioned Harry Matchett.

I don't know of any of these people so I'm just going on 'detective' work, but if I put 'Harry Matchett Chess' into Google, I get the result below.

It's the same gentleman who features in the Ilford photos I posted earlier and reproduced below. The chap with the pipe.

The photos are marked by my mother: 'Ilford 1952' (the one with the table marked 'Open C' where my mother is in the background) and 'Ilford 1951' where he's in the background and my mother is playing in the foreground. It's possible that it could have been the same year and she confused it on one of the photos.

[Ingrid Ives]

I think it's likely that 10 of the players are those playing in the report of the final match. Five of them are listed on Steve Mann's history site which has the players ages. So I suspect the player in the bottom right is George Moses.

Derek Paffley 1925-1958
George W Moses 1888-1971
JG Brogden
Edward Gooder 1904-1996
E Williams
Alex Schofield 1901-1976
WS Stead
Ronald W Ives 1923-1964
Terry Proctor
E Buckalder

JG Brogden is probably this chap, I have been unable to locate any photos of him, but someone may remember him. Apparently he was shown on a video here but the link is no longer working.

I agree about Mr Dodd which would make him the 11th player. I remember playing Otto Hardy once in the 90's and I don't think he is on the photo, he started playing for Wakefield a few years later.

It's so sad that Derek was only 33 when he died. I now remember my mother telling me that one of Ronnie's close friends had died young, in unexplained circumstances. Now I know that it's Derek and in the Buxton photos, you can see that they were good friends. It must have been so hard for his family and for all of his friends when he died. What a tragic loss of such a talented young man.

[Ingrid Ives]

It's not Bob Wade, is it?

John, I found this online crediting you, also relating to the Ilford 1952 Congress, which tallies with what Mum wrote on the back of the photo -> https://britishchessnews.com/2020/11/29 ... 9-xi-2008/

[Kevin Thurlow]

I think the credit should go to "British Chess Magazine" - people often re-publish information later, and do not always remember to credit the source.

[Ingrid Ives]

I didn’t really mean ‘credit’. It says ‘thanks’, so my mistake. I know what you mean though. There was nothing about my parents’ chess activities online until my mother died three years ago. My cousin wrote an obituary, for which she asked me for information. The obituary was picked up by some local newspapers, following which, other information started to appear online.

[Ingrid Ives]

To add another strand to my discoveries via this forum, I've just spotted my mother in this article about Bob Wade -> https://britishchessnews.com/2020/11/29 ... 9-xi-2008/
Please see attached screenshot. She's at the back.

[Ingrid Ives]

More on Ilford 1952

[Peter Shaw]

It's so sad that Derek was only 33 when he died. I now remember Mum telling me that one of Ronnie's close friends had died young, in unexplained circumstances. Now I know that it's Derek and in the Buxton photos, you can see that they were good friends. It must have been so hard for his family and for all of his friends when he died. What a tragic loss of such a talented young man.

A very sad story. Here are a couple more scans from the minute book from this time. The Derek Paffley memorial trophy (Silver Knight) mentioned in the report is still presented annually, usually to the 'Most Improved' player.

[Ingrid Ives]

It's so sad that Derek was only 33 when he died. I now remember Mum telling me that one of Ronnie's close friends had died young, in unexplained circumstances. Now I know that it's Derek and in the Buxton photos, you can see that they were good friends. It must have been so hard for his family and for all of his friends when he died. What a tragic loss of such a talented young man.

A very sad story. Here are a couple more scans from the minute book from this time. The Derek Paffley memorial trophy (Silver Knight) mentioned in the report is still presented annually, usually to the 'Most Improved' player.

Thanks, Peter. It's a heartbreaking story but it's nice that his memory lives on via the trophy.

[Ingrid Ives]

I can't find anything further on the Bob Wade Leeds simul mentioned in this article -> https://britishchessnews.com/2020/11/29 ... 9-xi-2008/

My mother is sitting at the far end of the table and most of the players look like juniors. Perhaps she organised it? She told me that her and my father frequently hosted chess dignitaries from both home and overseas. Bob Wade was at Paignton 1953 and Ilford 1952 (where I know my parents were) so it might be reasonable to assume that they knew Bob.

Perhaps someone else might know more. I think we have a hard copy of that chess magazine somewhere and I might come across more written material in the weeks to come.

[Kevin Thurlow]

That Ilford report brought back memories. David Hooper was a very distinguished member of Redhill (Surrey) before moving to Somerset. I played AJ Morrell in the Surrey League in 1978, when he was graded under 150 and I thought he was better than that - from memory, I only won as he lost on time. I played PB Cook (and others) as well, and is that Doug Bellis of Mitcham? JB Hawson played in Surrey as well.

I was starting to feel old (with good reason), but then the Derek story makes you think how lucky you are. It puts things into perspective.

[Ingrid Ives]

A very sad story. Here are a couple more scans from the minute book from this time. The Derek Paffley memorial trophy (Silver Knight) mentioned in the report is still presented annually, usually to the 'Most Improved' player.

Peter, I found another Derek photo to go with the other Buxton ones. Is anyone you know of still in touch with his family? They're lovely, informal photos of young people having fun and Derek's family might like to have them.

[Richard James]

I've found contact details for Clare Paffley Beckwith, the daughter of Derek's much younger cousin David.

David's parents were Christopher P(f)affley and Nellie Pollard. Nellie's mother was Sarah Ives.

So were Derek and Ronnie related?

I'll have a look later if you're interested.

[Ingrid Ives]

Thank you, Richard!

I don't know if they were related but it's possible. There's a Sarah Ives born in 1856 I know I'm related to but it's a distant connection and even if they were related, they may not have known it. I actually only found out via this forum who my parents' friends were in these photos. I always suspected they were chess friends and it's confirmed now.

[Ingrid Ives]

Hello again,
I’ve retrieved more of my father’s chess archives from family members and will continue to post them here. There are so many of his ‘Chess Club’ cuttings from the YEP that I’ve decided to pick out the ones which as a layperson, I think might be of the most interest to forum members. I’ll be happy to supply any of the missing ones on request. I’m especially looking out for anything that might be of use for Britbase.