London Central YMCA (aka CentYMCA) Chess Club

[Ian Thompson]

Anyone know what has happened to Nigel Povah, Jane Seymour, or Peter J Lee?

Nigel lives in Guildford, plays chess for Guildford and runs a company in Godalming - see here for a bit about him.

[Sarah de Lisle]

Hi George

I remember all three names - the only one I know anything about is Jane - I went to a party at her house about ten years ago and she was very happy and still beautiful. She has such a calm manner about her.

Loz - Rock and roll. I think it was my night to drive home.

[George Szaszvari]

Anyone know what has happened to Nigel Povah, Jane Seymour, or Peter J Lee?

Nigel lives in Guildford, plays chess for Guildford and runs a company in Godalming - see here for a bit about him.

Good ol' Nigel. He always was an industrious worker and it's good to see him doing well.
I bet he's still playing the Sveshnikov Sicilian with the black pieces!

[George Szaszvari]

Hi George
I remember all three names - the only one I know anything about is Jane - I went to a party at her house about ten years ago and she was very happy and still beautiful. She has such a calm manner about her.

Yes, that's pretty much how I remember her, very quietly spoken.

Loz - Rock and roll. I think it was my night to drive home.

Riiiight....cool, man. ;0)

[Malcolm Clarke]

With respect to Malena and Paul Griffiths I have not seen either of them for over 20 years, although I have read on the internet that Malena spoke at Bob Wade's funeral.

I would guess that it was the 1983/84 season they joined the London Central YMCA, and the following season Malena and myself both captained London Central YMCA teams in division 7 of the London League. That same season her, Lesley Rahamim and Hugh Billington organised the YMCA junior club meetings on Sunday afternoons.

I know that after the senior section of the London Central YMCA chess club moved out of the Great Russell Street building in 1987 she continued to be very actively involved in women's and junior chess, and of course Paul became a strong player, and I expect there will be people reading this forum who will have had recent contact with her.

With regard to Sarah De Lisle, I did know of a De Lisle who played chess for Bournemouth School in the 1970's, but do not know whether it is a relation.

[Sarah de Lisle]

Malcolm -

That's my HUSBAND!

How amazing you know of him. It is a complete coincidence he plays chess too as it is not how we met.

How do you know (of) him??

[Malcolm Clarke]

Sarah - I once played him in a match. I did not know his forename or his first initial, but the fact that someone took a photograph of play in progress, ensured that I remembered the surname.

When I saw your surname I did a bit of internet searching, and came to the conclusion that it was likely to be your husband I played, although you can never be sure in these matters. From my internet search I discovered that Richard runs a scholarship fund for Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Both my late father and late uncle attended Emmanuel College immediately after the war.

[Sarah de Lisle]

Hey Malcolm

What an amazing coincidence. What school did you play for? Who won the game??

Yes, Richard and I run a charitable scholarship fund for Emmanuel College. Richard is the stock market genius and I am the hand that mops the fevered brow. He went to Emmanuel in the 70s. Did your father and uncle enjoy it there and have you been? It is a beautiful place - and the College is number one in all the league tables.

[Malcolm Clarke]

I played against Richard in the Sunday Times. The game was a draw. I blundered a pawn in the opening as a result of pushing it to attack a knight, but left it isolated and unable to defend. I believe I may have lost another pawn, but then got some counter play which meant the game became more double edged.

Two of my cousins also went to Bournemouth school, one was there from 1974 to 1976, and the other from 1970 to 1977.

My father and uncle (my mother's brother) actually shared a room at Emmanuel, although they were very different people in outlook. I think my father enjoyed the sport as he played hockey and cricket, and played more bridge than at any other time in his life. I have visited other Cambridge colleges, but not Emmanuel.

[Sarah de Lisle]

Hi Malcolm

I will talk Richard through the game and see if he recalls it - he is trying to find his old chess scorebook to see if you are in there.

Were you a Bournemouth boy? Or were you at Winchester or King Edward's Southampton?

What were your cousins' names as Richard was at BS at that time....

[Sarah de Lisle]

Sorry, this is terribly boring for everyone else. Maybe we should pm each other??

[Malcolm Clarke]

Agreed that the best thing is to PM each other, as I am not sure how interesting this conversation is to other people.

[George Szaszvari]

Malena is an occasional player for Cavendish M in the London League. Paul used to play also but he is based down in Bristol Uni I believe.

Thanks James. Here are some more memories...a young crowd in London at the time, early 70s, most on their way
to, or at, various universities, consisting mainly of John Piggott, David Curnow, and others, all pretty active on the
tournament circuit... not specifically YMCA, although they visited... anyone here recall those days or know what has
happened to them?

[CliveHill]

I am always very late for the party, but I finally got onto Facebook.

Where do I find the Centymca albums please?

All the best

C

PS. Found them!

[Malcolm Clarke]

I do not know whether it is any help to George Szaszvari in relation to his recent enquiry about Paul Griffiths, but I did notice that there was a Paul Griffiths who posted 10 times on the forum last year, and as three of them related to the BUCA championships there must be a good possibility it is the same person.