English Chess Forum

F. G. Naumann (1904-1905)
Sir John Ormerod Scarlett Thursby (1905-1920)
Canon A. G. Gordon-Ross (1920-1938)
F. G. Hamilton Russell (1938-1942)
J. N. Derbyshire (1942-1950)

That takes us from 1904 to 1950.

Names and dates from here:

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/100-year ... ederation/

A 2003 document by John Poole and Stewart Reuben.

Other names since then:

David Jarrett
David Anderton
Steve Davis
C. J. de Mooi
Gerry Walsh
Dominic Lawson

Can anyone help fill in the missing gaps and years? (Probably in a BCF/ECF Yearbook somewhere.)

Ah, we have a list here:

http://storm.chesspod.com/Websites/bcf/ ... story.html

Presidents of the British Chess Federation

1904-05 F. G. Gnomon Esq.
1905-20 Sir John O. S. Thursby, Bt.
1921-38 Canon A. G. Gordon Ross, M.A.
1938-41 The Hon. G. G. Hamilton-Russell
1942-50 J. N. Derbyshire, J.P.
1950-53 Sir Robert Robinson
1953-56 G. S. A. Wheatcroft Esq.
1956-59 Sir Leonard S. Swinnerton Dyer, Bt.
1959-61 Sir Clarence Sadd, C.B.E., J.P.
1961-64 V. J. R. Soanes Esq.
1964-67 Sir Frederick A. Hoare, Bt.
1967-70 Dr. C. G. Addingley
1970-73 P. S. Milner-Barry Esq., C.B., O.B.E.
1973-76 J. Rushton Esq.
1976-78 C. E. Williams Esq.
1978-79 W. A. Cordon Esq.
1979-82 D. W. Anderton Esq., O.B.E.
1982-85 P. M. Shaw Esq.
1985-89 D. C. Jarrett Esq.
1989-93 J. Poole Esq.
1993-96 A. C. Martin Esq.
1996- S. Davis Esq.

Sad that a snippet like that from the BCF website is languishing there.
The ECF should make a proper effort to curate and conserve its history.

Roger Edwards & Andrew Paulson.

Thanks. Can you remember the transition years between Steve Davis to Gerry Walsh, then to CJ, then to Roger Edwards then to Andrew Paulson, and then to Dominic Lawson (I think that would be all of them, then, wouldn't it?).

Wonder when the ECF will have its first female President?

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: 1996- S. Davis Esq.

1996-2001 S Davis
2001-2005 GF Walsh
ECF
2005-2009 GF Walsh
2009-2012 CJ de Mooi (and office vacant)
2012-2013 RJ Edwards
2013-2014 A Paulson and office vacant
2014- D Lawson

edit to reflect the period of no President.

ECF President resigns
CJ
AP

DL was elected Oct 2014

Thanks. Wonder if anyone can fill in full names (John Ormerod Scarlett Thursby is done above).

I presume Clarence Sadd is this person?

http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/searc ... lbert-sadd

Brian Denman has written about him briefly here:

http://www.sussexjuniorchess.org/Histor ... sSadd.html

Robert Robinson already mentioned here several times:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ro ... chemist%29

The BCF presidency gets mentioned in his Nobel bio!

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/ ... n-bio.html

Full name for Swinnerton Dyer is Leonard Schroeder Swinnerton Dyer.
His son (Peter) plays bridge and also played chess:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Swinnerton-Dyer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoare_baronets

"The Hoare Baronetcy, of Fleet Street in the City of London, was created in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom on 6 December 1962 for Frederick Alfred Hoare. The title became extinct on his death in 1986."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Milner-Barry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Davis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CJ_de_Mooi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Paulson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Lawson

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: Sad that a snippet like that from the BCF website is languishing there.
The ECF should make a proper effort to curate and conserve its history.

There may be problems with the records in some respects, but this is not one of them.

All you have to do is pick up an ECF Yearbook and turn to Page 2.

David Sedgwick wrote:

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: Sad that a snippet like that from the BCF website is languishing there.
The ECF should make a proper effort to curate and conserve its history.

There may be problems with the records in some respects, but this is not one of them.

All you have to do is pick up an ECF Yearbook and turn to Page 2.

Fair point. I am very glad the ECF Yearbook is maintaining those records and is still being published.

But given that the names exist in a list somewhere in digital form, what is the reason they are not on the website?

Trying to make sure people keep buying the Yearbook by keeping some content exclusively in print and not also online?

Or just lack of organisation or (more charitably) other things taking priority?

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: Trying to make sure people keep buying the Yearbook by keeping some content exclusively in print and not also online?

There was a recent proposal that the Year Book be discontinued.

According to the SCCU report on the April 2015 meeting

(18) ECF Yearbook and Diary. The Board proposed to abolish both with effect from 2017 (so one more of each). The website would be reinforced (we think) by "establishing an electronic archive of historical information". We didn't really understand what this meant, and were similarly thrown by "archival standards".
"I want my Diary!", someone said, and the SCCU rep was strongly opposed to scrapping the Yearbook. The Diary lost out on a show of hands (15 - 7) and will go. Opinion was more evenly split on the Yearbook, and it was agreed to leave the decision till a later meeting. We'll try to have our questions prepared.

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:1973-76 J. Rushton Esq.

Jim Rushton

He was a member for a while at my club Bury in the 1990s (he won the Mark Berry trophy in 1999 according to our Hall of Fame), also Huddersfield I think and I recollect he previously was a member at Edinburgh

Mick Norris wrote: He was a member for a while at my club Bury in the 1990s, also Huddersfield I think and I recollect he previously was a member at Edinburgh

It has to be said that many BCF Presidents of that era (1970s/1980s) kept an extremely low profile as far as their visibility to active players was concerned. People like Ritson Morry were reasonably known because of his tendency to get involved in disputes and write long letters to the chess magazines about them.

Some more full names:

George Shorrock Ashcombe Wheatcroft
Victor James Richard Soanes
Charles Gordon Addingley

http://www.sjmann.supanet.com/People/Ad ... Gordon.htm

Strangely, that bio doesn't mention him being President of the BCF.

It seems that W. A. Cordon was Sandy Cordon of Bedfordshire (several mentions around the web):

http://victoriachessclub.pbworks.com/w/ ... Fundraiser

Wow. Would never have guessed the first names of J. N Derbyshire:

Job Nightingale Derbyshire

(BCM obituary in 1954)

To add to people's understanding.
1992-3 the BCF had a 'think' tank of which I was a member. We decided it would be in the best interests of English chess if we were to have a President of greater status in the national community. The Board agreed to this. We shopped around and eventually Sir Jermy Morse (very recently deceased) agreed to become President in 1993.
Later he withdrew due to pressure on his time. Alternatively he may not have wanted to get involved with the Kaparov-Short mess with FIDE. Alan Martin was the Chairman designate (effectively very similar to the Chief Executive of the ECF). He became the President and Chairman.
1996 I became Chairman. At that time we had arranged for Steve Davis to become President. He held that role until 2001. Mostly I also undertook the President's role as Steve was seldom available.
We shopped around for other candidates in 1993 before Sir Jeremy. Sir Richard Branson, Sir Tim Rice, John Brew. All turned us down.

Sandy Cordon served for such a brief period because he wasn't very keen, but helped considerable in the transition from the BCF being a committee organised structure to a Board with directors. I only joined the Board, as London League representative, in 1979 when David Anderton became President, a person with whom I knew I could work.