Champions' Names

Historical knowledge and information regarding our great game.
User avatar
John Saunders
Posts: 1717
Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2007 3:10 pm
Location: Kingston-upon-Thames
Contact:

Re: Champions' Names

Post by John Saunders » Thu Feb 28, 2019 9:50 am

John Saunders wrote:
Wed Sep 15, 2010 11:17 pm
News in from Brian Denman...
Brian Denman wrote:As regards the U-18 champion for 1965, information in the Crewe Chronicle for August 1965 shows that the initial of 'M' in M N Walsh stands for Michael.
I take that to be conclusive. Many thanks to Brian.
Apologies for bumping this very old thread yet again but there are a few things to comment on regarding names of British Champions. For those who don't remember what it's about, some of us here collaborated to discover at least one forename for all the champions listed on the ECF site and my own BritBase site.

As might be expected, some of the champions name-dropped in our earlier discussions have come across this thread via Google and taken an interest, which is why I have quoted the above post from in which Brian Denman told us that the 1965 Under-18 champion was Michael N Walsh. I've just received an email from Mike Walsh who has lived and worked abroad for many years, played a bit of local league chess in various European countries and is now domiciled in Finland. Mike is very active on Twitter under the name @Mike_Walsh_FIN if you want to know more about him or contact him. I haven't noticed any chess-related tweets as yet.

I spotted one omission from the list of champions the other day. In 1979 Susan Walker won the Girls' Under-14 Championship. This had previously been listed as 'uncontested' in recent issues of the yearbook but the 1979-80 BCF Yearbook clearly states that she won the U14 title that year. For some reason this item disappeared from the yearbook from about 1999. I have added it to BritBase but it also needs to go up on the ECF page. I'll use their online form to get it added.

I have provided full details of the 1979 British Championship results on BritBase here, using the official 1979-80 Yearbook as the source, and also the report in the Guardian. A lot of current forum members' names appear in the results list found therein and I daresay this may spark some memories here...?
Personal Twitter @johnchess
Britbase https://www.britbase.info
(I prefer email to PM - contact me via this link - https://www.saund.org.uk/email.html)

Tim Harding
Posts: 2318
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 8:46 pm
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Contact:

Re: Champions' Names

Post by Tim Harding » Thu Mar 07, 2019 3:28 pm

1964 U14 TJ Gluckman

Timothy J. Gluckman; I played him in postal in 1984.

1978 U21 D Shuttleworth, J Hall
The late Tom Clarke (Thomas M. Clarke) from Belfast was also involved in the tie in Ayr; he beat Julian Hodgson in a key game. Unfortunately he lost out in the play-off some weeks later in England, but did two of them really share the title? John was certainly Hall's first name.
Tim Harding
Historian and FIDE Arbiter

Author of 'Steinitz in London,' British Chess Literature to 1914', 'Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography', and 'Eminent Victorian Chess Players'
http://www.chessmail.com

User avatar
John Saunders
Posts: 1717
Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2007 3:10 pm
Location: Kingston-upon-Thames
Contact:

Re: Champions' Names

Post by John Saunders » Thu Mar 07, 2019 6:43 pm

Tim Harding wrote:
Thu Mar 07, 2019 3:28 pm
1964 U14 TJ Gluckman

Timothy J. Gluckman; I played him in postal in 1984.

1978 U21 D Shuttleworth, J Hall
The late Tom Clarke (Thomas M. Clarke) from Belfast was also involved in the tie in Ayr; he beat Julian Hodgson in a key game. Unfortunately he lost out in the play-off some weeks later in England, but did two of them really share the title? John was certainly Hall's first name.
Tim - I am slightly puzzled as to why you are commenting on this now as the players mentioned have long since had their forenames correctly entered on my list of champions at BritBase.

The BritBase lists also identifies four U21 winners at Ayr in 1978, including Tom Clarke and Andrew Muir. I'm not aware of there being a play-off for that title. However, what I *did* find was a mention in the 1978-79 BCF Yearbook, p55, chief controller's report (JH Baines)...
J.H. Baines, 1978 British Championship chief controller wrote:The under-21 Championship resulted in a four-way tie between T. M. Clarke, J. Hall, A.J. Muir and D.Shuttleworth. They now face a play-off for a place in next year's British Championship.
Relevant words in italics. The play-off was to decide the one player to qualify for the top section in 1979, not the 1978 championship.

The ECF appears to have taken down their list of junior champions, minus forenames, probably as a result of a suggestion I made the other day that the two separate lists they featured on their site needed to be brought together and to show forenames as established some years ago. They are probably now overhauling their records. Perhaps, Tim, your comments about names were referring to their page?
Personal Twitter @johnchess
Britbase https://www.britbase.info
(I prefer email to PM - contact me via this link - https://www.saund.org.uk/email.html)

Tim Harding
Posts: 2318
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 8:46 pm
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Contact:

Re: Champions' Names

Post by Tim Harding » Fri Mar 08, 2019 9:50 am

John, I was only reading the postings; didn't look at their dates or Britbase.

I knew Tom Clarke well, and in fact I was in Ayr too. When he had to play Hodgson with Black, I knew Julian favoured 3 e5 against the French.
So I briefed him on a little-known sub-variation (actually George Botterill's idea) and it worked for him.

He told me later he had gone over (to Leeds perhaps) later in the year for the play-off without success, but I have no more details.

Tom unfortunately died a few years ago.
Tim Harding
Historian and FIDE Arbiter

Author of 'Steinitz in London,' British Chess Literature to 1914', 'Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography', and 'Eminent Victorian Chess Players'
http://www.chessmail.com

James Pratt
Posts: 524
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 11:10 pm

Re: Champions' Names

Post by James Pratt » Wed Mar 13, 2019 10:15 pm

Gillian Moore tied 1st= with Peggy Clarke in the British Ladies in 1966. I saw the latest ECF Yearbook says Dinah on p.33, but it was Gill!

1966 U14 Robert Cecil Bellin (you'll read RS Bellin but not according to Gaige)
1988 U15 Oliver R Worsfold
2000 U21 Nicholas G Pert
2002 U13 Peter T Roberson

Elsewhere Claire Watkins (WLS) had a first name which she didn't use and I've forgotten. Claire Summerscale (nee Lusher) is now remarried. There was seldom a play-off for some junior titles in days gone by, I think Watson and Hodgson tying was uncontested. Ian Welch tied 1st= with Levitt but lost out on tie-break one year, not even a mention ... and that's true.

User avatar
Michael Farthing
Posts: 2069
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2014 1:28 pm
Location: Morecambe, Europe

Re: Champions' Names

Post by Michael Farthing » Thu Mar 14, 2019 2:45 pm

James Pratt wrote:
Wed Mar 13, 2019 10:15 pm

1966 U14 Robert Cecil Bellin (you'll read RS Bellin but not according to Gaige)
Title shared with Robert Woodford. I feel bound to point this out having contributed to Woodford's success by allowing him to beat me in Round 1.
Incidentally, the bulletin recorded Bellin as just R Bellin without any second initial.

User avatar
John Saunders
Posts: 1717
Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2007 3:10 pm
Location: Kingston-upon-Thames
Contact:

Re: Champions' Names

Post by John Saunders » Thu Mar 14, 2019 3:29 pm

James is right about Robert Bellin's middle name. Quite a number of well-known chess players have middle names or initials which never seem to get used in the reporting of chess results or in entries on grading/rating lists, etc. Jeremy Gaige's Chess Personalia shows the above player name as Bellin, Robert [Cecil], with the square brackets I think being used to signify that the player is usually referred to without the middle name/initial but that it is his formal full name. Another example: statutory records show that twins Nick and Richard Pert share the middle name 'Giscard' but I'm not sure I've seen this referred to in any chess context, even as an initial.

Our forum collaboration a few years back was intended to find a minimum of one forename for each British champion but in some cases has gone on to find two or more. The way I have presented names in the list of champions at BritBase is not entirely consistent but is the best I can do without spending inordinate amounts of time on it and has by and large achieved the aim of helping to get games attributed correctly on databases and avoid the sort of mix-ups experienced with names such as J.Hodgson, D.Wise and others. Of course, it's still not much help when it comes to combinations of very common forenames and surnames, where a middle initial/name becomes essential. And I won't claim that I have been particularly successful in keeping up with the Joneses, or indeed Smiths, Browns, Taylors. I'm still quite keen to sort some of the latter cases out in the interests of database accuracy, but less bothered about the middle names of (e.g.) Bellins and Perts since their relatively unusual surnames are sufficient to sort them out.
Personal Twitter @johnchess
Britbase https://www.britbase.info
(I prefer email to PM - contact me via this link - https://www.saund.org.uk/email.html)

Richard Bates
Posts: 3338
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2008 8:27 pm

Re: Champions' Names

Post by Richard Bates » Thu Mar 14, 2019 6:43 pm

John Saunders wrote:
Thu Mar 14, 2019 3:29 pm

Our forum collaboration a few years back was intended to find a minimum of one forename for each British champion but in some cases has gone on to find two or more. The way I have presented names in the list of champions at BritBase is not entirely consistent but is the best I can do without spending inordinate amounts of time on it and has by and large achieved the aim of helping to get games attributed correctly on databases and avoid the sort of mix-ups experienced with names such as J.Hodgson, D.Wise and others.
I’m very proud of my single appearance for England in the Faber Cup (on Chessbase) probably aided by my sister and I sharing the same initials! Results weren’t great, mind ;)

User avatar
John Saunders
Posts: 1717
Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2007 3:10 pm
Location: Kingston-upon-Thames
Contact:

Re: Champions' Names

Post by John Saunders » Thu Jun 13, 2019 10:15 am

An update: I was pleased to be able to put the last piece in the jigsaw of British men's and women's champions' names yesterday when I discovered a forename for 'Miss Fatima' who won the 1933 British Women's Championship with a then record score of 10½/11*. I found her name on a ship's passenger list for 29 December 1933 as she and the rest of Sir Umar Hayat Khan's retinue (including Sultan Khan) travelled to Bombay after their four-year stay in London. It gave her name as 'Ghulam Fatims' aged 20. I know from experience that these passenger lists often feature typos and I have made what I hope other chess historians will agree is a reasonable assumption that her correct name was 'Ghulam Fatima'. Her age is still not entirely clear: syndicated newspaper reports after her August 1933 championship success indicated that she had been aged 21 years and 1 month at that time (pointing to a date of birth around July 1912). Wikipedia, previous to my latest edit, had circa 1914; while the age of 20 given on the December 1933 ship's passenger list suggests 1913. (Date of death completely unknown, except we know it must have been subsequent to 1990 as she was interviewed for a TV documentary at that time.)

* broken by Eileen Tranmer in 1949 with a perfect 11/11.
Personal Twitter @johnchess
Britbase https://www.britbase.info
(I prefer email to PM - contact me via this link - https://www.saund.org.uk/email.html)

User avatar
John Upham
Posts: 7179
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2007 10:29 am
Location: Cove, Hampshire, England.
Contact:

Re: Champions' Names

Post by John Upham » Thu Jun 13, 2019 11:26 am

John,

David W Anderton is David William Anderton
Sarah Hegarty is Sarah Natasha Hegarty
Matthew Wadsworth is Matthew J Wadsworth
Raymond D Keene is Raymond Dennis Keene
Chris W Baker is Christopher Wallace Baker
Mark l Hebden is Mark Lesland Hebden
Simon JB Knott is Simon John Bradley Knott
Chris G Ward is Christopher Geoffrey Ward
Jonathan Parker is Jonathan Francis Parker
Lorin D'Costa is Lorin Alexander R D'Costa
Stephen J Gordon is Stephen John Gordon
James Adair is James R Adair
James Jackson is James P Jackson
Daniel Fernandez is Daniel Howard Fernandez
Neil Carr is Neil Leslie Carr
Luke McShane is Luke James McShane
Richard Pert "is" Richard Giscard Pert but the Giscard was removed by Deed Poll according to Nick.

Hope these help ! :D
Last edited by John Upham on Thu Jun 13, 2019 2:15 pm, edited 2 times in total.
British Chess News : britishchessnews.com
Twitter: @BritishChess
Facebook: facebook.com/groups/britishchess :D

Richard James
Posts: 1175
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 7:34 pm
Location: Twickenham
Contact:

Re: Champions' Names

Post by Richard James » Thu Jun 13, 2019 11:58 am

John Upham wrote:
Thu Jun 13, 2019 11:26 am

Richard Pert "is" Richard Grivas Pert but the Grivas was removed be Deed Poll according to Nick.
Giscard, not Grivas. likewise Nicholas Giscard Pert.

User avatar
John Upham
Posts: 7179
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2007 10:29 am
Location: Cove, Hampshire, England.
Contact:

Re: Champions' Names

Post by John Upham » Thu Jun 13, 2019 2:07 pm

Richard James wrote:
Thu Jun 13, 2019 11:58 am
John Upham wrote:
Thu Jun 13, 2019 11:26 am

Richard Pert "is" Richard Grivas Pert but the Grivas was removed be Deed Poll according to Nick.
Giscard, not Grivas. likewise Nicholas Giscard Pert.
Thanks Richard : more speed less haste.
British Chess News : britishchessnews.com
Twitter: @BritishChess
Facebook: facebook.com/groups/britishchess :D

Kevin Thurlow
Posts: 5821
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:28 pm

Re: Champions' Names

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Fri Jun 14, 2019 9:36 am

"Richard Pert "is" Richard Giscard Pert but the Giscard was removed by Deed Poll according to Nick."

You don't need to use Deed Poll for forenames, so was the Giscard part of the surname?

Martyn Griffiths
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jan 24, 2015 5:35 pm

Re: Champions' Names

Post by Martyn Griffiths » Mon Aug 24, 2020 11:53 am

Dr W. Mansergh Varley was Principal at Swansea Technical College from 1910 to 1919 and was one of the club's leading players.

User avatar
John Saunders
Posts: 1717
Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2007 3:10 pm
Location: Kingston-upon-Thames
Contact:

Re: Champions' Names

Post by John Saunders » Mon Apr 17, 2023 1:04 pm

I thought I would revisit this old thread to raise a question which occurred to me when re-reading what appears on the 1947 British Championship page at BritBase.

The 1947 British Girls Championship mentioned that it had been divided into Under-18 and Under-15 sections. The name of the under-18 winner, Audrey Pocknell, appears on the British Championship list of champions which was traditionally published in the yearbook and at the BritBase page linked to above. However, the names of the joint winners of the under-15 section, Jean Craker and Lesley Elliott, have never found their way into the yearbook, and are consequently missing from the BritBase list and the one which the ECF itself maintains at their resources site. I wonder - should their names be added to the list of champions? The report also mentions that Sylvia Fisher won the same under-15 championship in 1946, so the same question applies to her.

Perhaps I should raise this with someone at the ECF. As far as I can see, a list of British junior champions first appeared in the yearbook in the early 1960s (it appears in the 1963/64 yearbook but I couldn't find it in the 1962/63 edition). With that lapse of time it is possible that some of these earlier championships (which were not then held alongside the championship proper but at Easter in separate venues) were overlooked by whoever was responsible for compiling the list. (Not a criticism: in pre-internet days collating all the necessary data would have been quite a difficult task.)
Personal Twitter @johnchess
Britbase https://www.britbase.info
(I prefer email to PM - contact me via this link - https://www.saund.org.uk/email.html)

Post Reply