Ronald (Ronnie) Wilson Ives, Yorkshire Chess

[Ingrid Ives]

Thanks, Ian. This forum is proving very educational for me!

[Kevin Thurlow]

"This forum is proving very educational for me!"

In a positive way I hope! (Roger and Ian are very knowledgeable.)

A lot of us do love the historical info you're supplying, so thank you.

[Ingrid Ives]

"This forum is proving very educational for me!"

In a positive way I hope! (Roger and Ian are very knowledgeable.)

A lot of us do love the historical info you're supplying, so thank you.

Oh, in a very positive way, Kevin! My father lived and breathed chess from a young age and I think my mother decided when she met him that since he spent so much time on it, she might as well learn too. The rest is history! It's nice to put some context around these press cuttings and I appreciate the time you're all spending on helping me. My mother did try to educate me on chess but I had other interests. Since she died three years ago, I always intended to go through their chess records, so here I am. If you're enjoying the historical info, I'll keep posting it. I'll keep a look out for anything else that might be of particular interest for example for Britbase although some material is with other family members and might take some months for me to retrieve.

[Peter Shaw]

Here are some more scans from the Wakefield chess club minute book, these are all the pages containing photos. Among them is a picture of Alex Schofield.

Thanks, Peter. Looking at that photo, I think Alex is also in the photo I posted near the top of this thread, with the cup. I think that's Alex on the front row, second from left. My father is in the back row, second from right. I have no idea which cup it is or when.

Incidentally I have one of my father's cups, which is inscribed: 'Chess Lightning Second 1954'. Any idea what that is?

I think that photo may be of the winning Wakefield Woodhouse Cup team of 1950/51. If so then it's fantastic to have this photo, probably the most important moment in the 186 year history of the club! The trophy looks like the Woodhouse Cup and the man sitting behind the trophy looks like it may be Derek Paffley which would make sense as he was captain and strongest player. This is well before my time so my only knowledge of what the players looked like comes from the photos I posted earlier. I will see what else I can find out.

There is a mention in the minutes of a committee meeting held on 1st March 1954 that there was a plan to hold a lightning tournament one evening towards the end of the season, but no subsequent report of any results.

[Ingrid Ives]

That's so exciting, Peter! I feel as though I'm contributing to a very large jigsaw puzzle and every so often, I find a piece that had gone missing for decades. I have just gone back to the original photo and Mum wrote on the back: 'Wakefield Chess Club 1950', so that ties in. I had no idea it was such an important photo. I have a professional high res scan to 600 dpi and can send it to you if you would like to pm me with an email address. Posting on this site involved shrinking the resolution quite considerably.

The minutes of the meeting tie in too, re the lightning tournament. I'll take a photo of the cup tomorrow in daylight and post here.

[Ingrid Ives]

Here are some more scans from the Wakefield chess club minute book, these are all the pages containing photos. Among them is a picture of Alex Schofield.

Thanks, Peter. Looking at that photo, I think Alex is also in the photo I posted near the top of this thread, with the cup. I think that's Alex on the front row, second from left. My father is in the back row, second from right. I have no idea which cup it is or when.

Incidentally I have one of my father's cups, which is inscribed: 'Chess Lightning Second 1954'. Any idea what that is?

I think that photo may be of the winning Wakefield Woodhouse Cup team of 1950/51. If so then it's fantastic to have this photo, probably the most important moment in the 186 year history of the club! The trophy looks like the Woodhouse Cup and the man sitting behind the trophy looks like it may be Derek Paffley which would make sense as he was captain and strongest player. This is well before my time so my only knowledge of what the players looked like comes from the photos I posted earlier. I will see what else I can find out.

There is a mention in the minutes of a committee meeting held on 1st March 1954 that there was a plan to hold a lightning tournament one evening towards the end of the season, but no subsequent report of any results.

Peter, the chap on the left in the photo below the one with the (Woodhouse?) cup, the chap smoking the cigarette, looks similar to Alex too, don't you think? Mum has written on the back of that one: "Ronnie Leeds University Chess Congress 1955". It's five years later and the chap smoking the cigarette's forehead has receded a bit more so it could well be Alex Schofield. (I've gone into detective mode!)

[Ingrid Ives]

From the family album, the following photos are marked 'Buxton September 1950' and feature who I now think is Alex Schofield, plus two more of the chaps in the Woodhouse Cup (?) photo: the one holding the cup (Derek Paffley?) and the one in the back row behind both of them. Also my parents, Cobie and Ronnie Ives. I think Buxton was another congress. To add to your detective work, Peter! The date corresponds with our previous assumptions.

[Ingrid Ives]

Also, the chap sitting with Alex Schofield in the newspaper article you posted entitled 'Moving with the Times', from your Wakefield archives, appears in the front row right hand side of the 'Woodhouse Cup' (if that's what it is) photo I posted. Your article talks about the telephone chess which my father's articles also referenced (see further up this thread). We could probably put names to most of the people in the cup photo with a bit more digging.

[Peter Shaw]

I'm pretty sure the other player in the Buxton photos is Tony Midgley, who was Derek Paffley's cousin. I don't think he's in the Woodhouse photo as he always played for Huddersfield as far as I know. He was still active in the 90's when I started playing, I played him a couple of times.

http://www.geoffpeake.co.uk/AbsentF/Tony.htm

I think you are right about the 'Moving with the Times' photo, alas the piece doesn't say who he is!

[Ingrid Ives]

I think you're right. On reflection, I think it's someone else in the 'Woodhouse' photo and the 'Buxton' chap definitely looks like Derek Paffley's cousin in the link you shared. He has quite a distinctive look.

I've still got more material to post and I'm sure by the end of it, we'll have all the names.

[Ingrid Ives]

Below is the front of the commemorative booklet for Bradford Chess Club's Centenary, and a page from inside featuring my mother, Cobie Ives. According to the newspaper reports, it was here that she became the first woman to represent Yorkshire in 1953.

I have the whole booklet if anyone would like to see more of it.

[Ingrid Ives]

I'm pretty sure the other player in the Buxton photos is Tony Midgley, who was Derek Paffley's cousin. I don't think he's in the Woodhouse photo as he always played for Huddersfield as far as I know. He was still active in the 90's when I started playing, I played him a couple of times.

http://www.geoffpeake.co.uk/AbsentF/Tony.htm

I think you are right about the 'Moving with the Times' photo, alas the piece doesn't say who he is!

How sad that Derek came to such a tragic end, according the article you linked.

[Ingrid Ives]

To follow are some more of my father's 'Chess Club' press cuttings. I think he would have been delighted that these are being shared with the chess community so many decades later. This is the last of the ones I currently have with me but I'll retrieve more when I visit family members. We also have (literally) piles of chess magazines and books from the period. Not being a chess player, it's hard for me to know what I should be looking out for that would be of particular interest so please feel free to let me know. I have already visited Britbase so I have an idea what that's about. Also feel free to let me know if I'm posting things that are not of interest; I really won't be offended!
Also to follow is a photo of the 'Chess Lightning 1954' cup that I mentioned yesterday, which seems to relate to the Wakefield Club.

[Ingrid Ives]

More 'Chess Club'.

[Ingrid Ives]

More 'Chess Club'.