Here, taken from the ECF Facebook page, is US chess legend James Sherwin (92) taking on English prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan (10) in the recent UK Open Blitz Qualifier in Cardiff. Two players with an 82 year difference in their ages. Back in the 1970s it was a regular trope every year at Hastings and the… Continue reading

I’ve written in the past how, back in the 1930s, chess was used in a variety of ways to help those with a range of disadvantages. We visited the Royal Star and Garter Home for Disabled Ex-Servicemen in Richmond, where chess was popular amongst the residents. We travelled to Leicester to meet the members of… Continue reading

It’s time to return to Twickenham and meet the man who was the President of the second Twickenham Chess Club from its foundation in 1921 to his death in 1927. Dr John Rudd Leeson was, as you’ll soon discover, a significant member of the Twickenham community. He was born in 1854 in London, the son… Continue reading

Looking for problems to include in a future Chess Heroes book, I chanced upon this, by a composer previously unknown to me. Of course I wanted to find out more about Rose, and I’m sure you do too. Was she perhaps a child prodigy, following in the footsteps of Lilian Baird a generation earlier? Or… Continue reading

Here’s a book from the English Chess Federation Library. It was one of a series: a library that should be in every home! Of course I wanted to know more about Mr Peachey, and soon discovered that he had a relatively brief chess career in the 1890s, at first living in North London, a member… Continue reading

One of the features of Chess Heroes: Puzzles Book 2, coming, with any luck, in the Autumn, is a section featuring puzzles taken from the major 19th century tournaments. The Paris tournament of 1878 featured most of the world’s leading active players, but the last two places, detached from the rest of the field, were… Continue reading

Here’s the Surrey Comet from 13 August 2004. A 99-year-old father and his son were rescued by neighbours during a fire which destroyed most of the home they have shared for more than 70 years. Neighbours of Harry Gunning, and Harry junior, 72, rushed to help them out of their house at around 10.30am on… Continue reading

I recently introduced you to the competitors in the first London Boys Chess Championship, which took place in 1923-24. Let’s look at how the competition progressed over the next few years. In 1924-25 there were again ten competitors. Five had returned from the previous year: Black, Bowers, Brüning, Excell and Smith. One of the newcomers in particular… Continue reading

I’m currently decluttering my house and came across this plaque at the bottom of a filing cabinet. This was originally attached to an equipment cupboard at Richmond & Twickenham Chess Club (the two clubs merged in 1958). After becoming surplus to requirements it was used by Richmond Junior Chess Club for some time. After we… Continue reading

For several years in the 1930s, two blind players, Theodore Tylor and Rupert Cross, were amongst the competitors in the British Championship, restricted at that time to twelve players selected from the best in the country. Tylor was a player of genuine master standard, competing with distinction against the best in the world, while Cross was a very… Continue reading