Bedfordshire Chess Trivia Quiz -the big, big 50

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Bedfordshire Chess Trivia Quiz -the big, big 50

March 31, 2025 by mccreadyandchess

‘Knowledge is power.‘ Francis Bacon, Meditationes Sacrae 1597

Who is the only player to have developed and emerged from the Bedfordshire league to become British Chess Champion? ¹
Which player from Bedfordshire is the only one to have represented England in his heyday (excluding anyone at junior or senior level). ²
Who, then rated 146th in the world; 23 ELO points and 31 places above future world champion Capablanca, according to the EDO Historical Chess Ratings, is the only person documented playing for Luton in the 19th century more than once. ³
In which year did Northampton WMC (as it was then called) enter the Bedfordshire league? ⁴
Which company entered a team in the Bedfordshire chess league, ran by FM Peter Gayson’s father and also employed retired Luton town footballing regend Joe Payne, noted for scoring more goals in a game (10) than any other player in the history of English football? ⁵
How many former county champions have beaten former world champion Emmanuel Lasker? ⁶
On record, how many had already become national champions before competing in the Bedfordshire league? ⁷
What was unusual about Division 1 of the Beds. league in the 74/75 season? ⁸
In which year did Bedford become national club champions? ⁹
How many players who have played for teams & clubs in Bedfordshire have gone on to become president of the S.C.C.U? ¹⁰
GM Michael Adams has the highest rating of any English player ELO 2761 and is generally considered to be the greatest English chess player ever, he was also British champion more 8 times. Two Bedfordshire based players have beaten him. Who are they? ¹¹
Who won Division 1 in 2012?¹²
Who is the only British boys chess champion to have played in the Beds. league?¹³
Who did IM Andy Ledger think was the best player/the most difficult to beat in the Beds. league during the 80s?¹⁴
Who was the first titled player to participate in the Beds league? ¹⁵
Who is the only player to compete in the Beds. league for a number of seasons, who also went onto become champion of South Africa? ¹⁶
The fastest game recorded in chesss history occured at Luton High Town Recreactional Centre between GM Tony Miles and Stewart Reuben, 1. Draw. How much did that prearranged draw earn GM Tony Miles for achieving 1st place, classifying him as that outright winner? ¹⁷
Which team captain had by far the longest hair in the Beds league, having not cut it for over six years in the 90s? ¹⁸
When reigning world champion Anatoly Karpov played the top 20 juniors England had, one of them came from Bedfordshire, Dunstable more specifically. Who was he?¹⁹
Who is the only former county champion who played for Northampton? ²⁰
Who, whilst playing for Vauxhall in Luton, entered the club, was abruptly taken outside, then seconds later got beaten up in the snowy car park? ²¹
How many teams that lay outside Bedfordhire have participated in the Bedfordshire League? ²²
Who is the only Bedfordshire born and chess player who went onto receive a C.B.E in 1988? ²³
In which year did Bedford Modern School reach the final of the National Schools Championships, and who did they lose to? ²⁴
Which European world class player (no ELO back then) associated with hypermodernism, once performed a simul in Luton blindfold, winning all fourteen games on January 25th 1923, the date cited in the reportage. An account one day out can be found on pg. 15 of Chess in Bedfordshire (1933) Dickens&White. ²⁵
Which was the last chess club in Bedfordshire to be left with no playing premises of their own, and were left to share the venue of another club in the league ²⁶
Yours truly, attempting to be facetious, once claimed Milton Keynes often won Division 1 because navigating around that city was more difficult than chess itself, leaving opponents mentally exhausted upon arrival before play began. True or false? ²⁷
Canadian GM Suttles performed a simul at which club in Luton in the early 70s? ²⁸
Who is the only Bedfordshire born and based player who participated at the chess olympiad in both 1986 and 1988? And who did he represent? ²⁹
In which year did the Bedfordshire League become named so by incorporating teams from around the league so that all teams competed in the same league and were no longer subject to the north/south divide preceeding? ³⁰
In which three consecutive years did Bedfordshire achieve national success courtesy of both county chess teams, and unsurprisingly, the success of our most successful protégé? ³¹
Paul Habershon was a teacher at Bedford Modern School and also played for the chess team. Who was the other teacher also an established team member for many years? ³²
Leighton Buzzard’s doorsteps were once sadly darkened by which former British champion, who won a quickplay held in Bossard Hall before he infamously fled the country? And in which year? ³³
When was the Bedfordshire Chess Association formed? ³⁴
Who, known primarily for Newsflash, was the first to frequently write about chess in Luton & Bedfordshire in circulations published nationally, and which bank was he the manager of in Luton? ³⁵
Courtesy of the tail end of the industrial revolution, as it’s commonly referred to, the ensuing development of a rail network made it easier for clubs within Bedfordshire to play those in neighbouring counties, in particular Hertfordshire. What was the name of the neutral venue where a club from both Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire met to play, but used different rail lines to arrive at the venue betwixt them both? ³⁶
Who is the only GM to have performed a simul in Luton twice and at the time had a 100% record against the current world champion Gary Kasparov. ³⁷
Which former junior county champion also participated in the Beds. league with his mother, who was active for many years? ³⁸
In the 1901 Anglo-American cable match, William Ward, who is documented playing for Luton before becoming champion of London countless time over, beat which prominent American player, who took on world champions along with the very best in the world throughout much of his career? ³⁹
Which was the last team to participate in the Bedfordshire Chess League with an ordinal number in its name? ⁴⁰
What was the name of Bedfordshire’s only noted problemist? ⁴¹
Which two appeared on the same popular teatime Channel 4 tv gameshow? ⁴²
Which most unfortunate Bedfordshire based player is remembered for an all too harrowing end to a visit to his club, making him the only one who’s night involved, more than some friendlies, plenty of pints (hence his nickname), as well as being thrown through a windshield of a taxi into a bush on his way home. What was his nickname also? ⁴³
Which two appeared in quiz shows on tv; one shown on BBC2, the other on ITV? ⁴⁴
Who was head of the Stopsley school league team (Luton) and went onto to become a prominent member of the Bedfordshire Chess Association? ⁴⁵
Which trophy did Bedfordshire once retain for 10 years last milennium? ⁴⁶
Who won the second division in 2022? ⁴⁷
Who has become county champion more times then anyone else? ⁴⁸
Who wrote the longest running column for chess in Bedfordshire? ⁴⁹
Who won Div 1 in 2024? ⁵⁰

All 50 questions, which should you seek the footnoted answers below will, I hope, broaden your understanding of Bedfordshire Chess Present & History greatly. All scores are welcome in the comments also. The primary purpose here is not so those attempting the quiz can answer all Qs. correctly but rather the questions will inspire those reading to seek the answer (footnoted) below.

An addendum: anything I have missed which should have been included do suggest (I will modify), the questions being too hard or not seemingly of no importance (please say so), any other suggestions and criciticisms are graciously accepted. This is a fun way to improve your understanding of the History of Bedfordshire Chess. The questions have been carefully chosen.

Mark. J. McCready

08.41, Monday, March 31st, Bogota, Colombia.