McCreadyandChess

J. M. Craddock the schoolboy champion who took down those bigger than he

“History is on every occasion the record of that which one age finds worthy of note in another.” J. Burckhardt

There is no record uncovered where a Bedfordshire based player achieved recognition or success on a national or international level between 1910 and 1950. The only attention our county drew was courtesy of the chess scene in Luton and the high-profile simuls they arranged, attracting the likes of Blackburne (1905), Lasker (1908), Meises (1913) Tartakower (1918), Capablanca (1918), and Reti (c.1922). Yes its true a few of our homegrown talent achieved victories but this is hardly noteworthy (should you be interested you can find some of those victories on my site). But in the 50’s, according to our local columnist Tom Sweby, a certain J. M. Craddock was based in Dunstable and played board 1 for Bedfordshire (see fig 18. ‘Bedfordshire chess in the 70’s; its past and its future’). Who was J. M. Craddock? Once again there is a paucity of information, however, both Britbase and the ECForum enable us to fill in the blanks somewhat. The following is from Britbase:

https://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=8166&start=18

We only have one game surviving from his time in Bedfordshire, comments are from Tom Sweby.

‘When Bedfordshire played Oxfordshire in the Counties Chess Championship in January a much-admired victory was that of Beds leader, J. M. Craddock, over R. J. A. Persitz, the Israeli international and Oxford first board. Craddock, who was Cambridge University champion in 1934, and who now lives at Dunstable, has again shown his strength by beating Raaphi Persitz in the Coun­ties’ Correspondence Championship. As Mr. Craddock rarely plays nowadays, few outside his Bedfordshire colleagues would have anticipated this fine “double” and the accuracy of his play brought from Persitz the comment “Very well played!” (I am indebted to W. G. Everitt for the score of the game which went 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 d5 4. cd5 Nd5 5. Bg2 Nc7 Craddock played his own 6. f4 (see diagram) and in view of Black’s subsequent difficulties it seems that in this line he should fianchetto his KB on moves 3 and 4 and avoid the central thrust, at least until White plays Nf3 [Up to this point the game had followed one between Kirilov and world champion Botvinnik. In that White continued 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. 0-0 e5] 

6… g6 7. b3 Bg7 8. Bb2 0-0 9. Na4 Nba6 10. Bxg7 Kxg7 11. Qc2 Ne6 12. Nf3 Bd7 13 f5 gxf5 14 Qf5 f6 15. Qe4 b5 16. Nc3 b417. Nd5 Kh8 18. Nh4 Nac7 19. Qe3 Nd4 20. O-O Nce6  21. Qh6 Rg8 22. Ne7 Ne2 23. Kh1 Qe7 24. Ba8 Qf8 25. Qf8 Rf8 26. Bd5 N6d4 27. Kg2 f5 28. Rf2 f4 29. Nf3 Bb5 30. Nd4 cd4 31. Bc4 Bc4 32. bc4 d3 33. Rf3 Rc8 34. Rd3 Rc4 35. Re1 Source: Beds and Herts Pictorial – Tuesday 17 July 1956

With regards to retrospective ratings, we can find J. M. Craddock here,¹. Craddock is remembered most for his achievements in the 30’s, some 20 years or so before he represented Bedfordshire. His victory over Mir. Sultan Khan in 1933 was rather daring in play it must be said!

Mir. Sultan Khan v J. M. Craddock

Imperial CC v Cambridge University, London

November 25th, 1933

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4

a6 7. Qg4 h5 8. Qf4 c5 9. dxc5 f6

10. exf6 gxf6 11. Bh6 e5 12. Qd2 Nxc5 13. Be2 Bg4 14. f3 Be6 15. O-O-O Nc6 16. g4 d4

17. Ne4 Nxe4 18. fxe4 hxg4 19. Rf1 Rc8 20. a3 Qb6 21. Bg7 Na5

22. Qd3 Rg8 23. Bh6 Nb3+ 24. Kd1 Nc5 25. Qd2 Nxe4 26. Qd3 f5 27. Bc1 Bc4

28. Qxc4 Rxc4 29. Bxc4 Rh8 30. Rh2 f4 31. Re1 g3 32. Rhe2 Nf2+ 33. Kd2 e4

34. Rxe4 Nxe4+ 35. Rxe4 d3 36. Nh3 Rxh4 37. Ng5 Rh2+ 38. Kxd3 Qd6+ 39. Kc3 Qf6+ 40. Kb3 Qxg5 41. Bxf4 Qg4 42. Bd6 Qd1 0-1

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1956229

Update with reportage on Craddock’s time in Bedfordshire.

1. http://www.edochess.ca/players/p12270.html ↩︎

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Bedfordshire chess history has greater depth than most, if not all, think. This is, primarily because its medium is oral history, and those who propagate that are usually uninterested in distinguishing factual content from mere gossip. Oral history, which pervades most counties in England is more entertaining than it is reliable, and of course, it will forever remain an anachronism. Our county has previous members who were prominent in their day. It’s not quite correct to say they have been forgotten about, its more so that no one has written about them. Well, that’s my job. One of those is a certain Colin Garwood. On a national level, he first established himself at the British Chess Championships in 74 as a junior. It would be approximately correct to describe as one of those who emerged out of the English Chess Explosion, which due to an uncritical attitude towards journalese, was mightily impressed and influenced by nut job Bobby Fischer. If we understand Colin in terms of the movement he was a part of, it should not be surprising to find that he is never written about, despite the fact that he was exceptionally strong. How strong was he? Leonard Barden arranged a simul in 1982 where the top 20 juniors in England got to play the then world champion Karpov, Garwood was one of them, rated approximately 200. Given the nature of chess culture in England, he was mostly overlooked and not considered exemplary in anyway. But for those of us from Bedfordshire, this game is significant because its the first encounter of one of our own against the reigning world champion in the modern era.

With regards to Dunstable based Colin Garwood he held his own but when only a few players were left, having to move much more quickly put him under pressure and as a result he made a mistake in the endgame. Well that’s my interpretation, here’s his:

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cd4 4. Nd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6. 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 

 8. O-O Be6 9. Be3 O-O 10. Qd2 Nbd7 11. a4 Qc7 

12. Rfd1 Rac8 13. f3 Rfd8 

14. a5! d5 15. ed5 Nd5 16. Nd5 Bd5 

17. Qd5 Nf6 18. Qc4 Rd1 19. Rd1 Qc4 20. Bc4 Rc4 21. c3 Kf8 22. Kf1 Ke8 23. Ke2 Rc6 24. Bf2 Nh5 25. g3 Nf6 26. Nd2 Bd8 27 Ra1 Kd7 28. c4 Be7 29. Ra4 Rc7 30. b4 Kc7

31. Bb6 Kc6 32. Nb1 Nd7 33. Be3 Kd6 34. Nd2 Kd6 35. Kd3 f5 36 Kc3 Bf6 37. Kb3 Rd8 38. Kc2 Nf8

39. Bb6 Rd7 40. Ra3 Bg5 41. Be3 Ne6 42. Bg5 Ng5 43. Re3 Nf7 44. Kc3 Rd6 45. Re1 Rd7

46. Nb3 Rb7 47. f4 e4?

(47…g6!) 48 Nd4 Kc7 49 Nf5

Colin informed me that he one of the last few to finish, reportage of the simul can be found below.

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As a young chess player, stories about Luton chess club and the Bedfordshire league were told and retold many times over the years by various club members, as you might expect. But I distinctly remember the man who beat me in the final of the 92 Luton Chess Championship once told me that ‘Luton used to have its own league once!’ whilst we drove in the dark along country lanes to another club match together. What records have survived do not show this to be true but then not all divisions in the Bedfordshire league were published in The Luton News by Tom Sweby on a yearly basis -and that is the only primary source material in play here. What Grandmaster slayer Mr. P. Montgomery may have meant instead as he drove, I think, was in the wake of the commonly described ‘The English Chess Explosion’ following the Fischer – Spassky match, Luton dominated the Bedfordshire league in terms of registered clubs, and also had enough teams to create its own league -of this there is no doubt. There were working men’s clubs for the employees of the parent company, long before the so called ‘English Chess Explosion’ but when chess started booming thereafter they flourished and all were able to field teams in the league, sometimes more than one. Vauxhall, which was reported in the local news as early as 1937 (please see https://mccreadyandchess.wordpress.com/2015/06/05/bedfordshire-chess-in-the-70s-its-past-and-its-future/ for proof) had three teams at one point (no prizes given for correctly guessing which player, who went on to play for both Luton & Kent’s/Luton years later on, once brought his electric guitar to Vauxhall chess club and began playing it whilst games commenced, only to be taken outside and get beaten up in the snow by Dave Considine [also former Kents/Luton player, rated around 140-150]!). (Clue provided here in point 3: https://mccreadyandchess.wordpress.com/2013/01/11/fond-memories-of-bedfordshire-chess/)

As is shown above Vauxhall attracted the most players and was the first to establish itself as more than a host of league matches. SKF had a team on Sundon Park Road also, and how could we forget Kents (meters)? Commer and AC Delco (Dunstable) Texas Instruments (Bedford) and Scicon (Milton Keynes) also had teams and participated in the league too but hard evidence of those is proving difficult to locate (I do have it somewhere!). Contrarily, Electrolux on Oakley Road Leagrave also had its own club, and for the following information regarding its short-lived existence, I am indebted to former Luton player Peter Gayson’s first hand account:

Regarding our chat online Peter said ‘…before that I played occasional games for Electrolux (the club started by my dad), but school/university limited the opportunities…‘

I then enquired: ‘So may I ask, it was your father who started The Electrolux cub as you said? Was that based on Oakley Road, Leagrave?’

Peter replied: ‘Yes, my dad worked at Electrolux in Oakley Road. He started the club right after the 1972 Fischer-Spassky match. There was huge interest at first, but gradually players drifted away, and the club eventually folded later in the decade.‘

I then prompted him further with the following: ‘May I ask, what position did your dad have in the company? Can you remember exactly where they played in the factory grounds and why? Was it always your father that ran it?’

Peter kindly answered with the following: Dad (George Gayson, 1928-1999) was a fridge paint sprayer at Electrolux, who worked there from the late 50s up to retirement. He started the club in 1972. Attendance was pretty good in the early days, with around 40-50 members, but gradually tailed off, and the club folded around 1978-1979. Play was in the Electrolux recreation club, run by Luton FC’s Billy Waugh ( he once introduced me to Joe Payne, one of the club’s famous players, who also worked at Electrolux). I believe the club once hosted a simul by Canadian GM Duncan Suttles, possibly arranged by Brian Cox. After the club folded, I joined Luton chess club, back when it was in the church hall in Bury Park.

With regards to the aforementioned simul, Peter has informed me he did play in it, and I do have proof of its reportage.

With regards to the footballers mentioned, it can easily be confirmed that they did indeed play for the hatters with the following links:

Billy Waugh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Waugh_(footballer)

(the famous) Joe Payne https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Payne_(footballer,_born_1914)

Mark. J .McCready, 9.24pm October 28th 2023, Al Fursan, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

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BRONSTEIN AND TAIMANOV IN LIVERPOOL

By DENIS V. MARDLE

CHESS, May 1952, Vol.17 no.200, p154

In 1951, it was decided to run an International Union of Students’ Chess Tournament in conjunction with the National Union of Students’ Arts Festival at Liverpool this Easter. The British Universities’ Chess Association co-operated, and some eight teams with three players in each were expected to meet from April 4th to April 10th, but by the opening date only one Belgian, one Dane and one Indian were at Liverpool to meet the British and Finnish teams. It was known that players were to come from the Soviet Union, and their non-appearance brought many enquiries from reporters. There was no “mystery” about the matter; the late choice of players had meant late applications for visas. In fact, only four days was required for the issue of these once Bronstein and Taimanov were known to be waiting in Prague.

The three individual players were grouped into an “International” team, and while awaiting the arrival of the Russians a short Tourney was held in which Finland beat Britain by 2-1, and the International team by the same margin, while the British trio beat the latter by 3-0.

The Soviet Grandmaster and Master arrived at 6 a. m. on April 10th, and a tournament was hastily arranged with the fast time limit of 40 moves in two hours. This was unfortunately necessary, as two games a day had to be played on two of the five days available. The other competitors were the Finnish master Pastuhoff and his fellow-countrymen Nyren and Rutanen with the Danish player Dinsen and the Indian Katragadda.

As was to be expected, the Russians won all their games against the other players, though they met stiff opposition. Nyren had a drawn position against Bronstein after 40 moves but was outplayed in the ending. The draw between the Russian players was a bitterly contested struggle. Taimanov, a concert pianist by profession, gave short recitals to the other competitors, and Bronstein’s work at the British section of the Institute of Languages in Moscow was of great service, even if he appeared to speak our language rather more quickly than most British people!

Unfortunately the impossibility of issuing advance publicity meant that few spectators witnessed the rare spectacle of two Soviet masters playing in a tourney in Britain.

In their individual game Bronstein avoided a draw by repetition on the fifteenth move, and after intense study of the transition to the middle game obtained a superior position, but as the time limit approached he had to make twelve moves in three minutes. At this point Taimanov sacrificed a piece for an attack which gained him a draw by perpetual check, Bronstein having missed a winning line.

The text above has been lifted from the following site:
https://www.saund.co.uk/britbase/pgn/195204liverpool-viewer.html

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The 1956 grading list has been republished, unfortunately not a single player from Bedfordshire is on there. Why this is so is unclear since D. V. Mardle of Luton won most of his tournaments between 1955-1963 and was clearly one of the strongest players in the country at the time. The list is linked below.

https://www.saund.co.uk/britbase/pdfs/1956gradinglist.html

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In the following link, you can find Bedfordshire’s champions since 1980.

http://www.adrianelwin.co.uk/Bedfordshire/Bedfordshire.html

Of all that I played, I’ve beaten 2, drawn with 2 but lost to 3 although one of them conceded I had completely outplayed him, which I did. I don’t recall how I lost the game, it may have been on time. Of the two I beat, one was titled and rated around 217 and the other was over 200 also but only just, 203 I think but may well be wrong there. He played an obscure line against my French defence with an early b3, possibly 2. b3, which as anyone will tell you, doesn’t do very much at all. It was an easy win. I mated him within 30 moves. Perhaps its so had I not given up chess and put a solid 10 year shift in I may have became on me of them but would it be worth it? The moments of love and joy chess brings are ephemeral, is there really a pay off for being a bit better or a lot better for all those minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years invested -I don’t think so.

I’m prepared to admit, in the many qualifying rounds played in a Winter’s eve, I got more than one sound beating from the very strongest in the county, and infrequently, walked away from the board with a hard fought victory and a wry smile on my face.

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Most likely not, unless of course, the current world champion has had a litre of Vodka for breakfast and our Bedfordshire protégé is stone cold sober. Okay, so has a protégé from Bedfordshire ever outplayed our current world champion? The answer to that depends upon how you define what ‘a protégé from Bedfordshire‘ is. If you mean someone born in Bedfordshire, then no. If you mean someone who grew up playing chess in Bedfordshire, then yes. But -and yes it is okay to start a sentence with a conjunction, don’t go buying into Prescriptivism now -was the current world champion entitled so at the time? Sadly not. Was it a blitz game? Yes it was.

I shall now show you six diagrams and add some comments.

Some of us are proud of our county. I always have been. I am still. I will be always. Who was it that played our current world champion? The answer lies below.

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1820780

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In the only publication in existence on Bedfordshire chess, there are more games from foreign masters in it than local players.

https://mccreadyandchess.com/2015/09/09/chess-in-bedfordshire/

I’ve found in a Sussex Newspaper a game attributed to Bedfordshire Chess below some thoughts by H. E. Bird. None of this appeared in the text above.

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