I have written about the once famed amateur William Ward many times on this site because he was the first player to represent Luton who went on to make a name for himself. Having done further research it has become clear that Ward was established as a player in London before his documented appearances for Luton in 1896 & 1897. They were at best cameos, most likely he still had family in the area and retained his attachments. The reportage below show he had commitments in London during those years.
We have been been able to establish that by profession he was a solicitor. But information about his life outside chess and the circumstances concerning his death have remained unestablished until very recently. I am indebted to the individuals on the English Chess Forum who have taken up a thread I started almost ten years ago and have long since forgotten about! Please see below.
I am re-reading Eales’s: Chess the History of a game, as chess history is supposedly my thing, and I did accidentally throw the thing away four years ago 😦 . New copy came through the post before the woeful summer commenced!
The first paragraph of the preface is as follows:
A history of chess is firstly a history of chess players, and as such I hope it will interest modern players who realize that in taking up the game, they are entering on a rich inheritance built by their predecessors. But it is also an account of the changing background against which chess has evolved, the forces which have caused it to be sometimes respected and encouraged, sometimes disapproved of, or even made illegal. The long development of chess has led through many different cultures and societies. It has been variously described as a game, a sport, a science or an art. At different times its social appeal has been seen as primary noble, intellectual, or even proletarian. In literature it has served as a metaphor, for order through its ranking of distinctive pieces. For these reasons I hope the book will also interest those who do not play chess well (or at all), because it deals with many important historical issues, though from an unfamiliar point of view.
pg. 9
I have to say, as something of an admirer, what does the final clause in the final sentence mean? ‘…an unfamiliar point of view’? probably that it is based on discourse. I may be wrong but some explanation would have helped.
Although I have oftentimes told myself not to write if I have nothing to say, there are exceptions because the principle reason for writing is not to be read but enjoy the process per se.
I’m writing because I have, to some degree, lost touch with chess this summer. The amount of chess we have in our lives never is constant due to circumstance or other matters foreseen and unforeseen. In writing this I have decided, that I should address this matter and have more chess in my life, and start taking note of current affairs, and so on -keep more in touch with things if you will. It’s sometimes helpful to ask do I have too much or too little chess in your life as it may change without you noticing -just my opinion.
The good news is over the summer I talked myself into larger projects, firstly that I should write a history of Bedfordshire chess, then after that was dismissed, that I should write an essay on the history of chess in Luton. Prompted because the person doing a cracking job of running Luton chess club currently asked me if I could write a short history for something or other. I did that but its not really my thing, so an extensive -that may not be the right word- a fuller account will be written. So at least some, correction -one good thing has emerged. This helps counterbalance the missed opportunities to play OTB that have passed, as I did not visit the chess club so much. I stayed true with my intentions to remove classical chess from the agenda, and as it so happens the tournament I refused to participate in was cancelled anyway… .
It would have been nicer to have made more effort to read the two books I recently ordered, especially since they are both well-written. Never mind, plenty of time for that still. It would also have been great if I had checked if any one day tournaments were held over the summer. Again I didn’t that, as mentioned, chess took a backseat over the summer if you like. I did play on line but not so much, and most likely matters will continue in a similar vain. To some degree this was tied to a failed attempt to establish the etymology of the term stalemate, which I did not get far with even I have sufficient material currently at my disposal…ah well some things are harder than they seem sometimes.
So as it stands for the rest of the year I will have to conduct further research. There is always work to be done, and helping improve upon the periods that I am less certain of is, perhaps, a necessity. Other than that all I can add is that the history presented will be in the form of post-modernism -of that I am certain.
Little else to say except it would have been nicer not to have drunk alcohol when I did play at the club, since its the sense of occasion rather than improvement that matters most, and since when did alcohol help with such matters bloody drunkard .
So there you have it. Later in the month I shall begin research again with the eventuality being an essay on the history of chess in Luton, probably something around the 10,000 word mark. And if that’s not boring enough, you can follow the updates on what was Twitter and is now X.
I can’t really add more than that, it has been a quiet few months and I have something to do of which I am passionate about to be getting on with. How drawn into correcting the co-authors of Chess in Bedfordshire I will get is hard to be certain of but hopefully the reaction to the final product won’t be in line with theirs; namely, that the author (s) should be tied up and shot against a post. Or put differently the subject will be covered more extensively, half the bloody county was left out thus more wholesome in the narrative offered -which is all you are getting! And just perhaps the most recent attempt at research had its minor frustrations here and there due to traces of the past not being entirely compatible with the intentions of old Tom Sweby, whom I have come to know more so than before, as he remained the primary source. I am a little sad to say I don’t have a great deal of material to work with, as you might expect, but this is not necessarily a problem, depending on how you define history, there isn’t a great amount of reportage I can use as traces of the past but I will do my best nonetheless.
To conclude, I decided to abandon all attempts to improve on Chess in Bedfordshire as I don’t have enough material and don’t feel capable of it, The smaller project of a history of chess in Luton is what it will be. Perhaps, just perhaps, I do enjoy writing about chess than actually playing it, in which case, the next few months should be productive…well hopefully so. I ought to remember to thank Humuyan (the organizer of Luton chess club( for putting good ideas in my head and wonder less why I couldn’t have thought about it myself.
Editor’s note: answer to that coming within the next 50 years -that’s a promise!
Webmaster’s note: going to live to 100 am I? You sure?
I shall sign off here, sometimes I just like to write.
On Sunday April 24th, 1988 Luton town centre was quiet indeed because half the town went off to see Luton beat Arsenal in the Littlewoods cup final. I didn’t go. Instead, I entered a Barcley’s bank office next to the Polytechnic college and played a Grandmaster in a simul. Since I’d only being playing competitive chess for three months and he has a 100% record against GM Gary Kasparov, considered by Carlsen to be the greatest player of all time, and also published what was considered to be the best book on the Ruy Lopez for many, many years, which was the opening of our game…erm my chances were rather slim. Nonetheless back then chess was more important than football.
Speed forwards two years and the 1990 world cup was wonderful to watch but I entered a tournament in Hitchin and missed two games on the Sunday (sorry can’t remember which two) but do recall when asked how I got on, I was able to answer I won both my games.
So there you have it, as a teen playing chess took precedence over watching football (and also playing).
Brief book recommendation here (allegedly). Only on chapter II but I am well-read enough to spot a read worth its price.
Yes it’s rather outdated. Yes descriptive notation is used. Yes the author ran a column in The New Statesmen for decades. And yes when I created a thread about him, noted authors were generally complimentary towards him.
But as you may know. Not all books on chess are written well and as is true in all fields some are better than others and some are much better than others. The authors style is indeed impressive. Here he makes a rather basic point but expresses it rather eloquently:
‘It is nice enough to enjoy other people’s brilliances, but nicer still to produce one’s own. To derive some aesthetic pleasure from the flights of fancy conjured up on the sixty-four squares is delightful enough when the conjurer is someone else, but the pleasure can be much enhanced by the thrill of creation and the pride of achievement.’
In the following passage the author Heinrich Fraenkel gives you an idea of his playing ability and character :
‘Regarding the topic of blunders the topic is handled quite delicately and written for a broad audience:
‘What about our own? Most of us, surely, have no shortage of them and some (some?) of us may have more than they care to remember. They are wrong for there is nothing like of the past to serve as a useful lesson for the future (ed: most, if not all SGMs will cite that as an integral part of the leasing process. A lesson to never blunder again. That could hardly be expected (please take note this was written before faster time controls were introduced). More likely, it will be a lesson to accept our every future blunder with ever more equanimity.
The only sad point I feel worth drawing attention to is on page 53 where he commits the cardinal sin in the chess literature genre, that being defining chess players as only that. He portrays Botvinnik as the world champion only, rather than a human being and a Soviet citizen. ‘Botvinnik has the rare distinction of having gained and lost and regained such paradise ‘the glory of supreme achievement’ as he put it. Although undeniably true, the tragedy is when you bypass the normative aspects of what something is, you invariably say very little about it. Botvinnik took time out to do a Ph.D, he became an engineer and was well promoted. He was a father too! It was a little saddening to find another characterisation where only their chess was of importance, but then it is replete within chess literature as a genre and has always been. It’s a little saddening when the author clearly has strong writing skills that they don’t write as broadly as they could…but the good news is a more wholesome account of Symslov appears in the following chapter, which we are entitled to dub a reprieve.
August 15th update
So I read the book. The latter sections contain content I found astonishing. I don’t ever recall seeing someone who is not a native speaker of English write so well with it, I really don’t. Great writer, of that there is no doubt. His stature in his day I am less sure of. His account of Soviet Chess I shall reproduce on this site at a later date.
Well worth a read if you can lay your hands on it.
I am at it again. Conjuring up questions on forums I think no one can answer. This question is the second time I have recently asked something connected to music -the thing I love the most. Do you know the answer?
My opponent never even made it out of the opening against me of all people! There are many things you shouldn’t do in chess. Being super-passive in the opening is one of them, usually a recipe for disaster! At the highest level that can be interpreted as provocative but here its just downright foolish. Don’t do this at home folks!
…on what this site initially became…on what this site is now becoming…on what this site cannot become…
On what this site initially became…
…once upon a time, the chess-related musings of an adrift academic were bound playfully and electronically in this online journal of sorts. They grew and grew as the decade did too. I kept on because I love to write whether I had much to say or not; therefore, being read by others was usually of little or no importance, comparatively speaking. Content was based on personal thoughts and experience on various topics with no intended audience borne in mind. With topics broadening, my own take on things always shaped the narrative I constructed: I often thought I was insightful but never that I was right. Sometimes imagination gave rise to originality: and of that I have always remained proud. I often introduced humour, believing that I am funnier than I really am. Sometimes, I found my own style antithetical to the conservatism I believe chess is plagued by -oftentimes that has put a gracious smile on my face… .
On what this site is now becoming…
…this site is now becoming a collaboration of chess in Bedfordshire: much more so of the past than the present -that has become the dominant trend. I document the history of chess in Bedfordshire as much as I can, and as time has passed I have become more thorough and resourceful. However, I am not a trained historian as my background lies principally in philosophy but yes it is true I did study some modules on history as both an undergraduate and a post-graduate too; furthermore, I have trained myself up, particularly in terms of postmodern history. Since 2015, I have only read history and historiography as well as those philosophers who have been so influential on postmodern history, such as Nietzsche (whom I once wrote a 19,000 word dissertation on, entitled: Can the Will to Power be Found in The Birth of Tragedy?), also Richard Rorty and Foucault and I suppose certain structualists such as Claude Levi-Strauss too. Regarding postmodernism, mostly I keep to Hayden White, Keith Jenkins and Alan Muslow.
Some friends and former playing partners back home describe me as the ‘go to guy’ for the history of chess in Bedfordshire. This compliment says more about the lack of interest in the subject than my own endeavour. As mentioned, I am too adrift from academia to feel chuffed by it. Rather, I tend to lament that my historical research, like my chess, just isn’t what it should be. Even though I may well have a broad understanding of Bedfordshire chess history courtesy of the volume of research put into it, all of which began in 2014, this is not something I am particularly proud of. Nonetheless, out of courtesy compliments are graciously received. If the truth be told, I just see it as my job and only that – after all someone’s got to do it and no one else is that interested!
Amongst the many others, I have created three categories: ‘Bedfordshire Chess’ and ‘History of Bedfordshire Chess’ and ‘Luton Chess Club’. This website is slowly moving towards a consolidation of those (all of which can be found in one of the toolbars to the right).
On what this site cannot become…
…I like to be both creative and amusing when I can be, factor in that playfulness has been an ever-present factor, the content of this site should be thought of as multifarious. It could be said I continue to enjoy undermining the conservatism I believe chess is underpinned by even after all these years, and often try to use humour to do it still, believing I have got better at it. Consequently, despite the general direction its going in, this site cannot only be about Chess in Bedfordshire and nor will it be. It may become noted for that yes -in fact that’s been the case for years already even by established historians, archivists, and whoever else. External factors aside, this site is titled McCreadyandChess. I cannot, nor will I not, remove my own personal thoughts and experiences of chess from the posts of this site -especially if I think they are funny or original for they constitute my writing at its very, very best. In addition, the number of categories alone tells you that breadth of content is important to me. I am proud of my site, it is identity conferring and that is how it shall stay -end of story. All you really have are: ‘Some thoughts on the beautiful game’, which, incidentally, just happen to be my very own; nothing more, nothing less, take of it whatever you please… .
A side note on how to read old Tom Sweby's columns
Not perhaps, but quintessentially, Old Tom Sweby is best thought of as a passionate devotee to the newspapers he wrote for. He was well read and knowledgeable of the Bedfordshire chess scene and well beyond, given that he was the president of the S.C.C.U. once upon a time. He was generally well-respected and rubbed shoulders with many, if not all, of those eminent within British chess circles. It would, however, be a critical mistake to see his column is primary source material entirely. That it is not. You will also find secondary source material quoted too, and the reliability of that is not quite as Tom hoped. Given that he wrote for decades, this is to some degree inevitable, and after all we are all prone to error whether we realize it or not. Thankfully, with regards to old Tom Sweby, they are infrequent and for the most part old Tom continued to document events and developments in the Bedfordshire league from the get go as best he could but, of course, everything lies open to interpretation. Despite this, and generally speaking. this does indeed make him informative and thus worth reading. Dare I say his columns constitute a narrative describing the latest developments, match reports and changing nature of the Beds league...he knew his audience and wrote according. This manifested itself over decades but brevity was always in play courtesy of the restictions imposed by writing a column. Should you wish to read a in instrumental figure of the Beds' league post WW2, you are quite welcome to peruse what has been posted here... . :-) I should, however, point out that as the decades wore on he gradually moved on away from narratives concerning the Bedfordshire league towards affairs both historical and international. The reasons for this are multifarous, old age was a predominante factor presumably, however, the bottom line is with regards to how the Bedfordshire chess scene developed post WW2: old Tom Sweby is your go to guy. He wrote more about chess in Bedforshire than anyone else did but given he was a Lutonian and writing for a Luton newspaper there is both bias and greater coverage of his hometown than the rest of the county.
Gallery
I’m either 10 or 11 here
1982, myself versus Brian from Sunderland.
At the Thai Junior chess championships. My daughter of course.
Pattaya 2011
2011
Thai Junior Championships
2008
2011
Around 2011
2011
Pattaya 2009
2011
Kuwait 2008
2012
2012
2011 BKK Chess club
2011
2011 Thai Open
2011 Thai Open
2013 approx
Around 2014
2010
2012
Around 2011
2011
2011
2013
Around 2011
Around 2011
2020
2011
2008
2011
2013 or thereabouts
2010
2017
2014?
2010
2024
2024
2024
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